A powerful earthquake in mountainous central Italy knocked down whole blocks of buildings early Monday as residents slept, killing more than 70 people in the country’s deadliest quake in nearly three decades, officials said. Tens of thousands were homeless and 1,500 were injured.
North Korea’s missile launch was meant to intimidate the world, but did it embarrass itself instead? The New York Times reports that North Korea’s missile failed to carry its satellite into orbit and instead fell into the sea about 1,300 miles off the coast of Japan. According to the Times, “space experts said the failure represented a blow that in all likelihood would seriously delay the missile’s debut.” The Los Angeles Times notes, however, that the missile launch was more successful than North Korea’s last attempt. Meanwhile, the fallout from the missile launch may not be entirely bad: President Obama seized on it to give a speech about nuclear nonproliferation in Prague. He said, “The need for action, not just this afternoon at the U.N. Security Council, but in our determination to prevent the spread of these weapons.”
Corporate customers at the Masters normally keep chef Karl Kwoka busy all week prepping gourmet dishes such as Angus beef filets with bleu cheese fritters and crepes de mer with lobster cream sauce. Catering to elite fans and their top clients during the April golf tournament typically accounts for a quarter of his income.
This year, the unpalatable economy has piled Kwoka’s plate with more cancellations than customers. Four large corporations that in past years hired Kwoka to prepare private meals have backed out, leaving him with a single company to cook for, not enough to justify hiring the usual 30 extra workers. Kwoka estimates the cancellations cost him more than $70,000, and the temporary staff are missing out on big money, too.
WACHOVIA, WELLS FARGO, CITIGROUP
