National & International News
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NBCNews.com
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 4:42 PM

Peace Corp Opens Up to Same-Sex Couples

Getty Images The Peace Corp will now start accepting applications from same-sex partners who want to serve together overseas, NBC News reported. Deputy Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet said on Tuesday that opening up to same-sex domestic partners will diversify the pool of applicants for the volunteer force who serve in education, health, economic development and agriculture projects. Same-sex couples can start applying June 3 and those wishing to join will need to sign an affidavit to verify their relationship. Get More at NBC News

NBCNews.com
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 4:18 PM

Pakistan's New Leader Makes Landmark Offer of Talks to Taliban

AP Pakistan's prime minister designate Nawaz Sharif told members of his party on Monday that talks with the Taliban is not off the table, NBC News reported. "All options should be tried, and guns and bullets are not a solution to all problems … Why shouldn't we sit and talk and engage in dialogue?" Sharif said. His announcement in Lahore has created a divide among Pakistan's political classes with many saying this is a war which must be committed to and won. The Pakistani Taliban would be willing to partake in peace talks, according to their spokesman, who added that they had already been willing to participate in peace talks with the previous government – and that they had wanted to work with Sharif as a guarantor to implement accords, if they were agreed to. Get More at NBC News

tonkin
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 5:09 PM

Couple Steals $854K From Township: DA

Couple Steals $854K From Township: DALehigh County District Attorney's Office
A former municipal employee and her husband, a former police officer, have been charged with embezzling more than $850,000 from a township in Pennsylvania. Lehigh County District Attorney James Martin announced charges Tuesday against the couple, Nancy Tonkin, 66, and her husband William Tonkin IV, 69, of Little Lehigh Drive South in Emmaus, Pa. The Tonkins each face theft, stolen property and criminal conspiracy charges. Martin says the couple stole hundreds of thousands from the utilities account of the South Whitehall Township finance department between 1999 and last June. Nancy Tonkin was a township employee for 30 years and handled billing for residential and commercial water and sewer accounts. She used a technique called “lapping” where she would repeatedly misapply residential payments while keeping cash, according to investigators. Read »
Super Bowl 50
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 2:09 PM

The 50th Super Bowl Goes to San Francisco Bay Area

The 50th Super Bowl Goes to San Francisco Bay AreaGetty Images
The 50th Super Bowl will be held in the San Francisco Bay Area. NFL owners have voted Tuesday for the 49ers' new stadium as host of the 2016 game. That facility in Santa Clara, Calif., is due to open for the 2014 season. San Francisco beat out South Florida, which was stymied in its bid to stage an 11th Super Bowl when the Florida Legislature did not support financing to renovate Sun Life Stadium. The 2017 Super Bowl will be held in Houston, which also beat out Miami for that game. The only previous Super Bowl played in northern California was at Stanford Stadium in 1985. Houston hosted the 2004 NFL championship game. Earlier Tuesday, owners approved a $200 million loan for stadium construction in Atlanta. Read »
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 2:03 PM

Judge Agrees to Delay in Case of Boston Bombing Defendant Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

AP The judge overseeing the federal prosecution of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving suspect in the Boston bombings, has agreed to delay the case for roughly a month, NBC News reported. A probable cause hearing scheduled for May 30 has been delayed until July 2 at the request of federal prosecutors and Tsarnaev's laywers. They asked Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler to reschedule, citing "the complex factual and legal issues present in this case and the need for adequate time to obtain and review evidence." After his capture, Tsarnaev spent six days in the hospital, where he was charge with using a weapon of mass destruction for the April 15 blast that killed three and injured more than 200 people at the Boston Marathon finish line. Get More at NBC News

ronald poppo
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 8:51 PM

Miami Face Mauling Victim Releases Video Message

Miami Face Mauling Victim Releases Video Message
Nearly a year after his face was horribly maimed in a vicious attack on the MacArthur Causeway, Ronald Poppo spoke publicly for the first time in a video released by Jackson Memorial Hospital Tuesday. Wearing a Miami Heat hat and sitting on a hospital bed, Poppo is seen strumming a guitar before giving thanks to his doctors and the community. "Thanks for considering, helping out, people in my predicament need to be helped out and I'm sure there's other people also that have the same type of predicament," Poppo said in the brief video. "I thank the outpouring of people in the community, I will always be grateful for them." The video was released during a news conference at Jackson Medical Center, where the 66-year-old continues to recover from the injuries he suffered in the May 26, 2012 attack. Click through for more on Poppo's recovery. Read »
NBCNews.com
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 11:55 AM

