Top NBCNews headlines

See Alaska -- all of it -- in beautiful space image

Science — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 02:34:53 GMT

By Becky OskinSpace.comFrom steaming volcanoes to sparkling lakes, almost all of Alaska's marvelous landscapes simmered under hours and hours of sunlight Monday, as seen by a NASA satellite.A scorching Alaskan heat wave caused by a high-pressure system meant few cloudson Monday, so NASA's Terra satellite snapped a rare image of the entire state. The view is similar to spotting the entire United St...

Admitted father-and-son pimp duo acquitted of sex-trafficking charges

Elisha Fieldstadt — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 02:34:52 GMT

A father and son who ran a prostitution ring in New York were acquitted of sex-trafficking charges Wednesday after three out of the five prostitutes who worked for them testified in their defense.Vincent George Sr. and his son, Vincent George Jr., were convicted on charges of money laundering by Judge Ruth Pickholtz.New York District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. said, “The goal of this prosecution...

Bill Nye the Science Guy brings his smarts to your smartphone

Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 02:34:50 GMT

When "Bill Nye the Science Guy" went on the air in 1993, one of the smartest smartphones around was an $899 brick-sized contraption called the Simon Personal Communicator. Today, Simon is ancient history — but Bill Nye's smarts are still circulating, on video, on the Web, and now on the latest generation of smartphones and tablets.The Bill Nye the Science Guy app — introduced this month by Disney ...

Gone without a trace: 6 missing people

Scott Stump — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 02:34:49 GMT

The enduring mystery of where Jimmy Hoffa is buried and the latest futile search for his remains this week have illustrated the continuing fascination with famous disappearances.Hoffa was last seen alive in suburban Detroit on July 30, 1975. For 38 years, authorities have searched multiple sites for his body. The latest search, conducted by the FBI in a field in Oakland Township, Mich. on a tip fr...

Take a billion-pixel tour of Curiosity rover's surroundings on Mars

Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 02:12:34 GMT

Fans of extraterrestrial anomalies will have a field day with the billion-pixel view of the Curiosity rover's surroundings at a place called Rocknest on Mars. The 360-degree clickable panorama lets you zoom in on an eerie Martian "bird," a weird series of holes, or a shiny object sitting on the Red Planet's surface.Never mind that all these anomalies are perfectly explainable: It's a weird and won...

As Bernanke's tenure nears close, a look at his possible successors

John Carney — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 01:06:35 GMT

It's long been expected that Ben Bernanke would leave his position as chairman of the Federal Reserve when his second term expires on January 31, 2014. But when President Barack Obama told talk show host Charlie Rose that Bernanke had "already stayed a lot longer than he wanted or he was supposed to" on Monday night, this expectation became a near certainty.The question of who the president will n...

Guinea pig fans go extreme: $22,000 outfit, 'pignics'

Danika Fears — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 01:06:35 GMT

Don’t let their small statures fool you: Dogs may be man’s best friend, but guinea pigs have long courted their own devoted following, and the zeal of their supporters runs deep.Just over a week ago, Sean McCoy of Fairfax, Va., began auctioning off a suit of chain mail armor he had made on a whim for his guinea pig, Lucky, on Ebay. From the $5 starting bid, the price quickly shot into the quadrupl...

AMA supports use of sunscreen in schools

Linda Carroll — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 01:06:34 GMT

If you’ve got a school-age kid, you’ve seen the memos. Slather your kids with sunscreen before sending them to school and do not put any sun blocking products in your kids’ backpacks, they intone. That sunscreen ban has the American Medical Association irked. And yesterday the doctors’ group responded with a resolution supporting the exemption of sunscreens from rules that bar students from bringi...

Sorry, Bieber! Rihanna is the most viewed artist on YouTube

Rosa Golijan — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 01:06:34 GMT

Bad news for the Biebs! On Tuesday, Rihanna passed the teenage heartthrob as the most viewed artist on YouTube.Rihanna's official YouTube account currently has over 3,789,000,000 views while Bieber's has just under 3,783,000,000. Both artists joined the video-sharing site in 2009 — Rihanna in May and Bieber in September — and have built substantial subscriber bases since then. Rihanna's account ha...

Immigration negotiators eye border security compromise

Carrie Dann and Kasie Hunt — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 01:01:02 GMT

Negotiators say they are close to a deal to strengthen border security provisions in the Senate immigration bill, an agreement designed to draw more Republican votes and significantly strengthen the bill’s prospects of becoming law."There's still work to do but we've had a really good day," said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who's been helping to lead talks on the strengthened border measures."I don't...

'Sopranos' star James Gandolfini dies at 51

Anna Chan — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:50:06 GMT

Actor James Gandolfini, who rose to fame as mob boss Tony Soprano on the hit HBO drama "The Sopranos," died Wednesday of a possible heart attack, the network has confirmed to NBC News. He was 51."We're all in shock and feeling immeasurable sadness at the loss of a beloved member of our family," the network said in a statement. "He was a special man, a great talent, but more importantly a gentle a...

This is your brain on happy: Machine can read your emotions

Maggie Fox, NBC News — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:17:07 GMT

Researchers have figured out how to read your mind and tell whether you are feeling sad, angry or disgusted – all by looking at a brain scan.The experiment, using 10 acting students, showed people have remarkably similar brain activity when experiencing the same emotions. And a computer could predict how someone was feeling just by looking at the scan.The findings could be used to help treat patie...

