Today's Headlines
US News
Malvo Pretrial Motions Begin
A hearing is set for today to address thirteen motions filed by the lawyers of Lee Boyd Malvo, the suspected sniper from the recent Washington DC-area shootings. The motions include a proposed ban on crime scene photos, an appeal for the county to hand over any potentially damaging evidence, and a request for five additional investigators to find more evidence in the case. Prosecutors were dismissive of the claims, stating that most were stalling tactics or diatribes against the Supreme Court of Virginia.
98th Victim In Rhode Island Fire
A second hospitalized victim from the nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island died yesterday, bringing the death toll to 98. Today, the city of West Warwick will begin releasing documents such as building and fire inspections on the nightclub, which the city had previously refused to release. The city had invoked a statute which allowed them to only release records within ten days of a written request, the window of opportunity for which closes today.
Documents Released in New Hampshire Church Abuse Scandal
Catholic bishop John McCormack apologized this morning to victims of sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests. At the same time, though, the church said it did not "necessarily agree" with everything in a state report detailing how the Manchester Diocese mishandled abuse cases. The report, released by the state of New Hampshire, severely criticized the church's mechanisms for handling situations of pastoral abuse.
International News
November 17 Terror Trial Opens in Greece
The trial of 19 people suspected of belonging to the November 17 terror group began Monday with arguments over the bulletproof security glass that protected the defendants. Defense lawyers claimed that the glass was humiliating and argued to have it removed. The trial covers several assassinations by the group in recent years, including British, Turkish, and American diplomats and senior Greek judges.
Turkish Stock Market Crashes
The Turkish stock market plunged by more than 10% in early trading this morning after the nation's parliament voted down a deal that would have given Turkey billions of dollars in exchange for allowing America to use military bases in Turkey from which to attack Iraq. The markets were counting on the money to alleviate woes in the Turkish economy.
Mohammed in Custody of United States
Suspected 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shiekh Mohammed was placed in the custody of the United States early this morning. He was expected to be questioned on details of planned al Qaeda attacks after his weekend capture.
Business
Palm Misses Earnings Estimates
This morning, Palm warned Wall Street of lower-than-expected sales during the company's third fiscal quarter. The handheld maker said revenue for its quarter, which ended last month, will come in at approximately $208 million, compared with its previous expectation of $240 million. Palm blamed the revenue warning on lower-than-anticipated sales in the United States of its high-end Tungsten handhelds.
Former ImClone CEO Faces Charges of Tax Evasion
Former ImClone Chief Executive Samuel Waksal, awaiting sentencing for insider trading, on Monday faced new charges related to taxes on art purchases, sources familiar with the situation said. The charges appear to be unrelated to ImClone, but insiders say that the situation is perhaps indicative of Waksal's character. ImClone came to recent notoriety in the Martha Stewart insider trading case, which is ongoing.
US Stocks Continue Rise
Both technology stocks and the broader market continued their upward trend in early trading this morning. After two days of increases in stock prices, followed by the weekend capture of Khalid Shiekh Mohammed, stock prices continued to move upward on Monday morning.
Science & Technology
China's Lunar Program Unveiled
China has revealed further details of its plans to explore the Moon early this morning. The first unmanned probe could be launched by 2005, say officials. They also hinted that the motivation for the missions is to mine the Moon's resources.
Sony Debuts Blue Laser DVD Technology
This morning, Sony unveiled its first Blu-Ray optical disc format recorder. The format is similar to DVD, but incorporates blue laser light to increase storage space to 27 GB. According to Sony, the reason for this needed increase in storage space is that DVDs cannot hold enough data to be suitable for true high-definition video. Players go on sale next month in Japan and will reach the United States soon after.
Antivirus Firm Takes On Spam
Trend Micro, a company known more for its antivirus technologies, announced new software that will help IT managers protect their networks from unwanted spam. The program, called Spam Prevention Service, is a piece of network-level software that uses algorithms and mechanisms similar to that of antivirus software.
Health
Sugar May Cause Obesity
The World Health Organization is calling for a drastic decrease in sugar consumption worldwide, citing recent studies linking sugar to obesity. The new recommended diet consists primarily of carbohydrates making up 55 to 75 per cent of daily energy intake. Protein should make up a further 10 to 15 percent of a person's diet. Sugars, added and natural, should make up less than 10 percent, and salt should be restricted to less than five grams a day.
Gene Found For Cancer Spread
An American research team has discovered a gene responsible for the spread of cancer through the body. The work, done by a team at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, indicates that a new treatment strategy, involving knocking out this gene, may be appropriate for treating the rapid spread of cancer throughout the body in diseased individuals.
Sports
Tiger Wins Again in Different Format
Tiger Woods won the Accenture Match Play tournament over David Toms 2 and 1 on Sunday, winning his second tournament in three weeks. Featuring a one-on-one style of play different than the usual style of golf, the match play tournament figured to be a difficult challenge for Woods, coming off of December knee surgery, but Tiger easily conquered the format as he prepares for the upcoming Grand Slam tournaments.
Roy Jones Jr. Faces Challenges As Heavyweight
After defeating WBA heavyweight champion John Ruiz on Saturday, Roy Jones Jr. (a former middleweight champion) must now decide whether or not to accept the heavyweight title or continue to retain his light heavyweight belt. At 199 pounds, most competitors outweigh Jones, but he is the undisputed king of the lighter weights and has nothing to prove. Jones must choose in the next seven days, and if he decides to keep the title, he must face #1 contender Vitali Klitschko (6'9", 270 lbs.) in 180 days. If he manages to win there, it may set up a reunification bout with Lennox Lewis in perhaps one of the biggest boxing matches of all time.
Entertainment
Chicago Dominates Director's Guild Awards
Chicago claimed the top slot in the Directors Guild of America awards, lending creedence to the film's position as the favorite for the upcoming Academy Awards. The film's director, Rob Marshall, was also noted as the top director.
Anthony Hopkins Weds
Anthony Hopkins, known for playing Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs and its sequels, wed antiques dealer Stella Arroyave in a private ceremony over the weekend in Malibu. This is the third marriage for Hopkins.
And Now, Some Typical Daylog Fare
So, why were there no headlines posted for the past four days?
I was on a whirlwind promotional tour to promote one of my organization's products. The tour took me to Santa Fe, Denver, San Francisco, and Chicago in as many days, with a lot of late night flying and (since I cannot fall asleep on airplanes) No-Doz-fueled presentations.
Fortunately, things went well. My presentations went off well and we seemed to generate some serious enthusiasm in what we're doing.
Unfortunately, due to a mix of exhaustion and a touch of vertigo or dizziness or something, I had some really odd visions on the last flight leg. I kept imagining there was a very large person walking down the aisle toward me. The person had long hair and a goatee and had some blood on his face. But even though he seemed to be walking fast, the person never made it back to me. I don't know why, but I was deathly afraid of this individual.
No matter, I'm back on terra firma, at least for a while.