Overnight News Digest

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1 Police report 60 killed by bombs in western India
Associated Press
1 hour, 20 minutes ago

NEW DELHI - A series of bombs exploded across the ancient city of Jaipur on Tuesday, killing at least 60 people and transforming busy markets, a jewelry bazaar and a Hindu temple into scenes of carnage. All seven blasts were within the old walls of the western city known for its pink-hued palaces, and suspicion quickly fell on Islamic militant groups blamed for a string of attacks in India in recent years. Police said an eighth bomb was found and defused by police. "Obviously, it's a terrorist" attack, said A.S. Gill, the police chief of Rajasthan, the state where Jaipur is located. "The way it has been done, the attempt was to cause the maximum damage to human life."

2 Senate votes to halt oil reserve shipments
By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 23 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The Senate, in a direct challenge to President Bush, voted Tuesday to temporarily halt the shipment of thousands of barrels of oil a day into the government's emergency reserve. Both Democrats and Republicans said such shipments make no sense when oil is costing more than $120 a barrel and could better be used to add supplies to a tight market and possibly lower prices. "We are buying the most expensive crude oil in the history of the world and storing it," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. "When American consumers are burning at the stake by high energy prices, the government ought not be carrying the wood." Until both chambers of Congress pass the emergency reserve directive and Bush signs it — or Congress enacts it over a presidential veto — the legislation has no force of law. But the Senate's message to the president Tuesday was a strong one.

3 Death toll from China quake soars past 13,000
By Ben Blanchard, Reuters
2 hours, 24 minutes ago

DUJIANGYAN, China (Reuters) - The death toll in China's earthquake climbed past 13,000 on Tuesday and looked likely to rise much higher after media said some 19,000 people were buried in rubble in just one area. Rain and severed roads hampered rescuers in the mountainous area near the epicenter of Monday's 7.9-magnitude quake in the southwestern province of Sichuan, China's worst earthquake in over three decades. State media reported devastation as troops reached stricken villages near the epicenter in Wenchuan, a remote county cut off by landslides about 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the provincial capital, Chengdu.

4 World fears for plight of Myanmar cyclone victims
By Aung Hla Tun, Reuters
30 minutes ago

YANGON (Reuters) - International fears about the plight of 1.5 million victims in cyclone-ravaged Myanmar deepened on Tuesday as the United Nations and Western powers suggested helpless people could have been robbed of food and other aid. As if fears of shoddy aid distribution were not enough, heavy rains pelted survivors in Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta, complicating the already slow delivery of aid to hundreds of thousands of homeless people facing hunger and disease. As more foreign aid trickled into the former Burma, critics ratcheted up the pressure on its military rulers to accelerate a relief effort that is only delivering an estimated tenth of the supplies needed in the devastated delta.

5 FBI cites escalating mortgage fraud problem
By James Vicini, Reuters
1 hour, 46 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mortgage fraud is an escalating problem in the United States, the FBI said on Tuesday in a report that cited the subprime lending crisis as a key contributing factor. The FBI said it received 46,717 "suspicious activity reports" from financial institutions related to mortgage fraud last year, compared with 35,617 in fiscal 2006 and just 6,936 in fiscal 2003. The government's fiscal year begins on October 1. The total dollar loss attributed to mortgage fraud is unknown. But 7 percent of the suspicious activity reports filed in 2007 indicated a specific dollar loss exceeding $813 million, the FBI said.

6 Lebanon army ready to use force to halt fighting
by Jocelyne Zablit, AFP
2 hours, 30 minutes ago

BEIRUT (AFP) - A precarious calm returned to Lebanon on Tuesday after the army warned it was ready to use force to restore order after six days of sectarian bloodshed that have shaken the nation. US President George W. Bush, on the eve of a trip to the Middle East, warned Iran and Syria that the international community would not allow Lebanon to fall under foreign domination again and vowed to shore up the Lebanese military. The fighting, which has left at least 62 people dead and close to 200 wounded, is the worst sectarian unrest since the 1975-1990 civil war and has stoked fears the country was headed for another all-out conflict.

