Newser Story Index from April, 2007
Welcome to the Newser Story Index. Here you find stories written by Newser writers and editors, assembled with supporting photos and videos from the files of the news story.
The Fall, And Rise, Of Television
Wired
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Apr 7, 2007 11:11 AM CDT
(Newser) -
TV executives are biting their nails over the future of their medium, even as conventional indicators suggest it's never been stronger. Wired reports that sitcoms and dramas are winning, not losing, audiences, but through financially amorphous pipelines like DVDs, iTunes downloads and even homemade web-casts. "Traditional TV won't be here in...
Judges Gone Wild!
Associated Press
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Apr 7, 2007 11:06 AM CDT
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"This is a case of a judge gone wild," declaimed Joe Francis, the sleazemeister behind the Girls Gone Wild videos, after being held in contempt of court yesterday. Francis is facing suits from seven underage girls who are not so wild about his cameras probing into their partying. The judge ordered Francis into custody.
Botched Sosa Check Swing Upends Red Sox
Associated Press
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Apr 7, 2007 10:56 AM CDT
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While attempting to check his swing, Rangers slugger Sammy Sosa accidentally hit an RBI single that would be the go-ahead run in a 2-0 victory over the Red Sox. It was the first RBI of the season for Sosa, who is attempting a comeback with his 1989 rookie-season team.
Woods Hapless at Augusta
Forbes
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Apr 7, 2007 10:45 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Masters remains wide open after Day 2, with an unassuming two-under 142 leading the field. Tiger Woods is five shots from the lead, a strikingly poor performance from a player most pundits assumed would dominate Augusta in typical unflappable godlike fashion. Relative golf demigod Phil Mickelson also disappointed at a four-over-par...
Pelosi Is Doing Bush's Job
Huffington Post
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Apr 6, 2007 9:01 PM CDT
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Taylor Marsh defends Pelosi's visit to Syria on the grounds that if Bush won't talk to Assad someone has to. It turns out that all Syria wants is some R-E-S-P-E-C-T. And Marsh makes the case that this is a good thing for America to be doing.
Pelosi Is a Felon
Wall Street Journal
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Apr 6, 2007 9:00 PM CDT
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Mr. Turner, a lawyer and forme assistant secretary of state in the Reagan administration says Speaker Pelosi is a felon under a 1799 law known as the Logan Act. Citing Marbury v Madison, perhaps the most cited legal case in American legal history, he says that Pelosi breached the separation of powers demanded by the constitution.
China Has Change of Heart On Transplants
Wall Street Journal
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Apr 6, 2007 4:40 PM CDT
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China is rethinking a major medical cash cow: providing organ transplants for Westerners on overcrowded waiting lists at home. "Transplant tourism" has been a particularly popular option in Israel, where insurers are required to pony up for overseas operations. But health officials recently ruled that organs should not be given to foreigners...
Islamic Scholars Need U.S.
Baltimore Sun
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Apr 6, 2007 4:27 PM CDT
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The Iraq war may be unforgiveable, but America has given Islam a priceless gift: a haven for Muslim scholarship, says a professor at the University of Deleware. "Muslim scholars have always maintained that true happiness comes from the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge," writes M. A. Muqtedar Khan. "I found this to be the case in...
Insuring Against Political Risks
Economist
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Apr 6, 2007 1:45 PM CDT
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Political-risk insurance has quietly become a billion-dollar industry, the Economist reports, as Western corporations doing business in the developing world crave protection against coups, embargoes and civil wars. The Berne Union, a syndicate of 30 of the field's biggest insurers, says members have $113 billion in outstanding policies in some of the...
Late to The Ball, But Gays Will Wed
Reuters
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Apr 6, 2007 1:23 PM CDT
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Same-sex couples can now exchange rings in the shadows of Sleeping Beauty's castle and have Mickey and Minnie as witnesses. Walt Disney opened its "Fairy Tale Wedding" package to gay partners yesterday, after a gay website accused the company of discrimination for barring same-sex couples from the $8,000-and-up program.
