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Stocks end ugly month on a high note
Some highlights from the day's business news:
The rally in U.S. stocks regained momentum Tuesday afternoon, but the day's gains weren't enough to lift the market out of the red for the month.
The Dow Jones industrial average surged 128 points Tuesday, or 1%. All but one of the Dow's components posted gains, with Pfizer, Cisco and Alcoa leading the advance. The S&P 500 added 14 points, or 1.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 38 points, or 1.4%.
Unborn child has Facebook profile
Unborn baby Marriah Greene has a lot to say, at least according to her Facebook profile.
The child attends Tummy University, enjoys soccer and swimming and talks in first person. And her friends talk back to her– in baby-speak, naturally.
Of course, it’s really her mother, Ellie Greene of Whitehouse, Texas, updating the page, but the fetus already has more than 260 friends.
When Ellie and her husband, Matt, decided it was time to announce their pregnancy, they wanted a quick, inclusive method, and what’s faster than Facebook to spread exciting news?
“Within a day she had over 100 friends,” Ellie said, according to affiliate KLTV.
[cnn-video url="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2011/05/31/dnt.unborn.baby.facebook.cnn"%5DFriends quickly responded to updates about Marriah. They give advice, make jokes and compliment her beauty in the ultrasound photos.
“We wanted to keep the page going, so she could go back and look at it,” Ellie said, giving her daughter the opportunity to see how many people adored her before she was even born.
The parents plan to continue updating the page, with her birth story coming soon. After all, “The word in the belly is there's a lot more to see.”
Overheard on CNN.com: Readers question cell phone cancer risk
Comment of the day: “Cancer? Yes, there's an app for that.” - katiefacemom
The World Health Organization has found enough evidence to categorize personal exposure to cell phones as "possibly carcinogenic to humans." In a report, the organization says the danger is in the same “hazard" category as lead, engine exhaust and chloroform. Despite the report, the cell phone industry maintains that there is no conclusive evidence of danger.
CNN.com reader reaction to the report varied, although most were skeptical of the findings. Some said they are old news and others made light of them. Some said they hoped people would stop using their phones so often, while others lamented all things cancer-related.
cellosong said, “The 90s called. They want their urban legend back.” P3NGU1N said, “Breaking News from 1990!” But Zygmoid said, “No, this is not the same study they did 10 years ago. It's called ‘science’ people ... don't worry about it, go watch TV.”
new2wi said, “I wonder if someone will make an app so our phones can give us a CT scan?” ripley01 said, “So I guess talking to my mom WAS killing me.” GeorgeFnBush said, “They cause far more car wrecks than cancer.” SkyJim said, “Great, I can't wait to see the danger/warning labels they're going to start putting on these things. Next person to call me on my cell phone I'm going to answer with ‘are you trying to kill me?’ ” MoreMedsPls "This is your brain. This is your brain on Cell Phone." common51 said, “I'm sure the phone companies will charge us extra for the cancer.... We don't get anything for free from them.” MoreMedsPls said, “I'm certain WE will charge the cell phone companies via civil lawsuits.” Neutronium said, “what does a rock group know about cancer anyway?”
rosem4243 said, “So does this mean that cell phones will not be allowed to be used in restaurants, parks, office buildings....just like smoking? Sweet!” edvhou812 said, “This is good news! People just might stop talking on their cells phones while driving, in the restaurant, in the bookstore, etc.” kilroy101 said, “Get rid of the cell phone, you don't need it. Get rid of your Cable TV, you don't need it. Get outside and exercise, you NEED it!” Redman7176 said, “So there will be justice in the end for all the idiots on their phones while driving in the left lane.”
bcole04 said, “I feel like, at this point, I'm going to get cancer from something anyway. I will either get it from the sun I'm exposed to everyday, the air I breathe, the diet soda I drink, the cell phone I talk on or the deodorant I use. Should you try to reduce your risk of these? Sure. Should I be so scared of getting cancer from just about anything nowadays that I complete rearrange my life in response to that fear? No way. “And Rutledge2020 said, “Pretty sure that just being alive in general increases your risk of cancer.”
