Champaign County Young Professionals Network

Standing at the factory gate he once entered for 33 years is like visiting a cemetery for George Hall.

Stocks struggled to rise Friday in volatile trading as the major gauges bounced around fresh multi-year lows and investors kept an eye on Citigroup.

BBC News
$150M in ransoms paid to pirates
CNN - 28 minutes ago
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- More than $150 million have been paid to pirates around the Horn of Africa over the past 12 months, Kenya's foreign minister said Friday.
Video: Piracy on Somali waters - 21 Nov 08 AlJazeeraEnglish
Pirates bolster defences around hijacked tanker Times Online
International Herald Tribune - The Associated Press - Aljazeera.net - Bloomberg
all 3,613 news articles

Washington Post
Bush heads for Apec summit
Aljazeera.net - 33 minutes ago
George Bush, the US president, is due to attend an Asia-Pacifc summit in Lima, Peru in a bid to seek support for global financial reform and hold talks on North Korea's nuclear programme.
Bush Travels to Peru for Final Pacific Rim Summit Voice of America
Backgrounder: Key facts about APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting 2008 Xinhua
Wall Street Journal - International Herald Tribune - AFP - Reuters
all 1,450 news articles

FOXNews
Maine county region's lone McCain stronghold
Portsmouth Herald News - 35 minutes ago
By AP BANGOR, Maine - There are 65 counties in New England. Only one - Piscataquis County in northern Maine - went for Republican John McCain in the Nov. 4 presidential election.
Disputed Senate ballots hold key to Minn. win The Associated Press
Minnesota Recount Has Coleman Ahead By Only 136 Votes AHN
FOXNews - New York Times - Gaylord Hub - MinnPost.com
all 2,108 news articles

Wal-Mart Stores announced Friday that CEO Lee Scott will retire and the company's board has elected Mike Duke, vice chairman of Wal-Mart International, to succeed him.

Squealing fans gather for midnight opening of 'Twilight'
San Jose Mercury News - 37 minutes ago
By Laura Casey Brianna Tarpey, 16, from Lafayette, catches a few winks as she waits in the 12:01 am line for the premiere of the vampire movie "Twilight" at Century 16 Theaters on Thursday, November 20, 2008 in Pleasant Hill, Calif.
'Twilight': Teen Anemia, By Kurt Loder MTV.com
‘Twilight’ in the eye of the beholder MSNBC
io9 - NewsOK.com - Los Angeles Times - kgw.com
all 1,012 news articles

ABC News
Nebraska Revises Child Safe Haven Law
New York Times - 40 minutes ago
By ERIK ECKHOLM Omaha - In an emergency session, the Nebraska legislature on Friday revised a law permitting parents or guardians to hand children over to state custody without fear of prosecution, limiting its reach to infants up to 30 days old.
Safe-haven law spotlights families' plight Los Angeles Times
lawmakers vote to limit safe-haven law CNN
The Associated Press - MSNBC - KPTM-TV - ABC News
all 1,117 news articles

ABC News
How Russia might devalue the rouble and when
guardian.co.uk - 43 minutes ago
MOSCOW, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble is heading for further devaluation after the central bank spent $58 billion in two months to support the rouble and Urals crude, its main export commodity, fell to $45 per barrel .
Russia acknowledges financial crisis has hit hard Reuters
Unpaid Wages Spur Reminders of 1998; Putin Pledges Help Wall Street Journal
AFP - CNN International - Bloomberg - Los Angeles Times
all 1,016 news articles

Sovo.com
Obama Asks Georgia Voters To Elect Jim Martin In Radio Ad
AHN - 46 minutes ago
Atlanta, GA (AHN) - President-elect Barack Obama is asking supporters in Georgia to "turn out one more time" to help Democrat Jim Martin win in the runoff against Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA).
Obama: 'Elections aren't over' Boston Globe
Better late than never, Barack Obama finally stumps for Jim Martin ... Los Angeles Times
MarketWatch - The Associated Press - TPM Election Central - National Journal
all 529 news articles

The stock market stinks like a moldy piece of Limburger cheese. Unemployment is on the rise. Home prices continue to fall. There are fears that one or more of Detroit's Big Three could go bankrupt.

If you visit YouTube.com - where close to half of all online video is seen - the power-to-the-people motto "Broadcast yourself" appears at the top of your browser. Lately, though, it's hard not to wonder if the "you" in YouTube doesn't increasingly refer to "them": the Big Kahuna media companies whose video wares have been gaining more notice both on YouTube and elsewhere on the web.

BBC News
High-speed crash couple jailed
BBC News - 49 minutes ago
A woman and her partner have been jailed for killing a young couple who they hit with their Jaguar at 113mph (181km/h) on the A1 in Lincolnshire.
Nine years for 111mph driver who killed couple Independent
Breaking news: 113mph killer driver jailed for nine years Lincolnshire Echo
Grantham Today - Peterborough Today - Rutland and Stamford Mercury - Fenland Today
all 10 news articles

BBC News
Thousands in Baghdad Protest US Troop Accord
New York Times - 1 hour ago
Khalid Mohammed/AP Followers of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Firdous Square in central Baghdad on Friday for a mass prayer to protest a proposed US-Iraqi security pact.
Iraqi throng protests agreement on US forces CNN
Thousands of Sadrists protest Iraq-US military pact AFP
Wall Street Journal - Times Online - Reuters - United Press International
all 495 news articles

Boston Globe
Bush signs jobless benefits extension
The Associated Press - 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (AP) - With no end in sight to economic bad news, President George W. Bush on Friday ensured that millions of laid-off workers will keep getting their unemployment checks as the year-end holidays approach.
Bush extends Michigan unemployment benefits by 13 weeks DetNews.com
Florida’s unemployment rate hits 15-year high Bizjournals.com
Reuters - Voice of America - The Washington Independent - AHN
all 2,401 news articles

AFP
US global dominance 'set to wane'
Joy Online - 1 hour ago
US economic, military and political dominance is likely to decline over the next two decades, according to a new US intelligence report on global trends.
US influence is on the decline, report says Los Angeles Times
US intel panel warns of coming national decline United Press International
BBC News - New York Times - CNN - AHN
all 437 news articles

Boston Globe
2nd Mass. politician charged with taking bribe
The Associated Press - 1 hour ago
BOSTON (AP) - FBI agents arrested a Boston city council member Friday after he was allegedly videotaped taking a $1000 bribe from an undercover agent in an expanding investigation into corruption at City Hall and the Massachusetts Statehouse.
Reaction: Turner's arrest elicits shock, disbelief Boston Globe
Boston City Councilor arrested Bizjournals.com
Boston Herald - WLNE-TV (ABC6) - Politicker MA - Boston Channel.com
all 337 news articles

Shares of Citigroup enjoyed a brief bounce Friday morning before heading lower once again, falling 16% despite reports that the beleaguered bank may be looking to raise more capital or even sell the whole firm.

DANVILLE – When candidates for the Danville City Council and Danville school board file nomination papers, two current members won't be among them.

ommie Reed, a Ward 1 alderman since 2004, and Pete Krainock, a school board member since 1997, each said they will step down when their term expires.

"I've really enjoyed it, but it's been 12 years," said Krainock, whose term expires in April. "I think it's time for some new blood."

URBANA – A Champaign man who's been locked up for more than four years, as the state attempted to have him declared sexually violent, walked out of the courthouse a free man Thursday.

Vincent Lipscomb, 39, hugged his attorney and smiled at his mother and other family members seconds after Champaign County Judge Harry Clem dismissed his case on the grounds that psychological experts can no longer say he's a risk to reoffend.