WASHINGTON - More than half a century after Rosa Parks helped kindle the civil rights movement by refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Alabama, she has become the first black woman to be honored with a life-size statue in the Capitol. Read more... http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/us/politics/statue-of-rosa-parks-is-unveiled-at-the-capitol.xml
ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- World powers began a new round of high-level talks with Iranian officials Tuesday, trying to find a way out of a yearslong tussle over Tehran's nuclear program and its feared ability to make atomic weapons in the future. Read more.... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2013/02/26/iran-nuclear-talks_n_2764270.html?ir=world&utm_campaign=022613&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Alert-world&utm_content=Title
The combined entity's name, headquarters and CEO are all undetermined, an unusual level of major decisions yet to be made that points to the integration challenge the companies face.
"I have seldom seen a situation where they can't decide on the name, the CEO or the corporate headquarters. Normally that's what you work out before you announce a deal," said Tom Stemberg, managing general partner of the Highland Consumer Fund and founder of office supply chain Staples.
Read more: Office Depot in $976 million deal to buy rival OfficeMax | Reuters
American Airlines (AAMRQ.PK), which is currently going through bankruptcy court proceedings, has announced its merger with US Airways (NYSE:LCC) to emerge from bankruptcy. In a joint press conference held on February 14, chief executives of both carriers announced the merger, which will create one of largest airlines in the world with an estimated market capitalization of $11 billion.
Washington • President Barack Obama’s call to raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour and boost it annually to keep pace with inflation is already getting a trial run. Ten states make similar cost-of-living adjustments, including Washington state, where workers earn at least $9.19 an hour, the highest minimum in the country.
In all, 19 states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages set above the federal rate of $7.25 (which is Utah’s level), a disparity Obama highlighted in his State of the Union address as he seeks to help the nation’s lowest-paid workers.
Read more: Debate stirs anew over Obama minimum wage plan | The Salt Lake Tribune
PHOENIX - An Arizona court ruling says motorists can continue to be prosecuted for driving under the influence of marijuana even if the only proof is a blood test that shows a chemical compound that doesn't cause impairment but that can remain in blood for a month.
US Airways and American Airlines expect to close their merger to create the world's largest airline by October, according to announcements from the airlines Thursday.
The companies issued joint news releases detailing the $11 billion all-stock deal that will have the smaller, Tempe-based airline joining with Fort Worth, Texas-based American.
The combined airline will offer more than 6,700 daily flights to 336 destinations in 56 countries, according to the release. Read more... http://www.azcentral.com//business/us-airways-american-airlines-merger/articles/20130213us-airwaysamerican-airlines-merger-is-official.html?source=nletter-
North Korea conducted its third nuclear test on Tuesday in defiance of existing U.N. resolutions, angering the United States and Japan and prompting its only major ally, China, to call for calm. Read more... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2013/02/12/north-korea-nuclear-test_n_2666319.html?ir=world&utm_campaign=021213&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Alert-world&utm_content=FullStory
A Super Bowl television ad that aired in Phoenix and other markets has worried some health groups because it shows a man smoking what appears to be a cigarette, even though smoking ads have been banned for more than four decades. Read more... http://www.azcentral.com//business/consumer/articles/20130207super-bowl-e-cigarette-commercial-lung-association-officials-fuming.html?source=nletter-
The Cuban foreign minister has reaffirmed Havana’s determination to support Tehran’s nuclear energy program and strengthen mutual cooperation to counter Western embargos.
Read more: PressTV - Cuba backs Iran’s nuclear program, vows to defy sanctions
Inside the suite of a nondescript industrial park in west Phoenix, an armed security guard in a bulletproof vest guards dozens of tents filled with lush plants that supply medical-marijuana patients throughout the state. All day long, men and women with varying medical conditions swing through the doors of the cultivation center to tend their crops, allowing fresh air to seep into the office suite, which reeks of a musky, skunklike odor. As hard-rock music blares, the growers measure nutrients, roll blunts (cigars), prune plants and prepare buds for drying. Read more: Market blooms for medical-pot experts
Tempe police targeted the operator of two “compassion clubs’’ Tuesday, arrested him, serving a series of search warrants and seizing a garage full of mature marijuana plants. The months-long undercover investigation started before an employee of Top Shelf Medicine, formerly known as the AzGoGreen Co-op, was shot and critically injured on Oct. 25. Read more: Tempe police crack down on marijuana 'compassion clubs'
OAKLAND, Calif. -- In the summer of 2007, the owners of Harborside Health Center, then and now the most prominent medical marijuana dispensary in the U.S., were reflecting on their rapid rise. Steve DeAngelo had opened the center with his business partner in October 2006, on a day when federal agents raided three other clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area. "We had to decide in that moment whether or not we were really serious about this and whether we were willing to risk arrest for it," DeAngelo said. "And we decided we were going to open our doors. And we did, and we haven’t looked back since. The only way I’ll stop doing what I’m doing is if they drag me away in chains. And as soon as they let me out, I’ll be back doing it again." Read more: Obama's Drug War: After Medical Marijuana Mess, Feds Face Big Decision On Pot
The US Congress has voted to extend the nation's borrowing limit until the middle of May.
The Senate's 64-34 vote gave final approval to a bill that must now be signed by President Barack Obama. Read more... http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21287474
