feeds/usnews+feeds/usnewsvideo

New study tracks emotional health of 'surrogate kids'

Linda Carroll — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:04:44 GMT

Over the past decade the number of births involving surrogacy with donor eggs and sperm has surged. What, experts wondered, does this mean for the mental and emotional health of the growing number of kids who may or may not know the truth about their distinctive origins? A team of British researchers, led by Susan Golombok, a professor of family research and director of the Centre for Family R...

Liberals brace for Supreme Court decision on voting rights

Tom Curry — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:30:32 GMT

Bracing for an impending Supreme Court decision that could limit the reach of the Voting Rights Act, liberal legal experts and advocates are assessing what to do if the court strikes down a central part of the law.Addressing the annual convention of the liberal lawyers’ group the American Constitution Society, Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a pioneer of the civil rights movement, told an audience of more...

Endangered list highlights at-risk landmarks and landscapes

Rob Lovitt — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:26:06 GMT

A lighthouse built in 1799, an airport terminal that helped launch the 747 and the world’s first domed, air-conditioned sports stadium. Separated by miles, styles and disparate histories, they have one thing in common.On Wednesday, they were named three of the nation’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP). Now in its 26th year, the list spotligh...

Why we’ve been obsessed with Jimmy Hoffa for 38 years

Scott Stump — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 06:58:20 GMT

As the latest twist in the search for the body of Jimmy Hoffa commenced in a field north of Detroit on Monday, it continued a nearly 40-year fascination with Hoffa’s disappearance. Many remain curious as to what exactly happened to the late president of the Teamsters union despite the fact that there is a generation of people who may not exactly remember what he was famous for in the first place. ...

13-year-old charged with murder after using wrestling move on 5-year-old sister

U.S. News — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 03:39:25 GMT

NEW ORLEANS — A 13-year-old boy from a New Orleans suburb was charged with second-degree murder in the death of his 5-year-old half-sister after investigators said he told them he repeatedly struck her with wrestling moves imitated from TV."The 13-year-old reported he started to wrestle with the victim and practiced 'WWE' style wrestling moves on the 5-year-old," Col. John Fortunato of the Jeffers...

Dwindling Great Lakes squeeze shipping industry

The Daily Nightly — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:30:18 GMT

By Amber Payne, Producer, NBC NewsTOLEDO, Ohio -- It’s the 14th straight year of low water levels for the $34 billion shipping industry that relies on the Great Lakes.And for ships like the Mesabi Miner, that comes at a great cost.On a recent Saturday the vessel drifted through the Detroit River and docked in Toledo, where the crew began the eight-hour process of unloading 66,000 tons of iron ore,...

A new take on 'grass-fed' meat: Pig farmer markets pork raised on marijuana

Elisha Fieldstadt — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:30:18 GMT

The possibilities when it comes to marketing meat made from marijuana-fed animals are close to endless, but the man who came up with the idea has decided to simply call them “Pot Pigs.”William von Scheneidau, owner and founder of BB Ranch in Seattle, didn’t come up with the idea to feed pigs and other animals weed while sitting around a bong in the basement with his buddies.In fact, he doesn’t eve...

Journalist Michael Hastings dies at 33

Andrew Rafferty, Staff Writer, NBC News — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:30:17 GMT

Michael Hastings, the journalist best known for the 2010 Rolling Stone story that led to the resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, died Tuesday in a car crash in Los Angeles, his employers at BuzzFeed and Rolling Stone announced.He was 33."We are shocked and devastated by the news that Michael Hastings is gone," BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith said in a statement Tuesday evening. "Michael wa...

Analysis: Why Edward Snowden isn't a whistle-blower, legally speaking

Pete Williams, NBC News justice correspondent — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:29:48 GMT

Ever since Edward Snowden revealed himself as the leaker of classified documents about U.S. surveillance programs, he has sometimes been called a whistle-blower. But is he?Those who believe he has shed light on improper government actions say he deserves to be called one. But there seems little doubt that he cannot claim legal whistle-blower protection.For starters, the general whistle-blower laws...

Welcoming pets in the hospital

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:24:16 GMT

NSA considers ending collection of data on Americans' phone calls

Michael Isikoff — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:24:15 GMT

The National Security Agency is reviewing whether to stop collecting a vast stockpile of records of Americans’ telephone calls — the most controversial component of its surveillance programs— by allowing telecommunications companies to retain the data until U.S. intelligence officials have a specific reason to review it for possible connections to terror plots, U.S. officials said TuesdayThe NSA’s...

Search for Hoffa continues in Michigan field

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:48:11 GMT

Business, tourism take a hit as Great Lakes evaporate

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:48:10 GMT

Disabled Ohio woman, daughter allegedly held captive in horrid conditions

Andrew Rafferty, Staff Writer, NBC News — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:37:18 GMT

A cognitively disabled woman and her young daughter were held against their will in an Ohio home for more than two years, forced to perform manual labor, threatened by poisonous snakes, and beaten to scare them from ever escaping, authorities announced on Tuesday.Jessica L. Hunt, 31, and Daniel J. Brown, 33, and Jordie L. Callahan, 26, were arrested in Ashland, Ohio, and charged with forced labor ...

Tornado touches down near Denver airport

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:37:18 GMT

‘Days of Rambo are over’: Women to enter combat roles

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:26:24 GMT

Marijuana fed pork for sale

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:31:32 GMT

Accused Fort Hood gunman's request for a trial delay denied

Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:26:07 GMT

An Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 and wounding nearly three dozen others at a Fort Hood, Texas, military post in 2009 has been denied a trial delay by a judge.Major Nidal Hasan, 42, who has been allowed to represent himself, had requested a three-month postponement to his trial so he could prepare more. Military Judge Col. Tara Osborn refused the request Tuesday, and said jury selection w...

Manning trial focuses on whether tweets meet evidence standards

Medina Roshan, Reuters — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:20:45 GMT

FORT MEADE, Md. - The court-martial of the U.S. soldier accused of providing reams of classified documents to WikiLeaks in a case illustrating the challenge of keeping secrets in the digital age must decide whether tweets and Web pages can be admitted as evidence.Lawyers for Private First Class Bradley Manning, 25, who is accused of providing more than 700,000 files to the anti-secrecy websit...

World's oldest manatee gets a check-up

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:20:45 GMT

Baked Alaska: Crazy weather swings from ice to fire

Becky Oskin, LiveScience — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:20:45 GMT

In Alaska, houses are built to keep warm air in and cold air out, not the other way around. So with a record-setting heat wave scorching the state, residents are sweltering amid temperatures soaring past 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Southcentral Alaska hit four all-time highs yesterday (June 17), ranging between 88 F in Seward to 94 F in Talkeetna, according to the National Weather Service's Alaska fore...

Wave causes boat to spin out of control

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:20:45 GMT

‘There are changes going on right now’

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:20:45 GMT

Disabled Ohio woman, daughter held captive in horrid conditions

Andrew Rafferty, Staff Writer, NBC News — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:15:09 GMT

California prosecutors: Man threw ex-wife off cruise ship in Italy

Elisha Fieldstadt, NBC News — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:15:07 GMT

A man was arraigned on indictment for murder on Monday by a California grand jury for throwing his ex-wife over the side of a cruise ship, according to the Orange County District Attorney.The indictment against Lonnie Loren Kocontes, 55, includes one felony count of murder for financial gain.Prosecutors said that that Kocontes and his ex-wife, Micki Kanesaki, divorced in 2001 but lived together on...