Morning Digest: Bomb strikes central Damascus, near U.N. and army sites

	Click to View in Browser 08/30/2012 Bomb strikes central Damascus, near U.N. and army sites ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - A bomb exploded in central Damascus on Wednesday close to several military buildings and a hotel housing United Nations observers, wounding three people and sending a pillar of black smoke into the sky above the Syrian capital.. South Korean leader says North Korea should consider "transformation" SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Wednesday said North Korea should face reality and consider bringing about a "transformation", adding that Seoul will monitor changes in the secretive North.. Stock index futures signal slight dip at open PARIS (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a slight dip at open on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.2 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.16 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.28 percent at 0824 GMT.. Fame, failure and rebirth: Jordin Sparks finds all in "Sparkle" LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Five years after becoming the youngest female to win "American Idol," Jordin Sparks restarts her career in a new movie role that the 22-year-old sees as remarkably close to her own life singing her way to fame.. Boston's Pedroia denies reports of Valentine rift (Reuters) - Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia has denied reports of a rift between the players and under-fire manager Bobby Valentine, insisting that he and his team mates were to blame for Boston's disappointing season.. Mars rover flight engineer with the Mohawk becomes Internet hit LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - While dozens of rocket scientists packed NASA's mission control room during a much-vaunted landing of the Mars rover Curiosity, no one made a bigger impression on viewers glued to live TV and Internet coverage of the event than spike-haired Bobak Ferdowsi.. More trial, less error - An effort to improve scientific studies NEW YORK (Reuters) - So many scientific studies are making incorrect claims that a new service has sprung up to fact-check reported findings by repeating the experiments.. Obama finally beats Bieber as Klout score admits real world SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Until recently, Justin Bieber was more influential than Barack Obama -- at least in the world of Klout, the controversial Web startup that claims to measure people's online influence using an algorithm.. Related Video In the Boardroom: Director Contagion Breakingviews: Barclays' new chief Great Debate A daily digest of breaking business news, coverage of the US economy, major corporate news and the financial markets. Register Today   The latest Reuters articles on M&A, IPOs, private equity, hedge funds and regulatory updates delivered to your inbox each day. Register Today   » MORE NEWSLETTERS - 3 Times Square New York, NY 10036 USA © Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters Ensure delivery of Reuters Newsmails, add mail@nl.reuters.com to your address book. Details Subscribe to other Reuters newsletters. Unsubscribe from this newsletter. Follow us on Twitter Friend us on Facebook Forward to a friend