Delivery room drama: Has birth become a spectator sport?

Expectant moms thankfully no longer have their mother’s delivery room experience, with Don Draper era dads sitting in waiting lounges until a doctor reports that baby has arrived. But the pendulum may have swung too far in the other direction.These days, delivery rooms can be rife with drama as grandparents-to-be vie for the best camera angle, or a mother-in-law angles to be the one feeding ice ch

Man kills biggest Burmese python ever in Florida

Just call him Python Dundee.A Miami man pulled an 18-foot Burmese python out of roadside brush and wrestled with it for 10 minutes before cutting its head off with a knife.The 128-pound specimen turned out to be the biggest Burmese python ever captured in Florida, besting the previous record by more than a foot, wildlife officials said."I was pretty exhausted and I didn't want to get bit," Jason L

How to help Oklahoma tornado victims

By Suzanne Choney, Contributing Writer, NBC NewsThe loss of life and stunning devastation in Oklahoma City suburbs after a monster tornado ripped through the area are heart-wrenching. But within hours, relief organizations were getting out the message on how to help.American Red CrossThe Red Cross has set up shelters in various communities. You can donate to the Red Cross Disaster Relief fund here

'Confirmed casualties' at Oklahoma school flattened by tornado, fire chief says

There are "confirmed casualties" at an elementary school that was flatted by a tornado Monday, and rescuers were searching for survivors in the rubble as night fell, officials said.Several children and teachers were pulled alive from the ruins of Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore after the building took a direct hit Monday afternoon.A little girl was lifted out of the debris by rescuers, whi

How to help tornado victims

By Devin Coldewey, Contributing Writer, NBC NewsThe tornadoes in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and other states are wreaking havoc, but relief efforts are underway. Local schools, churches and community organizations lucky enough to escape damage are coordinating food and shelter for displaced residents and accepting donations of food, blankets and other much-needed items.The scope of larger recovery an

Sleep-deprived teens cause crashes, study shows

The dangers of texting while driving gets more headlines and drunk driving remains one of the main causes of automobile accidents, but a large, new study published Monday helps explain why so many teens and young adults are involved in motor accidents.They're sleepy.Report after report shows it -- sleepy drivers cause car crashes. In the new study, researchers at The George Institute for Global H.

The Fed's been good for Wall Street, not so much for Main Street

Whatever course it chooses, the Federal Reserve will have to grapple with the reality that while its policies have helped levitate stocks, they've been considerably less effective at expanding the economy. While rising equity prices help add to total growth, the stock market is not the economy. The U.S. economy, rather, is propelled by consumption, which accounts for about 70 percent of gross ...

Breast cancer bras a no-go for Victoria's Secret

Strapless, multi-way, demi, the “pushups of summer” – if you want a bra, Victoria’s Secret stocks it. Unless you’re a breast cancer survivor, that is, and looking for a pocketed bra capable of holding a prosthetic breast form.Allan Maiden, the 28-year-old daughter of a breast cancer survivor, had hoped to change that and gathered 120,000 signatures last January asking that Victoria’s Secret start

Why tornadoes seem as if they're suddenly coming one after another

By Douglas Main, LiveScienceTornado season has been relatively quiet this year. There were only 72 tornadoes nationwide in April, 70 percent below the 10 year average, according to the Weather Channel. But within in the last week, tornado outbreaks have been erupting from North Texas to Minnesota.Why do these tornadoes seem to be hitting all of a sudden?An eastward advancing cold front is to bl...

Children pulled from rubble at Oklahoma school flattened by tornado

Several children and teachers were pulled alive Monday from the ruins of an elementary school in Moore, Okla., but rescuers were searching for more kids as hysterical parents converged around the rubble.A little girl was lifted out of the debris by rescuers, while a small boy was carried to a triage area by a woman whose face was streaked with dirt and etched with worry.In another image captured b

Tumblr's teenage wasteland: Wait till Mom and Dad find out

Let's face it: Part of Tumblr's popularity is that it's been sort of a porn Facebook for teens. With Yahoo's purchase for $1.1 billion, it seems, that won't be going away. At least according to Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who says Yahoo has no plans to mess with Tumblr.Tumblr's unique charm combines the teen angst of Live Journal with the enforced brevity of Twitter, plus kitten GIFs! It's perfect fo

Tumblr's teenage pornland: Wait till Mom and Dad find out

Let's face it: Part of Tumblr's popularity is that it's been sort of a porn Facebook for teens. With Yahoo's purchase for $1.1 billion, it seems, that won't be going away. At least according to Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who says Yahoo has no plans to mess with Tumblr.Tumblr's unique charm combines the teen angst of Live Journal with the enforced brevity of Twitter, plus kitten GIFs! It's perfect fo

Frantic search for survivors at Oklahoma school flattened by tornado; Children pulled from rubble

Hysterical parents converged Monday at an elementary school wrecked by a tornado that tore through Moore, Okla., desperate to learn if their children survived.Several kids were pulled alive from the rubble of the Plaza Towers Elementary School, the Associated Press reported. But crews were still trying to track down students in kindergarten through third grade, including dozens of children who had

Frantic search for survivors at Oklahoma school flattened by tornado

Hysterical parents converged Monday at an elementary school wrecked by the tornado that tore through Moore, Okla., desperate to learn if their children survived.Crews were still trying to track down students in kindergarten through third grade, including dozens of children who had been sheltering in a hallway at Plaza Towers Elementary School, according a reporter for NBC station KFOR.At about 5:4

