Newser Story Index from January, 2008

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.

Big Bid Ensures Open Access Network in US
MarketWatch | Jan 31, 08 10:17 PM CST
(Newser) - Google’s hopes of forcing a piece of the national radio spectrum into becoming an open access wireless network came a step closer to fruition today, Marketwatch reports. The bid price on the “C block” of 700 Mhz spectrum hit $4.7 billion, enough to trigger FCC regulations that will require the spectrum to support mobile devices not...

Valiquette's First Shutout Grounds Flyers
Associated Press | Jan 31, 08 9:41 PM CST
(Newser) - It took just 20 saves to earn Rangers goalie Steve Valiquette his first shutout in 21 career games. The Flyers had won 12 of 15 and New York was winless on the road in 2008, but four Rangers scored in the 4-0 victory, which hoisted the team out of the cellar in the congested Atlantic Division. Also in hockey:

Mitt Spending Big in Super Tuesday States
CBS News | Jan 31, 08 9:28 PM CST
(Newser) - The Romney campaign revealed today it will make a major ad buy in California and several other February 5 states. A spokesman said Mitt made the decision this morning, CBS reports; a small advertising budget would have signaled the campaign didn’t like its chances for the nomination. Romney, worth roughly $250 million, has spent about $40 million...

School Breaks With Feds Over Gay Rights
San Jose Mercury News | Jan 31, 08 8:59 PM CST
(Newser) - Saying a federal directive aimed at keeping gay men from donating blood violates school non-discrimination policies, the president of a California university is stopping blood drives on campus, the San Jose Mercury News reports. In a campus-wide email, San Jose State University president Don Kassing says a ban on such collections by student and staff...

Clinton, Obama Go One-on-One
Associated Press | Jan 31, 08 7:42 PM CST
(Newser) - Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama squared off in a cordial but substantive debate tonight, their first one-on-one forum of the campaign, the AP reports. "One of us two will be the next president of the United States," said Obama, who later added that the nation needs a president who can inspire rather than just manage. Clinton emphasized the...

Baby Blues Come From Single Ancestor
LiveScience | Jan 31, 08 7:21 PM CST
(Newser) - All blue-eyed people have a single, shared ancestor, scientists say. And all those baby blues are the result of a genetic mutation that occurred between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago, LiveScience reports. Before that, everyone had brown eyes. The mutation limits the effects of the gene that produces melanin, which colors our eyes and hair, thus diluting...

Negative Equity Adds Another Crippling Factor
Forbes | Jan 31, 08 6:45 PM CST
(Newser) - Foreclosure is scary enough, especially at its current pace—79% more US homes foreclosed in 2007 than the year before. But, Forbes writes, the housing crisis is dumping an even scarier problem on mortgage holders around the country: negative equity, in which a mortgage is worth more than the house for which it was borrowed.

US Backs Sham Democracies, Watchdog Says
BBC | Jan 31, 08 6:25 PM CST
(Newser) - Human Rights Watch says Western powers accept too many sham democracies out of political convenience, the BBC reports. The group's annual report slams the tendency of the US and EU governments to allow autocrats to claim “the mantle of democracy" without granting authentic political freedom. It also said the US and others undermine the global...

Fox's Fortunes Fall With GOP's
Salon | Jan 31, 08 6:06 PM CST
(Newser) - Fox News soared eight years ago by hitching its star to Republicans in general and George W. Bush in particular; now that the president’s in decline and its one-sided approach is no mystery, the channel has hit the skids. Democrats' refusal to debate on Fox damaged its reputation—and the station’s been embarrassingly unable to get...

New DNA Found on Slain British Student's Bra
Daily Telegraph (UK) | Jan 31, 08 5:45 PM CST
(Newser) - Mystery DNA found on the bra of Meredith Kercher could point to more players in the November murder of the British student in Italy, the Telegraph reports, though police maintain the traces indicate only that others handled it. "All we know for certain is that it does not match any of the suspects," a source says.

