Bill Chappell

An hours-long protest against recent police shootings spun out of control late Sunday in Albuquerque, N.M., as officers in riot gear reportedly used tear gas and other methods to break up crowds. Hundreds of people took part in the rally, which spread over several streets.

Protesters eventually clashed with police, ...

An international court has ordered Japan to revoke whaling permits in the Antarctic and stop granting new ones.

The country's government had argued that hunting whales was part of a research program, but the International Court of Justice ruled Monday that Japan hasn't generated enough scientific research to justify ...

In perhaps the most compelling match of her comeback to elite tennis, Martina Hingis won the doubles title at the Sony Open Sunday, playing alongside Sabine Lisicki. The pair entered the tournament in Key Biscayne, Fla., on a wild card granted by organizers.

"I definitely did not think I would ...

What if William Shakespeare's plays faced off in a tournament, like basketball squads spewing Elizabethan verse? That's the idea behind a bracket that pits 32 of the bard's plays against each another, in a contest arranged by New York's New Victory Theater.

Much like the NCAA basketball tournament that inspired ...

Britain's monarchy has released a new photo of Prince George, the 8-month-old son of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, showing a cute boy who's more taken with the family dog than with having his picture taken.

The photograph was released this weekend, ahead of the family's trip to ...

Egypt will hold its presidential election on May 26 and 27, a government election commission announced Sunday. The results aren't likely to be declared until late June; many expect the country's former military chief to win the office.

From Cairo, NPR's Leila Fadel sent this report to our Newscast unit:

Riot police were deployed in Tuscon last night, after University of Arizona students and fans took to the streets to vent their anger over a 1-point loss in overtime that ended their men's basketball team's hopes of playing for a national championship.

A large crowd formed on University Boulevard after ...

Families who lost loved ones on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are asking Malaysian officials to explain what happened to the jet that went missing three weeks ago. Dozens of relatives of the missing passengers arrived in Kuala Lampur from China Sunday.

Holding banners with messages like, "Hand us the murderer" ...

After weeks filled with nothing but losses, the Philadelphia 76ers finally won a basketball game Saturday night, ending a 26-game losing streak that had tied the worst in NBA history. Their last previous win came on Jan. 29.

"It's over," declared the headline at the Philadelphia Inquirer. Just one ...

Update at 10:30 p.m. Death toll increased

On Sunday, the number of people that have been confirmed dead from the mudslide has been increased from 18 to 21, according to Jason Biermann, program manager at the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management.

The Associated Press has more:

Fifteen of ...

Calling a ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy unconstitutional, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin vetoed a bill that would have made it a crime to carry out such a procedure in West Virginia. Tomblin said the bill was a "detriment" to women's health and safety.

The bill "unduly restricts ...

The official death toll in the mudslide that turned a community into a disaster area in Oso, Wash., remains at 17, as officials work to locate and identify victims.

Update at 11:01 p.m. EDT: New Numbers

The number of deaths climbed by one Saturday to 18, while the number missing ...

The Russian troops who are holding Crimea won't be sent into Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says. "We have absolutely no intention of — or interest in — crossing Ukraine's borders," Lavrov told a Russian TV station Saturday, according to a translation by Reuters.

The comments from Moscow ...

Kentucky came back to beat defending champ Louisville, and Michigan State upset Virginia Friday night, as the NCAA men's basketball championship finalized its Elite Eight lineup.

Those teams were joined by Michigan, which held off a second-half comeback by Tennessee, and Connecticut, which took out Iowa State. Four other schools ...

An earthquake shook part of Southern California Friday night, breaking water pipes and rattling nerves with aftershocks that went on into the night. The 5.1-magnitude quake hit at a shallow depth about 20 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

While the quake didn't inflict severe damage in the area around its ...

Western lawmakers and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell urge changes to the way America pays to fight and recover from wildfires, starting with preserving money that's meant for fire prevention. They met with fire officials Monday who predicted a busy fire season for much of the West.

NPR's Nathan Rott reports ...

Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair, who was accused of sexually assaulting a subordinate, has pleaded guilty to lesser charges in a plea deal reached with government prosecutors. A judge accepted the plea deal Monday; the general's sentencing hearing will continue Tuesday.

NPR's Tom Bowman reports for our Newscast unit that ...

Attorneys general from 28 states are urging drugstores and large retailers to stop selling tobacco products. In letters sent to Kroger, Wal-Mart, and other store chains, the officials ask companies to follow the example of pharmacy chain CVS, which announced last month that it's going to stop selling tobacco ...

Westboro Baptist Church founder Rev. Fred Phelps Sr. is in hospice care and near death, according to family and church members say. His estranged son says the longtime pastor's passing would put his followers in a crisis, because the church's members "think that death is a judgment from God."

"So ...

Updated at 3:10 p.m. ET.

Russia has officially recognized Crimea as a sovereign independent state, after President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to that effect late Monday, according to a release from the Kremlin. The decree takes effect immediately, naming "the Republic of Crimea, in which the city ...