Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Newser Story Index from July, 2012

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.

Twitter Reinstates Journo's Account: 'We Did Mess Up'
marketingland.com | Jul 31, 2012 7:19 PM CDT
(Newser) - Twitter has lifted the suspension of a journalist's account and apologized for a breach of its own policy, notes Marketing Land . The flap occurred when Guy Adams of the British newspaper the Independent got so peeved at NBC's Olympics coverage that he tweeted the corporate email of one of the execs in charge. Soon after, Twitter suspended...
Bloomberg's New Push: Get Moms to Breastfeed
ABC News | Jul 31, 2012 6:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - New York City Mayor Bloomberg's mission to make his city healthier isn't stopping at public smoking or big sodas . Now he wants moms to breastfeed, reports the New York Post (which is dismissive of what it views as another "nanny state" effort). Starting in September, most of the city's hospitals will take steps to curb...
Indian Village Vanishing Beneath the Earth
Los Angeles Times | Jul 31, 2012 5:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Situated atop coal fields that have been burning for decades, sagging houses in India's Jharia village are swallowed whole by the earth, sometimes along with their residents, the Los Angeles Times reports. There's no formal count on how many people have succumbed to the dangerous flames or the myriad health problems that come along with...
ACLU's New Target: License Plate Trackers
ACLU | Jul 31, 2012 5:28 PM CDT
(Newser) - ACLU affiliates in 38 states are filing requests with police agencies today to gather more info about Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs), which the group says are "fundamentally threatening our freedom on the open road." Police at the state and local level use the devices to snap photos—as many as 3,000 a minute—of motorists'...
Discrimination Agency Accused of Discrimination
blogs.wsj.com | Jul 31, 2012 4:49 PM CDT
(Newser) - You'd think that if you worked for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, you wouldn't need to worry about discrimination in the workplace. But a revived lawsuit claims that the organization, which enforces federal employment discrimination laws, violated the Rehabilitation Act in its treatment of Mary Bullock, a former administrative...
Drew Peterson Murder Trial Gets Under Way
Associated Press | Jul 31, 2012 4:13 PM CDT
(AP) - The murder trial of former suburban Chicago police sergeant Drew Peterson began today with dueling explanations of his third wife's death. Prosecutors gave jurors an account that could have come from a 1940s pulp novel, in which a man does whatever he must— including murder—to keep his ex-wife's hands off his money. On the other...
Women and Children ... Last?
Los Angeles Times | Jul 31, 2012 3:51 PM CDT
(Newser) - If you ever find yourself on board a sinking ship, you'd better hope you're an adult male. Researchers from Sweden looked at 18 of the most disastrous shipwrecks and found that women and children are far less likely to survive compared to their male counterparts, the Los Angeles Times reports. What's worse, captains and crew members...
Banker Uses Where's Waldo Defense at Trial
Reuters | Jul 31, 2012 3:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - Before the jury began its deliberations yesterday in the fraud trial of ex-Citigroup banker Brian Stoker, it heard a decidedly colorful argument from his lawyer. "Most of the trial had nothing to with Brian Stoker," John Keker said in his closing, saying it reminded him of the Where's Waldo? books. Then, he went so far as to pull up...
Michael Phelps Makes History: Medal No. 19
USA Today | Jul 31, 2012 3:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - He may not be minting gold as he did at the last Olympics, but Michael Phelps is still making history. The US swimmer picked up a gold and a silver today to bring his career Olympic total to a record 19 medals, reports USA Today . (He's got another silver and two bronzes to go with his 15 golds.) Phelps beat the record of 18 held by former Russian...
No Shutdown This Year: Reid, Boehner Strike Deal
Politico | Jul 31, 2012 2:43 PM CDT
(Newser) - Neither party apparently wanted to throw a government showdown into the November election mix. Harry Reid and John Boehner said today they'd struck a deal to keep the government running into March of next year, reports Politico . President Obama has given his blessing as well to the deal, which avoids a showdown that had loomed with the end of...
