Newser Story Index from March, 2009

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.

House Race in NY Still Too Close to Call
Associated Press | Mar 31, 09 10:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - A closely watched congressional race to fill the seat of Hillary Clinton's replacement remained too close to call tonight and will likely be decided by absentee ballots, the AP reports. With all precincts reporting, Democrat Scott Murphy led Republican Jim Tedisco by 65 votes out of 154,000 cast. The race has drawn heavy attention because both candidates...

Obama, Medvedev to Open New Arms Talks
New York Times | Mar 31, 09 9:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama will begin a busy week in Europe tomorrow by announcing that the US and Russia will begin talks to reduce their nuclear arsenals by about a third to 1,500 warheads apiece, the New York Times reports. Obama will meet with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev on the sidelines of the G20 summit, and the two will announce plans for...

Who Wins the Midterms? Obama's Ratings Will Tell All
Esquire | Mar 31, 09 8:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - Forget the old saw that the state of the economy dictates who wins in midterm elections. There are too many exceptions. The better predictor is presidential popularity, writes Nate Silver in Esquire . The correlation between a president's Gallup rating immediately before the midterms and his party's performance is "very strong," says Silver....

Facebook Shakeup Renews Talk of Public Offering
Wall Street Journal | Mar 31, 09 7:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - Facebook today announced another big departure from its executive ranks, fueling speculation that a move to go public is gaining traction, the Wall Street Journal reports. The company's chief financial officer, Gideon Yu, is leaving, and Facebook is searching for a replacement who has experience at a public company, the Journal notes.

Cash-Strapped Calif. Considers Selling San Quentin
San Francisco Chronicle | Mar 31, 09 7:05 PM CDT
(Newser) - Some state lawmakers have proposed a novel solution for California's budget problems: sell San Quentin Prison, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Experts estimate the 435-acre site, picturesquely situated on a peninsula overlooking San Francisco Bay, could go for more than $2 billion. About half of that would go toward building a replacement prison—for...

Netanyahu to US: We'll Stop Iran if You Don't
The Atlantic | Mar 31, 09 6:47 PM CDT
(Newser) - Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu comes out swinging against a nuclear Iran in an interview with Jeffrey Goldberg in the Atlantic , warning that if the US doesn’t stop the country, Israel will. “You don’t want a messianic apocalyptic cult controlling atomic bombs,” he said. “When the wide-eyed believer gets hold of the reins...

US to Join UN Human Rights Panel, Reversing Bush
Washington Post | Mar 31, 09 6:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - In another reversal of Bush policy, the Obama administration said today it would seek to join the UN Human Rights Council. The US will participate in May elections for one of three open seats on the 3-year-old body, the Washington Post reports. Bushies declined to join, arguing that the council allowed in repressive nations, but Hillary Clinton...

HHS Nominee Sebelius Pays $7K in Back Taxes
Associated Press | Mar 31, 09 5:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - See if this sounds familiar: Health and Human Services nominee Kathleen Sebelius has corrected three years worth of tax returns after finding "unintentional errors." In a letter to senators, Sebelius said the changes involved charitable contributions, the sale of a home, and business expenses. She and her husband paid a total of $7,040 in...

Ruling Gives Franken Big Lift in Senate Race
Minneapolis Star Tribune | Mar 31, 09 5:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - Al Franken may have moved a decisive step closer to the Senate today, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. A three-judge panel ruled that only 400 disputed absentee ballots will be reviewed, making it highly unlikely that Norm Coleman will be able to erase Franken's 225-seat margin in the Minnesota race. Any new ballots deemed eligible will be counted...

Meghan McCain: House Hunk Is GOP's Hope
Daily Beast | Mar 31, 09 5:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - Meghan McCain continues her Generation Y rebellion within the GOP with a blog on a hottie congressman she admits discovering from beefcake shots on TMZ. In her Daily Beast column, McCain sees 27-year-old Aaron Schock of Illinois as the party's best hope of reinventing its stodgy image. "Schock should play his youth to his advantage, and so should...

