Newser Story Index from September, 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.
Khloe Kardashian Will Wed NBA Star
Us Weekly
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Sep 21, 2009 4:51 PM CDT
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Famous-for-being-famous reality-TV star Khloe Kardashian and Lakers star Lamar Odom are planning their wedding after dating for just a month. "They are hoping to pull together a wedding within the next two weeks so they can get married and have time for a honeymoon," a source tells US Weekly. Odom and the reigning NBA champs...
3-Year Court Case Ends in Joint Custody—of Dog
Philadelphia Inquirer
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Sep 21, 2009 4:34 PM CDT
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A case that has taken up the time of the New Jersey court system since 2006 apparently ended today with a judge's ruling that the litigants will share custody of their dog. Dexter, a 6-year-old pug, will spend 5 weeks at a time with each of his owners, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Doreen Houseman said she's eager to lavish "a lot of hugs...
How to Tell If You're a WASP
Vogue
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Sep 21, 2009 4:16 PM CDT
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Being a WASP is a lot more than being just white, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant. Author Tad Friend expounds at length on the criteria for true WASP-hood in his upcoming book Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of WASP Splendor . Vogue offers the highlights: Your refrigerator "contains only marmalade, wilted scallions,...
How the Crazies Took Over
New York
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Sep 21, 2009 3:58 PM CDT
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As recently as this spring, the Tea Party movement seemed anemic and wonky. But in the months that followed, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and others whipped the right-wing fringe into such a frenzy that a “separate reality grew like a second head on the American polity,” Philip Weiss writes in a New York magazine deconstruction of the anti-Obama...
Little Kids Still Need 2 Swine Flu Shots
Washington Post
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Sep 21, 2009 3:41 PM CDT
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Kids over age 9 can safely join adults in receiving just one shot of swine flu vaccine, the Washington Post reports. A test of 650 subjects showed 76% of children between 10 and 17 had a response to a vaccine produced by Sanofi Pasteur, and it was strong enough that protection from the virus could be assumed. Kids under 10 will still need two doses—only...
CIA Interrogations Caused Brain Damage: Scientist
Associated Press
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Sep 21, 2009 3:26 PM CDT
(AP) -
The CIA's harsh interrogations are likely to have damaged the brains of terrorist suspects, diminishing their ability to recall and provide the detailed information the spy agency sought, according to a new scientific paper. The paper scrutinizes the techniques used by the CIA under the Bush administration through the lens of neurobiology and determines...
Dow Down 41; Tech Rises, Banks Fall
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 21, 2009 3:13 PM CDT
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Stock indices finished mixed today after the markets reached what most traders saw as a slight pause in a very strong September, the Wall Street Journal reports. Financials led declines: AmEx fell 2.9%, while Bank of America lost 1.8%. Google rose 1.1% after Citigroup analysts boosted their third-quarter estimate. The Dow closed down 41.34 points...
Facebook Friend List Can Indicate Sexuality: Study
Boston Globe
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Sep 21, 2009 2:52 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Students at MIT designed a program that allowed them to identify gay men using their Facebook friends' sexual preferences, and the results are sparking debate about online privacy, the Boston Globe reports. The "Gaydar" project looked at the “interested in” field and tabulated the number of gay friends for males who did not...
Global Rates of Alzheimer's Disease Soar
HealthDay News
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Sep 21, 2009 2:40 PM CDT
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Rising life expectancy in the developing world will lead to a dramatic increase in the number of people stricken by Alzheimer’s disease, HealthDay News reports. The number of dementia cases worldwide will reach 35.6 million in 2010, a 10% increase over the total in 2005. That number is expected to nearly double every 20 years, reaching 115.4...
Tom DeLay Dons Rhinestones for DWTS Debut
Politics Daily
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Sep 21, 2009 2:28 PM CDT
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Tom DeLay will make you laugh when he hits the dance floor tonight, and not just because he'll be wearing rhinestones for his Dancing With the Stars debut, predicts Emily Miller, who was DeLay's communications director when he was majority leader of the House. Miller, who was privy to a rehearsal, says her former boss really can dance, and the humor's...