Mississippi City Stands Behind Black Couple
Clarion-Ledger | Jul 31, 2012 2:06 PM CDT
(Newser) - News that a black couple was not allowed to marry in one of its churches has brought the Mississippi city of Crystal Springs together. Community members, officials, and church leaders—including the pastor who married Charles and Te'Andrea Wilson—gathered in a park yesterday to pray, and to make a point: The small group of church members...
Senate Report: For-Profit Colleges 'Abysmal'
Los Angeles Times | Jul 31, 2012 1:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Private, for-profit colleges are gorging themselves on federal cash while spending little to ensure a quality education for their students, who are dropping out in droves, Democrats on the Senate's education committee declared in a report yesterday. The report found that more than half the students at the 30 schools it examined wound up dropping...
Teen Charged for Tweet-Taunting UK Diver
BBC | Jul 31, 2012 1:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - A British teenager has been arrested over an abusive tweet directed toward one of his country's Olympians, reports the BBC . After synchronized diver Tom Daley missed out on a medal with a fourth-place finish, he received this: "You let your dad down i hope you know that." Daley's father, Rob, died of brain cancer last year, and...
Why Election 2012 Is a Snoozer
New York Times | Jul 31, 2012 1:04 PM CDT
(Newser) - Let's face it: The 2012 election may be incredibly important, but it's "incredibly boring at the same time," writes David Brooks in the New York Times . And not content to leave it at that, he's come up with a lot of interconnected reasons why: Intellectual stagnation: It's "the same debate we've been having...
When USPS Defaults, Blame Congress
New York Times | Jul 31, 2012 12:49 PM CDT
(Newser) - This is the week the US Postal Service defaults on a major obligation—in this case, a legally mandated $5.5 billion payment to "prefund" its health benefits. What brought the post office to this sorry state? Of course, part of the problem is we're sending less mail. "On the other hand, that prefunding requirement is an absolute...
Gymnastics: US Women Take...
Associated Press | Jul 31, 2012 12:44 PM CDT
(AP) - The Americans lived up to the hype and then some, winning their first Olympic gold medal in women's gymnastics since 1996. Won it in a rout, too. Their score of 183.596 was a whopping five points ahead of Russia. Romania won the bronze. With three incredible vaults to open the evening, Jordyn Wieber, Gabby Douglas, and McKayla Maroney set a relentless...
The Best Cities for Seniors
USA Today | Jul 31, 2012 12:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - A new study ranks the best cities for seniors—and, when it comes to big cities, none in Florida crack the top 10. And just one Florida city makes it into the top 10 smaller cities for aging. "The traditional notions about retirement, about pulling up stakes and moving somewhere warm, doesn't really reflect accurately the notions of retirement...
Jayson Blair: Jonah Lehrer's Lies Just as Stupid as Mine
Daily Beast | Jul 31, 2012 12:13 PM CDT
(Newser) - Jonah Lehrer's fabrication scandal gets the once-over today from none other than Jayson Blair, who admitted to plagiarism in his New York Times articles nine years ago. "It’s remarkable to me that someone who grew up professionally in the context of my scandal could make such a similar set of colossal mistakes," Blair writes...
Dems Unveil Bill That Would Ban Online Ammo Sales
Los Angeles Times | Jul 31, 2012 12:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - A pair of Democrats say they plan to introduce a bill that would effectively ban online ammunition sales by requiring buyers to show a photo ID when buying ammo, the LA Times reports. "It's one thing to buy a pair of shoes online, but it should take more than a click of the mouse to amass thousands of rounds of ammunition," Sen. Frank...
Man Attacks Girlfriend Over Suspected Affair ... With Mitt
Knoxville News Sentinel | Jul 31, 2012 11:25 AM CDT
(Newser) - Facebook has turned into quite the relationship buster , but this story out of Tennessee takes the cake: A man spotted a photo of an unknown gentleman on his girlfriend's Facebook page on July 22, and one word came to mind: affair! Lowell Turpin "angrily demanded to know who the male was," according to the local sheriff's department....
