Now guilty, Kilpatrick’s ex-deputy Kandia Milton to help FBI

FreepFormer Detroit Deputy Mayor Kandia Milton, a childhood friend of ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, became the latest symbol of public corruption in the city, pleading guilty Thursday to bribery conspiracy in a $3.5-million city real estate deal.Milton is the first member of Kilpatrick’s inner circle to be convicted in the ongoing federal probe of public corruption.He is also the first person close… Read more

Utah Mom’s Disappearance ‘Suspicious,’ Police Say

FOXNewsThe disappearance of a missing Utah stockbroker and mother of two has turned “suspicious,” police say.West Valley City Police Capt. Tom McLachlan said Thursday that no one will reveal where 28-year-old Susan Powell is and “she has not contacted us or anyone else we know about.”Powell failed to show up at her job at Wells Fargo Financial on Monday. Her purse, cell phone and car all were… Read more

Brown Defends Deficit Reduction Plan

Wall Street JournalLONDON — The U.K.’s deficit reduction plan is more “detailed” than those of most other countries, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Friday.Speaking at a press conference at the end of a European Council meeting in Brussels, Mr. Brown said he believes the markets understand that the U.K. must get the economy back to growth, as well as drive down its deficit over time.”I… Read more

Pa. House Puts off Debate on Casino-Expansion Bill

ABC NewsPlans collapsed Thursday for a vote in the state House of Representatives on a bill to expand legalized casino gambling in Pennsylvania and deliver more tax revenue to the cash-strapped state.With legislative approval of more than $700 million for several universities tied to passage of the bill, partisan finger-pointing erupted. Meanwhile, the state’s largest university, Penn State,… Read more

Slowing Expansion, Harvard Suspends Work on Tower

New York TimesBOSTON – Harvard announced Thursday that it would indefinitely suspend construction on a high-tech science complex in the Allston neighborhood of Boston because of money problems.’The altered financial landscape of the university, and of the wider world, necessitates a shift away from rapid development in Allston,’ Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard’s president, wrote in a letter released… Read more

Variety to start charging for website access

Los Angeles TimesIn a move that will be watched carefully by newspapers struggling to find a viable financial model in the digital age, entertainment industry publication Variety today will begin charging readers for access to the news and information on its website.The return to erecting a “pay wall,” though anticipated, nonetheless could be risky because several online competitors — including… Read more

Kuwait lops $4.1B Citi stake

New York PosKuwait Investment Authority, the nation’s sovereign-wealth fund, sold its stake in Citigroup for $4.1 billion after helping the US bank boost capital during the financial crisis.The fund converted Citigroup preferred securities, purchased for $3 billion last year, into common shares and sold them, making a profit of $1.1 billion, KIA said.Sovereign wealth funds are selling investments… Read more

China To Boost Domestic Consumption 2010 – Xinhua

Wall Street JournalBEIJING (Dow Jones)–China’s leadership committed to boosting domestic consumption and pushing urbanization next year while maintaining supportive economic policies, as they seek to transform the country’s development pattern following the global financial crisis, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.Policy makers reiterated they would continue with a moderately… Read more