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Newser Story Index from July, 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.

Dutch Fight Smoking Ban With God
Radio Free Netherlands | Jul 22, 2008 12:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - Worshipers are flocking to the One True Universal Smokers' Church of God—whose "masses" are held in bars—since the Netherlands instituted a smoking ban July 1. Adherents claim their right to light up is protected as a religious freedom, Radio Free Netherlands reports. "I genuinely believe in the freedom God has given us....
Bubble-Grunge? Cyrus Oddly Downbeat on Breakout
Los Angeles Times | Jul 22, 2008 12:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - As Miley Cyrus’ second album under her own name hits stores today, the 15-year-old admitted on Good Morning America that her now-infamous Vanity Fair photos were a “mistake.” But just like those racy pics, the tougher tunes and “feel-bad downers” on Breakout are anathema to her bubbly Disney alter ego, Hannah Montana,...
Philly Anchor Charged With Hacking Co-Worker
Philadelphia Inquirer | Jul 22, 2008 12:19 PM CDT
(Newser) - Former comedian and KWY-TV anchor Larry Mendte probably isn’t laughing now. He’s facing a felony charge for hacking into ex-co-anchor Alycia Lane’s computer and doling out information—including bikini photos—to gossip columnists and blogs, the Philadelphia Daily News reports. “The charges are unprecedented,”...
Obama Meets With Jordan King
USA Today | Jul 22, 2008 12:07 PM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama sat down tonight for a meeting and dinner with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, a leader much like the Democratic candidate (both are 46) in being seen as crossing age and societal gaps, USA Today reports. Abdullah’s Jordan is the most Western-friendly of Arab countries, but is in perhaps the tightest geographical spot—sandwiched...
Foreign Companies Cash In on Stable Iraq
Der Spiegel | Jul 22, 2008 12:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - With security and stability on the rise, Iraq’s government is turning its attention, and its generous budget, toward reconstruction. That’s led to some big opportunities for Western businesses, which are scrambling to get a cut of the country’s $25 billion reconstruction budget. Iraq, which lacks the resources to rebuild on its own,...
GM, Utilities Join to Speed Plug-Ins
Wall Street Journal | Jul 22, 2008 11:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - General Motors and three dozen electric utilities in nearly 40 states have agreed to work together on the transition to plug-in electric vehicles that are expected to begin rolling out within 2 years, the Wall Street Journal reports. With GM’s Chevy Volt and Saturn Vue  expected to hit the market first, cooperation is needed to make sure...
Guarded Cindy Gives McCain Perfect Accessory
Washington Post | Jul 22, 2008 11:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - Cindy McCain has been a candidate’s wife for more than half her life, and she’s gotten pretty good at it, the Washington Post reports in a profile. The demur, good-looking, stay-at-home mom knows how to humanize her husband and avoid policy talk. “I don't see any chink in her armor,” says her mother-in-law, “and I'm...
Flesh-Nibbling Fish Latest Pedicure Fad
Associated Press | Jul 22, 2008 11:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - Fish pedicures where dozens of tiny carp smooth out your tootsies by eating away the dead skin is the latest in spa pampering. Since March, a DC area salon has offered the pools of garra rufa, aka doctor fish—popular in Turkey and Asia—as an alternative to scraping razors. So far 5,000 people have taken the plunge, the AP reports.
In Jordan, Obama Urges Iraq-to-Afghanistan Shift
Associated Press | Jul 22, 2008 11:29 AM CDT
(AP) - Barack Obama said today that, with improved security in Iraq, the US should turn its attention to Afghanistan. “There is security progress, but now we need a political solution” in Iraq, Obama said in Amman, Jordan—in his first news conference abroad, the AP reports. Afghanistan, the “central front in the war against terrorism,”...
Japanese iPhone Deters Perverts
Cult of Mac | Jul 22, 2008 11:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Japanese version of the iPhone 3G has one small difference from those sold elsewhere: the “shutter” sound it makes when the camera snaps a photo is always on, even when the phone is in silent mode, the Cult of Mac reports. The conspicuous sound is intended to discourage “upskirt” photos, a hot trend in Japan since the debut...
