2/24 Yahoo! News: Top Stories

Former governor Locke likely commerce nominee (Reuters) February 23, 2009 at 6:37 pm Reuters - Gary Locke, a former governor of Washington state, is the "likely nominee" for U.S. commerce secretary, an administration official said on Monday. Major stock market indexes fall to 1997 levels (AP) February 23, 2009 at 6:31 pm AP - Wall Street has turned the clock back to 1997. Investors unable to extinguish their worries about a recession that has no end in sight dumped stocks again Monday. The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 251 points to its lowest close since May 7, 1997, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index logged its lowest finish since April 11, 1997. It's as if the decade's dot-com surge, collapse and subsequent recovery never occurred. Sen. Bunning apologizes for Ginsburg cancer remark (AP) February 23, 2009 at 6:08 pm AP - Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning apologized Monday to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for saying he believes she could die within a year from pancreatic cancer. At the same time, his planned bid for a third term in 2010 may have gotten tougher with one of Kentucky's top Republicans saying he has not ruled out a possible run. Guantanamo detainee freed after 4 years in prison (AP) February 23, 2009 at 6:07 pm AP - The first Guantanamo detainee released since President Barack Obama took office returned to Britain on Monday, saying his seven years of captivity and torture at an alleged CIA covert site in Morocco went beyond his "darkest nightmares." DA: Blanket is evidence Pa. boy planned to kill (AP) February 23, 2009 at 6:07 pm AP - An 11-year-old boy apparently covered his shotgun with a blanket to keep it hidden when he left his bedroom, went downstairs and fatally shot his father's pregnant girlfriend in the head as she slept, a prosecutor said Monday. Man who donated sperm wants DNA test for octuplets (AP) February 23, 2009 at 6:06 pm AP - A former boyfriend of Nadya Suleman wants DNA testing to determine if he's the father of her 14 children, including her nearly month-old octuplets. Denis Beaudoin told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday that he donated sperm to Suleman during their three-year relationship in the late 1990s because she claimed to have ovarian cancer. How heart handles anger predicts irregular beat (AP) February 23, 2009 at 6:05 pm AP - How the heart handles anger seems to predict who's at risk for a life-threatening irregular heartbeat. Negative emotions like hostility and depression have long been considered risks for developing heart disease, and deaths from cardiac arrest rise after disasters such as earthquakes. Man in jail for impersonating cops charged again (AP) February 23, 2009 at 5:58 pm AP - A man already serving time for impersonating an officer apparently hasn't learned his lesson. Joshua D. Kay, 30, was charged with a new count of impersonating an officer. At an initial court appearance Friday he stood mute so the court entered a plea of not guilty. Rangers fire coach Renney after losing 10 of 12 (AP) February 23, 2009 at 5:58 pm AP - Tom Renney was fired as coach of the New York Rangers on Monday in an attempt to save a season that has spiraled out of control. The Rangers opened 10-2-1, but 10 losses in the last 12 games has knocked the team out of contention for the Atlantic Division title and placed it in danger of missing the playoffs completely. In recent home games, fans had chanted for Renney to be fired. Wall St slides to 12-year low as confidence sinks (Reuters) February 23, 2009 at 5:11 pm Reuters - Wall Street slumped to a 12-year low on Monday as investors lost faith that the U.S. government will be able to stabilize the financial system. Obama pledges to halve budget deficit in 4 years (Reuters) February 23, 2009 at 5:04 pm Reuters - President Barack Obama pledged on Monday to cut the ballooning U.S. budget deficit by half in the next four years and said the country would face another economic crisis if it did not address its debt problems soon. Rattner to become U.S. adviser on autos (Reuters) February 23, 2009 at 4:42 pm Reuters - Steven Rattner will become an adviser to the U.S. Treasury on the restructuring of the troubled auto industry and has stepped down from the private equity firm he co-founded, the Quadrangle Group, the firm said in a statement on Monday. U.S. says Guantanamo complies with Geneva treaties (Reuters) February 23, 2009 at 4:39 pm Reuters - The U.S. military's Guantanamo Bay prison camp currently complies with the Geneva Conventions' standards for humane treatment, a top U.S. Navy officer concluded on Monday in a review ordered by President Barack Obama. Sri Lanka rejects Tamil Tigers' call for truce (AFP) February 23, 2009 at 10:48 am AFP - Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers appealed on Monday for international action to halt a major offensive against their shrinking fiefdom, but the island's military rejected any talk of a truce.