2 Armenian president on historic visit to Turkey
by Hande Culpan and Mariam Harutunian, AFP
34 mins ago
| BURSA, Turkey (AFP) - Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian paid a landmark visit to Turkey Wednesday to watch a football match as the two nations pressed ahead with painstaking efforts to overcome a bloody history.
Sarkisian held talks with Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul ahead of the game "in an extremely positive atmosphere" with Gul hailing the reconciliation process as "history making," a Turkish diplomat said.
Sarkisian flew in to the northwestern city of Bursa just four days after Turkey and Armenia, backed by world powers, signed historic deals to end decades of hostility, establish formal ties and open their border. |
3 Economic crises cause spike in world hunger: UN
AFP
2 hrs 53 mins ago
| ROME (AFP) - The food crisis in poor countries coupled with the global economic crisis have caused a spike in world hunger, with more than one billion people undernourished this year, the UN food agencies said Wednesday.
"No nation is immune and, as usual, it is the poorest countries -- and the poorest people -- that are suffering the most," said FAO head Jacques Diouf and WFP chief Josette Sheeran in this year's annual report on global food security being released in advance of World Food Day on October 16.
"Even before the food crisis and the economic crisis, the number of hungry people had been increasing slowly but steadily," says the report compiled jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Food Programme. |
4 US retail sales dragged down by auto sales
by P. Parameswaran, AFP
2 hrs 35 mins ago
| WASHINGTON (AFP) - US retail sales saw their biggest decline of the year in September as auto sales were dented by the end of government trade-in incentives, official data showed Wednesday.
Sales fell 1.5 percent following a revised 2.2 percent jump in August. The figure was not as weak as a 2.1 percent drop expected by most analysts.
The September contraction, the biggest since December 2008, was attributed to tumbling auto sales after the government ended a rebate program in which car owners swapped old vehicles for new, more fuel-efficient models. |
5 Armstrong welcomes 'open' 2010 yellow jersey battle
by Justin Davis, AFP
Wed Oct 14, 9:25 am ET
| PARIS (AFP) - Seven-times champion Lance Armstrong admitted next year's Tour de France could offer victory opportunities to a bigger field of rivals after the organisers' unveiled the 2010 route on Wednesday.
Beginning in Rotterdam on July 3 and ending in Paris July 25, the 97th edition of the world's toughest bike race will cover an approximate total distance of 3,590 kilometres.
In total there will be one prologue, nine flat stages, six high mountain stages and four medium mountain stages. |
6 JPMorgan Chase profit leaps to $3.6 bln
AFP
2 hrs 30 mins ago
| NEW YORK (AFP) - JPMorgan Chase said on Wednesday its third quarter profit jumped to 3.6 billion dollars in a further sign of the rebounding fortunes of the banking sector.
The profit however was heavily skewed to investment banking and trading results, which offset weakness in the consumer sector, especially in credit cards.
The group, among the healthiest of the major US banks, said earnings were nearly seven times higher than the 527 million dollars in the same period a year ago. |
7 'Toxic legacy' seeps from melting Alpine glaciers
AFP
2 hrs 48 mins ago
| GENEVA (AFP) - Swiss researchers have found that Alpine glaciers melting under the impact of climate change are releasing highly toxic pollutants that had been absorbed by the ice for decades.
They warned in a study abstract published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology that it could have a "dire environmental impact" on "pristine mountain areas" as global warming accelerates.
Much of the pollution was dumped on Europe's biggest mountain range by atmospheric currents from further afield, according to the researchers at three Swiss scientific institutes. |
8 Thousands flee tribal Pakistan ahead of offensive
by Abid Khan, AFP
Wed Oct 14, 7:54 am ET
| DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AFP) - Tens of thousands of people have fled Pakistan's lawless tribal region ahead of an expected army offensive, officials said Wednesday, as fighter jets continued to pound Taliban positions.
Authorities have registered 90,000 people displaced from South Waziristan on the Afghan border since August, with a fresh exodus after a weekend hostage siege at army headquarters near Islamabad that deeply embarrassed the military.
