Newser Story Index from August, 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.
Popcorn Company Bans Butter Powder
Indianapolis Star
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Aug 30, 2007 4:57 PM CDT
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Weaver Popcorn has stopped using diacetyl, the powder that gives microwave popcorn its buttery flavor, after allegations that the chemical causes lung disease in workers who inhale it at factories, the Indianapolis Star reports. "We want to take our brand out of any potential controversy," says Michael Weaver, president of one of the largest...
Stocks Shake Before Fed Speech
Wall Street Journal
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Aug 30, 2007 4:31 PM CDT
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Technology shares are still on the rebound, but the credit market continues to shake other stocks as traders await Ben Bernanke's speech on Friday. The tech-heavy NASDAQ gained 2.14 today, to close at 2565.30. But the Dow slipped 50.56 to 13238.73, and the S&P 500 fell 6.12 to 1457.64.
Life Without Chrysler Suits Daimler Fine
BusinessWeek
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Aug 30, 2007 4:31 PM CDT
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Rid of the Chrysler albatross since its May sale, German automaker DaimlerChrysler says its profits are taking off, Business Week reports. CEO Dieter Zetsche said yesterday the company—which aims to strip "Chrysler" from its name this fall—is likely to beat his estimates of 7% profit this year, and hit 10% by 2010, which would...
Producer Recalls 68K Pounds of Calif. Spinach
San Jose Mercury News
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Aug 30, 2007 4:07 PM CDT
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A California produce company is recalling over 68K pounds of bagged spinach after a sample taken from one of the company's packing plants tested positive for salmonella, the San Jose Mercury News reports. But Metz Fresh has likely averted a repeat of last year's contaminated spinach mess, corralling 90% of the potentially contaminated produce before...
Hackers Target Bloggers in Cyber-Faceoff
BBC
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Aug 30, 2007 3:54 PM CDT
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Hackers are attacking Google’s Blogger site and planting links to downloads potentially laden with viruses, the BBC reports. Some blogs have been updated with innocent-looking links promising news or digital greeting cards. But clicking on the links could give away users' private data or invite harmful spam messages. Google hasn't commented on...
Record Heat Fries Phoenix
Associated Press
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Aug 30, 2007 3:44 PM CDT
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Phoenix citizens can’t blunt this hot spell with claims of “dry heat”: The city’s just marked its 29th day in a year of 110-degree temperatures. Urbanization and global warming are likely factors in the chart-topping season, though Phoenicians have been spared a highest-ever figure, the AP reports—they survived a 122-degree...
UN Finds Iran Nuke Progress Slow
Reuters
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Aug 30, 2007 3:12 PM CDT
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The UN's nuclear watchdog says Iran’s uranium enrichment is progressing slowly, Reuters reports, a finding that will likely dim American efforts to impose new sanctions. “Iran made a fast start but then there was a leveling off,” said an official of the IAEA, whose report debunked Iran's claims that it has "industrial capacity"...
See Jane Realize She Can Run Circles Around You
New York Times
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Aug 30, 2007 2:50 PM CDT
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When it comes to men, most women just don’t try—try, that is, to be as good as them in sports. After examining several running competitions, the New York Times discovered that while men slow as they age, older women were seemingly doing laps around their younger counterparts. One expert says younger women can be embarrassed to act like...
Starbucks to Get First Sip of Russian Market
Seattle Times
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Aug 30, 2007 2:34 PM CDT
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Starbucks will finally open its first Russian store next month, the Seattle Times reports, but the coffee giant will need a jolt of caffeine to achieve the brand recognition of Western rivals who've been in the market for years. Traditionally tea drinkers, Russians have warmed up to domestic coffee purveyors, and few expect Starbucks' latest expansion...
Five Common Mistakes About Cancer
Time
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Aug 30, 2007 1:54 PM CDT
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An American Cancer Society survey of 1,000 adults, as reported in Time, determined five major misconceptions about the disease. The risk of dying from cancer in the United States is increasing. Living in a polluted city is a greater risk for lung cancer than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.