It's Not Easy Building Green
New York Observer
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Apr 6, 2007 12:43 PM CDT
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Despite the hype, the cool technologies and the new cachet, building green on a big scale is a very frustrating business, developers in New York tell the Observer . Exciting projects are hobbled by slow-moving regulators and greedy utility companies, they say. Their $100K natural gas "microturbines" are idle because regulators say they violate...
Wal-Mart Drops The Smock
BusinessWeek
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Apr 6, 2007 11:24 AM CDT
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Wal-Mart employees are about to ditch their frumpy frocks in favor of a preppier look—khaki pants and dark-blue polos. It's part of a broader initiative to streamline and modernize the megastore's image to attract a new, wealthier customer base, Business Week reports. Other recent upscaling: vinyl wood floors and organic goods.
Resisting Captors Was "Not an Option"
BBC
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Apr 6, 2007 11:01 AM CDT
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Britain's freed sailors say they were blindfolded, psychologically tortured, and isolated from each other during their captivity in Iran. They were lined up while weapons were cocked, and told that if they did not say they were in Iranian waters when they were caught, they would face seven years in prison, the BBC reports.
Conjoined Twins Are Freed
Bangkok Post (Thailand)
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Apr 6, 2007 9:59 AM CDT
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A pair of conjoined twins attached at the liver and the heart are alive and separate after a surgery Bangkok's Siriraj Hospital calls a "world first." The 10-month-old girls' hearts were joined at the atrium, and the blood flow was connected, but the organs were not dependent on each other.
Advertisers Won't Get It on eBay
New York Times
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Apr 6, 2007 9:34 AM CDT
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Cable networks are boycotting eBay's experiment in auctioning television airtime to ad houses, in a decision that could ground its nascent spin-off site. The networks protest that Online Media Exchange, which eBay claimed would reduce inefficiency, doesn't account for today's complex targeting and multimedia promotional packages.
Matsuzaka Fires Gem in Much-Hyped Debut
Boston Globe
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Apr 6, 2007 9:18 AM CDT
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The Red Sox's $103-million man Daisuke Matsuzaka lived up to the hype last night, holding the Kansas City Royals to just one run on six hits in his Major League debut. In front of 200 Japanese media members, Matsuzaka dazzled the Royals hitters with a power fastball and his famed array of off-speed pitches, leading the Sox to a 4-1 victory.
Bacteria Battle Depression
Economist
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Apr 6, 2007 8:55 AM CDT
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Clinical depression may be treatable with bacteria, doctors at Bristol University posit. They got the idea when they observed lung cancer patients inoculated with harmless Mycobacterium vaccae who showed reduced symptoms and improved mental health. The brain produces serotonin as an immune response, the docs hypothesized, raising the low serotonin...
Iraq Is Breaking the Army
Time
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Apr 6, 2007 8:47 AM CDT
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The U.S. Army is stretched so thin in Iraq and Afghanistan that it's sending ill-prepared and ill-equipped young people into harm’s way, Time reports. And the surge in troops is only deepening the crisis: Two of the five new brigades bound for the Middle East will skip vital situational training in the Mojave Desert.
UN Report: Climate Change Will Hit Poor Hardest
BBC
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Apr 6, 2007 8:46 AM CDT
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Expect floods, droughts, fires—and resulting starvation, conflict, and mass migration—as climate change becomes more pronounced, says a U.N. report released today. And expect the poor to get hit the hardest, as deserts get drier, deltas flood more often, and small islands are overwhelmed.
Southwest Water Crisis Looms
Los Angeles Times
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Apr 6, 2007 8:35 AM CDT
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Permanent drought could strike the Southwest U.S. by 2050, thanks to global warming, and experts predict water wars, as cities and farmers face shortages. Computer models show that the drying has already begun. Jonathan Overpeck, a climate researcher at the University of Arizona, says the data tell “a story which is pretty darn scary and very...