Official: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, 9/11 conspirators to be re-charged for tribunal
The Pentagon will announce Tuesday that charges against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other alleged co-conspirators in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are being refiled to allow prosecution before a military tribunal at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, naval base, a defense official confirmed.
The move comes after the Obama administration dropped plans to prosecute the suspects in federal court in New York.
Besides Mohammed, the other suspects to face charges of participating in the 9/11 plot are Walid bin Attash, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi. All five are at Guantanamo.
Stories from the rubble: A CNN producer's impressions
Editor's note: CNN producer Matthew Hoye shares his personal thoughts on covering the devastating tornadoes in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Joplin, Missouri.
In the past month, I've covered two of the worst tornadoes to hit the U.S. in decades.
The devastation and heartbreak in Tuscaloosa and Joplin are truly indescribable. I met so many people who, I think, could not process what had happened. I watched them climb through rubble in the unrecognizable landscape, searching for something familiar among shredded clothing, soaked and mildewy photos and smashed electronics. What looked like garbage to me was a keepsake to them. A torn family picture, a hand-me-down table or a random cell phone with pictures of the neighborhood were scattered among the miles and miles of twisted metal. There were brief smiles as mementos of the life that had been there just yesterday were found.
Jim Richards found his wife's immigration green card a couple of houses away from his previous home and, amazingly, his iPad buried under an overturned Jeep. He laughed as he told me the iPad cover was destroyed, but the iPad, with all his family photos, e-mails and contacts, worked just fine.
NHL's Atlanta Thrashers set to move to Winnipeg
[Updated at 1:45 p.m. ET] Atlanta will be losing a National Hockey League team for the second time, and Winnipeg, Manitoba, will be gaining one for the second time.
The new owner of the franchise, True North Sports and Entertainment, announced Tuesday that it has acquired the team from its current owners, Atlanta Spirit.
"I am excited beyond words" to make this announcement, True North CEO Mark Chipman said Tuesday.
The transaction is subject to the approval of the NHL Board of Governors later this month.
The Thrashers will be the second NHL franchise Atlanta has lost to Canada. The Flames moved to Calgary, Alberta, in 1980. Winnipeg lost its previous NHL team, the Jets, to Phoenix in 1996. The team was renamed the Coyotes in Phoenix.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman's words that hockey was stronger than ever in Canada sparked loud applause in Winnipeg. And then he said the words many residents of the city have been waiting to hear from the NHL:
"It's nice to be back in Winnipeg after all these years."
That sentiment was echoed by Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger.
"NHL - welcome home," he said. "It's great to have you back here where you belong. We've missed you, and we're going to make it work forever."
Biodegradable products may be doing more harm than good, study finds
North Carolina researchers say products that are advertised as biodegradable are likely doing more damage to the environment in landfills than regular products.
Microorganisms break down biodegradable items, a process that produces methane which is a greenhouse gas when released into the atmosphere, according to Morton Barlaz, the head of North Carolina State Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering. He co-authored a recently published paper detailing the unexpected findings.
The Environmental Protection Agency reports that while most city solid waste landfills convert that methane for energy or burn the methane off-site, at least 35 percent of landfills allow the methane to escape, according to the paper.
Federal Trade Commission guidelines advise that products marked as "biodegradable" to decompose within "a reasonably short period of time" after disposal. Federal regulations don't require landfills to collect methane for at least two years from the time the materials have been dumped, according to researchers.
Student survives Tuscaloosa, then Joplin tornado
University of Alabama student Emily Fuller was disappointed that her spring semester had to end early in April after a tornado ripped through Tuscaloosa. It was devastating when she finally made it onto campus from her off-campus house to see people walking around dazed after the twister. Forty-two people lost their lives, including one of her sorority sisters.
