UPI NewsTrack articles from May 2007

UPI NewsTrack archives from May 2007

MLB: LA Angels 3, Kansas City 1.
May 1, 2007... KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 30 (UPI) -- Vladimir Guerrero's two-run double in the first inning proved to be the decisive blow Monday as the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Kansas City Royals 3-1. John Lackey (4-2) scattered eight hits over...

Alleged madam: Sorry official revealed.
May 1, 2007... WASHINGTON, April 30 (UPI) -- The woman dubbed the D.C. Madam said Monday she's "genuinely sorry" for a customer who resigned his high-level job in the Bush administration. Former Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias gave up his job...

Former Redskins LB Mitchell passes away.
May 1, 2007... ASHBURN, Va., April 30 (UPI) -- Former Washington Redskins linebacker Kevin Mitchell has died at age 36. WTVH in Syracuse, N.Y., said Mitchell died overnight Sunday at his home in Ashburn, Va., and an autopsy was performed Monday by the...

WWI-era tank sparks fight.
May 1, 2007... CHARLESTON, W.Va., April 30 (UPI) -- World War I has been over 88 years but a tank from that era is at the center of a looming battle between opposing forces in West Virginia and Indiana. The Renault FT-17 tank was displayed in Nitro,...

NHL: San Jose 2, Detroit 1.
May 1, 2007... SAN JOSE, Calif., May 1 (UPI) -- Jonathan Cheechoo's third-period power-play goal Monday carried San Jose to a 2-1 victory over Detroit in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal series. Cheechoo's deciding tally came with 6:41 left in...

MLB: Washington 3, San Diego 2.
May 1, 2007... SAN DIEGO, May 1 (UPI) -- John Patterson pitched six strong innings Monday, putting the Washington Nationals in position for a 3-2 victory over the San Diego Padres. Patterson (1-4) gave up only four hits and two walks, while striking out...

NBA: San Antonio 96, Denver 89.
May 1, 2007... DENVER, May 1 (UPI) -- Robert Horry's three-pointer with :30 left Monday gave San Antonio the breathing room it needed in a 96-89 victory over Denver in the Western quarterfinals. Horry, who has made the second-most threes in playoff...

MLB: Arizona 9, LA Dodgers 1.
May 1, 2007... LOS ANGELES, May 1 (UPI) -- Brandon Webb gave up one run in seven innings and Chris Young belted two solo homers and an RBI single Monday as Arizona pummeled the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-1. Webb (2-1) scattered four hits and walked three...

MLB: San Francisco 9, Colorado 5.
May 1, 2007... SAN FRANCISCO, May 1 (UPI) -- Pedro Feliz's three-run home run Monday capped a five-run first inning for the San Francisco Giants, who went on to a 9-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies. Rich Aurilia went 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs...

Jockstrip: The world as we know it.
May 1, 2007... Byline: United Press International Boy George accused of chaining man in flat LONDON, April 30 (UPI) -- London police said they are investigating allegations that singer Boy George kidnapped a male escort and chained him to a wall in...

Watercooler Stories.
May 1, 2007... Byline: United Press International WWI-era tank sparks fight CHARLESTON, W.Va., April 30 (UPI) -- World War I has been over 88 years but a tank from that era is at the center of a looming battle between opposing forces in West Virginia...

April deadly month for U.S. troops.
May 1, 2007... BAGHDAD, May 1 (UPI) -- At least 104 U.S. military personnel died in Iraq in April, the sixth-highest monthly death toll for U.S. forces since the war began four years ago. Officials said nine service personnel were killed last weekend, The...

Report: Iraq Sunnis kill al-Qaida leader.
May 1, 2007... BAGHDAD, May 1 (UPI) -- Infighting between Sunni Muslim insurgents resulted in the death of al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said. Iraqi Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf told reporters in Baghdad...

Streisand prepares for European tour.
May 1, 2007... NEW YORK, May 1 (UPI) -- Singer Barbra Streisand is taking her act abroad this summer in her first tour ever on the European continent. "I like challenges, and it's time to do things that I haven't done before," Streisand told USA Today....

Sen. Johnson released from hospital.
May 1, 2007... WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., has been released from a Washington hospital after four months of treatment for a brain hemorrhage. Johnson, 60, returned to his Fairfax County, Va., home on Thursday and is slated...

Study explores stem-progenitor cells.
May 1, 2007... NEW ORLEANS, May 1 (UPI) -- A U.S. study has partly resolved the mystery of how small amounts of adult stem/progenitor cells can repair damaged brain, pancreas, and kidney cells. The researchers in the laboratory of Darwin Prockop, director...