The government in June ordered an operation into the mountainous northwest stronghold of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, but so far only air raids and occasional artillery strikes have hit rebel sanctuaries. |
9 House panel hammers at OTC derivatives rules
By Kevin Drawbaugh and Christopher Doering, Reuters
1 hr 20 mins ago
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional committee started nailing down details of a bill to regulate over-the-counter derivatives on Wednesday, seeking to advance a key part of the Obama administration's broad plan to tighten bank and capital markets oversight.
After the worst credit crisis in generations, President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats want to rein in the $450-trillion OTC derivatives market that many claim amplified a crisis which drove the world financial system to the brink of collapse last year.
They face ferocious resistance from banks and Republicans seeking to protect profit margins in a market used to hedge against risk and speculate on prices. |
10 For many U.S. wealthy, housing crisis still a squeeze
By Nick Carey, Reuters
Wed Oct 14, 4:01 am ET
| ST. CHARLES, Illinois (Reuters) - Despite some signs that the worst of the U.S. residential housing crisis may be over, many wealthy homeowners are still being squeezed by the combination of weak home prices and the stock market crash.
"I think for wealthy homeowners it will get worse before it gets better," said Dennis Hedlund, founder of iEmergent, a forecaster for mortgage and real estate companies.
"I don't think home prices have bottomed yet. Many people are stuck at the high end, as there aren't many buyers out there," Hedlund said of owners of luxury properties. |
11 Ford switch recall expanded by 4.5 million vehicles
By John Crawley, Reuters
Tue Oct 13, 10:23 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co is expanding its largest ever recall -- involving faulty cruise control deactivation switches that have caused fires -- by 4.5 million vehicles, regulators and company officials said on Tuesday.
The action effectively closes out a 10-year saga over the switches made by Texas Instruments that has led to more than a half-dozen recalls at Ford covering 14 million registered vehicles, the automaker said in a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The government added two million vehicles to the Ford total, factoring in models not believed to be on the road. Affected vehicles should be taken to Ford dealers to be fixed. |
12 Bank of Japan refrains from comment on exit strategy
By Hideyuki Sano, Reuters
Wed Oct 14, 2:19 am ET
| TOKYO (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan kept markets guessing on the future of its support for corporate finance, avoiding any reference to the issue in its latest policy review as analysts warily eyed government pressure to keep the measures in place.
The central bank had been tipped to decide whether to stop corporate bond purchases and other measures used to cushion the shock of the financial crisis.
Government ministers have pressed the BOJ to consider the economic fallout of such a move, with some saying it could endanger recovery. |
13 Latin America's worst wage gap for women and minorities? Powerhouse Brazil.
By Andrew Downie and Sara Miller Llana, The Christian Science Monitor
Tue Oct 13, 5:00 am ET
| São Paulo, Brazil; and Mexico City - Mention Brazil today and adulation follows. Its fight against poverty, its growing middle class, and its emergence as an economic powerhouse are all being studied as models to be applied elsewhere. (Read our three-part "Brazil Rising" series for more.)
In one area, however, the country is far behind its peers: income equality. In a new study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), released Monday, Brazil sits at the bottom of a list of 18 regional countries when it comes to how much women and minorities are paid for the same job a white man does.
Men earn 30 percent more than women of the same age and education level in Brazil. In Bolivia and Guatemala, that gap is essentially zero. Compared to Mexico, the other economic engine of the region, Brazil also stands out: Men in Mexico earn just 7 percent more than their female peers. The same gaping divide appears in Brazil when comparing wages for whites and minorities - a blow to a nation where half the population considers itself black or mixed race and prizes itself on being "color blind." |
14 Pakistan Taliban bombing spree could spur backlash
By Ben Arnoldy, The Christian Science Monitor
Tue Oct 13, 5:00 am ET
| New Delhi - Facing a looming assault from the military, the Al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban launched a spree of brazen attacks and a media blitz over the past week that appeared to say "bring it on."