But as the 20-year-old drove home to Joplin, Missouri, a few weeks ago, she started to feel better. This was a chance to spend more time with her family and get a head start on a peaceful summer.
On May 22, Fuller was working out at Joplin's gym. It had been raining most of the day. All the local stations where warning that a tornado was likely.
"I was getting really worried," she said. "I've always been very scared of storms and after everything, I got in my car and drove home immediately." She called her mom who was out running errands. "I told her to just get home," she said.
Stephen Fuller, Emily's father, was at home. He knew his daughter was getting worked up.
"When she was a little girl and there was a thunder storm, she liked to gather all her blankets and come sleep next to us," Emily's father Stephen Fuller told CNN.com. "Emily was very, very anxious when this storm rolled in."
She didn't want to see a familiar big black blob hovering closer and closer to Joplin. She didn't want to hear the wind screeching or watch the thick, strong trees that had stood for years in her yard bend like rubber.
When the first of two tornado sirens went off, Emily's parents didn't act very alarmed. They weren't moving very quickly.
The lights went out.
World Health Organization: Cell phone use can increase possible cancer risk
Radiation from cell phones can possibly cause cancer, according to the World Health Organization.
The agency now lists mobile phone use in the same "carcinogenic hazard" category as lead, engine exhaust and chloroform.
Before its announcement Tuesday, WHO had assured consumers that no adverse health effects had been established. A team of 31 scientists from 14 countries, including the United States, made the decision after reviewing peer-reviewed studies on cell phone safety. The team found enough evidence to categorize personal exposure as "possibly carcinogenic to humans."
That means right now, there haven't been enough long-term studies conducted to make a clear conclusion if radiation from cell phones are safe, but there is enough data showing a possible connection that consumers should be alerted.
FULL STORY
Tuesday's intriguing people
Gen. Martin Dempsey
The Army’s Chief of Staff was nominated by President Obama on Monday to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dempsey, who became the new Army chief of staff last month, has extensive combat experience. He helped train Iraqi security forces in Iraq and also served as acting commander of U.S. Central Command overseeing U.S. military operation in the Middle East, Persian Gulf, and Central Asia.
Known for his keen sense of humor, Dempsey sometimes begins his public speeches by singing songs, like “New York, New York.”
The general also calls soldiers in the U.S. and overseas directly every week to get their opinions on life in the Army.
FULL POST
Gotta Watch: Puppets and dummies in the limelight
The list of successful ventriloquists is pretty short. It might be because they are just so darned creepy. One thing is clear, it takes some serious talent to laugh at your own joke made via a puppet.
Singer, comedian, ventriloquist – Terry Fator has not only mastered the art of ventriloquism, but has managed to fuse it with his ability to sing. Here, Piers Morgan talks to the 2007 "America's Got Talent" winner about his success as a singing ventriloquist.
Oxfam: 'Broken' food system leaving millions hungry
Climate change and decreasing natural resources will increase pressure on food supplies in the coming decades, threatening millions of people with chronic hunger, Oxfam International said in a report Tuesday.
The international humanitarian relief and development organization calls the world's food system "broken," saying food price increases have driven 44 million people worldwide into poverty just this year.
“Our world is capable of feeding all of humanity yet one in seven of us are hungry today," Oxfam Executive Director Jeremy Hobbs says in a press release.
"As climate change impacts become increasingly severe and fertile land and fresh water supplies become increasingly scarce, feeding the world will get harder still. Millions more men, women and children will go hungry unless we transform our broken food system,” Hobbs says.
Oxfam puts the blame for the crisis on governments, businesses and wealthy elites.
Four killed in Virginia tour bus crash
Four passengers aboard a commercial tour bus died and an undetermined number others were injured early Tuesday when the vehicle overturned on I-95 in Caroline County, Virginia, according to state police.
