Cooperatives

Five of the nation's largest African American religious organizations said Monday that they have formed a corporation that will pool blacks' buying power to give them greater clout in obtaining loans, goods and services. The effort, believed to be the first of its kind on a national level, is similar to local efforts by minority communities in Southern California and elsewhere to pool members' resources. Revelation Corp. of America, based in Memphis, Tenn.

Switzerland has proposed a bill that it says paves the way for the country's banks, including Credit Suisse Group and Julius Baer Group, to resolve a tax-evasion dispute with the U.S. The bill authorizes Swiss banks to cooperate with U.S. authorities and transfer information while safeguarding the banks' interests, the government said in a statement Wednesday. The Swiss Parliament will consider the bill as soon as next week and it could take effect July 1. "The sense of urgency is because preparations were being made for more banks to be made responsible," Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf told reporters in Bern, Switzerland.

"Joe Farmer, Agribusinessman"(April 9) revealed that other states in the union have at long last emulated California in the co-op business in agriculture. While it is listed as the nation's 12th-largest co-op, the Sunkist Growers of Sherman Oaks is also the oldest. Formed in Los Angeles as the Southern California Fruit Growers in 1893, Sunkist pioneered this field. Other farmers and growers soon followed (e.g., Calavo for avocados, Blue Diamond for almonds, Sun Giant for walnuts). A major reason for California's leadership in agricultural revenues over the last seven decades has been the enduring success of numerous cooperatives.

LONDON - European leaders fired a warning shot in the battle against multinational companies that exploit loopholes or set up complicated schemes to minimize their tax bills, calling for collective action to thwart such practices. Britain, France and Germany are pushing for the European Union's 27 member nations to share financial intelligence and cooperate on other steps to crack down on corporate tax avoidance, which has emerged as a hot-button political issue on both sides of the Atlantic.

Premier Nikolai I. Ryzhkov called Tuesday for legislation that will allow Soviet citizens to break out of the rigid, state-controlled Soviet economy and form private, profit-making cooperatives that would spur economic development.

Don Hewitt, executive producer of CBS' top-rated "60 Minutes," on Friday proposed creation of a foreign TV news cooperative to cover stories, reduce overseas newsgathering costs and free network correspondents for "more original reporting." Hewitt made the proposal in a speech prepared for delivery at the closing banquet of the annual Radio and Television News Directors convention in Orlando, Fla.

For 20 years, Eustacio Aguilera's family owned the Hotel Residencia Guaiqueri in this tourist destination and free-trade zone. He hired the cooks, the maintenance men and the cleaning women. But now when he asks them to prepare a meal or tidy a room, he is careful to treat them collegially. The staff may do menial work, but they are also co-owners. "Before we had a boss. Now we are the bosses," said Hermogenes Garcia, a longtime maintenance man at the Guaiqueri.

The Soviet Union's small private businesses, launched to provide the products, services and economic dynamism that state enterprises could not, came under fierce attack Tuesday for price-gouging, profiteering and speculation as lawmakers debated their future. When Leonid I.

Senate Democrats debating how to overhaul America's healthcare system are moving toward a showdown over whether to create a government-run insurance program or set up a system of cooperatives instead. A government plan, an idea President Obama endorses, is a centerpiece of the legislation being developed by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and fellow liberals.

The Soviet Union moved Monday to curtail the rapidly growing private sector of its economy by imposing price controls on what those businesses may charge for their products and services.

Seven weeks after its auditor resigned in an insider trading scandal, Herbalife Ltd. retained major accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers as its new auditor. The Los Angeles nutritional products company said Tuesday that PricewaterhouseCoopers would begin "immediately" to re-audit its financial statements for 2010, 2011 and 2012. Former auditor KPMG withdrew its audits of those statements after it learned of the insider-trading allegations. Herbalife shares jumped on the news, gaining $1.33, or 2.7%, to $50.54.

