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

Posted less than an hour ago by John Carney

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...

AMA supports use of sunscreen in schools

Posted less than an hour ago by Linda Carroll

If youve got a school-age kid, youve 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

Posted less than an hour ago by Rosa Golijan

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...

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

Posted less than an hour ago by Danika Fears

Dont let their small statures fool you: Dogs may be mans 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...

Immigration negotiators eye border security compromise

Posted less than an hour ago by Carrie Dann And Kasie Hunt

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 bills 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

Posted less than an hour ago by Anna Chan

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

Posted today at 7:17pm by Maggie Fox, NBC News

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

Posted today at 5:20pm by By Jim Miklaszewski, Courtney Kube And Elizabeth Chuck, NBC News

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

Posted today at 5:15pm by Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

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...