Pickens Takes His Campaign to Capitol Hill
Politico | Jul 22, 2008 11:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Oilman T. Boone Pickens’ pitch for a new plan to get the US off foreign oil is drawing a great deal of attention—partially due to its rhetorical ambition, and partially due to Pickens’ willingness to walk the walk with his estimated $4 billion checkbook. Politico examines Pickens’ determination to put wind power at the center...
US Surge Brigades Leave Iraq
Reuters | Jul 22, 2008 10:47 AM CDT
(Newser) - The American troop surge in Iraq has ended, Reuters reports, with the departure of the last of five brigades deployed last year in an effort to curb sectarian violence. There are now just under 147,000 US troops left in the country, according to a military spokesman, down from a peak of 160,000-170,000 in 2007.
TiVo-Amazon Deal Offers Onscreen Buying
New York Times | Jul 22, 2008 10:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - TiVo and Amazon have teamed to introduce a “product purchase” tool that will allow viewers to buy the products being plugged onscreen, the New York Times reports. Soon, when Oprah Winfrey plugs a book or David Letterman talks up his musical guest, TiVo customers will be able to order said book or CD onscreen via Amazon.com accounts.
Dwarf Planet Gets a Name
USA Today | Jul 22, 2008 10:17 AM CDT
(Newser) - The neighborhood of the solar system beyond Neptune has a new resident—or rather, an old resident with a new name. The dwarf planet originally dubbed Easterbunny will now be known as Makemake (pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh), reports USA Today.
Wachovia Posts $8.9B Loss Under New CEO
New York Times | Jul 22, 2008 9:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - New Wachovia CEO Robert Steel moved aggressively to staunch the bank's losses by taking a massive $8.9-billion hit in the second quarter and slashing its dividend to almost nothing, the New York Times reports. Steel had every reason to clean house, but analysts had predicted only a 78 cents-per-share loss. Instead, after $6.1 billion in writedowns,...
Swayze: 'I'm a Miracle'
Us Weekly | Jul 22, 2008 9:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - Rugged actor Patrick Swayze, battling pancreatic cancer, gave a thumbs up sign to onlookers and declared himself  a "miracle" as he passed through Los Angeles' airport. It was a rare public appearance by the 55-year-old actor, who's currently shooting a TV drama series in Chicago in which he plays an FBI agent, reports US Magazine...
Sarkozy 's Reform Bill Passes By a Hair
BBC | Jul 22, 2008 9:25 AM CDT
(Newser) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy hailed the passing yesterday of a constitutional reform, fulfilling a key campaign pledge. The overhaul of parliamentary and executive powers passed in the assembly and senate by a single vote, capturing 539 votes when it needed 538, the BBC reports. The opposition says the change will solidify France as a "monocracy"...
Locavore Movement Spurs Luxe Niche
New York Times | Jul 22, 2008 9:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - The number of people seeking out locally raised food—locavores-—is on the rise, reports the New York Times, as are businesses that cater to them. People too busy (or lazy) to plant their own garden or visit a local vegetable dealer are hiring people to find the best regional grub or even cultivate produce right in their backyard.
Serb War Crimes Fugitive Worked in Belgrade Clinic
BBC | Jul 22, 2008 8:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - Bosnian Serb Radovan Karadzic, arrested yesterday on war crimes charges after a 13-year manhunt, has been living in Belgrade with a fabricated identity and a private practice in alternative medicine, the BBC reports. Karadzic, sporting a long white beard and the name Dragan Dabic, walked in public freely, police said this morning, purporting to be...
Obama Beefs Up Foreign Policy Cred in Iraq
New York Times | Jul 22, 2008 8:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - Presidential candidate Barack Obama's weeklong tour of seven countries has so far been fruitful, politically agile, and especially lucky, reports the New York Times . The Illinois senator's withdrawal plan received a timely endorsement from Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki, coinciding with President Bush's embrace of a "time horizon" for pulling...
