November 26, 2005
Saturday

GM ending 30,000 jobs

After absorbing nearly $4 billion in losses this year, General Motors Corp. said it will end 30,000 jobs and close nine North American factories by 2008. United Auto Workers union leaders called the cuts "extremely disappointing, unfair and unfortunate." GM previously had indicated it would eliminate 25,000 jobs. The 30,000 job cuts represent about 9 percent of GM's global work force of about 325,000 people.

Three years later, Padilla is indicted

Three years after he was jailed, "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla was indicted on charges he plotted to "murder, kidnap and maim" people overseas. Padilla is a U.S. citizen who has been held as an "enemy combatant." A federal grand jury in Miami returned the indictment against Padilla and four others. Previously, the government contended that he was plotting a so-called dirty bomb attack in this country.

Germany picks first woman chancellor

Angela Merkel was sworn in as Germany's first woman chancellor at a ceremony in the country's parliament. Merkel, leader of the Christian Democrats, will head a coalition with the center-left Social Democrats, who ruled before. She is the first chancellor to have grown up in the former communist eastern part of the country.

Cheney steps up attacks on critics

Vice President Dick Cheney accused Iraq war critics of engaging in "revisionism of the most corrupt and shameless variety." Cheney intensified White House attacks against war critics in a speech at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. "The flaws in the intelligence are plain enough in hindsight, but any suggestion that prewar information was distorted, hyped or fabricated by the leader of the nation is utterly false," Cheney said. "Senator John McCain put it best: 'It is a lie to say that the president lied to the American people.' "

Brown back in disaster business

Former FEMA Director Michael Brown, vilified for his agency's sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina, is starting a disaster preparedness consulting firm in Colorado. "If I can help people focus on preparedness, how to be better prepared in their homes and better prepared in their businesses - because that goes straight to the bottom line - then I hope I can help the country in some way," Brown told the Rocky Mountain News.

Texas tackles Sony

The state of Texas sued Sony BMG, accusing the Japanese giant of secretly installing spyware on personal computers through music CDs. "Sony has engaged in a technological version of cloak and dagger deceit against consumers by hiding secret files on their computers," Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said. "Consumers who purchased a Sony CD thought they were buying music. Instead, they received spyware that can damage a computer, subject it to viruses and expose the consumer to possible identity crime."

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