The Starting Point is a snapshot of the news stories that occurred overnight. Look for updates throughout the day on Yahoo! News and in the news box on Yahoo.com.
Top story overnight: Iran’s top electoral body said it found “no major fraud or breach” in the disputed presidential election results, and named Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner. According to The Associated Press, the Guardian Council refused to annul the results of the election despite allegations of systematic vote-rigging. On Monday, the 12-member council admitted finding voting irregularities in 50 of 170 districts, including vote counts that exceeded the number of eligible voters. Should the U.S. government acknowledge Ahmadinejad as the winner of the election? Click here to share your thoughts.
In other news: Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board began examining yesterday’s deadly subway crash in northwest Washington D.C., The AP reported. Nine people were killed and dozens injured when one Metrorail train plowed into the rear of another. Click here to view images from the scene.
Tropical Storm Andres continued to strengthen overnight, and forecasters said it will likely become the Pacific season’s first hurricane today, The AP reported. Current models predict the storm will deal a glancing blow to the port city of Manzanillo in southwestern Mexico before churning its way up the coast.
Finally, Jon and Kate Gosselin have announced their plans to separate after 10 years of marriage, Reuters reported. The Pennsylvania couple, who star in the TLC reality TV program “Jon & Kate Plus Eight,” became the focus of a media frenzy after pictures of Jon and another woman surfaced in the tabloids. Kate did not address the rumors of infidelity on last night’s episode, but said the split was “not a chapter that’s been brought on by our show” but “a chapter that probably would have played out had the world been watching or not.”
Most-read stories overnight: A federal judge chastised the U.S. and ordered the release of a Guantanamo detainee, The AP reported. Federal prosecutors had argued that even though Abd al Rahim Abdul Rassak was tortured by al-Qaida as a suspected Western spy and imprisoned by the Taliban for a year and a half, he still maintained some kind of allegiance to his tormentors. “I disagree!” wrote U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, adding that U.S. officials are “taking a position that defies common sense.”
Readers were also intrigued by this AP story about 700 NYC public school teachers who are paid to do nothing. The teachers have been accused of various offenses, ranging from insubordination to sexual misconduct, and are awaiting their disciplinary hearings. In the meantime, they’re paid their full salaries while sitting in an off-campus office space. The city Department of Education estimates the practice costs the taxpayers $65 million a year.
Looking ahead: A judge will hear an update about the condition of a Minn. boy who fled the state to avoid chemotherapy treatments. And hundreds of taped recordings and thousands of documents from the Nixon Presidential Library will be released today.
Yesterday’s poll: Do you think the voting age should be lowered to 16? Ninety-one percent of respondents said no.
Today in history: In 1993, Lorena Bobbitt sexually mutilated her husband John after he allegedly raped her. Bobbitt was later found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Birthdays: Singer/songwriter Jason Mraz, 32. Singer KT Tunstall, 34. Actress Selma Blair, 37. Singer Chico DeBarge, 39. Musician Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), 47. Actress Frances McDormand, 52. TV personality Randy Jackson, 53. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, 61. Actor Ted Shackelford, 63.