Naval Academy files sex assault charges against three football players

By Jim Miklaszewski, Courtney Kube and Elizabeth Chuck, NBC News — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:20:46 GMT

Three male Naval Academy midshipmen have been charged with allegedly sexually assaulting a female midshipman last year and with making a false official statement.The woman told investigators that she was assaulted by the men — all Academy football players at the time — at an off-campus party in April 2012. On Wednesday, the academy announced the accused men were charged with making a false officia...

'Modern-day slavery': State Dept. says millions of human trafficking victims go unidentified

Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:15:15 GMT

Nine 7-Eleven store owners and managers who authorities say ran a “modern-day plantation system,” employing dozens of immigrant workers at New York and Virginia convenience stores, were just one thread in a vast human trafficking and forced labor web that stretches around the world and into American homes.Investigators filed indictments earlier this week against the eight men and one woman who wer...

Stocks skid 200 points as Fed hints at stimulus slowdown

JeeYeon Park — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:42:25 GMT

Stocks accelerated their selloff in the final hour of trading on Wednesday to close over 200 points lower, after the Federal Reserve said it will maintain its bond-buying program, although Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted that the FOMC plans to moderate purchases later this year. "They don't tie themselves officially into anything but it's clearly what they're going to do," said Jim Paulsen, ch...

New Middle East virus spread in hospitals

Maggie Fox, NBC News — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:31:16 GMT

The new MERS virus, which has infected 64 people and killed 38 of them, is mostly spread in hospitals and it will take special care to prevent bigger outbreaks, experts reported on Wednesday.An investigation into the outbreak in Saudi Arabia showed 21 people were infected as patients who unknowingly went from one clinic to another, spreading the virus. It can spread quickly in the hospital if stri...

Post-its to text messages: Pop culture's worst breakups

Lilit Marcus — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:25:47 GMT

In this month’s issue of Vogue, Katy Perry reveals how she learned that her marriage to Russell Brand was over: via text message. That’s cold, but she's in good company, at least among these painfully awkward pop culture splits. Real or fictional, these breakups left us cringing.Carrie and Berger, 'Sex and the City'In one of the most famously embarrassing breakups in TV history, Berger (Ron Living...

Say it ain't so! Cap'N Crunch not really a captain?

Tracy Saelinger — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:25:47 GMT

Until recently, the only crime that Cap’N Crunch could be accused of was cutting up the roofs of our mouths, despite his cereal’s delicious sweet corn taste. Now, an eagle-eyed cereal lover has found that Cap’N Crunch is not a captain at all, but a commander, according to the stripes on his uniform. Navy captains sport four stripes, while commanders have three—as the captain does—but many on the ...

After CBO report gives backers a boost, foes of immigration bill push back

Carrie Dann — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:58:02 GMT

After supporters of the Senate immigration reform bill got a boost from a new report estimating that the bill would substantially decrease the federal budget deficit over the next two decades, conservative opponents of the legislation pushed back Wednesday, saying the legislation would fail to stop illegal immigration, decrease American wages and hurt the Republican Party.The nonpartisan Congressi...

Kerry calls Afghanistan's Karzai to ease anger over Taliban office

Sohel Uddin and Alastair Jamieson, NBC News — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:52:29 GMT

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Secretary of State John Kerry assured Afghan President Hamid Karzai that the government of Qatar took down a sign board under the name of "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," adding that the United States is committed to all its agreements with the Afghan government.The Taliban office "must not be treated as or represent itself as an embassy or other office representing the Afgh...

Consumer group says student loan 'debt relief' firms misleading borrowers

Bob Sullivan, Columnist, NBC News — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:46:57 GMT

Struggling student loan debtors are being tricked into paying up to $1,600 in fees to private firms offering "debt relief" that they could get for free, according to a report issued Wednesday by the National Consumer Law Center.Student loan debt relief ads began crowding their way onto media in recent months. Consumers deep in credit card debt have heard the pitch for years, in seemingly incessant...

US-Taliban peace talks in doubt amid Afghan anger over office, flag

Sohel Uddin and Alastair Jamieson, NBC News — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:46:57 GMT

Explore a 1.3-billion-pixel view of the Curiosity rover's digs on Mars

Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:35:53 GMT

Outbreak of deadly piglet virus spreads to 13 states

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:08:10 GMT

A swine virus deadly to young pigs, one never before seen in North America, is spreading rapidly across the United States and proving harder to control than previously believed. The virus now has spread to 13 states - with more than 100 positive cases to date - since it was first diagnosed in the United States last month, said Montserrat Torremorell, the Allen D. Leman Chair in Swine Health and Pr...

Italian designers Dolce, Gabbana convicted of tax evasion

Claudio Lavanga, Correspondent, NBC News — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:51:37 GMT

MILAN, Italy - Fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana were given a suspended 20-month jail sentence on Wednesday after being found guilty of hiding $1.3 billion in income from tax authorities.The suspended sentence, which one of their lawyers said they would appeal, means they will avoid prison as long as they commit no other crimes for five years.The conviction is the culmination of...