3/14 Yahoo! News: Top Stories

U.S. Guantanamo inmates no more "enemy combatants" (Reuters) March 13, 2009 at 6:38 pm Reuters - The Obama administration stopped calling Guantanamo inmates "enemy combatants" on Friday and incorporated international law as its basis for holding the prisoners while it works to close the facility. Police: Woman drugs boss's coffee so he'll 'chill' (AP) March 13, 2009 at 6:15 pm AP - Police said a woman has been arrested for allegedly slipping some tranquilizers into her boss's coffee because she felt "he needed to chill out." Police said the 24-year-old woman admitted to detectives that she slipped the drugs into veteranarian John Duckett's drink. Officers said Duckett knew something was wrong shortly after drinking some of the coffee Tuesday morning. Italy dig unearths female 'vampire' in Venice (AP) March 13, 2009 at 6:10 pm AP - An archaeological dig near Venice has unearthed the 16th-century remains of a woman with a brick stuck between her jaws — evidence, experts say, that she was believed to be a vampire. The unusual burial is thought to be the result of an ancient vampire-slaying ritual. It suggests the legend of the mythical bloodsucking creatures was tied to medieval ignorance of how diseases spread and what happens to bodies after death, experts said. Madoff's family remains under scrutiny in probe (AP) March 13, 2009 at 6:10 pm AP - By all accounts, Bernard Madoff isn't talking. And his wife, his sons, his brother and other key employees have lawyered up. Post-9/11 reforms don't stop passport fakery (AP) March 13, 2009 at 5:51 pm AP - Using phony documents and the identities of a dead man and a 5-year-old boy, a government investigator obtained U.S. passports in a test of post-9/11 security. Obama admin. to end use of term 'enemy combatant' (AP) March 13, 2009 at 5:46 pm AP - The Obama administration said Friday that it is abandoning one of President George W. Bush's key phrases in the war on terrorism: enemy combatant. The Justice Department said in legal filings that it will no longer use the term to justify holding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Madoff's lawyers want him freed from jail on bail (Reuters) March 13, 2009 at 5:08 pm Reuters - Lawyers for Bernard Madoff argued that a U.S. court erred in jailing him pending sentencing and will ask an appeals court to reinstate his bail and house arrest, according to court papers filed on Friday. Michigan State wins 64-56, top seed still possible (AP) March 13, 2009 at 4:58 pm AP - Good thing the NCAA selection committee doesn't count style points when selecting the No. 1 seeds. Chris Allen led three Spartans in double figures, and No. 7 Michigan State kept its hopes for a top seed alive with a 64-56 victory over scrappy Minnesota on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament. It was Michigan State's sixth straight win, and ninth in 10 games. G20 ministers deny rift over fighting credit crisis (AFP) March 13, 2009 at 4:33 pm AFP - Britain and France's finance ministers played down talk of a transatlantic rift on fighting the credit crisis, as they and colleagues met Friday to prepare for next month's vital G20 summit. U.S. may join Franco-German EU copter project (Reuters) March 13, 2009 at 1:54 pm Reuters - The United States may join a Franco-German project to build a new heavy transport helicopter that is already open to other EU states, the European Union said on Friday, a sign the economic crisis is hitting defense budgets Pakistan tries to avert crisis, crackdown extended (AFP) March 13, 2009 at 12:51 pm AFP - Pakistan leaders scrambled Friday to find a compromise deal to head off a political crisis as police extended a crackdown trying to foil a mass anti-government protest that has raised fears of unrest. European tax havens make concessions on bank secrecy (Reuters) March 13, 2009 at 11:52 am Reuters - Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg offered to relax strict bank secrecy in some tax evasion cases on Friday in a response to a global crackdown on tax havens that is rattling the offshore banking industry. Barbara Bush leaves hospital after heart surgery (AP) March 13, 2009 at 11:42 am AP - Former first lady Barbara Bush has been released from a Houston hospital eight days after undergoing heart surgery. U.S. consumers slightly less grim, trade gap narrows (Reuters) March 13, 2009 at 11:22 am Reuters - U.S. consumers' mood grew less grim in March, according to a survey released on Friday, while the latest figures showed the U.S. trade deficit narrowed in January to its smallest in more than six years. Stock prices climb for 4th straight day (AP) March 13, 2009 at 11:01 am AP - Stocks mostly rose Friday as investors tried to extend Wall Street's gains for a fourth straight day amid more encouraging comments from bank executives and better-than-expected trade data. Trade deficit falls to $36 billion in January (AP) March 13, 2009 at 10:55 am AP - The U.S. trade deficit plunged in January to the lowest level in six years as a deepening recession cut demand for imported goods at an even faster rate than for exports. Lawmakers seek to tie exec pay to performance: report (Reuters) March 13, 2009 at 10:35 am Reuters - New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Rep. Barney Frank and other lawmakers are discussing a plan to link executive pay to the long-term performance of companies, the Wall Street Journal said. 10 drink windshield wiper fluid at Ark. day care (AP) March 13, 2009 at 10:31 am AP - Ten children drank windshield wiper fluid after a staffer at an Arkansas day care mistakenly put the liquid in a refrigerator and served it, hospital officials said Friday. NIreland rejects violence as policeman buried (AFP) March 13, 2009 at 10:19 am AFP - Northern Ireland grieved on Friday for the first policeman killed in the province for a decade, after his widow called for an end to violence threatening the peace process. Rise in false threats after German school shooting (Reuters) March 13, 2009 at 10:18 am Reuters - German police have received more than half a dozen threats of violence at schools since a teen-ager went on a deadly rampage in southwest Germany on Wednesday, officials said. South Korea, Japan warn North Korea on missile (Reuters) March 13, 2009 at 9:58 am Reuters - Japan said on Friday it could shoot down any threatening object falling toward its territory, after North Korea said a planned rocket launch would send it across Japanese territory. China "worried" about US Treasury holdings (AP) March 13, 2009 at 9:28 am AP - China's premier didn't say it in so many words, but the implied warning to Washington was blunt: Don't devalue the dollar through reckless spending. BofA seeks more jumbo mortgages: report (Reuters) March 13, 2009 at 9:26 am Reuters - Bank of America Corp is seeking to produce more "jumbo" mortgages, which can range from $417,000 in most areas to as much as $729,750, Barbara Desoer, the bank's head of mortgage, home equity and insurance services told Bloomberg in an interview. G20 rift deepens ahead of crisis response talks (Reuters) March 13, 2009 at 8:20 am Reuters - Japan joined the U.S. push for more government spending to fight the economic crisis on Friday but G20 unity looked seriously compromised after Paris accused Washington of disregarding the urgent need for tough market regulation. Phelps talks to NBC about marijuana pipe photo (AP) March 13, 2009 at 7:53 am AP - Michael Phelps insists he's more worried about the pain he caused family, friends and fans than losing money in endorsements after he was photographed inhaling from a marijuana pipe. Obama to get report on stimulus plan from Volcker (AP) March 13, 2009 at 7:32 am AP - President Barack Obama is getting an update on the nation's economy from former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. Woman buys used couch and finds cat living inside (AP) March 13, 2009 at 7:27 am AP - The mysterious mewing in Vickie Mendenhall's home started about the time she bought a used couch for $27. After days of searching for the source of the noise, she found a very hungry calico cat living in her sofa.