UPI NewsTrack TopNews.
May 1, 2007... Sunnis threaten to quit Iraqi Cabinet BAGHDAD, May 1 (UPI) -- The White House invited Iraq's highest-ranking Sunni official to Washington Tuesday after a bloc of Sunni ministers threatened to quit the Iraqi Cabinet. The Iraqi Consensus...

U.S. stocks rebound; Dow sets record.
May 1, 2007... NEW YORK, May 1 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes rebounded to close in the plus column Tuesday as the Dow Jones industrial average ended at another record close. The Dow rose 73.23 points, or 0.56 percent, to 13,136.14. The broader Standard &...

FDA creates new food protection post.
May 1, 2007... WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has created the position of assistant commissioner for food protection, which will be assumed by Dr. David Acheson. FDA Commissioner Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach said Acheson...

34 Duke students convicted of cheating.
May 1, 2007... DURHAM, N.C., May 1 (UPI) -- A Duke University judicial board in Durham, N.C., ruled that 34 first-year business graduate students cheated on a take-home final exam. The judicial board at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke found that...

Plants' production of vitamin C studied.
May 1, 2007... HANOVER, N.H., May 1 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers reported discovering the biosynthetic pathway by which plants manufacture vitamin C. UCLA and Dartmouth University scientists who normally work on genes involved in aging and cancer in animals,...

Separate fires damage D.C. landmarks.
May 1, 2007... WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- Two Washington landmarks, the Eastern Market and the Georgetown branch of the D.C. Library System, were heavily damaged in separate fires. A three-alarm fire heavily damaged 134-year-old Eastern Market in the...

UPI NewsTrack Business.
May 1, 2007... U.S. stocks mixed ahead of Bernanke talk NEW YORK, May. 1 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes were mixed Tuesday ahead of a talk by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on foreign trade. The Dow Jones industrials average rose 43.40 points, or...

Timberlake composes for others to recharge.
May 1, 2007... LOS ANGELES, May 1 (UPI) -- Pop music star Justin Timberlake says he's content to share the mike or be the muse for other singers in a variety of genre for the time being. "I've had a good share of the spotlight for a while. I don't feel...

Browne quits BP over private-life charges.
May 1, 2007... LONDON, May 1 (UPI) -- John Browne resigned as BP PLC chief executive officer after a British court let a newspaper group publish details of his private life, the oil company said. Tony Hayward, whom Browne designated his successor when...

HPV shot can be hard to find.
May 1, 2007... WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- Some U.S. physicians aren't stocking the new vaccine to prevent cervical cancer because they said insurers won't pay enough for them to immunize patients. "This is a national issue that is affecting lots of...

Scientists study heart transplant protein.
May 1, 2007... INNSBRUCK, Austria, May 1 (UPI) -- An Austrian study has found disabling a specific protein reduces inflammation involved in organ dysfunction rates in heart transplant patients. Researchers led by Dr. Felix Aigner at the Innsbruck Medical...

Trapeze artist falls to his death.
May 1, 2007... EL MONTE, Calif., May 1 (UPI) -- A circus trapeze artist died after falling 40 feet during a performance at a recreation area in El Monte, Calif., authorities said. The performer, who had been working without a net, was identified only as...

Sirens, lullaby fail to budge stray gator.
May 1, 2007... SAN ANTONIO, May 1 (UPI) -- Game officials and police resorted to brute force after singing and loud sirens failed to budge an 8-foot alligator from a busy Texas highway. Police were called to the I-410 loop south of the city Sunday...

Plant enzymes may help ethanol production.
May 1, 2007... ITHACA, N.Y., May 1 (UPI) -- A U.S. study has identified new plant enzymes that might lead to more efficient and less costly ethanol production from cellulose. Cornell University researchers discovered a class of plant enzymes that...

School took favors from loan firms.
May 1, 2007... AUSTIN, Texas, May 1 (UPI) -- School documents revealed that student loan firms that offered favors to the University of Texas at Austin were given special consideration. The documents show financial aid officials at the school rated loan...

Tourist abducts Thai elephant.
May 1, 2007... BANGKOK, May 1 (UPI) -- A tourist's mistakes in Thailand after crashing his car included fleeing the scene, abducting a baby elephant en route and turning to light a cigarette. Yoram Ben-Hamo of Israel got involved in a police chase during...

U.S.-EU summit supports U.N. Kosovo plan.
May 1, 2007... WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- The United States and the European Union have asked the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution on Serbia's Kosovo province without delay. At the end of the summit in Washington the two sides said they...

