The world - Nov. 4, 2010

THURSDAY

The National Oil Spill Commission released findings that said Halliburton Co. used flawed cement in BP Plc’s doomed Gulf of Mexico well, which could have killed 11 workers and contributed to the blowout that sparked the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

Verizon Wireless agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $25 million on top of more than $52 million in refunds to consumers for overcharging them.

FRIDAY

Nepali telecom company Ncell took high speed Internet to the top of the world when it launched Nepal’s first 3G services at the base camp of Mount Everest.

King’s County, N.Y., Supreme Court Justice Paul Wooten ruled a four-year-old is old enough to be sued for allegedly running over an elderly woman with her training bicycle. The woman underwent surgery for a fractured hip and died three months later.

Several gunshots were fired at a Marine Corps museum near Washington, and FBI investigators suspect the shooting was linked with prior shootings at the Pentagon and at a suburban Virginia Marine Corps recruiting station.

WEEKEND

Yemeni forces on Saturday arrested a woman believed to be involved in sending explosive packages from Yemen bound for the United States that sparked a global security alert.

Tens of thousands turned out to the Washington Mall for satirists Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s “Rally to Restore Sanity.” The duo, hosts of late-night cable TV shows, poked fun at politicians and media for stoking partisan fervor.

Pennsylvania Dentists Nalin and Arpan Patel offered to pay $1 a pound to parents and children who turn in excess candy collected on Halloween. The proceeds will be sent to U.S. troops serving in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Two young Australian sisters have collected more than 8,254 stuffed toys that will eventually be donated to local charities in a world record attempt. The current world record for stuffed toys in a single room stands at 6,500.

Lebanon, a country known for its swinging good times, set the world record for Saturday for pouring the world’s biggest glass of wine when wine festival organizers poured 100 bottles of assorted varieties wine in a glass that measured 2.4 meters high.

MONDAY

The San Francisco Giants won their first World Series since moving from New York in 1954 by beating the Texas Rangers 3-1 in Game Five of the best-of-seven Fall Classic. Shortstop Edgar Renteria was named the series’ Most Valuable Player.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp sued 11 former executives and directors at Heritage Community Bank, a failed Illinois bank, charging them with negligence, gross negligence and breach of fiduciary duty that led to $2 billion of losses from the insurance fund.

American Media Inc, publisher of The National Enquirer, said it will file for a prepackaged bankruptcy in about two weeks to cut debt and improve cash flows.

TUESDAY

Disenchanted U.S. voters swept Democrats from power in the House of Representatives and strengthened the ranks of the Senate GOP roster in an election rout that resulted in the biggest power shift in Washington since the 1994 Republican Revolution.

A 15-month-old baby girl survived a fall from a seventh-floor apartment in Paris almost unscathed after bouncing off a cafe awning and into the arms of a passer-by. A young man saw the baby starting to fall and alerted his father, who raced to get into position, arms outstretched, to catch her after she hit the awning. The girl appeared to have no serious injuries. The owner of the cafe said it was a stroke of luck he had decided to leave the awning open.

A group of Kansas public school districts filed a lawsuit claiming the state has again unconstitutionally short-changed students. The lawsuit alleges that the state failed to provide sufficient money to comply with a funding plan that resulted from a previous lawsuit that was settled in 2006.

WEDNESDAY

The last scheduled launch of space shuttle Discovery was delayed by potential electrical problems. Discovery is the first of three shuttles NASA is planning to retire. The flight has not yet been rescheduled.

Greece suspended overseas shipment of mail and packages for 48 hours, hoping to stop militants sending more parcel bombs in addition to more than a dozen already sent to governments and embassies. Small bombs exploded at the Swiss and Russian embassies in Athens on Tuesday. A parcel with explosives was intercepted at the German chancellor’s office and another package addressed to Italy’s prime minister caught fire when it was checked.

Compiled by Gazette staff from a variety of sources.