Today, the military responded by bombing the Taliban's hub in South Waziristan as government forces prepare for a ground offensive there.
The Taliban have recently killed at least 112 people - including United Nations workers, peacekeeper recruits in the restive Swat Valley, and a general and two colonels in the Pakistani Army. They also infiltrated Army headquarters over the weekend. But experts on the conflict sense an underlying insecurity behind their tactics. |
15 Eager foreigners still wary of investing in Mugabe's Zimbabwe
By Scott Baldauf, The Christian Science Monitor
Tue Oct 13, 5:00 am ET
| Johannesburg, South Africa - Foreign investors eager to pursue tempting opportunities in Zimbabwe still seem to think business under the regime of President Robert Mugabe is a bit too risky.
After Swiss food conglomerate Nestle canceled a contract with a company owned by Mr. Mugabe's wife last week, the government temporarily froze its bank account. This week, South African supermarket giant Shoprite cancelled a plan to invest in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is only now pulling itself out of a 10-year economic decline that saw 80 percent unemployment and 231 million percent inflation. Mugabe has only reluctantly allowed the winner of last year's national election, Morgan Tsvangirai, to serve as his prime minister and as recently as last December he threatened a broad program of nationalizing banks, mines, and factories, similar to the decade-old campaign to force white commercial farmers from their land. |
16 Art experts find possible new Leonardo drawing
By ROB GILLIES, Associated Press Writer
52 mins ago
| TORONTO - A new portrait by Leonardo da Vinci may have been discovered thanks to centuries-old fingerprint and palm print.
Peter Paul Biro, a Montreal-based forensic art expert, said that a fingerprint on what was presumed to be a 19th-century German drawing of a young woman has convinced art experts that it's actually a Leonardo.
Canadian-born art collector Peter Silverman bought "Profile of the Bella Principessa" at the Ganz gallery in New York on behalf of an anonymous Swiss collector in 2007 for about $19,000. New York art dealer Kate Ganz had owned it for about 11 years after buying it at auction for a similar price. |
17 AP sources: Afghan corruption worries McChrystal
By LARA JAKES, Associated Press Writer
Wed Oct 14, 10:55 am ET
| WASHINGTON - The top military commander in Afghanistan is asking for up to 80,000 more American troops even as he warns that rampant government corruption there may prevent victory against the Taliban and al-Qaida, according to U.S. officials briefed on his conclusions.
A still-secret document by Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal that requests more troops is expected to be among the topics discussed Wednesday when President Barack Obama meets with his national security team to hash out a strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Even with additional troops, McChrystal concluded that corruption still could let terrorists turn Afghanistan back into a haven, according to officials at the Pentagon and White House. |
18 Government says 85,000 Iraqis killed in 2004-08
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 32 mins ago
| BAGHDAD - At least 85,000 Iraqis lost their lives from 2004-2008 in violence, the government said in its first comprehensive official tally released since the war began.
The report by the Human Rights Ministry said 85,694 people were killed from the beginning of 2004 to Oct. 31, 2008 and 147,195 were wounded. It counted Iraqi civilians, military and police but did not cover U.S. military deaths, insurgents, or foreigners, including contractors or U.S. forces. And it did not include the first months of the war after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
The Associated Press reported in April that the government had recorded 87,215 Iraqi deaths from 2005 to February 2009, a toll very similar to the latest release. It was based on government statistics obtained by the AP and covered violence ranging from catastrophic bombings to execution-style slayings. |
19 Watchdog: Treasury and Fed failed in AIG oversight
By DANIEL WAGNER, AP Business Writer
1 hr 10 mins ago
| WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is "ultimately responsible" for regulators failing to rein in massive bonus payments at American International Group because he led the agencies that provided AIG's lifelines, according to a bailout watchdog.
Geithner, who was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York before taking over at Treasury in January, has said he did not learn until March about the $1.75 billion in bonuses and other compensation promised to AIG employees. But Geithner's subordinates at the New York Fed learned of the payments in November, according to Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the $700 billion financial bailout.