7 U.S. high court allows apartheid claims against multinationals
By Warren Richey, The Christian Science Monitor
Tue May 13, 4:00 AM ET

The US Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court ruling that multinational companies can be sued in a US court for allegedly aiding and abetting the former apartheid government in South Africa. The high court announced Monday that it could not hear a case involving 11 consolidated lawsuits against more than 50 international corporations. Four justices recused themselves from consideration of the case apparently due to potential conflict, leaving only a five-justice court to consider whether to take up the suit. In a brief order, the court said it lacked the necessary quorum. "Since a majority of the qualified justices are of the opinion that the case cannot be heard and determined in the next term of the court, the judgment [of the lower court] is affirmed," the unsigned order says.

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8 Bush administration rules limit lawsuits
By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 36 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Faced with an unfriendly Congress, the Bush administration has found another, quieter way to make it more difficult for consumers to sue businesses over faulty products. It's rewriting the bureaucratic rulebook. Lawsuit limits have been included in 51 rules proposed or adopted since 2005 by agency bureaucrats governing just about everything Americans use: drugs, cars, railroads, medical devices and food. Decried by consumer advocates and embraced by industry, the agencies' use of the government's rule-making authority represents the administration's final act in a long-standing drive to shield companies from lawsuits.

9 Oil demand set to ease, high prices turn on stockpiling: IEA
AFP
Tue May 13, 6:50 AM ET

PARIS (AFP) - Record oil prices and a slowdown in advanced economies are set to curb global oil demand despite growth in China and the Middle East, the IEA forecast on Tuesday, saying stockpiling was a key factor. Demand from emerging economies might be set back if governments decide that fuel subsidies are unsustainable, the International Energy Agency said in a monthly report. The report, which cut estimated global oil demand this year for the fourth month running, also provided figures showing a jump in production of biofuels.

10 Sweet sorghum, clean miracle crop for feed and fuel
by Jean-Louis Santini, AFP
Tue May 13, 8:49 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The hardy sweet sorghum plant could be the miracle crop that provides cheap animal feed and fuel without straining the world's food supply or harming the environment, said scientists working on a pilot farming project in India. "We consider sweet sorghum an ideal 'smart crop' because it produces food as well as fuel," William Dar, Director General of the non-profit International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) said in a statement. Sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is the world's fifth largest grain crop after rice, corn, wheat and barley.

11 Norway island stores wind power for still days
by Nina Larson, AFP
Tue May 13, 7:27 AM ET

UTSIRA, Norway (AFP) - How to keep the lights on when all is still and the local windmill won't budge? A small Norwegian island testing a way to store wind-generated energy for calm days may have found the answer. The tiny, windswept island of Utsira, situated off Norway's southwestern coast, is home to what is said to be the world's first full-scale system for cleanly transforming surplus wind power into hydrogen. Perched atop a 40-metre-high wind turbine on a perfectly windstill day, technician Inge Linghammer explains that at times like this or on days when the gales whipping the unsheltered island get too strong the windmill shuts down and stops pumping out power.

12 NASA probe closing in on Mars, but will it land?
By Irene Klotz, Reuters
1 hour, 26 minutes ago

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Nine months ago, NASA's Phoenix probe blasted off for Mars with an unprecedented mission to sample water on another world. Before that can happen, however, the space agency faces a formidable challenge: landing. The odds are not great. Historically, 55 percent of all attempts to land on Mars have failed and the method being used for the touchdown of the Phoenix spacecraft on May 25 hasn't been attempted in 32 years.

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13 Iran report pushes oil to new record, gas jumps above $3.73
By JOHN WILEN, AP Business Writer
Tue May 13, 3:44 PM ET

NEW YORK - Oil prices shot to a new record near $127 a barrel Tuesday on concerns that Iran may consider cutting crude oil production. Gas prices, meanwhile, rose to a new record over $3.73 a gallon Tuesday, and their advance shows little sign of slowing with Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of the summer driving season, just 10 days away. Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose as high as a record $126.98 a barrel in midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday before retreating to settle up $1.57 at $125.80. Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Ill., said traders reacted to news reports that Iran's government is considering cutting crude oil production. James Cordier, president of Tampa, Fla., trading firms Liberty Trading Group and OptionSellers.com, said the news quickly made its way around trading floors.

14 Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens
By ARIEL DAVID, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 13, 4:07 PM ET

VATICAN CITY - Believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God, the Vatican's chief astronomer said in an interview published Tuesday. The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, was quoted as saying the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones. "How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?" Funes said. "Just as we consider earthly creatures as 'a brother,' and 'sister,' why should we not talk about an 'extraterrestrial brother'? It would still be part of creation."