Taylor Swift Canoodling With a New Kennedy
New York Post | Jul 31, 2012 10:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - We knew Taylor Swift had gotten herself involved with the Kennedy clan , but it turns out it's not Patrick Schwarzenegger she's dating—it's Conor Kennedy. The pair spent a weekend together at the Kennedys' Hyannis Port compound, and witnesses spotted them cuddling, kissing, and jumping together on a trampoline (what else would...
Couple, 85, Getting Married— 48 Years After They Divorced
Associated Press | Jul 31, 2012 10:32 AM CDT
(AP) - They got hitched while still in their teens, divorced 20 years later, and are getting remarried after nearly a half-century apart. For Lena Henderson and Roland Davis, the second time around is finally here, even if they're both 85. The Buffalo-area couple plans to get married again on Saturday, with four generations of their family on hand to...
Rob, Kristen in Custody Battle ... Over Dog
Radar | Jul 31, 2012 10:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are gearing up for an ugly custody battle … over a dog. Back in the halcyon days before Stewart cheated on Pattinson and broke the hearts of Twi-hards everywhere, the couple adopted a mutt named Bear from a shelter in New Orleans. "Rob was so hurt by Kristen’s actions he decided that he wants...
Twitter Introduces the $Cashtag
techcrunch.com | Jul 31, 2012 10:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - Hashtags got a baby brother last night when Twitter rolled out a new feature allowing users to create clickable stock symbols by prefacing them with a dollar sign, an innovation people are already calling the "cashtag." If you were tweeting about Apple, for instance, you could include "$AAPL" in your tweet. Anyone clicking on that...
USA's Hancock Makes It a Sweep in Skeet Shooting
Associated Press | Jul 31, 2012 9:58 AM CDT
(AP) - Vincent Hancock of the US has won the gold medal in the men's skeet competition at the London Olympics, his second straight. It gives the US a skeet sweep, after Kimberly Rhode won the women's competition earlier this week. Hancock clinched the gold on his next-to-last shot, and missed only twice in 150 tries today. Anders Golding of Denmark...
Lindsay Lohan Makes Film Crew Get Nearly Naked
TMZ | Jul 31, 2012 9:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - Maybe you figured Lindsay Lohan would be totally up for a topless scene, seeing as she has posed in Playboy —but you would be wrong. In fact, Lohan was so uncomfortable about filming the sex scene for The Canyons that she asked the 10 members of the crew to strip down to their boxers. They submitted to her request, and she in turn did...
Pitbull Makes it to Alaska Walmart, Gets Bear Spray
Associated Press | Jul 31, 2012 9:05 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Internet successfully sent Pitbull to Alaska . The Miami rapper was in Kodiak yesterday, along with David Thorpe, the Boston writer who initially dreamed up the idea to get the rapper—who has a Walmart marketing deal and had agreed to visit the Walmart location that got the most Facebook likes—sent to the most remote Walmart possible....
On the Books: 2nd-Highest Twister in US
Our Amazing Planet | Jul 31, 2012 8:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - Tornadoes aren't often seen high in the mountains, in part because peaks break up weather systems, and in part because no one's there to observe them. So it's fortuitous that registered storm-spotter Chris Kirby happened to be driving near Mount Evans, Colo., on Saturday when the second-highest twister ever recorded in the US touched down...
Romney to Announce VP Pick Via App
The Hill | Jul 31, 2012 8:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - Want to be the first to know Mitt Romney's running mate? There's an app for that. The Romney campaign has released a new "Mitt's VP" app, which it's billing as a way to "be the first to know the second member of America’s Comeback Team.” Users of the app, which is available for iPhone and Android, will get...
Ahead of RNC, Tampa Bans ... Puppets?
St. Petersburg Times | Jul 31, 2012 8:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - Political puppets are a time-honored tradition, and protesters gearing up for the Republican National Convention are dutifully creating some. There's just one problem: The city of Tampa has effectively banned puppets inside the event area. Well, technically, they've banned sticks, strings, and masks, the Tampa Bay Times reports, but police...