Zelaya Returns to Honduras
Reuters
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Sep 21, 2009 2:14 PM CDT
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Manuel Zelaya is back in Honduras, the ousted president told a Honduran TV station today, prompting thousands of his supporters to gather outside the UN building in the capital to celebrate. “I am here for the restoration of democracy, to call for dialogue,” Zelaya declared. The US State Department confirmed Zelaya’s return, though...
Activists Behind Fake Post Prank Arrested
Daily Finance
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Sep 21, 2009 1:58 PM CDT
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Police today arrested three activists who were distributing a parody issue of the New York Post , Daily Finance reports. Volunteers all over New York were distributing the phony paper, which was intended to call attention to climate change. But when some tried distributing it in front of the Post ’s building, police came, arrested them, and...
Blue Dogs Offer Own Spin on Finance Reform
Politico
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Sep 21, 2009 1:40 PM CDT
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Blue Dogs are digging in against the idea of creating a “consumer financial protection agency,” a key provision in Barack Obama’s financial regulatory reform plan, Politico reports. Instead, they want existing regulators to collaborate by way of a “consumer financial protection council.” “We’re trying to come...
Expanded Gambling Won't Be a Windfall: Silver
Esquire
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Sep 21, 2009 1:29 PM CDT
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The many states hoping gambling will revive their troubled budgets are in for an unpleasant surprise, writes Nate Silver for Esquire. Gambling is supposed to be recession-proof, but that hasn’t been the case this time. "The year 2008 was the first time in history that total casino gaming revenues declined throughout the United States,"...
Historian Sheds Gossipy Light on Clinton Years
USA Today
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Sep 21, 2009 1:07 PM CDT
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Between 1993 and 2001, historian Taylor Branch met regularly with then-President Clinton for a series of taped interviews. The transcripts form the basis of a new book, The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President , to be released next week. USA Today got a look and singles out some highlights: Secret Service agents had to corral...
Business Is Booming on Appalachian Trail
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 21, 2009 1:00 PM CDT
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The Appalachian Trail has been packed this year, as the unemployed wait out the bad economy by hiking almost 2,200 miles between Maine and Georgia—and often pay for the journey by working as they go, the Wall Street Journal reports. The trail offers a subsistence lifestyle—hikers budget $1 a mile and trade short-term labor at farms and...
Killer 'Smashed' Le's Body to Fit in 8-Inch Hole
New York Post
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Sep 21, 2009 12:36 PM CDT
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Annie Le’s killer broke her bones and mangled her body to fit her into a hole in the wall the size of a computer monitor, an anonymous source tells the New York Post. “He just crushed her in there,” the source says. “She was like mush—she was so smashed up you couldn’t recognize her.” The source says...
Against Odds, Katie Couric Perseveres at CBS
New York Times
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Sep 21, 2009 12:23 PM CDT
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Last year, it seemed Katie Couric’s days in the CBS anchor chair were numbered. Now, she not only plans to stay there until her contract expires in 2011, she's starting a weekly Charlie Rose- esque webcast—and her destinations post- Evening News could include 60 Minutes or CNN. “Her really superb work swept those questions away,”...
Murtha Institute Hands Money to Murtha Friends
Washington Post
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Sep 21, 2009 12:08 PM CDT
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The John P. Murtha Institute for Homeland Security may look like a mostly deserted basement below an Indiana University of Pennsylvania dormitory, but over the years it’s overseen $50 million in federal funds—almost all of it going to Murtha’s friends and industry allies, a Washington Post investigation finds. The institute is supposed...
Obama Rethinks Afghan War
Washington Post
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Sep 21, 2009 11:57 AM CDT
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With Gen. Stanley McChrystal's assessment in hand, President Obama is conducting a "very, very serious review of all options" in Afghanistan, the Washington Post reports. The president, once confident in the plan to boost counterinsurgency efforts, now faces a game changed by last month's botched Afghan elections and eroding popular and...
