donovan and demarco announce extended ... - RealEstateRama

Additional 90-day moratorium to help FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac borrowers

WASHINGTON, DC ? January 31, 2013 ? (RealEstateRama) ? U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, who serves as President Obama?s Chairman of the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, and Federal Housing Finance Agency Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco today announced that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac will extend expiring protections against foreclosure actions against homeowners whose properties were damaged or destroyed due to Hurricane Sandy.

The additional 90-day foreclosure moratorium applies to homeowners with properties in states where the President issued major disaster declarations following Hurricane Sandy. The extended moratoriums announced today apply to the initiation of foreclosures and foreclosures already in process.

?It?s all too clear that families need more time to get back on their feet without having a foreclosure or eviction hanging over their heads,? said Donovan. ?As we work to rebuild after this historic storm, we?ll do everything we can to ease the crushing burden being faced by those homeowners, many of whom have been forced from their homes.?

?Given the magnitude of this disaster, extending the moratorium on foreclosures and evictions will allow homeowners in the affected areas, and their servicers, the time needed to assess individual circumstances and options,? said DeMarco.

FHA is extending moratoriums for another 90 days on the initiation of foreclosures and foreclosures already in process. FHA is also suspending evictions of persons from properties secured by FHA mortgages in these affected counties through April 30, 2013.

After consultation with FHFA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will also extend the suspension of foreclosure sales and eviction lockouts for borrowers impacted by Hurricane Sandy. The new 90-day extension applies to homeowners with properties or employment within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declared disaster area eligible for individual assistance. This follows an earlier 90-day suspension of foreclosure sales and evictions in the impacted areas. In addition to the foreclosure sale and eviction moratorium, homeowners impacted by Hurricane Sandy may be eligible for forbearance, loan modifications or waived late payment charges.

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HUD?s mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes: utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination; and transform the way HUD does business. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and http://espanol.hud.gov. You can also follow HUD on twitter @HUDnews, on facebook at www.facebook.com/HUD, or sign up for news alerts on HUD?s News Listserv.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency regulates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the 12 Federal Home Loan
Banks. These government-sponsored enterprises provide more than $5.7 trillion in funding for the U.S. mortgage markets and financial institutions.

Contact:

Shaun Donovan, Secretary
U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development
Chair, Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force
Brian Sullivan (202) 708-0685
Brendan Gilfillan,

Edward J. DeMarco, Acting Director
Federal Housing Finance Agency
Corinne Russell (202) 649-3032
Stefanie Johnson (202) 649-3030

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  WASHINGTON, DC - December 18, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to the District of Columbia in addition to resources being provided by FEMA and other federal partners. HUD will provide support to homeowners and low-income renters forced from their homes due to Hurricane Sandy....

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Source: http://www.realestaterama.com/2013/01/31/donovan-and-demarco-announce-extended-foreclosure-relief-for-hurricane-sandy-storm-victims-ID018595.html

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Exxon's quarterly profit rises, tops Street estimates

(Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp , the world's largest publicly traded oil company, on Friday reported a higher-than-expected 6 percent increase in quarterly profit on stronger results at its chemical and refining businesses.

The Irving, Texas company said profit in the fourth quarter was $9.95 billion, or $2.20 per share, compared with $9.4 billion, or $1.97 per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Analysts on average expected a profit of $2.00 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"The beat was in downstream and chemicals," said Brian Youngberg, energy company analyst at Edward Jones in Saint Louis. "That's a common theme we are seeing."

Oil and gas output fell 5.2 percent to 4.29 million barrels oil equivalent per day, Exxon said.

Profit at Exxon's exploration and production business fell 12 percent to $7.76 billion. At its chemicals unit, profit more than doubled to $958 million, and refining earnings were $1.77 billion, up sharply from $425 million a year earlier.

Analysts at Barclays had expected refining earnings of $1.53 billion and a chemicals profit of $786 million.

Shares of Exxon edged up to $90.60 in premarket trading, from Thursday's New York Stock Exchange close of $89.97.