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15 Trapped students had little time to escape quake
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 13, 2:22 PM ET

JUYUAN, China - The high school students were settling in to afternoon arts and humanities classes when the massive quake struck. The school collapsed so rapidly — one floor "pancaking" atop another — that there was practically no time to escape. As orange-suited rescue teams searched the wreckage for survivors, worried and sometimes wailing parents watched amid a cold, steady drizzle Tuesday. Troops lined two deep kept the emotional family members away from the teams working with cranes and hand tools.

16 Myanmar police block aid workers, food piles up
Associated Press
2 hours, 29 minutes ago

YANGON, Myanmar - Police barred foreign aid workers from reaching cyclone survivors in hard-hit areas Tuesday, while emergency food shipments backed up at the main airport for Myanmar's biggest city. Relief workers reported some storm survivors were being given spoiled or poor-quality food rather than nutrition-rich biscuits sent by international donors, adding to fears that the ruling military junta in the Southeast Asian country could be misappropriating assistance. U.N. officials warned that the threat was escalating for the 2 million people facing disease and hunger in low-lying areas battered by the storm unless relief efforts increased dramatically.

17 Zimbabwe violence could reach crisis levels: UN
by Fanuel Jongwe, AFP
2 hours, 47 minutes ago

HARARE (AFP) - The UN warned on Tuesday that post-election violence in Zimbabwe was rising to near crisis levels ahead of a planned presidential run-off, with opposition supporters bearing the brunt of attacks. As opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai prepared to return home to contest the election against President Robert Mugabe, his hopes the ballot would be held later this month in a peaceful atmosphere appeared to be wishful thinking. With Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change claiming 32 of its supporters have been killed since voting on March 29, the United Nations resident representative in Zimbabwe said most of the violence was directed against followers of the opposition, although the MDC was not blameless.

18 Bolivia's Morales sets recall referendum in effort to resolve crisis
By Jack Chang, McClatchy Newspapers
Mon May 12, 6:14 PM ET

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Bolivian President Evo Morales , trying to ease a deepening political crisis, on Monday scheduled for Aug. 10 a sweeping recall referendum that would allow voters to cut short his term in office, as well as those of his vice president and the country's eight provincial governors. Morales said the vote would resolve a political showdown between his leftist administration and five governors who have pushed statutes that would give their regions more independence from the federal government. Morales has called the autonomy campaigns illegal and attempts to split this impoverished country. "The Bolivian people have the right to decide and resolve the differences of authorities elected by the Bolivian people," Morales said after approving the referendum. "Above any individual, personal, sectorial or regional interest, in first place comes the unity of the country."

19 Mexico's efforts to end violence against women stymied by macho culture
By Franco Ordonez, McClatchy Newspapers
Tue May 13, 4:08 PM ET

MEXICO CITY — Martha couldn't take the beatings anymore. She visited local police three times last year to report that her husband was punching her in the stomach so hard she could barely breathe. Each time, the police told her they could do nothing unless she returned with cuts and bruises. Discouraged and fearful, Martha, 43, who asked that her last name not be published for fear of retribution from her husband, in March packed some clothes and left. She's lived with three different relatives since. "There were times I didn't want to wake up," she said, crying. "I wanted it to stop. I wanted to die."

20 Outgunned Lebanese army no longer seen as neutral
By Hannah Allam, McClatchy Newspapers
Mon May 12, 7:34 PM ET

BEIRUT, Lebanon — With the beleaguered Lebanese army looking on, opposition and pro-government militias traded gunfire in northern Lebanon Monday in a continuation of the fighting that's killed at least 50 people and paralyzed most of Beirut . Many Lebanese fear the bloodshed will spark a renewed civil war as the militant Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah and its allies inflict repeated defeats on the pro-government militias fielded by Sunni Muslims and the Druze minority. The Christian-led Lebanese Armed Forces, long touted as perhaps the country's last truly national institution, offered little resistance to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its Shiite allies. Instead, the army has acquiesced to Hezbollah's conquest of territory and sent soldiers to take over checkpoints handed over by Hezbollah .

21 Hizballah's Toughest Foe in Lebanon
By NICHOLAS BLANFORD/QMATIYEH, Time Magazine
44 minutes ago

Sleiman Jaafar's smiling thinly-bearded face beams down from his "martyr's" portrait at the funeral procession inching its way along the narrow street in Qmatiyeh, a small village clinging to a mountainside overlooking Beirut. Handfuls of rice and pink and white rose petals hurled from windows and balconies shower the throng of mourners below. The funeral was a moment to absorb the human cost of the recent deadly clashes between Hizballah and the Lebanese government in which nearly 40 people are thought to have died. But it also generated a mix of seething anger, anxiety and an ominous feeling that more violence is to come.

