A Sexist Explanation For Why The New York Times Just Fired Its Top Editor

Media navel gazers were shocked Wednesday when the New York Times suddenly announced the ouster of Jill Abramson, the paper’s executive editor of two years and the first woman to score the paper's top job.

Perhaps we shouldn’t have been so surprised. It looks like Abramson just fell off the glass cliff -- the shorthand explanation for the precarious position women take on when they climb to the top of the corporate ladder. Researchers from the University of Exeter coined the phrase in 2005 after they discovered that women tend to get promoted to top jobs in times of trouble, making their perches riskier. Though The New York Times isn't in "trouble," per se, it's certainly in a high-stakes race to adjust to the demise of print.

German Official Wants To Implement National Minimum Wage Quicker Than Planned

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's new top labor official says he will push to have the country introduce a national minimum wage quicker than planned and work to make union membership more attractive to young people.

Reiner Hoffmann, 58, was elected Monday to succeed Michael Sommer as the head of the German Trade Union Confederation or DGB — an umbrella organization that represents German unions in dealing with government authorities, political parties, employers' organizations and others.

According to the dpa news agency, Hoffmann, who ran unopposed, says Germany needs to immediately implement the planned national minimum wage of 8.50 euros ($11.75) per hour. Current plans are to introduce it next year, and phase it in over the following two.

Hoffmann, known as a pragmatist, was an official with the industrial IG-BCE union.

85-Year-Old Oil Tycoon Can't Stop Tweeting At Rappers About Money

T. Boone Pickens, the 85-year-old oil tycoon, was giddy to welcome Dr. Dre into the ridiculously rich people's club Friday, following the news that Apple is close to buying the hip-hop mogul's company Beats Electronics for $3.2 billion.

Congratulations @drdre. Welcome to the 1%. #YouBuiltThat @tim_cook #apple #beats

— T. Boone Pickens (@boonepickens) May 9, 2014

It's worth pointing out that Dr. Dre, whose net worth was listed by Forbes as $550 million last week, was already a member of top 1 percent of earners. Nothing like some good hospitality, though.

Incidentally, this isn't the first time Pickens has tweeted at rappers about money:

The first billion is a helluva lot harder RT @Drake: The first million is the hardest.

— T. Boone Pickens (@boonepickens) May 31, 2012

States Pass Smartphone 'Kill Switch' Bills That Wireless Companies Hate

NEW YORK -- California and Minnesota took steps on Thursday toward becoming the first states in the country to pass laws requiring smartphones to feature stronger anti-theft technology.

The California Senate approved a measure Thursday that would require every smartphone sold in that state to include a so-called kill switch that allows victims of theft to disable a stolen device. The bill passed despite strong opposition from the wireless industry, which said such legislation was "unnecessary" and would "stifle innovation."

Office Depot To Close About 1 In 5 Stores In U.S.

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Office Depot is planning to close at least 400 U.S. stores, as its merger with OfficeMax resulted in an overlap of retail locations that can be consolidated.

The combined company's financial results beat Wall Street estimates for the January-March quarter and it raised its full year forecast for operating income on Tuesday.

Its shares jumped 17 percent in morning trading.

The office supply retailer had 1,900 stores in the U.S. at the end of the first quarter, so the plans call for closing about 21 percent of them. Office Depot and OfficeMax Inc. completed their $1.2 billion deal last November.

U.S. Creates 288,000 Jobs In April, Unemployment Rate Falls To 6.3%

The U.S. economy added 288,000 jobs in April, as the unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

Here's more from the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added a robust 288,000 jobs in April, the most in two years, the strongest evidence to date that the economy is picking up after a brutal winter slowed growth.

The Labor Department also said Friday that the unemployment rate sank to 6.3 percent, its lowest level since September 2008, from 6.7 percent in March. But the drop occurred because the number of people working or seeking work fell sharply. People aren't counted as unemployed if they're not looking for a job.

More Than 8 Million Have Signed Up For Obamacare, In Latest Tally

Over 8 million individuals signed up for health insurance via the Obamacare exchanges through April 19, according to an official report from the Department of Health and Human Services that confirms an announcement made by President Barack Obama last month.

During the six-plus months of the first open enrollment period for these marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act, 8.02 million people chose a health plan. Sign-ups surged during March and April, when 3.8 million signed up for private coverage through the exchanges, according to the department's report. That total represents 47 percent of all enrollments. Eighty-five percent of those customers received financial assistance, the report said.