(Reporting By Anna Driver; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exxons-quarterly-profit-rises-6-percent-131441388--finance.html

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New Android apps worth downloading: Carbon - App Sync and Backup, Google Play Music update, Zombie Road Trip

Today?s first fresh Android app is Carbon - App Sync and Backup, which backs up your apps and data to other locations, and protects everything you hold dear on your Android device. Next, a big update adds new functionality and features to the cloud-based Google Play Music. Rounding out today?s picks is Zombie Road Trip, a side-scrolling driving game developed by Noodlecake Studios.

What?s it about? The recently released Carbon - App Sync and Backup is for backing up your other mobile applications and data, either to a hardware location or on their cloud server.

What?s cool? It?s a pain in the you-know-what to switch app data from one device to another. Carbon - App Sync and Backup lets you transfer data among Android devices, and provides extra security in case you store private information or are particularly fond of your game high scores. The premium edition, which costs $4.99, enables backing up to cloud locations such as Dropbox.

Who?s it for? Simply put, Carbon - App Sync and Backup is for smartphone owners who want to back up their apps and data. Since Android devices are considered by most to be mini-computers, and we use them every day, it?s essential to save and secure important data.

What?s it like? Try App Backup and Restore and MyBackup for more data-saving options.

What?s it about? Google improves its cloud-based music player and storage service with new features by enhancing the listening experience.

What?s cool? For the uninitiated, Google Play Music is the portal between buying music from Google?s media store and accessing it on your Android devices. The app allows you to stream music from your cloud-based storage area, and Google Play Music even makes instant playlists based off your tracks. The new update includes improvements, such as: longer instant mixes, better shuffling for artists, albums and playlists, and lots more.

Who?s it for? This app is a no-brainer for anyone who downloads music from the Google Play store.

What?s it like? Amazon MP3 is the retail giant?s answer to Google Play Music, and offers a lot of the same services.

What?s it about? In Zombie Road Trip, a side-scrolling game, you must avoid undead hordes while driving and pulling off tricks in a customized deathmobile.

What?s cool? It?s a 2-D world full of obstacles and zombies. What?s not to love about that? The goal is to avoid crashing during your escape and rack up high scores. Zombie Road Trip randomizes its terrain, so every level is ostensibly brand new, and you can unlock up to 11 cars.

Who?s it for? If you like arcade running (or in this case, driving) titles, or just love zombie-themed games, push the pedal to the metal in Zombie Road Trip.

What?s it like? Tilt-based driving titles Snuggle Truck and Top Truck offer similar side-scrolling setups.

Download the Appolicious Android app

Source: http://www.androidapps.com/tech/articles/13184-new-android-apps-worth-downloading-carbon-app-sync-and-backup-google-play-music-update-zombie-road-trip

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Authors try to separate fact, fiction on obesity

Fact or fiction? Sex burns a lot of calories. Snacking or skipping breakfast is bad. School gym classes make a big difference in kids' weight.

All are myths or at least presumptions that may not be true, say researchers who reviewed the science behind some widely held obesity beliefs and found it lacking.

Their report in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine says dogma and fallacies are detracting from real solutions to the nation's weight problems.

"The evidence is what matters," and many feel-good ideas repeated by well-meaning health experts just don't have it, said the lead author, David Allison, a biostatistician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Independent researchers say the authors have some valid points. But many of the report's authors also have deep financial ties to food, beverage and weight-loss product makers ? the disclosures take up half a page of fine print in the journal.

"It raises questions about what the purpose of this paper is" and whether it's aimed at promoting drugs, meal replacement products and bariatric surgery as solutions, said Marion Nestle, a New York University professor of nutrition and food studies.

"The big issues in weight loss are how you change the food environment in order for people to make healthy choices," such as limits on soda sizes and marketing junk food to children, she said. Some of the myths they cite are "straw men" issues, she said.

But some are pretty interesting.

Sex, for instance. Not that people do it to try to lose weight, but claims that it burns 100 to 300 calories are common, Allison said. Yet the only study that scientifically measured the energy output found that sex lasted six minutes on average ? "disappointing, isn't it?" ? and burned a mere 21 calories, about as much as walking, he said.

That's for a man. The study was done in 1984 and didn't measure the women's experience.

