The Dailies

The frenzy to buy hard currencies in Zimbabwe’s struggling economy pushed the exchange rate for the U.S. dollar as high as a million Zimbabwean dollars on the black market Thursday, dealers said.

The new rate, a halving of the Zimbabwe currency’s value in just 10 days, came as the government of this southern African country announced another surge in the inflation rate, already the highest in the world.

The state central statistical office said September’s inflation heated up to an annual rate of 7,982 percent — meaning an eightyfold jump in prices over a year. The official rate was 6,592 percent in August, but independent estimates put real inflation closer to 25,000 percent.

Demand for foreign currency is soaring as people scramble to acquire cash that they can use in neighboring nations to buy cooking oil, soap and other basic goods that are increasingly hard to find in Zimbabwe.

Currency dealers said the central bank has added to the pressure by also buying on the black market, because the government needs hard currencies to pay for imports of food, electricity and gasoline.

The result is a big jump in the U.S. dollar’s exchange rate against the Zimbabwe dollar.

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Forensics experts said Monday that flesh found on a plate, fork and frying pan in the apartment of an aspiring horror novelist was human, and that DNA tests were planned to confirm whether it came from the body of his girlfriend.

Dr. Rodolfo Rojo, chief medical examiner for Mexico City’s prosecutor’s office, said muscle found on the plate and frying pan in suspect Jose Luis Calva’s apartment corresponded to parts missing from the corpse of his 32-year-old girlfriend, Alejandra Galeana.

Police found Galeana’s body in a closet in the suspect’s apartment last week after her family lead police to the building.

When asked if Calva had eaten the woman, prosecutor Octavio Romulo Salas said: “That is the assumption that exists.”

Authorities found pieces of lime beside chunks of flesh in the apartment, leading them to believe that Calva seasoned Galeana’s forearm with the fruit after he allegedly strangled, hacked, and then fried up parts of her body, Rojo said.

Two or three days passed between Galeana’s death and her grisly discovery — too much time to test Calva’s digestive system for traces of her flesh, Salas said.

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Tiger Woods will have his own brand of sports drink next year under an endorsement deal announced Tuesday with Gatorade that marks a couple of firsts for the world’s No. 1 golfer — his first U.S. deal with a beverage company and his first licensing agreement.

Gatorade said it will introduce “Gatorade Tiger” in March, with more products to follow. Woods even picked out the flavors himself, with the drink available in a cherry blend, citrus blend and grape.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, although Golfweek magazine reported last month it was for five years and could pay Woods as much as $100 million, moving him closer to the $1 billion mark in career endorsements.

Wow! Now this is the mark of a true popular icon. A drink to your name? Wow!

Too bad. I really like her character in the series…

Jorja Fox is waving goodbye to “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.”

Fox, 39, tells EW.com she has quit the Las Vegas-based forensics drama, saying she wants to explore other opportunities.

“There are all these things I want to do,” she said in a story posted Monday on the Web site. “Some are personal. Some are professional. And I really need to do some of them before I get too old.”

Fox has wrapped up filming on the hit CBS series, and will make her last appearance as Sara Sidle in an episode to air next month, according to the Web site.

CBS publicist Kate Fisher had no comment Tuesday.

Fox’s run on “CSI” nearly ended in 2004 when she and co-star George Eads were fired during tense contract negotiations. They were later hired back.

“If I thought the show were on its last legs, I would have tried harder to stay the course,” said Fox, whose contract expired in May. “But I feel like it’s going to be around for a while, so if I don’t want some of those dreams to pass me by, I have to get off the ride for a while.”

Fox has been a cast member since “CSI” premiered in 2000.

At long last! Something sensible from this girl who has nothing else to show the world but stupid mistakes after stupid mistakes…

Britney Spears is no stranger to being photographed, but it’s not often she has her fingerprints taken at the same time.

On Monday night, Spears reported to a Los Angeles police station to face charges of hit and run and driving without a valid license, police said.

Officer Mike Lopez said Spears turned herself in around 9 p.m. and left about 45 minutes later. Spears was fingerprinted and photographed, he said.

“She was fine, cooperative,” Lopez said. “She did her business and came out.”

Spears, 25, was wearing large designer sunglasses and a black turtleneck dress and jacket. As she left the station, she told KCAL-TV that all went smoothly.

“They were nice,” she said of police. She told the station she was wearing the sunglasses because she had pinkeye.

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For a whopping $120 million??? I’d say, yeah!

Pop star Madonna has dropped her long-term music label Warner Brothers and signed a multi-album, touring and merchandising global partnership with Live Nation Inc., the concert touring company said on Tuesday.

Los Angeles-based Live Nation said the deal will see Madonna become a shareholder in the company though financial terms were not released in the statement.

The deal, which has been expected for more than a week, is estimated to be worth $120 million over 10 years including a three-album commitment, a source familiar with the talks told Reuters last week.

