National

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday the greater sage grouse does not need protections under the Endangered Species Act. The move is being celebrated by Western states and industry stakeholders because they say a listing would cost them billions of dollars in economic activity. But some environmental groups say the bird should be listed as endangered, and they plan to file lawsuits.

Volkswagen faces a growing scandal over how it used software to dodge clean air rules for diesel vehicles. The Justice Department opened a criminal probe and financial penalties are sure to follow.

Pope Francis arrived Tuesday for his first-ever trip to the United States. He came from Cuba, whose warming relations with the U.S. are due in part to papal mediation.

You're not just shedding microbes on every surface you touch. Research suggests you're actually walking around in an airborne plume of bacteria and other microscopic organisms that's unique to you.

The Broad contemporary art museum opened in Los Angeles this weekend, and NPR explores how the museum's audio tour addresses the challenge of how talk to kids about contemporary art.

A former peanut company executive has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for his role in a salmonella outbreak that killed nine people and sickened dozens more.

Officials have quarantined 85 square miles of farmland in a fight to halt the spread of the destructive Oriental fruit fly. The freeze comes just as growers were starting to harvest tropical fruits.