Even if no one told Geithner about the payments, "this is a failure of communication and a failure of management," Barofsky told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday. Geithner has been "the head of an organization that was involved in the bailout of AIG" since last September, he added. |
20 VA to ease way for vets to get stress disability
By KIMBERLY HEFLING, Associated Press Writer
19 mins ago
| WASHINGTON - Female soldiers and others serving in dangerous roles behind the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan have long complained it was hard to prove their combat experience when applying for disability for post-traumatic stress disorder.
That could soon change.
The Veterans Affairs Department has proposed reducing the paperwork required for veterans to show their experience caused combat-related stress. Even just the fear of hostile action would be sufficient, as long as a VA psychologist or psychiatrist agreed. |
21 Limbaugh already down a vote in bid to buy Rams
By JIMMY GOLEN, AP Sports Writer
Wed Oct 14, 3:45 am ET
| BOSTON - Rush Limbaugh's bid to buy the St. Louis Rams ran into opposition within the NFL on Tuesday, when Colts owner Jim Irsay vowed to vote against him and commissioner Roger Goodell said the conservative commentator's "divisive" comments would not be tolerated from any NFL insider.
"I, myself, couldn't even consider voting for him," Irsay said at an owners meetings. "When there are comments that have been made that are inappropriate, incendiary and insensitive ... our words do damage, and it's something that we don't need."
Limbaugh has long been a hero of conservatives and villain to the left, thriving on his place in the political spectrum while establishing himself as one of the most successful broadcasters in history. But the NFL tries to avoid controversy, as Limbaugh learned in 2003 when he was forced to resign from ESPN's Sunday night football broadcast after saying of Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb: "I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well." |
22 Minn. city's get-healthy effort called a success
By CHRIS WILLIAMS and PATRICK CONDON, Associated Press Writers
1 hr 1 min ago
| ALBERT LEA, Minn. - Hardware store owner and heart attack survivor Leo Aeikens spent most of his life with a hankering for meat, cheese and ice cream. But an ambitious effort aimed at making his entire southern Minnesota city healthier has Aeikens calling himself a vegan and weighing 25 pounds less in just 10 months.
The 69-year-old's radical lifestyle change came as part of the "Vitality Project," an endeavor spearheaded by adventurer and travel writer Dan Buettner and AARP with major funding from United Health Foundation. Organizers say the project has added several years to the lives of Albert Lea residents through improved diet, exercise and living habits.
With organizers' help, the city crammed five years of sidewalk and bike trail construction into a year to make exercise easier for its 18,000 residents. Restaurants added healthier menu options and grocery stores showcased wholesome foods. People snacked on fruits and veggies and ate less fast food. |
23 Son of former Ky. gov emerges as slaying suspect
By ROGER ALFORD, Associated Press Writer
Wed Oct 14, 9:41 am ET
| FRANKFORT, Ky. - Steve Nunn said nothing in court. His glum, unshaven face spoke volumes.
The politician who had lived a life of privilege hobnobbing with Kentucky's political elite wasn't at all pleased with the Fayette County jail where he is being held on a murder charge for allegedly gunning down his ex-girlfriend.
Nunn, heir to one of the most famous names in Kentucky politics, wore a drab prison jumpsuit and a frown as his lawyer entered a not guilty plea on his behalf and asked for his release on bond. |
24 Texas heavy industries worry about EPA crackdown
By JOHN McFARLAND, Associated Press Writer
Wed Oct 14, 3:13 am ET
| DALLAS - For 15 years, environmentalists have complained that state regulations have allowed the powerful oil and chemical industries to skirt Clean Air Act standards in Texas, the nation's foremost producer of industrial air pollution.
But the Environmental Protection Agency last month scrapped several aspects of the state's air-pollution permitting program, including "flexible" permits that have allowed about 140 plants and refineries to exceed toxic emissions limits in the short term as long as they complied to overall federal averages in the long term.