Tweens Hit With Felony Over Fake Facebook Page
NBC News | Jul 31, 2012 8:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - Two middle-school girls in Texas have been arrested after police say they created a Facebook page in a classmate's name—and used it to fire off threats to other students. The girls, ages 12 and 13, face third-degree felony charges for online impersonation, NBC News reports. The messages caused "the victim to endure threats from other...
Masked Man Robs Theaters Showing Dark Knight
Associated Press | Jul 31, 2012 8:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - Is Batman inspiring supervillains? A man in a ski mask has now robbed two theaters showing The Dark Knight Rises in the Mexican border state of Chihuahua, prosecutors revealed yesterday. The man was dressed in black and wielding a gun, the AP reports. But there was no dramatic hold-up in the theater itself; the gunman just robbed the ticket booths,...
DNC Keynote Honors Go to ... Texas Mayor Julian Castro
Texas Tribune | Jul 31, 2012 7:56 AM CDT
(Newser) - Julian Castro will deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, per a video released today. If your reaction is "What? Who?", you're in good company. The Texas Tribune reports that President Obama himself mistook the San Antonio mayor for a White House intern in 2009. But the two have gotten cozier since, notes...
600M Without Power as India's Grid Again Fails
Associated Press | Jul 31, 2012 7:56 AM CDT
(Newser) - India's maxed-out northern power grid went down a second day today, and this time it wasn't alone. The nation's eastern and northeastern power grids failed, too, plunging more than half of all Indians into darkness in one of the biggest blackouts the globe has seen. Some 600 million people were affected, reports the AP . The outages,...
Record-Setting Ye 'Clean,' Says Olympic Bigwig
BBC | Jul 31, 2012 7:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - Ye Shiwen was "clean" when she set a world record in the women's 400-meter individual medley at the London Olympics, according to the British Olympic Association chairman. Lord Colin Moynihan confirmed that Ye went through the World Anti-Doping Agency's drug testing program, the BBC reports. "That's the end of the story....
Rebels Claim Countryside as Aleppo Battle Rages
Washington Post | Jul 31, 2012 7:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - While Syrian troops have expended most of their effort trying to retain the regime's grip on the country's biggest cities—from Homs to Damascus and now Aleppo—rebel uprisings have claimed increasingly large swathes of the countryside, the Washington Post reports. The Post uses as a case study al-Bab, a town of about 175,000...
Romney Aide to Reporters: 'Kiss My...'
CNN | Jul 31, 2012 7:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - The gaffes keep rolling for Mitt Romney's weeklong overseas trip: As the traveling press corps lobbed questions at the candidate in Poland yesterday, frustrated at having had just three queries answered since Thursday, a Romney aide decided he'd had enough. Traveling Press Secretary Rick Gorka first demanded that the reporters "show...
Bird Flu Jumps to Seals, Could Threaten Humans
New York Times | Jul 31, 2012 7:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - A new strain of bird flu you should be worried about? Maybe: In New England last fall, 162 harbor seal pups were killed by H3N8, a flu subtype that has crossed over from birds to dogs and horses in the past. Other strains of flu have previously crossed over from birds to seals, but this incident is particularly troublesome because never before has...
Irish Author Maeve Binchy Dead at 72
Irish Times | Jul 31, 2012 6:25 AM CDT
(Newser) - Beloved Irish writer Maeve Binchy has died at age 72 in Dublin, following a brief illness, the Irish Times reports. Binchy's books, among them short-story collections and the novel-turned-movie Circle of Friends, have sold more than 40 million copies, and addressed the tensions of a modernizing Irish society, the Guardian notes. Her passing...
Twitter Blocks Journalist Who Criticized NBC
Daily Mail (UK) | Jul 31, 2012 6:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - Twitter is sparking stunned squeals of protest over its decision to block a British journalist after he criticized Olympic coverage by NBC and the network complained. Twitter has suspended the account of Guy Adams , the Los Angeles correspondent for the Independent . The newspaper's deputy editor blasted the move as "heavy-handed."...
