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Know it All: Thursday evening's top stories from NBC News

Here are some of the big stories NBC News is following tonight:Kerry says failing to strike Syria will feed rebel extremismSecretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that if the United States fails to punish Syria for using chemical weapons, extremist rebels could hijack the opposition and turn the civil war into a brutal free-for-all. Read more on NBC News. Obama faces showdown with Putin at G-
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Here are some of the big stories NBC News is following tonight:

Kerry says failing to strike Syria will feed rebel extremism

Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that if the United States fails to punish Syria for using chemical weapons, extremist rebels could hijack the opposition and turn the civil war into a brutal free-for-all. Read more on NBC News

Obama faces showdown with Putin at G-20 summit over Syria

President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged a tense handshake Thursday to open a summit of the Group of 20 countries — a meeting meant to focus on economic issues but overshadowed by the crisis in Syria. Read more on NBC News. 

Number of US students who've tried e-cigarettes has doubled, CDC says

The percentage of U.S. high school students who say they have tried e-cigarettes has doubled in the past year to 10 percent, government researchers reported Thursday. Read more on NBC News. 

Danger on the tracks: Unsafe rail cars carry oil through US towns

The number of freight trains carrying oil across America has soared in the past five years, but federal officials warn that the massive steel tank cars that carry most of that oil through towns and past schools – the same cars that exploded in Quebec this summer, killing 47 -- may be unsafe and prone to rupture. Read more on NBC News

Ariel Castro's family ready to claim his body

The family of kidnapper and rapist Ariel Castro, who hanged himself with a bedsheet in an Ohio prison, is set to claim his body, officials said Thursday. Read more on NBC News.

Navy midshipman rape accuser sues the academy, superintendent

The female midshipman who has accused three former Naval Academy football players of sexually assaulting her is now suing the academy and its superintendent, arguing that he must remove himself from the case. Read more on NBC News

Teen slices off own head with toy helicopter

A 19-year-old man playing with a remote control helicopter in Brooklyn lost control of it, sliced off the top of his own head and died Thursday afternoon, law enforcement officials said. Read more on NBC News

George Zimmerman's wife files for divorce

Shellie Zimmerman filed divorce papers Thursday against George Zimmerman, who was acquitted of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, her attorney told NBC News. Read more on NBC News.