US & World News, Wednesday 11/7

US & World Summary Oil Surges To All-Time High (Singapore) -- Oil prices have set a new record. U.S. light crude rose to 98-dollars-17-cents a barrel today, inching ever closer to the 100-dollar mark. Thinning oil stocks and a North Sea storm are being blamed for the latest rise in prices. The North Sea storm is shutting down two oilfields that together produce more than 300-thousand barrels of oil a day. According to the International Energy Agency, when adjusted for inflation, oil is still below the peak of just over 101-dollars reached in April 1980, one year after the Iranian revolution. --- Oil Spill In Gulf Of Mexico Off Southeast Texas Coast (Port Arthur, TX) -- The Coast Guard is investigating what may have caused a crude oil pipeline rupture in the Gulf of Mexico. About two-thousand gallons of oil was leaked in the rupture. Coast Guard officials in Port Arthur responded to the ruptured pipeline, which is about four-miles offshore of McFaddin Beach in southeast Texas. The pipeline, located in the Tammany Oil and Gas Field, was leaking from two different places. A team of divers has been working to fully secure the pipeline. --- Kentucky Governor Out, Mississippi Governor Re-elected Kentuckys Governor is out, while Mississippis will be back for another term. Voters in the Blue Grass state have dumped Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher in favor of Democrat Steve Beshear. Meanwhile in Mississippi, Republican Governor Haley Barbour has been re-elected. With 98-percent of the states precincts reporting, Barbour has 58-percent of the vote against 42-percent for Democratic rival John Arthur Eaves. Elsewhere, Michael Nutter easily won the Philadelphia mayoral election, while in San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom was easily reelected. --- Report: GM Planning Take 39-Billion-Dollar Charge General Motors plans to take a 39-billion-dollar charge against its third quarter earnings. Thats according to the "Financial Times," which says writedowns in future tax benefits are behind the move. The automaker is also troubled by losses in a company-owned real estate financial service group as well as challenging auto markets in the U.S. and Germany. A GM official says the company will improve its position through new products and benefits from a new contract with the United Auto Workers. --- 15-Thousand Want Off The U.S. Terror Watch List (Washington, DC) -- Thousands of people are asking the government to take them off the terrorist watch list. According to "USA Today," there have been about 15-thousand requests since February and the Transportation Security Administration cant keep up. The paper says so many complaints have been received that it has created a backlog for the Homeland Security Department because each request takes about 44 days to process. Those flagged at checkpoints have included toddlers and senior citizens who have the same names as suspected terrorists on the watch list. --- Study Links Birth Control Pill To Heart Artery Plaque (Orlando, FL) -- Using birth control pills could endanger the heart. Thats the finding of a new study that for the first time links the use of birth control pills to plaques that could clog heart arteries. According to "USA Today" the study suggests that for every ten years of pill usage, the likelihood of finding plaques in key arteries increases by 20-to-30-percent. The pill is the worlds most popular form of contraception and is used by about 12-million women in the U.S. The study followed 13-hundred women, ages 33 to 55. --- Jane Seymour Bounced From "Dancing With The Stars" Actress Jane Seymour has been bounced from ABCs "Dancing With the Stars." Seymours ouster comes just a few weeks after her mother passed away, and shortly after another contestant lost a parent. Marie Osmond learned her father passed away yesterday morning. On Mondays show Osmond earned her highest score yet in the competition, and after the performance noted that she had dedicated that dance to her parents. (Copyright 2007 by Newsroom Solutions) RNS-11-07-07 0741CST