Scott Neuman

Update at 11:35 a.m. ET

Secret Service Director Julia Pierson faced a tough inquiry by lawmakers today as she appeared before a House committee to answer questions about the Sept. 19 White House security breach in which a man with a knife entered the executive mansion.

"It's clear that ...

Updated at 8:30 a.m. ET

Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying is appealing to pro-democracy demonstrators who've brought parts of the Asian financial hub to a standstill in recent days to halt their campaign "immediately" because, he says, Beijing won't accede to their demands. But protesters have promised to announce a ...

Some might say a group of Swedish scientists have "got a lot of nerve," running a 17-year secret contest to hide as many Bob Dylan lyrics as possible in their scholarly articles. The attitude of others, no doubt: "Don't think twice, it's alright."

As Sweden's edition of The Local ...

"Hold me accountable" is the message from Afghanistan's new president, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, who took the oath of office today, succeeding Hamid Karzai, a leader many accused of lacking accountability.

Ahmadzai's accession to leadership in Afghanistan follows a protracted dispute with his rival in the presidential vote, former foreign minister ...

Masses of pro-democracy protesters continue to pack the streets in Hong Kong, defying police who have responded with tear gas. The demonstrators are angry that Beijing has insisted on vetting all candidates for the territory's next chief executive.

Here's a closer look at the issue and what's at stake:

A ...

Thousands of pro-democracy protesters, wearing surgical masks and holding umbrellas to ward off tear gas lobbed by police, have continued to throng Hong Kong's Central business district and other areas of the city, calling on Beijing to make good on a promise to allow the former British colony to choose ...

Thailand's coup leader turned prime minister is not happy with the daily fare of infidelity and violence that is a staple of the country's television soap operas — and he's prepared to write the scripts himself if that's what it takes.

Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, the army chief who staged ...

Updated at 2:43 p.m. ET

Flights in and out of Chicago's two airports came to a halt Friday morning after a fire at an air traffic control facility.

As of early Friday afternoon at least some of the flights had begun taking off and landing, reports NPR's David Schaper in ...

Hungary has "indefinitely" cut off its supply of natural gas to Ukraine, a move that Kiev's state gas firm has described as "unexpected and unexplained."

Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency cites Hungary's gas operator, FGSZ Ltd., that the pipeline cut-off "was made to meet the growing the growing domestic demand."

However, ...

State media in China say that a violent clash in the country's restive Xinjiang region over the weekend was much more deadly than first reported: At least 50 people died Sunday, including 40 "rioters" with about as many wounded during an "organized and serious" terrorist attack.

Earlier this week, state ...

Hours after Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson released a video apology to the family of Michael Brown, the unarmed 18-year-old fatally shot by a white police officer, clashes erupted briefly amid protests calling for Jackson's resignation.

They followed an exchange between Jackson and a group of demonstrators outside the ...

Updated at 12:25 p.m. ET

The British Parliament has voted to approve the U.K.'s participation in U.S.-led airstrikes against the self-declared Islamic State in Iraq after Prime Minister David Cameron told MPs that the extremists pose a "clear and proven" threat to British lives.

The 524-to-43 vote in Parliament came ...

President Obama urged the international community to join the United States in trying to stop the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, saying the disease could kill hundreds of thousands of people in the coming months if it is left unchecked.

"If this epidemic is not stopped, this disease could cause ...

Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson, who was at the center of the controversy surrounding the fatal police shooting in August of unarmed black teen Michael Brown, released a video today in which he apologized to the family of the victim.

"I'm truly sorry for the loss of your son. I'm ...

The Justice Department says it has begun a review of police department procedures in Beavercreek, Ohio, after a grand jury decided not to indict officers in the fatal shooting of a black man in a Wal-Mart store.

The DOJ promised a "thorough and independent" investigation, and said it would take ...

British police have reportedly detained the country's highest-profile radical Muslim preacher as part of a series of arrests of nine individuals on suspicion of encouraging terrorism and belonging to or supporting a banned organization, according to the BBC and Reuters.

Authorities said the arrests were not connected to ...

Updated at 8:40 a.m. ET

The U.S. and some of its Arab coalition partners have conducted another round of airstrikes in Syria, hitting oil refineries that have fallen into the hands of Islamic State militants, who officials say are funding themselves with the petroleum revenues.

The Pentagon says 13 airstrikes ...

In a vote presided over by President Obama, the U.N. Security Council has unanimously approved a historic resolution aimed at stopping the flow of foreign extremists to battlefields around the world.

Resolution 2178, which criminalizes traveling abroad to fight for extremist organizations as well as the recruiting for or funding ...

In a vote presided over by President Obama, the U.N. Security Council has unanimously approved a historic resolution aimed at stopping the flow of foreign extremists to battlefields around the world.

Resolution 2178, which criminalizes traveling abroad to fight for extremist organizations as well as the recruiting for or funding ...

Updated at 2:30 p.m. ET

French President Francois Hollande announced the "assassination" of a hostage seized over the weekend in Algeria by a group said to be affiliated with the self-described Islamic State. Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly, the Hollande's remarks confirm the apparent beheading of French mountain guide ...