22 Maliki's Imperfect Makeover
By MARK KUKIS/BAGHDAD, Time Magazine
Tue May 13, 1:00 PM ET

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was at pains to stress his new non-sectarian attitude when addressing Iraqi parliamentarians Monday. "The events of the past weeks have proven that we are neutral, not biased, that we did not take the side of this party or this sect against another," said Maliki, whose government has waged a two-month crackdown on the militia of onetime ally Muqtada al-Sadr. "We have also proven there is no security for any sect unless other sects can be guaranteed their security."

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23 Military cracks down on scrap-metal scavengers
By CHELSEA J. CARTER, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 13, 1:31 PM ET

TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. - Hundreds of Marines were conducting a combat training mission in the Mojave Desert when an air patrol spotted something kicking up dust: A civilian pickup truck speeding across the barren landscape. Behind the wheel was a suspected scrap metal thief who had been combing the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center for spent brass shell casings. His intrusion onto the base was the 12th time in six months that scavengers had inadvertently halted combat exercises. Bombing ranges have become prime hunting grounds for so-called "scrappers," who are motivated by soaring commodity prices to take greater risks in their quest for brass, copper and aluminum. The scavenging causes headaches for the military, which cannot patrol every inch of the remote bases where spent ammunition, shrapnel and unexploded ordnance are easy to find.

24 Americans curb gasoline use amid high prices
Reuters
Tue May 13, 2:44 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans are tapping the brakes on their road travel heading into the peak summer driving season because of a record rise in gasoline prices. Retail gasoline demand in the world's biggest fuel consuming nation has slipped about 1 percent so far this year, MasterCard Advisors said in a report. And the nation's gasoline stations reported a 0.4 percent decline in April sales, according to data released by the Commerce Department.

25 Immigration arrests at Iowa meat plant total 390
Reuters
1 hour, 15 minutes ago

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Immigration arrests at the Agriprocessors Inc meat plant in Postville, Iowa, totaled 390, making it the largest number of such arrests at a single U.S. location, an immigration official said on Tuesday. "Every one of the 390 were arrested for administrative immigration violations. They were arrested for being in the country illegally," said Tim Counts, spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unit, which led the raid on the plant on Monday. Criminal charges may still be filed against some of the 390, said Counts.

26 More than 2 million U.S. youths depressed: study
Reuters
Tue May 13, 1:45 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 2 million U.S. teenagers have suffered a serious bout of depression in the past year, including nearly 13 percent of girls, according to a federal government survey released on Tuesday. On average, 8.5 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 17 described having had a major depressive episode in the previous year, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported. But there were "striking differences" by sex, with 12.7 percent of girls and 4.6 percent of boys affected.

27 Consumer confidence near record low: report
Reuters
2 hours, 6 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Confidence of American consumers continued to plummet as a result of weakening economic conditions and escalating gasoline prices, according to a weekly survey published on Tuesday. The ABC News/Washington Post Consumer Comfort Index fell to -47 in the week ended May 11 from -46 the previous week, and is three points away from its all-time low of -50 hit in February 1992. The index ranges from -100 to +100. The news outlets said 77 percent of Americans described the economy as getting worse, matching a 27-year high reached in October and November 1990.

28 Security Flaws Exposed at Nuke Lab
By ADAM ZAGORIN/WASHINGTON, Time Magazine
2 hours, 15 minutes ago

If you were a terrorist looking for weapons-grade nuclear material in America, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory might be a good place to start. At the core of the nuclear-weapons research facility about an hour's drive from San Francisco stands the "Superblock," a collection of buildings surrounded by multi-story steel-mesh fencing, a no-man's-land, electronic security gear, armed guards and cables to prevent a helicopter landing on the roof. These defenses are in place largely to protect Building 332, a repository for roughly 2,000 pounds of deadly plutonium and volatile, weapons-grade uranium - enough fissile material to build at least 300 nuclear weapons. But a recent simulated terror attack tested those defenses, and sources tell TIME that the results were not reassuring.

