Kim Davis said that she had 'weighed the cost' of going back to jail after refusing to issue gay marriage licences in Rowan County, Kentucky, adding that it is 'a heaven and hell issue for me'. Davis, who became an Apostolic Christian four years ago after her mother-in-law died, added that when she was previously jailed she had been prepared to say in her cell 'for as long as it took' for a legal exception to be made. Striking a defiant tone, she also brushed off allegations that she should resign her position, saying that doing so would mean 'losing my voice'.

Alexandria Sabori, 24 (inset), said a male employee 'checked' the bathroom of an East L.A. Dollar Tree store before letting her use it. Inside a box with a hole cut out of it (left), she found an iPhone recording her (right). Sabori then called police when she realized the employee was the store manager. Police have confirmed that they arrested a male employee, Carlos Martinez, at the store on September 7, but no charges have been laid. They have appealed for any potential victims or anyone with information to come forward.

As far as selfies with celebrities go, a picture with Pope Francis is likely the most desired for countless Catholics in America. And one lucky student managed to get the pontiff to pose for a photograph as he left the Apostolic Nunciature, the Vatican's diplomatic mission in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. After a morning of hugs and handshakes, Enija Davidonyte, 16, who goes to school in the area, quickly whipped out her smartphone to capture the once-in-a-lifetime souvenir of their meeting. She posted the selfie on Facebook, captioned: 'I feel absolutely blessed! I met with Pope Francis today and actually got to take a picture and meet him.'

The estranged wife of Rosie O'Donnell has been hospitalized in New York. Radar Online reports that Michelle Rounds (right) was rushed to the hospital Tuesday night after a concerned friend called police who then kicked down the door to her hotel room. Rounds had allegedly 'taken some pills and drank wine' according to an insider. The incident comes just one week after DailyMail.com released exclusive photos of O'Donnell and her new girlfriend Tatum O'Neal (left) at her new West Palm Beach Mansion.

Daniel Carder, 45 left), and his small research team at West Virginia University produced a $50,000 study that proved that Volkswagen AG was cheating on U.S. vehicle emissions tests, setting off a scandal that cost CEO Martin Winterkorn his job (bottom right, Volkswagen officials announce Winterkorn's retirement today), wiped billions from the company's shares and which could pose a bigger threat to the German economy than the Greek crisis.

Frustrated Ohio father Doug Herrmann (inset) jokingly made out this check to his son's school in Plainesville to show how confusing and hard it is for him to try and help out with Common Core math. But he didn't expect to become something of a viral star after posting a picture of it to Facebook. The check used a chart of x's and 0's (main) - standard Common Core letters - instead of numbers. Common Core is a set of national benchmarks based on the premise that students should not only be able to solve a problem but explain how they got to the answer.

Olivia Hallisey, 16, from Greenwich, Connecticut, won a $50,000 scholarship for inventing a super-fast, super-cheap and long-lasting way to detect Ebola - a method that may very well save hundreds of lives - beating out 22 other brilliant teenagers from all over the world.

A fight erupted between an angry jogger and pair of young Brooklyn parents earlier this week that was captured on film by one bystander. The video picks up with the jogger screaming at the father after he either accidentally ran into the couple's stroller or the couple accidentally pushed their stroller into him while walking down a narrow lane outside a construction site in the Downtown section of the borough. The jogger - who has not yet been identified - repeatedly tells the father 'Back off!' before screaming; 'Don't fuc*ing come back here! I'll kill you with one punch!' He then adds, while frantically pointing at the man; 'You're messing with the wrong guy! I fight for a living.'

Destiny Carrero secretly snapped the good deed, which she said was carried out by a worker named Kenny at the McDonald's in Union Station, Chicago, and posted the image online. Ms Carrero explained that the man had gone to the counter and got his food, before asking in a barely audible voice: 'Please help me.' She said Kenny then disappeared from behind his till to put gloves on before going to the man's table in order to cut up his food and help him eat it.

Six commercial pilots have filed complaints with the Federal Aviation Administration after being blinded by bright light coming from the 49ers' Levi's Stadium (pictured) in Santa Clara, California. Jay Rollins, a former American Airlines pilot with 20 years of experience, said a lone safety warning from the FAA is gambling with safety. He hopes the 49ers will take action.