The Best Prison Breaks
Guardian (UK) | Mar 31, 09 4:43 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Frenchman’s daring escape from a London prison—Julien Chautard turned himself in yesterday after busting out by gripping the bottom of a prisoner transport van as it left the courtyard—gets Jon Henley, in the Guardian , thinking about the best such tries ever. His highlights:

Shoplifting Couple Raided After Appearance on Dr. Phil
North County Times | Mar 31, 09 4:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - A couple that revealed their thieving ways to TV psychologist Dr. Phil appear to have received a federal investigation in return, the North County Times reports. The California couple appeared on Dr. Phil’s show in November and were shown on a 3-day shoplifting road trip with their children. Last week, their home was raided by a federal task...

Honda Unveils Mind-Reading Robot
Guardian (UK) | Mar 31, 09 4:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - Honda today demonstrated new technology it hopes will make the Jetsons look old-fashioned. The company unveiled a special helmet that allows its wearer to control a robot by thought alone, the Guardian reports. The helmet scans brain activity and relays it to a computer, which then instructs the robot what to do. The device remains in the primitive...

UK Shakespeare Troupe Seeks Canine Thespians
Daily Telegraph (UK) | Mar 31, 09 3:59 PM CDT
(Newser) - Dog-owners in the UK city of Bath can audition their pooches tomorrow for a spot in a Shakespeare play, the Telegraph reports. The role in The Taming of the Shrew is historically accurate, the director said: “In Shakespeare’s time … they had a troupe of dogs specially trained to perform and do tricks or a jig as part of Elizabethan...

Lotusflow3r Not Quite Full Bloom for Prince
Slate | Mar 31, 09 3:47 PM CDT
(Newser) - Prince’s new album, Lotusflow3r , is actually three separate discs: two by the Purple One and one by his protégé, Bria Valente, all for sale exclusively at Target for $11.98. And depending on who you ask, that’s a good deal—or not. Jody Rosen is thrilled by the "messy and bewildering (and, frequently,...

Heart of a Lion: YouTube Fave Lives On in Memoir
Time | Mar 31, 09 3:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - A lion who went wild after being raised by his hippy "parents" in their London shop, and later became a YouTube fave, has been immortalized again in a new memoir, Time reports. The emotional reunion in Africa between Christian the lion and his former owners has been viewed over 10 million times. It's not certain for long minutes in the...

Dow Up 87; Gains for March
Wall Street Journal | Mar 31, 09 3:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - Stocks posted gains today as the first quarter came to a close, the Wall Street Journal reports. While the April earnings season and the results of the Treasury’s stress tests threaten to shatter equities’ recent gains, signs of economic stabilization made March a relatively good month. The Dow rose 86.90 to close at 7,608.92. The Nasdaq...

Raw Pistachios Likely Cause of Salmonella Scare: Firm
Associated Press | Mar 31, 09 3:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - The company responsible for the current pistachio salmonella scare says its product was likely contaminated by raw nuts, not humans or animals, the AP reports. Setton International Foods says roasted pistachios shipped to Kraft could have come in contact with raw nuts at its California plant. The raw pistachios can carry salmonella. Kraft has expanded...

Spanking's Stressful, but S&M Brings Couples Closer
New Scientist | Mar 31, 09 3:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Spanking your partner may ratchet up their stress hormones, but they’ll thank you when it’s over, according to a new study . Researchers measured levels of the stress hormone cortisol in 13 men and women at one S&M party, and testosterone levels at another. Those on the receiving end saw cortisol rise, the New Scientist reports,...

Autism Linked to Household Vinyl Flooring
Scientific American | Mar 31, 09 3:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Vinyl flooring has been linked to the development of autism in children, Scientific American reports. A joint US/Swedish study looking into the effects of household contaminants stumbled upon the result, which the researchers and others stressed was preliminary. It “turned up virtually by accident,” said one scientist. He called the result...

