ISTANBUL (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday that the United States would double its non-lethal aid to opposition forces in Syria to $250 million and that foreign backers had agreed to channel all future assistance through the rebels' Supreme Military Council.
Kerry stopped short of a U.S. pledge to supply weapons to insurgents fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that the rebels have sought.
But he said that the rebels' foreign backers were committed to continuing support to them and "there would have to be further announcements about the kind of support that that might be in the days ahead" if Syrian government forces failed to pursue a peaceful solution to the crisis.
Speaking after a meeting of the Syrian opposition and its 11 main foreign supporters in Istanbul, Kerry said the United States would provide an additional $123 million in non-lethal assistance to the rebels, bringing the total of this kind of U.S. help to $250 million.
Kerry urged other foreign backers to make similar pledges of assistance with the goal of reaching $1 billion in total international support.
A U.S. official said on Friday that new non-lethal U.S. aid could include for the first time battlefield support equipment such as body armor and night-vision goggles. U.S. officials have said in the past that the equipment could include armored vehicles and advanced communications equipment, but Kerry gave no specifics.
He said the United States would work with the Syrian opposition to determine how the money would be spent and added that Washington would also provide nearly $25 million in additional food aid.
Kerry said the foreign supporters had "all committed that the aid and assistance from every country will go through the (rebel) Supreme Military Command."
"Today, it's safe to say that we are really at a critical moment," Kerry said. "The stakes in Syria couldn't be more clear: Chemical weapons, the slaughter of people by ballistic missiles and other weapons of huge destruction. The potential of a whole country, a beautiful country with great people, being torn apart and perhaps breaking up into enclaves (with the) potential of sectarian violence which this region knows there is too much of.
"What we are trying to do is to avoid all of that. And we committed to - we recommitted - because we think there are some people who don't believe that we believe it, or are in fact are committed to it," he said.
Kerry referred to a statement issued after the meeting by Syria's main opposition National Coalition in which it pledged not to use chemical weapons, rejected "all forms of terrorism" and vowed that weapons it attains would not fall into the wrong hands.
In its declaration outlining its vision of a post-Assad Syria and issued following the "Friends of Syria" meeting with Western and Arab backers, the coalition also said it would not allow acts of revenge against any group in Syria.
The latest U.S. expansion of non-lethal aid follows Kerry's announcement in Rome in late February that Washington would shift policy to provide medical supplies and food directly to opposition fighters, an option it had previously rejected.
Despite pressure from some members of Congress and recommendations even from among his own advisers, U.S. President Barack Obama has refused to supply arms to the rebels, reflecting concern that such weapons would fall into the hands of Islamist militants in the ranks of the fractious insurgency.
However, even the limited new steps under consideration suggest that the White House, amid difficult internal debate, is continuing to move slowly toward a more direct role in bolstering the Syrian opposition.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar are among Arab states believed to be arming rebel factions.
(Editing by Robin Pomeroy, Eric Walsh and Paul Simao)
One of the largest financial institutions in the state of California is Union Bank. In fact, this financial institution used to be named Union Bank of California before you recently changing. For those that are looking to reduce a home loan payment it may be worth it to research Union Bank FHA streamline refinance rates in 2013. By completing the refinance process some homeowners end up saving hundreds and possibly even thousands of dollars a month on a mortgage payment. Luckily, there were many options available when it comes to refinancing a home loan.
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Streamline Refinance vs a Second Mortgage or Reverse Mortgage
It is important for all homeowners to recognize that streamline refinance is much different than a second mortgage or a reverse mortgage. When going through the streamline refinance process individuals will simply refinance their current home loan while not taking out a second loan. The refinance will likely have a much lower interest rate which in turn will push monthly mortgage payments down. When taking out a second mortgage or a reverse mortgage there will be a second home loan that is created which could cause financial problems.
Something else that is very common is a cash out refinance. A cash out refinance is also different from a second mortgage or reverse mortgage in that the refinance will create a new loan that replaces the first mortgage. No matter which refinance process you choose it is strongly suggested to do a significant amount of research which will help you understand what options are available. Also note that Union Bank has refinance options but they are not the only financial institution in the state of California that offers FHA home loans.