Beckham Injury Overshadows On-Field Loss
Los Angeles Times
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Aug 30, 2007 1:54 PM CDT
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Already nursing a sore left ankle, David Beckham sprained his right knee last night 30 minutes into the SuperLiga final in LA. The pricey superstar returned to the field to watch the penalty kicks that ended the overtime thriller—another loss for the Galaxy—and may not be ready for next month's critical Euro 2008 qualifying, reports the...
Final Korean Hostages Walk Free
CNN
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Aug 30, 2007 1:34 PM CDT
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Taliban militants in Afghanistan freed the remaining seven South Korean hostages today, CNN reports, ending an episode that began July 19 with the abduction of 23 Christian aid workers. After two were executed, the remaining hostages were gradually released as the South Korean government negotiated with the captors, promising to halt missionary work...
Circus Elephant Elopes With Wild Suitor
Guardian (UK)
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Aug 30, 2007 1:14 PM CDT
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In perhaps the heaviest love story ever told, a wild bull elephant broke into a traveling circus in India and snatched away a tame but captivated female. Wildlife experts say the male was probably in must when he broke a gate to free his beloved; three other elephants also escaped, the Guardian reports, then returned when circus officials came calling.
Nifong Pleads Not Guilty to Contempt
News & Observer (Raleigh)
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Aug 30, 2007 12:53 PM CDT
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In the same Durham courtroom where he once prosecuted accused criminals, Mike Nifong pleaded not guilty today to contempt charges stemming from his handling of the Duke rape case. Nifong’s judge accused the disgraced DA of lying to him last September about a DNA report that could have benefited the accused Duke lacrosse players, the News and...
Nerve Gas Found at UN Building
Associated Press
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Aug 30, 2007 12:46 PM CDT
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Weapons inspectors cleaning out an office in a United Nations building near its Manhattan headquarters found six to eight vials of a nerve gas believed to have been recovered from Iraq in 1996, the AP reports. A UN spokeswoman said there was no immediate danger from the substance, identified as phosgene, an older chemical warfare agent.
Tucker Carlson Claims Gay Bashed Him
New York Daily News
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Aug 30, 2007 12:33 PM CDT
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After bragging on the air that he hit a gay man who “bothered” him in a mall bathroom, Tucker Carlson is angrily denying he’s a hate criminal. “It infuriates me to be called a gay-basher, since he was the predator, not me,” the conservative MSNBC host pled to the New York Daily News . Blog bedlam ensued after the broadcast...
Apple, VW Steer Toward iCar
Los Angeles Times
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Aug 30, 2007 11:37 AM CDT
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Apple and Volkswagen are cruising toward a new partnership to develop a car loaded with gizmos from the digital maverick. Steve Jobs met with VW chief Martin Winterkorn in California this week to discuss plans for an “iCar,” the AP reports. Negotiations have just begun, but a VW spokesman says there are “scores of ideas.”
Desperate Greeks Look to TV for Help
Der Spiegel
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Aug 30, 2007 11:17 AM CDT
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Desperate Greeks have resorted to calling TV stations with pleas for rescue from wildfires that have been raging for the past week, Der Spiegel reports, highlighting what one critic calls a "deep mistrust of the capability of the state machine." And the stations have gotten results: "Wherever we broadcast live links, helicopters would...
Dunne Wanted Daughter's Murderer Killed
Slate
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Aug 30, 2007 11:00 AM CDT
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Crime writer Dominick Dunne asked Anthony Pellicano to put out a contract on his daughter’s killer’s life—and relented only when the private investigator talked him down. Dunne hired the now-incarcerated Pellicano to follow John Thomas Sweeney in the mid-1980s; the Vanity Fair writer now tells Slate he wanted the murderer murdered....
Kickoff Brings High Hopes, Big Hype at Rutgers
Associated Press
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Aug 30, 2007 10:45 AM CDT
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Expectations are outpacing tickets sales as Rutgers, coming off perhaps its best season, kicks off its 2007 college football season tonight by hosting Buffalo. The Scarlet Knights enter the season as a ranked team—they're 16th—for the first time ever after going 11-2 and barely missing a major bowl. They even boast a Heisman Trophy candidate...
