Newser Story Index from June, 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.
Zuma Calls for UN Intervention in Zimbabwe
Mail & Guardian (South Africa)
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Jun 24, 2008 6:39 AM CDT
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Jacob Zuma, the leader of the African National Congress and the most powerful politician in South Africa, called today for the Zimbabwe election to be canceled, saying that the situation was "out of control" and that the UN must intervene. In the most forceful denunciation yet of Robert Mugabe by its powerful neighbor, Zuma told a conference...
Tough Visa Rules Threaten to Slash Olympic Tourism
New York Times
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Jun 24, 2008 6:31 AM CDT
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Heightened visa restrictions in China have shrunk tourism ahead of the Beijing Olympics, the New York Times reports. Numbers of foreign visitors to Beijing fell 14% last month when government officials tightened the rules to bolster security.
Low Vitamin D Linked to Early Death
Reuters
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Jun 24, 2008 6:13 AM CDT
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People with low levels of vitamin D are more likely to die earlier from a variety of causes than people with normal levels of the so-called "Sunshine Vitamin," according to a new study. The study is the latest to underscore the health benefits of vitamin D—and points to nearly twice the risk of early death from any cause, as well as...
Philippine Ferry Likely a 'Mass Grave'
Reuters
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Jun 24, 2008 5:46 AM CDT
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Floating corpses discovered in a Philippines ferry sunk by a typhoon have stoked mounting fears that most of the 800 people on board were drowned, Reuters reports. “It will be a miracle if we find survivors,” said a coast guard spokesman. Searching for more bodies, authorities will drill a hole in the capsized vessel. But workers will have...
Leaderless Pakistan Drifts Toward Chaos
New York Times
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Jun 24, 2008 5:10 AM CDT
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Four months after historic elections in Pakistan, the nation has descended into leaderless chaos, Western diplomats and military leaders believe. The void has serious consequences for fighting militants in Pakistan's lawless northwest on the border with Afghanistan, reports the New York Times.
South African Prez to Plead With Mugabe to Save Race
Times (UK)
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Jun 24, 2008 4:30 AM CDT
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The president of South Africa is is flying today to Zimbabwe to plead with strongman Robert Mugabe to save this week's presidential election after Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew to protest government violence. Britain’s foreign secretary said an uncontested race would be “the most rigged election in African history" and called on nations...
Earth 'Safe' From Mammoth Collider: Report
BBC
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Jun 24, 2008 4:00 AM CDT
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Fears that experiments with a giant particle accelerator could trigger a planetary-wide cataclysm have been dismissed as science fiction by the European Organization for Nuclear Research. The 17-mile-long underground Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland will smash nuclear particles together at super high speeds. Some fear collider experiments could...
Michelle, Barack Cover a Major Success for Us
MSNBC
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Jun 24, 2008 3:32 AM CDT
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Featuring Michelle Obama and hubby on the cover of Us Weekly paid off big time for the gossip mag, MSNBC reports. Early sales figures have already far outpaced recent covers sporting Jessica Simpson and Heidi Montag—the mag's usual celebrity fare. The circulation bump is a boon for the flagging publication, but ironically Us didn't interview...
Spitzer Call Girl Speaks Out on 'Hard Times'
People
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Jun 24, 2008 3:00 AM CDT
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The call girl whose trysts with former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer triggered his resignation is speaking out for the first time, reports People . Ashley Dupré, 23, has written a message of thanks on her MySpace page to those who have left supportive comments—and responded to some not-so-kind zingers. She called her mood "thankful."
McCain Rips Aide's Remarks on 'Helpful' Terror Attack
Washington Post
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Jun 24, 2008 2:44 AM CDT
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John McCain has denounced comments from one of his most senior political advisers that a terrorist attack would be "a big advantage" to the Republican candidate politically, the Washington Post reports. Aide Charlie Black also said in an interview in Fortune that Benazir Bhutto's assassination, while "unfortunate," helped McCain...
