NBC New York: Happy Thanksgiving! Judge Gives Debt-Ridden Couple a House
Greg Horoski and his wife, Diane Yano-Horoski, were on the verge of being tossed out of their ranch home in East Patchogue. They owed $525,000 in mortgage payments, had no equity on the house, and their California bank threatened foreclosure.
Then Suffolk Judge Jeffrey Spinner gave them a Thanksgiving gift they'll remember all their lives. He erased their debt and slammed their bank, OneWest, for its "harsh, repugnant, shocking and repulsive" behavior, according to The New York Post.
Now Yano-Horoski and her husband owe practically nothing on their home. And OneWest, which accepted a whopping $814.2 million in federal bailout money, was excoriated by the judge.
WORLD
Telegraph: Iraq inquiry: Tony Blair told ‘days before invasion’ WMD had been dismantled
Tony Blair received intelligence that Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction had been “dismantled” 10 days before Britain invaded Iraq, the inquiry into the 2003 war has been told.
The Foreign Office did not believe Iraq had nuclear missiles, but Mr Blair told parliament that Saddam was a threat to security in the Middle East because he still had chemical and biological weapons which could be launched at 45 minutes’ notice.
However, Sir William Ehrman, director of international security at the Foreign Office from 2000 to 2002, told the inquiry: “We were getting in the very final days before military action some (intelligence) on chemical and biological weapons that they were dismantled and (Saddam) might not have the munitions to deliver it.
“On March 10 we got a report saying that the chemical weapons might have remained disassembled and that Saddam hadn’t yet ordered their re-assembly and he might lack warheads capable of effective dispersal of agents.”
BBC: Mumbai attacks: One year on
Ceremonies are being held in Mumbai to mark the first anniversary of a series of devastating attacks on the Indian city by militants.
A police parade, the inauguration of a memorial, and a candle-lit prayer service are among the events.
The attacks, which began on 26 November 2008 and lasted nearly three days, left 174 people dead, including nine gunmen.
The only surviving attacker, Pakistani Muhammed Ajmal Qasab, is currently facing trial in India.
Reuters: U.S. will be out of Afghanistan by 2017: White House
The United States will not be in Afghanistan eight years from now, the White House said on Wednesday, as President Barack Obama prepared to explain to Americans next week why he is expanding the war effort.
After months of deliberation and fending off Republican charges that he was dithering on Afghanistan while violence there surged, Obama will address the nation on Tuesday on the way forward in the costly and unpopular eight-year war.
He is expected to announce he is sending about 30,000 more troops as part of a new counterinsurgency strategy that will place greater emphasis on accelerating the training of Afghan security forces so that U.S. soldiers can eventually withdraw.
It appears highly unlikely Obama will offer a specific troop withdrawal timetable, but White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the president would stress that the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan was not open-ended.
ABC: Admiral Mike Mullen To Geneva for START Talks
With the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START Treaty, between the US and Russia scheduled to expire on December 5, the diplomatic effort between the two countries to reach a new nuclear disarmament treaty by the end of the year continues.
Today came word that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen traveled to Geneva, Switzerland Monday night for an unannounced meeting with his Russian counterpart, General N.E. Makarov, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, to discuss the START Treaty follow-on agreement.
A statement from Mullen’s spokesperson, Capt. John Kirby, said the meeting with Makarov was held “to further ongoing negotiations on the START follow-on agreement.”
The meeting was made at the request of both President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev who had met last week in Singapore at the sidelines of the APEC meeting in Singapore. At that time both leaders acknowledged that US-Russian negotiators would almost certainly not make the December 5 deadline for a new nuclear disarmament treaty and set a goal of reaching agreement on a new deal by the end of this year.
MSNBC: Israel approves 10-month settlement freeze
Israel will halt construction in its West Bank settlements for 10 months, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday, in an effort to restart peace talks, but Palestinians rejected the freeze as insufficient because it did not include east Jerusalem.
Shortly before Netanyahu's televised statement, his Security Cabinet approved the freeze. Officials in his office said the vote in the gathering of senior ministers and top security officials was 11-1 in favor.
Netanyahu said the "far-reaching and painful step" was designed to "encourage resumption of peace talks with our Palestinian neighbors."
BBC: Philippine police make arrests after poll killings
Security forces in the Philippines have made a series of arrests following the murder of 57 people in an election-related massacre.
Troops and police swooped on towns on the southern island of Mindanao, run by the powerful Ampatuan family.
They are reported to have rounded-up and disarmed a 200-member paramilitary force there.
The massacre took place on Monday as a convoy of vehicles used by a rival politician was ambushed.
Geo TV: No Blackwater firm in Pakistan, asserts US envoy
The US ambassador in Pakistan Anne W. Patterson Wednesday ruled out the presence of private US security firm Blackwater, adding the US officials and programs in Pakistan are solely aimed at serving people and Government of Pakistan.
According to a statement issued from the US embassy, she said there is no secret operating base in Karachi or anywhere in Pakistan nor are US troops of any command busy with any secret activity in the country.