Federal regulators say the move, set to take effect next year, is designed to cut toxic emissions and bring Texas in line with the Clean Air Act. And environmental groups say it will help improve the state's ecology and the health of Texans and those living nearby. |
25 NYC Dem attacks mayor in debate, calls him liar
By SARA KUGLER, Associated Press Writer
Tue Oct 13, 9:44 pm ET
| NEW YORK - The Democrat trying to unseat popular billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg lobbed multiple attacks at him during their first debate Tuesday, calling him a liar and saying he spends an obscene amount of money buying votes and support for his policies.
City Comptroller William Thompson Jr. sought to portray Bloomberg as opportunistic for political moves he has made, including changing his lifelong party registration from Democrat to Republican to avoid a crowded primary in 2001 and persuading the City Council to extend the term-limits law last year so he could run again.
"At each and every level, it hasn't been about the people of New York City, it's been about you," Thompson said. |
26 Afghan presidential runoff would face challenges
By HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Writer
57 mins ago
| KABUL - Afghan officials would face a daunting task in organizing a runoff presidential election before the arrival of winter - including hiring unbiased staff and securing polling stations in areas under threat of Taliban attack.
The problems are unlikely to end there. Even if the Afghans were to pull it off, there's no guarantee that another ballot - which seems increasingly probable - would produce a reliable partner for the U.S. and its allies in confronting the Taliban-led insurgency.
Election officials are expected to rule within days on fraud allegations over the Aug. 20 election. The vote was marred by charges of ballot-stuffing and voter coercion, mostly to the benefit of the incumbent, President Hamid Karzai. |
27 Analysts question $7B China-Guinea mining deal
By KRISTA LARSON and ANITA POWELL, Associated Press Writers
16 mins ago
| JOHANNESBURG - Reviled internationally for gunning down unarmed pro-democracy protesters last month, the military government of Guinea has gained a lifeline - thanks to a $7 billion mining deal it says it obtained with a Chinese company.
Human rights groups decried the deal while China kept a low profile, not confirming Tuesday's announcement by Guinea, a West African country led by Capt. Moussa "Dadis" Camara who seized power in a coup in December.
"There's a real risk that these investments could entrench and embolden and enrich an already abusive government," said Arvind Ganesan, director of Human Rights Watch's Business and Human Rights Program. |
28 44-year French probe into disappearance resurfaces
By ELAINE GANLEY, Associated Press Writer
Wed Oct 14, 12:18 pm ET
| PARIS - Unsolved for 44 years, a case into the disappearance of a prominent Moroccan exile kidnapped off a Paris sidewalk has resurfaced - and now is posing uncomfortable questions for France's leadership.
The oft-hobbled investigation into the fate of Mehdi Ben Barka was supposed to take big step forward this month after international arrest warrants were issued for four suspects - including the current chief of Morocco's police force.
But French prosecutors abruptly suspended the warrants a day later. Ben Barka's son and the only surviving lawyer in the case claim connivance at the highest levels in France and Morocco for the suspension and for keeping the case a mystery all these years. |
29 Warmer ties for Russia, China with big gas deals
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV and TINI TRAN, Associated Press Writers
2 hrs 21 mins ago
| BEIJING - Russia and China are closing in on a mammoth energy deal which could insure that Beijing has the fuel to run its factories and cities and Moscow has a vast new market for its natural gas empire.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday wrapped up a three-day visit to the Chinese capital, during which Russia signed dozens of commercial pacts worth $3.5 billion and set the framework for a separate, multibillion-dollar agreement to build two natural gas pipelines to China from gas fields in Russia's Far East.
Together, those pipelines would be capable of supplying China with 68 billion cubic meters (2.4 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas annually, representing a whopping 85 percent of the gas China currently consumes. |
30 Russian lawmakers protest rigged local elections
By MARIA RYBAKOVA, Associated Press Writer
Wed Oct 14, 12:04 pm ET
| MOSCOW - Dozens of Russian lawmakers staged a rare walkout from parliament Wednesday to protest what they and independent monitors describe as rigged local elections across Russia.
It was the first time in nine years that all factions except the main Kremlin-favored United Russia party had walked out in protest.
