Eyder Peralta

Washington, D.C., Mayor Vince Gray signed a bill, today, that decriminalizes the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

As we reported, the D.C. city council voted to join 16 other states in decriminalizing some use last month.

What makes D.C. interesting is that any laws passed by the local ...

An instant replay showed the first base umpire was wrong when he called Ryan Braun safe. The Braves' challenge was the first successful one under baseball's extended replay rules.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will require all new vehicles — from small subcompacts to commercial vans — to have "rear visibility technology" beginning in May 2018.

The new rule essentially mandates that all vehicles be equipped with a rearview camera.

As USA Today reports, the new ...

Pope Francis broke tradition, again, today by confessing his sins in public.

As The Catholic News Service reports, the pope was leading a penitential liturgy in St. Peter's Basilica when it came time to hear confessions. Instead of heading into an empty confessional to hear the confessions of fellow ...

Defense attorneys for suspected Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev say sometime before the bombing his older brother, Tamerlan, was approached by the FBI and was asked to be an informant.

In a letter from February made public in a motion filed in federal court today, the attorneys say the ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin called President Obama to "discuss the U.S. proposal for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis in Ukraine," the White House said on Friday.

Obama, the White House said, suggested Russia "put a concrete response in writing" to a proposal delivered by Secretary of State John Kerry ...

Attorney General Eric Holder said on Friday that the federal government would recognize the 300 same-sex marriages that took place in Michigan in between two conflicting court rulings.

As we reported last week, a federal judge struck down Michigan's ban on gay marriage. The judge did not, as others ...

The chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has resigned, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said in a press conference on Friday.

This is the latest development in an ongoing political scandal that involves the politically charged closure of the George Washington Bridge.

The New ...

Despite an unexpected wrinkle with a thruster that made a four-orbit rendezvous into a 32-orbit one, the Russian Soyuz successfully docked with the International Space Station Thursday night.

As Scott reported on Wednesday, the thruster that was supposed to send the capsule into a speedier route failed to burn. ...

The New Orleans-based U.S. 5th Circuit of Appeals ruled on Thursday that Texas could require abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

That provision was part of a set of stringent abortion regulations passed in Texas in 2013. As NPR's Julie Rovner reported at the time, ...

With the enrollment deadline looming, the Obama administration says 6 million Americans have signed up for health insurance through the exchanges set up by the federal government.

"With 4 days left for consumers to sign up for coverage, we are working hard to ensure that our systems can handle the ...

A Texas judge ruled the state must tell two death row inmates where it is buying its execution drugs from.

The AP reports that the inmates sued the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for the information. The state has argued that it wants to keep the information secret, because ...

A state senator was arrested on charges of illegal gun trafficking and mail fraud on Wednesday.

As NPR's Richard Gonzales reports, Sen. Leland Yee was also the Democratic candidate for secretary of state in California. Richard filed this report for our Newscast unit:

"Senator Yee's arrest stunned California's political ...

World Vision U.S. changed course on Wednesday, saying it would return to its policy of not hiring Christians in gay marriages.

The Washington-state-based charity caused an uproar among its supporters when it announced on Monday that based on the changes many churches were making, it would allow the hiring of ...

A five-alarm fire created some dramatic moments in Houston on Tuesday.

One video of a construction worker fleeing the apartment complex that was still under construction is just stunning. There's no need to say more. Just watch:

If you want background on the fire, The Houston Chronicle has details. ...

A regional director of the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Northwestern University athletes are employees of the school and are allowed to form a union.

The Associated Press calls the decision "stunning" because it has the potential to completely upend the way college athletics function. The AP adds:

...

Astronomers studying a 250 kilometer wide asteroid-like object named Chariklo have come to a surprising conclusion: By analyzing dips in the object's brightness, they've found that Chariklo is surrounded by a ring system.

Their findings are published in today's edition of Nature and this is the first time rings have ...

A BP refinery spilled an unknown amount of oil into Lake Michigan on Monday.

NPR member station WBEZ reports that the leak has been stopped and it is contained. The station reports:

"BP just completed a $4 billion modernization to the 100-year-old Whiting Refinery, the largest inland refinery ...

Facebook announced a pretty big purchase on Tuesday: The social media giant said it was acquiring Oculus VR, a company that makes virtual reality goggles, for $2 billion.

The deal includes $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook, which the company values at $1.6 billion.

The same Danish zoo that euthanized a young, healthy giraffe it didn't need for its breeding program has killed a family of lions to make room for a younger, male lion.

If you remember, the Copenhagen Zoo caused an uproar when it put down "Marius," performed a public autopsy ...