Swearing at Your Boss Can't Get You Fired in Spain

(NEWSER) - Wal-Mart will pay up to $640 million to settle 63 state and federal class-action lawsuits that alleged it forced employees to work off the clock and skip breaks, the New York Times reports. The lawsuits involve hundreds of thousands of former and current hourly wage workers. The settlement—it will be a minimum of $352 million—clears up most such lawsuits in state courts, though similar cases remain in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and California. More»

Government will pour in billions more to prevent collapse

(NEWSER) - Spain's banking crisis grew sharply worse yesterday, as officials at Bankia, the country's leading mortgage lender, said it would need an additional $24 billion, reports the New York Times . The move effectively nationalizes the troubled bank, just two weeks after the government took over 45% of Bankia , and single-handedly would nearly double the size of all the Spanish government's banking bailouts since 2010, notes the Wall Street Journal . Standard & Poor's also cut its credit rating on Bankia and two other Spanish banks to junk status, and lowered the ratings on two other banks. More»

One guess who Lauren Odes' attorney is...

(NEWSER) - It's today's buzziest, trashiest story, and we decided to share it with you, dear reader, so you wouldn't be totally out of the loop.

• What: Manhattan 29-year-old Lauren Odes is suing her employer after claiming she was canned for being "too hot," reports ABC7 .
• Wait, haven't we heard this before? Yes . Different lady.

Explorer was seeking homeland for his people: Spanish scholars

(NEWSER) - Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer from Genoa, right? Not according to a recent round of scholarship, which portrays him as secretly Jewish and seeking a new land for his people during the Spanish Inquisition, CNN reports. Evidence suggests that Columbus was a "Marrano," meaning he secretly practiced Judaism to avoid persecution and a 1492 decree that banished all Jews from Spain. Among the more intriguing points in his last will and testament: More»

More bad news today drives market down again

(NEWSER) - These are nervous times in Europe. Shares in Bankia, a Spanish bank partly nationalized by the government last week , plunged 30% at one point yesterday following reports that customers had withdrawn more than $1.3 billion over the last week, reports Reuters . Bankia shares recovered some ground after the government and the bank denied that there had been unusual deposit activity, but stocks still closed down 14%. More»