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Related:'Major damage' as huge tornado slams Oklahoma

Ray Manzarek, founding member of The Doors, dies at 74

Ray Manzarek, the legendary keyboardist who founded The Doors in 1965 with fellow UCLA film school alum Jim Morrison, died of cancer Monday at age 74. Manzarek had fought a long battle with bile duct cancer."I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and bandmate Ray Manzarek today," Doors guitarist Robby Krieger said in a statement. "I'm just glad to have been able to have playe

Trouble on the farm: 'We face a grim future'

Jim Schriver has been farming since he graduated from Ohio State University in 1963. The 72-year-old grandfather of two grows corn, soybeans and livestock on his 1,600-acre farm in north central Indiana. Like most farmers, Schriver has dealt with drought, freezing temperatures and the uncertainty that comes with toiling in the fields.But Schriver says he's worried about a new threat to his live...

Takeout sites GrubHub and Seamless will merge

Rival online takeout services Seamless North America and GrubHub on Monday announced plans to combine and create a new company covering more than 20,000 restaurants in 500 cities across the U.S.Financial terms were not disclosed and it's unclear what the combined company will be called. GrubHub CEO Matt Maloney will become CEO, while Seamless CEO Jonathan Zabusky will serve as president, the c...

New sleep pill may be unsafe at higher doses, FDA review suggests

Federal health regulators say an experimental insomnia drug from Merck can help patients fall asleep, but it also carries worrisome side effects, including daytime drowsiness and suicidal thinking. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday released its review of the company's sleep aid, suvorexant, ahead of a public meeting on Wednesday. The pill works by temporarily blocking chemical messen...

Measles surges in UK years after vaccine scare

More than a decade ago, British parents refused to give measles shots to at least a million children because of a vaccine scare that raised the specter of autism. Now, health officials are scrambling to catch up and stop a growing epidemic of the highly contagious measles virus. This year, the U.K. has had more than 1,200 cases of measles, after a record number of nearly 2,000 cases last year. Th.

Car bomb explosions in Baghdad kill more than 60

BAGHDAD — More than 60 people were killed in a series of car bomb explosions targeting Shi'ite Muslims across Iraq on Monday, police and medics said, part of the worst sectarian violence since U.S. troops pulled out in December 2011. The attacks brought the number killed in sectarian clashes in the past week to over 200, and tensions between Shi'ites, who now lead Iraq, and minority Sunni Muslims

Injured marathon bombing survivors' graduation walk a 'milestone' in recovery

Before she was seriously wounded in the Boston Marathon bombings, Brittany Loring didn’t have to give much thought to her graduation walk.But on Monday, after ditching the single crutch she had been using during her recovery, she walked with a stiff limp to collect her diploma from Boston College’s Carroll School of Management -- passing a “milestone,” she said, as she recovers from the horrible e

Microsoft will unveil new Xbox over two events, not one

On the eve of Microsoft's planned Xbox reveal, the company has finally ended its long silent streak to say that the new console will actually be unveiled in two stages.Speaking on the latest Major Nelson podcast, Microsoft's interactive entertainment chief of staff Aaron Greenberg said that his company will roll out its next-generation video game hardware in two steps — first at a special event he

Senate panel gives green light to test biometric exit program

Aiming to advance a sweeping immigration reform bill by week’s end, senators on the committee considering the legislation planned marathon sessions to complete its edits, including the approval Monday of a compromise measure to implement a test system for taking foreign visa holders’ fingerprints when they exit the United States. In an effort to win over Republicans who favor using “biometric” cri

Detroit roars back after years of quality issues

Is Motor City getting its mojo back? After years of losing loyal customers frustrated by quality and reliability problems, domestic automakers are showing a new-found focus on customer service that is winning back skeptics – boosting sales, market share and profits.Despite the improvement, it may take awhile for the industry to totally repair its tarnished image. “I’d love to buy something from De

'Cheers' last call came 20 years ago: Where are the stars today?

When "Cheers" debuted in 1982, few realized they were witnessing the birth of one of the quintessential ensemble sitcoms. It took place in a bar, for crying out loud, and the main characters weren't even related -- they were barflies or drunks or sad cases or all three. And yet over the course of the next 11 years, "Cheers" would come to redefine what a sitcom could be. Characters didn't have to b

Florida mom alleges anti-gay bias after daughter expelled, arrested

A teenage girl in Florida faces criminal charges for an alleged sexual relationship with a 15-year-old female student in a case the defendant’s family says stems from anti-gay prejudice.Kaitlyn Hunt, 18, has been charged with two felony counts of “lewd and lascivious battery of a child 12 to 16 years old” related to conduct with a minor she met while they were both students at Sebastian River High

Obama, Chinese president to meet in June

NBC News has learned that President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold a two-day summit June 7-8 in Rancho Mirage, Calif. This will be Obama's first meeting with Xi Jinping since he took over as China's president. According to a senior official, the two-day summit will feature a "wide range" of issues focused on security and the economy. National Security Council adviser Tom Donilon

Teen behind viral hit 'Clouds' dies of bone cancer weeks after celeb-filled tribute video

Zach Sobiech, the Minnesota teenager who wrote the viral hit song "Clouds" during his fight with bone cancer, died at 18 years old on Monday morning. Sobiech died at his home surrounded by his family and girlfriend, according to a post by his mother on Sobiech’s CaringBridge page. Sobiech was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer, when he was 14, and was told by his doctors in June ...

Tornadoes ravage Plains