When director Alex Gibney began work on his documentary "We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks," he thought he would be telling the story of a charismatic, silver-haired free speech advocate named Julian Assange, who had exposed dark corners of powerful governments and corporations using little more than his laptop. Instead, as he began to investigate, Gibney found himself crafting a digital age Icarus tale, in which the WikiLeaks founder's idealism and ambition were metastasizing into hubris, and his organization's greatest achievements rested on the shoulders of a lonely young Army private named Bradley Manning.

In his campaign to become Los Angeles city attorney, Mike Feuer has touted himself as someone who will work cooperatively with the mayor and City Council and avoid the squabbles that have marked the incumbent's tenure. During previous stints on the council and in the Legislature, Feuer repeatedly won over colleagues to approve pioneering laws on contentious issues, including gun control. But even some supporters say Feuer's stubborn, driven approach can also be antagonizing. Former colleagues describe the 54-year-old politician as a sometimes overly zealous - albeit intelligent - advocate for liberal causes.

CBS will air a special tribute episode on Jeanne Cooper, the longtime star of "The Young and the Restless" who died on Wednesday . The pre-taped episode, to air May 28, will include cast members, family and friends sharing their favorite moments with Cooper. The special will also feature interview clips from Cooper, the show's longest-running cast member, as well as memorable scenes from her 39 years as Katherine Chancellor. “Jeanne Cooper was a legend and we want to give her the tribute she deserves,” said Angelica McDaniel, CBS' head of daytime, in a statement.

Jeanne Cooper Emmy winner starred in 'The Young and the Restless' Jeanne Cooper, 84, the enduring soap opera star who played grande dame Katherine Chancellor for nearly four decades on CBS' "The Young and the Restless," died Wednesday in her sleep, according to the network. Cooper's son, actor Corbin Bernsen, said last month in Twitter messages that she had been suffering from an undisclosed illness. A Los Angeles resident, Cooper joined the daytime serial six months after its March 1973 debut, staking claim to the title of longest-tenured cast member.

Jeanne Cooper, best known as matriarch Katherine Chancellor on CBS' daytime drama "The Young and the Restless," has died. She was 84. "My mother passed away this morning just a short time ago, peaceful with my sister by her side, in her sleep," son and fellow actor Corbin Bernsen said Wednesday on Facebook . The network also confirmed her passing. "I was going to visit this afternoon, thought I had time," he wrote. "Reminder to self -- time is a precious thing. I too am at peace, however.

When Russian racketeers set fire to the cooperative restaurant Come and Taste one winter night because they had not received protection money, manager Anatoly A. Rutkovsky watched helplessly as flames gutted the building on Peace Avenue and melted nearby snowdrifts. But he vowed not to give up.

Every year, Santa Ana strawberry farmer Mack Ramsay pores over health insurance plans for his 35 employees, checking out prices, coverage, deductibles and other fine print from giants like Blue Cross, Blue Shield and Aetna. For 21 years he has chosen instead a little-known, nonprofit healthcare cooperative based in Irvine that provides insurance to about 15,000 Californians and Arizonans mostly working in agriculture.

Steven Spielberg is returning to the charged terrain of real-life American events, with the “Lincoln” director announcing Thursday he'll tackle the story of U.S. sniper Chris Kyle as his next directorial project. Bradley Cooper will star as the late Navy SEAL. The news clears up the uncertainty over Spielberg's immediate future that arose when he decided not to move forward with the large-scale sci-fi adventure “Robopocalypse” earlier this year. A spokeswoman confirmed the new film, titled "American Sniper," and said it would be based on a script from screenwriter Jason Hall ("Spread")

MEXICO CITY - Against the backdrop of a deadly drug war and shifting security cooperation, President Obama joined his Mexican counterpart, Enrique Peña Nieto, here Thursday to promote economic integration, trade and jobs. The two leaders sought to emphasize a U.S.-Mexican partnership committed to growth, education exchange and a strengthened border, minimizing the dominant position that fighting drug cartels has occupied in recent years. Yet the topic was unavoidable. Obama acknowledged that the Mexican government was "organizing a vision" on how to reduce violence, a strategy that is expected to limit the U.S. participation in Mexican security affairs that had flourished under the government of former President Felipe Calderon.