The World - Sept. 30, 2010

THURSDAY

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study found drivers distracted by talking or texting on cell phones killed an estimated 16,000 people from 2001 to 2007.

Former President Bill Clinton secured a record 291 contributions worth $6 billion to tackle global woes at his sixth annual philanthropic summit, which wound up on Thursday.

Mariner legend Ichiro Suzuki became the first player in Major League Baseball history to notch 10 consecutive 200-hit seasons when he slapped a single up the middle during the fifth inning of a game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

FRIDAY

Queen Elizabeth II asked the British government for money from a fund for poor people to help pay heating bills on her palaces. Bills to heat Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle this year have topped one million pounds. The aid request was denied.

FBI agents searched eight homes in Chicago and Minnesota as part of an investigation the law enforcement agency said related to “the material support of terrorism.” No arrests were made. Targets of the searches accused the government of harassing anti-war protesters.

Seattle strip club operator and alleged mafioso Frank Colacurcio Jr. was sentenced in federal court to a year-and-a-day in prison on a racketeering conviction.

A Miami bank teller was forced to rob the Bank of America Merrill Lynch branch where he worked after criminals kidnapped him and strapped explosives to his chest. The three suspects, their faces covered, fled in a car with an undisclosed amount of money. The teller was unharmed.

WEEKEND

China marked the 30th anniversary of its controversial one-child policy with talk of relaxing rules, at least in some provinces, that have reined in population growth but caused heartache for millions of couples.

A group of Australian environmental activists closed down operations at the world’s largest coal port on Sunday, after entering three terminals and attaching themselves to loaders.

A Soyuz capsule carrying two Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut from the International Space Station landed safely in Kazakhstan on Saturday. They were set to return Friday, but the descent was aborted after latches on a docking port holding the spacecraft to the orbital station failed to open, sending puzzled engineers scrambling for answers.

German musician Vicente Patiz broke a world record by playing concerts in eight countries in 24 hours. His tour hit shows in Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland and Liechtenstein and covered 1,000 kilometers.

MONDAY

Chrysler fired 13 workers at the same auto plant visited by President Barack Obama this summer, after a local television station report showed some of them drinking on their lunch breaks.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas put off a threatened decision to quit peace talks with Israel. This left more time for diplomacy to save negotiations from collapse over Israel’s resumed building of a settlement on the West Bank.

The U.S. Mint ran out of its 1-ounce, 24-karat American Buffalo bullion coins, a type of highly pure gold coin it had been selling amid record high prices of gold.

A marble sculpture of a cut-off hand with the middle finger stuck up has gone on display in front of the Milan Stock Exchange. The 11-meter high installation, called “L.O.V.E.” is part of a retrospective dedicated to the Italian contemporary artist Maurizio Cattelan.

TUESDAY

A lone gunman killed himself with an AK-47 assault rifle in the University of Texas library, prompting a campus lockdown and a search for a second suspect before authorities gave the “all clear.” No other deaths or injuries were reported.

Army Specialist Jeremy Morlock, Wasilla, Alaska, made his first court appearance on charges of murdering civilians and other crimes in Afghanistan as 11 other soldiers invoked their constitutional right not to testify in the case.

WEDNESDAY

North Korea ruler Kim Jong-il anointed his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as successor to lead the state, whose collapsing economy and bid to become a nuclear weapons power pose major threats to the region.

Police in London have arrested 19 people on suspicion of taking part in an online fraud that hit thousands of customers of some of the world’s biggest banks. Police reports said 6 million pounds ($9.5 million) were stolen in one three-month period.

A report released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found women managers in the United States are paid 81 cents for every dollar earned by male managers.

Compiled by the Gazette from a variety of sources.