The United Russia party won an overwhelming victory Sunday in more than 7,000 local elections in 75 of Russia's 83 regions. In Moscow, the party won all but three seats on the 35-member city council. |
31 Future Karzai cabinet to balance "warlords" and West
By Sayed Salahuddin, Reuters
Wed Oct 14, 7:56 am ET
| KABUL (Reuters) - It may have looked like a done deal for President Hamid Karzai and many Afghans when, one by one, key ethnic chiefs and regional power brokers threw their weight behind the incumbent ahead of the August 20 presidential election.
But, almost two months on and still no clear result, Karzai now faces an uphill task to restore public confidence in his team already undermined by allegations of electoral fraud.
A master coalition builder, Karzai is widely believed to have promised government positions in a future cabinet and regional governorships in return for electoral support. |
32 After Haider, Austrian far-right could grow
By Alexandra Zawadil, Reuters
Wed Oct 14, 2:24 am ET
| KLAGENFURT, Austria (Reuters) - A year after his death in a car crash, a new memorial to Joerg Haider has become a temple to the man who shook up European politics with his anti-foreigner campaigns.
But where fans flock to the exhibits in Carinthia province to pore over such relics as Haider's childhood rocking horse and family photos, outside the province he ruled for more than a decade, his party's days look numbered.
The Alliance for Austria's Future has stumbled badly in regional elections held since Haider's death, failing to win enough votes to get seats in three provincial parliaments. In Carinthia in March it polled over 45 percent to retain power. |
33 Honduras rivals discuss Zelaya return post-coup
By Frank Jack Daniel, Reuters
Tue Oct 13, 8:45 pm ET
| TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Negotiations over the return to power of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya appeared to make headway on Tuesday but he warned the de facto leaders who replaced him after a military coup were just playing for time.
The standoff is Central America's worst crisis in years and has become a test for U.S. President Barack Obama after he promised better relations with Latin America.
Envoys for the leftist Zelaya, who was toppled and forced into exile by soldiers on June 28 but is now back in the country, and for de facto leader Roberto Micheletti tackled for the first time the issue of Zelaya's future. |
34 Zimbabwe ministerial nominee Bennett ordered back to jail
AFP
Wed Oct 14, 12:29 pm ET
| MUTARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) - A Zimbabwe court Wednesday ordered ministerial nominee Roy Bennett, a close aide to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, back to jail until his terrorism trial begins next week.
Magistrate Lucy Mungwari announced the trial will start next Monday in the high court of the eastern town of Mutare and told the court: "The accused person shall be committed to prison" until it begins.
The Movement for Democratic Change treasurer, a white coffee grower whose property was expropriated under the country's controversial land reform laws, was Tsvangirai's pick as deputy agriculture minister. |
35 Militant and Terrorist Groups Spreading in Pakistan
By OMAR WARAICH / RAWALPINDI, Time Magazine
Tue Oct 13, 11:10 am ET
| Just weeks after trumpeting the results of a military offensive in the Swat Valley, the Pakistan army suddenly finds itself under attack on multiple fronts. A day after an Élite unit of army commandos secured the release of 39 hostages, bringing to an end a 22-hour siege of its military headquarters that left 25 people dead over the weekend, the Taliban struck again. In the fourth major attack in eight days, a suicide bomber killed 41 people in a marketplace near Swat on Monday, underscoring the militants' enduring ability to strike across the country. |
| From Yahoo News U.S. News |
36 Community clinics have key role in health reform
By JULIANA BARBASSA, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 14 mins ago
| SAN JOAQUIN, Calif. - Francisco Lupercio has insurance for his house, his truck and the store he runs with his wife. But he can't afford health insurance, so he joined dozens of other people lining up for exams at a community clinic.
As the recession grinds on, more and more people are relying on taxpayer-supported health centers that offer care on a sliding fee scale. If Congress passes a law giving more Americans access to health insurance, the clinics will also be a critical element to ramping up capacity to care for millions of new patients.
