The Starting Point is a snapshot of the news that occurred overnight and a preview of the stories we expect to cover today.
Featured story
Police arrested 15 baggage handlers at Miami International Airport yesterday for allegedly accepting cash from travelers to secretly check in extra or overweight bags, The Associated Press reported. The scam created a possible security risk and added unrecorded weight to planes.
Skycaps at MIA can waive fees for wheelchairs, strollers and bags belonging to military personnel. But to make extra money, the suspects allegedly used those exceptions to check in unreported bags or boxes and pocketed the cash instead of giving it to the airline. In some cases, unaccompanied bags were shipped to Latin America, in apparent violation of federal transportation regulations for international flights.
A nine-month investigation, spearheaded by Miami-Dade police airport district detectives, American Airlines security and state prosecutors, led to the arrests. According to The Miami Herald, most of the baggage handlers were charged with participating in an organized scheme to defraud and grand theft.
What happened overnight
The number of people killed by a series of volcanic eruptions in Indonesia has climbed to 275, The AP reported. The Mount Merapi death toll rose in recent days after more than a dozen victims died from their injuries.
A Swedish prosecutor has requested a court order to detain and question WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange about allegations of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion, The AP reported. Assange denies the claims and says he and his group are being targeted for releasing thousands of classified reports about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The international team of physicists at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) have managed to create 38 atoms of anti-hydrogen in a vacuum and kept them viable for about a tenth of a second, Reuters reported. The trapped atoms can now be studied to determine what happened to anti-matter after the Big Bang explosion created the universe.
Most read overnight
Officials in Hong Kong have confirmed its first case of bird flu in humans since 2003, AFP reported. Government officials raised the avian influenza alert level to "serious," meaning there is a high risk of people contracting the potentially fatal disease. Hong Kong also plans to increase poultry inspections and enhance infection controls at public hospitals and clinics.
Readers were also interested in this Pew Research Center study about marriage and the nature of family. Four in 10 Americans said marriage was becoming obsolete, which was up from just 28 percent in 1978. Four out of five surveyed said unmarried, opposite-sex couples with children or a single parent should qualify as a "family." And three of five said the family label could be applied to a same-sex couple with children. "Marriage is still very important in this country, but it doesn't dominate family life like it used to," said Andrew Cherlin, a professor of sociology and public policy at Johns Hopkins University. "Now there are several ways to have a successful family life, and more people accept them."
Looking ahead
General Motors could set a record today for the biggest ever initial public stock offering. The previous IPO record of $22.1 billion was set by a Chinese bank earlier this year.
Raphael Golb will be sentenced on identity theft and other charges for using online aliases to harass people in an academic debate about the Dead Sea Scrolls.
University of California officials will vote on an 8 percent tuition hike that has fueled violent student protests.
Public opinion
Today's poll: Should the government be allowed to forcibly medicate a mentally ill suspect so he/she can stand trial? Click here to share your thoughts.
Wednesday's poll: Should Florida Gov. Charlie Crist pardon Doors singer Jim Morrison for exposing himself at a 1969 concert? Readers were evenly split on the issue.
A few comments
* "The evidence that convicted him wasn't evidence. It was pure hearsay. The conviction should never have happened." --Terri Geer Sprague
* "What's the big deal? That was over 40 years ago... there are so many more things that need attention. Get a life." --Dennis Beers
* "Wrong is wrong. Why is it when someone is famous it is okay for them to do something wrong? Just a slap on the wrist and off they go to do it again. We need fair and equal punishment for ALL." --Shirley Tardiff
Just the facts, ma'am
One in four Americans is enrolled in a government food program. --ABC News
More than half a million U.S. babies are born premature each year, and 13 million worldwide. --AP
Over 35 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. --Broadcasting Ourselves
Today in history
In 1987, the congressional Iran-Contra committees issued their final report, saying President Ronald Reagan bore "ultimate responsibility" for wrongdoing by his aides.
Birthdays
* Baseball player David Ortiz, 35.
* Actress Chloe Sevigny, 36.
* Comedian Mike Epps, 40.
* Singer Duncan Sheik, 41.
* Actor Owen Wilson, 42.
* Baseball player Gary Sheffield, 42.
* Musician Kirk Hammett (Metallica), 48.
* Actress Elizabeth Perkins, 50.
* Football Hall of Famer Warren Moon, 54.
* Actor/comedian Kevin Nealon, 57.
* Comic book writer Alan Moore, 57.
* Actor Delroy Lindo, 58.
* Author Alan Dean Foster, 64.
* Actress Linda Evans, 68.
* Actress Brenda Vaccaro, 71.
* Author Margaret Atwood, 71.
Notable deaths
* President Chester A. Arthur died in 1886 at the age of 57.
* French novelist Marcel Proust died in 1922 at the age of 51.
* Danish physicist Niels Bohr died in 1962 at the age of 77.
* Singer/bandleader Cab Calloway died in 1994 at the age of 86.
* Author Paul Bowles died in 1999 at the age of 88.
* Composer Michael Kamen died in 2003 at the age of 55.
Video of the day
Quote of the day
"The important thing is not to stop questioning." --Albert Einstein
dierks bentley jennifer nettles miranda lambert if i were a boy
No comments:
Post a Comment