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…
Some good, some bad in Cavs’ season-opening loss to Raptors
December 28th, 2011 
davidguide 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…
Bank of America to settle Countrywide discrimination suit for $335 million
December 22nd, 2011 davidguide Matthew Borghese – AHN News Contributor
Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – Bank of America (BoA) will settle a dispute with the U.S. Justice Department stemming from home loan discrimination. Authorities say BoA’s Countrywide unit discriminated against 200,000 African-American and Hispanic borrowers who qualified for prime loans but were nonetheless pushed to sign riskier subprime loans. “At the core of the allegations in the complaint is a simple story: If you were African-American or Hispanic and you went to Countrywide for a loan, and you were qualified, you likely paid more simply because of the color of your skin,” Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez said Wednesday. “They understood marketing and how to build trust… they exploited that [...] Continue Reading…
SEC charges former Freddie and Fannie execs with fraud
December 17th, 2011 davidguide Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday charged six former executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with securities fraud for misrepresenting the holdings of their high-risk mortgage loans. Targeted were three former execs of Freddie Mac, including CEO Daniel Mudd, chief risk officer Enrico Dallavecchia and executive vice president of single family mortgage business Thomas Lund. The SEC is also going after former Fannie Mae executives: CEO Richard Syron, executive vice president and business officer Patricia Cook and executive vice president for the single family guarantee business Donald Disenius. The SEC is seeking financial penalties that were not disclosed Fannie and Freddie, mortgage [...] Continue Reading…
House to vote on tougher sanctions against Iran for nuclear program
December 13th, 2011 davidguide Tom Ramstack – AHN News Legal Correspondent
Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – The House of Representatives plans to vote on two bills as soon as Tuesday to increase economic sanctions against Iran for what U.S. lawmakers say is Iran’s program to develop nuclear weapons. The bills would freeze U.S. assets of countries or companies that invest in Iran’s oil industry, provide it with gasoline or help it to develop weapons. The bills also would ban countries or companies that violate the embargo from participating in U.S. contracts and prevent them from getting American bank loans. Their top officials would be prohibited from traveling to the United States. The new legislative proposals coincide with warnings from [...] Continue Reading…
Fixed mortgage rates stay low
December 10th, 2011 davidguide Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage stayed near its record low for the sixth consecutive week. But, the historically low rates have done little to goose the ailing housing market. On Thursday, mortgage giant Freddie Mac said the rate on the 30-year home loan edged down to 3.99 percent from 4 percent the previous week. It dropped to a record low of 3.94 nine weeks ago, according to data from the National Bureau of Economic Research. The average rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage ticked down to 3.27 percent from 3.30 percent. It also hit a record low nine weeks earlier when it [...] Continue Reading…
Cavaliers pay Rapt attention to schedule; open vs. Toronto
December 8th, 2011 davidguide AHN Sports Staff
Cleveland, OH, United States (AHN Sports) – Coming off a forgettable year, the Cleveland Cavaliers look to open the new season with “guarded” optimism as they take on the Toronto Raptors on Dec. 26. The Cavs will kick start the new season at Quicken Loans Arena, facing a team that also struggled from the sudden departure of their former star Chris Bosh. In an effort to get back into playoff contention, the Cavs made several changes in their roster, including the selection of point guard Kyrie Irving (1st overall pick) and Tristan Thomas (4th overall pick) in the NBA Draft and the acquisition of Omri Casspi in exchange of power forward J.J Hickson. After [...] Continue Reading…
Debt woes come back to haunt Dubai
December 7th, 2011 davidguide The Media Line Staff
Dubai, United Arab Emirates David Rosenberg (The Medi – More than two years after one of its showcase companies announced a “standstill” on its loan repayments, signaling the end of a real estate-fueled boom, a mountain of debt continues to cast a long shadow over Dubai’s economy. Moody’s Investors Service brought the extent of the problem home in a report released Tuesday that sent local share prices falling. The credit-rating company estimated that even after two years of restructuring, refinancing and help from the neighboring emirate of Abu Dhabi, Dubai’s government and its state-owned companies owe some $101.5 billion. In fact, total debt may be higher because of the difficultly of getting data on [...] Continue Reading…
German chancellor warns financial crisis solution will take years
December 3rd, 2011 davidguide Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
Berlin, Germany (AHN) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pushed for stronger rules against overspending as the long-term answer to Europe’s debt crisis and says the fixes for the eurozone’s flaws must be written into changes in the basic EU treaty. The German leader laid out her stance while speaking to lawmakers in Parliament Friday ahead of a crucial European summit next week. Merkel stressed the need for tougher rules against running up debt, and said the process could take years to have an effect. The long term changes Merkel insists upon, with the support of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, are viewed as just one half of new efforts by European leaders [...] Continue Reading…
Côte d’Ivoire one year on
December 2nd, 2011 davidguide Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast (IRIN) – One year on from the presidential elections that caused conflict across Côte d’Ivoire, ex-President Laurent Gbagbo has been charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC), tensions have eased in most areas, the economy has improved, and almost all schools have reopened and hospitals are functioning. But reconciliation has a long way to go. Many feel that international justice, by pursuing Gbagbo and not others, is one-sided. Rifts remain between communities, much of the west remains lawless, and thousands of Ivoirians are too frightened to return home. Many residents are not looking forward to parliamentary elections set for December 2011. Response to the news of the ICC’s arrest warrant [...] Continue Reading…
