The Starting Point: Soaring oil prices and struggling car owners

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: Oil prices climbed to $71.36 a barrel overnight, setting a new record high for 2009. Investors reportedly bought into crude markets in an effort to protect themselves against inflation risks posed by the weakening U.S. dollar. "I wouldn't be surprised if we're testing $80 in a week or two," Gerard Rigby, energy analyst with Fuel First Consulting, said. "The momentum right now is too strong." Do you think oil prices will hit the $100 a barrel mark by the end of the year? Click here to share your thoughts.

In other news: A car bomb exploded today in a mainly Shiite area in southern Iraq, The Associated Press reported. The explosive laden car, which was parked in the market district of Bathaa, blew up around 9 a.m. At least 35 people were killed and dozens of others wounded. At the time of this writing, no group had claimed responsibility for the attack.

The remote Pacific island of Palau has agreed to take in 17 Uighur detainees from the Guantanamo Bay prison. According to The AP, President Johnson Toribiong said Palau would temporarily resettle the detainees "as a humanitarian gesture" intended to help them restart their lives. Last year, a federal judge ordered the detainees released into the U.S. after the Pentagon determined they were not "enemy combatants." The men were left in legal limbo when an appeals court halted the order.

Finally, search-and-rescue teams are looking for a helicopter that went missing in New Mexico last night, The AP reported. The helicopter had just picked up a lost female hiker in the mountainous area north of Santa Fe when the pilot reported trouble. New Mexico authorities have received an emergency transponder signal from the helicopter, but rescue workers are still trying to reach the location.

Most-read stories overnight: Struggling car owners are reportedly committing fraud in an effort to cash in on the insurance. Authorities say financially strapped car owners have been torching, sinking and ditching their vehicles and then filing false claims. Many of the people involved in these "owner give-ups" are first-time offenders. "We see people doing this kind of crime who ordinarily wouldn't steal candy from a store," said Tom Reilly, a sheriff's investigator in Texas. If caught, these car owners could face prison time. As for the insurance companies, those paying out money for false claims will likely recoup those losses from honest consumers in the form of premium increases.

Readers were also interested in this AP story about a kidnapping and murder case in Oregon. Korena Roberts, 27, is accused of killing an expectant mother and cutting the child from her womb. Police now say she may have also contacted other pregnant women in the weeks before the slaying in an effort to find the perfect victim. Heather Snively's body was found in the crawl space of Roberts' home. Experts are now trying to determine if murder charges can be brought against Roberts in the baby's death as well.

Looking ahead: A former State Department employee and his wife, both of whom are accused of spying for Cuba for three decades, will appear in court today. And a federal judge is expected to announce his verdict in the case of a former Ga. Tech student charged with plotting to aid a terrorist group.

Yesterday's poll: Would you be willing to sit on a jury impaneled to hear a case involving a Guantanamo Bay detainee? Seventy-nine percent of respondents said yes and 17 percent said no.

Today in history: In 1935, Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in Akron, Ohio.

Birthdays: Football player Marion Barber, 26. Actress Leelee Sobieski, 27. Figure skater Tara Lipinski, 27. Actor Shane West, 31. Actor Hugh Dancy, 34. Singer Faith Evans, 36. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, 38. Model/actress Elizabeth Hurley, 44. Actress Kate Flannery, 45. Musician Jimmy Chamberlin (Smashing Pumpkins), 45. Actress Jeanne Tripplehorn, 46. Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry, 46. Actress Gina Gershon, 47. Singer Maxi Priest, 48. Former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer, 50. Former presidential candidate John Edwards, 56. Football Hall of Famer Dan Fouts, 58. TV commentator Jeff Greenfield, 66. Attorney F. Lee Bailey, 76. Actor/director Lionel Jeffries, 83. Britain's Prince Philip, 88.

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--Jade Walker is the overnight editor of Yahoo! News. News doesn't stop when the lights go out, and neither does Jade.

 

**Yahoo! News bloggers compile the best news content from our providers and scour the Web for the most interesting news stories so you don't have to.