The world - May 20, 2010

THURSDAY

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo began investigating eight banks to determine whether they misled credit rating agencies. The eight banks are Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Credit Agricole and Merrill Lynch, now owned by Bank of America.

New home foreclosures fell in April, the first year-over-year drop since January 2006. Lenders filed default notices on 103,762 properties in April, down 12 percent in the month and 27 from a record 142,000 one year ago.

Scientists in China identified nine chemicals from cigarette butts, including nicotine, that can be used to protect steel pipes from rusting.

FRIDAY

The U.S. Mine Safety & Health Administration shut down a West Virginia coal mine operated by Patriot Coal Corp. because of a malfunctioning ventilation system.

Italian police arrested a member of the “Pink Panthers” international gang of suspected jewel thieves. The Pink Panthers have been blamed for a string of audacious heists around the world over the last 10 years. Interpol estimates those heists have netted goods worth $317.6 million.

ACLU attorneys filed suit against police in Pennsylvania for writing tickets, which carry a jail sentence, to people for swearing. One woman was given a $300 fine and 90 days in jail for yelling an offensive word at a motorcyclist who swerved close to her.

WEEKEND

Africa’s lake Tanganyika, which straddles the border between Tanzania and the Congo, is warmer now than at any point in the last 1,500 years, according to a paper published Sunday by geologists at Brown University. Some 10 million people live around Tanganyika and depend upon it for drinking water and food, mostly fish.

A Tokyo couple became the first ever to be married by a robot, as a four-foot tall i-Fairy with colorful, flashing eyes presided over their wedding.

Lookin at Lucky topped the field in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes, running the course in 1:55.47 to end Super Saver’s bid for the elusive Triple Crown. The horse paid out $6.80, $4.60 and $3.80 for a $2 ticket.

MONDAY

Microsoft settled a patent dispute with secure real-time communications firm VirnetX for $200 million. VirnetX alleged Microsoft used its technology in some of its Office products.

Laura Silsby, head of a U.S. Christian missionary group, was released from a Haitian prison after charges of kidnapping were reduced to illegal travel. Silsby’s missionaries from a Baptist church in Idaho were arrested for trying to take 33 children out of the country without proper documents in the wake of the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Scientists released pictures of several new species, including a Pinocchio-nosed frog, the world’s smallest known wallaby and a yellow-eyed gecko, they found exploring the remote Foja Mountains in New Guinea.

TUESDAY

Voters in both parties turned against the establishment, backing a “Tea Party” newcomer and dumping a long-standing Senator in races leading up to November’s midterm elections. Democratic Senator Arlen Specter, a 30-year Senate veteran and former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was ousted from the Senate after losing to his challenger in a Pennsylvania primary. Two-term Arkansas Democrat Blanche Lincoln also failed to win a majority in her primary and will face a runoff this June. In Kentucky, Tea Party-backed Rand Paul, son of libertarian Rep. Ron Paul, won the Republican nomination for the state’s open Senate seat.

A Yemen court sentenced six Somali pirates to death for hijacking a Yemeni oil tanker in April 2009. Six other pirates were sentenced to 10 years in prison in the hijacking, which left one sailor dead, one missing and wounded four others.

WEDNESDAY

At least four people were reported dead after rioting and fires swept Bangkok as troops cracked down on ongoing protests against Thailand leadership. Protesters torched at least 17 buildings, including the Thai stock exchange and the nation’s biggest department store.

A Pakistani court ordered the government to block Facebook after hearing reports of a competition being held to draw the Prophet Mohammad. Facebook organizers said the contest was in response to fundamentalist Muslim bloggers who “warned” the creators of the Comedy Central television show “South Park” over a recent depiction of the Prophet in a bear suit.