Scott Neuman

The head of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, has been killed in a U.S. drone strike, U.S. and Taliban officials tell NPR and other news organizations.

"We confirm with great sorrow that our esteemed leader was martyred in a drone attack," a senior Taliban commander was quoted by Reuters ...

A suspect was shot and is in custody, authorities say, and at least six victims are being treated. Flights are delayed or diverted. Authorities have told local news outlets that the i...

A federal appeals court has granted a Texas request to reinstate restrictions on abortion providers after a lower court blocked the state from fully implementing the new law.

The stay follows a ruling by District Judge Lee Yeakel on Monday — a day before the law was ...

Unnamed U.S. officials have told CNN and The Associated Press that Israeli warplanes destroyed a shipment of Russian missiles at a Syrian airbase. But officials in Tel Aviv won't comment on the reported attack near the port of Latakia overnight on Wednesday.

"We're not commenting on these reports," a spokesman ...

A federal appeals court judge has put a temporary hold on changes to the New York Police Department's controversial "stop-and-frisk" policy ordered by a lower court and suspended the judge who made the earlier ruling.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted New York's request to stay the ...

More than 47 million Americans who receive food stamps will be getting a bit less starting Friday when a temporary benefit enacted as part of the federal stimulus expires.

The Department of Agriculture, which runs the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program, or SNAP, as the food stamp program is formally ...

Capt. James Kirk always got the latest, most advanced ship in Starfleet, so it seems only fitting that the Navy's new stealth destroyer, the USS Zumwalt, is slated to be commanded by none other than Capt. James A. Kirk, USN.

We can only speculate about the ribbing Bethesda, ...

New York's City Council on Wednesday voted to raise the legal age for purchasing tobacco products and electronic-vapor cigarettes to 21 from the current 18 years, adopting one of the nation's toughest such restrictions.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has pushed for anti-tobacco measures, has said he will sign the law.

...

There's more than Intel inside Dell's Latitude 6430u laptop — some customers have reported a distinct and unpleasant smell emanating from the machines:

"A few weeks ago I got a new [Latitude] 6430u for work," one user called "Three West" complained on Dell's hardware support forum. "The machine ...

President Obama on Wednesday said he takes full responsibility for the troubled HealthCare.gov website and is determined to make sure it gets fixed "ASAP."

"The website hasn't worked the way it's supposed to in these past few weeks," he told an audience in Boston. "There's no denying it. The website ...

Police in China have arrested five men described as Islamic jihadists in connection with a deadly car crash and fire that killed two tourists and injured 40 others this week in Tiananmen Square.

The incident on Monday, in which a car crashed into a bridge near the Forbidden City before ...

Protocol is a concept that's often lost on young children, and this boy — one of a group of children invited to sit near the pontiff during a speech — didn't see any reason why he shouldn't hang out for a bit with the guy in white.

Dressed in jeans, ...

The Federal Reserve's message, at least for now, is to take a wait-and-see approach to the economy before tapering off on its bond-buying program.

In a statement issued after Wednesday's meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee said that while it has seen signs of "growing underlying strength in the ...

While human rights groups and other watchdogs have put the civilian death toll in the hundreds, Pakistan's Ministry of Defense announced Wednesday that just 3 percent of the deaths from U.S. drone strikes since 2008 were noncombatants.

The ministry says 317 drone strikes have killed 2,160 Islamic militants and 67 ...

Four French hostages captured in Niger three years ago by members of an al-Qaida affiliate have been released.

France's President Francois Hollande says the men, seized in a raid on a uranium mining operation on Sept. 16, 2010, near Arlit in northern Niger, will be returning home soon.

The four ...

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has asked a federal appeals court judge to grant an emergency ruling allowing the state to enforce an anti-abortion law struck down by a lower court on Monday.

NPR's Kathy Lohr reports that the state argues that District Judge Lee Yeakel was in error ...

A Moldovan dancer who was on the bridge of the ill-fated Costa Concordia on the night that it crashed and sank nearly two years ago has admitted in court that she and the captain were lovers, after having repeatedly denied the rumors in public.

Domnica Cemortan, 26, acknowledged her ...

Following a problem-plagued launch of the HealthCare.gov website, the White House on Monday officially announced a six-week extension to sign up for coverage under the law's individual mandate.

The move has been expected since White House Press Secretary Jay Carney acknowledged last week that there was a "disconnect" in ...

Scientists have confirmed for the first time that at least one variety of Asian carp is living and breeding in the Great Lakes watershed, where it threatens stocks of native fish.

A U.S. Geological Survey and Bowling Green State University study published Monday says Asian carp taken from the Sandusky ...

Dianne Feinstein, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is calling for a "total review" of spying operations directed against foreign leaders.

"Unless the United States is engaged in hostilities against a country or there is an emergency need for this type of surveillance, I do not believe the ...