UPI NewsTrack articles from May 2006

UPI NewsTrack archives from May 2006

Moussaoui deliberations seen as lengthy.
May 3, 2006... ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 3 (UPI) -- Legal experts say the Virginia jury deliberating the sentence for convicted terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui is taking unusually long. Before assembling in Alexandria Wednesday, the nine men and three women have...

NBA: San Antonio 109, Sacramento 98.
May 3, 2006... SAN ANTONIO, May 3 (UPI) -- Manu Ginobili scored 13 points in the fourth quarter in helping the San Antonio Spurs to a 109-98 NBA playoff victory over the visiting Sacramento Kings. The victory Tuesday gave the Spurs a 3-2 lead in the...

Hollinger changes name in break with past.
May 3, 2006... CHICAGO, May 3 (UPI) -- The parent company of The Chicago Sun-Times newspaper is changing its name from Hollinger International to Sun-Times Media Group. The plan, which must be approved by shareholders, follows years of litigation...

H.J. Heinz asset sales on pace.
May 3, 2006... PITTSBURGH, May 3 (UPI) -- H.J. Heinz Co. said Wednesday it had sold more businesses as part of the Pittsburgh company's drive to get $1 billion by early next year. The Hain Celestial Group Inc., which is based in Melville, N.Y., bought...

Microsoft pays $70M in antitrust suit.
May 3, 2006... REDMOND, Wash., May 3 (UPI) -- Microsoft Corp. agreed to pay $70 million to settle an antitrust lawsuit by several California governments. The class action lawsuit was filed in August 2004 by the city and county of San Francisco and the...

Amnesty Int'l slams U.S. on torture.
May 3, 2006... NEW YORK, May 3 (UPI) -- Amnesty International Wednesday accused the U.S. government of "creating a climate in which torture and other ill-treatment can flourish." "The United Sates has long taken a selective approach to international...

UPI NewsTrack TopNews.
May 3, 2006... Armenian plane into Black Sea, 113 dead YEREVAN, Armenia, May 3 (UPI) -- An Armenian A-320 aircraft plunged into the Black Sea off Russia's southern coast early Wednesday, killing all 113 people aboard. The Armavia Airlines flight was...

Medical REIT buys nearly 800 properties.
May 3, 2006... LONG BEACH, Calif., May 3 (UPI) -- California's Health Care Property Investors Inc., a real-estate investment trust, will pay $3.6 billion for CNL Retirement Properties Inc. The cash-and-stock deal will give Health Care Property Investors,...

NBA: Phoenix 114, L.A. Lakers 97.
May 3, 2006... PHOENIX, May 3 (UPI) -- Boris Diaw scored 25 points and had 10 rebounds and nine assists in pacing the Phoenix Suns to a 114-97 NBA playoff victory over the visiting Los Angeles Lakers. Even with the loss Tuesday, the Lakers own a 3-2 lead...

MLB: Arizona 10, L.A. Dodgers 8.
May 3, 2006... PHOENIX, May 3 (UPI) -- Chad Tracy hit a grand slam and Shawn Green had a home run among his four hits in the Arizona Diamondbacks' 10-8 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Arizona rallied from a 6-run deficit in collecting the victory...

Darfur negotiator: Patience wearing thin.
May 3, 2006... ABUJA, Nigeria, May 3 (UPI) -- Negotiations over Sudan's embattled Darfur region were extended by 48 hours Wednesday, as a British official warned the world's patience "is now running out." The talks are in neighboring Nigeria and involve...

EU postpones Serbia association talks.
May 3, 2006... BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro, May 3 (UPI) -- The European Union has suspended association talks with Serbia-Montenegro until war-crimes suspect Ratko Mladic is handed over to a U.N. tribunal. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said...

Kaiser transplant clinic may have problems.
May 3, 2006... SAN FRANCISCO, May 3 (UPI) -- HMO giant Kaiser Permanente's kidney transplant rule changes in Northern California may have resulted in longer waits and possibly more deaths. Kaiser implemented the transplant rules in 2004, notifying...

