Bill Chappell

Chris Mintz was shot multiple times by a gunman at an Oregon community college Thursday, and now he's being called a hero, after it emerged that Mintz ran at the attacker and tried to block the door to a classroom and protect his classmates. Mintz is now recovering from ...

Updated 7:30 p.m. ET

A vigil was held in Roseburg, Ore., last night, hours after a man killed nine people at the local community college. Investigators say the man behind Thursday's shooting is also dead — and the county sheriff says he'll never say that man's name in public. Nine ...

Responding to a flood of interest in the surprise revelation that Pope Francis met with controversial county clerk Kim Davis, the Vatican says the event shouldn't be seen as an endorsement of all of Davis' views. Davis has refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Rowan County, Ky.

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At the stroke of midnight, it became legal for Oregon dispensaries to sell marijuana to anyone over 21 years old. The state has also been allowing residents to wipe old pot charges from their criminal records.

Oregon becomes the third U.S. state to legalize recreational marijuana sales, joining Colorado and ...

A song titled "Nothing Without You" has a steep hill to climb toward independence. Before hearing a word, the artist has admitted to being hamstrung by addiction, and an inability to form a sense of self separate from the desideratum. It's a risky impression to make—especially if you're an up-and-coming, ...

Russia says it has carried out at least 20 airstrikes in Syria. But many of those attacks hit areas miles from the ISIS strongholds that were initially named as targets. Syria's opposition says Russian forces are hitting any opponents of President Bashar Assad — and that civilians are paying a ...

Updated, 1:20 a.m. ET

The National Hurricane Center's projections for Hurricane Joaquin in the past two days have incrementally moved the storm east. Now the government agency is saying the storm is likely to miss the United States altogether.

Some coastal flooding is still likely from the storm's ...

Three days after Taliban fighters swept into Kunduz, Afghanistan's government says its troops have retaken the strategically important northern city, but reports suggest the fighting is not yet over in the city.

Update at 1:15 p.m. ET: Americans' Role In Combat

New details have emerged about the combat Americans were ...

A letter from Wisconsin officials called on state residents to take down deer lawn ornaments because they were being tallied in the deer count. The letter was fake, but it did light up Facebook.

Jack Dorsey, the Twitter co-founder who has led the company since June on an interim basis, will officially become the company's new CEO, according to reports. Dorsey is also the CEO of mobile payment company Square; it's uncertain whether he will try to hold both jobs.

Dorsey "is expected be ...

TO: America's colleges and universities

FR: America's high school students

RE: Please make the college admissions process less daunting and more collaborative, creative, engaging and in tune with the Digital Age. Oh, and while you're at it, try to level the admissions playing field between rich and poor.

Funny you ...

Updated at 11:20 a.m. ET

In a new development that could change the dynamic of Syria's civil war, Russian military began carrying out airstrikes in Syria on Wednesday. Russia says it will target ISIS fighters as part of a plan to fight terrorism.

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby says ...

At least seven people are dead in Liucheng county in southern China after a series of powerful explosions that are being blamed on parcel bombs. As many as 17 explosions caused the damage in and around the city of Liuzhou, according to local media.

The blasts were strong enough to ...

Addressing reports that Pope Francis met privately with controversial Kentucky clerk Kim Davis during his U.S. visit, the Vatican acknowledges that the meeting took place. Davis, who has refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, says she met the pope at the Vatican Embassy in Washington.

"I cannot not ...

You don't have to go on safari to watch the great wildebeest migration, one of the most striking natural events in the world. Thousands of the animals are streaming across Kenya's Masai Mara Reserve this week — and video of them is streaming online.

The project is being run by ...

A dispute over a call in a soccer match boiled over to the point that a referee brought out a pistol on the field this weekend near the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte. The referee, who is also a policeman, reportedly felt threatened and wanted to take control of the ...

He was once a vice president of soccer's world governing body, but now Jack Warner, who's under an indictment for corruption charges, has been banned from the sport for life. FIFA announced the move Tuesday, citing repeated misconduct by Warner.

A native of Trinidad and Tobago, Warner was among

Under fire for misleading governments and customers about its diesel cars' emissions, Volkswagen has a plan to recall millions of vehicles so it can fix the problem. The company has said it sold 11 million cars worldwide that use software to limit emissions only during official testing.

The news comes ...

A day after the Taliban seized control of the city of Kunduz, a military operation is underway to try to retake the provincial capital in northern Afghanistan. The U.S. carried out an airstrike to aid coalition and Afghan forces, according to NATO.

The fall of Kunduz is seen as "the ...

Days after he was named the subject of a criminal investigation, FIFA President Sepp Blatter says he won't step down from soccer's governing body. In a statement released by his lawyer, Blatter says he has "done nothing illegal or improper."

In the statement to the media, Blatter's attorney, Richard ...