SOCIETY

A preliminary report on the plane propeller accident involving Lauren Scruggs has been released from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The report indicates that the pilot tried to stop Scruggs from walking into the plane propeller that led to serious injuries to her shoulder, face and left hand.

Chicago police are questioning six people about a vicious beating of 17-year-old teen that was videotaped and posted on YouTube.

Pop artist Katy Perry has joined Electronic Arts in an extensive and exclusive creative collaboration for the video game giant's popular franchise, The Sims. The Sims 3 Showtime Katy Perry Collector's Edition by EA Games marks a new collaborative effort between the artist and the Sims.

Unnamed police sources say the department has found little to back up family claims that Staten Island teen Amanda Cummings committed suicide due to bullying, reports The New York Post. There has been no official announcement, however.

Natural gas prices have plunged below $3 per million Btus (MMBtu) largely due to increased supply from new drilling techniques.

Burger King, the number two fast food chain in the country, is going to be testing a home delivery service at a select few of its Washington D.C. area locations, the company announced

A former employee claims mice ran rampant in the Philadelphia McDonald's where he worked, and has video of one mouse (watch here) scurrying across Big Mac buns to prove it. His supervisor even ordered him to brush off mouse droppings from the buns and to serve them to McDonald's customers.

The start of the 2012 brought the highest January gas prices in history, and analysts warn that prices could keep climbing as the warm-weather driving seasons approaches.

According to local authorities, the boy injured two children and one adult yesterday afternoon after a fight in a mobile home park. At least one of the children is related to the child, whose name will not be released. The five-year-old, who used an edged weapon in the triple stabbing, is under evaluation. It's unclear whether he will be charged with a crime.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority made an offer to the Transit Workers Union on Monday, hours after their previous contract ended Sunday night. However, the TWU is not willing to commit to anything just yet.

Catherine and her husband John Graves were married in 2001, and joined together their families, which had a total of six children. When John died of a brain tumor, it drove Catherine into a deep spiral of depression and anxiety.

The Pacific Northwest is bracing for a major snow storm expected to hit late Tuesday and continue into much of Wednesday. The storm could bring record amounts of snow to Seattle and other cities in the region. The snow storm this week could exceed the amount of snow seen in the region since the record-breaking November 1985.

A collection of long lost slides were rediscovered in a dusty cabinet after more than 165 years. The 314 slides feature fossil evidence collected by Charles Darwin and Joseph Hooker from research voyages taken in the early 19th century. The treasure trove of fossils, rediscovered in a chance encounter, sheds light on the early work of Charles Darwin that influenced the development of his theory of evolution and natural selection.

Tripp Roth, a two-year-old baby born with a rare and immensely painful skin disease known as E.B., died on Saturday in his mother's arms. When Tripp Roth was first diagnosed with the disorder shortly after birth, doctors said he wouldn't live past a year, as there is no cure. However, after two years of struggling with the painful condition which caused him to go blind, Roth died a few months short of his third birthday.

Captain Francesco Schettino of the Costa Concordia was ordered by the port authority to return to his sinking ship after abandoning his crew and thousands of suffering passengers, according to transcripts of radio calls and telephone conversations released Tuesday.

On Monday, Jeopardy host Alex Trebek posed the question, A blow to the back of the neck is the punch named for this animal. Contestant Mike piped up almost immediately, answering, What is a donkey? referring to a donkey punch, an answer which has gone viral as a worldwide trending topic.

Wikipedia will initiate a blackout on Wednesday, Jan. 18, in protest of the anti-piracy bills SOPA and PIPA. SOPA and PIPA are two Congressional bills meant to halt the illegal copying and sharing of movies and music on the Internet. However, major Internet organizations- such as Wikipedia, Reddit and Boing Boing - claim the bills will hinder their operations and they are ready to protest.

With 29 people still missing following the wreck of the Costa Concordia, rescuers in Italy have restarted their search for survivors. On Tuesday, navy divers blew a hole in the ship's hull using small explosive charges and made their way into the submerged vessel.

The captain of the Costa Concordia was ordered by the port authority to return to his sinking ship after abandoning his crew and thousands of suffering passengers, according to transcripts of radio calls and telephone conversations released Tuesday. Captain Francesco Schettino falsified information, stating that most passengers had been evacuated and that he would help lead the emergency operations.

Wikipedia, the popular community-edited online encyclopedia, will black out its English-language site for 24 hours to seek support against proposed U.S. anti-piracy legislation that Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said threatens the future of the Internet.

Hosting the majority of the planet's population, it is not a surprise to see Asian countries playing an increasingly prominent role in today's business world.

NYC now has an estimated 10,000 homeless families, including 17,000 homeless on its mean streets on this freezing night that outreach struggles to shelter.

Brian Williams, NBC anchor and apparent Gawker fan, was less than amused by singer Lana Del Rey's performance on Saturday Night Live over the weekend, a performance he skewered in a widely-read email leaked by Gawker editor Nick Denton. Read the email (and NBC's frazzled PR response) here, and watch Lana Del Rey's underwhelming performance on SNL.

The Lamartine Place Historic District, twelve historic houses in Chelsea that were essential to the Underground Railroad, were recognized in the weekend preceding Martin Luther King Day with a brand new sign that hangs on 339 W. 29th Street.

Six months before Christopher Nolan's final Batman film hits theaters, tickets for The Dark Knight Rises: The IMAX Experience are on sale for theaters in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco for an early July 19 screening. Advance tickets are selling out fast, so Batman fanboys and those eager to see Anne Hathaway as Catwoman early are advised to buy up the tickets while they can.

Polygamist Warren Jeffs may be serving a life sentence for sexual assault, but the former head of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints continues to run his radical off-branch of the Mormon Church behind bars. His attempts to restrict and control his followers, however, is causing a rift within the fundamentalist community, in what may come to be the biggest split in the FLDS Church since it broke away from mainstream Mormonism.

Albert Flowers, a 66-year-old man from Melbourne, Fla., was captured on tape being viciously beaten by a police officer identified as Derek Middendorf.

With the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia dangerously shifting, Italy's Environment Minister Corrado Clini warned that the sinking may lead to an environmental disaster if the ship begins to leak its 2,300 tons of fuel on board.

Archeologists working in Egypt discovered the 3,000 year old tomb of Nehmes Bastet - a female singer who lived sometime between 945-712 BC.