Salvadoran Pres Puts Wife, Ex-guerrilla In Cabinet (ap)
AP – President-elect Mauricio Funes has appointed his wife and a former Marxist guerrilla to Cabinet posts just hours before starting his five-year term. Read more
Africa’s Upwardly Mobile Money (reuters)
Reuters – To 28-year-old Kenyan Mary Wanjiku, her cell phone is not just a cell phone. It is also a cheap, safe and easy way of sending her mother $40. Read more
Reports: Nkorea Bolsters Defenses, Prepares Icbm (ap)
AP – North Korea is bolstering its coastal defenses and preparing to launch another long-range missile, believed to be capable of reaching Alaska, from a new base on its west coast, reports said Monday. Read more
Spring Hill Plant To Be “idled”
A person familiar with General Motors’ plans says the automaker will permanently close nine more plants and idle three others to trim production and labor costs under bankruptcy protection. Assembly plants in Pontiac, Mich., and Wilmington, Del., will close this year, while plants in Spring Hill, Tenn., and Orion, Mich., will shut down production but [...]