Today in business: 5 things you need to know

Yahoo buys Tumblr, Dubai construction workers go on strike, and more

Yahoo
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

1. YAHOO IS BUYING TUMBLR FOR $1.1 BILLION

It's official: Yahoo is buying the hip blogging platform Tumblr for $1.1 billion in cash. "Yahoo is the original Internet company, and [CEO Marissa Mayer] and her team share our dream to make the Internet the ultimate creative canvas," Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp wrote on the Tumblr staff blog. "I couldn't be more excited to have her help." Along with coveted Internet street cred, Yahoo will now be the proud owner of 90 million Tumblr blogs, and their 89 million new posts a day. [New York Times]

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2. DUBAI CONSTRUCTION WORKERS GO ON STRIKE

In the midst of a new construction boom in Dubai, thousands of workers at Arabtec, one of the largest construction contractors in the United Arab Emirates, have gone on strike, demanding salary increases on the $160 to $200 a month they earn now. Strikes are illegal in the UAE, though workers are still refusing to leave their homes, known locally as labor camps, on the outskirts of Dubai. Arabtec, one of the companies to build the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, is "working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible, alongside the ministry of labor and the police." [Financial Times]

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3. CALPERS VOTES AGAINST JAMIE DIMON

Just a day before JP Morgan will reveal shareholders' wishes for Jamie Dimon's future as both CEO and board chairman, Calpers, California's massive pension fund, has announced that it will vote against the Wall Street heavyweight. Calpers, which owns 12.9 million shares of JP Morgan Chase, said that if the "chairman is independent the board may be able to exercise stronger oversight of management." [Forbes]

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4. NBC NEWS GETS A NEW PRESIDENT

After a month of searching, NBC News has announced its new chief: Deborah Turness, the long-time editor of Britain's ITV News. Turness comes on board as NBC News struggles with ratings, specifically to reclaim the top spot in morning television, which it lost to rival ABC last year. Patricia Fili-Krushnel, chairman of NBC Universal Newsgroup, said in a statement that at ITV, Turness "has earned a reputation for being a strong leader, innovator, and respected journalist, and I look forward to her joining NBC News." Turness called the new job "the greatest imaginable honor." [New York Times]

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5. STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS RULES THE WEEKEND — BUT DISAPPOINTS

Star Trek Into Darkness pulled in more than $70 million at the weekend box office. Though tops for the weekend, it was $16 million less than Paramount, which co-financed the film with Skydance Productions, had expected. Iron Man 3 was second at $35.1 million, for a total of $337 million, and The Great Gatsby was third, dropping 54 percent for a $23.4 million weekend. [Los Angeles Times]

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Carmel Lobello is the business editor at TheWeek.com. Previously, she was an editor at DeathandTaxesMag.com.