US consumer confidence jumps to 7-month high.

In this Monday, Sept. 24, 2012, photo, shoppers walk by stores at the Loop in Methuen, Mass. U.S. consumer confidence jumped this month to the highest level since February, bolstered by a brighter hiring outlook. The Conference Board said Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012, that its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 70.3. That's up from 61.3 in August, which was revised higher. And it's the highest reading since February, when the economy added 259,000 jobs. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

In this Monday, Sept. 24, 2012, photo, shoppers walk by stores at the Loop in Methuen, Mass. U.S. consumer confidence jumped this month to the highest level since February, bolstered by a brighter hiring outlook. The Conference Board said Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012, that its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 70.3. That's up from 61.3 in August, which was revised higher. And it's the highest reading since February, when the economy added 259,000 jobs. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

In this Monday, Sept. 10, 2012, photo, a clerk straightens out her display at a shoe store in Salem, N.H. U.S. consumer confidence jumped this month to the highest level since February, bolstered by a brighter hiring outlook. The Conference Board said Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012, that its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 70.3. That's up from 61.3 in August, which was revised higher. And it's the highest reading since February, when the economy added 259,000 jobs. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

In this Monday, Sept. 10, 2012, photo, a woman talks to a clerk at a watch repair kiosk in Salem, N.H. U.S. consumer confidence jumped this month to the highest level since February, bolstered by a brighter hiring outlook. The Conference Board said Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012, that its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 70.3. That's up from 61.3 in August, which was revised higher. And it's the highest reading since February, when the economy added 259,000 jobs. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

NEW YORK (AP) ? U.S. consumer confidence jumped this month to the highest level since February, bolstered by a brighter hiring outlook.

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 70.3. That's up from 61.3 in August, which was revised higher. And it's the highest reading since February, when the economy added 259,000 jobs.

The indicator is watched closely because consumer spending drives nearly 70 percent of economic activity. The reading is still below 90, a level that indicates a healthy economy. Since the beginning of the year, the index has fluctuated sharply.

The survey was conducted from Sept. 1 through Sept. 13. It showed consumers were more optimistic about the current availability of jobs and their outlook over the next six months.

Their confidence in the job market is higher, even though employers added just 96,000 jobs in August. That's down from 141,000 in July and too few to keep up with population growth.

The unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent, but only because many people gave up their job search, so they were no longer counted as unemployed.

A measure of how consumers feel now about the economy rose to 50.2, up from 46.5 last month. And they are even more optimistic about the next six months.

The upbeat report on confidence comes as a widely watched index on home prices offered more evidence of a housing recovery. According to the Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller index, home prices kept rising in July across the United States, buoyed by greater sales and fewer foreclosures.

National home prices increased 1.2 percent in July, compared to the same month last year, according to the index. That's the second straight year-over-year gain after two years without one.

Steady price increases and record-low mortgage rates are helping drive a housing recovery.

Those stating jobs are "plentiful" rose to 8.3 percent from 7.2 percent, while those claiming jobs are "hard to get" edged down to 39.9 percent from 40.6 percent.

Those expecting more jobs in the months ahead increased to 18.5 percent from 15.8 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs declined to 18.5 percent from 23.7 percent.

The proportion of consumers expecting an increase in their incomes edged up to 16.3 percent from 16.0 percent.

___

AP Economics Writer Christopher S. Rugaber in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-09-25-Consumer%20Confidence/id-168fbc8904884866a84df3d1fbc09b8f

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NY court revives lawsuits between Mashreq, Algosaibi, al-Sanea

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A divided New York state appeals court on Tuesday reinstated two lawsuits involving the Algosaibi family conglomerate, Dubai-based Mashreqbank PSC and Maan al-Sanea, the Saudi billionaire head of the Saad Group, in connection with a longstanding fight over an alleged multibillion-dollar fraud.

The ruling, which found that New York was the appropriate forum to hear the lawsuits, is the latest development in the global legal battle between al-Sanea and his in-laws, the Algosaibis. A spokesman for al-Sanea declined to comment on Tuesday's decision.

The Algosaibi family claims al-Sanea, who married into the family 30 years ago, defrauded it of billions of dollars after he was put in charge of its financial businesses. Al-Sanea and the Saad Group have denied the allegations.

The 2009 collapse of al-Sanea's Awal Bank and Algosaibis' The International Banking Corporation, both based in Bahrain, left more than 100 banks, including Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Societe Generale, owed an estimated $22 billion.

Since then, the Algosaibi family and al-Sanea have faced off in courts in New York, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, London, the Cayman Islands and Geneva.

