Trending: Friday, January 3, 2014

Published 12:53 p.m. CDT (GMT - 6:00)

Yesterday's Google trends and trending now on Twitter (U.S.) at bottom
Today's headlines
What they're leading with
▪ CNN: Blizzard blasts Northeast with snow, wind and bitter cold
▪ NBCNews: Killer storm: 9 deaths blamed on winter blast as snow piles up
▪ NPR: Nuns' objection to health care law is unwarranted, Justice Dept. says
▪ FoxNews: Administration to high court: Don't exempt Catholic groups from contraception mandate
▪ ABCNews: Carousel: US vets watch as Al Qaeda takes new stand in Fallujah, 'Science Guy,' creationists set for smackdown, Forceps delivery crushed baby's skull, caused death: family; Latest headline: Storm cripples Northeast with snow, wind and frigid temps
▪ CBSNews: Winter storm dumps snow on Northeast with dangerously cold temperatures
▪ USAToday: Supreme Court asked to reject Utah bid to ban gay marriage

Meteor shower news
▪ NBCNews: First meteor shower of 2014 on Friday -- sun to steal US show
▪ NPR: Tonight's meteor shower: Live, from space, it's the Quadrantids

2014 preview
▪ FoxNews: Saddle up: Oregon's horse tripping ban and other new laws kick off  2014 (animal cruelty news)
▪ FoxNews: 5 politicians to watch  in 2014 (Fred Upton, Bill de Blasio, Matt Bevin, Kshama Sawant, Wendy Davis)
▪ CBSNews: Mark your calendars: Movies to see in 2014 (Divergent, The Legend of Hercules, Lone Survivor, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, Her, I Frankenstein, Labor Day, The Monuments Men, The Lego Movie, Robocop, Vampire Academy, Winter's Tale, Veronica Mars, The Grand Budapest Hotel, 300 Rise of an Empire, Grace of Monaco, Muppets Most Wanted, Nymphomaniac, Noah, Captain America: Winter Soldier, Dom Hemingway, Rio 2, Transcendence, Nymphomaniac: Part II, The Other Woman, The Amazing Spiderman 2, Godzilla, Million Dollar Arm, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Maleficent, A Million Ways to Die in the West, 22 Jump Street, The Fault in Our Stars, Edge of Tomorrow, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Transformers 4: Age of Extinction, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Tammy, Jupiter Ascending, Planes: Fire and Rescue, Guardians of the Galaxy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Expendables, The Giver, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Jane Got a Gun, Dark Places, Resident Evil 6, This is Where I Leave You, Dolphin Tale 2, The Equalizer, Gone Girl, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Paranormal Activity 5, Interstellar, Dumb and Dumber Too, The Hunger Games: Mockinjay -- Part 1, Horrible Bosses, Paddington, Exodus, Moses, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, Annie, Everest, Unbroken, Into the Woods

Flu news
▪ USAToday: Flu now widespread in the United States

Obamacare coverage issues
▪ CNN: US argues nuns have no complaint over birth control requirement
▪ NBCNews: Adding baby to Obamacare health plan isn't easy

Escapee news
▪ CNN: Man accused of killing mom, stepfather escapes from facility
▪ NBCNews: 'Insane' escapee locked away for death of parents captured

Stranded ship news
▪ CNN: Chinese ship in Antarctica rescue fears it could get stuck in heavy ice, too
▪ NBCNews: Rescue ship sent to retrieve stranded Antarctic voyagers now stuck in ice

Auto sales news/2013 in review
▪ CNN: Car sales make a strong comeback in 2013

Slain California priest
▪ NPR: Arrest made in murder of California priest

Wireless competition news
▪ CNN: AT&T offers T-Mobile customers $450 to switch

Housing news
▪ NBCNews: Housing  recovery means more seized homes on auction block

North Korea
▪ NBCNews: Kim Jong Un's executed uncle was eaten alive by 120 hungry dogs: report
▪ FoxNews: North Korean leader fed uncle to starving dogs, report says

India
▪ CNN: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to step down after election due in May

Central African Republic/Childhood quality-of-life news
▪ CNN: Children beheaded as violence grows in Central African Republic, U.N. says

Libya
▪ CNN: Briton 1 of 2 apparently killed in Libya

China
▪ NBCNews: China embraces 'Breaking Bad?" Three tons of crystal meth seized in village

