by Brittney Melton

June 7, 2026

Good morning. This week, President Trump signed an executive order that aims to mitigate AI security threats, the National Transportation Safety Board said United flight was flying too slow and low before landing accident in Newark, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the first New World screwworm case in South Texas.

How PEPFAR changed everything

by Juana Summers, All Things Considered host

In South Africa and Mozambique, health care providers say cancellation or redirection of U.S. PEPFAR funding under the Trump administration have already endangered vulnerable people and cost lives.

It can be hard to remember what the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa looked like decades ago: Hospitals across the continent were overwhelmed with young men and women, dying excruciating deaths.

South Africa was at the center of the epidemic. Activist Lucky Mazibuko remembers, vividly.

He told me that at the time, the country “was filled with the stench of death.”

People queue outside the Unjani Clinic in Braamfischerville, Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Gulshan Khan for NPR

It seemed, he went on to say, that there would be no end to the suffering.

“There was no hope, there was basically no light,” he told me. “And even if there was a light at the end of the tunnel, it looked like that of an oncoming train.”

PEPFAR changed everything - across the continent.

President George W. Bush announced the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, in January 2003. The program is often cited as the most effective public health campaign ever, and is estimated by the State Department to have saved roughly 26 million lives since its inception. And for decades, the program enjoyed widespread bipartisan support.

But the Trump administration has radically changed the way the U.S. delivers foreign assistance, making sharp cuts and creating uncertainty about future funding. So as my colleagues and I tracked these developments, we wanted to see first-hand what these sweeping changes could mean for the worldwide fight to combat HIV/AIDS.

That curiosity is what led us to Soweto Township in South Africa to sit down with Mazibuko. He’s an activist and former journalist, who we met at the restaurant he now runs.

Back in 1999, at a time when the disease was still shrouded in stigma and shame, Mazibuko disclosed his own HIV-positive status in a column in South Africa’s biggest newspaper.

Even at funerals for those who had died after contracting HIV, Mazibuko told me, “people spoke in hushed voices about what the cause of death could have been, even if they knew.”

When I asked him why he chose to come forward so publicly, he grew emotional as he told me that he felt he had no other choice.

Over the course of nearly two weeks of reporting, alongside my All Things Considered colleagues Matt Ozug and Vincent Acovino, we heard stories of how the shifts in foreign aid have destabilized long-effective programs in South Africa and neighboring Mozambique.

South Africa still has the highest number of people with HIV of any country, and the U.S. Embassy in Mozambique notes it is home to the second-largest AIDS epidemic in the world. Our reporting in both countries was supported by the Pulitzer Center.

We spoke with public health workers who worried that the shifts have created uncertainty that could lead to loss of life or more infections. But perhaps what stuck with me the most were the stories of resilience.

From the health workers going without a full paycheck to make sure they still have the trust of patients in their communities; to the innovative TV show educating viewers on healthy relationship dynamics; to the advocates doing everything they can offer sex workers personalized care after the closure of a U.S.-funded clinic – everywhere we went, we met people who remained deeply committed to their work.

You can hear our stories here, and see more in the coming days across NPR’s social media channels.

Check out more great reads from the NPR network you may have missed:

➡️ NPR's Bobby Allyn broke the story about federal investigations into former Congressman George Santos' alleged trading activity on the prediction market site Kalshi. Santos later called Allyn and threatened him. Santos said the story was riddled with errors and attacked NPR's reputation. He told Allyn that "this story is going to get you a gun in your face." Allyn says that threats against journalists are alarmingly frequent, often coming from online trolls or aggressive attorneys and PR representatives aiming to protect their clients. He added that he wrestled with the decision to publicly address Santos' behavior. But given Santos' mischaracterizations of their interaction and his quick actions to cover his tracks, Allyn decided it was important to set the record straight.
➡️ A popular World Cup sticker-collecting tradition has made its way to the U.S. and the interest is surging. This has been a beloved practice for fans of the tournament in Europe and Latin America for decades. These stickers, produced by the Italian company Panini, are sold in blind packs like baseball or Pokémon cards. This year, collectors face their biggest challenge yet: tracking down 980 distinct stickers representing World Cup teams, players, venues and other details to complete their sticker album. That's 310 more stickers than at the 2022 World Cup, setting a Panini record. This edition will also be the second-to-last men's World Cup sticker album produced by Panini, ending a partnership that has lasted over five decades.
➡️ Scientists at Seattle's Allen Institute say they now have a sufficient enough understanding of how the brain functions to begin repairing it when it breaks. This advancement is largely due to the Brain Health Accelerator, a $400 million initiative aimed at developing new genetic therapies for diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, ALS, Lewy body dementia and Huntington's disease. The accelerator is an outgrowth of the BRAIN Initiative, a research program launched by former President Obama in 2013. At this point, the effort has progressed far faster than many scientists expected.
➡️ Only about 3% of U.S. households were paying for AI services in February, according to figures from the Bank of America Institute. But many workplaces and universities do pay for AI services, and their ranks are growing fast. So what do you actually get when you pay for AI? Nick Turley, the head of ChatGPT at OpenAI, says that ChatGPT subscriptions are not primarily about generating revenue, but ensuring the platform remains usable. AI requires significant computing power, and in the early days after ChatGPT’s launch, implementing a subscription paywall helped the company manage demand while still providing deeper access to those willing to pay. While OpenAI is likely to always offer a free version of ChatGPT, the next version of its eventual successor may come at a cost, he says.

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Pod Club

A hand pulls the word “maxxing” out of murky depths.

Jackie Lay

Thanks for tuning in last week to the Throughline episode about exploring how historical betting practices on popes and presidents contributed to the emergence of a "terrorism market" in the early 2000s. It also takes a look at how those early prediction markets influenced the development of the current industry.

Today, listen to an episode of Code Switch about the evolution of internet slang. Linguist Adam Aleksic, also known as the Etymology Nerd, says most "Gen-Z slang" is either appropriated from Black culture or incels, a group of people who identify as involuntarily celibate. The podcast explores the evolution of the term "-maxxing," tracing its journey from the eugenicist looksmaxxing subculture to trending TikToks to the Pentagon tweeting about “lethality maxxing.” Listen to the episode, or read the transcript.

What do you believe is the impact of using words without knowing their cultural ties and origins? Listen to the episode, and let us know your thoughts Your response could appear in next week's Sunday newsletter.

Love podcasts? For handpicked episode recommendations every week, check out Pod Club — a newsletter written FOR podcast fans BY podcast fans. Subscribe here!

And, on this week's episode of The Sunday Story from Up First, two of NPR’s biggest soccer nerds talk about the competition, the entertainment and the cultural significance of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The NBA Team Names

The words "Sunday Puzzle" over a white background. The name "Will Shortz" is under the Sunday Puzzle title, etched into red dice.

NPR

It's time for the Sunday Puzzle! INPR Puzzlemaster Will Shortz has brought an NBA-themed puzzle for this week’s on-air challenge, in honor of the finals. The answer to each question will be an NBA team name. Test your skills here. Check the page later to hear the answers, or catch them live on Weekend Edition at 8:41 a.m. ET.

For this week's online challenge, rearrange the letters of NECESSARY MISPRINT to spell a familiar phrase. Submit your answer here, and you could win a chance to play next Sunday's on-air puzzle.

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