Perino: Dems staging 'trumped up' stunt.
May 1, 2007... ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, May 1 (UPI) -- The White House accused Democrats of a "political stunt" in sending the Iraq funding bill on the anniversary of the president's "mission accomplished" speech. President George W. Bush has promised to...

Rainbow trout heart differences studied.
May 1, 2007... POCATELLO, Idaho, May 1 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have determined that female rainbow trout hearts prefer carbohydrates and tolerate lower oxygen levels than do male trout hearts. The heart is one of the most energy demanding organs of the...

Insider: Heather Mills 'impressive' person.
May 1, 2007... LONDON, May 1 (UPI) -- Heather Mills may be criticized by the British media, but an insider says she was victimized by the behavior of her estranged husband Paul McCartney. Sean Ghent, a security guard for McCartney and Mills until...

Scientists make artificial nasal mucus.
May 1, 2007... COVENTRY, England, May 1 (UPI) -- British scientists have created artificial nasal mucus to enhance the performance of electronic "noses." The researchers at the University of Warwick and Leicester University coated sensors used by odor...

Student loan industry warned of conflicts.
May 1, 2007... WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- An expert says the U.S. student loan industry is being investigated for issues that could have been solved by a 2001 proposal squashed by the White House. The proposal, drawn up in the final days of the Clinton...

Enzyme found to be key in muscle function.
May 1, 2007... LA JOLLA, Calif., May 1 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have identified an enzyme that increases a cell's ability to maintain healthy muscle and restore normal muscle function. The study, which identified the enzyme in genetically engineered mice...

Sidwell retires as Morgan finance chief.
May 1, 2007... NEW YORK, May 1 (UPI) -- David Sidwell will retire as chief financial officer of Morgan Stanley at the end of the year, the U.S. investment bank said Tuesday. Sidwell, 54, will be replaced by Colm Kelleher, head of global capital markets....

Pesky but popular LA gator reappears.
May 1, 2007... WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- After an 18-month absence, a 7-foot alligator named Reggie has reappeared in a Los Angeles lake to the delight of children and concern of city officials. Reggie was spotted Monday leisurely floating across Lake...

News Corp. makes hostile bid for Dow Jones.
May 1, 2007... NEW YORK, May 1 (UPI) -- U.S. media conglomerate News Corp. made an unsolicited offer to buy Dow Jones & Co. for $60 a share or $5 billion, the publishing company said Tuesday. The Dow Jones board of directors and members and trustees of...

Magicians, Japan TV networks in row.
May 1, 2007... TOKYO, May 1 (UPI) -- A group of Japanese coin trick magicians sued two TV networks, accusing them of revealing professional secrets. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in a Tokyo district court sought damages of about $16,000 from Nippon Television...

Bear snared with tasty treats.
May 1, 2007... CLARKSBURG, W.Va., May 1 (UPI) -- A 200-pound bear that had been prowling a Clarksburg, W.Va., neighborhood was trapped using honey buns and the smell of bacon grease. Gary Foster, a state Division of Natural Resources wildlife biologist,...

Study: Pistachios lower cholesterol.
May 1, 2007... STATE COLLEGE, Pa., May 1 (UPI) -- A U.S. study found pistachios lower cholesterol and provide antioxidants usually found in leafy green vegetables and brightly colored fruit. Penn State researchers conducted a randomized, crossover design,...

Glover may boycott UC-Berkeley speech.
May 1, 2007... BERKELEY, Calif., May 1 (UPI) -- Actor Danny Glover said he won't speak at the University of California-Berkeley graduation unless the university settles a pay dispute with custodians. Glover, 60, could join a long list of politicians and...

Waiting time for U.S. visa applicants.
May 1, 2007... WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- So many highly skilled workers applied for temporary U.S. visas this year that officials cut off applications 48 hours after the April 1 filing date. The 65,000 temporary visas will be awarded this month with a...

Cannabis chemical may help schizophrenia.
May 1, 2007... LONDON, May 1 (UPI) -- A British and German study suggested an active ingredient in cannabis reduced symptoms in schizophrenia patients. The study, by the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London and the University of Cologne in...

'Tank' Johnson pleads guilty in gun case.
May 1, 2007... CHICAGO, May 1 (UPI) -- Chicago Bears defensive tackle Terry "Tank" Johnson has entered a guilty plea to having unregistered weapons, but will not receive extra jail time. Johnson, 25, could have faced an additional year in jail on the...

New technology detects functional genes.
May 1, 2007... NORMAN, Okla., May 1 (UPI) -- The GeoChip created by U.S. scientists is described as a genomics-based tool that can detect functional genes and processes in a microbial community. The gene chip technology created by Jizhong Zhou and...