Embezzling NYC S&M exec jailed.
May 3, 2006... NEW YORK, May 3 (UPI) -- An accountant who used nearly $250,000 of a New York City charity's money to pay a dominatrix faces as long as six years in jail and likely deportation. Abraham Alexander, 45, was found guilty of embezzling $237,162...

Nasdaq ups stake in London stock exchange.
May 3, 2006... LONDON, May 3 (UPI) -- The Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. raised its stake Wednesday in the London Stock Exchange from 15 percent to 18.7 percent, and a potential rival bidder bowed out. Word of Nasdaq's increased interest in the LSE came as...

U.S. school sales of sugary drinks to end.
May 3, 2006... NEW YORK, May 3 (UPI) -- Sales of sugary, high-calorie drinks in U.S. schools will end in favor of water, juice and low-fat milk, the beverage industry announced Wednesday. Jay Carson, a spokesman for former President Bill Clinton, whose...

Energy prices in a small decline.
May 3, 2006... NEW YORK, May 3 (UPI) -- Futures prices for energy commodities on the New York Mercantile Exchange took a breather Wednesday but a barrel of crude oil was still more than $74.50. High-quality crude oil for June delivery was off 4 cents to...

Republicans agree to extend tax cuts.
May 3, 2006... WASHINGTON, May 3 (UPI) -- Republican lawmakers, needing to shore up their party, have agreed to support U.S. President George Bush's $70 billion plan extending the 2003 tax rate cuts. If approved, the plan would extend cuts to the tax...

Iran 'not worried' about U.N. sanctions.
May 3, 2006... NEW YORK, May 3 (UPI) -- Britain, France and Germany worked Wednesday on a binding U.N. resolution to sanction Iran for its nuclear program but Iran is "not worried," reports said. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton told The...

Study: Type 2 diabetes suffers at risk.
May 3, 2006... LONDON, May 3 (UPI) -- A British study shows people with Type 2 diabetes have a greater chance of dying early than previously thought. Researchers, led by Dr. Henrietta Mulnier of Surrey University, found Type 2 patients between 35 and 54...

Poll: British want to be happy.
May 3, 2006... LONDON, May 3 (UPI) -- British residents find their level of happiness dropping and many want their government to step in, a poll concludes. Pollster GfK NOP found 36 percent of people asked are "very happy," compared to 52 percent found...

U.S. stocks fall on all major indexes.
May 3, 2006... NEW YORK, May 3 (UPI) -- U.S. stocks fell Wednesday on all major indexes, as did the dollar and Treasuries. The Dow Jones industrial average was off 21.77 or 0.19 percent to 11,394.68 in mid-morning trading. The Nasdaq composite fell 3.23...

Iraq awash in violence, bloodshed.
May 3, 2006... BAGHDAD, May 3 (UPI) -- Iraq experienced a particularly violent and bloody day Wednesday, with bodies turning up throughout Baghdad and a deadly suicide bombing in Fallujah. Sectarian violence between Shiite and Sunni Muslims was attributed...

UPI NewsTrack Business.
May 3, 2006... U.S. stocks fall on all major indexes NEW YORK, May 3 (UPI) -- U.S. stocks fell Wednesday on all major indexes, as did the dollar and Treasuries. The Dow Jones industrial average was off 21.77 or 0.19 percent to 11,394.68 in...

Sutherland unhappy about 'Chief' fate.
May 3, 2006... NEW YORK, May 3 (UPI) -- Veteran Hollywood actor Donald Sutherland says he was disappointed to learn his TV show, "Commander in Chief," probably won't be back for a second season. The ABC drama about the first female U.S. president was...

Publisher cancels young author's book deal.
May 3, 2006... NEW YORK, May 3 (UPI) -- Amid new allegations of plagiarism Little, Brown & Co. has canceled 19-year-old Kaavya Viswanathan's two-book contract. Viswanathan acknowledged last month her popular novel, "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild,...

Lakers' Brown in sex assault investigation.
May 3, 2006... LOS ANGELES, May 3 (UPI) -- Los Angeles Lakers center Kwame Brown is the center of an investigation into an alleged sexual assault, and has issued a statement proclaiming his innocence. The Los Angeles Police Department told ABC Radio the...

