The Starting Point: Surgery errors & a transit strike in Philly

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: North Korea announced that it had finished reprocessing 8,000 spent fuel rods at the Yongbyon nuclear plant, and extracted enough plutonium to boost its atomic stockpile. According to The Associated Press, Pyongyang is believed to have enough weaponized plutonium for six nuclear weapons. North Korea claims it needs atomic weapons to defend itself against American troops; the U.S. denies any intention of attacking the North.

In other news: Tropical Storm Mirinae sparked severe flooding in parts of central Vietnam today, The AP reported. At the time of this writing, at least 11 people have been killed and two others reported missing. The storm also killed 20 people when it hit the Philippines with typhoon strength over the weekend.
 
Transit workers in Philadelphia went on strike this morning after contract talks stalled, The AP reported. The strike halted bus, subway and trolley operations in the city, and stranded thousands of commuters who rely on public transportation. Union members have been without a contract since March.

Lastly, Rhode Island Hospital was fined $150,000 after it had its fifth wrong-site surgery in two years. The private not-for-profit hospital and academic medical center in Providence was also ordered to install video cameras in all of its operating rooms and tape every surgeon at least twice a year. Click here to watch an AP video about the latest incident.

Most popular stories: Authorities say fumes from bug spray were likely to blame for the death of a 10-month-old boy and injuries suffered by his mother and 2-year-old brother, The AP reported. The S.C. woman had been using the foggers in her mobile home to handle a difficult insect situation. All three were hospitalized over the weekend with breathing problems. "Most people put these foggers in - they do it one time a month or every couple of months. She was using two to three a week," Anderson County Deputy Coroner Don McCown said. "She said she followed the directions, but you have to wonder. We can't attribute it to anything else."

Readers were also interested in this AP story about a California man who was jailed for aiming laser beams at airplanes. Dana Christian Welch, 37, was sentenced on Monday to 2 1/2 years in federal prison for disrupting flights. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles said Welch was the first person in the nation to be convicted at trial of interfering with pilots by aiming lasers at their planes.

Looking ahead: President Barack Obama will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and participate in the U.S.-European Union Summit in the Cabinet Room today. Also, voters will head to the polls to elect new lawmakers, and vote on numerous referendums.

Today's poll: Will voters in Maine repeal a law that allows same-sex couples to marry? Click here to share your thoughts.

Today in history: Fifteen years ago, Susan Smith was arrested in South Carolina for drowning her two young sons. She is currently serving life in prison.

Birthdays: Actress Julie Berman, 26. Figure skater Evgeni Plushenko, 27. Actor Dolph Lundgren, 52. Singer Adam Ant, 55. Actress Kathy Kinney, 56. Actress Kate Capshaw, 56. Actress/comedian Roseanne Barr, 57. Singer/actress Lulu, 61. Tennis Hall of Famer Roy Emerson, 73. Former Mass. Gov. Michael Dukakis, 76. Film composer John Barry, 76. Baseball Hall of Famer Bob Feller, 91.

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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.