Bill Chappell

Idaho's Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter has signed a bill that criminalizes the act of secretly filming animal abuse at agricultural facilities. The move comes days after the state's legislature approved the measure.

"Otter, a rancher, said the measure promoted by the dairy industry 'is about agriculture producers being secure in ...

Saying that the United States is "deeply concerned" by reports that Russia is taking military action in Ukraine, President Obama urged Russia not to intervene in the destabilized country, where tensions have reached new highs this week.

Obama said that he had spoken to Russia's President Putin in recent days, ...

The skies above the U.K. went crazy last night. Streaks of green and yellow layered themselves over the horizon, while swatches of red shimmered overhead. The intense aurora borealis was powered by the remnants of a strong solar flare that occurred earlier this week.

Britons who stayed up late last ...

The House of Representatives has approved several bills that would limit and change the way the federal government regulates businesses. The Republican-backed measures were all passed by largely party-line votes; none are seen as likely to be enacted into law.

The legislation underscores "an increasingly symbolic thrust of legislation as ...

Citing "softness" in the U.S. economy, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told a Senate panel today that the Fed will try to determine if the results are a new trend or are related to this winter's intense cold and storms. Analysts are seeing her comments as signaling a potential shift ...

If there's a quicker goal in the history of soccer, we don't know about it. On the opening kick, a Georgia high school player received the ball in his own end – and the ball didn't touch the ground again until it crashed into the back of the net, 67 ...

When Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych fled Kiev, he left a trove of documents at his estate; many were thrown into a large reservoir. Journalists called divers and spent the weekend going over soggy papers in a house they had long been forbidden from entering. With the help of volunteers, more ...

He has held his seat in the House of Representatives since 1991 But today Rep. Ed Pastor announced that he won't seek another term. Pastor, 70, announced his decision on Twitter, saying that it was time for him "to seek out a new endeavor."

"After 23 years in Congress serving ...

Are you streaming music right now? If you're in America's Pacific region, there's a much better chance you're nodding along with Cat Power rather than grooving to Fantasia, which you'd be more likely to be doing if you were across the country in the South Atlantic. Those observations come from ...

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer says she has vetoed controversial legislation that would have allowed business owners in her state to refuse to serve gays and others if those customers somehow offended the proprietors' religious beliefs.

Brewer, a Republican, announced her decision at a news conference held Wednesday afternoon, following a ...

Can drones, the small unmanned aircraft that are at the forefront of fields from warfare to commercial delivery systems, fly without human intervention? A team of Hungarian researchers answers yes, having created 10 drones that self-organize as they move through the air.

The team based its creation on birds such ...

Ukraine is headed toward an important moment, as a vote on an interim government has been scheduled for Thursday. William Hague, the British Foreign Secretary, explains the diplomatic situation.

Saying that a Texas law barring same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and demeans the dignity of homosexuals, a federal judge struck down the law Wednesday. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia doesn't mean gay marriages can be held in Texas, however; he placed a stay on the decision, anticipating ...

The job of NASA's Kepler mission is to peek at the far reaches of space in the hopes of finding potentially habitable planets. The space agency announced a stunning success, saying that Kepler had identified 715 new planets that orbit 305 stars. The discovery boosts the number of verified planets ...

With Ukraine in a political limbo following the flight of its president Saturday, the name of Arseniy Yatsenyuk is being put forth as the country's next leader until new elections are held in May. Yatsenyuk is a member of the Batkyvshchina party, whose leaders include former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

...

Former prisoners spoke about the effects of solitary confinement Tuesday in a congressional hearing aimed at banning it for some inmates. Solitary confinement is also extremely expensive, critics say.

The whereabouts of Ukraine's ousted President Viktor Yanukovych remain unkown, but the country's opposition-led Parliament says any war crimes prosecution of the former leader would come in The Hague's International Criminal Court.

The opposition, which took control after Yanukovych fled the capital, has not yet formed a government. But its ...

Farmers in California, where Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency last month, are facing hard choices as a drought threatens to ruin their crops. They must weigh the costs of paying for irrigation against the chance that their fields will never get enough water this season.

A ...

With parts of the U.S. engulfed once more in a polar vortex that has brought crippling winter storms to large swaths of the country, it might seem that this winter will never end.

If the snow and ice have cramped your style, you might take cues from a clever crow ...

A meteorite that smashed into the moon last September caused a bright flash that persisted for 8 seconds, setting a new record for lunar impacts. The high-speed collision was recorded on video and would have been clearly visible to anyone on Earth who happened to look at the moon at ...