Prosecco Targets Champagne Crown
Reuters | Jul 22, 2008 8:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - Sales of Italy's answer to champagne have been bubbling up for years, Reuters writes, but prosecco producers plan to boost output to 250 million bottles next year, with an eye on someday overtaking champagne as the world's favorite sparkling wine. The bubbly is cheaper to make than its French rival, and vintners believe its sweeter taste will go down...
2nd Bulldozer Goes on Rampage in Jerusalem
Haaretz (Israel) | Jul 22, 2008 7:52 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Palestinian bulldozer driver wreaked havoc in downtown Jerusalem today, injuring at least 16 people, one critically, before being gunned down, Haaretz reports. It was a copycat attack, coming just weeks after a similar bulldozer rampage killed three in the Holy City. Police said a civilian saw the bulldozer leave its construction site, and started...
A-Rod Signs With Hollywood Agency
Wall Street Journal | Jul 22, 2008 7:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - Alex Rodriguez has signed up with the William Morris Agency, the Wall Street Journal reports, as Hollywood's biggest talent agencies look to draft major sports stars onto their rosters. Rodriguez will join clients like Quentin Tarantino and Eminem at William Morris, along with sports figures such as Serena Williams, Dwyane Wade, and Kevin Garnett.
McCain May Announce VP This Week
CNN | Jul 22, 2008 7:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - Speculation is heating up that John McCain may pick his running mate this week, in a move to divert attention from the media frenzy surrounding Barack Obama's tour through the Mideast and Europe, CNN reports. Then again, there's speculation that the VP rumors themselves are just a “head fake” to distract from the saturation Obama coverage.
Karadzic: Poet Turned Monster
Times (UK) | Jul 22, 2008 7:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Serbian strongman Radovan Karadzic viewed himself as a high-minded intellectual but his hardline nationalism drove him to become responsible for Europe's most bestial atrocities since the Nazis, writes the Times of London. The former Bosnian leader, now captured after 12 years on the run, was a poet and author and worked as a psychiatrist for years...
Ebert, Roeper Close Curtain on At the Movies
Chicago Tribune | Jul 22, 2008 6:24 AM CDT
(Newser) - Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper are calling it a day with At the Movies , reports the Chicago Tribune . Insiders say Disney plans to revamp the 33-year-old show and give it more of a Hollywood focus. Ebert, who holds the trademark for the show's signature thumbs up/thumbs down format, has vowed to take his thumbs elsewhere. Roeper hinted he would...
Dolly Storms Toward Texas
Reuters | Jul 22, 2008 6:08 AM CDT
(Newser) - Tropical Storm Dolly is en route to hurricane status, and hurricane conditions are expected by the end of today on the southern Texas coast near the Mexican border, Reuters reports. With winds currently around 50mph, Dolly is crossing the Gulf of Mexico from where it emerged over the Yucatan peninsula.
Chilling 911 Tape Bared in Bid for Clues to Girls' Murder
CNN | Jul 22, 2008 5:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - Authorities struggling to crack the case of two Oklahoma girls found murdered last month have released an emotional tape of a 911 call made by a family member who discovered the bodies, reports CNN. Investigators hope the heart-rending tape will spur somebody to identify the killer or killers who left the girls, ages 11 and 13, dead in a ditch with...
Olympians Fearful of Chinese Food Chemicals
ABC News | Jul 22, 2008 4:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - In addition to concerns about air quality in Beijing this August, many Olympic athletes are worried about contaminants and chemicals in the food, ABC News reports. With many of China's agricultural products boosted by growth stimulants, or steroids, or amped by antibiotics, athletes are particularly concerned that they might unwittingly ingest a banned...
Angry Judge to YouTube Divorcée: YouLose
Associated Press | Jul 22, 2008 4:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Broadway mogul's wife who lambasted her estranged husband in a couple of hugely popular YouTube videos didn't find the court quite so responsive: a Manhattan judge, citing the video, granted Shubert Organization president Philip Smith a divorce on the grounds of cruel and inhuman treatment. A pre-nuptial agreement was ruled valid, giving Tricia...