Big Oil Shut Out Of Iraq Deals
CNN
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Apr 6, 2007 8:24 AM CDT
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U.S. oil companies are far from first in line as Iraq doles out its initial oil contracts. China, India—even Vietnam and Indonesia—have the inside track instead, thanks to contracts and infrastructure dating back to the Saddam regime, and more positive Iraqi sentiment. "They have no involvement with the secular or ethnic...
Charges Filed in London Bombings
Guardian (UK)
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Apr 6, 2007 8:02 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Three men have been charged in the July 7, 2005 bombings of the London mass-transit system. The suspects, Waheed Ali, Sadeer Saleem, and Mohammed Shakil, are accused of conspiring with the terrorists who blew themselves up in the tube and on a bus, killing 52. Surveillance cameras recorded the men doing what authorities believe was reconnaissance or...
Britons Ask: Were Captives Too Cozy With Iranians?
Daily Mail (UK)
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Apr 6, 2007 7:04 AM CDT
(Newser) -
As the euphoria over the homecoming of the 15 British captives subsides, some Britons are charging that the sailors and marines went overboard in co-operating with their captors. Lt. Gen. Sir Michael Gray tells London’s Daily Mail: "In my days you would have got name, rank and serial number and that would be your lot." He called the...
Cheap Anticancer Drugs Are Ignored
New York Times
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Apr 5, 2007 9:51 PM CDT
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Ralph Moss writes about why inexpensive cancer treatments get no research dollars. The publisher of a newsletter that covers both conventional and alternative cancer therapies, Moss blames the inability to patent already discovered and available chemicals and drugs for the situation.
Police Defeat Fans, 11-0
BBC
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Apr 5, 2007 9:13 PM CDT
(Newser) -
In Rome, a squad of determined Italian riot police prevailed over 11 Manchester United fans, sending them to the hospital. Over 5,000 Man U supporters crowded the stands at Rome's Stadio Olimpico; their team fell to Roma, 2-1, as they themselves lost by a greater margin to the disciplined onslaught of club- and shield-wielding police.
Colangelo, Cuban: Picks To Buy Cubs
Sports Illustrated
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Apr 5, 2007 8:59 PM CDT
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Team USA executive director Jerry Colangelo and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban are the two individuals most likely to buy the Cubs, argues Jon Heyman. Both have track records of success, and Colangelo is a Chicago native. The zany renegade Cuban seems to be on the list beause he didn't say "no" when asked by Jim Cramer...
Injured Arenas Looks Finished for the Season
Reuters
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Apr 5, 2007 8:39 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Gilbert Arenas, the hot-shooting Washington guard sportswriters are now legally required to describe as "quirky," is out for 2 to 3 months with a knee injury. Unless he recovers and the Wizards reach the NBA Finals minus both him (their leading scorer) and fellow All-Star Caron Butler (out six weeks with a broken hand), he will not...
Slasher Gets Life For Horror-ific Attack
Evening Standard (UK)
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Apr 5, 2007 4:28 PM CDT
(Newser) -
A slasher fan will be locked up in Britain after attacking his buddy with a homemade Freddy Krueger glove. Prosecutors extracted from Jason (!) Moore, a Leicester stonemason, that he’d seen Nightmare on Elm Street more than 20 times (itself somewhat horrifying) before he slashed his friend (passed out at Moore’s house after the two drank...
Kerkorian Offers $4.5 Billion For Chrysler
Detroit Free Press
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Apr 5, 2007 4:18 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Beverly Hills billionaire Kirk Kerkorian has offered to buy the Chrysler group for $4.5 billion. Kerkorian's investment company, Tracinda Corp., can pay cash for the ailing automotive giant, and is pitching an extra $100 mil for an exclusive two-month period to run due diligence. Tracinda told parent DaimlerChrysler it can work with both management...
Geffen, Zell Talk Deal For LA Times
Washington Post
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Apr 5, 2007 3:13 PM CDT
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David Geffen wants to get his hands on the LA Times, and he's optimistic that he may yet succeed after talking to Sam Zell, the feisty real estate mogul who bought the Tribune Company Monday. The two discussed both a spin-off and a joint venture partnership, sources close to the negotiations told the Post.
