Camila Domonoske

Tony Spence, director of a news outlet covering the church, was asked to resign this week, according to several Catholic news outlets. He had tweeted about controversial laws in several states.

The French Republic is France. The Hellenic Republic is Greece. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Kingdom of Denmark, Slovak Republic: All have shorter English names. The Czech Republic doesn't — yet.

The rules, designed to make drilling safer and reduce the risk of a blowout, come six years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The oil industry says some of the requirements are too costly.

The long-awaited legislation is limited to people with serious and incurable medical issues, and would require multiple evaluations and a 15-day waiting period. It's several steps from becoming law.

The Russian president talked about the struggling economy, persistent potholes, relations with Turkey, doping allegations, the Panama Papers and more. He dodged questions about his personal life.

On the eve of the second anniversary of the Chibok kidnapping — an event that prompted the #BringBackOurGirls movement — CNN is airing a video that purportedly shows 15 of the kidnapped girls.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced Thursday the two nations have patrolled the disputed waters. He also said more U.S. forces will be rotated through the Philippines.

Take a break from the news for a totally compelling, entirely gravity-driven race that captured hearts and minds on the Internet this week. Plus: literary parodies, because this is NPR.

The crash that killed 11 people in February appears to have been caused by a distracted dispatcher, prosecutors say. The controller has been arrested and may face charges of negligent homicide.

As the coal industry struggles with falling prices, weak Chinese demand, regulatory changes and competition from fracking, St. Louis-based Peabody has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Nearly 40,000 union workers on the East Coast, who haven't had a contract since August, have walked out. Among other things, they object to outsourcing and two-month location transfers of employees.

Physicist Stephen Hawking and billionaire Yuri Milner have announced a $100 million mission to prepare for interstellar exploration — with a stamp-size spacecraft, light sails and enormous lasers.

A survey of 3,500 Arab youths in the Middle East and North Africa found that most say ISIS is the biggest obstacle facing the Middle East. The threat of terrorism and cost of living are also concerns.

Child "suicide bombings" by the Nigeria-based militant group have risen from four in 2014 to 44 last year, the U.N. program says. Most of the children were girls.

Riot police with tear gas and stun grenades faced off with fence-storming migrants and refugees at the border between Greece and Macedonia on Sunday. Tens of thousands of migrants are stranded there.

The isolated Attawapiskat community is home to about 2,000 people. In March, there were 28 suicide attempts — and on Saturday night alone, 11 people tried to kill themselves, the CBC reports.

Kerry is the highest-ranking U.S. official ever to visit the site. He honored the 140,000 Japanese who died in the U.S. attack on the city, but did not apologize for the bombing there and in Nagasaki.

In the wake of the deadly attacks in Belgium's capital in March, two brothers were quickly identified as suspected suicide bombers; authorities took longer to name their suspected accomplices.

Gov. Mike Pence signed new abortion restrictions into law last month. Some women have since decided that if he's interested in their reproductive systems, they might as well keep him updated.

In his new exhortation, "The Joy of Love," Francis addresses marriage, sex and love. For a 79-year-old man who has taken a lifelong vow of celibacy, the pontiff has some pretty solid tips.