The bus ran off the right side of the road and overturned about a quarter-mile from the Carmel Church exit, according to Corinne Geller, public relations manager for the Virginia State Police.
Injured passengers were being taken to hospitals in Fredericksburg and Richmond, Virginia, Geller said.
Police have not named the tour company or the itinerary.
[cnn-video url="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2011/05/31/va.deadly.bus.crash.wjla"%5DThe accident happened before 5 a.m. Tuesday morning. As of 7:30 a.m., state police had closed the northbound lanes of the interstate while accident investigators examine the scene, she said.
The northbound lanes were expected to remain closed until mid-morning, according to police. Southbound lanes were not affected, Geller said.
Deadly E. coli outbreak spreads in Germany
The outbreak of E. coli in Germany has killed several more people and sickened hundreds, authorities said Tuesday.
News reports citing local authorities reported 16 deaths linked to E. coli in some raw vegetables. CNN has confirmed at least 11 deaths.
As more people have died, the outbreak has shown itself to be spreading geographically as well. No longer contained in northern Germany, the outbreak has killed at least two people in the western part of the country.
The Robert Koch Institute, Germany's federal unit responsible for disease control and prevention, said 373 people have been confirmed sickened. But figures coming in from local authorities and hospitals made clear many more people are believed to be infected.
"Here in Hamburg we're pretty much at the epicenter," Jorg Debatin, medical director of the Hamburg Medical Center, told CNN. His hospital has 600 to 700 infected patients, Debatin said. About 20% to 30% of them develop hemolytic-uremic syndrome, or HUS, "a very severe complication," he said.
The hospital is especially concerned about 85 patients - 20 children and 65 adults - who may go into renal failure and develop neurologic symptoms, he said. While authorities worked to contain and respond to the outbreak, the specific cause remained unclear.
The European Food Safety Alert Network said EHEC, or enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, a strain of E. coli that causes hemorrhage in the intestines, was found in organic cucumbers originating from Spain, packaged in Germany, and distributed to countries including Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg and Spain.
But the source has not yet been pinpointed, authorities said.
FULL STORYTuesday's live video events
Watch CNN.com Live for continuing coverage of the devastating storms that hit parts of the United States.
Today's programming highlights...
8:30 am ET - Casey Anthony trial - Testimony resumes in the trial of Casey Anthony, the Florida woman accused of killing her young daughter.
On the Radar: NBA Finals; shuttle returns; no tobacco day
Three things you need to know Tuesday.
NBA Finals: The NBA Finals tip off at 9 Tuesday night in Miami as the Heat take on the Dallas Mavericks.
A key storyline of the best-of-seven series will be the battle of two NBA Most Valuable Players who aren't wearing title rings - LeBron James of the Heat and the Mavs' Dirk Nowitzki, writes SI.com's Dan Shaughnessy.
"Both are championship-starved. Both need a ring to solidify their place in the list of NBA all-time greats," Shaughnessy writes.
SI.com's Zack Lowe tells you what to look for when Miami has the ball and when Dallas has the ball.
Finally, see how five SI.com NBA writers pick the series. And weigh in with your own pick.
Shuttle returning: The space shuttle Endeavour is preparing for its final landing early Wednesday at 2:35 a.m. at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Endeavour is ending a 16-day mission, more than 11 of which were spent docked at the international space station.
Once it is decommissioned by NASA, Endeavour will go on display at the California Science Center is Los Angeles.
Atlantis is scheduled to make the final shuttle mission with liftoff targeted for July 8.
World No Tobacco Day: The World Health Organization has made May 31 World No Tobacco Day. The organization uses the day to educate the public on the dangers of using tobacco and what they can do to stop it.
Tobacco use kills 6 million people a year, or one every six seconds, the WHO says, including 600,000 deaths a year from second-hand smoke. As many as half of all tobacco users will eventually die from a disease related to its use, the WHO says.
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