The protesters in Thailand said on Tuesday that they would step up their rallies against the government to force Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to leave office, explaining that electoral reforms are needed before any elections are held.

General Motors Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson speaks at the National Press Club on Dec. 16, 2013, in Washington, DC. Akerson spoke on GM's designing, selling and building of vehicles during his remarks. / Win McNamee/Getty Images

General Motors Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson rejected any suggestion that the company pay an extra $10 billion to cover the gap between taxpayers’ investment and what the U.S. Treasury recovered from selling its GM stock.

In short, Akerson contended Treasury officials took the same risk assumed by anyone who purchases stock.

Swiss banks are quietly warning wealthy U.S. clients with secret accounts to come clean with the tax man in the next two weeks — or risk jail time, according to several letters obtained by POLITICO.

The letters come ahead of a New Year’s Eve deadline the U.S. government set for about 300 Swiss banks to take deals protecting them from prosecution. In exchange for confessing and shelling out mountains of Americans’ account information, they’ll get immunity. It is a new twist to the traditional bank-client relationship.