In 2009, Mashreqbank sued the Algosaibis in New York court, seeking to recover $150 million in foreign exchange trades executed in New York. Those funds eventually were transferred into an account controlled by al-Sanea, according to the bank's lawsuit.

The Algosaibis then filed a lawsuit in New York against al-Sanea, claiming he and his Awal Bank had used Algosaibi accounts as part of a massive fraud. The Algosaibis also asserted in court filings that Mashreqbank aided al-Sanea in the alleged scheme, according to the decision.

The two lawsuits were dismissed in 2010 by state Supreme Court Justice Richard Lowe, who granted al-Sanea's request to toss out the case against him, saying it did not properly belong in New York state court. As a result, he also dismissed the lawsuit brought by Mashreqbank, since the two cases were closely intertwined.

In a 3-2 ruling, an intermediate state appeals court reversed that decision, ruling that Lowe had overstepped his authority and that New York was an appropriate forum for the complaints.

"New York has a compelling interest in adjudicating controversies that implicate its preeminent position in the international banking system," the majority wrote in the ruling from the Appellate Division, First Department.

In a dissent, however, two justices said Lowe had correctly found that the case should be tried elsewhere, since the dispute involves foreign entities, evidence and witnesses are located outside of New York and the "resolution likely requires the application of foreign law."

Eric Lewis, a lawyer for the Algosaibi company, said in a statement the ruling recognized the "critical role of New York courts" in combating international fraud.

"In today's world, frauds can involve numerous countries, none of which may have the resources or critical involvement to investigate," he said.

A lawyer for Mashreqbank, Carmine Boccuzzi, said the bank was "confident it will prevail" in its claim against the Algosaibis.

A 3-2 ruling typically means the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, will hear an appeal if al-Sanea decides to file one.

The cases are Mashreqbank PSC v. Ahmed Hamad Al Gosaibi and Brothers Co, and Ahmed Hamad Al Gosaibi and Brothers Co v. Maan Abdul Waheed Al Sanea et al., New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, Nos. 6917 and 6918. (Reporting by Joseph Ax; Additional reporting by Douwe Miedema; Editing by Noeleen Walder)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ny-court-revives-lawsuits-between-mashreq-algosaibi-al-231820832--sector.html

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Franco Antonello: For the "Friends" of Andrea and All the Rest

I consider it an honour to have been asked to write this post; when Lucia called me, I thought it was a joke. My first feeling was that my post would not be good enough. My second thought was that somehow I was benefitting from this privilege thanks to the drive of so many, so many voiceless young people -- autistic children like my son Andrea, who teach me the most important things in life. And I would like to thank them all for my presence here.

I am a father who found himself managing a storm -- two storms, seven typhoons that blow at once and incessantly, destroying the importance of so many things that I once believed were crucial in my life. In my case, the desire to never give up and, most of all, an unwavering positive energy, the same energy that each of these disabled kids need, led me, against all odds, to take my son and bring him with me on an adventure many dream of: to ride across the three Americas on a Harley Davidson, without specific destination and without a schedule, like two gypsies, in defiance of autism. From a problematic place, we invented our own fairy tale!

From that story came the book: Don't Be Afraid If I Hug You, fruit of the fantastic work of Fulvio Ervas and my travel notes, where I kept track of chronicles and thrills of the journey. The book has been very well received by readers; maybe because it offers a different vision of young people and their disabilities, maybe because it is loaded with love that sometimes is missing these days, maybe because it's a story of pure adventure, irony, and simple truth. And if this book is translated into many different languages and if the international production of a movie is already in the making, it means that something good has been done. This feeling pushes me to promote it as widely as possible because I received so many signs -- from parents and organizations -- that made me realize that, thanks to the book, something began to change.

While thinking about what I could write for this blog to describe what autism is, and disability in general, for a child that faces life, I thought of this: imagine that you are driving a car. The car is your body and it is through this car that you move to achieve anything in life. You are very aware that you need to turn on the engine, get started and spin the steering wheel to get on the road. But what happens is that when you start the engine, the horn sounds... and when you adjust your seat, the car starts moving forward... when you accelerate, the car goes backwards... you hit the turn signal and the doors open... you know what you have to do, you see everything, but nothing works the way you want it to. You try again and again, you kill yourself trying, you cry, you scream out of desperation... people look at you like a fool, they treat you like a fool because you act strange... and you try again and again but this car they gave you doesn't work. Maybe they gave it a wrong additive (a vaccine maybe?) and it broke down, no one knows how to fix it, people look at you and pass by with their own perfect cars -- machines that respond perfectly to their every command. You decide to get out of the car... you start opening the door, but the car starts moving at a furious speed... Help!!! Then at night, your tears wrinkle your pillow, you can't fall asleep and you wonder about how to get out of this confusion. You wake up and the nightmare is still real, for your entire life. Forever! No. Not forever?!? That is how I would describe autism.