Mark (left) and Debby Constantino (right) who were on Ghost Adventures on The Travel Channel were found dead on Tuesday in a barricaded Reno Sparks apartment during a standoff with police. The incident occurred just one week after Debby obtained a restraining order against Mark with whom she was having a divorce. Officials weren't releasing a cause of death but Mark is the suspect in the death of Debby's roommate earlier on Tuesday.

A young Chinese girl's journey to create a future for herself, despite losing both legs in a tragic accident, has become the story that inspired thousands of disable people in China. Qian Hongyan, from Yunnan, south west China, made the headlines in 2005 when she was photographed 'walking' with the help of a basketball (left). Today, that same young woman is a champion swimmer (right) with Paralympic dreams, winning gold medals at national games in China. The young woman received a set of prosthesis at a rehabilitation centre in Beijing in 2013 at the age of 18 (inset).

Muslim parents in Jersey City were furious to learn during a heated school board meeting that local schools will remain open during the holiday of Eid al-Adha. The Jersey City Board of Education had initially proposed to close local schools September 24 allowing Muslim children to observe the holiday, but officials ultimately voted to keep schools open so as not to cause disruptions for non-Muslim families.

A fight broke out Friday at Wilmer Hutchins Stadium in Dallas between members of the James Madison High School drill team and their rivals from Wilmer Hutchins High School. Grainy cellphone footage shot by an eyewitness captured the moment the schools' all-female drill teams came to blows after a Wilmer Hutchins dancer hit 15-year-old Shamyra Cooper (dressed in a blue leotard), a student from James Madison, while performing a mocking routine in front of her.

A Yale student who jumped out a window to his death after stabbing his friend earlier this year had flown into a jealous rage during a threesome. Tyler Carlisle (left) had graduated just days prior from the Ivy League university in New Haven, Connecticut, when he stabbed friend Alexander Michaud (right) in the neck with a knife at around 5:30am on May 26, leaping out an apartment window soon after and falling six stories (inset). He was pronounced dead on the scene, and his motive for stabbing his friend and then taking his life was not disclosed to the public. Gawker has now obtained the police report however that reveals Carlisle stabbed Michaud after he felt that his friend was receiving too much attention from the woman they were having a threesome with at the time.

It may just have three bedrooms and an acre of land - not much compared to its neighbors. But this colonial-style home in Palo Alto, California, has just been snapped up by Google chief financial officer for an eye-watering $30 million. Ruth Porat (inset), who moved to the tech firm from Morgan Stanley in March, discreetly acquired the property on Cowper Street (pictured, right, in 2015 and, left, in the 1930s) in July. The abode's terracotta-tiled roofs and wrought iron-framed windows were originally designed for Louise Stern (top right with daughter Ruth), an heir to denim pioneer Levi Strauss in 1932, in the previously rural area.

When single mother Amanda Osbon headed for her college class, she had no choice but to take her son. The toddler, who is almost two, then got up in the middle of the lecture at DeVry University in Nashville, wanting to be held by the professor. So Professor Joel Bunkowske, without hesitation, picked up the youngster named Xzavier and carried on teaching. Osbon, who is studying Criminal Justice, then took a picture of the accommodating academic and said his actions were 'amazing, patient and kind'.

A new book by Pulitzer -prize winning reporter reveals Donald Trump was a terror even in elementary school in elementary school. He hurled erasers, threw birthday cake at children's parties and  gave a teacher a black eye 'because I didn't think he knew anything about music.' He met Roy Cohn (above with Donald and the former editor in chief of Newsweek magazine) when he left college at Le Club, where all of New York's movers and shakers hung out. Cohn was gay but opposed gay rights, Jewish but  anti-Semitic. He often used epithets like s**c, n****r and f*g. When the Justice Department alleged Trump Corp refused to rent to tenants 'because of race and color' Trump hired Cohn to wage war.

Ten photographers from around the world share pictures from their home countries in order to highlight the most urgent issues of our time: poverty, inequality and climate change. The collection is breath-taking - from the Awá tribe in Brazil, to workers in rural India(top right) and China's mushrooming cities(bottom right), and the contrasting lives of teenagers in Pakistan(top left) and England (bottom left). The series offers a unique and provocative perspective on the meaning and future of equality in a world of stark contrasts.