On a call with investors on Tuesday, Live Nation executives, criticized by some Wall Street analysts for spending too much to sign the 49-year-old star, said they had been told they were not the highest bidder.

Chief Executive Michael Rapino said the partnership with an artist of Madonna’s caliber validated his company’s strategy to develop longer and deeper relationships with touring artists through its new unit Artist Nation.

“We believe it should help attract additional artists to the new Artist Nation model,” Rapino said.

A spokesman would not say which other stars Live Nation might sign but indicated there would be further announcements.

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People can’t get enough of Jennifer Aniston. Neither can Us Weekly, Star or other popular celebrity magazines.

Aniston sits atop Forbes.com’s first-ever analysis of top-selling famous faces, based on several factors, including newsstand sales of celebrity weeklies People, Us Weekly, In Touch Weekly, Life & Style, OK! and Star over a six-month period ending June 30, as supplied by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

The 38-year-old actress graced six covers appearing on every magazine except In Touch Weekly at least once during the time period with her face collectively selling more than 5 million copies, the Web site said Tuesday.

Aniston’s ex-husband, Brad Pitt, takes second place on the list, followed by Scarlett Johansson, Angelina Jolie, Reese Witherspoon, Katie Holmes, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Valerie Bertinelli and Kelly Ripa.

Britney Spears isn’t on the list even though the 25-year-old pop star snagged 18 single covers during the six-month period. Spears’ face fails when it comes to sales, Forbes.com said, and she is only slightly more likable than Paris Hilton.

Consumers have grown tired of Spears’ consistently bad behavior, In Touch Weekly Editor in Chief Richard Spencer is quoted as saying.

“Usually there’s a roller coaster of emotions,” he says. “But unfortunately for Britney, there’s been no roller coaster lately there’s just been the downhill.”

Also missing from the list: Lindsay Lohan and Jessica Simpson.

Forbes.com calculated the tabloid appeal of a celebrity by comparing how many issues a cover sold with the magazine’s average newsstand sales. The Web site then factored in the number of full covers a celeb graced, and ranked his or her consumer appeal using data from Encino, Calif-based polling firm E-Poll Market Research to rule out flukes.

*Source, OMG!

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3. Talk the talk.

Learning industry lingo is critical. “If you want to be a brand manager, you need to talk like one,” says Ricki Frankel, a career coach who specializes in transitions. Read trade publications and job postings. And start networking.

To make the switch from sales engineer to marketing, Todd Cox, 39, of Atlanta, has been reading books and seeking out mentors. “It may be someone I read about or hear speak,” he says. “I tell them what I’m trying to do and ask if they’ll coach me along. It doesn’t always work, but everyone gives me little tidbits.”

4. Take a two-step approach.

“Every career is composed of two main factors, a job title and a particular industry,” says Dick Bolles, author of “What Color Is Your Parachute?” “An easier way to transition is to change just one of those factors at a time.”

So if you’re a lawyer itching to become a travel writer, work as a writer for a legal publication first (new title) and then eventually move into travel writing (new industry).

Or do legal work for a travel publication and contribute pieces until you’re able to pick up a writing position.

5. Give yourself enough time.

Quitting on a whim often results in a frantic scramble for a paycheck. Plus, you need to think through logistics. If you have to take a salary cut, how will you cover it? Are you willing to relocate?

It took Susan Rubin, 48, of Armonk, New York, four years to give up her legal practice and become a yoga instructor.

“I was hesitant to make the jump,” she says, “but in the meantime, I was training and saving money. It was very hard for me to close the doors of my practice. But once I did, I never looked back.”

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Switching fields may seem taboo, but it’s quite doable, especially now when labor markets are tight. Almost half of the 164 employers who responded to our MONEY Magazine/Salary.com survey say they regularly target mid-career changers when recruiting. One reason: Switchers are dedicated to their move, with 32 percent saying they’ll spend “as long as it takes” to get the necessary certification and schooling.

What are they looking for? Pay and advancement, sure, but also fulfillment and a sense that they can control their career paths.

Steve Mullins, 44, already has a good job: He’s a telecommunications engineer for a pharmaceutical company. But he’s studying to become a nurse — it’s a top job for career changers because demand is so high. “They can offshore my job any day of the week,” says Mullins of Noblesville, Indiana. “And of course, when you fix a router, it doesn’t say thanks.”

To make your case to a hiring manager, follow these tips.

1. Show your commitment.

“Employers are seeing high turnover,” says Kimberly Bishop, a senior client partner at recruiter Korn/Ferry International. “They want to make sure you will be the right fit.”

You’ll be more convincing if you take classes, join industry organizations or moonlight (even on a volunteer basis) within the field you’re exploring before you try to go full time — and you’ll also have a much better idea if this really is the right move for you.

2. Quantify your skills.

It may not be obvious how what you know translates into what they do. So focus on your transferable skills — not your experience — in interviews and on your resume.