Apple Stock Dives Amid Jobs Health Rumors
San Jose Mercury News | Jul 22, 2008 4:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Apple reported one of its best third-quarter results ever yesterday, but its stock took a 17% nosedive amid rumors that CEO Steve Jobs is in poor health, reports the San Jose Mercury News . Jobs, who beat pancreatic cancer four years ago, appeared gaunt at a conference last month. Investors were also rattled by the company's conservative outlook for...
Percentage of Working Women in Record Drop
New York Times | Jul 22, 2008 3:25 AM CDT
(Newser) - The percentage of women in the US job market dipped this decade through a period of economic recovery for the first time in 48 years—and the faltering economy is bound to do even more damage, reports the New York Times . Like men, American women are leaving the workplace due to mediocre wages, layoffs and outsourcing, according to a new study....
Leno Bowing Out in May
Broadcasting & Cable | Jul 22, 2008 3:02 AM CDT
(Newser) - Jay Leno's last appearance as host of the Tonight Show will be the final Friday in May, reports Broadcasting & Cable . Conan O'Brien will take over the following Monday. In the several months between O'Brien's leaving Late Night and his Tonight Show debut, NBC plans a huge promotional campaign to keep his profile high.
Savage Defends Attack on Autistic 'Brats'
New York Times | Jul 22, 2008 2:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - Right-wing mouth Michael Savage isn't backing down from his remarks characterizing autistic kids as nothing more than "brats," outraging thousands of parents, the New York Times reports. The radio host said in a broadcast last week that autism was a "fraud" and 99% of cases were created by poor parenting. Dozens of parents demonstrated...
Pill Delivers Prostate Cancer Breakthrough
Reuters | Jul 22, 2008 2:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - A new experimental pill taken once a day is proving effective against an advanced, aggressive form of prostate cancer which has resisted other therapies, reports Reuters. The drug, abiraterone, created by Cougar Biotechnology, significantly shrank tumors in a clinical trial, according to a study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology . It could be...
Times Rejects McCain Op-Ed 'as Currently Written'
Drudge Report | Jul 21, 2008 9:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - The New York Times has turned down John McCain's rebuttal to a recent Barack Obama op-ed on Iraq, telling the Republican’s campaign it isn’t “able to accept this piece as currently written.” A campaign insider tells Drudge that the Grey Lady simply doesn’t agree with his candidate’s policies; the op-ed editor maintains...
Dear Obama: Oppose Iran and We'll Love You
New Republic | Jul 21, 2008 8:58 PM CDT
(Newser) - On the eve of Barack Obama’s visit to Israel, Yossi Klein Halevi writes to him in the New Republic about Israel's fears. Like many nations, Israel is well-inclined towards Obama: It has no fear of his Muslim middle name and recently hailed his description of Israeli security as "sacrosanct." Yet Israelis worry that as president, Obama...
Mad Men 's Moss Puts Bad Bangs to Good Use
New York | Jul 21, 2008 8:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - She’s only 26, but actress Elisabeth Moss has already commandeered a niche: She has a knack for playing “easily underestimated innocents,” Emily Nussbaum writes in New York . Moss describes Peggy Olson—“the secretary with the unflattering bangs” she plays on the hit AMC show Mad Men —as “the one who...
More Girls Get Into Gaming
San Jose Mercury News | Jul 21, 2008 7:53 PM CDT
(Newser) - After years of male dominance, the video game industry is seeing a growing number of girls pick up the controllers, SiliconValley.com reports. More than half of "casual" PC card and puzzle-type game users are female, but girl-play goes further: More than half of Nintendo Wii players are now women, and 48% of US women either have a Wii system...
Obama Arrives Late for Race Debate
City Journal | Jul 21, 2008 7:21 PM CDT
(Newser) - The black community has already started the conversation Barack Obama wants, prominent conservative Myron Magnet writes in City Journal . Liberal icons Bill Cosby and Juan Williams have declared that it’s time for African Americans to take responsibility for their own destiny. They’re telling truths that have left black conservatives “unthinkingly...