JetBlue Teams With Irish Airline
Wall Street Journal | Jan 31, 08 5:26 PM CST
(Newser) - JetBlue will team up with Irish airline Aer Lingus in the spring so both carriers can expand their overseas offerings, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move is unusual because both are low-budget airlines, the Journal notes, and these kinds of partnerships are often expensive to maintain. But the carriers say they will cut costs by linking...

New Dictionary Helps Germans Steer Clear of 'Nazi Words'
Der Spiegel | Jan 31, 08 5:10 PM CST
(Newser) - German words like "Endlösung" (final solution) have been tainted, likely forever, by their association with the Nazis. A new dictionary looks at how the horrors of Hitler's regime changed the German language, Der Spiegel reports. The "Dictionary of Coming to Terms With the Past" looks at how the usage and meaning of approximately...

Speed Dating for the Cougar Set
Reuters | Jan 31, 08 4:55 PM CST
(Newser) - "Mature" women sitting on gold mines are being paired up with hot young men at a New York matchmaking event next week, Reuters reports. Traditionally, rich middle-aged men nab catwalk-worthy arm candy, but one entrepreneur hopes to tweak the trend. The "sugar mamas" must be at least 36 and make a minimum $500,000 a year—though...

Nachos? Check. Beer? Check. ... Defibrillator?
Los Angeles Times | Jan 31, 08 4:41 PM CST
(Newser) - Viewers with weak hearts might want to stick to the commercials this Super Sunday, as a New England Journal of Medicine study shows a clear correlation between intense sports matches and spikes in heart attacks, the Los Angeles Times reports. In Germany during the 2006 World Cup, heart troubles jumped up to five times the average on big-game days.

Iraq Re-Arms Female Cops
Los Angeles Times | Jan 31, 08 4:28 PM CST
(Newser) - Iraq's female police officers can carry weapons again. The government has overturned an order requiring them to hand in their guns after much criticism from women's activists and the US, the Los Angeles Times reports. An Interior Ministry spokesman said few had complied with the 2-month-old order anyway, but those that did have gotten their guns...

Google's 17% Profit Not Good Enough for Markets
Bloomberg | Jan 31, 08 4:14 PM CST
(Newser) - Google disappointed investors with its after-hours announcement of a 17% rise in net income, signaling to many that credit woes could be hurting Internet use. The climb to $1.21 billion, or $3.79 per share, from $1.03 billion, or $3.29 a share, one year earlier underperformed estimates of a $3.91 share price, Bloomberg reports. The search giant’s...

Sir Paul Denies Heart Surgery
NME | Jan 31, 08 4:00 PM CST
(Newser) - Sir Paul McCartney has publicly denied claims that he was hospitalized for heart surgery, NME reports. Earlier this month, the Sun reported that the legendary former Beatle had undergone a coronary angioplasty. But today, McCartney reassured fans and friends on his website that he had simply been tested for a "minor irregularity," and that...

Mexican-German Relations Stinky Over Foul Song
Der Spiegel | Jan 31, 08 3:46 PM CST
(Newser) - Mexico's ambassador to Germany isn't gonna take it: he's written to music label EMI to complain about the German hit "Finger in the Butt, Mexico," reports Der Spiegel. “The lyric has aroused great outrage among the Mexican community living in Germany,” he wrote, adding that the song used Mexico’s name in a “disrespectful...

Bonds Confidence Boosts Stocks
MarketWatch | Jan 31, 08 3:32 PM CST
(Newser) - Markets were up sharply today on calming words from bond insurer MBIA, with the Dow closing at 12,650.36, up 207.53. The company said its triple-A rating was not vulnerable and that it was solvent enough to weather the mortgage crisis, MarketWatch reports. The Nasdaq gained 40.86 to 2,389.86; the S&P 500 moved up 22.74 to 1,378.55.

Senate Stimulus 'Too Complex' for Treasury
Reuters | Jan 31, 08 3:28 PM CST
(Newser) - The $157 billion stimulus bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee is "too complex," Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said today. "Complexity is our enemy," Paulson said of the bill, which is "in danger of looking like a Christmas tree" once it goes to the full Senate. He said he prefers the House's version, which is...