Quantify your accomplishments: Show that you increased sales X percent or managed Y number of people. “It helps provide the scope and breadth of your accomplishments,” says Bishop, “and it shows you very clearly understand what you’ve done.”

Also highlight areas in your background that give you an advantage. When interviewing for an IT position, Randy Jensen, 36, of Riverton, Utah, pointed out that after 15 years in radio, he has good communication skills. “I can string two sentences together,” he says. “I’m not going to be a hermit in a cubicle.”

When you think of the ideal boss, actress Carol Burnett and late-night TV host David Letterman probably don’t come to mind. But those two celebrities have a quality that most workers say is essential to being a good boss: a sense of humor.

When asked in a recent poll how important it is for a manager to have a sense of humor, 65% of workers answered “very important,” while 32% answered “somewhat important.” The survey, conducted by staffing firm Robert Half International, also revealed that most of the workers (87%) rated their managers as having good senses of humor.

Max Messmer, chairman and chief executive of RHI, said the survey underscores that humor can make a boss seem more approachable, but it’s not a license to be a clown.

“To be taken seriously, supervisors must balance their desire to keep the mood light with the need to accomplish business objectives, inspire great performance, and maintain professionalism,” Messmer said.

Is Your Boss Funny?

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Here are 3 points for you to consider…

Smart Snacks

Stay away from the vending machines by bringing to work your own healthy snacks, such as nuts, popcorn, or granola bars, in pre-portioned packages, according to Marisa Moore, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.

“The key is not to bring the entire box or package,” Moore says. “If you bring the entire box, you’re tempted to eat more than one.”

Maximum Exercise, Minimum Time

For his busy corporate clients who find it hard to squeeze in a workout, Talbott recommends a three-times-a-week program of 28 minutes of interval training, combining intensive activities with cool-down periods.

“If time is the big issue, [this is] the shortest amount of time we can have someone exercise and see results,” he says.

Healthy Riding

If you have a long commute, you can avoid having the car become a filling station by having breakfast before you leave for work, and a light snack prior to returning home.

“Everything looks good when you’re hungry,” Moore says. “You don’t want to stop by a fast-food restaurant on the way to work or home, because you’ll fill up with 1,200 calories before you know it.”

Yes, it does. Too much sitting down. Only my fingers and a bit of my arms are moving… who wouldn’t get fat with that, huh?

While your job can’t be blamed directly for your putting on the pounds, the potent combination of too much work stress, too little sleep, and not enough physical activity can lead to weight gain.

The best offense against work-related flab, experts say, is the often-repeated mantra of exercising regularly and eating right. Start by understanding why you’re at risk of gaining weight on the job, so you can take steps to avoid it.

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When you’re considering taking a new job, it’s important to find out how a potential employer treats employees. But getting the answer to that question, along with others that will help you determine if you’ll be happy at the company, may take some sleuthing. Here are five questions that will help you decide if the company is a fit – and some unconventional ways to find the answers:

# What makes employees join this company and stay here? You can always ask your potential manager this question in an interview. But if you ask the employees you see while walking around the premises, as Griffen did, you’ll get a wider variety of answers – and possibly more honest ones.

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Former chess champion Garry Kasparov released his latest book this month, at the same time he formally entered the race to become President of Russia. How Life Imitates Chess is Kasparov’s effort to examine how the lessons from his chess career can be applied to the worlds of business and politics. As such, it’s something of a primer on his political strategy in Russia, where his outspoken criticism of Vladimir Putin and his own presidential aspirations are considered far-fetched at best and dangerous at worst. In this, the second of two excerpts from the book, Kasparov addresses directly how he hopes to change the political situation in Russia.

At the end of 2006, as this book was headed to the printer in several countries, the internal political chaos in Russia spilled out into the world’s headlines. A British national, KGB agent defector, and harsh critic of the Kremlin, Alexander Litvinenko, was assassinated with the rare radioactive substance polonium 210. The investigation into his death currently spans at least three countries.

Litvinenko’s murder came on the heels of the Moscow killing of the well-known investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya—on Russian president Vladimir Putin’s birthday, no less. The killings have turned a spotlight on what the West had assumed was the autocratic but stable Putin regime. Suddenly the foreign media is realizing what we in the Russian opposition have been saying for years—the Kremlin is ever closer to dictatorship than democracy and yet is not stable at all.

The world has no shortage of big-ticket restaurants, and even if you’ve never set foot in one, you likely could rattle off those cities with the highest concentration of them: London, Tokyo, Paris, Vancouver—yes, Vancouver. Average per-person tabs in British Columbia’s largest city might run $39, paltry compared with those in Osaka, Kobe, or Kyoto, where restaurant meals cost an average of $65, according to Zagat Survey. But the Canadian city rivals New York ($39) for the title of priciest dining capital in North America. And meals in Montreal cost an average of $1.71 more than in Los Angeles. Surprised?

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