New fed rules to aid more underwater homeowners

Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – Monday morning the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced new rules that will allow many more “underwater” homeowners, those who owe more than their properties are worth, to refinance at current historical low mortgage rates. Up to a million borrowers are expected to take advantage of the new program, the FHFA estimates. Originally rolled out in early 2009, the program has fallen far short of the number of people it was expected to help. Prior to the new rules, only borrowers who owed more than 25 percent more than their homes are worth could participate in the program. The new rules have no cap on how much [...] Continue Reading…

Heir to Saudi throne dies

Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
NY, NYC, United States (AHN) – Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdel Aziz, heir to the Saudi throne, died Saturday in New York City at the age of 85. The Sultan died in a hospital in New York City. His burial is expected to take place Tuesday in Riyadh. The death of the crown prince, the half brother of the ailing Saudi King Abdullah, leaves many questions open about succession. Unlike in European monarchies, the line of succession does not move directly from father to eldest son. It has moved down a line of brothers born to the kingdom’s founder Ibn Saud, who died in 1953. Sultan bin Abdel Azia was the [...] Continue Reading…

Oil, Copper Futures Rise on G20 Talks

Jupiter Kalambakal – AHN News Reporter
London, United Kingdom (AHN) – Oil and copper futures posted gains on Monday amid wrap-up talks among G20 finance chiefs where parts of a plan to contain the eurozone’s debt crisis and prevent a possible Greek default were approved over the weekend. Copper metal for delivery rose 1 percent to $7,619.50 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, the biggest increase since Sept. 27. Copper for December delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced 0.7 per cent to $8,846 a ton. On one end, oil futures jumped by as much as 1.1 percent, maintaining advances from the biggest close in almost a month. Monday’s figures improved oil’s 4.6 percent growth [...] Continue Reading…

More than 12 cyclones predicted for Australia this season

Jupiter Kalambakal – AHN News Reporter
Sydney, Australia (AHN) – Australia’s northern regions may be assaulted by more than 12 cyclones in the coming months due to La Nina weather conditions, according to the country’s weather service. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said it is likely another, less powerful, La Nina will progress in 2011-12 that could trigger damaging cyclones and floods. In its tropical cyclone seasonal outlook released Monday, the BOM urged communities from Exmouth to Broome to start arranging early disaster response action plans in anticipation of the weather disturbance, which could result to possible losses in lives, property and infrastructure and possible inaccessibility from adjacent communities and states. BOM said the oil, gas, coal [...] Continue Reading…

McCain echoes Panetta’s advice: no further defense cuts

Tejinder Singh – AHN News Correspondent
Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, on Friday added his voice to earlier appeals by the new Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta not to further cut defense budget under proposals to rein in U.S. budget deficit. In a letter sent to Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction Co-Chairs Representative Jeb Hensarling (TX-05) and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Senator McCain urged the Committee to avoid further cuts to the defense budget and offering additional views on potential changes in military health benefits. Former presidential aspirant threw his weight behind President Barack Obama’s proposals saying in the letter, “If your work [...] Continue Reading…

Americans favor raising tax rate on wealthy to help nation says survey

Linda Young – AHN News Writer
Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – A majority of Americans favor raising taxes on wealthy people as a way to reduce the national debt. Pew Research found that 67 percent of Americans approve of raising the tax rate on those with incomes over $250,000. That figure is slightly higher than the 66 percent who favored that idea in May. Only 30 percent say they do not approve of raising the tax rate for wealthy Americans with incomes above $250,000. Broken down by political affiliation, 82 percent of Democrats support such a tax increase, as do 67 percent of independents while only 47 percent of Republicans support a higher tax on [...] Continue Reading…

Anti-bullying rules hurt disadvantaged students, study says

Tom Ramstack – AHN News Legal Correspondent
Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – Anti-bullying rules sweeping schools across the nation endured criticism this week in a University of California at Los Angeles study that says they often discriminate against minorities and disabled students. Anti-bullying policies became widespread after Congress approved the 2003 “No Child Left Behind” law that promotes high standards for academic performance. In addition, President Barack Obama held a White House conference earlier this year on bullying during which he encouraged school administrators not to tolerate it. Typically, bullies can be suspended or expelled from their schools under tough “zero-tolerance” rules intended to make education safer and more accessible to children. However, strict discipline [...] Continue Reading…

Friendly’s restaurants prepping for bankruptcy

Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
Wilbraham, MA, United States (AHN) – The Friendly’s restaurant chain is preparing for a possible bankruptcy filing as early as next week, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The Wilbraham, MA, company best known for its hamburgers and sundaes employs roughly 10,000 people and operates more than 500 restaurants. Economic conditions have weighed heavily on the chain. Fewer consumers are spending money to dine out and rising commodities prices for staples such as corn, butter and coffee have drained the company of cash. Other restaurant chains have faced similar fates, such as Quiznos and Sbarro. Friendly’s has more than $250 million in debt on its books. The company is in talks [...] Continue Reading…

U.S. considers fraud investigation into Chinese Internet companies

Linda Young – AHN News Writer
Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Shares of Chinese Internet stocks took a nose-dive in value in New York trading after an announcement of a potential fraud investigation of some Chinese firms by the United States Justice Department. Justice Department official Robert Khuzami, director of enforcement at the US financial services regulator, announced he was considering launching a fraud investigation. He said it was because of accounting irregularities at several Chinese firms with shares that trade publicly in the U.S. Khuzami did not disclose the identities of the Chinese companies or auditors whom the Justice Department is considering investigating. In addition, he said that other parts of the Justice Department were actively [...] Continue Reading…

Amazon’s Kindle tablet may loosen Apple iPad’s tight grip on market

Linda Young – AHN News Writer
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Apple’s iPad had an 80 percent share of the market for tablet computers in the United States and Canada in the second quarter of the year. Shipments of the iPad accounted for 6 million of the 7.5 million tablets shipped in North America during that time, according to research group Strategy Analytics. That put the iPad way ahead of tablets from rivals Asus, HTC, Motorola, RIM and Samsung. However, that might change because there is a new tablet computer. Amazon on Wednesday announced the introduction of its new Kindle Fire Tablet to compete with the iPad. It will go on sale Nov. 15 [...] Continue Reading…