Bill Chappell

Saying that the state's ban on marriage between people of the same sex violates the 14th Amendment, a federal judge in Kansas City is ordering Kansas to stop enforcing its ban. Tuesday's injunction takes effect in one week, depending on whether the state appeals.

As we've reported, Kansas has ...

The spotted lanternfly has officially arrived in the U.S., and leaders in Pennsylvania are hoping it won't be staying long. The invasive pest poses a threat to fruit orchards and grape vines, along with forests and the timber industry. It was detected in Berks County, northwest of Philadelphia.

"Berks County ...

Get ready for some early sunsets. At 2 a.m. Sunday morning, U.S. clocks moved one hour backward, officially ending Daylight Saving Time. Folks in Hawaii and much of Arizona can ignore the fuss — they never moved their clocks forward, back in the spring.

The time-switch can also serve as ...

Nina Pham, the nurse who became the first person to contract the deadly Ebola virus on American soil, was reunited with her dog in Dallas Saturday, after the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was declared not to have the disease and released from his three-week quarantine.

The reunion with the dog, ...

A cute-a-bration has broken out among Hello Kitty fans, as the beloved Japanese character marks its 40th year. Since introducing Hello Kitty in 1974, the Sanrio company has turned simple design and a knack for accessorizing into $8 billion worth of annual sales.

The milestone inspired a Hello Kitty Con ...

An electrical link that supplies Bangladesh's power grid with electricity from India failed Saturday, plunging most of the country into a blackout. Attempts to restore power met only with limited success before officials finally made a breakthrough late Saturday.

Most of the country's population of more than 160 million people ...

A court in Cairo sentenced eight men to three years in prison today, over charges of "debauchery" stemming from an online video that showed the men celebrating what appeared to be a same-sex wedding in August.

The case stems from a short video of a party on a boat that ...

Nigerian extremist group Boko Haram says the more than 200 girls it kidnapped from a school in April are now married. The group made the claim as its leader denied stories that it has reached a cease fire deal.

"We have married them off. They are in their marital homes," ...

Alta Bicycle Share, the company that manages bike-sharing programs in New York, Washington, Chicago, San Francisco and other cities, has been sold to an investment group that includes executives in fitness club operator Equinox and real estate firm Related Companies. The new owners say they'll expand the service in New ...

When a branch of Punjab National Bank in northern India opened for business Monday, the staff was surprised to find it had been robbed, the strongroom breached from underground by thieves who had dug a tunnel from an empty building some 125 feet away. They had plundered about a quarter ...

Australia's immigration agency has ceased processing new visa applications from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, over concerns about the possible spread of the deadly Ebola virus. The country has also shut down an aid program in West Africa, Australia's immigration chief says. The move is drawing criticism.

Speaking in Parliament ...

In the latest tweak to America's plan to prevent the spread of the deadly Ebola disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention leader Dr. Tom Frieden announced changes to the U.S. response to Ebola and the guidance federal agencies are giving to state and local governments.

The new protocol stops ...

One week after Apple's new mobile payment system, Apple Pay, debuted in CVS stores, CVS has backtracked and barred its use. Rite Aid took the same step, leading many observers to note that the two companies are part of a group of retailers that's developing its own payment system, ...

Chiquita Brands International, the banana and produce firm whose trademark blue stickers have been ubiquitous in American kitchens for decades, is being sold to two Brazilian companies in a deal valued at around $1.3 billion. The Charlotte-based company traces its roots to the 1870s, when American entrepreneurs brought bananas to ...

A new class of musicians was inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame Sunday night, with blind singer and pianist Ronnie Milsap leading the group. Milsap's career ranged from playing both early R&B and on the Elvis hit "Kentucky Rain" in the 1960s to the heights of solo success ...

Kaci Hickox, the nurse who spent the weekend in mandatory quarantine after arriving in New Jersey from West Africa, will be discharged from the hospital and allowed to leave the state, officials said today, citing tests that have shown she's been free of any Ebola symptoms for the past 24 ...

In case any over-exhausted parents might wonder if they're hallucinating, we can assure you: Former Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton did actually give a reading of the 2011 best-seller Go the [bleep] to Sleep this weekend.

A video of the reading has been viewed nearly 250,000 times since it was ...

Nearly four years after staging a revolution that ousted a dictator and promised a future of democracy, Tunisians cast votes in their country's first full parliamentary election Sunday, picking from thousands of candidates. Voter turnout has been reported at around 60 percent of the electorate, according to state media.

"On ...

Gov. Chris Christie says that a new rule requiring a 21-day quarantine for people who've been in contact with Ebola patients is necessary to protect the public in New Jersey and other states — and that the CDC "eventually will come around to our point of view on this."

Dr. ...

Kaci Hickox, a nurse whose return to the U.S. after treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone was sidetracked when she was placed in a mandatory 21-day quarantine Friday, is criticizing the way New Jersey officials have handled her case.

Hickox says she doesn't have a fever; a preliminary blood test ...