/PHOENIX, Arizona (Reuters) – Diego Canil Ordonez was just 16 years old when he realized he needed to get out of Guatemala after gang members arrived at the store where he worked to shake down his boss for money.

His boss didn’t show up for work the next day, but the gang members did. They demanded cash from Canil Ordonez, who had seen his job at the store as a step up after spending years shining shoes to support his family, starting at age 9.

/PHOENIX, Arizona (Reuters) – Diego Canil Ordonez was just 16 years old when he realized he needed to get out of Guatemala after gang members arrived at the store where he worked to shake down his boss for money.

His boss didn’t show up for work the next day, but the gang members did. They demanded cash from Canil Ordonez, who had seen his job at the store as a step up after spending years shining shoes to support his family, starting at age 9.

BOSTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s move on Friday to nominate Democratic U.S. Senator John Kerry as his secretary of state sets the stage for Massachusetts’ second special Senate election in three years.

The race could pit a veteran Democratic Massachusetts congressmen or the state’s top federal prosecutor against Senator Scott Brown, a Republican who came to office in a 2010 special election but who last month lost a re-election bid to Democrat Elizabeth Warren.

By Scott Malone

(Reuters) – FedEx Corp (FDX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) profit fell 11.9 percent in the second quarter, less than investors had feared, as the No. 2 U.S. package delivery company struggled to improve demand at its air freight business.

The company reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of $438 million, or $1.39 per share, on Wednesday, compared with $497 million, or $1.57 per share, a year earlier.

BOSTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) – A Rhode Island judge ordered the
state and a group of unions into mediation to try to resolve a
lawsuit challenging a 2011 law that would cut union members’
pension benefits by about $4 billion over the next two decades.

The case is a widely watched one as cash-strapped U.S.
cities and states struggle to keep up with the costs of pension
plans for their workers and retirees. Collectively, they face
some $5 trillion in unfunded pension obligations, Rhode Island
attorneys said in court earlier this month.

BOSTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) – A Rhode Island judge ordered the
state and a group of unions into mediation to try to resolve a
lawsuit challenging a 2011 law that would cut union members’
pension benefits by about $4 billion over the next two decades.

The case is a widely watched one as cash-strapped U.S.
cities and states struggle to keep up with the costs of pension
plans for their workers and retirees. Collectively, they face
some $5 trillion in unfunded pension obligations, Rhode Island
attorneys said in court earlier this month.

BOSTON (Reuters) – The head of Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) mergers and acquisition business denied that he had any role in the 2000 sale of voice recognition software company Dragon Systems to a buyer that collapsed soon afterward.

Dragon’s founders have sued Goldman, accusing the Wall Street bank of failing them by advising them to pursue the $580 million all-stock sale to Lernout & Haupsie shortly before the Belgian software company went bankrupt in an accounting scandal.

BOSTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) – The “fiscal cliff” is less than
three weeks away, but most corporate executives are not
strapping on their parachutes just yet.

A cross-section of executives from companies including
DuPont Co, Saks Inc, Aetna Inc and 3M Co
on Wednesday warned that the standoff adds an element of
uncertainty to an already tepid U.S. economy.

Dec 12 (Reuters) – U.S. chief executives’ view of the
domestic economy remained grim in the fourth quarter, drifting
down to a fresh three-year low, according to a Business
Roundtable survey released on Wednesday.

In a sign of how uncertain the outlook is, as many CEOs
planned to add jobs in the United States as foresaw cuts.

By Scott Malone

(Reuters) – U.S. chief executives’ view of the domestic economy remained grim in the fourth quarter, drifting down to a fresh three-year low, according to a Business Roundtable survey released on Wednesday.

In a sign of how uncertain the outlook is, as many CEOs planned to add jobs in the United States as foresaw cuts.