U.S. factory orders keep rising.
May 3, 2006... WASHINGTON, May 3 (UPI) -- U.S. factory orders in March, up five of the last six months, increased $17 billion or 4.2 percent from February's level. The U.S. Commerce Department also said Wednesday that March's level was the highest since...

Study: teen sex down, pregnancy a problem.
May 3, 2006... WASHINGTON, May 3 (UPI) -- A look at U.S. data shows one in three sexually active teenage girls gets pregnant although teen sexual activity is dropping. The Washington, D.C.-based National Campaign to Prevent Pregnancy looked at 2002...

EU: Serbia talks resume once Mladic jailed.
May 3, 2006... BRUSSELS, May 3 (UPI) -- The European Union says there will be no further talks with Serbia until war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic is transferred to the U.N. tribunal. Olli Rehn, EU enlargement commissioner, said the European Commission...

Honeywell sells Irish drug facility.
May 3, 2006... MORRIS TOWNSHIP, N.J., May 3 (UPI) -- Sigma-Aldrich has bought Honeywell International Inc.'s Arklow, Ireland, pharmaceutical facility. The value of the deal was not disclosed, the New Jersey company said Wednesday. Sigma-Aldrich...

Sniper Lee Malvo may strike Maryland deal.
May 3, 2006... ROCKVILLE, Md., May 3 (UPI) -- Convicted sniper Lee Malvo may testify against his accomplice in a deal with Maryland prosecutors, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. Malvo likely would plead guilty to six counts of murder and be...

U.S. oil supplies rising strongly.
May 3, 2006... WASHINGTON, May 3 (UPI) -- U.S. crude oil supplies rose last week by 1.7 million barrels to their highest levels since May 1998. The Energy Department also said Wednesday that crude inventories have reached 346.7 million barrels in the week...

Godsmack felt No. 1 album was 'special'.
May 3, 2006... BOSTON, May 3 (UPI) -- Godsmack has headbanged its way to the top of the Billboard music charts -- much to the delight of the Boston hard rockers. The quartet's new album, "IV," sold 211,000 copies in its first week of release to debut at...

Stand by for sugar-free Tootsie Rolls.
May 3, 2006... CHICAGO, May 3 (UPI) -- Tootsie Roll Industries Inc. is close to perfecting a sugar-free Tootsie Roll, a decades-old chocolate confection beloved across the United States. TRI managers told shareholders that the company was "very close" to...

New armor not lowering Humvee death rate.
May 3, 2006... WASHINGTON, May 3 (UPI) -- The number of U.S. troops killed while riding in Humvees has gone up this year, despite newly enhanced armor plating, USA Today reported Wednesday. The first four months of 2005 saw 27 Humvee deaths in Iraq and...

Stephen Stills ready for solo tour.
May 3, 2006... LOS ANGELES, May 3 (UPI) -- U.S. rocker Stephen Still plans to draw on a large repertoire for his spring solo tour. The two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee -- with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash -- kicks off the tour...

Top school principal apologizes for remark.
May 3, 2006... FAIRFAX, Va., May 3 (UPI) -- The principal of a nationally renowned magnet school in Fairfax, Va., has apologized for reportedly identifying the ethnicity of students caught cheating. Elizabeth V. Lodal, who will retire in July from the...

Cold snap hit many U.S. farmers last week.
May 3, 2006... WASHINGTON, May 3 (UPI) -- Temperatures were below average in the central U.S. Corn Belt, northern and central Great Plains, Southwest, and middle and upper Atlantic Coast last week. The U.S. Agriculture Department also said Tuesday that...

Dutch order four ships from Indian firm.
May 3, 2006... HAZIRA, India, May 3 (UPI) -- Indian engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro Ltd. landed a $98 million shipbuilding contract. The Netherlands' Zadeko Shipmanagement CV ordered four vessels from L&T's new shipyard in Hazira in...

Study: global climate is warming.
May 3, 2006... WASHINGTON, May 3 (UPI) -- A government study contradicts a Bush administration argument that had been citied as a reason for a slow U.S. response to global warming. The U.S. Climate Change Science Program this week concluded there is no...