Ex-Wife's Novel Details Taylor's Marital Breakup
New York Times | Jul 21, 2008 6:53 PM CDT
(Newser) - Book-jacket fodder that could alone put a novel on the bestseller list is curiously absent from Kathryn Walker’s debut, A Stopover in Venice , Celia McGee notes in the New York Times —though it’s a fictional account of her unhappy marriage to James Taylor. The musician comes in for a “not very flattering” portrait, McGee...
Facebook Cleans Up With New Design
CNET | Jul 21, 2008 6:28 PM CDT
(Newser) - Facebook has launched a redesign with subtle new features that improve usability, Rafe Needleman writes in Webware. The revamped site eliminates a lot of the clutter caused by its 16-month-old applications platform, and spotlights the most important aspect of Facebook—the Wall—pushing it to the front and making it easier to read.
Troubled, Gay, and Murdered in Junior High
Newsweek | Jul 21, 2008 6:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - A flamboyant cross-dresser, 14-year-old Lawrence King was killed in his Los Angeles school by a boy he loved. The murder trial starts this week, but analysts are debating another question: Whether King's death could have been avoided. Newsweek goes behind the scenes, looking at King's troubled upbringing, the teachers who argued his case, and the...
McCain, Obama to Share Megachurch Stage
Los Angeles Times | Jul 21, 2008 5:49 PM CDT
(Newser) - Influential evangelical pastor Rick Warren has scored the first joint appearance by Barack Obama and John McCain. The presidential candidates will spend just a few minutes on stage together at Warren's Saddleback Church next month between back-to-back interviews with the pastor. It will be the country’s first look at both candidates in one place,...
Serbia Collars Karadzic for War Crimes
Associated Press | Jul 21, 2008 5:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - Serbian forces arrested Radovan Karadzic today after hunting the war crimes fugitive for 12 years, the AP reports. The former Bosnian Serb president, collared with other suspected war criminals, will likely be sent to the UN war crimes court in the Hague. The tribunal has indicted him twice, once for approving the murder of civilians in Sarajevo and...
World's Oldest Bible Makes Web Debut Thursday
Deutsche Welle (Germany) | Jul 21, 2008 5:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - The world's oldest nearly intact Bible—a fourth-century manuscript written in ancient Greek—will be published online later this week, Deutsche Welle reports. The Codex Sinaiticus, rediscovered in a Sinai Peninsula monastery in 1844, contains half the Jewish Old Testamant and most of the Christian New Testament. The University of Leipzig...
On the Trail of Medical Marijuana
New Yorker | Jul 21, 2008 4:56 PM CDT
(Newser) - California's legalization of medical marijuana helped create a cultivation and distribution network that promises big money for those willing to work in legal gray areas. Guided by an old friend, Blue, who's a dealer in all but name, David Samuels of the New Yorker follows the trail of Tibetan prayer flags from boutique-style urban dispensaries to...
Judge in Gitmo Driver Trial Nixes Interrogation Evidence
Miami Herald | Jul 21, 2008 4:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - A military judge at the war-crimes tribunal for Osama bin Laden’s alleged driver today barred evidence from a series of 2002 interrogations in Afghanistan, the Miami Herald reports. Salim Hamdan says he was subjected to sleep deprivation and was not offered a lawyer; his defense team wants all interrogations stricken. On the first day of his...
McCain Needs Clinton-Style Rebranding
National Review | Jul 21, 2008 4:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - John McCain desperately needs a dose of the strategy that kept Hillary Clinton competitive with Barack Obama during primary season, Rich Lowry and Ramesh Ponnuru write in the National Review . McCain should adopt a “conservative version of her occasional theme of a ‘fighter for you’”—the “you” being middle-class...
Key Salmonella Strain Found in Jalapeño
Associated Press | Jul 21, 2008 4:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - Federal inspectors are urging people to avoid eating fresh jalapeños after discovering the same salmonella strain responsible for a nationwide food-poisoning epidemic in a Mexican-grown pepper in a Texas plant. Though the FDA says the finding is a “very important break in the case,” the Mexican jalapeños are not necessarily...
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