Bill Chappell

Golfer Rory McIlroy had an outstanding first day at the Scottish Open, finishing with a seven-under-par 64 to break the Royal Aberdeen course record Thursday. But he hit one shot that staggered spectators: a drive on the 13th hole that streaked down the fairway before rolling onto the green ...

Cable network HBO has received 99 nominations for the 2014 Emmy Awards, running its streak as the network with the most Emmy nods to 14 years. HBO's Game of Thrones got 19 nominations, one ahead of the FX miniseries Fargo.

NPR's Neda Ulaby reports for our Newscast unit:

"HBO ...

There are no plans to discuss a cease-fire with Hamas, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told Israeli lawmakers today that "it's not even on the agenda."

Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling the burst of deadly attacks between Israel and militants "one of the most critical tests the ...

A dispute between Iraq's Shiite-led central government and the semi-autonomous Kurdish region is boiling over, as Kurdish ministers withdrew from all Cabinet meetings. In response, Baghdad is reportedly halting some cargo flights between Kurdish cities.

The spat is playing out amid the threat posed by the self-proclaimed "Islamic State," ...

Chinese hackers successfully accessed U.S. government computer networks in March apparently hoping to find information about "tens of thousands of employees who have applied for top-secret security clearances," The New York Times reports.

The newspaper says the attack centered on the Office of Personnel Management was reportedly detected and ...

The family of slain Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir received condolences from an unlikely source Tuesday: Israelis who had asked to come and mourn with them.

The scene was predictably awkward, even painfully so. But as NPR's Ari Shapiro reported for today's Morning Edition, the visit also brought a ...

The flailing about, the protests, the sheer agony — what if everyone behaved like international soccer stars who can evidently be slammed to the ground by a fingertip?

That's the question answered by a fun video from Fourgrounds Film of Canada. It's a sendup of the histrionics seen in World ...

Edward Snowden remains a fugitive from U.S. authorities over leaking secret documents about its surveillance programs. Now he's asking Russia to extend the one-year term of asylum the country granted the former NSA contract worker last summer.

Snowden's asylum, which was granted last August, is set to expire at the ...

It might be the oldest tree in Britain. A yew tree that sprawls over a churchyard in Wales is more than 5,000 years old, according to experts. While it's not exceptionally tall, the tree has a wide canopy. And it dates back to the era of Egypt's pharaohs.

From ...

Chris Froome, who raced to the top of the podium in Paris last July, is out of this year's Tour de France after falling in treacherous conditions on today's stage of the bicycle race.

Today's stage had been predicted to be harrowing, owing to the course's inclusion of cobblestones. But ...

Israel and the Palestinians go to hot conflict again, this time in a region in turmoil, from Gaza to Baghdad.

Three Israeli teens, kidnapped and killed. A Palestinian boy, apparently burned alive in revenge. And suddenly, it’s rockets out of Gaza, and bombs in. Forty thousand Israeli Army Reservists authorized ...

"The worst game I saw in my life" is how one Brazilian fan describes it. Another says it's simply a tragedy. Some angry fans burned Brazil's flag in the street.

To say Brazil's 7-1 loss to Germany stunned the host country would risk giving the impression that its fans ...

Good morning, here is our early story:

-- Israel Strikes Gaza, As Hamas Rockets Show Increased Range.

And here are more early headlines:

Obama To Visit Texas Today, But Not The Border. (AP)

VA Whistleblowers Allege Retaliation At Troubled Agency. (Washington Post)

New German Government Worker Arrested, ...

Update at 2:42 p.m. ET

Israeli leaders are signaling that a ground invasion might be imminent as the offensive on Gaza intensifies, killing at least 53 people and wounding 465 others.

The toll comes from the Palestinian Authority's Health Ministry.

Reporter Daniel Estrin tells NPR's Newscast unit that Israel's military ...

Don't pay too much attention to the shifty eyes in the old portrait. Same goes for the mysterious tapping down the hall of the vast family manor — and, for that matter, the secrets lurking in its attic. Don't even be fooled by the ghost.

The Hundred-Year House may be ...

Police in Rhode Island have a secret weapon to fight child pornography: a 2-year-old Labrador named Thoreau, who's been trained to sniff out computer hard drives. The dog is credited with finding a thumb drive that was hidden deep inside a metal cabinet last month.

Thoreau was trained by the ...

Did fake accusations that Sen. Robert Menendez had visited underage prostitutes come from Cuba's intelligence agency? That's the question the senator wants the Justice Department to look into.

In April, an attorney for Menendez, a Democrat who has been a harsh critic of the regime that runs the country his ...

A tree branch got in the way of the fun for more than 20 riders who were on the Ninja roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain north of Los Angeles Monday, stranding them above the ground for hours before rescue crews freed them.

The Ninja is a "suspended swinging ...

People who enter the U.S. and nearby countries illegally from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras should not be forced to return home and should be treated as refugees, a U.N. agency says. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says people from those countries are subject to persecution.

From Geneva, Lisa ...

Coming off of two victories this weekend, Ukraine is calling for pro-Russian separatists to lay down their arms in Donetsk before taking part in peace talks. Rebels in the city are reportedly preparing to resist Ukraine's forces.

Plans for talks about a cease-fire are now in limbo, as President Petro ...