Dr. Janet Woodcock, testifying here before Congress in July, has been serving as acting commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration since Jan. 20. Many public health leaders say letting the agency go so long without a permanent director has demoralized the staff and sends the wrong message about the agency's importance. Stefani Reynolds/AP hide caption
A Thai teenager receives their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday in Bangkok. President Biden is set to announce on Wednesday that the U.S. is buying 500 million more doses of the Pfizer vaccine to donate to countries. Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images hide caption
Law enforcement officials investigate the home of Brian Laundrie, who is wanted for questioning in the death of his girlfriend, Gabby Petito, on Monday in North Port, Fla. Curt Anderson/AP hide caption
Logo for SecureDrop and NPR. NPR hide caption
A close-up of Mars taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. New research suggests that the red planet may be too small to have ever had large amounts of surface water. NASA/WireImage hide caption
Wilma Banks, who lives in the neighborhood of New Orleans East, sits on her bed next to her nebulizer and CPAP machine. In the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, when much of New Orleans was left without power, she wasn't able to power up the medical devices and had only her limited supply of inhalers to widen her airways. Kathleen Flynn for ProPublica hide caption
The new Emancipation and Freedom Monument in Richmon, Va., features two 12-foot bronze statues of a man and woman holding an infant who have been newly freed from slavery. Virginia's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Commission hide caption
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley speaks during a briefing with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in September at the Pentagon in Washington. The top U.S. military officer met with his Russian counterpart Wednesday Sept. 22, 2021 in Helsinki, Finland. Susan Walsh/AP hide caption
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro pulls off his protective face mask to address the 76th Session of the U.N. General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. Eduardo Munoz/AP hide caption
The pandemic appears to have peaked or be on the verge of peaking, with cases projected to slowly decline this fall and winter. As recently as Sept. 8, people were waiting at COVID-19 testing site in Kentucky, where over 4,000 new cases were confirmed that day. Jeffrey Dean/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
In this undated photo provided by HBO, actor Willie Garson appears as Stanford Blatch in "And Just Like That." Garson, who played Stanford Blatch, on TV's "Sex and the City" and its movie sequels, has died, his son announced Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. He was 57. AP hide caption
Congress is in a familiar political standoff over spending and debt that could have serious economic consequences. J. Scott Applewhite/AP hide caption
Laura Sanchez got a COVID vaccine shot last month from nurse Noleen Nobleza in Orange, Calif. Jae C. Hong/AP hide caption
Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, seen in February, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, has made the inclusion of Latinos in media a principal issue. A government report says the absence of Latinos in the media could impact how their fellow Americans view them. AP hide caption
China says it will stop financing new coal-fired power plants in other countries, but coal use is expected to keeping rising within its borders. GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Hobby Lobby bought the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet for $1.67 million in 2014. Now it's being returned to Iraq. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hide caption
A pamphlet from a Pride Month event at the Pentagon in 2015. Monday marked the 10th anniversary of the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the U.S. military. Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images hide caption
Video game maker Activision Blizzard said Tuesday that it is complying with a recent Securities and Exchange Commission subpoena sent to current and former employees and executives and the company itself on "employment matters and related issues." Jae C. Hong/AP hide caption
A community of young investors on TikTok, including @ceowatchlist, @quicktrades and @irisapp, are using House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's stock trading disclosures as inspiration for where to invest themselves. One user called Pelosi the market's "biggest whale," while another called her the "queen of investing." @ceowatchlist; @quicktrades; @irisapp/TikTok hide caption
The U.S. Department of Labor building on March 26, 2020, in Washington, D.C. Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
The "Skinny House" or the "Spite House" is 10 feet wide at its widest. It's been sold for $1.25 million. Atlantic Visuals hide caption