By using the FDIC search tool most borrowers of money will find at least 100 financial institutions in the state of California. Make a mental note that some of these financial institutions may not offer home loan products. The only way to find out if these particular banks offer home loans is to look at their website or contact them at a branch location. This is becoming much easier with the advancement of the Internet and smart phones.
Union Bank FHA Streamline Refinance Rates 2013
While it would be very useful for me to update refinance rates at all banks it is simply not possible. There are over 7000 financial institutions spread throughout the United States and I do not have the time to update 15 and 30 year fixed mortgage rates. Even though this is true I still update some of the larger financial institutions. Make sure to check out the Wells Fargo FHA page which has daily, weekly and monthly interest rates for home loans.
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There is a very good possibility that I will only update weekly and monthly in the near future as life does call. With this being true I would suggest individuals who are looking for daily rates to use use Zillow or BankRate.com. These web entities offer local interest rates for anywhere in the United States. If you do not find local interest rates on these pages you may want to contact some local banks.
With the advances in technology it is often the case that homeowners can use their smart phones to get financial information. Some of the larger financial institutions offer apps for the iPhone and Android phones. You may also find independent apps that help homeowners find out mortgage interest rates today. Make certain to recognize that there are some apps that may not be 100% accurate. To test the validity of these apps look at the reviews and understand who is providing the data.
Refinancing with a Bad Credit Score
Refinancing a home loan with a very low credit score can be quite difficult. In fact, there some financial institutions that will not allow homeowners to refinance if they do not have a credit score above a certain number. Whether you have a credit score of 500 or 650 there could be problems if you do not improve your financial standing. One of the best ways to do this is to make 100% certain all bills are paid on time and in full. By doing this you will be telling financial institutions that you are responsible with your money and you will take the necessary steps to pay bills on time.
It should come as no surprise that some individuals are looking for bad credit home loans or bad credit refinancing in April 2013 and beyond. Rather than trying to refinance with a low credit score it may be a good decision to create a strong weekly or monthly budget and save money. By saving money and paying bills on time it will be a natural progression for a credit score to increase. By obtaining a credit score in excess of 750 homeowners will have many more financial opportunities than those who have a credit score under 700.
There are home loan lenders that help those with bad credit. In fact, the government has worked very hard to help those who have seen the value of their home drop. Most of these individuals are underwater in their mortgage meaning that they own more than their home is worth. The federal government has created the whole affordable refinance program (HARP) which allows homeowners who are underwater to refinance. If your loan to value ratio is above 100% the home affordable refinance program may be right for you.
Unfortunately, understanding all the ins and outs of the home affordable refinance program can be quite difficult. In fact, it has taken me several hours and even days to understand what refinance opportunities are available to all. When looking to refinance through HARP I would suggest looking at the making home affordable government page. This page has several hundred pages of documents that will help explain how refinancing works and how it could help you save money.
With 30 year fixed mortgage rates below 3.5% many homeowners stand to benefit from the refinance process. Unfortunately, some of these homeowners have made poor financial decisions in the recent past which makes it very difficult to lock in these low rates. This is one of the many reasons it may be a good choice to look up government programs that help individuals who are struggling with their money. It may also be wise to look at many financial lenders and banks to see if they can help bad credit borrowers.
Refinancing a Home Loan in California
As mentioned at the beginning of this article Union Bank is one of the largest financial institutions in California. Most of us recognize that home values have dropped in the state of California during and after the credit crisis. This can make it extremely difficult to refinance a home. If homeowners currently owe more than the home is worth many banks will not allow them to refinance. This is unfortunate because it could end up saving the homeowner a significant amount of cash each and every month.