The 61-year-old animator who started the hit series in 1989 was furious when residents in his luxury Santa Monica, California, neighborhood called in a crew to chop down the 100-year-old protected trees. According to TMZ, their aim is to build a parking lot with room to fit their cars in front of the gates to Groening's $11.7million, five bedroom home. A number of influential residents - including Bobby Shriver, the former Santa Monica mayor - were also outraged and were prompted to act. One neighbor even chained himself to one of the trees in protest.

An Ohio police officer went out of his way to help a homeless mother and her two children after spotting them sleeping in a jail waiting room. Deputy Brian Bussell (pictured left with the two boys) spotted Tierra Gray (bottom left) and her young sons in the lobby of Butler County Jail in Hamilton on Sunday morning. He had asked if something was wrong and was told that the family had been evicted from their home. Bussell, a 25-year veteran, tried unsuccessfully to get the family into a shelter. So instead, he paid for a hotel room for the family for 10 days - and also took them to Wal-Mart to buy clothes and food.

A selfie taken by a black man pulled over for speeding by a police officer has been shared 400,000 times after he posted it online to promote values of equality and mutual respect. The heartwarming moment was captured by Greg Barnes, from Muncie, Indiana after a 'respectful' interaction between the two while he was travelling home from work.

Russian oligarch Andrey Melnichenko has brought the world two lavish, enormous - and some would say downright vulgar - super yachts - a sign the mega-rich are ready to show off again. Pictured above is the sleek Motor Yacht A, which has recently been supplanted in grandeur by the A (top right), the world's new largest sailing boat. Russian tastes in particular have taken a turn for the excessive in recent years, while American billionaires such as Bill Gates, whose Serene is shown below.

Kingscliffe mother Jane Prichard has made hospital history, giving birth to her second son via maternal-assisted caesarean section. With the help of her obstetrician, Mrs Prichard slowly pulled her son out of her surgical wound before pulling him on to her chest (right). Baby Tex was born on Wednesday at John Flynn Private Hospital on the Gold Coast, in what was a very different delivery to normal caesarean births.

The stomach-churning photo was taken by customer Austin Velliquette at a Taco Bell in Sandusky, Ohio, and posted to Facebook on Monday night, quickly going viral. The chain quickly went into damage control, releasing a statement confirming they had fired the worker with questionable hygiene and maintaining the man was not handling food at the time the shot was taken. The health department received a complaint the same day and investigated, confirming the man was working in maintenance. No further action was taken.

A paralysed man has walked again using the power of thought in California. In a world first, the 26-year-old's brain waves were harnessed to allow him to move his own legs. His steps were faltering and he needed support, but, remarkably, he managed to walk 12 feet. The 'modern miracle' offers hope to thousands who rely on wheelchairs. The man, who has not been named, lost the power of both legs after his spinal cord was completely severed in a motorcycle accident five years ago.

The flow of exhausted pilgrims was so big that Saudi security forces had to form a human chain across the valley towards the foot of Mount Arafat while volunteers handed out bottles of water. Many of the faithful from around the globe camped at the foot of Mount Arafat where they slept and prayed - despite the scorching sun - at the spot where Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his final sermon. Carrying colourful umbrellas, they walked from dawn in massive crowds towards the slippery, rocky hill which is also known as Mount Mercy. Here they believe Mohammed gave his final sermon 14 centuries ago after leading his followers on Hajj.

The images provide an insight into the lives of Scott Kelly, who is spending a year on the ISS, and his girlfriend Amiko Kauderer, who is in Texas, working as a public relations officer at Nasa. They include shots of Kelly and Kauderer's view of the beach (left); the pair practicing various skills (centre) - which involved juggling for Kelly and bouldering for Kauderer; and images of the couple at their work stations (right). Kauderer, who is a PR officer for Nasa, keeps a cardboard cutout of her boyfriend by her desk.

Illustrator Loryn Brantz has taken some of Disney's most iconic male leads and turned them into real-life men - beer guts, hairy chests, and all. The stunning before and after images show that even without bulging muscles or a smooth chest, a man can still be a prince - albeit a more realist one.

The video, which is called 'I bet you will watch this over and over again', shows what appears to be a glass of water instantly transforming from 3D to 2D. The video, taken in a kitchen, shows a bottle of water being poured into a glass. When the glass is around 70 per cent full, left, a hand can be seen reaching for it, centre, as it miraculously turns into what looks like a 2D paper cut out of a glass, right.