GMO news
▪ CNN: General Mills: Original Cheerios are GMO free

Delayed consequences/dormant news/bomb detonation news/untimely death news
What-are-the-odds new/plot-device news
▪ CNN: Suspected World War II-era bomb detonates in Germany, killing 1

Recall news
▪ NBCNews: Land Rover recalls thousands of SUVs for potential airbag issue

Pop culture news
▪ CNN: 26 movies added to Netflix streaming
▪ NBCNews: 'Downton Abbey' review. Where we left off in season three

Hacking news
▪ NBCNews: Snapchat CEO: 'We thought we had done enough' to prevent hack

U.S. history news
▪ FoxNews: Author of Lincoln mystery letter from 1846 identified

Mars colonization news
▪ CBSNews: 1,058 Mars One applicants make first cut

Facebook news
▪ CNN: Facebook faces suit over private messages

Social media news
▪ FoxNews: Justice  Department spending $544, 338 for an 'enhanced company profile' on LinkedIn

Pediatric health issue news
▪ NBCNews: Mold, mice and zip codes: Inside the childhood asthma epidemic

Shingles
▪ FoxNews: Shingles dramatically increases heart disease in people under 40, stroke risk

Learning-a-new-language news
▪ NPR: How language seems to shape one's view of the world

Malaria news
▪ NPR: Why ending malaria may be more about backhoes than bed nets

Endangered species news
▪ FoxNews: Endangered panther killed in three-car crash in Florida

Lost luggage news
▪ NPR: Destroyed by customs? Or stolen? Whatever happened, flutes are gone

Energy news
▪ FoxNews: Warning issues about oil shipped from North Dakota, Montana

Unintended consequences news
▪ NPR: Why ending malaria may be more about backhoes than bed nets
▪ NPR: Medicaid expansion boosted emergency room visits in Oregon
▪ USAToday: 1 dead as World War II bomb explodes in Germany

Edward Snowden/NSA spying news
▪ NPR: Newspapers: 'Whistle-blower' Snowden deserves clemency

Abuse of power news/irony news
▪ FoxNews: Colorado teacher asked students to send topless photos, police say

Mentally ill psychiatrist news
▪ USAToday: Report: Missing Mich. doctor stalked gospel singer

It's-not-fiction news
▪ NBCNews: Fugitive banker accused of faking own death says family didn't know he was alive
▪ NBCNews: Husband stabs man who gave his wife New Year's kiss: cops
▪ NBCNews: Dallas police fatally shoot armed resident in condominium lobby
▪ FoxNews: Colorado teacher asked students to send topless photos, police say
▪ FoxNews: Florida beachgoer discovers human foot in shoe

World-of-work news
▪ NPR: 4 killed as Cambodian police fire at striking garment workers

Cross-cultural comparison news
▪ NPR: Overweight people in developing world outnumber those in rich countries

Culture-in-the-U.S. news
▪ NPR: Once hidden in shame, 2 mothers 'don't have to lie anymore'

Outside-the-U.S. news
▪ NPR: 4 killed as Cambodian police fire at striking garment workers

Obituaries in the news
▪ NPR: Book news: 'Cazalet' author Elizabeth Jane Howard dies

Yesterday's Google trends with at least 1M searches
Weather (Indicates that the weather is the first major story of the new year)

Alabama football
▪ BleacherReport: Oklahoma vs. Alabama: Score, grades and analysis from 2014 Sugar  Bowl

Yesterday's Google trends with at least 200,000 but <1M searches
Weather.com (Indicates #1 weather to-go branding)

Jay Cutler
▪ USAToday: Bears sign Jay Cutler to seven-year contract

Chris Kluwe
▪ BleacherReport: Chris Kluwe calling out Vikings staff is eye-opening admirable and puzzling

Snapchat
▪ See 'Hacking' above

Yesterday's Google trends with at least 100,000 but <200,000 searches
Weather NYC

2014 calendar (Interesting because it's an indication of when people finally start to come to grips with it being 2014 and associated need to be aware of when specific days fall...)

MTA
▪ NYHDailyNews: MTA express subway service returns after snowstorm as transit delays fade

NOAA (Indicates #2 weather go-to branding)

Trending now on U.S. Twitter
▪ #AmericansvsBritish
▪ #DietMusicians 
▪ Derrick Henry
▪ #BoomerSooner
▪ #SugarBowl
▪ #SelfieOlympics
▪ Trevor Knight
▪ University of LSU
▪ Katherine Webb