Germany Bans Group Behind Nazi Summer Camps
Der Spiegel | Mar 31, 09 2:51 PM CDT
(Newser) - The German government today banned a neo-Nazi youth group it says ran summer camps where children were instructed in racist and National Socialist ideology, Der Spiegel reports. “Heimattreue Deutsche Jugend,” the German Youth Faithful to the Homeland, allegedly included military exercises and “racial science” classes—which...

Ballesteros: Battle With Brain Cancer Is '6th Major'
Times (UK) | Mar 31, 09 2:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - Spanish golfer Seve Ballesteros is taking his recovery from surgery for brain cancer as seriously as he used to work on his game, the Times of London reports. “The way I look at it,” says the 51-year-old five-time major-championship winner, “this is the biggest battle of my life, this is the sixth major.”

Blizzard Pounds Fargo, but Dikes Hold
Associated Press | Mar 31, 09 2:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - Strengthening wind blew heavy, wet snow around Fargo today, adding to the strain on residents' spirits and on the patchwork system of sandbag levees protecting them from the bloated Red River. But there were no reports of problems from leaks or from wind-driven waves battering the dikes. “They say it's not going to affect the level of the river,...

Some UK Advice for US Topshop Virgins
Guardian (UK) | Mar 31, 09 2:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - The wildly popular British clothing store Topshop opens its first outpost in New York this week, and Emily Rotberg has advice for uninitiated Americans. First and foremost, “don’t be afraid to push" she writes in the Guardian . "They’re not your friends.” Other nuggets: "Sales assistants" aren't there...

Obamas Arrive in Britain
Associated Press | Mar 31, 09 2:28 PM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama has arrived in Europe, with a hefty economic and political agenda for his first journey across the Atlantic since taking office two months ago. The first stop for the president and first lady was London, with the focus on the G20 meeting of the world's major economic powers and a NATO summit marking the 60 years since the alliance was...

In China's West, Muslims Keep Their Own Time
Los Angeles Times | Mar 31, 09 2:24 PM CDT
(Newser) - There are two time zones in Kashgar, China, and they’re two hours apart. Which you follow depends not on geographic location, but on ethnic identity. The town’s dominant Muslim Uighur minority refuses to set its clocks by China’s single, standardized time, instead using the same wacky, sun-based system as the rest of the planet—a...

Coach Calipari Leaves Memphis for Kentucky
WREG 3 Memphis | Mar 31, 09 2:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - John Calipari, who turned the University of Memphis into a college basketball title contender, will leave to coach at the University of Kentucky, WREG-TV reports. Kentucky received permission to negotiate with Calipari yesterday in a bid to replace Billy Gillispie, unceremoniously dismissed Friday, the AP adds. The deal between Calipari and Kentucky...

How to Find, Kill the Conficker Worm
Associated Press | Mar 31, 09 2:12 PM CDT
(Newser) - Millions of PCs have been infected with the Conficker worm, and word has it the program may cause mischief tomorrow—April Fool’s Day. But routing it out needn’t be difficult, the AP reports. Here’s how: The worm blocks access to Microsoft and antivirus vendor sites, which offer tools to fight it. Check if you can visit...

Testy McCain Grills Sebelius on Health Care Tax Credit
American Prospect | Mar 31, 09 1:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Kathleen Sebelius got a chilly bout of questioning from John McCain during a Senate committee hearing, Ezra Klein writes for the American Prospect. His manner tense and confrontational, the Arizona senator asked Sebelius if she supported replacing the tax incentive for employer-based care with a $5000 tax credit—an idea he pitched on the campaign...

Why the Limbaugh Schtick Still Sells
Vanity Fair | Mar 31, 09 1:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - Radio is a dying format, listeners are aging out, and Americans aren’t in the mood for “hands-off government.” So why is Rush Limbaugh's audience, not to speak of his prominence in the GOP, soaring, Michael Wolff asks in Vanity Fair. It's not his politics. "Showmanship," says one moderate Republican. "Nuttiness. The...