Berenstain Bears Get Sucked Into Chick-fil-A Controversy
NBC | Jul 31, 2012 6:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Muppets may have cut their ties to Chick-fil-A to protest the company's opposition to gay marriage, but the fast-food franchise is about to use Berenstain Bear books to lure customers—and the bears aren't thrilled about it, notes NBC . A statement on the Berenstain Bears website says publisher HarperCollins has been working on...
Virginia Once Again Rattled by Quake
Associated Press | Jul 31, 2012 6:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - It's been nearly a year since a dateline of "Mineral, Virginia," made some earth-shaking news , but the town worked its way back into the press in the wee hours of this morning: A very minor earthquake rattled the same Virginia area that bore the brunt of last year's East Coast quake. The US Geological Survey recorded the 2.4-magnitude...
Nikki Haley's Hubby Deployed to Afghanistan
McClatchy Newspapers | Jul 31, 2012 4:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - The husband of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley will soon head off to Afghanistan for a year's deployment. It appears to be the first time a governor's spouse has been sent to a combat zone as a member of the National Guard, McClatchy reports. South Carolina National Guard Lieutenant Michael Haley is set to join up to 200 other Guard members...
UBS to Sue Nasdaq Over Facebook IPO
Wall Street Journal | Jul 31, 2012 4:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - More fallout from the Facebook IPO: UBS is planning to sue Nasdaq over a market debut that resulted in $356 million in losses for the Swiss bank. "As a market maker in one of the largest IPOs in US history, we received significant orders from clients," UBS said. "We will take appropriate legal action against Nasdaq to address its gross...
Sports Fans Slip Past NBC's Iron Grip
Reuters | Jul 31, 2012 4:03 AM CDT
(Newser) - Olympics fans are mad and they're not going to put up with NBC's iron control any longer. The answer? The Internet, of course. Techies are linking to European servers to get their sports from across the pond, reports Reuters . Take Californian Jason Legate, who has been watching the Olympics live on the BBC via a London-based server. NBC paid...
Blood Donations Crash to 15-Year Low
NBC News | Jul 31, 2012 3:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - The American Red Cross is facing a blood donation shortage serious enough that some people may have to cancel elective surgeries. Donations are at their lowest in 15 years. In June, the organization came up 50,000 units short. July isn't looking good, either—a particular problem given the increased number of accidents typical in the summer,...
Clinton's DNC Opening Act: Elizabeth Warren
Boston Globe | Jul 31, 2012 2:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Democrats are trying to pack in all the headline-grabbers they can at their national convention. Elizabeth Warren has been tapped to do the big lead-in for Bill Clinton on the penultimate night at the convention, essentially presenting a "one-two punch" for the Dems, reports the Boston Globe . Warren, like Clinton, is expected to drive...
Saudi Will Wear Hijab in Judo Competition
CNN | Jul 31, 2012 1:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - Saudi officials have won the go-ahead from the International Olympic Committee for a female athlete to wear a hijab in the judo competition. Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shaherkani, 16, had signed an agreement with Saudi officials that she would only compete if she could wear "correct and approved" clothing that adheres to "Islamic principals,"...
Judge Clears Way for Arizona Abortion Ban to Start
Associated Press | Jul 31, 2012 1:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - Arizona's new law banning abortions beginning at what the state defines as 20 weeks of pregnancy is constitutional, a US district judge has ruled, setting the stage for the law to go into effect this week. The new law may force some pregnant women to opt for an abortion earlier, but the measure is constitutional because it doesn't ban abortions...
Islamists Stone Mali Lovers to Death
BBC | Jul 31, 2012 1:01 AM CDT
(Newser) - Two young, unmarried lovers, apparently with children, were buried up to their necks then stoned to death in a Mali town taken over by Islamist extremists. Bearded men, armed with Kalashnikov rifles, dragged the couple from the countryside into the center of the town of Aguelhok, reports the New York Times . "I was there," said a local...
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Timelines   |   POPSUGAR Tech   |   Business Insider   |   HuffPost Entertainment   |   NewsOne