This is why the foundation was created, the foundation of which I have been the president since 2005, the year it was created. This foundation has never been about projects, cures or therapies -- we don't organize congresses or conferences and we don't specialize in medicine or science. What we specifically do is raise funds to support projects for autistic people, involving entrepreneurs from every region. We form groups of 30 to 40 companies for each region, and each gives a small monthly share continually. The sum of these shares goes to projects that would otherwise never be financed, and allows businesses to grow closer to social issues. Right now, we are financing nine projects involving 200 entrepreneurs from the regions of Treviso, Padova, Vicenza, Brescia and Milano, but we are already getting active in other regions. Those projects are carried out from four hospitals and five parents associations (everything is explained on our website).

In exchange, the foundation publishes every month in daily newspapers (Il Sole 24 and Il Corriere della Sera, and prestigious local dailies) the actions in detail: the donated funds, who manages them, how they are spent, and what is the status of the funded projects, monthly, publicly and with total transparency so that every company knows exactly where its shares go. At the same time, on every page we give visibility to the companies that allow this all to happen, The message we are trying to communicate is that social work cannot be improvised, or cannot be realized with a large donation around Christmas time to then stop thinking about it: social work has to be managed like a company, with specific contracts, predictions of revenues and expenditures and people who work being fully responsible for what they do 365 days a year.

We tell the entrepreneurs: do your work, do it well and concentrate on your profitability, but with a smaller focus on the foundation, andwe will take care of the social engagement of your company with professionalism, keeping you aware of everything that happens with the money you give us. Yes, because many business owners do not invest in social projects because they wonder about where their money will truly end up. To them, we answer this: if everybody would invest 0.1% in social projects (time or money), I am convinced that many daily management problems would be resolved within our communities; support to the families, projects for the people would be offered. We wouldn't need to make demands or protest to our communities, provinces, regions or entities that are, today, unable to deliver all the answers on a financial or medical level. Managing social work with love, giving a little bit of our time, and a little bit of our resources would bring us all to a higher level of humanity, would bring us together, exactly like civilizations I have met deep in the Amazonian forests where each village shares and supports the difficulties of the weakest in a natural and spontaneous way. Deep in the Third World, in the villages kept separated from progress of civilization, I saw the strongest form of love, education, respect for one another. If we followed this example, our institutions could devote themselves to research, the latest medical discoveries, studies, and offering the financial resources necessary to make sure autism, as well as the other horrible diseases (HIV, etc), would be understood and defeated by science.

I would like to specify that I am only a dad, like any other dad, not quite able to discuss medicine because I don't have the expertise to do so. I can't suggest a cure, because the thousands we tried on my son in the last 15 years have been useless, if they didn't worsen his case. I won't be able to sustain this blog because my two sons, autism, the time I dedicate to the foundation, in addition to my work, unfortunately do not leave me enough time to spend on all those other things I would like to do, and I apologize for that. I hope, on the other side, that I can offer you through this post my positivity, my vision about fathers and sons dealing with autism, and simply give my testimony on disability and handicaps through the eyes of a father and the emotions of Andrea, my son, hoping that this post, as well as our entertaining book, can gather our worlds a little closer.

Speak to you soon,
Kind regards,
Franco

This post was originally published on HuffPost Italia and translated from Italian.

?

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/franco-antonello/for-the-friends-of-andrea_b_1911321.html

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What are Mitt Romney's foreign policy goals in Latin America?

Romney has highlighted policy issues in Latin America ranging from Iran's influence in the region to security problems in Mexico. How much do his views differ from those of Obama and Bush?

By Richard Basas,?Guest blogger / September 25, 2012

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney boards his flight for a campaign stop in Dayton, Ohio, Tuesday, Sept. 25, in Newark, N.J.

Evan Vucci/AP

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? A version of this post ran on the Foreign Policy Association blog. The views expressed are the author's own.

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President Obama over the last four years has had as successful a record on Latin America as the last two presidents before him. It can be argued he has had some added success in the region considering luck and policy with Colombia gaining a handle on its own internal conflict and Cuba slowly reforming to a more open society. [Venezuelan President Hugo] Chavez and his mission to continue his fight to free his people from American colonialism is slowing due to his personal health, something that may calm anti-Chavez activists in the US and Venezuela if they can wrestle away his popular support in the upcoming election. Mexico unfortunately has been mired in violence since the Bush Administration and new initiatives may come into effect as legalizing narcotics and devaluing drugs may be the only way to deflate drug violence in the country, a policy change that will have a massive effect on the next presidential term or the next president.

