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Beta agonists, a class of drugs widely fed to cattle and hogs to make them put on weight faster, are coming under increasing scrutiny. Reports suggest animals fed these drugs can seem reluctant to move — lethargic, unable to walk properly — and may die more often, too.

Most charities get money from donors and spend it on things they think will help people — schools, medicine, farm animals. GiveDirectly just gives money away. And that poses a challenge to the more traditional charities.

Legislators are considering stripping the Boy Scouts of America of its tax-exempt status in the state because of the organization's ban on gay and lesbian adult leaders. Scout leaders warn the move would cause major damage to a group that serves 180,000 California youth.

The Guardian has identified its source for a series of reports it published in recent days on secret U.S. surveillance activity. The paper says the source is Edward Snowden, a former technical assistant for the CIA who now works for a private-sector defense and technology consulting firm.

And the study by Human Rights Watch finds that defendants who take their fate to a judge or jury face prison sentences on average 11 years longer than those who plead guilty.

Lara Imler was one of the first people in Alaska to sign up for health insurance on HealthCare.gov. Turns out, the website miscalculated her subsidy. She wants to start over and get a new plan. But a stubborn software kink is standing in her way.

The controversy over the National Security Agency's surveillance programs has exposed a problem in the oversight of those programs. Changes to adapt have come so fast that legislators, judges, policymakers and technology firms can't keep up, and major gaps have appeared in policymaking and legislating.

About 22 percent of sun-like stars in our galaxy may have planets orbiting them that are about the size of Earth and bathed in similar amounts of sunlight, according to a new analysis of data from the Kepler Space Telescope.

Highway engineer George Thornton, who led a 1970 operation to blow up the dead whale on a beach, died this week at age 84. Thornton's decision resulted in a foul shower of whale blubber. Whenever video of the unlikely event resurfaces, some viewers declare it a hoax.

States have spent big on setting up their health insurance exchanges. But figuring out where the money is going can be difficult because some states don't release the information. The contractor running Connecticut's marketplace call center hasn't had to reveal pricing.