Zoo Braces for Snowflake Mania
Der Spiegel | Jan 31, 08 3:21 PM CST
(Newser) - Polar celebrity Snowflake will meet her adoring public as early as late March, and Nuremberg zoo staff predict a blizzard of attention surrounding its most popular bundle of fur. Annual visitors are expected to jump from 250,000 to 1.3 million, reports Der Spiegel , which has the city readying itself by speeding up public transportation to the zoo.

Britain's Official Tax Site Falters at Deadline
Guardian (UK) | Jan 31, 08 3:08 PM CST
(Newser) - British taxpayers hoping to file their returns by tonight's UK deadline have been thrown for a loop by crashes of the government’s tax website, the Guardian reports. Midnight tonight is the usual deadline, but it has been extended by 24 hours. Tardy taxpayers in the UK usually face an approximate $200 fine, with additional daily charges of...

US Scrutinizes Calif. Meat Packer
Los Angeles Times | Jan 31, 08 2:54 PM CST
(Newser) - The US Department of Agriculture is looking into a California meat distributor following the release of a video showing animal abuse at a Chino slaughterhouse, the Los Angeles Times reports. Westland Meat was immediately suspended from its contract to provide beef to federal school lunch programs because of its practice of slaughtering weak or sick...

Google Trio Made 20-Year Partner Pact
Wall Street Journal | Jan 31, 08 2:40 PM CST
(Newser) - Google’s top three honchos made a pact just before their 2004 IPO to stay together at the search behemoth for at least 20 years. News of the informal agreement—which one analyst called “really very, very positive”—comes as investors fret about the company's bids in the FCC auction of the 700 MHz spectrum, the Wall Street...

Fox, Phoenix Super Already
BusinessWeek | Jan 31, 08 2:27 PM CST
(Newser) - If you're a business with a stake in Super Bowl revenues, a good weekend lies ahead. Sunday's game is an economic powerhouse, and with millions in ticket sales and merchandising, the NFL is actually one of the lesser winners, BusinessWeek reports. Broadcaster Fox, for example, stands to make a mint: Last year, CBS took in $243 million in ad revenue.

Post Slams Hillary in Backing Obama
New York Post | Jan 31, 08 2:15 PM CST
(Newser) - The New York Post today endorsed Barack Obama in Tuesday's Democratic primary, but devoted most of its space to railing against “the opportunistic, scandal-scarred, morally muddled” Clinton couple. Words like “thuggish,” “cynical,” and, of course, “triangulating,” flew in the right-wing tabloid. Only...

Top al-Qaeda Commander Killed
CNN | Jan 31, 08 2:01 PM CST
(Newser) - A top al-Qaeda operative in Afghanistan has been killed, CNN is reporting, based on information from an Islamist web site and Western officials. Abu Laith al-Libbi, a veteran jihadist of Libyan descent, is described as the No. 3  al-Qaeda leader, "not far below the importance of the top two al-Qaeda leaders," Osama bin Laden and Ayman...

Prez Finds It's Not Easy Being Green
Christian Science Monitor | Jan 31, 08 1:57 PM CST
(Newser) - President Bush's $2 billion proposal to help finance cleaner technologies for developing countries may be too little, too late, the Christian Science Monitor reports. While some laud Monday's State of the Union plan as "a major landmark in addressing global warming," critics argue expecting voluntary contributions from other industrial...

Folic Acid May Help Prevent Premature Birth
Guardian (UK) | Jan 31, 08 1:44 PM CST
(Newser) - Taking folic acid supplements could cut the risk of premature birth by 70%, a study has found, giving women one more reason to seek out the synthetic B9 vitamin. Since one in three premature babies dies, the findings could save thousands of lives. The catch is that the acid should be taken a year ahead of conception, the Guardian reports.

Unrest in Financial World Gives Gold a New Luster
Wall Street Journal | Jan 31, 08 1:27 PM CST
(Newser) - Mainstream investors looking for a hedge against inflation and a volatile stock market have taken a shine to gold, driving prices for the precious metal to historic highs, the Wall Street Journal reports. Gold futures have risen more than 42% since mid-August. The latest Fed interest-rate cut bumped prices in electronic trading above Monday’s...