Understand that there are financial institutions that will be more than willing to help when it comes to taking out a home loan at low interest rates. Even if you find that several lenders are unwilling to help do not give up. Below are some of the largest financial institutions in the state of California that can help when it comes to taking out an FHA home loan:
Bank of the West
First Republic Bank
City National Bank
OneWestBank
East West Bank
Silicon Valley Bank
Wilshire State Bank
Opus Bank
Hanmi Bank
Community Bank
West America Bank
Remember that these are not the only names that just the larger names that have headquarters within the state of California. This list also does not include banks that have headquarters elsewhere but do have a presence in California. Some of these financial institutions include Citibank and Bank of America. If you are looking for something local I would strongly suggest using Google maps on a computer or a smartphone. Google maps makes it much easier to find something that is very close to you.
By typing in bank loan or home loan and then your address or zip code you will find the lenders in your area that are willing to create some type of financial product. It is also true that individuals on a smart phone will be able to call these lenders from the Google maps mobile app. This is much different than in years past as we used to have to write the number down and then punch it in the phone.
No matter what you decide when it comes to refinancing home loan always think about the long-term outcome. Some people may want to refinance with adjustable mortgage interest rates as ARM rates tend to be lower. Unfortunately, they are also adjustable so they could end up coming back to haunt you in the future. Those with adjustable mortgage interest rates could end up seeing much higher interest rates in five or seven years.
Google has made another bid in its attempt to take on Facebook for social media supremacy with the launch of iOS and Android updates for Google+. The revamped apps have improvements in four areas -- photos, posts, profiles and communities. "Everybody wants to share whatever they're doing whenever they're doing it, and mobile is the place to be," said Andrew Eisner, director of community and content at Retrevo.
The Note's Must-Reads are a round-up of today's political headlines and stories from ABC News and the top U.S. newspapers. Posted Monday through Friday right here at www.abcnews.com
Compiled by ABC News' Jayce Henderson and Amanda VanAllen
PRESIDENT OBAMA:The Boston Globe: " New group seeks to 'strengthen progressive movement'" Two top political consultants to President Obama are forming a public advocacy group funded by donations from wealthy individuals and corporations. It is aimed at making political and legislative changes at the federal and state levels. The Organizing for Action says it will be nonpartisan and steer clear of election activity, although the line between issue disputes and electoral politics can be fuzzy. The first of an expected wave of ads on gun control, for example, has targeted only Republicans. LINK
SEQUESTER CUTS: ABC News' Rick Klein: " President Obama Faces 'Cliff Fatigue' in Latest Budget Fight" Hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk. Delays await at airports. Padlocks are ready at national parks. The nation will suffer greater risk of wildfires, workplace deaths, and even surprise weather events, if government predictions are to be believed. Our entire military readiness and superiority are at risk. What if nobody cares? LINK
The Hill's Bernie Becker: " White House details state-by-state impact of looming sequester cuts" The White House escalated its efforts to pressure congressional Republicans on sequestration, releasing new reports that showed the state-by-state impact of some $85 billion in automatic spending cuts. President Obama's administration for days has been stressing the real-world implications of the spending cuts, which start going into effect on Friday, and has increasingly tried to bring that message directly to voters. LINK
The Los Angeles Times' Paul West: " As Federal cuts near, White House trades blame with Republicans" With no progress evident in Washington's latest budget battle, the White House opened a new front Sunday by releasing state-by-state estimates on the effects of about $85 billion in spending reductions. The across-the-board cuts are scheduled to take effect Friday, but the two sides appear more eager to pin blame than to avert a potential economic crisis. LINK
The New York Daily News' Dan Hirschhorn: " Dems and Republicans take to Sunday morning airwaves to point fingers as sequester cuts loom" Billions of dollars in automatic cuts are set to hit government spending this week - and Washington is in full hysteria over who's to blame and just how bad it will really be. Democrats and Republicans took to the airwaves Sunday, each in a last-ditch attempt to blame the other for the so-called "sequester" cuts and to debate the impact on Americans' everyday lives. Democrats said Republicans haven't come to the table with a serious compromise to the replace the automatic cuts. LINK