Warner Brothers says no thanks to EMI.
May 3, 2006... LONDON, May 3 (UPI) -- Britain's EMI Group PLC confirmed Wednesday its $4.23 billion offer to buy Warner Music has been rejected. EMI has attempted to merge with Warner Music in 2000 and 2003 but both attempts failed mainly due to...

General: Al-Qaida weapons quest disrupted.
May 3, 2006... WASHINGTON, May 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. deputy director of national intelligence says al-Qaida's bid to acquire biological and nuclear weapons is being seriously hampered. Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden told the Armed Forces Communications and...

Russia bans British eggs and poultry.
May 3, 2006... LONDON, May 3 (UPI) -- Russia has joined several other nations in banning poultry products from Britain, the Times of London reported Wednesday. Japan has already banned poultry, eggs and breeding birds from Britain, while Hong Kong banned...

U.S. works to develop laser space weapons.
May 3, 2006... WASHINGTON, May 3 (UPI) -- The Bush administration is reportedly backing a secret project to develop powerful ground-based lasers that would destroy enemy satellites in orbit. The New York Times said it learned of the project from federal...

Glen Phillips likes the independent life.
May 3, 2006... LOS ANGELES, May 3 (UPI) -- U.S. singer-songwriter Glen Phillips' new album is his first as an independent artist. The former Toad the Wet Sprocket frontman's fourth solo album, "Mr. Lemons," appears on his Umami label. The indie release...

Montana to pardon 78 WWI sedition convicts.
May 3, 2006... HELENA, Mont., May 3 (UPI) -- Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said he will posthumously pardon 78 people -- mainly Germans -- who were convicted of sedition during World War I. Schweitzer said the Wednesday pardons would try to right wrongs...

New time line given the Late Bronze Age.
May 3, 2006... ITHACA, N.Y., May 3 (UPI) -- Researchers led by Cornell University Archaeologist Sturt Manning suggest the possibility of a time discrepancy during the Late Bronze Age. Writing in the current issue of the journal Science, the...

Trapped 8 days, miners still joking.
May 3, 2006... BEACONSFIELD, Australia, May 3 (UPI) -- Australian rescuers drilled toward two miners trapped half a mile underground for eight days as the men joked they wanted to play soccer on the weekend. Rescuers at the Beaconsfield Gold Mine in...

Serbia deputy PM resigns over Mladic.
May 3, 2006... BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro, May 3 (UPI) -- Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus has resigned in the wake of the European Union calling off association talks. Labus submitted his resignation Wednesday to Prime Minister Vojislav...

Taliban growing stronger in Afghanistan.
May 3, 2006... KABUL, Afghanistan, May 3 (UPI) -- The Taliban in Afghanistan, emboldened by reports that U.S. troops will be leaving the area, appears to be gaining strength in the country's southern regions. The insurgency has grown after a winter...

Scandals spark U.S. junket cutback.
May 3, 2006... WASHINGTON, May 3 (UPI) -- Lobbying scandals that rocked Washington have prompted U.S. congressmen to sharply reduce the number of privately sponsored trips they take, a report said. Members of Congress took 29 privately paid junkets in...

UPI NewsTrack TopNews.
May 3, 2006... Iraq awash in violence, bloodshed BAGHDAD, Iraq (UPI) -- Iraq experienced a particularly violent and bloody day Wednesday, with bodies turning up throughout Baghdad and a deadly suicide bombing in Fallujah. Sectarian violence between...

Britain supports EU beer-wine plan.
May 3, 2006... LONDON, May 3 (UPI) -- Britain supports an EU proposal to force beer and wine makers to reveal the chemicals used in the alcoholic drinks, a report said Wednesday. Those chemicals could include beta glucanase, which is used to speed the...

Survey: Most U.S. workers feel burnout.
May 3, 2006... CHICAGO, May 3 (UPI) -- Most U.S. workers report feeling under great stress at work and a large majority complain of burnout. A nationwide survey by CareerBuilder.com, released Wednesday, of more than 2,500 workers found 77 percent said...