Among the other myths or assumptions the authors cite, based on their review of the most rigorous studies on each topic:

?Small changes in diet or exercise lead to large, long-term weight changes. Fact: The body adapts to changes, so small steps to cut calories don't have the same effect over time, studies suggest. At least one outside expert agrees with the authors that the "small changes" concept is based on an "oversimplified" 3,500-calorie rule, that adding or cutting that many calories alters weight by one pound.

?School gym classes have a big impact on kids' weight. Fact: Classes typically are not long, often or intense enough to make much difference.

?Losing a lot of weight quickly is worse than losing a little slowly over the long term. Fact: Although many dieters regain weight, those who lose a lot to start with often end up at a lower weight than people who drop more modest amounts.

?Snacking leads to weight gain. Fact: No high quality studies support that, the authors say.

?Regularly eating breakfast helps prevent obesity. Fact: Two studies found no effect on weight and one suggested that the effect depended on whether people were used to skipping breakfast or not.

?Setting overly ambitious goals leads to frustration and less weight loss. Fact: Some studies suggest people do better with high goals.

Some things may not have the strongest evidence for preventing obesity but are good for other reasons, such as breastfeeding and eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, the authors write. And exercise helps prevent a host of health problems regardless of whether it helps a person shed weight.

"I agree with most of the points" except the authors' conclusions that meal replacement products and diet drugs work for battling obesity, said Dr. David Ludwig, a prominent obesity research with Boston Children's Hospital who has no industry ties. Most weight-loss drugs sold over the last century had to be recalled because of serious side effects, so "there's much more evidence of failure than success," he said.

___

Online:

Obesity info: http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

New England Journal: http://www.nejm.org

___

Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/authors-try-separate-fact-fiction-obesity-181740816.html

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Siri Eyes Free coming to 2013 Honda Accord, along with Acura RDX and ILX

Good news for Honda fans: the automobile manufacturer has just revealed which of its 2013 vehicles will receive support for Apple's hands-free extension of Siri, known as Eyes Free. Namely, the feature will be available as a dealer-installed option for the Honda Accord, along with the RDX and ILX from Acura. Mum's currently the word on software integration, but it's worth pointing out that the HondaLink infotainment system was previously revealed to debut on the 2013 Accord, and both the RDX and ILX feature AcuraLink -- so, you do the math. Honda's yet to reveal pricing for the kit, but hey, it's something to haggle about.

Filed under: Transportation, Software, Apple

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/mpRQoqkjUU4/

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Israel hits Syria arms convoy to Lebanon - sources

By Mariam Karouny and Oliver Holmes

BEIRUT | Wed Jan 30, 2013 7:45pm GMT

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israeli jets bombed a convoy on Syria's border with Lebanon on Wednesday, sources told Reuters, apparently targeting weapons destined for Hezbollah in what some called a warning to Damascus not to arm Israel's Lebanese enemy.

"The target was a truck loaded with weapons, heading from Syria to Lebanon," said one Western diplomat, adding that the consignment may well have included anti-aircraft missiles.

The overnight attack, which several sources placed on the Syrian side of the border, followed warnings from Israel that it was ready to act to prevent the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad leading to Syria's chemical weapons and modern rockets reaching either his Hezbollah allies or his Islamist enemies.

A source among the Syrian rebels said an air strike around dawn (0430 GMT) blasted a convoy on a mountain track about 5 kilometres (3 miles) south of where the main Damascus-Beirut highway crosses the border. Its load probably included high-tech anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles, but not chemical weapons.

"It attacked trucks carrying sophisticated weapons from the regime to Hezbollah," the source said, adding that it took place inside Syria, though the border is poorly defined in the area.

A regional security source said the target was weaponry given by Assad's military to fellow Iranian ally Hezbollah:

"This episode boils down to a warning by Israel to Syria and Hezbollah not to engage in the transfer of sensitive weapons," the source said. "Assad knows his survival depends on his military capabilities and he would not want those capabilities neutralised by Israel - so the message is this kind of transfer is simply not worth it, neither for him nor Hezbollah."

With official secrecy shrouding the event, few details were corroborated by multiple sources. All those with knowledge of the event - from several countries - spoke anonymously.