8,000 Lightning Bolts Spark California Fires
Los Angeles Times
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Jun 24, 2008 2:19 AM CDT
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Thousands of lightning strikes over a wide swath of Northern California ignited more than 700 wildfires that have burned some 44,000 tinder-dry acres of grassland, brush and forest. Firefighters managed to protect most homes in almost all of the fires. The historically bad fire season has been spurred by record low levels of rainfall and warm, flame-whipping...
Washington Post Top Editor Calls It Quits
Washington Post
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Jun 23, 2008 8:40 PM CDT
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The Washington Post 's executive editor is retiring, he said today, after a 17-year run that included many prizes, painful staff cuts, and the rise of the Internet. A low-profile but highly respected figure, Leonard Downie Jr. told his staff he would miss the paper. "At the same time I'm ready to do this, because so much further change now needs...
8 Meds Docs Won't Take
Men's Health
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Jun 23, 2008 7:55 PM CDT
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Some drugs have such serious drawbacks that even doctors won’t take them, Men’s Health reports. The big eight: Advair: Can actually increase the severity of asthma attacks Avandia: Diabetes drug carries risk of heart attack
Tsvangirai Hides Out in Dutch Consulate
New York Times
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Jun 23, 2008 7:35 PM CDT
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Zimbabwe's opposition leader remained holed up in the Dutch embassy in Harare today as police stormed his party's headquarters, the New York Times reports. Officers detained at least 40 people who were there—many of them women and children—the day after Morgan Tsvangirai dropped out of the upcoming election runoff, saying his country...
New Findings Shatter Old Mayan Theories
USA Today
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Jun 23, 2008 6:59 PM CDT
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Some experts want to drain Mayan history of its high drama—the sudden collapse, and desperate migration—to tell a longer, slower story, USA Today reports. Classic history claims that Mayan cities imploded quickly around 900 AD, and their people trekked north to colonize in the Yucatan—but experts now say that Mayans had already...
Rock Band Indeed: Beatles Pursuing Game Deals
Financial Times (UK)
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Jun 23, 2008 6:27 PM CDT
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Representatives of the Beatles' companies are meeting with video-game outfits to hash out the rights for possible Beatles-themed games. The reps are holding discussions with the makers of Guitar Hero and of Rock Band , the Financial Times reports. Analysts say that a deal might lead to more licensing of Beatles songs in other digital media.
Naked Cowboy to M&Ms: See You in Court
Reuters
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Jun 23, 2008 5:57 PM CDT
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The New York street performer known as the Naked Cowboy can sue Mars Inc. for trademark infringement, a judge ruled today, over a singing blue M&M wearing his signature costume on a Times Square billboard, Reuters reports. In seeking $6 million in damages, Robert Burck "plausibly alleges that consumers seeing defendants' advertisements would...
Gitmo Prisoner Must Be Tried or Freed, Court Rules
New York Times
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Jun 23, 2008 5:39 PM CDT
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In a rebuke of the Pentagon's Guantanamo policy, a federal appeals court has ruled that a prisoner was improperly designated an "enemy combatant," the New York Times reports. The ruling—issued Friday and announced today but not released in full because parts of it are classified—ordered that the prisoner have a new military...
Women Scarce on the Trail
Wall Street Journal
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Jun 23, 2008 5:26 PM CDT
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John McCain's press corps boasted but a single woman today among its two dozen men: Elizabeth Holmes, who blogs about it in the Wall Street Journal . More women were in evidence when Hillary Clinton was stumping, because she employed several herself, Holmes writes, but now few females are left to either report on hopefuls or advise them. This...
Pregnancy Pact Recollection 'Foggy'
Boston Herald
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Jun 23, 2008 5:10 PM CDT
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The mayor of the city where high school students reportedly made a "pregnancy pact" reiterated today that local officials haven't found any evidence confirming the agreement, the Boston Herald reports. The Gloucester, Mass., mayor said at a press conference the school principal couldn't provide a source for that claim: “He was foggy...