UK Teacher Jailed for Lesbian Affair With Student
Times (UK)
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Sep 21, 2009 11:53 AM CDT
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A London teacher was sentenced today to 15 months in prison for having a lesbian affair with a 15-year-old student. Music teacher Helen Goddard, 26, was banned for life from working with children and will have to register as a sex offender, but will be allowed to see the girl when she is released, the London Times reports. The student says she initiated...
Blago Memoir: 'I Didn't Do Anything Wrong'
New Yorker
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Sep 21, 2009 11:42 AM CDT
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When it comes to political memoirs, Rod Blagojevich’s The Governor: Finally, the Truth Behind the Political Scandal That Continues to Rock the Nation “is surely unsurpassed” in the areas of “febrile self-defensiveness and look-over-there deflections and deceptions,” writes David Remnick for the New Yorker . “No...
Leno Ratings Doomed...as Is the Future of Network TV
Advertising Age
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Sep 21, 2009 11:29 AM CDT
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No one expects the Jay Leno Show to maintain the pumped-up ratings it got this week—not even NBC. But the low-key talk show might represent the future of network TV anyway, simply because it’s so darn cheap, writes Brian Steinberg of Advertising Age. With viewers breaking from broad network offerings in favor of niche ones on cable...
Craig Ferguson on Being Sober, Killer Ducks
Time
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Sep 21, 2009 11:10 AM CDT
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Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson endured an Oliver Twist-like childhood, loves his newly earned US citizenship, and once was chased by killer ducks while he was on acid. In an interview in Time , the Scottish-born comedian dishes on: Alcoholism: "The idea of having one or two drinks bores the ass out of me. If I'm going to drink,...
Will Real Senate Leaders Please Stand Up?
Politico
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Sep 21, 2009 10:53 AM CDT
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As Democrats fight among themselves over health care, it’s becoming painfully clear that they lack a clear public leader on the issue, writes Manu Raju for Politico. In part it’s because, with a number of House and Senate committees involved, there are too many cooks stirring the pot, and in part because there’s no Ted Kennedy-esque...
Kate 'a Hit' on Talk Show Pilot
Radar
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Sep 21, 2009 10:36 AM CDT
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Jon and Kate seem to be minus eight—the tots were in the care of their nannies for several days while Kate filmed her talk show pilot and Jon did whatever it is that he does, Radar reports. Kate’s pilot taping “went extremely well,” says a source. “Everyone there loved it. And Kate did great. There’s no question...
Obama's Guest Spot Points to Newly Political Letterman
New York Times
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Sep 21, 2009 10:13 AM CDT
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With President Obama tonight and Bill Clinton tomorrow, David Letterman is starting his new season with a bang—and a marked shift toward politics, the New York Times reports. Letterman, who chose to lay low in repeats last week as NBC trotted out big guests for Jay Leno's primetime debut, is now making a strong play for the younger audiences...
Fizzle Alert: Market Rallies This Good Don't Hold
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 21, 2009 9:49 AM CDT
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It's good news, bad news time for investors. The good news: In the last 100 years, only five other rallies have matched the 46% leap the Dow’s taken over the past six months. The bad news: None of those other extraordinary rallies, which came in the 1930s and 1970s, held, the Wall Street Journal reports. Like the current rally, those historical...
Zooey Deschanel, Ben Gibbard Marry
Us Weekly
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Sep 21, 2009 9:36 AM CDT
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Indie rock ‘it’ couple Zooey Deschanel and Ben Gibbard married Saturday near Seattle, her rep tells Us. The 29-year-old actress (and She & Him singer) and Death Cab for Cutie frontman, 33, were engaged last December after dating for nearly a year.
Luxury Condo Housekeeper Held in Slaying of Naked Exec
New York Daily News
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Sep 21, 2009 9:31 AM CDT
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The housekeeping manager of New York’s swanky Essex House has been charged with the murder of a Lebanese investment executive who was subletting an apartment in the $7,000+-a-month building, police sources tell the Daily News . Cops say Derrick Praileau, 29, entered Andree Bejjani's room early Saturday and attempted to rape her—then stabbed...