Lewd song haunts Bears draft pick.
May 1, 2007... CHICAGO, May 1 (UPI) -- Greg Olsen, the top draft pick for the Chicago Bears, has come under fire for a rap song he recorded that included many slurs against women. Olsen -- then known as "G-Reg" -- recorded the song "7th Floor Crew" with...

Careful row crop fungicide use advised.
May 1, 2007... WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., May 1 (UPI) -- A U.S. crop specialist said growers thinking of applying fungicides to row crops can do so as long as it's done cautiously and sparingly. Purdue University crop expert Greg Shaner said although...

Political crisis continues in Turkey.
May 1, 2007... ANKARA, Turkey, May 1 (UPI) -- Turkey's highest court Tuesday annulled the parliamentary vote authorizing a presidential election as the country's political crisis worsened. Secular party leaders had asked the court to block the election...

Yahoo! buys Right Media online ad firm.
May 1, 2007... NEW YORK, May 1 (UPI) -- Yahoo! Inc. has agreed to pay $680 million for the 80 percent of U.S. online advertising firm Right Media Inc. it does not already own, the Internet firm said. Privately held Right Media runs an online auction...

Little kids getting more cavities.
May 1, 2007... ATLANTA, May 1 (UPI) -- The rate of young children with cavities has increased in the only rise in tooth decay in the U.S. population, a government report released in Atlanta said. Dentists told USA Today the increase in preschoolers with...

Hancock in car crash two days before death.
May 1, 2007... ST. LOUIS, May 1 (UPI) -- St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was nearly killed in a car crash two days before he died in a rented SUV after rear-ending a tow truck on Sunday. Hancock, 29, was died instantly early Sunday in the crash....

'N-Word' to be 'buried by NAACP.
May 1, 2007... WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will symbolically "bury" the racist "n-word" as a message to entertainers. A spokesman for the group, Richard McIntire, said the national event...

Pilot error blamed in Lidle crash.
May 1, 2007... WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board ruled that pilot error caused the crash that killed New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and a flight instructor. However, the federal agency wasn't able to determine...

Italy, Romania at odds over fatal brawl.
May 1, 2007... ROME, May 1 (UPI) -- Italian rightist lawmakers used a fatal incident in Rome involving Romanian women to stir up an immigration quarrel, Italian media said Tuesday. Doina Matei, a 21-year-old Romanian woman was arrested on Sunday accused...

Hillary Rodham Clinton drops Rodham.
May 1, 2007... WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has dropped her maiden name from her presidential campaign material. The Albany (N.Y.) Times-Union reported that Clinton, D-N.Y., uses the name "Rodham Clinton" in her U.S. Senate...

High resolution eye laser imaging created.
May 1, 2007... CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 1 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers have developed a new type of laser for taking high-resolution, 3-D images of the retina that might improve early diagnosis of eye diseases. The imaging system created at the Massachusetts...

Study: Arthritis treatment cost increasing.
May 1, 2007... SAN FRANCISCO, May 1 (UPI) -- A study shows the amount of money spent on arthritis medications in the United States more than doubled between 1998 and 2003. That increase resulted from the fast-rising number of people with the disease,...

Congresswoman gives birth.
May 1, 2007... WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers had hoped to miss just a few votes after giving birth but Cole McMorris Rodgers couldn't wait until the Memorial Day recess. McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., gave birth to Cole at 3:14...

Russia, China top IP violators.
May 1, 2007... WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- China and Russia lead 12 U.S. trading partners on a "Priority Watch List" of places where intellectual property rights are most violated or threatened. "Innovation is the lifeblood of a dynamic economy here in the...

India, U.S. open nuke deal talks.
May 1, 2007... WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- U.S. and Indian officials meeting in Washington, D.C. are trying to work out differences over an historic but slow-paced 2005 civilian nuclear deal. The talks are led by Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon...

Russia marks May Day with marches, rallies.
May 1, 2007... MOSCOW, May 1 (UPI) -- Twenty-thousand people attended a Moscow May Day rally Tuesday in which speakers called for higher salaries and larger pensions. The central Moscow rally, sponsored by the United Russia party and a labor...

Bernanke: Trade key to U.S. prosperity.
May 1, 2007... BUTTE, Mont., May 1 (UPI) -- Free trade, not protectionism, is key to long-term U.S. prosperity, U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday. "Restricting trade by imposing tariffs, quotas or other barriers is exactly the wrong...

'View's' Hasselbeck expecting second child.
May 1, 2007... NEW YORK, May 1 (UPI) -- "The View" co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck announced to viewers in New York and across the United States that she is pregnant with her second child. Hasselbeck, and her husband, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Tim...