Severed Goat Head Speaks to Lawyer
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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Aug 30, 2007 10:33 AM CDT
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A prominent defense attorney found a pink shopping bag outside her Milwaukee office this week, and the contents definitely weren't the result of a trip to the mall. The bag held a goat head left by someone apparently unfamiliar with the finer points of Godfather -style threats made with animals: The poor creature had a note stuffed into its mouth.
Taliban Frees 4 More Captives
Associated Press
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Aug 30, 2007 10:17 AM CDT
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Taliban militants released four of their remaining seven South Korean hostages today. The two men and two women were released to Red Cross officials on a road in central Afghanistan, the AP reports. The Red Cross is on its way to pick up the three remaining hostages from the original 23. None of the freed hostages, held for six weeks, has talked to...
Clinton Will Regift Fugitive Fundraiser's Donation
Los Angeles Times
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Aug 30, 2007 10:13 AM CDT
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Hillary Clinton will give away $23,000 she received from a major Democratic fundraiser who has turned out to be a wanted fugitive. Norman Hsu has raised or donated more than $1 million in recent years, but California prosecutors says he disappeared in 1992 after pleading no contest to a charge of defrauding investors, the LA Times reports.
Paper Lacked 'Smoking Gun'
Washington Post
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Aug 30, 2007 10:00 AM CDT
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Howard Kurtz does a post-mortem of the Idaho Statesman's decision not to print the results of a major investigation into Larry Craig's past sexual misconduct until after the sentator's arrest for soliciting was made public this week. While the writer, Dan Popkey, admits to feeling Craig's pain, says he says the decision not to publish was a moral...
Freddie Mac Posts 45% Net Drop
Wall Street Journal
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Aug 30, 2007 9:51 AM CDT
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Freddie Mac posted a 45% drop in net income for the second quarter, and said the outlook wasn't rosy for the third. The home-mortgage financier was hit with a $320 million loss on new mortgages. Freddie Mac doesn't buy subprimes directly, but is still affected by the general mortgage turmoil.
Dogs Bite Back at Vick, Cash In
Kansas City Star
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Aug 30, 2007 9:10 AM CDT
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A Cape Girardeau, Mo., woman let her two dogs loose on her collection of Michael Vick football cards, and sold the resulting mess for $7,400 on eBay, reports the Kansas City Star. The 22 cards were originally worth from $1 to $10 each; Rochelle Steffen says she will donate the proceeds to the Humane Society. The buyer is a former teacher who is suffering...
Lagat Wins 1500m Gold for US
Associated Press
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Aug 30, 2007 8:53 AM CDT
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Kenya native Bernard Lagat became the first US runner to win the 1,500 meters at the world track and field championships in Osaka last night, the AP reports. Lagat, who became a US citizen in 2004, broke away from the pack near the end of the race to defeat countrymen Rashid Ramzi, competing for Brunei, and Shedrack Kibet Korir.
Bomb Threats Hit Discount Stores, Supermarkets
Associated Press
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Aug 30, 2007 8:34 AM CDT
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Federal agents are looking into bomb threats phoned in to Wal-Marts and supermarkets across the country, the AP reports. An unidentified caller, believed to be in Portugal, demands that employees wire money overseas or he'll set off a bomb. A Maine supermarket was the target yesterday, bringing the total to at least 15 stores in 11 states.
Riots Break Out Near Taj Mahal
Bloomberg
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Aug 30, 2007 8:09 AM CDT
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Riots broke out in northern India yesterday after four Muslim youths were crushed to death by a truck while participating in a religious festival. Agra, home to the Taj Mahal, was under a curfew after cars were torched, 50 officers were injured by protesters throwing rocks, and one civilian was killed, Bloomberg reports.
Anderson Wipes Out Mets' Chance for Win
New York Daily News
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Aug 30, 2007 7:46 AM CDT
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The Mets had the chance last night to avoid their fourth loss in four days, with the tying run on third in the ninth inning. But then pinch-hitter Marlon Anderson slid off the base path and into Phillies second baseman Tadahito Iguchi, who was sent sprawling. Anderson was called out for interference as part of a game-ending double play.