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29 Televangelist John Hagee apologizes to Catholics
By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer
9 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - John Hagee, an influential Texas televangelist who endorsed John McCain, apologized to Catholics Tuesday for his stinging criticism of the Roman Catholic Church and for having "emphasized the darkest chapters in the history of Catholic and Protestant relations with the Jews." Hagee's support for McCain has drawn cries of outrage from some Catholic leaders who have called on McCain to reject Hagee's endorsement. The likely Republican nominee has said he does not agree with some of Hagee's past comments, but did not reject his support. In a letter to William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, Hagee wrote: "Out of a desire to advance a greater unity among Catholics and evangelicals in promoting the common good, I want to express my deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful."

30 Senators pressure Saudis to boost oil output
By Richard Cowan, Reuters
1 hour, 57 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats trying to pressure Saudi Arabia to boost oil output introduced legislation in the Senate on Tuesday that would stop a $1.4 billion U.S. arms sale to the kingdom. "We are saying that we need real relief and we need it quickly. You (Saudi Arabia) need our arms, but we need you to cooperate and not strangle American consumers," said Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat. The resolution to disapprove the Saudi arms sale the Bush administration outlined in December and January could be voted on in coming days, timed for President George W. Bush's trip to Saudi Arabia this week.

31 Five to be tried for 9/11 attacks; charges against 6th dropped
by Jim Mannion, AFP
1 hour, 7 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US has referred five accused co-conspirators in the September 11 attacks for military trial but dropped charges against the alleged "20th hijacker" without explanation, the Pentagon said Tuesday. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks, and four others were referred for trial by a special military commission on capital charges of murder, terrorism and other war crimes, it said. But Susan Crawford, the convening authority for the war crimes tribunals, "dismissed without prejudice" charges against Mohammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi who was subjected to harsh interrogations at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

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32 Stocks mixed after retail sales report, spiking oil
By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer
1 hour, 55 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Wall Street turned in a mixed performance Tuesday after a fresh report on retail sales and a new oil price record told investors the same old story: The economy is hurting and costs are rising, but things could be worse. The Commerce Department's latest report showed that retail sales fell by 0.2 percent in April, as expected. The data did show better-than-expected sales if automobiles are excluded, but indicated Americans are reluctant to make big-ticket purchases — especially as soaring fuel prices cut into demand. "The numbers are coming out weak, but the economy's not falling apart," said Alexander Paris, economist and market analyst for Chicago-based Barrington Research. "On balance, they were negative, but you'd expect them to be."

33 HP taking aim on IBM with risky $13.2B acquisition of EDS
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Business Writer
57 minutes ago

SAN FRANCISCO - Riding a hot streak that has doubled its stock price in the past three years, Hewlett-Packard Co. is rolling the dice on a $13.2 billion acquisition of technology services provider Electronic Data Systems Corp. The all-cash deal announced Tuesday represents HP's biggest gamble under the leadership of Mark Hurd, who was hired as chief executive in March 2005 to turn around the Palo Alto-based maker of personal computers and printers. As Hurd relentlessly cut costs while demanding better execution from the company's remaining workers, HP recovered from a nagging financial hangover that was exacerbated by the biggest acquisition in its 69-year history — the $19 billion purchase of Compaq Computer Corp., completed in 2002 over strident shareholder objections.

34 Reports: Carl Icahn considering attempt to oust Yahoo board
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Business Writer
18 minutes ago

SAN FRANCISCO - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is reportedly loading up on Yahoo Inc.'s stock in preparation for a possible attempt to shove aside the Internet icon's board and bring the company's disillusioned suitor, Microsoft Corp., back to the bargaining table. As he mulls whether to lead a rebellion, Icahn has accumulated about 50 million Yahoo shares, a stake of roughly 3.6 percent in the Sunnyvale-based company, both CNBC and The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. Both media outlets cited unnamed people familiar with the matter. Icahn hadn't returned messages seeking comment as of late Tuesday. He faces a Thursday deadline to submit an alternate slate of directors to oppose Yahoo's board at the company's July 3 annual meeting.

35 Median home prices drop in many cities
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer
38 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Median home prices fell in two-thirds of the cities surveyed during the first three months of this year while sales declined in 46 states compared to a year ago, according to the latest report highlighting the depth of the nation's housing woes. The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that median prices for existing single-family homes dropped in 100 of 149 metropolitan areas in the January-March period, while 48 metropolitan areas saw price increases and one reported no change. The 67 percent of cities reporting price declines was the largest percentage of cities reporting price drops in the history of the survey, which goes back to 1979. In the fourth quarter, prices had fallen in 36 percent of the cities surveyed.

