ORLANDO, Fla. -- For the umpteenth time, a horrific mass shooting on U.S. soil united people around the world in solemn vigils.

In tribute to the reported 50 dead...

It was a normal Saturday night at Pulse nightclub in downtown Orlando, Florida. The place was crowded. Everyone was having fun, said Cheresse Young, a resident DJ at the nightclub who has worked there for five years.

Young left the club around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, less than an...

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio gathered government officials and celebrities Wednesday for a dramatic, live reading of the Stanford University sexual assault victim's letter.

The event, streamed live on Facebook, featured the mayor's wife, Chirlane McCray; actresses Cynthia Nixon, Karen Olivo and Stacey Sargeant; and...

Peter Jonsson and Carl-Fredrik Arndt are the acknowledged heroes of the Stanford sexual assault case, but they aren't asking the world to remember their names. 

Last year the two Stanford University graduate students were bicycling by when they spotted Brock Turner sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a...

The victim of a 2015 sexual assault at Stanford University said Tuesday that she's remaining anonymous not only to safeguard her privacy, but also to let her story speak for women everywhere. 

In an appearance on CNN's "Legal View" with host Ashleigh Banfield, the prosecutor in the case...

In a moving stand against silencing rape victims, CNN host Ashleigh Banfield dedicated more than 20 minutes of airtime on Monday to reading nearly the entire statement from the victim of a 2015 sexual assault at Stanford University. 

The 23-year-old victim first read the letter aloud to assailant...

The memory of NPR photojournalist David Gilkey, who was killed on assignment in Afghanistan on Sunday, lives on through his most stirring works.

Gilkey, 50, died alongside NPR's Afghan interpreter Zabihullah Tamanna, 38, when the Afghan army unit they were traveling with came under attack.

The...

A German member of parliament took a cake to the face Saturday in an apparent challenge to her support for limiting the number of refugees entering the county. 

During a party meeting in Magdeburg, an activist ran up to left-wing MP Sahra Wagenknecht and shoved a chocolate...

More than one-third of North America's 1,154 native bird species are at high risk of extinction due to climate change and other manmade factors, a new report found.

Thirty-seven percent of the continent's bird species across 10 different habitat types need "urgent conservation action,"...

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came under fire Wednesday after grabbing one member of Parliament and elbowing another.

Video footage from the floor of the House of Commons shows Trudeau grabbing the arm of Opposition Whip Gord Brown and elbowing MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau before a vote on an...

Human activity is responsible for the disappearance of a football field's worth of natural land in the American West every two and a half minutes, a report released Tuesday found.

Conducted by the Center for American Progress and the Conservation Science Partners, the "Disappearing West"...

In his commencement speech at Drew University on Saturday, all-time leading NBA scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar challenged students to reimagine the American dream.

Abdul-Jabbar, who retired from the NBA after 20 seasons in 1989 and has since written 11 books, urged graduates of the New Jersey school to separate their vision of success from notions of wealth.

"Somewhere along the line, financial independence somehow got interpreted as fabulous wealth," he said, adding, "Today, that warped concept of the American dream is embodied by the Kim Kardashian phenomenon: fame and fortune heaped upon someone who offers no particular talent except self-promotion. She has more than 40 million followers on Twitter, but her insights are the Styrofoam peanuts of popular culture. Money for nothing indeed."

Instead, he said, he hopes students will tailor their ideas of fulfillment.

"Each generation must customize the American dream to fit their own circumstances and the realities of the world around them," he said. "Instead of promoting a generic dream, we need to encourage each new generation to prioritize their own values. Polls indicate that, as opposed to previous generations, millennials see travel as a major part of the American dream, as well as self-employment, and defining close friends as part of their family. This re-imagining is exactly what you should be doing."

And millennials, research shows, might not have much choice but to redefine success. According to a February research survey, they're the first generation in modern history to be overwhelmingly blocked from home ownership, thanks largely in part to student debt and the persisting effects of the Great Recession.

People of color and other oppressed groups, Abdul-Jabbar emphasized, face even more barriers to success.

"While I applaud your courage and intelligence in redefining the American dream to fit your personal vision of the future," he said, "it’s important that along with travel, self-employment and friends, commitment to championing the values of the U.S. Constitution be included, particularly the parts that condemn racism, sexism, homophobia and the exploitation of the poor."

"That," he concluded, "is an American dream worth...

Target CEO Brian Cornell shrugged off boycott threats Wednesday and said the retailer would continue implementing its transgender-friendly bathroom policy.

Cornell, appearing on CNBC’s "Squawk Box," said Target stands by its announcement last month that transgender shoppers and employees are welcome to use whichever bathroom...

For the 12th month in a row, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has announced record-high global temperatures -- marking a yearlong heat streak that scientists say is grim sign of climate change in action.

April 2016 was the hottest April ever recorded by NOAA since it...

Two applications used by hundreds of colleges and universities will soon allow students more options for identifying their gender. 

The Common Application, used by more than 600 schools, and the Universal College Application, used by more than 40, said this week that the...

Food corporation Pilgrim's Pride is recalling 4,568,080 pounds of its chicken that may be contaminated with plastic, wood, rubber and metal, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Saturday night.

The recall affects 23 different varieties of the Colorado-based company's pre-cooked chicken, which was produced at...

When it comes to communicating the dangers of climate change -- a pretty pressing task when fewer than 1 in 4 Americans say they're extremely worried about it -- it's not so simple as reminding people how bad the outlook for the planet is. 

In fact, scientists...

A solar-powered plane has completed a three-day nonstop flight across the Pacific Ocean without a single drop of fuel, marking a major milestone for innovations in renewable energy.

Bertrand Piccard landed the single-pilot plane, Solar Impulse 2, in Mountain View, California, on Saturday night...

アメリカ中がパープルに染まった。

It's raining purple for Prince.

Following news of the music icon's death on Thursday, music venues, landmarks and other locations honored the "Purple Rain" singer by lighting up in his trademark color and playing his music for mourning fans.