Panama Canal expansion strike settled

A company expanding the Panama Canal has settled a strike by 6,000 workers that had paralyzed work for six days.  The multinational consortium Grupo Unidos por el Canal says in a news release that the workers have agreed to a 13 percent wage increase and will return to work on Monday.  Union representative Saul Mendez says workers are not completely happy with the deal raising hourly pay to about $3.34 an hour, but still made important advances.

Syria crisis: Assad 'gives amnesty for uprising crimes

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has granted a general amnesty for all crimes committed during the 10-month uprising, state-run media report.  It would apply to army deserters who turned themselves in before the end of January, peaceful protesters and those who handed in unlicensed weapons, Sana news agency is quoted as saying.  Tens of thousands of people have been detained in the past year.

Yahoo dangled $27M pay package to get new CEO

Yahoo dangled a $27 million pay package to lure its newly hired CEO Scott Thompson away from PayPal.  The struggling Internet company disclosed the details of Thompson's compensation in a regulatory filing late Friday. Thompson starts his new job Monday after spending the past four years running eBay Inc.'s PayPal service, where revenue more than doubled during his tenure. PayPal took in an estimated $4.4 billion last year.

Health fund urges donors not to abandon patients

 A financially troubled global health fund says millions of people will suffer if donations continue to dry up, as European and United States budget constraints bite and a backlash continues over losses to corruption and other misspendin.

Running a country? There's an app for that, almost

Britain's government says experts are considering developing a bespoke iPad app that would deliver key data straight to Prime Minister David Cameron's tablet computer. The Times of London newspaper reported the app could include statistics and information from government departments, real time news and Twitter updates.

To track their pets, owners are trying GPS devices

 Half of the pets that enter animal shelters each year are strays or lost animals, but the growing use of GPS technology may offer owners a new option for trying to track down roaming cats, missing dogs and other runaway pets.