Officer Walls Sects Apart in Baghdad
Wall Street Journal
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Apr 5, 2007 11:34 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Lt. Col. Jeff Peterson is trying to pacify Baghdad one wall at a time, erecting concrete barriers around Sunni and Shiites neighborhoods in the sector of the city he controls. Each mini-community has its own market, mosque, and generator. It's a controversial strategy most often used during civil wars, the Journal notes—and thus flies in the...
Gonzales Gets Little Help In Fight for Job
Washington Post
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Apr 5, 2007 11:14 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Alberto Gonzales is prepping for his April 17 Senate testimony as strenuously as if it were a confirmation proceeding, the Washington Post reports, since his job clearly depends upon it. And he's going it alone: Thanks to possible obstruction of justice charges, DOJ lawyers won't let the attorney general coordinate with the White House or his own...
Israel Begs to Differ With Pelosi Statement
Jerusalem Post (Israel)
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Apr 5, 2007 10:46 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Israeli PM is backing off from Nancy Pelosi's suggestion yesterday that an Israeli-Syrian summit is in the offing. Pelosi told reporters that she had conveyed to Syria's Bashar al-Assad a message that Ehud Olmert was "ready to engage in peace talks." Olmert's office quickly responded that it hadn't communicated any change in its...
Tax Code Spurs Llamapalooza
Wall Street Journal
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Apr 5, 2007 9:29 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Some very ulikely agrarians—doctors, lawyers, computer programmers—have spurred a huge boom in alpaca farming in the last few years, not for the profits, of which there are rarely any, but for the huge tax write-offs. "What can't I write off?" Manhattanite Rob Bruce says. "I write off food, water, fences, the guy who cuts...
Kim Jong-Il Ate My Giant Bunnies!
Times (UK)
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Apr 5, 2007 9:24 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Karl Szmolinsky sent giant rabbits to North Korea to alleviate hunger, and Kim Jong-Il ate them. The German rabbit farmer suspects that the twelve "German Grey Giants" he sent to the country were eaten at a birthday banquet for the dictator instead of being used in a breeding program as he'd planned.
New Fad in New Orleans: Guns
Time
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Apr 5, 2007 9:09 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Violent crime is storming post-Katrina New Orleans with almost the force of the 2005 hurricane, Time reports. The city has America's highest murder rate, and weapons sales are skyrocketing as citizens take to arming themselves. "They're not gun aficionados," a gun shop owner says of the recent surge in business. "They're just...
Stop Crying About Anna Nicole Coverage
Slate
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Apr 5, 2007 9:03 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The all-Anna-all-the-time formula cable news networks embraced after the heiress' death was not the sin against the intellect commentators are bemoaning, argues Slate columnist Jack Schafer. In fact, he says, viewers may have actually learned something from the in-depth coverage of the complex legal issues surrounding Smith.
Kerry Woos Baseball Vote With Cable Coup
Associated Press
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Apr 5, 2007 8:57 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Whatever their politics, baseball fans nationwide can thank John Kerry for encouraging MLB to keep out-of-market games on cable. Baseball was planning a $700 million exclusive deal with DirecTV that would have forced most fans to switch cable providers, a daunting prospect, before the Massachusetts senator intervened.
GOP Lags In Campaign Cash
New York Times
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Apr 5, 2007 8:19 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Democratic presidential hopefuls have outperformed their GOP rivals at raising primary cash for the first time since 1976. In the first quarter the score was $79 mil to $51 mil, which seems portentous: Bob Dole's campaign manager confesses to the Times that the Dems "seem to have a lot more hunger for the White House right now than we do."
Valedictorians Halted At Ivy Gates
New York Times
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Apr 5, 2007 8:07 AM CDT
(Newser) -
With competition at top colleges more ferocious than ever, most Ivy League schools accepted under 10% of applicants for the first time, the Times reports. Tony schools like Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Princeton turned away valedictorians and students with perfect SAT scores and GPAs, much to the shock of parents.
