The international community must “up its game” to secure a lasting political settlement for Afghanistan, the Labour leader Ed Miliband has said during a secret visit to the country

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Miliband fears for Afghan future

Some states are diverting their share of a $2.5 billion they were awarded in a mortgage settlement, money intended to help homeowners and mitigate the effects of foreclosures.

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States Diverting Mortgage Settlement Money to Other Uses

The provocative move, defended by the Netanyahu government as fixing technical issues, marked the first establishment of new settlements in two decades.

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Israel Retroactively Legalizes 3 West Bank Settlements

Israel decides to make legal under Israeli law three settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, drawing Palestinian condemnation.

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Israel authorises three outposts

The Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit on Wednesday, charging that the companies colluded to raise the price of e-books. Several publishers have agreed to a settlement.

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Media Decoder Blog: U.S. Sues Apple and Major Publishers Over E-Book Pricing

State and federal officials who recently completed a $25 billion settlement with five of the nation’s largest banks over shoddy foreclosure practices have begun discussing how to apply some of the terms of that deal to a wider array of financial firms. Read full article > >

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Foreclosure reforms to widen

The settlement, to be filed Wednesday, ends a five-year battle that unearthed details of Brooke Astor’s final years and an internal family struggle that spilled into criminal court.

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Settlement Is Reached in Battle Over Brooke Astor’s Estate

Israel has cut working relations with the UN Human Rights Council, officials say, after it decided to investigate settlements in the West Bank.

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Israel escalates UN rights spat

March 16 (Bloomberg) — Attorney Lynn Szymoniak had spent a career investigating insurance fraud when a bank moved to foreclose on her Florida home in 2008. Almost four years later, the fraud she said she uncovered by combing through mortgage documents earned her $18 million. Read full article > >

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Bank Whistle-Blower Wins $18 Million Payday in Foreclosure Deal

BP’s settlement deal Friday night puts the oil company one giant step closer to containing the gusher of damage claims that arose from the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill. But BP still faces one major hurdle: the federal government. Read full article > >

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BP moves closer to containing financial damage from oil spill

For decades the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has eluded well-intentioned peacemakers. Diplomats have talked, shaken hands, snapped photos — and returned home from summits with strikingly little to show for their efforts. Meanwhile, the occupation of Palestinian territories grew more restrictive. Israel’s settlements developed into towns and small cities as Palestinians were penned into smaller and smaller spaces. While diplomats shuffled from Madrid to Oslo to Wye River, from Camp David to Taba to Annapolis and resort towns in between, the illegal settlements expanded. And the window for two states closed. Read full article > >

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One state for Palestinians and Israelis

Migrant workers will in the future need to earn at least £35,000 a year to qualify for settlement in the UK, the government announces.

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Immigrants ‘have to earn £35,000′

BP PLC, operator of the Macondo well that caused the United States’ worst oil spill , may reach a settlement for the disaster this week after a partner agreed on fines, an Oppenheimer & Co. analyst said. Read full article > >

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BP could reach settlement for Gulf oil spill this week

The government’s $25 billion settlement Thursday with banks over fraudulent foreclosure practices begins a long-promised reckoning with the financial industry over its role in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, officials said. Read full article > >

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Settlement launches foreclosure reckoning

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman abruptly called off a news conference at which he could have provided a crucial endorsement of a proposed settlement with some of the nation’s biggest banks over shoddy foreclosure practices. Read full article > >

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Proposed settlement with banks over foreclosure practices dealt a setback