Pols-Turned-Lobbyists Use Campaign Cash to Curry Favor
USA Today
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Sep 21, 2009 9:21 AM CDT
(Newser) -
When congressmen leave Capitol Hill for lobbying jobs, they take their unused campaign funds with them, then dole them out to other lawmakers to influence policy, USA Today reports. Such donations are legal—federal law permits ex-congressmen to keep campaign accounts active, donating the money to candidates, parties, and charities—but...
Harris Makes Emmys Watchable
Los Angeles Times
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Sep 21, 2009 9:03 AM CDT
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Thanks to Neil Patrick Harris, TV critic Mary McNamara “might wind up looking forward to award season again,” she writes in the Los Angeles Times . Emcee Harris, along with the writers and producers, reminded “us that an award show does not have to be a drag.” A “smartly refurbished format” helped, “but it...
Fed Shows Backbone, but Obama Cowers Before Banks
New York Times
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Sep 21, 2009 8:48 AM CDT
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Just as the recession wanes and the financial system shows signs of the health, banks are returning to their worst habits, says Paul Krugman. Not only are paychecks soaring to pre-Lehman levels, but the financial sector is using its muscle to block "even the most minimal reforms." While the Fed knows what needs to be done most—"change...
Cost-Cutting Companies Target No. 2 Execs
Wall Street Journal
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Sep 21, 2009 8:27 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Cost-cutting at American's largest corporations is hitting the executive suite, with CEOs rolling up their sleeves to take on more day-to-day responsibilities and laying off their No. 2s. In the 18 months leading up to June 2009, 40 major companies eliminated COOs or presidents, the Wall Street Journal notes, while only 20 added. "The CEO wants...
Climate Groups Look to Avoid Health Care Repeat
Politico
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Sep 21, 2009 8:20 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Environmental groups are struggling to convince Democrats that the fight for cap-and-trade legislation won’t be as damaging as the one over health care, and to keep them from punting on the issue, Politico reports. Climate supporters say they have a grass-roots network in place that health care reformers didn’t, including a “climate...
Emmys' Fashion Winners, Losers
Associated Press
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Sep 21, 2009 8:09 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Emmy winners and losers weren’t just singled out onstage—sartorial successes and failures stalked the red carpet as well. Elizabeth Snead offers a wrap-up in the Los Angeles Times . The Winners: Drew Barrymore: “Luminous in Monique Lhuillier’s blush-hued tulle strapless gown.” Heidi Klum: Flaunted...
Fla. Priest Is My Babydaddy: Ex-Stripper
CBS4
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Sep 21, 2009 7:55 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Vatican famously frowns on randy clergy, but Rome is surely burning over this one—former stripper Beatrice Hernandez tells CBS4 that a Florida priest fathered her baby, and she's seeking a restraining order after he attacked her for demanding a DNA test. Hernandez, who says her relationship with Father David Dueppen began while she was...
Japan Loses Its Taste for Luxury
New York Times
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Sep 21, 2009 7:31 AM CDT
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Hundred-dollar melons and pricey designer handbags used to sell so well in Japan that companies considered luxury goods a mass-market sector. But while the Japanese kept on shopping through previous recessions, this one has produced a sea change. The luxury industry has been hard hit, and the change may be permanent, the New York Times reports. The...
German Officer May Have Misled US Fighters in Civilian Disaster
Der Spiegel
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Sep 21, 2009 7:08 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Just before 2am on Sept. 4, German Col. Georg Klein gave a two-word command—"Weapons release!"—and US fighter jets bombed a pair of tanker trucks in Kunduz, Afghanistan, killing 100 Afghans clustered around them, many of them civilians. Although his tour has ended, the officer is still in Afghanistan, facing a NATO investigation....
Obama to Pentagon: Scale Back Nuke Arsenal
Guardian (UK)
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Sep 21, 2009 7:01 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Barack Obama rejected the first draft of a Pentagon report on the US nuclear arsenal and is demanding a radical review ahead of deep cuts, according to the Guardian . The president, whose stated goal is the complete abolition of nuclear weapons, wants to see a range of options: cutting the arsenal from thousands of weapons to hundreds, new international...