36 JPMorgan may cut 4,000 jobs on Bear deal and markets
By Joseph A. Giannone, Reuters
1 hour, 47 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) could cut as many as 4,000 of its own employees worldwide as the bank prepares to take on staff from Bear Stearns Cos (BSC.N) at the same time it deals with turmoil in financial markets, people familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. In addition to roughly 2,000 JPMorgan employees who will be replaced by counterparts acquired through its takeover of Bear Stearns, the sources said that an additional 1,000 to 2,000 JPMorgan employees may lose their jobs because of the slowdown in investment banking activity and credit market crisis. Final decisions dealing with specific employees have not been made, though JPMorgan is expected to decide on market-related cuts by early June, the sources said.

37 Wal-Mart posts record profit on discount prices
AFP
2 hours, 50 minutes ago

NEW YORK (AFP) - Wal-Mart Stores, the world's biggest retailer, reported Tuesday record quarterly earnings and sales but sounded a cautious note on the weak US economy. ... Analysts said that Wal-Mart's cut-rate strategy has broader appeal in the current economic slump as falling home values, rising inflation and tighter credit force cash-strapped consumers to shop for bargains. "While some retailers are being pinched by the current state of the US economy and rising fuel prices, Wal-Mart Stores is finding a bit of success by attracting bargain-hunting consumers," said Joseph Hargett at Schaeffer's Research.

38 Eurozone under pressure to improve public finances
AFP
1 hour, 21 minutes ago

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Eurozone finance ministers must not loosen their budget orthodoxy in the face of weakening economic growth, Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said Tuesday. After progress last year in improving public finances across the 15 countries sharing the euro, Juncker said "we see risks" that the trend would not be pursued this year. "That's why we have called on our colleagues to execute their 2008 budgets with the greatest orthodoxy possible" and that 2009 budgets be prepared in the same spirit, the Luxembourg finance minister said after chairing a meeting with his eurozone counterparts.

39 French bank Credit Agricole seeks six billion euros after subprime losses
AFP
Tue May 13, 7:33 AM ET

PARIS (AFP) - French banking giant Credit Agricole said on Tuesday it was seeking 5.9 billion euros (9.2 billion dollars) in fresh cash from shareholders after taking new charges of 1.2 billion euros for problems in the US subprime market. The bank said its first quarter net profit would be 892 million euros, tumbling from the year-earlier 2.66 billion euros, after a write-down of 1.21 billion euros to cover credit problems at Calyon, its investment bank. Analyst forecasts had been for a first quarter net profit of around 1.2 billion euros.

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40 Israel Museum puts Dead Sea scroll on rare display
By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer
51 minutes ago

JERUSALEM - One of the most important Dead Sea scrolls is going on display in Jerusalem this week — more than four decades after it was last seen by the public. The 24-foot scroll with the text of the Bible's Book of Isaiah had been in a dark, temperature-controlled room at the Israel Museum since 1967. It went on display two years earlier, but curators replaced it with a facsimile after noticing new cracks in the calfskin parchment. The museum decided to put the scroll back on show for three months as part of Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations. The priceless manuscript, written by a Judean scribe around 120 B.C., was in a long glass case Tuesday, its neat rows of Hebrew letters distinct and legible. President Bush, visiting Israel this week for the anniversary celebration, will be one of the first to view it.

41 NOAA chief urges creating National Climate Service
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science Writer
2 hours, 23 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - With concerns about global warming rising along with the planet's temperature, the head of the federal agency in change of weather research and forecasting is proposing creation of a new National Climate Service. Conrad C. Lautenbacher said Tuesday a climate service within his agency could combine data from the research and analysis work done by several agencies, as well as coordinate climate information for the government. "In the future I think it would make a lot of sense for us to separate the science from the political furball of policy," he said.

42 China's panda preserves reported safe
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 13, 4:22 PM ET

CHENGDU, China - All the pandas at the world's most famous panda preserve were reported safe late Tuesday, more than a day after China's worst earthquake in three decades closed off the remote, mountainous area. The Wolong National Nature Reserve and panda breeding center is the only place in the world where the rare animals can be seen in such large numbers. But Chinese officials and zoo officials overseas had worried about the fate of the center's 86 pandas since Monday's devastating earthquake rattled nearby areas in central Sichuan province. Late Tuesday, officials at Wolong used a satellite phone to contact the State Forestry Administration and report that the pandas were safe, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It said all panda cubs had been taken to safety.