Email Scam May Be Behind Murders at NFL Player's House
Associated Press | Mar 31, 09 1:13 PM CDT
(Newser) - Investigators suspect two African immigrants slain at a Long Island condo owned by an NFL player may have been killed as revenge for an Internet scam, police said today. Sekou Sakor and Ansu Keita were each shot in the head sometime Thursday night at a condominium in Woodbury, NY, owned by New Orleans linebacker Jonathan Vilma. There have been no arrests.

Alyson Hannigan, Husband Welcome Daughter Satyana
People | Mar 31, 09 1:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - Actress Alyson Hannigan and husband Alexis Denisof joined the ranks of celeb parents with unconventionally named children, People reports, with daughter Satyana Denisof, born last week. “They’re very excited, and mom and baby are doing great,” a rep for the couple said. It’s the first child for Denisof and Hannigan—who...

Skull Hints at Caveman Compassion
Wired | Mar 31, 09 1:02 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists have pieced together the skull of an ancient human who appears to have been deformed, but survived to at least age 5—suggesting he or she was cared for in spite of the handicap. That’s evidence for the existence of compassion in early humans, a trait other primates don’t show, Wired reports. The discovery points to a...

Exurbs, Once Meccas for Homeowners, Now for Rent
Wall Street Journal | Mar 31, 09 12:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - Not long ago, the exurbs were were among the fastest-growing parts of the country, drawing people seeking to own affordable homes on sizable pieces of property. But after waves of foreclosures and soaring unemployment, more and more people are turning to renting. Renting keeps landlords afloat, but it also drives down property values and kills community...

Foreclosed Boston Landmark Auctioned Off for Half Price
Boston Herald | Mar 31, 09 12:43 PM CDT
(Newser) - New England’s tallest building has a new owner today, the Boston Herald reports—and the John Hancock Tower proved a steal, going at foreclosure auction for about half what it sold for in 2006. A pair of firms bid $660.6 million for the 60-story building in Boston’s Back Bay; Broadway Partners bought it for $1.3 billion in 2006,...

US, Iran Have 'Cordial' Chat in the Hague
BBC | Mar 31, 09 12:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - Meeting in the Hague today, leading diplomats from the US and Iran had a “brief and cordial exchange,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. In the Netherlands for 70-country talks on Afghanistan, US envoy to Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke and Iran’s deputy foreign minister plan to “stay in touch,” Clinton said. She...

Mock Mars Mission Blasts Off
BBC | Mar 31, 09 12:26 PM CDT
(Newser) - Europe launched its first shot at a manned mission to the Red Planet today—by locking six scientists in a tiny capsule in Moscow for 105 days to simulate the voyage, the BBC reports. The volunteers, who can leave the experiment but score $20000 if they make it, will perform similar maintenance tasks and experience the same isolation and claustrophobia...

After Respite, Spam Now 94% of All Email
New York Times | Mar 31, 09 12:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - Like it or not, spam has made a comeback. Unwanted junk email is back up to 94% of all traffic, according to Google’s anti-spam Postini division. Spammers suffered a setback in November, when web backbone providers banned McColo Corp., a server spammers used to coordinate attacks, the New York Times reminds. That led to a dramatic, and, alas,...

Khmer Rouge's Duch Apologizes for 'Brutal' Deaths
Financial Times (UK) | Mar 31, 09 12:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - On trial for his role in Cambodia’s murderous Khmer Rouge regime, the man known as Duch made his first public apology today for overseeing the deaths of thousands at the prison he ran, the Financial Times reports. “I am responsible for the crimes committed at S-21, especially the torture and execution of the people there,” Kaing...

NBA Stars Turn to 'Hoops Whisperer' for Help
Wall Street Journal | Mar 31, 09 11:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - Idan Ravin has never played or coached competitive basketball. He has no formal basketball training. Yet somehow, this mild-mannered, 38-year-old Jewish ex-lawyer is one of the NBA’s most sought-after personal trainers, known in basketball circles as “the Hoops Whisperer,” the Wall Street Journal reports. Ravin’s workouts...

