Poverty up in Hub suburbs

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A Brookings Institution report due out today estimates the ranks of suburban Boston poor grew by 39,000 people between 2000 and 2008 to hit 281,500.

That’s a far bigger gain than the roughly 350-person increase researchers found in Boston and Cambridge proper, where Brookings estimated some 120,000 poor people lived as of 2008.

“A lot of people have this entrenched view of poverty being an urban or rural phenomenon, but the geography of poverty has changed,” said Brookings analyst Elizabeth Kneebone.

Brookings found suburban Boston’s poverty rate - the percentage of people living below the official poverty line of $21,834 for a four-person family - rose from 6.7 percent in 2000 to 7.6 percent in 2008.

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Google's China Music

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Gary Chen, chief executive of Orca Digital, in which Google owns a stake, said he was surprised when Google issued its statement last week saying it would stop censoring its Chinese search results and might have to close its Chinese operations.

Mr. Chen said Google had yet to contact him about the announcement as of early this week, although he said advertisers have been calling him daily to inquire about the fate of the enterprise. People familiar with the matter said Google is currently reviewing the collaboration.

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Cadbury Faces Rhetoric Shift

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On Monday, he and the rest of the Cadbury board unanimously voted to accept Kraft's improved, $19.4 billion offer for Cadbury. In a statement, Mr. Carr said he was "pleased" with Kraft's commitment to Cadbury's heritage, values and employees.

The move ends the independence of a 186-year-old icon of U.K. industrial history whose products, beloved by many in Britain and parts of the former British empire, include Dairy Milk, Crème Eggs, Dentyne chewing gum and Halls cough drops.

Mr. Carr now faces the task of demonstrating that his four-month war of words against Kraft succeeded in achieving a better deal for Cadbury shareholders than the one Kraft initially put on the table. Read More.....

Ukraine faces a run-off vote

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Exit polls showed Yanukovich winning the most votes, but analysts expect Tymoshenko to pick up a higher proportion of second round votes from defeated candidates and say Yanukovich may struggle to extend his appeal beyond his support base in the Russian-speaking east of the country.

The election will define how Ukraine, a former Soviet republic of 46 million people wedged between the European Union and Russia, handles relations with its powerful neighbours and may help unblock frozen IMF aid for its ailing economy. Read More.....

Banks Bailout Fee

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WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is aiming to hit banks with a fee to recoup losses associated with the government's bailout of financial firms and the auto industry, administration officials say.

The White House hopes the fee will soothe the public's anger at financial firms. Most big banks that received public funds have repaid the government, but the industry is seen by many as having survived thanks to taxpayer support, and is now enjoying a profit rebound as the economy struggles. This month, many large banks will resume paying big bonuses to employees.

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Courtroom showdown set to begin

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San Francisco (CNN) -- They've been committed to each other for eight years and have four sons together, but there's a component missing in one Berkeley, California, couple's life that's out of reach for them: getting married.

Kristin Perry and Sandra Stier's partnership is one that has taken center stage because of the ongoing debate on same-sex marriage in California. Read More.....

Incident gives Lautenberg a chance

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He relentlessly pushes the swivel chair from side to side as he speaks of why he does the kinds of things he does. Frank Lautenberg, who has just finished his second news conference in little more than 24 hours at Newark Liberty International Airport, is still burning off energy like a Linden refinery.

"I pick issues that affect people personally," says the senior United States senator from New Jersey. "This one does. I have to get involved in it." Read More.....

Airline groups expressed

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WASHINGTON -- Airline groups expressed support Monday for new U.S. rules that mandate tougher screening for passengers traveling to the U.S. from 14 designated countries and ease a requirement that all U.S.-bound passengers be subjected to enhanced screening measures.

"We believe [the new measures] enhance security for the flying public, and they're being implemented in the most convenient manner," said David Castelveter, a spokesman at the Air Transport Association, an umbrella group for U.S. airlines.

The new rules require that all passengers flying to the U.S. from countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism or certain other countries "of interest" -- including Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria -- will be subject to enhanced screening, which could include full-body pat-downs, a physical inspection of personal property, or screening by one of the 40 advanced-imaging machines located in 19 U.S. airports, said a Transportation Security Administration official.

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