Isuzu Says Sayonara to America
Los Angeles Times | Jan 31, 08 1:14 PM CST
(Newser) - Japanese automaker Isuzu, which brought the US such treasures as the SUV and fictional car salesman Joe Isuzu, is closing up shop in the US, thanks to its nearly non-existent sales. Of the 16.1 million cars sold last year, just 7,098 were Isuzus. Said actor David Leisure, who portrayed the famous huckster: "I thought they already had stopped selling...

Meet the Next Big Interface: Multitouch
Wall Street Journal | Jan 31, 08 1:00 PM CST
(Newser) - The iPhone was just the coming-out party: The gesture-based touch commands the phone uses, writes Walter Mossberg in today’s Wall Street Journal , have since been ported everywhere from the Macbook Air laptop to a Microsoft coffee-table-sized computer to iPhone wannabes exhibited all over the recent Consumer Electronics Show. Multitouch could...

Heath, Michelle Split Over Drugs
New York Post | Jan 31, 08 12:49 PM CST
(Newser) - Heath Ledger's cocaine and heroin use became so bad over the past year that girlfriend Michelle Williams kicked him out of their Brooklyn home and threatened to take custody of daughter Matilda, the New York Post reports. A "drug pal" described partying bouts just as two TV shows decided not to air video of the late actor snorting cocaine...

Look Who's Trying Out Waterboarding
Wall Street Journal | Jan 31, 08 12:38 PM CST
(Newser) - As the debate over waterboarding continues unabated, it has occurred to more than one cocky—or conscientious—young man that anyone can see for himself what it feels like, and whether it constitutes torture. The Wall Street Journal talks to several who've tried it—using friends with no special training. One 26-year-old reports he...

Governator Endorses McCain
MSNBC | Jan 31, 08 12:24 PM CST
(Newser) - Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsed John McCain for the GOP nomination today at a Los Angeles solar energy company, calling his fellow Westerner a hero and a great American. Standing beside the candidate and new Mac backer Rudy Giuliani, Arnie stressed their shared concern over climate change, and praised McCain as “a crusader to end wasteful spending...

Clinton Helped Crony Land Mining Deal
New York Times | Jan 31, 08 12:14 PM CST
(Newser) - Two days after former president Bill Clinton took pal and mining mogul Frank Giustra to meet Kazakhstan's de facto dictator, Giustra landed a monster contract to mine uranium with state-run mining company Kazatomprom, the New York Times reports—despite his firm’s lack of relevant experience. Shortly thereafter, Clinton’s charitable...

Cop Crisis Threatens Carnival
BBC | Jan 31, 08 12:04 PM CST
(Newser) - A wave of police resignations has hit Rio de Janeiro at the worst possible time, the BBC reports, with Brazil's famous Carnival parades set to begin tomorrow. Forty-three senior officers resigned in protest over the firing of their commander last week; though the city can ill-afford such a crisis, officials say they expect the festival to go off hitch-free.

Leno's Secret: He's Beloved Boy Prince of Mediocrity
New York | Jan 31, 08 11:41 AM CST
(Newser) - Despite a dearth of guests willing to cross Writers Guild picket lines and near-scab status himself, late-night host Jay Leno has still managed to trounce rival David Letterman in ratings. Not that either is that funny, but Letterman at least returned with "a fetching gray beard, and the moral high ground"—so why couldn't he steal...

Obama Pulled In $32M in January
Washington Post | Jan 31, 08 11:34 AM CST
(Newser) - Barack Obama has raised $32 million this month, the Washington Post reports—a massive number in such a short span. The Democrat's campaign manager reported 170,000 new donors in January, raising the total number of contributors to 650,000. The best fundraising day was immediately following Hillary Clinton’s Jan. 8 victory in New Hampshire—which...

Kenya Upheaval Could Reach 'Catastrophic Levels'
Reuters | Jan 31, 08 11:29 AM CST
(Newser) - Kenya's political turmoil continues to wreak havoc, and it is "threatening to escalate to catastrophic levels," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today. After the killing of another member of Raila Odinga's opposition party yesterday, the country faced renewed violence, Reuters reports. The death toll has reached 850 since late December...