Gisele Named UN Goodwill Ambassador
Boston Herald
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Sep 21, 2009 6:30 AM CDT
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Gisele Bundchen will have more than a baby with hubby Tom Brady to keep her busy—yesterday she was named a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme, the Boston Herald reports. “Mother Earth is our fundamental life-support system, and by becoming aware and responsible now, we can assist in preserving the planet,”...
4 UN Debuts to Watch
NPR
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Sep 21, 2009 6:26 AM CDT
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This week the world's heads of government gather in New York for the annual UN General Assembly, and attention will be focused on four leaders—two new to office, two long in power—making their debuts at the green marble lectern. NPR outlines who to watch: Hu Jintao : He'll be the first Chinese head of state at the General...
Chinese Pandas to Head Home After Quake Fixup
Xinhua (China)
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Sep 21, 2009 6:13 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Sixty giant pandas displaced after a massive earthquake rocked China last year will head home to their nature preserve, reports Xinhua . China is pouring $55 million into rebuilding the endangered animals' Sichuan Province base that previously housed 63 pandas. One died in the quake, one went missing, and one died of illness.
Afghan Vote's True Winner: The Taliban
Washington Post
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Sep 21, 2009 5:57 AM CDT
(Newser) -
It's still not evident whether Hamid Karzai will avoid a runoff in Afghanistan's presidential vote, but the winner of the election is clear: the Taliban. Delays in tallying and alleged systemic fraud have given the insurgency new material for a sophisticated propaganda campaign that portrays the Karzai administration as corrupt to the core. And as...
Congress, BofA Clash Over Merrill Secrets
New York Times
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Sep 21, 2009 5:40 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Bank of America claims it doesn't have to produce details about its decision to merge with Merrill Lynch because the conversations are protected by attorney-client privilege. But the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee begs to differ, reports the New York Times . The showdown peaked last week when Rep. Edolphus Towns gave...
Swiss Politicians Battle 'Suicide Tourism'
Independent (UK)
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Sep 21, 2009 5:10 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Swiss politicians have stepped up efforts to battle "suicide tourism" as British officials prepare to announce new rules expected to make it easier for citizens to cross borders to die, reports the Independent . Some 115 Britons have died at assisted suicide operations run by Dignitas in Switzerland. Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland...
New Trojan Horse Virus Stalks Online Banking
Times (UK)
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Sep 21, 2009 4:43 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A complex new Trojan horse virus called Clampi is stealing online banking log-in codes from infected computers and broadcasting them to hackers who can then empty the victim's bank account, reports the Times of London. The virus spreads via websites laced with the malicious code, including banks, credit card companies, brokerages, and retail sites....
Ecstasy, Heroin Linked to German Therapy Deaths
BBC
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Sep 21, 2009 4:19 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Ecstasy and heroin were among the substances supplied by a Berlin therapist who said he aimed to "expand consciousness" during a session that killed two patients, German papers are reporting. Another patient remains in a coma. All 12 participants were rushed to a hospital after they fell ill during the group therapy, reports the BBC. The...
Religious Claim in Bald Eagle Killing Doesn't Fly
Los Angeles Times
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Sep 21, 2009 3:51 AM CDT
(Newser) -
When Winslow Friday shot a bald eagle out of a tree in a Wyoming Indian reservation four years ago, he was hoping to provide his cousin with a headdress for an upcoming Sun Dance. What he got were federal charges for killing the protected bird. It's a law his northern Arapaho tribe has argued in court violates American Indians' religious rights, reports...
McChrystal: US 'Will Fail' Without More Afghan Troops
Washington Post
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Sep 21, 2009 3:23 AM CDT
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Afghanistan's top commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal made a blunt request for more troops in a confidential report to the Pentagon last month, warning that without more forces the war "will likely result in failure." The 66-page report, obtained by Bob Woodward of the Washington Post , contains repeated warnings of defeat and says his...
