Shea Stephens

This is NPR.

Evacuation orders remain in effect for three areas south of Seattle where two levees have failed.

Persistent storms in the region are blamed for widespread flooding and at least one death.

Multiple storms known as atmospheric rivers have dumped over a foot of rain across Washington state since late November.

The weather system is now moving east, threatening to dump heavy rain and snow on areas from the northern plains to the Great Lakes region.

Roughly 700 million people around the world are living on less than $2.15 a day.

As NPR's Jonathan Lambert reports, lifting most of them out of extreme poverty may be less expensive than researchers had previously thought.

U.S.

futures are flat and after-hours trading on Wall Street.

On Asia Pacific, market shares are mostly higher, up 1% in Hong Kong and in Shanghai.

This is NPR News.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stephens.

President Trump says his administration will treat fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.

It's part of a broader effort to militarize the war on drugs.

NPR's Brian Mann reports that many addiction experts say the strategy will not slow drug overdose deaths in the U.S.

Enrollment at U.S.

medical schools is breaking records this year.

The milestone is good news for a health care industry that's facing a shortage of doctors.

Scott Massione from member station WYPR has more.

32-year-old Nick Reiner is still being held without bail after being charged with killing his parents, Hollywood director Rob Reiner and Michelle Reiner.