43 Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically
By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 13, 4:23 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Two decades from now Americans could get as much electricity from windmills as from nuclear power plants, according to a government report that lays out a possible plan for wind energy growth. The report, a collaboration between the Energy Department research labs and industry, concludes wind energy could generate 20 percent of the nation's electricity by 2030, about the same share now produced by nuclear reactors. Such growth would pose a number of major challenges, but is achievable without the need of major new technological breakthroughs, said the report released Monday.

44 Vast Chile volcano ash cloud partially collapses
By Monica Vargas, Reuters
Tue May 13, 3:52 PM ET

PUERTO MONTT, Chile (Reuters) - A towering cloud of hot ash, gas and molten rock spewed miles into the air by a volcano in southern Chile has partially collapsed, raising fears it could smother surrounding villages, an expert said on Tuesday. Luis Lara, a scientist with the government's geology and mining agency, said the column of ash, which had soared as high as 20 miles, was now about 4.5 miles. The column of debris, kept aloft by the pressure of constant eruptions, could collapse entirely, smothering the ghost town of Chaiten 6 miles away with hot gas, ash and molten rocks.

45 Two billion trees planted in UN campaign
AFP
Tue May 13, 2:47 PM ET

NAIROBI (AFP) - More than two billion trees were planted around the world as part of the UN's campaign to combat climate change, the world body's environment programme (UNEP) said Tuesday in a statement. The Nairobi-based agency said the tree planting campaign, inspired by Kenyan Nobel Peace laureate Wangari Maathai, will help mitigate the effects of pollution and environmental deterioration. The campaign launched in 2006 saw two billion trees planted, double the original target, with Ethiopia leading the count at 700 million, Turkey at 400 million, Mexico at 250 million and Kenya at 100 million trees.

46 Barcelona gets emergency water supplies by boat
by Marcelo Aparicio, AFP
Tue May 13, 3:24 PM ET

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) - A water tanker arrived in Barcelona on Tuesday as the capital of Spain's drought-stricken region of Catalonia began importing drinkable water by boat, regional authorities said. The orange and white Sichem Defender came from the city of Tarragona in Spain's northeast with 19,000 cubic metres (just under five million gallons) of water, enough to meet the daily consumption needs of 170,000 people. In total six ships, including four water tankers which are due to arrive from the south of France, will make 63 monthly deliveries of water to Barcelona, Spain's second-largest city and a top European tourist destination.

47 Low technology is the only hope in Myanmar, China disasters
by Richard Ingham, AFP
Tue May 13, 11:38 AM ET

PARIS (AFP) - There is no hi-tech solution to help the thousands of survivors in Myanmar and China who need immediate help and assistance, aid workers said Tuesday. So surely we have some hi-tech help for the hundreds of thousands of people in Myanmar and China who are walking on the tightrope of death. Right? The short, sad answer is No. In the early 21st century, disaster relief bears a remarkable similarity to that of the mid-20th century -- and even before.

48 NASA Rolls Out Space Shuttle Tires for Loan
Robert Z. Pearlman, SPACE.com
1 hour, 22 minutes ago

When space shuttle Discovery touched down in December 2006 after spending 13 days in space traveling 5.3 million miles, it came to rest on four main landing gear and two nose gear tires. Although not much larger than a truck tire, just one of Discovery's main gear tires could carry three times the load of a Boeing 747 tire or the entire starting line-up of a NASCAR race — 40 race cars — all hitting the pavement at 250 miles per hour. The rear tires that brought the STS-116 crew to their safe end of mission, like all orbiter main gear tires, were rated for only one use and were replaced before Discovery flew again nearly a year later. The orbiter's nose gear met the same fate after only their second landing. Discovery's spent tires and those of 50 other past flights dating as far back as 1986 were moved to NASA surplus yards and storage centers. The Kennedy Space Center in Florida began the process to auction more than 60 of the retired tires as scrap in February 2005 before the agency reconsidered and pulled the tires from the sale. Instead, NASA said, they would be set aside for then-unspecified "outreach and educational activities."

