Tom Ramstack – AHN News Legal Correspondent
Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The upcoming Republican caucuses in Florida are turning into a two-man race between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, according to the latest polls. At the same time, Florida’s former governor warned that the campaign rhetoric is becoming so mean that it overlooks the concerns of voters. A Time Magazine/CNN poll released this week showed Romney with only a slight lead as the preferred candidate of 36 percent of Florida Republicans. Gingrich is favored by 34 percent of Republicans. Other candidates, such as Rich Santorum and Ron Paul, fall further down in the rankings with 11 percent support for Santorum and 9 percent for Paul. [...] Continue Reading…
Romney and Gingrich get mean heading into Florida caucus
January 27th, 2012 
davidguide Antawn Jamison nets 15 points, Cavs knock off Knicks
January 26th, 2012 davidguide AHN Sports Staff
Cleveland, OH, United States (AHN Sports) – Antawn Jamison scored 15 points, while Omri Casspi and Anthony Parker added 13 each as the Cleveland Cavaliers knocked off the New York Knicks 91-81 Wednesday at Quicken Loans Arena. Anderson Varejao had the best all-around game for the Cavs, with 10 points and 16 rebounds. Varejao added four assists and four steals for the Cavs, who held the struggling Knicks to just 36 points in the second half. Cleveland collected 28 assists to just 18 for the Knicks, who fell to 7-11, 4-5 away from Madison Square Garden. Amare Stoudemire led the Knicks with 19 points and 14 rebounds, while Carmelo Anthony added 15 points [...] Continue Reading…
‘Roseless’ Bulls pummel Cavs behind Deng, Boozer
January 22nd, 2012 davidguide AHN Sports Staff
Chicago, IL, United States (AHN Sports) – Luol Deng tallied 21 points and Carlos Boozer racked up a double-double and the Chicago Bulls overcame the absence of starting guard Derrick Rose to pummel the Cleveland Cavaliers, 114-75 Friday night at Quicken Loans Arena. With reigning NBA MVP Derrick Rose still out with a turf toe injury, the Bulls leaned on their other stars to step up as Deng and Boozer led a Bulls squad that shot .554 percent on the floor in the match. Deng shot 6-for-13 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line, while Boozer chalked up 19 points and 14 boards in the win. Anderson Verajao and rookie sensation Kyrie [...] Continue Reading…
Bank of America posts a profit
January 20th, 2012 davidguide Linda Young – AHN News Writer
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Bank of America reported a fourth-quarter profit of $2 billion compared with a $1.2 billion loss in the same period in 2010. The nation’s second largest lender said it had a full-year net profit of $1.4 billion compared with a net loss of $2.2 billion during 2010. Bank of America credited its two years of streamlining and simplifying the company for helping it return to profitability and enter 2012 as a stronger and more efficient business. Shares of the company’s stock rose 4.7 percent in pre-market trading in New York. The banking giant had lost 58 percent of its share value during 2011 [...] Continue Reading…
Debt crisis makes Mafia Italy’s biggest bank
January 12th, 2012 davidguide Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
Rome, Italy (AHN) – Italy’s banking system has a new “boss.” Thanks to the country’s ballooning debt crisis, the Mafia is Italy’s biggest “bank,” according to a study by Confesercenti. The country’s four mafia groups have expanded from their storied strongholds in the sun-baked “Mezzogiomo” south of Rome, and have spread their tentacles across the entire country, taking advantage of the economic crisis to purchase ailing businesses, “juice” others and charge large “vigs” to most. Organized crime in Italy has generated an annual turnover of about $178.89 billion in profits and more than $100 billion euro in profits, making it the head “Capo” or biggest bank in Italy, the study found. [...] Continue Reading…
Visions for a healthier West Bank economy
January 10th, 2012 davidguide Ramallah, Palestinian Territory (IRIN) – Izz Tawil draws a black circle on the flip-chart in his office in Ramallah, capital of the West Bank in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). “The Palestinian economy is a closed cash-circle,” the general manager of the Palestinian microfinance network Sharakeh explains. He goes on to draw several small arrows on the line, meant to indicate different elements of an isolated system: At the bottom, there is the construction worker, who gets his salary from a company contracted by the Palestinian Authority (PA), while the PA itself is kept alive through foreign aid. “And this aid is the only fuel that keeps the circle running,” Tawil says, with a serious mien. [...] Continue Reading…
Saudi Arabia’s automotive aspirations
January 9th, 2012 davidguide The Media Line Staff
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Rob L. Wagner (The Media – Not content with oil, the kingdom wants to make cars as well; skeptics abound. Two years ago, the Saudi Arabian government announced with great fanfare – and was met with some skepticism – plans to manufacture automobile parts by 2013 and assemble cars by 2021. King Saud University engineering students, who designed an economical sport utility vehicle called the Ghazel, bolstered those plans with a tangible vehicle ready for production. Saudi economic analysts are optimistic that automobile manufacturing in the kingdom will help reduce the economy’s reliance on oil exports. Yet roadblocks persist. Already the goal to manufacture car parts next year is in jeopardy [...] Continue Reading…
Antawn Jamison. Daniel Gibson power Cavs to victory vs. Nets
January 3rd, 2012 davidguide AHN Sports Staff
Cleveland, OH, United States (AHN Sports) – Antawn Jamison scored 23 points and Daniel Gibson added 19 off the bench and the Cleveland Cavaliers downed the New Jersey Nets, 98-82 Sunday night at Quicken Loans Arena Jamison unleashed his vintage form, shooting 10-for-15 from the field with five boards and three steals to guide the up-and-coming Cavaliers past the Nets. Gibson, one of three players left from the LeBron James era, knocked down five treys on his way to a new season-high. The Cavs also got bigtime contributions from rookie phenom Kyrie Irving (13 points and 4 assists) and Ramon Sessions (5 points and 8 assists), who both did an outstanding job running their [...] Continue Reading…
Some good, some bad in Cavs’ season-opening loss to Raptors
December 28th, 2011 davidguide AHN Sports Staff
Cleveland, OH, United States (AHN Sports) – The Cleveland Cavaliers did not start the season they way they would have liked, but there were some positive signs in Monday’s 104-96 loss to the Toronto Raptors. The game was a sellout, with 20,562 fans packing Quicken Loans Arena and they saw a team that has some flaws as well as potential. The game was the start of the Kyrie Irving era in Cleveland as the former Duke guard and top overall pick in the NBA Draft made his NBA debut. Irving had six points and seven assists in 26 minutes. Irving had just one turnover but was only 2-of-12 from the field. “He looked OK. [...] Continue Reading…
Legal aid clinics help rural women
December 23rd, 2011 davidguide Antananarivo, Madagascar (IRIN) – Legal aid clinics are playing an important role during Madagascar’s current political and economic crisis, especially for poverty-hit rural women who are under-served by the country’s ailing judicial system. In the southeast of Madagascar, women’s rights used to be defended in special village councils, called ‘anakavy amin-dreny’ (the “sisters and mothers”). Although the village chief was always male, he was obliged to discuss issues with the head woman and the “sisters and mothers” had the authority to punish abusive husbands or male relatives who refused to share inherited land. While these traditional structures still exist, in modern Madagascar they have no real power to protect women from abuses and the official judicial system [...] Continue Reading…
