Apr
22
2013
It’s a rite of spring: big banks hosting their annual shareholder meetings.
They’re the one time of year when CEOs of the big public companies face large groups of investors, answer their questions, and allow them to vote on proposals from other shareholders. Companies often meet in their headquarter cities, though this year, two major banks are decamping to Salt Lake City, Utah, for the first time.
Here’s a round-up:
—San Francisco-based Wells Fargo meets Tuesday in …
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Apr
22
2013
On Monday, the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in a case that will decide if recipients of government aid can be forced to oppose prostitution – or potentially any other issue as a contingency of receiving U.S. funds. The case, Alliance for Open Society International v United States Agency for International Development, arises from a controversial policy governing AIDS education, prevention, and treatment, a decade-long fight that’s crossed political lines and was kicked off by …
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Apr
22
2013
Paraguayans have elected Horacio Cartes, leader of the Colorado Party and one of the country’s richest men, to the post left vacant by President Fernando Lugo’s impeachment last year.
The millionaire businessman won a five-year term with 46 percent of the vote over 37 percent for Efrain Alegre of the ruling Liberal party, the Electoral Court announced after most votes were counted. Five other candidates trailed far behind.
Cartes, 56, had never voted before he joined the …
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Apr
22
2013
Ebay has begun lobbying millions of its users against a bill it claims will impose an unfair tax burden on small businesses.
The US Senate is expected to vote early this week on the Marketplace Fairness Act, a bill that will give states the power to collect online sales tax on goods bought outside their borders. Currently, only merchants with a physical presence within the state have the right to collect the sales tax.
In emails that …
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Apr
22
2013
The number of detainees taking part in a hunger strike at the US-run Guantanamo Bay military prison has grown to 77, an increase of 25 in just the past few days, according to a US military spokesman.
Lieutenant Colonel Samuel House said in a statement that of the detainees refusing food, 17 are receiving “enteral feedings,” a process involving being force-fed via tubes.
Five of the inmates have been admitted to hospital, although none faces “life-threatening conditions,” …
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Apr
22
2013
He could be my son: the oval face; the close-set dark eyes; the curly black hair; tall and lanky. My son was born in 1993, same as the Boston Bomber suspect. As a mother of a swarthy young man, I’m always vigilant about the similarities in appearance of a terrorism suspect, so that when I see virulent Facebook posts that call for an eye for an eye from people in my hometown, my heart aches. …
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Apr
22
2013
WASHINGTON — The Boston bombing suspects engaged in a deadly firefight with police last week, possessing six bombs, handguns, a rifle and more than 250 rounds of ammunition. But the Tsarnaev brothers did not have proper licenses to possess the firearms, according to the Cambridge Police Department — a revelation that comes just days after the Senate voted against strengthening and expanding background checks for gun sales.
Cambridge Police Department spokesman Dan Riviello told The Huffington …
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Apr
22
2013
In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, witnesses described the chaos at the finish line, where thousands of bystanders fled away from the blasts as first responders did the opposite—running toward the smoke and destruction with brave determination. Several people compared the police and medics to salmon swimming upstream, against the tide of the crowds. This is what public service and leadership looks like—and it is a lesson the news media would be wise …
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Apr
22
2013
Three years ago, Charles and David Koch, the billionaire industrialists and supporters of libertarian causes, held a seminar of like-minded, wealthy political donors at the St. Regis Resort in Aspen, Colo. They laid out a three-pronged, 10-year strategy to shift the country toward a smaller government with less regulation and taxes.
The first two pieces of the strategy — educating grass-roots activists and influencing politics — were not surprising, given the money they have given …
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Apr
22
2013
The workers of the General Directorate of Tea Enterprises (Çaykur) started a strike early today due to a disagreement between the Tekg?da-?? union and the Kamu-?? union (Public Enterprises’ Employers’ Union).
The union said they walked out to demand their unpaid wages from the past and the gap of the raises during the period. The strike, which is reportedly the largest public strike in the last 20 years in Turkey, began at 8:00 am today, announced …
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