• Could genetically modified seeds be a drought solution?

    CNBC's Jane Wells reports on some genetically modified seeds that are specifically made to fight droughts.

    See our full drought coverage here. And on Wednesday, Aug. 15, watch NBC News, CNBC, MSNBC, The Weather Channel and Telemundo for daylong, network-wide coverage of the drought.

    Could genetically modified seeds be a drought solution?

    While farmers across the country struggle with the worst drought in 50 years, CNBC's Jane Wells reports on some genetically modified corn seeds that are specifically made to fight droughts.

    And the global seed business is not small change -- it was a $46 billion in 2012.

    But how do these seeds play into the debate over genetically-modified food? Watch Wells report above. 

    More coverage of the drought: 

    Drought sends Mississippi into ‘uncharted territory’ 

    ‘Best year ever’ for some farmers outside drought region   

    Forced to sell cattle during drought, dairy farmers ‘just keep praying’ for rain

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    Americans tell their story of #Drought2012 

    In drought-stricken Wisconsin, farmers helping farmers  

    Emergency well drilling brings relief to farmers stricken by drought

    See a full play list of drought-related videos here.  

    Have you been affected by the worst drought in more than 50 years? Share your photos with us on Instagram, Tumblr or Twitter with the tag #Drought2012. You can also upload your photos in the box below. 

  • Feds announce biggest-ever Medicare fraud, totaling $450 million

    By Scott Cohn, CNBC

    Federal prosecutors have charged 107 people, including doctors and nurses, in seven U.S. cities, accusing them of taking part in schemes to cheat the Medicare system out of $452 million through phony billing. Authorities are calling this the largest one-day takedown ever by the government’s Medicare fraud task force.


    At a news conference Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder said they “underscore the Justice Department’s determination to move aggressively in bringing to justice those who would violate our laws and defraud the Medicare program for their personal gain.”

    Read the original story at CNBC.com

    The 107 health care professionals, also including social workers and owners of health care companies, charged Wednesday worked in Miami, Tampa, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles and Baton Rouge.

    The arrests are the latest in a three-year crackdown on health care fraud, which is estimated to cost taxpayers between $80 and $160 billion per year. Authorities recovered a record $4.1 billion last year.

    Government Announces Massive Crackdown on Medicare Fraud

    The government has also suspended payments to the 52 provider organizations where the individuals worked. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the operation, including the arrests and the cutoffs of payments, are part of an effort to preempt fraud instead of relying on what she called the old “pay and chase” model.

    “Now, we’re analyzing patterns and trends and claims data, instead of just going claim by claim,” Sebelius said.

    Still, court filings allege the defendants were able to carry out their schemes for years.

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    In Baton Rouge, seven people who ran two community mental health centers are accused of submitting more than $225 million in false claims for mental health services in a scheme that began in 2005 and continued through October. This case alone is one of the biggest ever Medicare fraud cases.

    Government officials say the defendants from Baton Rouge rounded up drug addicts, homeless people and the elderly and used them to submit false claims for treatment.

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    In Houston, owners of four private ambulance companies were accused of billing the system for non-existent or unnecessary runs.

    In Miami, more than 50 professionals were charged with carrying out a $137 million scam involving mental health services and home health care.

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    Other cases involved fraudulent billing for ambulance services, durable medical equipment, psychotherapy and prescription drugs.

    Pete Williams, NBC News’ justice correspondent, contributed to this report.  Follow Scott Cohn on Twitter.

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  • Victims' group protests over Starbucks gun policy

    The National Gun Victims Action Council began a boycott of Starbucks Monday over the coffee giant's policy of allowing customers to bring guns into their shops in states with "open carry" laws. CNBC's Melissa Lee discusses the protest with the head of the NGAC.

    Discuss this issue on Facebook.

  • America's most stressful cities in 2012

    Carlos Osorio / AP

    The General Motors headquarters in downtown Detroit.

    By Colleen Kane, CNBC.com

    With common factors such as traffic, crowds, noise, grime, and crime, cities are generally not perceived as oases of calm.

    But what makes one city more stressful to live in than the next? To gauge the stress of residents in American cities, data cruncher Sperling’s Best Places considered the 50 largest metropolitan areas (which includes suburbs). The team considered the following factors: divorce rate, commute times, unemployment, violent crime, property crime, suicides, alcohol consumption, mental health, sleep troubles, and the annual amount of cloudy days.

    There wasn’t much variance in several categories. For alcohol consumption per month, each of the top 10 cities ranged from 8.7 to 14 drinks per month; for days per month with poor mental health, the metro areas ranged from 2.9 to 4.3; and for days per month of poor sleep, the range was 6.9 to 8.2.

    The data behind this list does not paint a cheery picture. The Sunshine State, in particular, seems much less sunny — dismal, even. What follows are the five metropolitan areas that fared the worst using the above criteria.

    5. Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Michigan
    Population: 1,918,288
    Divorced: 11.4%
    Commute time – minutes: 27
    Unemployment: 15.7%
    Violent crime per 100,000 population: 1111.2
    Property crime per 100,000 population: 4,152.4
    Suicides per 100,000 population: 9.6
    Cloudy days annually: 180

    Standout factors: The Detroit metropolitan area is in the 100th percentile for violent crime and property crime. It also ranks in the 97th percentile for poor mental health days per month, though it is in the second percentile for alcohol consumption per month.

    4. Jacksonville, Florida
    Population: 1,374,303
    Divorced: 12.3%
    Commute time – minutes: 28.0
    Unemployment: 10.4%
    Violent crime per 100,000 population: 557
    Property crime per 100,000 population: 3,772.4
    Suicides per 100,000 population: 13.9
    Cloudy days annually: 139

    Standout factor: Jacksonville is in the 95th percentile for divorces.

    3. Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Florida
    Population: 2,472,015
    Divorced: 11.5%
    Commute time – minutes: 33.2
    Unemployment: 12.5%
    Violent crime per 100,000 population: 733.3
    Property crime per 100,000 population: 4,678.3
    Suicides per 100,000 population: 9.3
    Cloudy days annually: 117

    Standout factors: Metropolitan Miami is in the 97th percentile for property crime, and 95th percentile for violent crime, but is in the fourth percentile for alcohol consumption.

    2. Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada
    Population: 1,908,008
    Divorced: 13.2%
    Commute time – minutes: 27
    Unemployment: 14%
    Violent crime per 100,000 population: 763.4
    Property crime per 100,000 population: 2,921.9
    Suicides per 100,000 population: 18
    Cloudy days annually: 65

    Standout factors: Las Vegas-Paradise is in the 100th percentile for divorces, but it had the least cloudy days of the 50 cities analyzed.

    1. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida
    Population: 2,780,818
    Divorced: 12.3%
    Commute time – minutes: 28.3
    Unemployment: 11.2%
    Violent crime per 100,000 population: 500
    Property crime per 100,000 population: 3,387.2
    Suicides per 100,000 population: 15.5
    Cloudy days annually: 127

    Standout factor: Tampa is in the 97th percentile for suicides.

    Click here to see all of America's most stressful cities on CNBC.com.

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