A few noteworthy tidbits for your reading pleasure…
1. AOL Inc. buys the Huffington Post. The global Internet service announced that it has acquired The Huffington Post, an Internet newspaper, for $315 million. Arianna Huffington, the online daily’s founder, has been added to AOL’s management team as part of the deal.
2. Got work? Great, chances are you’ll keep it. Unemployment is still dismally high (approximately 14 million Americans are still out of work). So what’s the good word? Fewer companies are cutting jobs. According to recent studies corporations have “planned” to cut fewer jobs this January than they have since1993. This means the chances of getting laid off may be few and far between — at least for now.
3. Cholera reaches the states. Officials confirmed three New York City residents have cholera. The individuals contracted the disease while in the Dominican Republic for a wedding in January. They have been treated. City health officials are now collaborating the Atlanta’s Centers for Disease Control in Prevention to determine whether the strain is similar to the one that has killed thousands in Haiti (which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic) over the last six months.
4. Iran bans foreign cooking shows. The Iranian government wants to limit Western influence on its citizens, so they’re hitting where it hurts most: the stomach. The state-run television will no longer air any programming that features Western cuisine.
5. Unrest in Egypt = higher oil prices. Experts are predicting that oil prices will increase to $110 per barrel if political instability continues in Egypt. The nation is one of the main conduits, via the Suez Mediterranean Canal that passes near Cairo, for oil to be transported worldwide.
