“Hostess Brands closing for good”

Hostess Brands -- the maker of such iconic baked goods as Twinkies, Drake's Devil Dogs and Wonder Bread -- announced Friday that it will close its operations, blaming a strike by bakers protesting a new contract imposed on them. Hostess' nearly 18,500 workers will lose their jobs as the company shuts 33 bakeries and 565 distribution centers nationwide, as well as 570 outlet stores. "We deeply regret the necessity of today's decision, but we do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike."

In Other News International pressure mounted Monday for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian violence that has left dozens dead and hundreds wounded, with the United Nations chief flying to the region to personally appeal for a cease-fire. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's call for a truce came on the heels of the single deadliest attack -- an Israeli airstrike that killed a family of 10 -- in the conflict that began with militant rocket attacks from Gaza that saw Israel respond with an aerial offensive. Barack Obama met with Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi at her home in Myanmar on Monday, lauding her "courage and determination" during a historic visit to the once repressive and secretive country. The first sitting U.S. president to visit Myanmar, Obama urged its leaders, who have embarked on a series of far-reaching political and economic reforms since 2011, not to extinguish the "flickers of progress that we have seen."