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Tom Ramstack – AHN News Legal Correspondent
DC, Washington, United States (AHN) – The U.S. Conference of Mayors wrapped up its winter meeting Friday in Washington, D.C., with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel stepping into controversies on same sex marriage and education. Emanuel joined about 80 other mayors from across the nation in endorsing laws to give legal recognition to same sex marriage, along with the tax breaks and other benefits spouses can share. The mayors signed on to a statement that said, “Our cities derive great strength from their diversity and gay and lesbian families are a crucial [...] Continue Reading…

Linda Young – AHN News Writer
Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – First time claims for unemployment compensation benefits during the week ending Dec. 31 dropped by 15,000 from the previous week to 372,000, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The less volatile 4-week moving average also fell, registering a decrease of 3,250 to 373,250 initial claims. However, the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate also fell. It dropped by 0.1 percentage point to 2.8 percent for the week ending Dec. 24, the most recent week for which such data is available. Analysts say the decrease [...] Continue Reading…

AHN News Staff
Naypyidaw, Myanmar (AHN) – Myanmar President Thein Sein on Wednesday celebrated the country’s Independence Day and used the occasion to give credit to the former junta and the army for the country’s recent political reforms. Stressing the day’s significance, Sein said it was the “Tatmadaw” military that directed the nation towards building a peaceful, modern and developed democratic one. “The army took step-by-step measures for writing a constitution in order to practice multi-party democracy,” Sein said in a message read by Vice President Sai Mauk Kham. The nominally-civilian president also praised the military for fighting [...] Continue Reading…

Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – It’s the economy that keeps Americans up at night, on edge and worried, revealed a new CNN/ORC International poll released Friday. Some 70 percent said that things are not going well in the United States, with just three out of 10 saying things are okay, putting the state of the economy as the top worry and the most pressing issue heading into the new year. More than half of those surveyed, or 57 percent, said the economy is the most important issue facing the country [...] Continue Reading…

Linda Young – AHN News Writer
Paris, France (AHN) – Moody’s announced Friday it was downgrading the credit rating of all three of France’s top banks because of the difficulty they have borrowing money. Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas went down one notch from a Aa2 rating to Aa3, which is the fourth-highest investment grade rating. Societe Generale fell from Aa3 to A1, the fifth-highest rating. The best rating a bank can get is AAA. BNP is the largest bank, Societe Generale is second and Credit Agricole is third. The credit rating agency also gave each of [...] Continue Reading…

Linda Young – AHN News Writer
Berlin, Germany (AHN) – German exports fell by a larger percentage than forecast for October because of lower demand from southern European markets affected by the economic crisis. Exports fell by 3.6 percent in October compared to September. It was larger than the 1 percent drop expected and the largest decrease seen by Germany in six months. By contrast, exports only fell by 1 percent in September compared to August. Germany is Europe’s largest economy and it has been the economic engine for the region during the ongoing economic crisis. In [...] Continue Reading…

Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Black Friday is supposed to be all about rushing to stores, fighting the crowds and waiting in long lines to get the best deals. But this year, it was online shopping that really paid off for retailers and customers. Online sales jumped 39.3 percent on Thanksgiving Day, and 24.3 percent on Black Friday compared to the same days last year, reports Coremetrics, which tracks real-time data from 500 retailers in the apparel, department store, health and beauty, and home goods categories. Coremetrics reported that sales [...] Continue Reading…

Bill Wine – AHN News Movie Critic
United States (AHN) – 117 minutes In theaters November 18, 2011 Rating: PG-13, Drama Breaking Dawn never breaks down. Instead, it holds up its end of the bargain for the Twilight series and its loyal fans, as The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 surfaces as the first-half of a finale with a one-year intermission. The romantic modern-day vampire drama that kicked off the big-screen series, Twilight (2008), cast quite a spell, which is why we’re now four movies in out of five. The ponderous first [...] Continue Reading…

Colombo, Sri Lanka (IRIN) – Cottage industries such as poultry farming, home gardening and bee-keeping are becoming increasingly popular among returnees in Sri Lanka’s former northern conflict zone as alternatives to regular jobs, officials say. “We have seen a lot of applications for loans for poultry and home gardens,” Prem Kumar, area manager for the Bank of Ceylon, one of Sri Lanka’s two largest state-owned banks, told IRIN in northern Vavuniya District. “When jobs become harder to find, people find it easier to start something on their own, especially so when they see there are opportunities to [...] Continue Reading…

Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – U.S. stocks slipped into the red Friday morning after uncertainties lingered following Thursday’s European deal to tackle the eurozone debt crisis. Shortly after 10 a.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3 points, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was off 5 points and the NASDAQ fell 11 points. All eyes are still focused on Europe and the financial crisis that the eurozone faces. Analysts are questioning if the $610 billion rescue fund leaders agreed on Thursday will be enough. On the [...] Continue Reading…