School Segregation Is Up
Reuters
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Aug 30, 2007 7:39 AM CDT
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US public schools are more and more divided by race, a trend likely to continue thanks to a June Supreme Court ruling forbidding most local integration efforts, Reuters reports. Many black and Latino children, who now make up 43% of the population, are receiving what a leading civil rights research center calls "separate and inferior" educations...
Dodgers Sweep Nationals
Los Angeles Times
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Aug 30, 2007 7:36 AM CDT
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The Dodgers outlasted the Nationals, 10-9, in 12 innings yesterday, completing their first three-game series sweep in seven weeks. Jeff Kent scored the winning run when he tagged up on a fly by Shea Hillenbrand and was safe at home by a whisker, lifting host LA to within 3½ games of San Diego in the NL wild-card race.
Letterman Will Visit 'Oprah'
Associated Press
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Aug 30, 2007 7:04 AM CDT
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David Letterman will appear on Oprah Winfrey's show next month for the first time, helping her kick off the new season with a rare appearance outside his Ed Sullivan Theater comfort zone. After a lengthy, frosty interlude, relations between the two started thawing 2 years ago when Oprah popped up on "The Late Show," the AP reports.
School Bans Tag on Playground
Colorado Springs Gazette
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Aug 30, 2007 6:12 AM CDT
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When the new term starts next week at a Colorado elementary school, kids won't be chasing each other around the playground. Tag has been banned at Discovery Canyon Campus school, where it was deemed to generate too many injuries and complaints. “It causes a lot of conflict on the playground,” the assistant principal told the Colorado...
In Vino ... a Fountain of Youth?
MIT Technology Review
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Aug 30, 2007 5:46 AM CDT
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A Harvard scientist armed with great salesmanship and optimism has isolated a red wine ingredient he says will make humans live longer and healthier. Resveratrol may be the chemical at rainbow’s end in the quest to activate the SIRT1 gene, Technology Review reports; David Sinclair has shushed some doubters by extending mouse lives by up to...
Virginia Tech Massacre 'Could Have Been Stopped'
New York Times
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Aug 30, 2007 5:35 AM CDT
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A state investigation into the Virginia Tech massacre, in which 33 students and teachers were killed, concluded that college authorities could have saved lives by acting more quickly to warn students after the first shootings. The report, released last night after the New York Times obtained a copy, also criticizes the college's failure to...
Estrogen Staves Off Dementia
Time
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Aug 30, 2007 5:18 AM CDT
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Women under 50 who've had their ovaries removed double their risk of disorders like dementia and Parkinson's disease later in life if they don't undergo estrogen-replacement therapy, new research reveals. The findings may lead to more aggressive treatment for premenopausal women who don't produce estrogen naturally, Time reports.
Bloody Riots Rock Santiago
Guardian (UK)
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Aug 30, 2007 5:17 AM CDT
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Riots erupted in Santiago, Chile, yesterday in what the Guardian calls a "middle class revolt" against the government of president Michele Bachelet. Burning barricades brought the capital almost to a standstill, riot troops used water cannon and tear gas, and protesters hurled stones. Protesters' demands include greater wage equality and...
Fed Chief to Address Market Uproar
Washington Post
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Aug 30, 2007 5:02 AM CDT
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Tomorrow, Ben Bernanke will make his first speech since turmoil erupted in the world's financial markets early this month. As Wall Street listens for clues about whether interest rates will be cut next month, the Fed chief be walking a tightrope, the Washington Post observes. If he appears indifferent, panic could deepen; if he seems too anxious...
ND Selects Starting QB for Opener
Chicago Sun-Times
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Aug 30, 2007 5:00 AM CDT
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Charlie Weis has told his QBs who'll suit up for Notre Dame's season opener against Georgia Tech. The coach says the choice is obvious, the Chicago Sun-Times reports, but he's aiming to retain the element of surprise by not releasing the name—except to the players."They've known for weeks," said the otherwise mum Weis.
