The Starting Point: Bad investments, fatherhood & the summer solstice

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 supreme leader sided with hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by announcing that the disputed election results were, in fact, valid. During his speech this morning, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed the West and foreign media outlets for stirring up chaos in his country. "Some of our enemies in different parts of the world intended to depict this absolute victory, this definitive victory, as a doubtful victory," he said. "It is your victory. They cannot manipulate it." He also warned opposition supporters to cease all street demonstrations and accept his ruling that the vote was not rigged.

In other news: Air France plans to give a $24,000 advance to the families of Flight 447 passengers and crew, The Associated Press reported. Air France is also looking into holding a memorial for the 228 victims. In the meantime, investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the May 31 crash.

Two adults and a teenage girl were killed yesterday when their house exploded in Corpus Christi, Texas. According to The AP, the cause of the blast is being investigated, but police are "leaning" to the conclusion that it was an accident. Click here to view video footage of the damage.

Finally, the world's oldest man died in Japan today. Born in 1895, Tomoji Tanabe worked as a city land surveyor and had 8 children, 25 grandchildren, 53 great-grandchildren and 6 great-great-grandchildren. He was 113 years old.

Most-read stories overnight: A developer reportedly duped 19 former and current NHL players into investing $25 million into building two luxury resorts -- and then blew the money on parties. According to The New York Post, a lawsuit has been filed against Ken Jowdy seeking the return of the invested funds and $15 million in damages.

Readers were also interested in this AP story about a Georgia man who stalked a supermodel. Brady Green, 39, was convicted yesterday of stalking Tyra Banks and ordered to complete a treatment program. Green was also sentenced to one year probation and barred from coming anywhere near the host of "America's Next Top Model" and "The Tyra Banks Show" for two years.

Looking ahead: Texas billionaire Allen Standford will appear in federal court in Virginia today to face allegations of massive fraud involving his Antigua bank. And President Barack Obama will spend the day promoting the importance of fatherhood.

Today's poll: The summer solstice will occur in the northern hemisphere on June 21. What activities do you most enjoy in the warm summer months? Click here to share your thoughts.

Yesterday's poll: Do the sexual escapades of public officials affect how you vote? Fifty-five percent of respondents said yes, 23 percent said no and 22 percent said sometimes.

Today in history: In 1953, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed at Sing Sing Prison for conspiring to pass U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviet Union.

Birthdays: Actress Lauren Lee Smith, 29. Actress Zoe Saldana, 31. Actress Poppy Montgomery, 34. Actress Robin Tunney, 37. Musician Brian "Head" Welch (Korn), 39. Singer/TV host Paula Abdul, 47. Singer Mark DeBarge, 50. SEC chairwoman Mary Schapiro, 54. Actress Kathleen Turner, 55. Singer Ann Wilson (Heart), 59. Actress Phylicia Rashad, 61. Author Salman Rushdie, 62. Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, 64. Actress Gena Rowlands, 79.

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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.