"There is going to be a wave of chronically ill people," said Tanir Ami, executive director of the Community Clinic Consortium for Contra Costa and Solano counties, east of San Francisco. "We're well positioned to care for them." |
37 States raise limits on creditors as debtors squirm
By EMERY P. DALESIO, AP Business Writer
1 hr 50 mins ago
| WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - With many Americans in dire financial straits, states are cracking down to make sure aggressive debt collectors target only people who legitimately owe them money.
National consumer credit laws already prohibit collection agencies from harassing, deceptive, or unfair practices like telling neighbors or family about what is owed, or calling before 8 a.m. or late at night. Since the recession started, at least a half-dozen states have adopted additional limits, like imposing statutes of limitation on collections and adding opportunities to punish abusive practices in court. Other states may follow suit.
Lawmakers are increasingly focusing on outfits that buy bad debt from credit card companies and other lenders for pennies on the dollar and profit when they collect more than they paid. |
38 Weak dollar, low NY property prices woo foreigners
By Basil Katz, Reuters
Wed Oct 14, 1:01 am ET
| NEW YORK (Reuters) - After a year most investors would like to forget, foreign real estate buyers are being swayed to spend again in New York City by a weak U.S. dollar and property prices at levels not seen for years, say experts.
Real estate brokers and analysts say they have noticed more foreign investors looking to purchase in New York -- boosting the market's recovery hopes just a year after the city's Lehman Brothers bank collapsed and a financial crisis spread globally, plunging the United States and other countries into recession.
Russian investors are among those leading the way with the country's richest man, Mikhail Prokhorov, recently reaching a $200 million deal to buy an 80 percent share in the New Jersey Nets basketball team and a 45 percent stake the Atlantic Yards, a real estate development in New York's Brooklyn borough where the team will play if the project is completed. |
39 US governors' races test Obama's Democrats
by Alex Ogle, AFP
Wed Oct 14, 10:38 am ET
| WASHINGTON (AFP) - A year after President Barack Obama's election, all eyes are on two governors' races that could prove a bellwether for his Democratic party in a period marked by economic crises and legislative gambles.
Elections for the governorships in Virginia and New Jersey next month come halfway between Obama's White House triumph and the crucial 2010 midterms -- when the president's party historically has tended to lose seats.
Next year, a third of the 100-seat Senate, over two-thirds of governor mansions and the entire US House of Representatives are put up for a vote. |
40 Bloomberg buying BusinessWeek magazine
by Chris Lefkow, AFP
Tue Oct 13, 7:08 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (AFP) - Bloomberg announced Tuesday it has agreed to buy BusinessWeek magazine in a move that allows the US news agency to expand beyond its core business of supplying financial data to professionals.
Bloomberg, founded by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, did not disclose terms of the purchase of the business magazine from US publisher McGraw-Hill Cos., which also owns the Standard and Poor's credit rating agency.
But BusinessWeek, in a blog post, quoted "knowledgeable sources" as saying Bloomberg had made a cash offer "in the two million dollar to five million dollar range" and had agreed to assume unspecified liabilities. |
41 Supreme Court to hear appeal by Enron's Skilling
by Lucile Malandain, AFP
Tue Oct 13, 10:56 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Supreme Court agreed to reopen one of the biggest corporate scandals in US history by hearing the appeal of former Enron chief executive officer Jeffrey Skilling.
Skilling, who is currently serving a 24-year prison sentence and has doggedly insisted he did nothing to defraud investors, reportedly broke down in tears when he heard the news.
"Jeff is overwhelmed with joy," lawyer Daniel Petrocelli told the Houston Chronicle. |
42 Getting U.S. Troops into Afghanistan Poses New Challenge
By MARK THOMPSON / WASHINGTON, Time Magazine
Wed Oct 14, 10:05 am ET
| President Obama will again huddle with his national-security team on Wednesday to decide how many more troops - if any - to send to Afghanistan. But making the decision will be the easy part, the real challenge will be getting those extra boots onto the ground. If he ends up embracing Army General Stanley McChrystal's call for 40,000 more soldiers, deploying them in Afghanistan will take up to a year. |
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