Keyboard may be filthier than toilet seat.
May 3, 2006... MORRIS PLAINS, N.J., May 3 (UPI) -- A list of germ-laden places -- including the computer keyboard -- in the average person's life by the maker of a hand sanitizer is of no comfort to misophobics. In its "99 Places Where You Need to Watch...

Man's execution challenged in Texas.
May 3, 2006... AUSTIN, Texas, May 3 (UPI) -- A petition has been filed in Austin, Texas, for a re-examination of evidence in a 15-year-old arson to determine if an innocent man was executed. A state lawmaker and the New York-based Innocence Project filed...

U.K.'s Clarke says deportations under way.
May 3, 2006... LONDON, May 3 (UPI) -- Britain's beleaguered Home Secretary Charles Clarke told Parliament Wednesday deportations of more than 1,000 violent released inmates have begun. Clarke has faced torrents of criticism following last week's...

United States supports DDT use in Africa.
May 3, 2006... WASHINGTON, May 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. government is reportedly ignoring objections from environmentalists in endorsing and funding the use of DDT in sub-Saharan Africa. Some scientists believe DDT -- the first modern pesticide -- is the best...

Sago mine owner blames blast on lightning.
May 3, 2006... BUCKHANNON, W.Va., May 3 (UPI) -- International Coal Group officials contended Wednesday that lightning sparked the Sago mine blast in West Virginia that killed 12 people, a report said. While ICG President Bennett Hatfield testified that...

'Amazing' teacher donates kidney to boy.
May 3, 2006... NEW LENOX, Ill., May 3 (UPI) -- A 25-year-old Illinois teacher went the extra mile for one of her fourth graders, donating a kidney so the child could live. Patsy Donahue gave up one of her kidneys in a two-hour operation Monday at...

Former NASA test pilot Bruce Peterson dead.
May 3, 2006... LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif., May 3 (UPI) -- Former NASA test pilot Bruce Peterson, whose 1967 M2-F2 crash appeared in opening credits of the TV show "Six Million Dollar Man," has died. Peterson -- who often complained he disliked seeing his...

Northwest pilots accept pay cuts.
May 3, 2006... BLOOMINGTON, Minn., May 3 (UPI) -- Pilots at Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest Airlines Wednesday voted to ratify a new 5 1/2 year salary-cutting contract. The pact, approved by a 63 percent margin, preserves pilot jobs while cutting pilot...

FBI talent being bled by private sector.
May 3, 2006... WASHINGTON, May 3 (UPI) -- The FBI is grappling with a growing number of senior officials leaving their posts for double and triple the pay in the U.S. private sector. Since Friday, two senior FBI officials have resigned, the Chicago...

New drug seen to help alcoholics.
May 3, 2006... WASHINGTON, May 3 (UPI) -- A new drug can help U.S. primary care doctors treat alcoholics without intensive counseling, reports USA Today. A study sponsored by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that alcoholics...

Bulgaria finds 29 dead dolphins in 2 days.
May 3, 2006... SOFIA, Bulgaria, May 3 (UPI) -- Bulgarian officials issued a ban on the use of fishing nets in the Black Sea Wednesday after the bodies of 29 dolphins were found in the last two days. Marine officials said the most likely cause of death was...

Lawsuit claims school bus pollution.
May 3, 2006... SAN FRANCISCO, May 3 (UPI) -- Two environmental groups filed a lawsuit this week in San Francisco, claiming some school buses fill with cancer-causing levels of diesel exhaust fumes. The legal action -- brought by the Environmental Law...

Father's killer executed by teenage son.
May 3, 2006... MOGADISHU, Somalia, May 3 (UPI) -- A 16-year-old boy in Somalia, on orders from an Islamic court, publicly stabbed his father's killer to death at a Koranic school in the capital Mogadishu. A large crowd gathered to watch Mohamed Moallim,...

Second bishop named in China.
May 3, 2006... BEIJING, May 3 (UPI) -- China's state-controlled Catholic Church has named a second person as bishop without the Vatican's approval, three days after similarly naming the first. Liu Xinhong was consecrated Wednesday at a ceremony in Anhui...

