A news agency says protesters have occupied a Spanish culture center in Istanbul to draw attention to the plight of 10,000 tobacco workers laid off by the Turkish government.
Dogan news agency says dozens of protesters are demanding the government meet workers' demands for new jobs. The government has offered work elsewhere but only on 11-month renewable contracts.
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The story is that when Barry Goldwater delivered his acceptancespeech at the 1964 convention, dispensing high-octane conservatism, ajournalist exclaimed, "My God, he's going to run as Goldwater." Todaymany people are similarly thunderstruck that both nominees of theconservative party are conservatives.
The Gore campaign is a jalopy with one gear-fear overdrive. Hencethe manic attempt to convince the country that Dick Cheney isMussolini without the rhetorical flair. Cheney ("a good guy," said AlGore when a senator) is supposedly frightening because, for example,when serving "with distinction" (according to George Mitchell when hewas the Democrats' Senate leader) in …
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal's five-week-old government took its first major proposal for labor reform to Parliament on Thursday, seeking approval for a reduction in compensation entitlements for laid-off workers.
The proposal is part of a long list of measures Portugal pledged to adopt in return for a €78 billion ($112 billion) bailout that spared it from bankruptcy and was part of European efforts to contain the continent's debt crisis.
Portugal's European partners and the International Monetary Fund granted the bailout on condition it cuts public debt and takes steps to make its ailing economy more competitive.
Lisbon is committed to a strict calendar of measures …
LONDON (AP) — U.K. politicians are fuming about a bonus of nearly a million pounds ($1.5 million) given to the chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, which cost the U.K. government 45 billion pounds to bail out and nationalize three years ago.
Stephen Hester, the current CEO, was brought in to rebuild the bank and, for his work, the board of directors has decided to award him 3.6 million shares. But at a time when the government is hitting Britons with painful spending cuts and tax hikes, the question of bonuses in nationalized companies like RBS has become sensitive.
"Some bankers have decided not to take a bonus this year, like the chief executive of Lloyds," Deputy …
A Grampian training programme has been short-listed for anational award.
Set up by Choose Life, it has provided more than 850 people inthe area with the skills to spot the signs of suicide.
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) is anintensive two-day workshop which aims to give people the skills torecognise the risk of suicide and how to point a person in the rightdirection for help.
Linda Paterson, Choose Life co-ordinator for Aberdeenshire, said:"ASIST is so innovative as it encourages open and honest talk abouta subject that has traditionally been regarded as taboo.
"By talking and encouraging people to seek help, any one of uscan help prevent people from reaching that point of despair."
The prestigious award ceremony, which takes place in Glasgowtoday, will recognise trainers in Grampian who are part of anetwork which has delivered the training to over 11,000 people in Scotland.
The U.S. services sector grew unexpectedly in August for the first time in three months as new orders improved and inflation moderated, a private trade group said Thursday.
The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing executives, said the services sector index rose to 50.6 in August from 49.2 in July. It beat economists' prediction of a reading of 50.0, according to the consensus estimate of Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson Financial/IFR.
A reading below 50 signals contraction, while a reading above 50 indicates growth.
An improvement over July in production, new orders and deliveries boosted the index.
"The index is likely enjoying a final boost from the pickup in retail sales generated by the tax rebates; typically the index lags movements in sales by a month or two," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at High Frequency Economics.
On Thursday, many U.S. retailers reported sluggish sales for the back-to-school season, as shoppers remained cautious because of higher prices for food and fuel and a weak job market.
Although inflation remained elevated, with a reading of 72.9 out of 100, it fell sharply from July, when the reading was 80.8. Prices have been increasing for the last 5 years, according to the survey. Food, plastic pipe, roofing materials, airfares and wine were among the commodities reported as up in price. Prices are dropping for computers, copper pipe and natural gas, according to the survey.
Real estate and rentals, mining, health care, education and utilities are all growing, according to the survey, while transportation, finance, hotels and wholesale trade are contracting.
New export orders showed decline for the second month as orders fell off in the finance, wholesale and retail industries. The weak dollar has bolstered exports, which has helped bolster the overall economy, but as European growth slows and the dollar strengthens, many economists fear export demand may weaken.
Rising costs, declining demand and increased competition fromprivate Internet providers have prompted Chicago to shelve itsambitious plan to build an $18.5 million wireless Internet accesssystem with a reach that extends into the city's poorestcommunities.
EarthLink and AT&T responded to the city's "request forproposals," but both companies reportedly demanded that Chicagobecome an "anchor tenant," paying an annual fee to use the Wi-Finetwork to support city services.
When the city refused -- and insisted that the system attached tocity streetlights and lamp poles be built, maintained and operatedat the contractor's "sole expense" -- negotiations bogged down.
Further complicating the issue was the rising cost of buildingthe network and the declining cost of private Internet access. Thatmade Wi-Fi even less attractive -- and less likely to attract largenumbers of subscribers. Demand has been disappointing in othercities that have tried municipal Wi-Fi.
"A municipal Wi-Fi network was initially envisioned as a way toprovide cheaper, high-speed access to consumers. But given the rapidpace of changing technology in just two short years, the marketplacehas altered significantly," Chicago Chief Information Officer HardikBhatt said in a press release.
STILL PUSHING COMPUTERS
Mayor Daley said he remains committed to having "the mostadvanced broadband network in the nation, especially in our schoolsand underserved neighborhoods" to bridge the digital divide.
The city will continue to pursue private partnerships tosubsidize the purchase of computers, software and education for low-income families, schools, libraries and community centers, the mayorsaid.
"We must give everyone in our city -- regardless of where theylive or who they are -- the same access to the Internet if we're tokeep our progress going and give everyone the same chance to succeedin life," he said.
The city's initial goal was to create an alternative broadbandservice that competes with cable, DSL and cell phone-based wirelessservice and drives down costs.
In exchange for paying Chicago a sizeable monthly fee andpossibly a share of revenues, a technology company or group wouldhave installed, maintained and upgraded roughly 7,500 small antennason streetlight poles every one and a half to two blocks, at a costof roughly $18.5 million.
The new system would have given Chicago a sorely needed revenuestream -- and carried benefits far beyond the tens of millions itwould have raised.
Instead of racing over to Starbucks to get wireless access fromyour laptop or paying a monthly fee to the phone company to get itat home, the Internet would have been available almost anywhere inthe city.
fspielman@suntimes.com