While Dad's Away, Brit Will Play
New York Daily News | Mar 31, 09 11:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - Jamie Spears’ legal conservatorship over daughter Britney is fraught with tension, the New York Daily News reports. Brit let loose recently while Jamie was away, hooking up with a 21-year-old backup dancer. “Britney was a bad girl,” a source says. The fling “wasn’t serious,” but Jamie’s fight with one of...

Why Your TV Isn't Getting the Whole Picture
Minneapolis Star Tribune | Mar 31, 09 11:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - The proliferation of wide-screen televisions and the rising tide of high-definition programming have created viewing troubles on both sides of TV’s technological divide, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. On older models, with a 4:3 screen aspect ratio, new HD shows often have a huge chunk of picture missing; old shows stretched to fit new...

Plaxico's Day in Court Postponed
ESPN | Mar 31, 09 11:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - A hearing in the gun-possession case against New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress was postponed today, ESPN reports. The next court date is set for June 15, but his lawyer says talks are under way about a plea bargain. More gossip: Think about this the next time you want to shake a celeb’s hand: Alex Rodriguez doesn’t wash his...

Populism Gets a Nashville Twang
New York Times | Mar 31, 09 10:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - After throwing himself behind John McCain in last year’s campaign, country musician John Rich makes an unusually aggressive foray into politics with the populist anthem Shuttin’ Down Detroit , Jon Caramanica writes in the New York Times . The song protests bailout money going from “an old man working in a plant” to urban elites—and...

New GM Boss: Bankruptcy 'More Probable'
New York Times | Mar 31, 09 10:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - In his first press conference as CEO of foundering GM, Fritz Henderson today made it clear he wasn’t afraid to talk bankruptcy, saying it was now “more probable,” and that he might even decide to declare bankruptcy before his 60 days were up. “We will do it in court, or we will do it out of court, but we will get the job done,”...

Speak Another Language? CIA's Got a Job for You
Time | Mar 31, 09 10:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - The CIA has no trouble finding recruits. But that doesn’t mean it gets the recruits it wants, so the CIA is running a radio ad campaign targeting potential spooks fluent in a second language, Time reports, and nonwhite. “I’d like to get to a point where every analyst and operations officer is trained in a foreign language,”...

Rihanna Still Working With DA
E! Online | Mar 31, 09 10:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - Rihanna is cooperating with the Los Angeles District Attorney in the case against Chris Brown—and reports otherwise are “totally incorrect,” her attorney tells E! A rep for the DA’s office also confirms Rihanna is “a cooperating victim” in the domestic-violence case, although she will not appear in court Monday for...

Supreme Court Refuses Philip Morris Appeal
Associated Press | Mar 31, 09 10:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - Big business once hoped that the Supreme Court would use a tobacco lawsuit bouncing around the court system since 1999 to clamp down on the awarding of punitive damages. Instead, the AP reports, the Supreme Court gave a one-sentence order refusing to hear an appeal of a $79.5 million (with interest, more like $145 million) fraud award won from tobacco...

Home Prices Took Record 19% Dive in January
Associated Press | Mar 31, 09 10:08 AM CDT
(Newser) - US home prices sank by 19% in January, the sharpest annual rate on record, and the pace continues to accelerate, the AP reports, but there were a handful of battered metro areas where price declines slowed, according to data released today. The tumble taken by the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of home prices in 20 major cities was the largest...

Angie to Slumdog Star: Indian Baby Is Next
Sun (UK) | Mar 31, 09 10:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - Angelina Jolie’s latest plan for her ever-growing brood? Adopt an Indian baby, the Sun reports. Jolie, charmed by one of the young Slumdog Millionaire stars at the Oscars, let him in on “a little secret” about her plan to adopt from his native country “soon.” Jolie and Brad Pitt visited an Indian adoption center in...