Iraqis 'Fail to Meet Benchmarks'
Associated Press
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Aug 30, 2007 4:37 AM CDT
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The Iraqi government has failed to meet most of the key political and military goals—the so called benchmarks—designed to measure the success of the US troop surge, congressional auditors say. An investigation by the Government Accountability Office has concluded that 13 of the 18 benchmarks remain unmet as a Sept. 15 deadline looms, the...
US May Take North Korea Off Terror List
Reuters
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Aug 30, 2007 4:37 AM CDT
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The US may be willing to remove North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, qualifying the country for American aid and World Bank loans, before Pyongyang has dismantled its nuclear weapons program. In the run-up to talks with North Korean officials in Geneva this weekend, the lead US negotiator hinted yesterday at the possibility of...
Injured Nadal Advances
Associated Press
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Aug 30, 2007 4:30 AM CDT
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Spaniard Rafael Nadal fought his way through a knee injury to defeat Australian wild-card Alun Jones 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a first-round US Open match last night at Flushing Meadows. Nadal moved gingerly on his taped-up knee and was broken on serve several times by the low-ranked Aussie.
Clemens, Yanks Down Sox, 4-3
Hartford Courant (Conn.)
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Aug 30, 2007 4:00 AM CDT
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The Yankees grabbed a share of the AL wild-card lead last night with a 4-3 win over Boston in the Bronx. Roger Clemens took a no-hitter into the sixth and surrendered only two hits in six innings for New York, while Boston's Josh Beckett gave up 13 hits en route to his sixth loss.
Republican Poised to Take Louisiana
National Review
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Aug 29, 2007 8:09 PM CDT
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A rare flash of hope for Republicans might be the man preparing to take over the nation’s biggest disaster area, the National Review writes. Bobby Jindal is running 35% ahead of any comer to be Louisiana’s first governor elected after Katrina. Jindal might seem a peculiar pick, but, he says, “it’s more of a reform versus a...
GOP Colleagues Jump Sinking Craig Ship
Associated Press
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Aug 29, 2007 7:54 PM CDT
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Senators John McCain and Norm Coleman joined two Republican congressmen in urging GOP Sen. Larry Craig to resign today, the AP reports, after Craig was moved out of top committee posts by party leadership. The White House, too, said it was “disappointed" with the Idaho lawmaker after the revelations of his arrest by undercover police in...
Mortgage Mess Was 100% Avoidable
American Prospect
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Aug 29, 2007 7:39 PM CDT
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Blame for the current economic disaster should be placed squarely on the shoulders of the US government, for deregulation that allowed speculators to cash in, writes the American Prospect’ s Robert Kuttner. Helping boost "ordinary people" into the "propertied class" has fallen out of favor in Washington, with the savings...
No Chemical Ali, But Saddam's Soldiers Wanted in Army Again
Christian Science Monitor
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Aug 29, 2007 7:22 PM CDT
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The Iraqi Army and police need a few good men, and they’re more and more willing to look in Saddam’s old ledger. Many of the new forces’ problems are said to stem from the 2003 decision by the US to disband the standing army; now recruiters are trying to convince the old experts to return, the Christian Science Monitor reports.
Gonzo's Exit Handcuffs White House
National Review
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Aug 29, 2007 7:20 PM CDT
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Dems will blitz Bush with document hunts and witness prep until election 2008, Robert Bork argues in the National Review, by demanding a special prosecutor along with the next attorney general . "A special prosecutor with unlimited funds, a soon-developed addiction to publicity, and a broad mandate" will go after an indictment –...
If I Said You Had an Incredible Body...
Hartford Courant (Conn.)
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Aug 29, 2007 7:10 PM CDT
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Cheesy pickup lines aren’t just a turn off, but a measure of a man’s “genes and fitness,” according to a new study in Personality and Individual Differences. They also reveal the personality the man is looking for. Men know ladies aren’t fond of sexual jokes, for example, but researchers theorize that the lines are designed...