In Harvard Law Review Presidency, Signs for the Future
Politico
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Jun 23, 2008 4:51 PM CDT
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As president of the Harvard Law Review, Barack Obama gave voice to a mix of conservative and liberal ideas and "maneuvered his way around pretty well," says the author of a new book about Harvard Law School. Politico dissects Obama's 1990-91 tenure in search of omens in the story of a young black man elected to head a tradition-bound, white-dominated...
Cities' Sewage Serves as Giant Drug Test
Los Angeles Times
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Jun 23, 2008 4:38 PM CDT
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Across the world, raw sewage is being analyzed for clues to illegal drug use. Environmental scientists are testing waste from US and European cities to gather data, which reveals everything from what's popular to which days see the greatest use of which substances. "Every sample has one illicit drug or another, regardless of location," a...
My Morning Jacket Spreads Rock Gospel
New York Times
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Jun 23, 2008 4:33 PM CDT
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My Morning Jacket is officially an arena-rock force, Nate Chinen raves in the New York Times . The Southern-rock darlings walked the line between spiritual and sanguine before a sold-out Radio City Music Hall on Friday, playing the majority of new album Evil Urges , which "features some of its strongest songs alongside some of its strangest."
GOP Has Female VP Possibles, Too
Politico
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Jun 23, 2008 4:25 PM CDT
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In a post-Hillary age, a female candidate comes as less of a surprise on the national stage. Here are three women who could stand for John McCain’s vice-presidential slot, per Politico: Carly Fiorina: The former Hewlett-Packard exec is already a trusted adviser and constant McCain surrogate, but she’s no social conservative and...
Stronger Weed Ignites Controversy
Boston Globe
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Jun 23, 2008 4:11 PM CDT
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Marijuana is getting stronger, but what exactly that means is open to interpretation. The Boston Globe looks at a dispute with clearly drawn sides but fuzzier facts. Is pot addictive and highly hazardous, or no more harmful than caffeine and perhaps medically beneficial? With minimal research to draw on, experts say, opponents and proponents of weed...
GM, After 16% Sales Dive, Eases Finance Options
Bloomberg
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Jun 23, 2008 3:58 PM CDT
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General Motors is offering no-interest financing for up to 6 years on a selection of its 2008 automobiles in an effort to boost US sales, which plummeted 16% in May, Bloomberg reports. Soaring gas prices have hurt sales across the board, and falling trade-in values and general tightening of purse-strings have left fewer Americans looking for new cars.
Americans See Many Stairways to Heaven: Poll
Dallas Morning News
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Jun 23, 2008 3:44 PM CDT
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Reaching the afterlife is possible through more than one religion, 70% of Americans believe, according to a new poll. Surveying 36,000 people, the study confirms that while 92% of Americans believe in God, the country is growing more secular, the Dallas Morning News reports. Seven in 10 also agreed that there were multiple correct interpretations...
Stocks Stall, Finish Mixed
Wall Street Journal
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Jun 23, 2008 3:30 PM CDT
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Markets ended mixed today, burdened by high oil prices and shaky financials. "It's been a terrible market. It definitely looks like we're going to re-test the lows all this week," an economist tells the Wall Street Journal. The Dow ended down 0.33 at 11,842.36, the Nasdaq down 20.35 at 2,385.74, and the S&P 500 up 0.07 at 1,318.00.
McCain Offers $300M Prize in Assault on Car Batteries
The Hill
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Jun 23, 2008 3:24 PM CDT
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John McCain today offered a $300 million reward to the American who builds “a battery package that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars.” He said government had wasted energy money on special interests and failed to punish manufacturers who ignore or abuse fuel efficiency...
Ad Execs Feel Besieged by Google & Co.
New York Times
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Jun 23, 2008 3:22 PM CDT
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Advertisers are spooked at net giants like Google and Microsoft throwing their weight around in the world of online advertising, the New York Times reports. With its ad deal with Yahoo drawing fire at conference in Cannes, Google “clearly wants to replace the advertising industry in its totality," says the former CEO of a big New York...
