NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL VERSION WITH TRANSLATION

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

News From All Over

Citi Expands Effort To Help Homeowners Avoid Foreclosure

NEW YORK - Citigroup extended its effort to avoid foreclosing on homes. The bank on Tuesday announced the Citi Homeowner Assistance program, under which it would preemptively contact some 500,000 mortgage holders - involving $20 billion of mortgage balances - to try to ensure that they can pay their loans and stay in their homes.

"These homeowners are not currently behind on their mortgage payments, but some may require help to remain current on their mortgages. ... Citi is focusing particularly on borrowers in areas that are likely to face extreme economic distress."

Citi also extended its moratorium on foreclosures. It said it won't begin a foreclosure or complete a foreclosure sale on a home on which it owns the mortgage so long as the borrower wants to stay in the home, which is his or her principal residence; "is working in good faith with Citi, and has sufficient income for affordable mortgage payments." And Citi is working with investors to "secure their approval to expand the program to include mortgages Citi services but does not own."

In early October, Bank of America reached a settlement with state attorneys general and agreed to work out 400,000 loans written by its Countrywide unit. And at the end of October, J.P. Morgan Chase said it would expand its mortgage-workout program to help 400,000 families keep their homes.

World's Ugliest Dog Dies After Bout With Cancer

FLORIDA - A one-eyed, three-legged dog that won the title of world's ugliest pooch this summer has died. The St. Petersburg Times in Florida reports that Gus, a Chinese crested dog, had cancer. He was 9. Gus was rescued from a bad home and went on to win the annual World's Ugliest Dog contest at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in northern California.

Gus came from humble origins. According to the fair, his adopted family in Gulfport, Fla., rescued him after learning he was being kept in a crate inside someone's garage. He had one leg amputated because of a skin tumor and lost an eye in a cat fight.

Gus' owner had said the prize money from the contest would be put toward the dog's radiation treatment.

Golden Earring Dates to Time of Christ

JERUSALEM - Israeli archaeologists have discovered a 2,000-year-old gold earring beneath a parking lot next to the walls of Jerusalem's old city, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Monday. The discovery dates back to the time of Christ, during the Roman period, said Doron Ben-Ami, director of excavation at the site.

The piece was found in a Byzantine structure built several centuries after the jeweled earring was made, showing it was likely passed down through generations, he said. The find is luxurious: A large pearl inlaid in gold with two drop pieces, each with an emerald and pearl set in gold.

"It must have belonged to someone of the elite in Jerusalem," Ben-Ami said. "Such a precious item, it couldn't be one of just ordinary people."

In a statement released Monday, the authority said the piece of jewelry was "astonishingly well-preserved." Finds from the Roman period are rare in Jerusalem, Ben-Ami said, because the city was destroyed by the Roman Empire in the first century A.D. Shimon Gibson, an American archaeologist who was not involved in the dig, said the find was truly amazing, less because of its Roman origins than for its precious nature.

"Jewelry is hardly preserved in archaeological context in Jerusalem," he said, because precious metals were often sold or melted down during the many historic takeovers of the city.

"It adds to the visual history of Jerusalem," Gibson added, saying it brings attention to the life of women in antiquity.

Though Gibson dates the piece slightly later than the antiquities authority, to sometime between the second and fourth centuries A.D., he said its quality and beauty were impressive. Ben-Ami added that he expects more small, luxury items to turn up in future excavations.

Earrings similar to this one have been found at archaeological sites throughout Europe, Ben-Ami said, where the Roman Empire also flourished. The authority said the earring appeared to be crafted using a technique similar to that depicted in portraits from Roman-era Egypt.

Councilman Arrested for Allegedly Urinating on Crowd

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A Jersey City councilman has reportedly been arrested for urinating on a crowd of concertgoers from the balcony of a Washington D.C. nightclub. The New York Daily News reports in Sunday's editions that two-term Jersey City councilman Steve Lipski has been charged with simple assault.

The newspaper says 44-year-old Lipski was removed from a place called the Nightclub 9:30 on Friday night. That's after club staffers saw him relieve himself onto the crowd from a second floor balcony during a concert by a Grateful Dead tribute ban.

Messages by the media left at Lipski's council office, and a Jersey City listing under his name were not immediately returned.

Secret Service Officer Arrested During Prostitution Sting

WASHINGTON, D.C. - District of Columbia police say they have arrested a Secret Service officer during a prostitution sting. WUSA-TV reports D.C. police Inspector Brian Bray says his squad was conducting a prostitution sting around 11th and K streets in northwest Washington early Saturday. He says a marked Secret Service Uniformed Division patrol car pulled up to speak with an undercover female officer posing as a prostitute.

The Secret Service sergeant, who was in uniform, allegedly inquired what sex acts the undercover officer would perform. They agreed on a price of $20, and he drove to meet her. But then D.C. police arrested and charged him with solicitation for the propose of prostitution.

Darrin Blackford, a Secret Service spokesman, says the agency's internal affairs division is investigating the matter. He says the officer, whose name was not released, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

LISA

CITI, St. Petersburg Times, Israel Antiquities Authority, WUSA-TV

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