An article in a US magazine alleging Washington's collusion with Blackwater or any other contracting firm were equally baseless and false, the embassy said.
"US government programs for Pakistan are open and transparent and function in partnership with the government of Pakistan," Ambassador Anne W. Patterson said in the statement.
Yahoo: Toyota to replace gas pedals on 4 million vehicles
Toyota plans to replace the gas pedals on 4 million vehicles in the United States because the pedals can get stuck in the floor mats and cause sudden acceleration, a flaw that led to the sixth-largest recall ever in the U.S.
The repairs are a critical step to restoring the reputation of the world's biggest automaker, which suffered a blow when the recall was announced in September after years of making safe, reliable cars and trucks.
In plans outlined Wednesday, dealers will offer to shorten the length of the gas pedals by three-fourths of an inch beginning in January as a stopgap measure while the company develops replacement pedals. New pedals will be installed by dealers on a rolling basis beginning in April, and some vehicles will get a brake override system as a precaution.
UNITED STATES
Bloomberg: Consumer Spending in U.S. Rises More Than Forecast
Spending by U.S. consumers rebounded in October more than anticipated, an indication that mounting unemployment has yet to stifle Americans’ willingness to buy.
The 0.7 percent increase in purchases was larger than the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News and followed a 0.6 percent September drop, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Incomes climbed 0.2 percent, also exceeding expectations.
A jobless rate that is projected to exceed 10 percent through the first half of next year means households will probably contribute less to growth as the economy recovers. Nonetheless, retailers such as J.Crew Group Inc. are among companies seeing improving demand heading into the holiday shopping season.
CNN: Fort Hood tightens security procedures
Military brass at Fort Hood, Texas, on Tuesday announced tightened security procedures and the availability of a range of mental health services in the wake of the November 5 shooting spree that killed 13 people on the post.
Steps have been taken to tighten restrictions on who gets onto the post, to position armed guards in key locations including behavioral health facilities, and to carry out random inspections of containers, said Col. Bill Hill, garrison commander.
"Relaxed entry will cease," he told post personnel in a televised town hall meeting.
All vehicles entering the post will be required to display a Department of Defense sticker or a secure pass, and some buildings will require badge access, he said.
CBS: Confidential 9/11 Pager Messages Disclosed
As the World Trade Center and Pentagon were ablaze on September 11, 2001, the U.S. Secret Service's presidential protective detail was informed that a "Korean airliner has been hijacked" en route to San Francisco, prompting already-skittish agents to worry about another wave of terrorist attacks.
That morning and afternoon, Secret Service agents assigned to protect the president and his family found their pagers constantly buzzing with alerts both true and false. There was a false alarm about a car bomb in downtown Washington, D.C., a report of "two Arab males detained" after asking for directions to the presidential retreat at Camp David, and reassurances that "Twinkle and Turq" -- code names for the Bush daughters -- were safe and accounted for.
This unusual glimpse into the events of 9/11 comes from messages sent to alphanumeric pagers that were anonymously published on the Internet on Wednesday. The pager transcripts, which total about 573,000 lines and 6.4 million words, include numeric and text messages also sent to private sector and unclassified military pagers.
Google: FBI raids Ind., Ohio offices of financial firms
Federal agents searched the Indiana and Ohio offices of two companies owned by an Indianapolis businessman Tuesday, serving warrants a month after a newspaper questioned whether the Ohio firm is capable of repaying some $168 million owed to investors.
FBI special agent Michael Welch said in a statement that agents served search warrants Tuesday at Obsidian Enterprises of Indiana, a leveraged-buyout firm with offices on the top floor of Indianapolis' 48-story Chase Tower.
At the same time, agents began raiding the offices of Fair Financial Services in Akron, Ohio, Welch said.
Both companies are owned by 47-year-old Timothy S. Durham of Indianapolis.
CNN: Pelosi keeps door open on war tax
Speaker Nancy Pelosi kept the door open Tuesday to a proposal by several senior House Democrats to impose a graduated surtax on American taxpayers to finance the war in Afghanistan.
While Pelosi wasn't pressed about the details of the new war tax, she pointed to strong reservations among Congressional Democrats about the costs of the war during a conference call Tuesday with several economic writers and bloggers.
"But let me say that there is serious unrest in our Caucus about can we afford this war?" Pelosi said.
ENVIRONMENT
Telegraph: Barack Obama will attend Copenhagen climate conference
President Barack Obama will attend the Copenhagen climate change summit next month, increasing the possibility that an international deal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will be agreed.
He will offer US goals for curbing emissions, despite Congress’ failure to pass legislation before the widely anticipated climate summit.
The president will take part in the conference on Dec 9 before heading to Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, the White House announced, ending heavy speculation about whether the president would attend.
White House adviser Mike Froman said Mr Obama made the decision to travel to Denmark “to give momentum to the negotiations there.”
BBC: Climate change policies 'improve health'
Cutting emissions to mitigate climate change will also make people healthier, according to research.
A special series of articles, published in medical journal, the Lancet, outlines how such policies could have a direct impact on global health.
The series has been released ahead of the UN climate summit in Copenhagen.