USA Today's Susan Davis: " Sequester: 'Collateral damage' of budget war may be huge" Coming soon, the lines at airport security might get longer, the hours of service at Head Start centers might get shorter and the FBI might have fewer agents tracking down bad guys. These are only a few of the potentially sweeping effects of the latest battle in the ongoing two-year budget war between President Obama and a divided Congress. Across-the-board spending cuts totaling $85 billion start kicking in Friday if Washington doesn't act. LINK
The Wall Street Journal's Janet Hook and Peter Nicholas: " Fresh Front in Budget Battle" Already looking past the current budget impasse gripping the capital, congressional leaders are quietly considering a deal to avert a government shutdown next month-but at the cost of prolonging across-the-board spending cuts. Attention is beginning to shift from Friday, when the broad cuts known as the sequester kick in, to the next budget deadline: Congress must pass a so-called continuing resolution by the end of March to keep funding government operations. LINK
The New York Times' Jonathan Weisman: " Budget Impasse Signals a Shift in G.O.P.'s Focus" With Congress unlikely to stop deep automatic spending cuts that will strike hard at the military, the fiscal stalemate is highlighting a significant shift in the Republican Party: lawmakers most keenly dedicated to shrinking the size of government are now more dominant than the bloc committed foremost to a robust national defense, particularly in the House. That reality also underscores what Republicans, and some Democrats, say was a major miscalculation on the part of President Obama. LINK
The Washington Post's Zachary A. Goldfarb and Paul Kane: " White House releases state-by-state breakdown of sequester's effects" The White House on Sunday detailed how the deep spending cuts set to begin this week would affect programs in every state and the District, as President Obama launched a last-ditch effort to pressure congressional Republicans to compromise on a way to stop the across-the-board cuts. But while Republicans and Democrats were set to introduce dueling legislative proposals this week to avert the Friday start of the spending cuts, known as the sequester, neither side expected the measures to get enough support to pass Congress. LINK
TEA PARTY: The Washington Times' Seth McLaughlin: " Tea partyers fight for right-thinking GOP" Though years in the brewing, the internal fight over the direction of the Republican Party has exploded onto front pages and political talk shows this month after strategist Karl Rove announced the formation of a new political action committee designed to promote more electable candidates. Fed up with what they see as a sellout of their small-government agenda and tired of Election Day disappointments, tea partyers and many conservatives are firing back. LINK
IMMIGRATION: Politico's Kate Nocera: " Congress facing signs of immigration roadblocks" The push for immigration reform on Captiol Hill has been in overdrive thus far in 2013, but last week's recess serves as a reminder - if one was needed - that the issue is far from settled. On the face of things, there's plenty of momentum in Congress: The Senate Gang of Eight hopes to have a bill by mid-March; labor and business groups agreed on basic principles for low-skill workers; and a series of congressional hearings on the topic already have begun in earnest. LINK
BOOKMARKS: The Note: LINK The Must-Reads Online: LINK Top Line Webcast (12noon EST M-F): LINK ABC News Politics: LINK George's Bottom Line (George Stephanopoulos): LINK Follow ABC News on Twitter: LINK ABC News Mobile: LINK ABC News app on your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad: LINK
Using similar techniques that enable the Nintendo 3DS to display 3D images without the need for special glasses, Panasonic has developed a new image sensor that can capture 3D stills and videos without the need for multiple lenses. More »
Atlanta?s ?BCB Media Group presented?Kin Pin Celebrity Bowling?Challenge Day party doing NBA All Star Weekend 2013 in Houston. The event was sponsored Monster ?and free headphones where given away through out the day.
DJ?Trauma?and DJ MLK?rocked the music and the lovely LaLa Anthony and Fabolous were the host. Trey Songz, Slim Thug, DJ Clue, Terrell Owens and John Wall of the?Washington?Wizards bowled with other celebrities.
Check out the photos of the celebrities?that were in the building
Bill Press observes that this has been a big week for news ? the Senate renewed the Violence Against Women Act, there was a showdown with a cop killer who used to be a cop, President Obama gave the State of the Union address. But one item overshadowed all else ? the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. After all, says Bill, there?s a State of the Union address every year, but it?s been nearly 600 years since a pope resigned. Bill says there?s probably no need to wonder why and that the bigger question is, ?What difference will a new pope make?? The answer: ?Expect a new face, but with the same old, tired policies.?