Mitt Romney has published his Latin American policy goals online at Mittromney.com and can be found here. After a week of publicity focusing on the beginning of the Arab Winter, Romney has fallen off the media map while President Obama spends his time focusing on the Middle East. To throw some attention towards Mitt and away from the Arab world, I will discuss some of his policy initiatives below.

Romney starts out with a criticism on Obama?s last four years in office, but much of the attacks he takes on Obama were issues that preceded Obama and were issues that were not addressed during the Bush years. Many problems, like those of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Colombia, were issues that were frozen in Congress for many years as Democrats and Republicans and their varied interest groups used the Colombia issue to freeze progress on an FTA. In reality, progress on FTAs in the region stopped after 9/11 and current FTAs like NAFTA became less strict as the US economy faded and US trade policy started to lose benefits it formally enshrined in many of its FTAs with two wars and a large trade deficit owed mostly to China. Early in its first term, the Bush Administration was negotiating the FTAA, the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas in 2001. After 9/11 all focus turned to the Middle East, and despite the ability for FTAs to be continued over the next eight years under Bush, no significant policy moves were made to engage and progress trade with Latin America. Romney?s main argument seems to be that under Romney?s Republicans, he would push through more lucrative FTAs, but neither Obama nor the Republicans did much over the last 12 years to push through these FTAs, and despite the delays in the US-Colombia agreement, it was finally done under Obama.

Romney continues in his commentary to speak about Honduras and Cuba and errors Obama has made in handling both issues. Firstly, to speak on Honduras, while it is a valid point of view to make, a lot of the support Obama had for [former President Manuel] Zelaya was more of a lack of attention to the issue rather than strongly supporting Mr. Zelaya. In addition, it is doubtful Obama will lose many votes over Honduras. The opposite effect may take shape, as to focus on Zelaya and Obama likely would make Romney look like he has little to criticize as opposed to gaining any support against Obama in this regard. While an opening of Cuba has more to do with internal Cuban decisions than any one US policy move, pushing US policy on Cuba in some cases may cause more damage than produce any results. Support for embargoes and visa restrictions has done little since the 1960s and interest in punishing Cuba has faded. While China slowly succeeds to become America?s largest trading partner, it is difficult for American politicians to criticize Cuba for something their largest future trading partner does on a regular basis.

In Romney?s details on his own policy plan on the region, he makes strong points on how he will re-engage with Latin America on democracy and trade. I do not know whether Obama will do the same, but for the US it would always be a positive approach to engage and stay engaged with Latin America. Two issues that are not addressed come apparent however. The issue of Iran and Hezbollah in Latin America are of great concern and are mentioned quite a few times in his policy outline, but for those in the region it may show a continued focus on the Middle East as opposed to creating stronger ties in Latin America. There is no mention of issues that may concern Latinos in the US or Latin Americans, issues of immigration are never mentioned at all and it is a mistake to think that those in Latin America do not pay attention to those issues. It is more likely that immigration is at the top of their list of concerns, and likely that Iran is at the bottom. The real challenge in the region is one of America?s economic rival in Latin America, China, and with no mention on how US investment may compete or displace Chinese investment it seems that there is no effective future investment plan for Latin America. While he does mention Mexico briefly, he should have placed more focus on NAFTA and strong ties in the region. He completely leaves out any reference to trade and policy development with Brazil, and almost entirely ignores any positive relationships the US already have in the region.

Without much focus on Mexican immigration or its healthy economy, Mexico is mentioned at the end as almost a sole security issue. While deaths in Mexico do complete with those in Iraq and Afghanistan combined, he leaves out any economic discussion on Mexico and speaks on security issues without suggesting how they might handle future policy changes in the region. It is certain that new policy approaches will come from Latin America as Mexico and possibly Venezuela change direction with new governments. Future issues like?legalization?of narcotics or any alternative policy approaches apart from military options are not broached in Romney?s Latin America policy platform. While Romney offers little differentiation from Obama, it is expected that a more clear and logical and historically significant policy statement should be issued for his campaign. If he is not Bush, and not Obama, it still seems that he has yet to show he is different and how a?Romney Administration will be?different on Latin America.

? Rich Basas is a Latin America blogger and Europe blogger at the Foreign Policy Association. Read the blogs here for Latin America and here for Europe.

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of Latin America bloggers. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/p3T8wGrRTv0/What-are-Mitt-Romney-s-foreign-policy-goals-in-Latin-America

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Taylor Swift Begins Again with New Single

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/09/taylor-swift-begins-again-with-new-single/

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