Lawmakers have come to a final agreement on President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan. The versions of the bills that passed the Senate and the House of Representatives were both over $800 billion, but this version costs $789 billion, according to Republican Sen. Susan Collins, from Maine. The bill should create 3.5 million jobs once it takes effect, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said at a news conference. The package includes money for Americans struggling in the recession, states grappling with budget deficits and tax cuts. Earlier this week, President Obama hit the primetime airwaves, making the case for the stimulus plan.

What’s one thing you would do to stimulate the economy?

Tyler Perry is in Dog House with Contractors A half-dozen contractors have filed liens against the home and new movie studio of actor-director Tyler Perry, alleging that he stiffed them for nearly $200,000 in unpaid bills. The construction firms say that Perry arbitrarily declined to pay them for their work, that he ordered work done on impulse. For example, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, he might decide “he wouldn’t like the stones purchased for an outdoor fountain … or deem newly planted trees too short. Said Brooks Hilton, a landscaping contractor who contends that Perry owes him $17,635, “He wanted to do it his way.” “He wouldn’t take any advice. I guess in Hollywood it works that way, but not in real life.” But Perry says that he refused to pay up because the workers did lousy work. “I pride myself on taking care of my business. I pride myself on being able to pay the bills, [but] I’m not sympathetic to anybody who’s trying to rip me off. Just because I’m a Christian, just because I’m a nice guy, it doesn’t mean I’m a wimp.”

Black Choir Signed to Record Deal The Black youth choir that performed at President Barack Obama’s inauguration last week has been signed by Universal Music. As they returned to Nairobi from D.C., officials of the label met the members of the Boys Choir of Kenya at London’s Heathrow Airport. Read the rest here.

Yankees pay big bucks for Sabathia. Not one to let big bucks stand in the way of a big deal, the free-spending New York Yankees on Wednesday agreed to pay a whopping $161 million for the highly prized pitcher CC Sabathia. Not a bad payday for the Milwaukee Brewers mound master. In fact, the seven-year deal is the highest amount paid ever for a pitcher and the fourth-highest amount ever paid to a professional baseball player. “He’s a guy who’s an intimidating factor on the mound,” Yankees captain Derek Jeter said. The Yankees have a history of throwing major money at a player it deems delicious, and team officials are hoping that the acquisition will land the Yanks in the World Series for the first time since 2000.

Arena Football’s 2009 season may still go on. Arena Football League might not nix 2009 season. Just hours after AFL owners announced that the 2009 Arena Football season would be suspended, the league’s board of directors said that “at this time” the season would not be called off. The initial announcement on Wednesday cited a sluggish economy and mounting financial losses and called for some serious belt-tightening. “The board will continue to meet regularly to examine any and all long-term structural improvement options for the AFL,” the league said in a written statement after the vote. The season takes place from March to June. Hours after Los Angeles Avengers owner Casey Wasserman said he expected the season to be called off, the league’s board of directors voted via conference call not to suspend the season “at this time.” Casey Wasserman, owner of the Los Angeles Avengers and the most outspoken and respected of the owners, said “the AFL is looking for ways to create league-wide efficiencies such as more centralized marketing,” The Los Angeles Times reports. “It’s important for the Arena Football League to think about the next 20 years,” Wasserman told the newspaper before the vote. “And the economic model, combined with the economic environment we’re in currently, doesn’t allow us to take that perspective.”

Getting international aid for the struggling nation is a #1 priority.
It’s official: Zimbabwe leaders sign historic deal. Surrounded by cheers, Zimbabwe’s president and opposition leader inked a power-sharing deal after two disputed elections. The two leaders, President Robert Mugabe and the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, agreed on a deal that would let longtime leader Mugabe retain the presidency (with lessened power) but would also allow Tsvangirai to be prime minister, reports CNN. After June’s very violent runoff election season, which he says caused him to drop out of the race for his and his supporters’ safety, Tsvangirai seemed ready to move forward with the brand-new government. “Divisions, polarizations and hatred belong to the past. Let us not be divided by our past, but united by our hope for the future,” he said after signing. In what he called a “compromise,” Aruthur Mutabara, a third party leader, will become deputy prime minister. South African President Thabo Mbeki (who helped mediate the power-sharing talks) attended the signing along with leaders from the Southern Africa Development Community. Mugabe used the opportunity take a few jabs at western influences, saying that the United States and Britain need to stay out of the Zimbabwean government. “As we move forward, as long as certain salient principles are recognized, we will find room for agreement, he said.” The country is in a financial crisis, with an 11.2 million-percent inflation rate, making it hard for Zimbabweans to buy basic goods. Tsvangirai urged other countries to send aid to his nation; aid has been slowed with the post-election violence. After a new constitution is drafted in the next year and a half, they will decide whether or not to have new elections.

Black Americans heading to Africa? Get more on the trend plus pics from the documentary “Blacks Without Borders” here.