Planting Flag in Iran Would Be Good for US
Washington Post
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Jun 23, 2008 3:18 PM CDT
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President Bush is considering opening a small US office in Iran, Fred Hiatt writes in the Washington Post , a move that could spur contact with citizens—and perhaps the hostile regime. "It's not a softening," one official said of the proposed interest section, steps below a full embassy. "It does allow us to reach out to youth...
Facebook Just 'Flavor of the Month': Murdoch
Sydney Morning Herald
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Jun 23, 2008 3:11 PM CDT
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Rupert Murdoch today insulted the rival of his popular MySpace, calling Facebook the “flavor of the month” and a mere “directory”—on the occasion of his social networking sinking to the No. 2 spot in worldwide traffic. The media mogul said Facebook was not a real social network, and pointed to MySpace’s entertainment...
Obama Must Talk Iraq; Here's How
Newsweek
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Jun 23, 2008 2:59 PM CDT
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Barack Obama may be on the right side of the Iraq issue, Fareed Zakaria writes in Newsweek , but does he want to be “prescient about the war in 2002 and yet … overtaken by events in 2008?” The Democrat needs to detail an earnest plan, and Zakaria has a speech written. Obama should “welcome the gains" yet draw contrasts...
Altria's 'Safer' Smokes Latest in Line of Flops
Wall Street Journal
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Jun 23, 2008 2:47 PM CDT
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Altria is dropping its Marlboro Ultra Smooth cigarettes, the Wall Street Journal reports—the latest in a growing list of failures to sell Americans on so-called "safer" tobacco products. The cigarettes, which used special filters to block carcinogens, failed to attract consumer interest in a 3-year test, "presumably because they...
Vietnam Stays With McCain
Boston Globe
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Jun 23, 2008 2:35 PM CDT
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After 5 years as a POW, John McCain returned to Vietnam in 1974 and 1985, trips that inextricably linked him with the war in American minds. They also helped color the way he thinks about foreign policy and helped him learn to make amends with onetime enemies when it meant closure on MIAs. The Boston Globe looks at the candidate's evolution through...
Why 'Cowboy' Shouldn't Be Political Insult
Texas Monthly
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Jun 23, 2008 2:22 PM CDT
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The word “cowboy” doesn’t deserve the derogatory treatment it’s received in recent years, Elmer Kelton writes in Texas Monthly. With critics labeling President Bush’s foreign policy “cowboy diplomacy,” the term that was once a sign of respect is now used to evoke a "shoot-from-the hip" individual...
Congo's Gorillas Victims in War Over Charcoal
National Geographic
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Jun 23, 2008 2:09 PM CDT
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Who murdered seven mountain gorillas in the Congo last year? Perhaps, National Geographic finds, the question should be how any of the magnificent apes stay alive at all. A three-way military standoff—a holdover from neighboring Rwanda’s haunted past—enveloping Virunga National Park has left gorillas, people, and the park itself...
Guess Who Has the Most Trusted Brand in America?
Advertising Age
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Jun 23, 2008 1:56 PM CDT
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Google is officially the most trusted company in America, Advertising Age reports. The search giant’s rise is all the more incredible because it spends essentially nothing on advertising, and all the sweeter because it’s taking the top spot from rival Microsoft. Oil companies bring up the rear in a new poll, with Halliburton coming in...
Minutes Dwindle for Networks' War Coverage
New York Times
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Jun 23, 2008 1:45 PM CDT
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Middle East correspondents are struggling to get stories on the nightly news as TV networks scale back war coverage, the New York Times reports. With violence in Iraq declining and the US public tiring of an open-ended conflict, network execs have focused on hot topics like the contentious presidential primaries. Keeping, and securing, bureaus in...
Loose Shoe Cost Big Brown Triple Crown
Newsday
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Jun 23, 2008 1:32 PM CDT
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Big Brown may have lost the Triple Crown because of a dislodged shoe, newly released photos appear to show. The extreme close-ups reveal a loose shoe on Big Brown's right hind hoof about 200 yards into the June 7 Belmont Stakes. "The picture shocked me," one of Big Brown's owner tells Newsday.