Missing anthrax samples found in N.J.
May 3, 2006... TRENTON, N.J., May 3 (UPI) -- Two samples of potentially deadly anthrax bacteria missing from a Trenton, N.J., laboratory were mislabeled and have been found, a report said Wednesday. "There was a transcription error in the numbers when...

Feds fund $3.7M limb regrowth study.
May 3, 2006... PITTSBURGH, May 3 (UPI) -- The University of Pittsburgh has received $3.7 million in federal funding for its efforts to learn how to regrow human limbs. The research at the university's McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine might...

Beeville abuzz over gas boycott.
May 3, 2006... BEEVILLE, Texas, May 3 (UPI) -- A county official's public call to boycott Exxon Mobil over high gasoline prices has divided tiny Bee County, in the heart of Texas oil country. Beeville, the county seat with 13,000 residents, has become...

New fin seen in Mount St. Helens crater.
May 3, 2006... PORTLAND, Ore., May 3 (UPI) -- A large fin has developed in the mile-wide Mount St. Helens crater, the result of lava upsurges, the Cascades Volcano Observatory reported. Scientists say they expect the 300-foot-tall spire -- the size of a...

'Water' director desires talk, not riots.
May 3, 2006... NEW DEHLI, India, May 3 (UPI) -- The director of "Water," a movie about an 8-year-old widow in 1938 India, said she hopes her new film sparks discussion, not protests among Hindus. The movie has been in the works since 2000, when Hindus...

Uncontrolled steamroller damages school.
May 3, 2006... BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro, May 3 (UPI) -- Boys playing outside their school in central Serbia accidentally started a steamroller, which then damaged the building but caused no injuries. The 4.5-ton steamroller was parked in front of the...

Daly discusses gambling problem.
May 3, 2006... NEW YORK, May 3 (UPI) -- American golfer John Daly says in his autobiography he lost up to $60 million during 12 years of heavy gambling. Daly, who won the PGA Championship in 1991 after qualifying for it, makes his admission in his book,...

Alabama alligators may become hunted.
May 3, 2006... MONTGOMERY, Ala., May 3 (UPI) -- Alabama officials are reportedly considering establishing an alligator hunting season to combat a dramatically rising gator population. Alligators were placed on the federal endangered species list in 1967...

Debate rages over Cuba definition.
May 3, 2006... HAVANA, May 3 (UPI) -- The Cuba entry in a popular online information site has become the subject of intense debate over its political bias, The Miami Herald reported Wednesday. Users have been quarreling over the wording of the Cuban...

Faulty sun bed blamed for burns.
May 3, 2006... LONDON, May 3 (UPI) -- A court in Britain was told Wednesday that a 35-year-old woman suffered severe electric shock burns from a faulty sun bed. The court heard that Melanie Wraith was injured when the canopy of a machine she was using...

'Mugabe Highway' not a hit in Malawi.
May 3, 2006... LILONGWE, Malawi, May 3 (UPI) -- Malawian government plans to name a highway after Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe are meeting with stiff popular opposition. Opposition parties and human rights groups say it would be a disgrace to honor...

Female polygamist had multiple 'husbands'.
May 3, 2006... ROSEVILLE, Mich., May 3 (UPI) -- A Michigan woman faces felony polygamy charges for swindling her three current husbands, and police say she may have had 15 husbands and ex-husbands. Kyle McConnell is serving a 10-year sentence at the Scott...

Tsunami warning lifted after quake.
May 3, 2006... AUCKLAND, New Zealand, May 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. Geological Survey canceled tsunami warnings for Fiji and New Zealand after a wave of less than 3 feet was recorded following a strong earthquake. A tsunami alert was issued for a wide swath of...

N.M. prairie dogs found in trees.
May 3, 2006... SANTA FE, N.M., May 3 (UPI) -- A dry spell in New Mexico may have forced Santa Fe prairie dogs into the trees to find food but some experts say they aren't equipped for treeclimbing. Lisa Polk said she saw three prairie dogs in a tree...

Birds halt some British home construction.
May 3, 2006... LONDON, May 3 (UPI) -- Construction of homes across 300 square miles of land in southeast England has reportedly been halted in an effort to protect three rare species of birds. The conflict between British environmentalists and developers...