Death toll in Somali minibus attack rises fThe death toll in Friday’s attack on two Somali minibuses by Ethiopian troops has risen to 60 after people in the neighborhood discovered 16 more bodies, reports the BBC. The attack happened near Mogadishu when Ethiopian forces were hit by a roadside bomb and retaliated by shooting, according to witnesses. “Ethiopian convoys opened fire into different areas where thousands of displaced people were living; they killed everyone on the road,” Sahra Nor Osma, a witness, told The Associated Press. Ethiopia is in the country supporting Somalia’s transitional government, and trying to rid the country of insurgents. But Mogadishu has been prone to attacks. On the same day of this attack, insurgents fired on President Abdullah Yusuf’s convoy while it was leaving the country for Ethiopia for ceasefire talks. Government troops then fired back, killing five civilians.

Still no Zimbabwe power-sharing deal after summit

This weekend’s Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit came to a close Sunday without a power-sharing deal between Zimbabwe’s president and opposition leader, reports the BBC. South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki hosted the summit (which includes 14 member nations) and is also the lead mediator of the talks between longtime Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. “It’s clearly not possible to say when negotiations will be concluded. It’s a matter of negotiating parties reconvening,” he told reporters following the summit. Other leaders at the summit were optimistic that there is a base for a deal, though. Hundreds of protesters, upset that Mugabe was even invited to the summit, protested outside of the meeting Saturday. They, along with Botswana’s President Ian Khama, who actually boycotted the meeting, don’t think Mugabe should be recognized as president of Zimbabwe after June’s runoff election, which many in the international community called a sham. Days before the runoff, Tsvangirai dropped out of the race because of violence against his supporters.

All parties report progress in reaching a deal.

A negotiated political settlement that addresses the problems besetting Zimbabwe could be agreed to as soon as this week, The Standard of Kenya is reporting. The negotiators representing the three parties at the talks resume their negotiations in Pretoria, South Africa, on Sunday. Two weeks ago when the leaders of Zanu-PF, MDC-T and MDC signed a Memorandum of Understanding, they committed themselves to concluding the talks within two weeks. Tomorrow (Monday) marks the last day of the two-week timeline the parties set themselves to reach an agreement. But The Standard was told that while an agreement might not be reached within the next couple of days, the deal will not be too far off the deadline the parties committed themselves to as they were inching toward a final agreement. While there was some groundwork to be covered, the parties to the negotiations were in agreement that there were no insurmountable obstacles to a final settlement, according to The Standard. The optimism on a final agreement being reached this week is indicated in the statements of the three leaders and the arrival here of the chief mediator, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa. After Mbeki’s visit, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai told reporters that he was “fairly satisfied” with the talks, while acknowledging there were “sticking points.” Professor Arthur Mutambara, who heads the other MDC formation, has used pretty much the same language, saying his side remains committed to finding a settlement to the impasse. President Robert Mugabe spoke of the “talks progressing well” and pledged his party’s total commitment to the “speedy conclusion and successful outcome of the talks so that we can focus on the recovery of our economy.” Tsvangirai and Mutambara are in South Africa, but there was no immediate indication suggesting their presence there signaled imminent conclusion to the talks.

Zimbabwe’s political rivals sign a deal for formal talks
On Monday, longtime Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and Movement of Democratic Change opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai signed a deal to begin formal negotiations, reports CNN. Both leaders, along with their mediator, South African President Thabo Mbeki, appeared at a news conference together and shook hands on the agreement that could provide the footing for a coalition government between the two. But even though the deal had some outside help from a foreign mediator, Mugabe is determined to limit any outside influences. “We shall be doing this as Zimbabweans … with the help of South Africa,” he said during the conference. Tsvangirai is approaching the negotiations with caution. “It’s too early yet to make a judgment as to the outcome of the process,” Tsvangirai said, adding that it is “a collective effort and it involves tolerance, compromise, [and] putting the best interest of Zimbabwe at the forefront of these negotiations.” He also referred to Mugabe as the president of his political party, Zanu-PF, not of Zimbabwe. This is the first time ever the two have appeared publically together. In the weeks ahead of last month’s runoff vote between the two, Tsvangirai and his supporters reportedly were arrested several times and claimed the government was sponsoring violent attacks against their supporters. Tsvangirai dropped out of the race, days before the election, saying he feared for his and his supporters’ safety. Recently, though, about 1,500 MDC supporters arrested in the past few weeks have been freed, reports CNN. The agreement signed by the leaders Monday states that both parties are, “dedicating ourselves to putting an end to the polarization, divisions, conflict and intolerance that have characterized our country’s politics.” The talks, which will be mediated by Mbeki, African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping and the Southern African Development, will happen over the next two weeks.

Ivory Coast cuts government salaries in half
High fuel prices have forced the Ivory Coast to cut in half the salaries of government officials, reports the BBC. The government made the move to subsidize the rising cost of fuel for its citizens, after increasing diesel prices by 44 percent and petrol prices by 29 percent earlier this month. “Having heard the people’s cry from the heart, the government has decided to cut the price of fuel,” Prime Minister Guillaume Soro said. The announcement had at least one immediate effect. After the plan was revealed, public transportation workers called off their weeklong strike. The cut will enable the government to reduce fuel prices by 10 percent. Trips overseas by government officials would also be cut to a “bare minimum,” Soro said. In March and April, violent protests took place in Abidjan over rising food prices.