TV Sees Big Bucks in Campaign
USA Today
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Jun 23, 2008 1:19 PM CDT
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This election season is shaping up as a windfall for television stations, with some $3 billion likely to be spent on TV ads, about 27% of that on the presidential race, reports USA Today. Democrat Barack Obama’s campaign—with no spending cap because Obama turned down public campaign funds—will likely lead the charge into broadcast...
Supreme Court Will Hear Navy Sonar Appeal
Los Angeles Times
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Jun 23, 2008 1:06 PM CDT
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The Supreme Court today agreed to hear the US Navy's objection to a court order that ships may not use sonar within 12 miles of the California coast because high-frequency signals are harming whales and other marine life, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Bush administration argues that the judge exceeded her authority in putting environmental concerns...
Big Easy's Streetcars Finally Full Speed
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
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Jun 23, 2008 12:53 PM CDT
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Streetcars clang-clanged their way down South Carrollton Ave. yesterday, and for many, the sound was as sweet as New Orleans jazz, the Times-Picayune reports. For the first time since Hurricane Katrina, the whole St. Charles Ave. streetcar line is running, and it should bring both tourism and a sense of normalcy back to the end-of-the-line neighborhood.
France's Top Newspaper Faces Crisis
Guardian (UK)
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Jun 23, 2008 12:40 PM CDT
(Newser) -
In the past year, the French newspaper Le Monde has endured the worst crisis in its history, losing its editor-in-chief and failing to appear on newsstands for days during a series of strikes. Now its 340 staffers have been given an ultimatum, writes the Guardian : Unless about 20% accept voluntary resignations by next week, the independent paper...
Imus Reinserts Foot in Mouth
Politico
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Jun 23, 2008 12:26 PM CDT
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Don Imus may have stepped in it again, Politico reports. While bantering on this morning's show about Adam "Pacman" Jones, who’s been arrested six times in his NFL career, the scandal-shadowed shock jock asked, “What color is he?” A sidekick dutifully informed him that Jones is African-American. “Well, there you go,”...
In Senate, Pranks Mix With Politics
McClatchy Newspapers
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Jun 23, 2008 12:13 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The prank war started when Ben Nelson took advantage of Claire McCaskill's inexperience and got his fellow Democrat even more nervous about her 2007 Senate swearing-in than she already was. The action since then has been sporadic but inventive. McClatchy returns from Capitol Hill with tales of the lawmakers' dueling practical jokes, which have involved...
Dion's AC/DC Tribute 'Worst Cover Ever'
Total Guitar
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Jun 23, 2008 11:59 AM CDT
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Celine Dion's rendition of AC/DC's Y ou Shook Me All Night Long has been voted the worst cover ever, according to Total Guitar magazine. The UK mag called the duet Dion performed with Anastacia in Las Vegas 6 years ago an "offense" against music. "The No. 1 worst cover song—Celine Dion covering AC/DC—is sacrilege,"...
Her Name Ain't Baby ... But Ms. Jackson Is Ready for One
People
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Jun 23, 2008 11:45 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Janet Jackson has said she’s “allergic to marriage” but the youngest sibling in the entertainment family is ready for a baby, People reports. The 42-year-old's longtime boyfriend, Jermaine Dupri, says he and the pop star will focus on family “soon … right after the tour" she's set to begin in the fall.
Hollywood 'Discovers' Graphic Novels
Time
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Jun 23, 2008 11:30 AM CDT
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Still tallying the proceeds of the Spider-Man and X-Men franchises, Hollywood is turning to darker, underground graphic novels like Wanted for movie adaptations—and comics auteurs have mixed feelings, Time reports. Some argue the mainstream success of ultraviolent adaptations like 300 and Sin City can only mean good things for the...
Google Phones Running Behind Schedule
Wall Street Journal
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Jun 23, 2008 11:15 AM CDT
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It turns out revolutionizing the mobile-phone industry isn’t as easy as Google thought it would be. The first phones to bear the search giant’s much-anticipated Android platform won’t ship until the fourth quarter, the Wall Street Journal reports, because carriers are having trouble customizing the software. Many despair of having...