49 Earth Extinctions Blamed on Cosmic Speed Bump
Charles Q. Choi, Special to SPACE.com
Tue May 13, 7:02 AM ET

The sun bounces up and down as it roams the Milky Way, and such wavering might have hurled showers of comets Earth's way that caused mass extinctions, including the one that killed the dinosaurs, a new study claims. ... To arrive at the comet showers idea, astronomers calculated the path of our solar system across the Milky Way as it circles the galactic core. As we pass through the densest part of the galactic disk, the gravitational pull of the surrounding gas and dust clouds dislodges comets in the Oort Cloud in the outer solar system, causing these icy goliaths to plunge toward the sun, the researchers said. The sun passes through this galactic zone every 35 million to 40 million years, raising the chances of comets hurtling inward tenfold, according to calculations. This cycle seems to coincide with evidence of craters and mass extinctions on Earth, which suggest we suffer more collisions roughly every 36 million years.

50 Piece of Missing Cosmic Matter Found
Andrea Thompson, Senior Writer SPACE.com
Mon May 12, 7:01 AM ET

Astronomers have found a piece of the universe's puzzle that's been missing for awhile: a type of extremely hot, dense matter that is all but invisible to us. Engaging in something like cosmic accounting, astronomers have tried to balance the scant amount of matter that has been directly observed with the vast amount that remains unobserved directly. The latter constitutes about 90 percent of the universe's matter. Galaxies, the stars within them, the planet we live on and the chairs we sit on are made up of normal matter — the protons, electrons and neutrons that are collectively called baryons. Baryonic matter can be seen and directly observed, but it makes up only about 4 percent of the universe.

51 Sloths are Not Total Sloths
Jeanna Bryner, Senior Writer LiveScience.com
1 hour, 38 minutes ago

... In the first brain-wave study of any animal sleeping in the wild, scientists have discovered the three-toed sloth naps much less than commonly believed. The three-toed sloth is a small furry mammal, about the size of a raccoon, that spends most of its life in treetops of tropical rain forests where it feeds on leaves and fruits. While sloths do epitomize sluggishness on many counts - digestion can take up to a month - slothful sleeping may not be one of these. Past estimates came from captive-animal studies. "If animals behave differently in captivity - where all previous comparative studies were performed - than they do in the wild, measuring their brain activity in captivity can lead to the wrong conclusions," said lead researcher Niels Rattenborg of the Sleep and Flight Group at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology.

52 China Quake a 'Worst-Case Scenario' for California
Clara Moskowitz, LiveScience Staff Writer
Tue May 13, 4:32 PM ET

The deadly earthquake in China this week was devastating and felt across a vast area. The epicenter struck central China's Sichuan Province, yet it was felt as far away as Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. And its origin was shallow. In short, it is exactly what seismologists fear could happen in Southern California some day. Scientists think the Sichuan earthquake was caused by seismic activity associated with the Indian land-mass colliding with the Asian continent (this same force has slowly built up the Himalaya mountain range). Because this week's temblor was relatively shallow - 11.8 miles (19 km) below the ground - it caused especially violent quaking on the surface, which led to extensive damage.

53 Overconfidence Ensures Failure in Business
Jeanna Bryner, Senior Writer LiveScience.com
Tue May 13, 1:10 PM ET

... New research reveals big-headed business people are more likely to jump into new ventures with little regard for competition and market size. The results, detailed in the recent issue of the journal Experimental Psychology, shed light on why many ventures fail in the first few years. In 2006, nearly 650,000 new businesses with employees opened their doors in the United States, while nearly 565,000 firms closed, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. More than 99 percent of the nearly 27 million businesses in the U.S. in 2006 were small firms with fewer than 500 employees. "Market entry decisions tend to be overoptimistic," said lead researcher Briony Pulford, a psychologist at the University of Leicester in England, "with the inevitable result that new business startups tend to exceed market capacity, and many new businesses fail within a few years."

54 Kids Say Kids With Glasses Look Smarter
Robert Roy Britt, LiveScience Managing Editor
Tue May 13, 10:46 AM ET

Some children dread getting glasses. Researcher Jeffrey Walline repeats some age-old advice for parents: Tell your kids they'll look smarter in spectacles. And now he has a study to back up the advice. The assistant professor of optometry at Ohio State University and his colleagues surveyed 42 girls and 38 boys between the ages of 6 and 10 to get their views on glasses. The majority thought kids wearing glasses looked smarter and more honest than non-spectacled peers.