Bush: Trade Key to US Recovery
Wall Street Journal | Jan 31, 08 11:21 AM CST
(Newser) - Saying "free trade means good-paying jobs for Americans," President Bush yesterday urged Congress to approve proposed deals with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea, the core of a trade agenda he feels can revitalize a shaky US economy. Bush also offered to help lawmakers reshape benefits for workers who lose jobs to foreign competition, the...

Rogue Trader Says SocGen Looked the Other Way
Der Spiegel | Jan 31, 08 11:00 AM CST
(Newser) - Jérôme Kerviel, the trader at the root of the $7.1 billion scandal roiling French banking giant Société Générale, says his bosses knew what he was up to, and they didn't stop him as long as he was generating huge profits—$2 billion by the end of 2007, he claims.  "As long as my results were positive,...

Dems: Who Can Beat McCain?
Washington Post | Jan 31, 08 10:43 AM CST
(Newser) - With the presidential race narrowed by yesterday's big defections, David Broder sees a clear favorite in each party. Despite lingering opposition from "unelected conservative ideologues," McCain's got the nod, the payoff for dogged stumping in New Hampshire and huge endorsements heading into the big states. But on the Dem side, he sees "a...

Italy Headed for Caretaker Government
BBC | Jan 31, 08 10:33 AM CST
(Newser) - Italy's president has asked Senate speaker Franco Marini to form an interim government in a last-ditch effort to reform election laws ahead of a snap poll, reports the BBC. Marini was invited to head a temporary administration to change Italy's crippling voting system, which privileges small parties and has led to the unmanageable multi-party coalitions...

Mercury 'Spider Crater' Spotted
Space.com | Jan 31, 08 10:19 AM CST
(Newser) - NASA's first probe to Mercury in more than 30 years has made some spectacular finds, including a mysterious new crater dubbed "the spider," Space.com reports. The network of cracks radiating from the impact crater photographed by the probe is like nothing else ever seen in the solar system. "Our little craft has returned a gold mine...

Sniping Heats Up as Obama Calls Clinton a 'Step Back'
Associated Press | Jan 31, 08 10:04 AM CST
(Newser) - He claims he didn't snub her at the State of the Union, but Barack Obama was definitely on offense against Hillary Clinton yesterday, arguing that another Clinton in the White House would be a step backward, AP reports. "I know it is tempting, after another presidency by a man named George Bush, to simply turn back the clock, and build a bridge...

Behold, the Worst Building Ever
Esquire | Jan 31, 08 9:38 AM CST
(Newser) - The Ryugyong Hotel in downtown Pyongyang is surely one of the worst architectural failures in history, Eva Hagberg writes in Esquire : Not only has the 105-story building—which sucked up an estimated 2% of North Korea’s annual GDP from 1987 to '92—never opened, but the pyramidal “hotel of doom” is such an eyesore that...

Starbucks Cuts Stores, Skips Breakfast
Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Jan 31, 08 9:25 AM CST
(Newser) - The founder and returning head of Starbucks has announced plans to turn the flagging operation around by taking it back to its intimate coffee-house roots, reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer . CEO Howard Schultz is ditching the chain's profitable morning sandwich line after listening to advice from baristas who complained that the smell of the...

Vienna's Baby Panda Says Hello
Associated Press | Jan 31, 08 9:03 AM CST
(Newser) - Vienna's newest celebrity made his debut yesterday as the 5-month-old panda Fu Long met the public for the first time. The Austrian capital's Schönbrunn Zoo had to issue a statement to anxious panda fans that the cloistered cub was healthy and growing strong. Only yesterday afternoon did Fu Long emerge to an adoring crowd, although the zoo's director...

Afghan Student Faces Death for Blasphemy
Independent (UK) | Jan 31, 08 8:43 AM CST
(Newser) - Protesters in Afghanistan and abroad have taken up the cause of a journalism student sentenced to death for blasphemy after he downloaded and distributed a document on women and the Koran. Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, 23, was convicted in an Islamic court, and the country's Senate has upheld the ruling. He appears on the cover of today's Independent alongside...