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Mid-day Update

PODCAST: Changes in Iran, a big flush in Zimbabwe

Jeff Horwich Sep 24, 2012
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Mid-day Update

PODCAST: Changes in Iran, a big flush in Zimbabwe

Jeff Horwich Sep 24, 2012
HTML EMBED:
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Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmedinijad is in New York this week. He’ll speak to the U.N. General Assembly — that’s always an event. But he’s not invited to another key meeting, where world leaders will discuss what’s next for oil sanctions against Iran.

Lately we’ve charted the struggles of luxury companies like Tiffany and Burberry. Not so at Prada, evidently. Prada profits were up 60 percent in the first half of the year.

Apple sold more than five million iPhone 5s in the three days since Friday’s launch.

Discover Card users may have a little extra “cash-back” coming. The federal government has ordered Discover to refund $200 million to customers. They say Discover used misleading marketing to get people to pay for add-on products like identity theft protection and credit score tracking.

A federal court in Australia has found Lehman Brothers liable for damages in a class action suit. It’s the first case of its kind against the defunct U.S. investment firm. And it could open the door to more lawsuits around the world.                    

Here’s a familiar scenario: You’re thirsty, and you walk into the store to buy something to drink. But you’re exactly sure what you want, and you’re inundated with choices. The choice you evntually make will likely have more to do with what the package looks like than what’s inside it. That might sound crazy but it’s what the beverage industry thinks you’ll do.

And finally, in a messed up economy like Zimbabwe, the phrase “giant flushing sound” might have any number of metaphorical applications. But in this case, it is quite literal. Over the weekend, officials in the second-largest city, Buluwayo, asked all one million residents to flush their toilets simultaneously at an appointed time. See, the city’s decrepit sewer system gets clogged up, especially during a drought like they’re having now. Sometimes, evidently, one big community flush can get things moving again.

 

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