There was no comment from the Israeli or Syrian governments nor Hezbollah. Israel's ally the United States declined all comment. A Lebanese security source said its territory was not hit, though the army reported a heavy presence of Israeli jets through the night after days of unusually frequent incursions.

Such a strike would fit Israel's policy of pre-emptive covert and overt action to curb Hezbollah and does not necessarily indicate a major escalation of the war in Syria. It does, however, indicate how the erosion of the Assad family's rule after 42 years is seen by Israel as posing a threat.

Israel this week echoed concerns in the United States about Syrian chemical weapons, but its officials say a more immediate worry is that the civil war could see weapons that are capable of denting its massive superiority in airpower and tanks reaching Hezbollah; the group fought Israel in 2006 and remains a more pressing threat than its Syrian and Iranian sponsors.

Wednesday's strike could have been a rapid response to an opportunity. But a stream of Israeli comment on Syria in recent days may have been intended to limit surprise in world capitals.

The head of the Israeli air force said only hours before the attack that his corps, which has an array of the latest jet bombers, attack helicopters and unmanned drones at its disposal, was involved in a covert "campaign between wars".

"This campaign is 24/7, 365 days a year," Major-General Amir Eshel told a conference on Tuesday. "We are taking action to reduce the immediate threats, to create better conditions in which we will be able to win the wars, when they happen."

JETS OVER LEBANON

In Israel, where media operate under military censorship, broadcasters immediately relayed international reports of the strike. Channel Two television quoted what it called foreign sources saying the convoy was carrying anti-aircraft missiles.

Israeli jets routinely fly over Lebanon and there have been unconfirmed reports in previous years of strikes on Hezbollah arms shipments. An attack inside Syria could be diplomatically provocative, however, since Assad's Iranian ally said on Saturday that it would view any strike as an attack on itself.

There was no immediate comment on the incident from Tehran, which Israel views as its principal enemy and with which it is engaged in a bitter confrontation over Iran's nuclear programme.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, set for a new term after an election, told his cabinet that Iran and turmoil in Arab states meant Israel must be strong: "In the east, north and south, everything is in ferment, and we must be prepared, strong and determined in the face of all possible developments."

The Israeli military confirmed this week that it had lately deployed two batteries of its Iron Dome rocket-interceptor system to around the northern city of Haifa, which came under heavy Hezbollah missile fire during a brief war in 2006.

Israel's refusal to comment on Wednesday is usual in such cases; it has, for example, never admitted a 2007 air strike on a suspected Syrian nuclear site despite U.S. confirmation of it.

By not acknowledging that raid, Israel may have ensured that Assad did not feel obliged to retaliate. For 40 years, Syria has offered little but bellicose words against Israel. A failing Assad administration, some Israelis fear, might be tempted into more action, while Syria's Islamist rebels are also hostile to Israel and could present a threat if they seize heavier weapons.

Israeli Vice Premier Silvan Shalom said on Sunday that any sign that the Syrian army's grip on its presumed chemical weapons stocks was slipping could trigger Israeli intervention.

But Israeli sources said on Tuesday that Syria's advanced conventional weapons, much of it Russian-built hardware able to destroy Israeli planes and tanks, would represent as much of a threat to Israel as chemical arms in the hands of an enemy.

Interviewed on Wednesday, Shalom would not be drawn on whether Israeli forces had been in action in the north, but he described the country as part of an international coalition seeking to stop spillover from Syria's two-year-old insurgency.

Recalling that President Barack Obama had warned Assad of U.S. action if his forces used chemical weapons, Shalom told Israel Radio: "The world, led by President Obama, who has said this more than once, is taking all possibilities into account.

"Any development ... in a negative direction would be something that needs stopping and prevention."

LEBANON WAR

During the 2006 war in Lebanon, Israel's air forced faced little threat, though its navy was taken aback when a missile hit a ship. Israeli tanks suffered losses to rockets, and commanders are concerned Hezbollah may get better weaponry.

In what might have been a sign of seeking to reassure major powers, Israeli media reported this week that the country's national security adviser was despatched to Russia and military intelligence chief to the United States for consultations.

Shashank Joshi of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London saw any strike on Wednesday as intended to deliver a signal rather than heralding a major escalation from Israel.