Report: Iran expelling Afghan refugees.
May 1, 2007... TEHRAN, May 1 (UPI) -- More than 30,000 Afghan refugees were expelled from Iran in a few days, and an Iranian official said Tehran would expel 1 million Afghans by March 2008. "More than 30,000 people have been collected and the majority...

Study: Most lizards live on islands.
May 1, 2007... SAN DIEGO, May 1 (UPI) -- A U.S. study has confirmed what biologists have long observed -- more lizards live on islands than on the mainland. The University of California-San Diego study also signals an alarm, suggesting climate change...

U.S. gasoline prices near $3 a gallon.
May 1, 2007... WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- U.S. gasoline prices have approached $3 a gallon and will likely top that figure within a month, industry analysts say. The average U.S. retail regular unleaded gasoline price was $2.971, up more than a dime from...

May Day extremists clash with Czech police.
May 1, 2007... PRAGUE, Czech Republic, May 1 (UPI) -- A journalist and two police officers were injured in May Day clashes with rightist extremists in the southeastern Czech city of Brno, a report said. About 500 neo-Nazi supporters, hurling stones and...

Neural response reacts to cultural stimuli.
May 1, 2007... CHAMPAIGN, Ill., May 1 (UPI) -- A U.S.-Singapore research team has found the aging human brain reflects cultural differences in the way it processes visual information. The study, along with another published by the same team last year, is...

Neanderthal extinction hypothesis offered.
May 1, 2007... GRANADA, Spain, May 1 (UPI) -- A Spanish study suggests climate changes might have caused the extinction of the Neanderthals on the Iberian Peninsula. The University of Granada study of Gorham's cave on Gibraltar shows the Neanderthal...

Pluto-bound spacecraft looks at Jupiter.
May 1, 2007... WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, en route to Pluto, is producing never-before-seen perspectives of the giant planet's atmosphere, rings and moons. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said the new...

Bush addresses Centcom Conference.
May 1, 2007... TAMPA, Fla., May 1 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush praised the countries that have contributed to the Iraq coalition Tuesday in a speech to a Centcom conference in Tampa, Fla. The president, addressing representatives of about 30...

Forecaster: Fed in interest-rate 'trap'.
May 1, 2007... KINGSTON, N.Y., May 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve is in an interest-rate "trap," with costs in raising, lowering or leaving rates alone, a U.S. researcher says. If the Fed raises interest rates, the United States will face a "deep...

Heart attack 'death' not always true.
May 1, 2007... PHILADELPHIA, May 1 (UPI) -- New evidence is emerging that clinical death doesn't begin a few minutes after a human heart stops pumping and can take as long as hours to occur. Dr. Lance Becker, an authority on emergency medicine at the...

Ellen DeGeneres takes her job lying down.
May 1, 2007... LOS ANGELES, May 1 (UPI) -- Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres greeted her Los Angeles audience from a hospital bed on doctor's orders after injuring her back during the weekend. The host of the syndicated daytime show said she was placed on...

Valderrama hooks up with FremantleMedia.
May 1, 2007... BURBANK, Calif., May 1 (UPI) -- Actor-producer Wilmer Valderrama has signed a deal to develop projects for Burbank, Calif.-based FremantleMedia North America. Valderrama, the "That '70s Show" co-star who runs WV Enterprises with Danny...

Sting book timed to Police tour.
May 1, 2007... NEW YORK, May 1 (UPI) -- Dial Press in New York, will publish a collection of song lyrics and commentary by Sting, timing its release to the fall reunion tour by his old band, Police. "Lyrics by Sting," set to be published Oct. 23, is the...

Russia, U.S. race to the moon.
May 1, 2007... MOSCOW, May 1 (UPI) -- The United States and Russia appear to be in a new race to the moon, and an isotope under the lunar surface may be the prize. Britain's Telegraph newspaper reported that Russia claims its efforts to cooperate with...

U.S. factory activity records big jump.
May 1, 2007... TEMPE, Ariz., May 1 (UPI) -- A U.S. manufacturing activity gauge recorded its biggest jump in nearly a year, a supply managers report said Tuesday. The Institute for Supply Management's index of U.S. factory activity rose to 54.7 in April...

N.H. debates to be held June 3, 5.
May 1, 2007... MANCHESTER, N.H., May 1 (UPI) -- CNN announced Tuesday the next round of debates in the U.S. presidential sweepstakes is scheduled for St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. CNN, WMUR-TV and the Manchester Union Leader are hosting the...