| Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of summer and all it evokes: vacations, slower workweeks, casual dress codes, getting the pool ready and pulling out the outdoor furniture.It would seem an ideal time to take a break, but our ability to unplug and relax is under assault. A three-day weekend? We can barely get through three waking hours without working, new research shows. The average smartp...     | 20 min ago | Are 'lone wolf' attacks the new path to terror? | | LONDON – The horrific public slaying of a soldier in London, five weeks after the Boston Marathon bombings, illustrates the possible emergence of a new terror trend towards unsophisticated attacks that are practically impossible to prevent, intelligence experts warned.Lee Rigby, a 25-year-old father who had served in Afghanistan, was killed in broad daylight Wednesday as he walked near an army bar... | 20 min ago | Millions of Americans will cross 'structurally deficient' bridges this weekend | | The Washington state bridge collapse that spilled two cars into the Skagit River could give Americans pause as they hit the roads for Memorial Day holiday travel.With good reason.This weekend, millions will cross 66,000 bridges that the federal government has deemed "structurally deficient," meaning key elements are in poor condition.The Federal Highway Administration hastens to note that label do... | 20 min ago | Obama challenges Naval Academy graduates to help restore trust in institutions | | In a speech to the graduating class of 2013 at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., President Barack Obama challenged the 1,047 graduates to “live with integrity” and help restore trust in a military that has been stained by recent charges of sexual assault, just as other American institutions have been shaken by misconduct. “We need your honor… we need values now more than ever,” he urged th... | 20 min ago | Biggest killer in Superstorm Sandy: drowning, study finds | | As many as a third of the people who were killed by Superstorm Sandy or its aftermath drowned, government health officials report. And nearly half of those who drowned had stayed behind despite evacuation orders, the team at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.That means government warnings for people to get out a full day before the storm hit either didn’t sink in, or people willf... | 20 min ago | Bittersweet victory for gay adults kicked out of Scouting | | GRAPEVINE, Texas -- After years of dedication to an organization that ultimately didn't want them, former gay adult leaders with the Boy Scouts of America were elated to see the group finally accept openly gay youth. But the moment was tinged with bitterness, because gay adults remain on the outside.Members of the BSA cast the historic ballots on Thursday to change the controversial membership gui... | 20 min ago | Toronto mayor denies, finally, use of crack cocaine | | Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, under pressure to respond to allegations he was filmed using drugs, said on Friday that he does not smoke crack cocaine and could not comment on a video he had not seen or does not exist. "There has been a serious accusation from the Toronto Star that I use crack cocaine. I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine," he told a news conference. The T... | 20 min ago | California reveals prices for health insurance under Obamacare | | California has unveiled prices that consumers will pay for a selection of health plans offered through the state under the Affordable Care Act, providing a glimpse into how health care reform may look as it is rolled out across the nation. Under the federal health care reform law, people who do not get or cannot afford health insurance through their jobs can buy coverage through an exchange, at a... | | 20 min ago | Florida teen rejects plea deal in underage same-sex case | | Kaitlyn Hunt, the 18-year-old Florida cheerleader facing felony charges for a sexual relationship she had with a younger girl, has refused to take a plea deal in the case, her lawyers said Friday.Hunt now must go to court to face two charges of lewd and lascivious battery on a minor. If convicted, shefaces up to 15 years in prison and would haveto register as a sex offender.Under the deal offered ... | 20 min ago | FDA warns of infections tied to Tenn. pharmacy | | Health officials fear they have another outbreak of infections linked to pain injections -- this one because at least seven people in two states developed abscesses after getting injections of steroid drugs. They're all linked to a single pharmacy: Main Street Family Pharmacy, a compounding pharmacy in Newbern, Tenn.Tennessee state officials say the facility distributed the products to 13 states:... | 20 min ago | Collapsed I-5 bridge gone from Google Maps — almost as quickly as it