10 Things to Know for Today: 9-03

9/3/2013
ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • Britain-Lava-Lamps-4

    In this Monday, Aug. 19, 2013, Anthony Voss, lava lamp expert and collector, poses for the photographer in a shop in London with some of the lava lamps in his collection. The lava lamp, an iconic piece of British design and social trends, is celebrating its fiftieth birthday. Since its launch in 1963, Mathmos lava lamps have been in continuous production at their factory in Poole, Dorset. The company founder and eccentric inventor Edward Craven-Walker originally developed the lava lamp from an egg timer design he saw in a Dorset pub. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    • 1. OBAMA ADMINISTRATION MAKING ITS CASE FOR MILITARY STRIKE

    Kerry, Hagel and other top officials will appear before a Senate panel to argue for a response to last month’s alleged gas attack outside Damascus.

    2. HOW MICROSOFT IS EXTENDING ITS SMARTPHONE REACH

    The company — aiming to better compete with Apple and Google — is buying Nokia’s line of smartphones.

    3. JAPAN PLEDGES MILLIONS TO STOP NUKE LEAKS

    As Tokyo seeks an Olympic bid, the government says it will fund an underground ice wall aimed at halting radioactive water from escaping from Fukushima.

    4. WHY DENNIS RODMAN’S BACK IN NORTH KOREA

    He says he wants to hang out with Kim Jong Un and have a good time — but not be a diplomat.

    5. THE 177,028-METER FREESTYLE

    Sixty-four-year-old Diana Nyad becomes the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage.

    6. CBS, TIME WARNER MAKE PEACE

    The agreement ends a blackout and allows the resumption of broadcasts of CBS and CBS-owned channels to millions of U.S. homes.

    7. BEEFING UP THE ANTI-FLU FORCES

    For the first time, certain vaccines will protect against four strains of flu instead of three.

    8. STILL CASTING A GROOVY GLOW AT 50

    Half a century after the Lava Lamp first hit shelves, millions of the hip home accessories have been sold worldwide.

    9. MEXICAN FILM A SURPRISE HIT AT THE BOX OFFICE

    “Instructions Not Included” turns in the biggest Spanish-language opening ever over the holiday weekend in the U.S.

    10. WHO DIDN’T KEEP HIS END OF THE BARGAIN AT THE US OPEN

    Roger Federer suffers an upset loss, meaning he won’t meet Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. Their match had been highly anticipated.