3xwy Blog

AP – E-Trade Financial Corp., which took a black eye from losses on its subprime mortgage holdings, is getting back on track by focusing on its roots as an online brokerage, an analyst said Monday.

Documentary producer Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy discusses how Karachi, Pakistan, has become a hot spot for militancy, and why the city appeals to the Taliban. She tells Steve Inskeep that “it only takes five minutes to shave off a beard and take off a black turban and you can melt right into the city.”

Reuters – Shares in hedge fund manager Man Group topped the list of FTSE 100 gainers on Wednesday, with traders citing talk of takeover interest from U.S. fund group BlackRock .

A new theater production Hope: The Obama Musical Story opened this week in Frankfurt, Germany. It tells the story, in song and dance, of America’s first black president. It is likely to be a big success in a country where President Obama is still immensely popular.

AP – The Obama administration’s mortgage relief plan provided help to only 7 percent of borrowers who signed up last year, another black mark for the struggling program.

The tiny Pacific island of Nauru has joined three other countries in recognizing the breakaway Black Sea territory of Abkhazia, population 215,000. Joshua Keating of Foreign Policy explains what makes a country, and what a would-be state will do to become one.

The history of Earth features a few extremely successful species, such as ants, black pepper, sheep, and of course, humans. In his book, What On Earth Evolved, Christopher Lloyd explores their stories before and after man.

Private security guards working for Blackwater USA participated in clandestine CIA raids against suspected insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Reuters – BlackRock Inc plans to launch a new portfolio giving wealthy individual investors access to normally difficult to obtain hedge funds, the asset manager said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

Reuters – Traders have been scooping up Research in Motion’s call options this week, betting the shares will benefit from a BlackBerry distribution deal in China and stronger-than-expected earnings.