fell | | On Thursday evening, a bridge along Interstate 5 in Washington State collapsed. Early on Friday, Google Maps already reflected the incident. Google's secret for such a speedy update? An army of volunteers."As soon as the local news picked up on the bridge collapse, someone used the Map Maker tool to go into Google Maps to edit it to reflect the bridge collapse," Google spokesperson Sierra Lovelace... | 20 min ago | Amanda Bynes released from jail, reportedly says bong was 'a vase' | | Actress Amanda Bynes appeared in court briefly Friday morning after a wild Thursday night confrontation with police at her New York apartment. Bynes was released from police custody until a July 9 court date.According to NBC New York, Bynes' lawyer told the judge she had never been in any trouble before, and the actress was warned that another arrest or failure to appear would lead to "significan... | 20 min ago | 5 climbers feared dead on world's 3rd highest peak | | Five climbers including two Hungarians and a South Korean are missing on the world's third-highest mountain and feared dead, a mountaineering official said Friday. The five disappeared Monday on Mount Kanchenjunga, and bad weather was preventing a rescue helicopter from reaching their base camp. Mountaineering Department official Dipendra Poudel said Friday that the climbers were descending from t... | 20 min ago | Brain overload explains missing childhood memories | | Scientists -- and parents -- have long wondered why we don’t remember anything that happened before age 3. As all parents know, no matter how momentous an event is in a toddler’s life, the memory soon drifts away and within months there isn’t even a wisp of it left.Now a new study shows that “infantile amnesia” may be due to the rapid growth of nerve cells in the hippocampus, the brain region resp... | 20 min ago | Stirring the pot: McDonald's serving pasta in Italy | | Infamnia! McDonald’s Italy rolled out a new menu item featuring the country’s most beloved culinary staple: pasta.The fast-food giant is partnering with Italian pasta brand Barilla to serve a pasta salad with tuna, tomatoes, peppers, capers and olives with a price of 4.90 euros. Roberto Masi, CEO of McDonald's Italy, said in a statement the new offering was “responding to the tastes of the Italian... | 20 min ago | Memorial Day planet parade: See Jupiter, Mercury and Venus | | By Joe Rao, SPACE.com A trio of bright planets is shining together in the sunset sky, a must-see night sky sight for stargazers this Memorial Day weekend.Three planets — Jupiter, Venus and Mercury — can be now be seen in the western sky at dusk, weather permitting, in a rare and beautiful gathering that changes from night to night. Astronomers call a meeting of objects in the night sky a conjun... | 20 min ago | 15-year-old held in stabbing deaths of two adopted brothers | | A 15-year-old boy is in custody after authorities investigating the stabbing deaths of his younger adopted brothers found him miles away with traces of blood on him, officials said.He was arrested Thursday in the deaths of the boys, ages 4 and 10, at the family home in a Utah subdivision of new houses and tidy lawns, police said."He spoke bluntly with our investigators," said Davis County Sheriff ... | 3 hours ago | Beware postcards promising free trips and tickets | | Baited mousetraps are landing in mailboxes around the country in the form of postcards and letters promising two round-trip airline tickets plus hotel room or a free cruise if you call a toll-free number right away.These “award notices” often include the names of major airlines and well-known hotels. But the real companies have nothing to do with the notices.“These are invitations to a high-pressu... | 3 hours ago | 'Like a Hollywood movie': Driver survives I-5 bridge collapse into Wash. river | | A driver said he thought he was about to die when an Interstate 5 bridge span collapsed in Washington state, plunging his pickup and another car into the Skagit River below.Dan Sligh, his wife and another motorist found themselves waist-deep in water when the freeway crumbled moments after the bridge was clipped by an oversized truck, he told NBC affiliate KING5 of Seattle.State officials said the... | 3 hours ago | Aerial search for illegal border crossings along active Rio Grande | | NBC’s Mark Potter recently took an aerial tour of the Arizona portion of the U.S.-Mexico border. Click here to watch the report.In 2011, Potter reported on dramatic aerial video showing law enforcement efforts to track drug smugglers from the air. Click here to see the video.Also on PhotoBlog: Border patrol faces new challenge with surge in rural Texas border crossingsBorder security improvements ...  | 3 hours ago | Picnicking tourists rescued from floating iceberg in Iceland | | A group of American tourists have been rescued from a drifting Icelandic iceberg that broke off from land as they were trying to picnic upon it, complete with folding chairs and table.The five imperiled picknicers are safe, plucked by a small rescue boat from the ice slab floating atop deathly frigid waters of the Fjallsárlón glacial lagoon in Iceland, five-and-a-half hours east of Reykhavik.“The ... | 3 hours ago | Bridge collapse could cost Washington state millions, jobs | | The collapse of a bridge on a major West Coast highway could cost the state of Washington at least $47 million in lost economic output, as well lost jobs and tax revenues similar to the impact of a flood five years ago that also shut down another section of the road, officials said Friday.Brian Bonlender, Director of the State Department of Commerce said it would be difficult to pinpoint the exact... | 3 hours ago | From bathtubs to closets, see where Oklahoma residents sheltered from the deadly tornado | | Dean and Melania St. Onge, who have been married for 25 years, were hiding in a closet with their dogs Pokie and Shaila as the tornado approached their house in Moore, Okla. They planned to ride out the storm, holding hands.They left the television blasting in the next room so they could hear the local newscasters' report on the weather. When a meteorologist said, “If you’re not underground now, y... | 3 hours ago | Boy Scouts' historic vote won't end the debate | | GRAPEVINE, Texas -- Seen as a small step toward a greater goal or a wrong step for a century-old organization, a vote Thursday to lift a ban on gay youth in the Boy Scouts won't end the debate.Over 61 percent of Scouting's National Council of 1,232 delegates from across the country voted to lift the ban during the Boy Scouts of America’s annual national gathering. The policy change will go into ef... | 3 hours ago | Sweden riots: Cops seek reinforcements, US citizens warned | | STOCKHOLM - Police in the Swedish capital are to seek reinforcements after youths again set cars ablaze and threw stones at police for a fifth night running, officials said on Friday.The unrest has led the United States embassy to warn U.S. citizens this week not to go to areas hit by rioting."I can confirm we have sent out a Warden message," embassy spokeswoman Danielle Harms said, referring to a... | 3 hours ago | Delays after passenger jet lands at Heathrow with engine fire | | LONDON - Europe’s busiest airport was disrupted for several hours Friday after a British Airways plane made an emergency landing at Heathrow with a fire in at least one engine.Thousands of travelers were delayed or diverted to other London airports following the incident, shortly after 8 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET).All 75 passengers were safely evacuated from the Airbus A319 using emergency chutes... | | 3 hours ago | Pakistan jet intercepted by fighters over UK after passenger bomb threat - officials | | A passenger jet heading from Pakistan to England was intercepted by U.K. fighter jets after an "angry passenger" made a bomb threat Friday, an airline official said.The Boeing 777 was forced to divert from Manchester airport to London Stansted after a disruptive passenger told a flight attendant he would set off a bomb, said a senior Pakistan International Airlines official who asked not to be ide... | 3 hours ago | Short, combative past for Chechen man killed during FBI questioning | | The friend of Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev who law enforcement forces said was shot and killed Wednesday after being questioned by the FBI about a brutal 2011 Boston-area homicide was a promising if somewhat forgettable mixed martial artist, fellow practitioners of the sport said.Chris Palmquist, who operates the official registry for amateur and professional MMA fighters, said Ibragim... | 3 hours ago | Wife of slain British soldier says she thought he was 'safe' back in UK | | LONDON -- The wife of a British soldier brutally murdered in broad daylight in London said on Friday that she thought he was safe in England after returning from active duty in Afghanistan.Several of Drummer Lee Rigby’s relatives made an emotional, tear-strewn appearance at a news conference Friday, as dramatic video footage emerged showing the moments that police shot two men later arrested over ... | 3 hours ago | NJ bars, restaurants accused of passing off cheaper booze | | Nearly 30 New Jersey bars and restaurants have been accused of filling top-shelf liquor bottles with lower-quality hooch, including one establishment that allegedly passed off caramel-colored rubbing alcohol as scotch, state officials said Thursday.The rotgut roundup, dubbed “Operation Swill,” targeted 29 establishments and involved more than 100 investigators, Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa and ... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
