RefBan

Referral Banners

Monday, January 9, 2012

Cheat Sheet - Iran Sentences American Man to Death

The CheatSheet

Today: Jon Huntsman’s Timely Jump Before New Hampshire’s Presidential Primary , Gingrich Prepares Romney Salvo , Pay Cuts For Wall Street
The Daily Beast Cheat Sheet: Morning

January 09, 2012
TENSE

As if relations between the U.S. and Iran could get worse, Iran announced Monday that it is sentencing American Amir Mirzaei Hekmati to death for espionage. Separately, diplomats confirmed reports that Iran had begun uranium enrichment in an underground bunker. Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine, was arrested while visiting his grandmother in Iran this August. After leaving the Marines in 2005, he ran his own linguistics company, working for the military and civilian businesses. Iran claims he was being sent by the CIA to deliver information to Iran that would later be used to link them to terrorist activities. Hekmati's family denies the charges.

INSURGENT

A new poll out of New Hampshire, which holds its Republican primary on Tuesday, shows Mitt Romney with a huge lead. But Jon Huntsman’s strategy of pouring everything into the state may finally be paying off—two days out, he scored his best debate performance ever and zoomed to third place in the polls. Is it enough to save his campaign? The Daily Beast’s Patricia Murphy reports.

NEGATIVE

Mitt Romney may have New Hampshire in the bag, but a Newt Gingrich group is waiting for him in South Carolina with a $5 million ad attacking Romney as a predatory capitalist. Wealthy casino owner Sheldon Adelson gave the money to a Gingrich-supporting PAC for an ad composed partly of emotional interviews with people who lost jobs at companies Bain bought. Talking Points Memo calls the preview a “swift-boat-style” ad. Gingrich is getting help from other third parties as well, with Joseph McQuaid, the publisher of New Hampshire's Union Leader ripping into Romney in a front-age editorial, and Tea Party figure Carl Paladino telling Ron Paul to “get on the mother-ship” and urge voters to support Gingrich.

DOWNWARD

Uh oh. The reports you’ve heard about Wall Street’s dismal year are about to get real—for Wall Street workers, that is. As fourth-quarter results come in and banks decide on final bonuses for the past year, The Wall Street Journal reports that compensation is likely to fall to its lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis. Goldman Sachs will see 2010 paychecks cut in half, while fixed-income trading businesses may get smaller by 60 percent. Morgan Stanley will reportedly cut bonuses by 40 percent. Goldman employees received about $431,000 on average in 2010—that number will fall to $385,000 in 2011. (In 2007, employees received an average of $661,000 each.) The pay worries were only increased in the last months with stocks rising and falling and anxiety over global markets.

WAR ON DRUGS

It seems to have gone better than Fast and Furious. Documents disclosed by the Mexican Foreign Ministry— in a case against a Colombian cocaine supplier, Harold Mauricio Poveda-Ortega, also known as “The Rabbit”—reveal an elaborate operation by the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration. U.S. agents posed as money launderers, sometimes moving millions of dollars in drug money around the world, in an effort to gain the trust of Ortega's cartel. The document describes one part of the operation in which DEA agents in Texas posed as pilots and transported cocaine around the world for $1,000 per kilo. At another point, undercover Ecuadorean agents helped transport 330 kilos of cocaine from Ecuador to Spain, where it was seized.


Accounting
Olympus Sues Its Own President
For fraud cover-up.
ANNIVERSARY
Giffords Attends Candlelight Vigil
One year since shooting.
FREEDOM
Malaysia Leader Not Guilty of Sodomy
Anwar case thrown out, blasts reported outside courtroom.
AUSTERITY
Greeks Go Back to the Land
As economy founders.
GOD & FOOTBALL
Tebow Leads Broncos to Victory
Over hobbled Pittsburgh Steelers.
Sign Up and Share

Invite Friends Sign Up
GET The Cheat Sheet
A speedy, smart summary of news and must-reads from across the Web. You'll love the featured original stories on politics, entertainment, and more from The Daily Beast's diverse group of contributors.


GET The Yes List
Weekly cultural recommendations from The Daily Beast.




More from The Daily Beast


Around the Web

Facebook Twitter
Visit The Daily Beast


If you are on a mobile device or cannot view the images in this message, click here to view this email in your Web browser.

To ensure delivery of these emails, please add thedailybeast@e2.thedailybeast.com to your address book.



If you have changed your mind and no longer wish to receive these emails, or think you have received this message in error, you can safely unsubscribe here.

No comments: