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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Attorneys general of the 50 states agreed on Tuesday to remove the New York attorney general from a lead role in bank foreclosure settlement talks.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller announced New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman had been ousted from the executive committee because he appeared to be working to undermine the group’s efforts.

Miller did not directly tell Schneiderman of the decision, but Iowa Assistant Attorney General Patrick Madigan emailed the rest of the attorneys general about the move after lunch Tuesday.

Schneiderman’s removal will not prevent New York from supporting any deal that might emerge. The Big Apple’s absence from the talks, though, may reduce the size of settlements with major American banks since the state is one of the worst hit by the foreclosure crisis and where the headquarters of most of the financial institutions involved are located.

The ongoing discussions were generated by numerous complaints from Americans over widespread mortgage servicing problems, ranging from poor customer service to use of faulty documents to seize homes.

Miller claimed that Schneiderman did not want a settlement with the banks. Several other attorneys general are also against any settlement that would protect the banks from state investigation and prevent them from continuing with their own probes.

The executive committee is composed of 13 attorneys general and two state banking regulators. It has a smaller committee that negotiates directly with Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Ally Financial.

Schneiderman’s spokesman said that the New York attorney general is committed to a settlement that would provide relief for homeowners and allow the housing market to rise again. Despite the recent developments, Schneiderman said he will work with state and federal officials to reach those objectives.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – President Barack Obama on Friday heads to Toledo to tour Chrysler’s Assembly Complex there to extract maximum political mileage from the fact that just over a week after Chrysler Group LLC paid off its federal bailout loan of $7.6 billion.

Paving the way to the visit is also a White House report released on Wednesday highlighting the resurgence of the American auto industry and emphasizing the turnaround of the companies that are now turning a profit after hanging on the borderline of collapse.

The report noted that the certain closures would have cost at least an additional one million jobs and devastated vast parts of our nation’s industrial heartland.

The presidential decision to “save GM (General Motors) and Chrysler was about more than those two companies,” said the report, adding, “It was about standing behind the countless workers, communities, and businesses – large and small – that depend on the automotive industry.”

The report cited the comeback shown by the American auto industry in last two years, with GM “expanding production and adding jobs,” while Chrysler repaying “its outstanding loans to the U.S. Treasury – six years ahead of schedule.”

“Since GM and Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy, the auto industry has created 115,000 jobs, its strongest period of job growth since the late 1990s. GM, Ford and Chrysler have all returned to profitability, and in 2010, the “Detroit three” gained market share for the first time since 1995,” the report highlighted.

Addressing journalists on Wednesday in the White House, Ron Bloom, Assistant to the President for Manufacturing Policy Ron Bloom said, “Now, the credit for that importantly goes to the men and women of those companies and their stakeholders, who all made very, very difficult decisions to come together.”

Bloom, however, added, “But we think that it is also worth noting that the courageous decision the President made to stand behind these companies.”

Asked to give a breakdown of the money involved in rejuvenating the American auto industry, Bloom told journalists, “The total funds invested, including the prior administration, into the industry is roughly $80 billion. Roughly $40 billion has been returned to date.”

“The remaining money is accounted for by stakes in General Motors — we’ve sold about half of what we own, but we still own the other half — a small equity stake in Chrysler; and a stake in Ally Financial, which is the old General Motors Acceptance Corporation,” Bloom added.

About the administration policy of selling the stakes, Bloom said, “I think it’s a question of a principle that we’ve adopted that we don’t think we should be a permanent or long-term player in the private economy, and we’re trying to be true to that principle.”

Bloom urged Congress to move ahead with pending law making process saying, “The actions taken by this Administration have laid the foundation for manufacturing’s quiet resurgence, but we cannot be complacent. That is why Congress must take action to build on our early momentum.”

On Friday around 1 p.m., the North Toledo plant of Chrysler where the company makes Jeep Wranglers, would be hosting President Obama as he is scheduled to arrive at Toledo Express Airport in the morning according to the White House sources.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – President Barack Obama on Friday heads to Toledo to tour Chrysler’s Assembly Complex there to extract maximum political mileage from the fact that just over a week after Chrysler Group LLC paid off its federal bailout loan of $7.6 billion.

Paving the way to the visit is also a White House report released on Wednesday highlighting the resurgence of the American auto industry and emphasizing the turnaround of the companies that are now turning a profit after hanging on the borderline of collapse.

The report noted that the certain closures would have cost at least an additional one million jobs and devastated vast parts of our nation’s industrial heartland.

The presidential decision to “save GM (General Motors) and Chrysler was about more than those two companies,” said the report, adding, “It was about standing behind the countless workers, communities, and businesses – large and small – that depend on the automotive industry.”

The report cited the comeback shown by the American auto industry in last two years, with GM “expanding production and adding jobs,” while Chrysler repaying “its outstanding loans to the U.S. Treasury – six years ahead of schedule.”

“Since GM and Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy, the auto industry has created 115,000 jobs, its strongest period of job growth since the late 1990s. GM, Ford and Chrysler have all returned to profitability, and in 2010, the “Detroit three” gained market share for the first time since 1995,” the report highlighted.

Addressing journalists on Wednesday in the White House, Ron Bloom, Assistant to the President for Manufacturing Policy Ron Bloom said, “Now, the credit for that importantly goes to the men and women of those companies and their stakeholders, who all made very, very difficult decisions to come together.”

Bloom, however, added, “But we think that it is also worth noting that the courageous decision the President made to stand behind these companies.”

Asked to give a breakdown of the money involved in rejuvenating the American auto industry, Bloom told journalists, “The total funds invested, including the prior administration, into the industry is roughly $80 billion. Roughly $40 billion has been returned to date.”

“The remaining money is accounted for by stakes in General Motors — we’ve sold about half of what we own, but we still own the other half — a small equity stake in Chrysler; and a stake in Ally Financial, which is the old General Motors Acceptance Corporation,” Bloom added.

About the administration policy of selling the stakes, Bloom said, “I think it’s a question of a principle that we’ve adopted that we don’t think we should be a permanent or long-term player in the private economy, and we’re trying to be true to that principle.”

Bloom urged Congress to move ahead with pending law making process saying, “The actions taken by this Administration have laid the foundation for manufacturing’s quiet resurgence, but we cannot be complacent. That is why Congress must take action to build on our early momentum.”

On Friday around 1 p.m., the North Toledo plant of Chrysler where the company makes Jeep Wranglers, would be hosting President Obama as he is scheduled to arrive at Toledo Express Airport in the morning according to the White House sources.

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A decision is expected soon on whether Sharemax still owes shopping centre developer Capicol any money.

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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – The Canadian Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Ottawa could still extradite foreigners to their homeland even if they had been granted refugee status. The conditions for extradition are that conditions in the country of origin have changed and no longer prosecute people based on their ethnicity, religion or other grounds.

The decision was prompted by two cases involving three Hungarian and Romanian refugees in Quebec whom Justice Minister Rob Nicholson wanted to extradite.

The first case was a Roma couple, Joszef and Joszefne Nemeth, who arrived in Canada in 2001 from Hungary where they were wanted for fraud involving $2,700 for leasing their flat even if they have no authority to do so. The second case was Romanian Tiberu Gavnia, who arrived in 2004 after he fled a sentence for forging the visas of two people for which he was paid $1,800.

The Hungarian and Romanian governments separately asked Ottawa for the extradition of the three people.

While the Supreme Court upheld Nicholson’s power to extradite them, the court ordered the minister to reconsider his decision.

The court said that while human rights conditions have changed in the two eastern European nations since they joined the European Union, Nicholson failed to apply the correct legal principles when he made the decision to surrender the three refugees for extradition.

Justice Thomas Cromwell, who wrote the decision, said the burden of proving the threat of prosecution should not be upon the refugees but on the governments seeking their extradition.

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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Marc Rosenberg said Monday he would likely decide by Saturday whether continue for another 60 days a stay of a lower court’s ruling to strike down Canadian prostitution laws.

The current stay order expires Nov. 27. Rosenberg said if the ruling is not out by Saturday, all the parties to the case have agreed that certain acts related to prostitution would remain criminal activities until a judgment is released.

Federal and provincial governments asked the Court of Appeal for a 60-day stay on the ruling made by Ontario Court Judge Susan Himel that struck down the country’s prostitution laws. She ruled the regulations contribute to dangers faced by those engaged in the flesh trade and that the rules violate their rights.

Ottawa and the provincial governments argued that prostitution is always risky and making some acts connected with the flesh trade no longer criminal is not in line with the moral values of majority of Canadians.

Federal government lawyer Michael Morris warned that if Rosenberg did not issue a stay order, Canada would enter into a period of unprecedented social experimentation that would have a profound and irreversible effect on the status quo.

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Washiington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The United States has briefed Pakistan on President Barack Obama’s decision to endorse Indian aspirations to join U.N. Security Council with a permanent seat and is leaving it to Islamabad to deal with the facts, according to the State Department.

Answering questions on Friday, PJ Crowley, the State Department spokesman told journalists, “We have briefed the government of Pakistan on the President’s announcement. I’m not aware that there was any particular concern expressed.”

“This (Obama’s support) is a reflection of the growing importance of the region to the rest of the world, and Pakistan should not see this as something that comes at their expense. It does not,” he said at his daily press briefing.

“I think they (Islamabad) understand what we told them, and beyond that, I’ll leave it to the government of Pakistan to describe its own reaction,” Crowley replied when asked about Islamabad’s strong reaction about President Obama’s endorsement of India for the Security Council bid.

Earlier on Monday addressing the joint session of Indian Parliament during his visit, Obama said, “I can say today, in the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed United Nations Security Council that includes India as a permanent member.”

“No one should see this in zero-sum terms. And first of all, understand that there is a process. It involves the Security Council and many countries that will have a say in the possible reform of the UN Security Council,” Crowley added.

Crowley noted that the U.S. had briefed Islamabad Obama’s decision, assuring its ally that his support to the bid is not at its expense.

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Gold hit another record around $1 394/oz before speculators cashed in, but an unpopular decision by the Federal Reserve could still spur buying.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The decision by the United States Federal Reserve to pump $600 billion into the nation’s economy by buying U.S. Treasury Bonds has sparked international criticism led by Germany and China.

China and Germany represent the world’s second- and fourth-largest economies respectively. In addition, they were joined by Brazil and South Africa in criticizing the “quantitative easing.” Quantitative easing is the economic term for buying assets to attempt to boost the economy and lower unemployment.

However, Germany, China, Brazil and South Africa allege that the scheme will not help the U.S. economy and will instead create more problems in the rest of the world. Quantitative easing is expected to lower the value of the dollar, which will make U.S. exports cheaper in world markets.

That means that U.S. exports would be more competitive against German and Chinese exports.

Indeed, the dollar did plunge in value against several of the world’s currencies on Thursday.

Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Friday said the U.S. Federal Reserve’s move would undermine efforts to create a level playing field in the currency markets.

China Central Bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan said the U.S. should focus on reforming the international currency system. He argued that if the U.S. central banking policy is good for the U.S., but not good for the rest of the world that it might have a negative impact on the rest of the world.

The U.S. has criticized China for artificially keeping its currency devalued for many years to make its exports cheaper. But China made that move when its country had full employment and a budget surplus. The U.S. central bank is not buying U.S. Treasury bonds to deflate the value of the dollar abroad but rather to try to pour money into the American economy – which currently has a budget deficit – and to stimulate the weak economy to encourage American businesses to hire unemployed American workers at a time of continued high unemployment.

Germany also criticized the move because they said it would add to America’s deficit.

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Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines (AHN) – The Philippine Congress has taken an interest in the Philippine Airlines labor row after Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz allowed the flag carrier to lay off 2,600 workers.

The House Labor and Employment Committee will set a hearing in the coming days to probe the alleged anti-labor practices of PAL. The hearing would consolidate seven bills and resolutions with the committee, according to Rep. Emil Ong, who chairs the committee.

However, Ong admitted that Congress has no power to reverse Baldoz’s decision. The labor secretary ruled it is lawful for the air carrier to lay off the 2,600 workers and outsource the tasks the employees perform to cut on costs.

On Tuesday, President Benigno Aquino III – who just returned from a five-day state visit in Vietnam – said he would review the PAL decision of Baldoz, but would respect any decision made by the Court of Appeals. The PAL Employees Association said they would elevate Baldoz’s ruling with the Court of Appeals.

On the same day, workers to be affected by the layoff held a rally at the Mendiola Bridge, which is near the president’s office, to protest the DOLE decision.

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