During Tornado, Trapped Students Had Nowhere to Hide

When the sirens began wailing and teachers at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., heard that a huge tornado was heading toward them, there was nowhere to hide. They crouched in hallways and bathrooms, waiting, hoping and praying. Then "the school started coming apart," one neighbor who sought shelter at the school told The Associated Press. A teacher told NBC station KFOR that she draped herself on top of six children in a bathroom to shelter them. The twister hit the school at about 200 mph at 3 p.m. local time, tearing off the roof and killing seven children. Officials said the children drowned in a pool of water. As of Tuesday morning, it is still unclear if any other children were killed or trapped alive. Get More at NBC News

FBI
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 10:55 AM

Quantico-Based FBI Agents Fell to Their Deaths

Quantico-Based FBI Agents Fell to Their Deaths
Two agents with the FBI's elite hostage rescue team apparently fell to their deaths while on a counterterorrism training exercise off Virginia Beach Friday. An FBI spokeswoman said Tuesday that the two were rappelling down a rope from a helicopter to a ship that was about 12 miles off the coast when the helicopter ran into some kind of trouble. Agent Christopher Lorek, 41, and Special Agent Stephen Shaw, 40, fell a "significant distance," Special Agent Ann Todd said. Both men were a part of the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group and were on a weeklong training trip in Hampton Roads when they fell Friday. The agents were airlifted to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where they were pronounced dead. More investigation into the incident continues. Read »
oklahoma
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 4:41 PM
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By Jerome McClendon

Dramatic Photos: Oklahoma Tornado Strike

A massive tornado touched down just south of Oklahoma City on Monday,... See Full Gallery »

NBCNews.com
4 hours ago

How to Help Tornado Victims

Local schools, churches and community organizations are coordinating food and shelter for displaced residents and accepting donations of food, blankets and other items in the wake of a massive tornado that struck Oklahoma City on Monday afternoon. The Red Cross has set up shelters in various communities. You can donate to the Red Cross Disaster Relief fund here, and the organization also suggests giving blood at your local hospital or blood bank. You can also donate to the Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief fund and donations will "go straight to help those in need providing tree removal services, laundry services and meals to victims of disasters." The Salvation Army is organizing disaster response units to serve hard-hit areas in central Oklahoma, including Moore, where it is sending mobile kitchens that can serve meals to 2,500 people a day, and to South Oklahoma City. Get More at NBC News

Torndoes
2 hours ago

Deadliest Tornadoes in U.S. History Since 1900

Deadliest Tornadoes in U.S. History Since 1900AP
Most remember the 158 deaths in Joplin, Mo., tornado in 2011, but it was not the worst in the past century. Others have included 695 deaths, March 18, 1925, in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana and 216 deaths, April 5, 1936, in Tupelo, Miss. Click through to see the full list of the deadliest tornadoes in the U.S. Read »
nyc
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 8:02 AM

Anti-Gay Crimes Spike in NYC, Thousands Rally

Anti-Gay Crimes Spike in NYC, Thousands RallyAP
Thousands marched on the streets of Manhattan on Monday to protest the killing of a gay man who had allegedly been taunted with homophobic slurs — the most recent in a spate of bias attacks stirring up anxiety, disbelief and outrage in a famously gay-friendly neighborhood. "We're here! We're queer!" and "Homophobia's got to go!" were among the chants as a crowd marked the death of 32-year-old Mark Carson in Greenwich Village — not far from the site of the 1969 riots that helped give rise to the gay rights movement, NBC 4 New York reported. Christine Quinn, the city's first openly gay City Council speaker, marched along with Edie Windsor, whose pivotal case to win the same rights for gay couples as heterosexual couples is before the Supreme Court. Police say a man charged with murder as a hate crime shot Carson in the head in the heart of one of the city's most gay-friendly neighborhoods. Read »
NBCNews.com
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 3:05 PM

WATCH: Time-Lapse of Tornado's Path of Destruction


A massive two-mile-wide tornado rips through southern Oklahoma City on Monday. This footage has been sped up by 10X. Get More at NBC News

20 minutes ago
85-Year-Old Guidance Counselor Honored

85-Year-Old Guidance Counselor Honored

Watch »

Connecticut
4 hours ago

Metro-North Back in Service

Metro-North Back in ServiceAP
The Metro-North New Haven Line in Connecticut will return to full service for the Wednesday morning peak commute. Work continues at the train crash site after Friday's rush hour derailment in Connecticut that injured 72 people. "While this is definitely great news, residents still need to bear in mind that the commute Tuesday will remain a challenge," Malloy said. Malloy conceded traffic on Connecticut's highways was not as congested as had been predicted, but urged people to carpool or work from home on Tuesday to avoid major problems. About 100 workers have been on the job around the clock since Saturday removing the damaged trains and repairing the track, Permut said. Crews are rebuilding about 2,000 feet of track, according to Howard Permut, president of Metro-North. Read »
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