Was There a Deal with Iran?
New York Times
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Apr 5, 2007 7:54 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Officials deny that concessions were made to Iran for the release of the captured British sailors, but the Times speculates that there may have been a secret deal. An Iranian diplomat held in Iraq for eight weeks was freed the day before the British prisoners were. Also, American officials said yesterday that they would review a request that an envoy...
British Sailors Come Home
Guardian (UK)
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Apr 5, 2007 7:43 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The fifteen British sailors captured by Iran are back in the UK. As soon as the British Airways jet touched down as Heathrow, Blair traded his measured diplomatic tone for harsher words, warning the "elements of the Iranian regime" were still arming insurgents inside Iraq."
Swift Boater Gets Recess Appointment
Washington Post
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Apr 5, 2007 7:35 AM CDT
(Newser) -
President Bush doled out three major recess appointments yesterday to conservatives Democrats found distasteful. Ambassador to Belgium went to Sam Fox, a top-tier donor to Republican causes including Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the 527 that sank John Kerry’s shot at the White House.
Tiger Unopposed In Augusta
Times (UK)
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Apr 5, 2007 6:45 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Few humans are likely to threaten Tiger Woods this week at The Masters in Augusta, concludes The Times's John Hopkins, with a muted hope that Phil Mickelson (last year's winner) may make things interesting. However, Hopkins edges closest to the disappointing truth when he notes that the person most likely to beat Tiger is Tiger, "baulky...
Obama Raises $25 Million
Politico
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Apr 4, 2007 4:31 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Barack Obama has raised $25 million for his presidential bid, more than doubling his own projections for the quarter and falling just short of archrival Hillary Clinton’s $26 mil. Obama announced the figure to the Chicago Tribune today, revealing donations that have been far more diffuse than Clinton's—from 100,000 donors (vs. her 50,000).
Small Towns to Chain Stores: Let Us Shop!
Governing
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Apr 4, 2007 4:24 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Small towns and exurbs are bending over backwards to woo national retail chains, Governing magazine reports from the International Council of Shopping Centers' convention. Phalanxes of city reps descend on the dizzingly massive—and cutthroat—annual spring conference in Vegas, attempting to raise their profile and land a Pottery Barn or...
DaimlerChrysler Wants Divorce
Detroit Free Press
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Apr 4, 2007 4:22 PM CDT
(Newser) -
DaimlerChrysler is trying to unload its clunky Detroit half, its CEO (and occasional company mascot) Dieter Zetsche confirmed at a shareholder's meeting today. The news, which comes after nearly two months of eager speculation, was a relief to frustrated German shareholders, who have long seen Chrysler as a drag on the Daimler-Benz brand. Now Chrysler...
Wooing Syria Is Tougher Than Pelosi Thinks
Wall Street Journal
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Apr 4, 2007 1:45 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The Wall Street Journal puts Nancy Pelosi's high profile visit to Damascus in perspective in a piece outlining the vexing complexity of relations between Syria and the U.S. A number of Pentagon and State Dept. counterterrorism officials support the congressional effort to moderate the President's hard line on Syria, in order to break...
Don't Call Them Chefs
Los Angeles Times
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Apr 4, 2007 12:53 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Culinary school degrees are suddenly leading to careers outside the kitchen, reports the LA Times . In our food-obsessed culture, beer sommeliers, cheese affineurs (aging experts) culinary philanthropists and even food consultants for historical films are increasingly finding outlets for their unique talents. Specialists say their jobs beat working...
The Rich Get Dumber
New York Times
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Apr 4, 2007 12:24 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The more powerful you become, the more oblivious you get, Richard Conniff argues in today's Times , as he takes a gander at explaining a recent spate of high-profile celebrity mishaps ($1.5 million totalled Ferrari, anyone?). Connif points to research at Berkeley that suggests power brings "disinhibition"—more attention to your own...
