GOOD DAY FOR: Pirate booty, after Somalian buccaneers drew $3.2 million in ransom for a Ukrainian freighter they had been holding since September. U.S. Navy ships have surrounded the freighter, carrying tanks and other heavy arms, since its capture, but did not raid the ship for fear of endangering the crew and other pirate-held seamen. All the pirates escaped unharmed. (AP in Los Angeles Times)
BAD DAY FOR: Turning 16 in California, as state offices across the state are closed today, including the Department of Motor Vehicles, in a mandatory furlough for 200,000 state workers. Amid a fiscal state of emergency, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered the state workers to take two days off a month, effectively cutting pay by 9 percent. He says that will save $1.4 billion through June 2008. (Los Angeles Times)
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Why does the GOP want to ban state-level AI regulation for a decade?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION House Republicans are pushing to block states from making their own AI laws for the next ten years, even as expert warn the results could be disastrous.
-
6 elegant Queen Anne Victorian homesFeature Featuring original diamond-glass doors in New York and a registered historic landmark in Arkansas
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress codespeed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