"The Israelis are sending a message not just to Hezbollah but also to Assad's forces that they have no wish to get dragged in, but chemical weapons and certain types of missiles are a red line for them, and that regime forces ought to signal, in turn, to Hezbollah that they should proceed with caution," he said.

Worries about Syria and Hezbollah have sent Israelis lining up for government-issued gas masks in recent days. According to the Israel post office, which is handling distribution of the kits, demand roughly trebled this week.

"It looks like every kind of discourse on this or that security matter contributes to public vigilance," its deputy director Haim Azaki told Israel's Army Radio. "We have really seen a very significant jump in demand."

(Additional reporting by Myra MacDonald in London; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Will Waterman and David Stamp)

Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/01/30/uk-syria-israel-attack-idUKBRE90T0K320130130?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

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Massachusetts governor names former aide to fill Kerry's Senate seat

BOSTON (Reuters) - Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick on Wednesday named his former chief of staff, William Cowan, to fill temporarily the U.S. Senate seat that John Kerry will vacate this week.

The Democratic appointee told reporters he had no plans to run in the June 25 special election to choose a permanent successor to Kerry.

"I'm going down in this temporary period to continue the good work that Senator Kerry and his team has been doing," said Cowan, 43, a former civil rights lawyer with the Boston firm Mintz, Levin. "Senator Kerry has worked in close partnership with Governor Patrick and so you can expect me to do the same."

Cowan will become the second African-American in the current Senate, a distinction that Patrick, who is Massachusetts' first black governor, said influenced his choice.

"The commonwealth and the country is changing," Patrick told reporters. "To the extent that we can reflect that and encourage little boys and girls of color, or who are poor, or who grew up in marginalized circumstances, to imagine what it might be like to serve the public in these ways, I think that's a great thing."

In choosing the married father of two boys, who goes by the nickname "Mo," Patrick passed over recently retired U.S. Representative Barney Frank, who had publicly said he wanted the job.

Cowan's appointment maintains the Democrats' 53 seats in the Senate. Republicans hold 45 and there are 2 independents.

Kerry was approved by the Senate on Tuesday to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. Democrat Elizabeth Warren, elected in 2012, now becomes Massachusetts' senior senator.

"I look forward to working closely with him to protect the interests of Massachusetts families," Warren said of Cowan.

With Kerry's departure from a seat he held since 1985, Massachusetts loses much of its seniority in the Senate. Kerry served for almost a quarter century before the death of Edward M. Kennedy in 2009 made him Massachusetts' senior senator. Kennedy had held his seat for 47 years.

Cowan, who joined the Patrick administration in 2009, left late last year to return to the private sector.

While he kept a low profile in the administration, one former lawmaker said Cowan stood out for a calm but persuasive demeanor.

"We had people in our office yelling, screaming, demanding what would be in a bill or out of a bill ... Mo argued on the merits and was not confrontational," said Steven Baddour, a Democrat who served in the state senate from 2002 through 2012.

CAMPAIGN KICK-OFF

The state now faces a five-month Senate campaign in which so far only one high-profile Democrat, Representative Edward Markey, has announced his candidacy.

However, fellow Democratic Representative Stephen Lynch said early this month he is "giving serious consideration" to running for the seat. If Lynch enters the race, he would face Markey and any other rivals in an April 30 primary.

On the Republican side, all eyes are on former Senator Scott Brown, who has maintained a low profile since losing his re-election bid to Warren.

Brown stunned the state's liberal establishment in 2010 when he won a special election to fill Kennedy's former seat, becoming Massachusetts's first Republican senator in three decades.

After Markey declared his interest in the office late last year, he quickly banked a number of endorsements from prominent Democrats including Kerry, Victoria Kennedy, wife of the late Senator Edward Kennedy, and state Attorney General Martha Coakley, who was defeated by Brown in 2010.

Following Wednesday's announcement, Frank endorsed Markey as well.

Some observers described Markey's quick mustering of these endorsements as an effort to head off a primary challenge, though Patrick and state Democratic party officials said they wanted to see a competitive primary.

(Editing by Jackie Frank and Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/massachusetts-governor-patrick-names-william-cowan-senate-local-150416647.html

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