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Federal regulators seized Charter Bank in New Mexico this week as its capitalization fell below requirements, making it the latest of scores of banks to have failed in the economic crisis. However, the Albuquerque Journal reports that Charter faced a very low default rate on residential loans and no commercial failures, either - until the Office of Thrift Supervision, its regulator, demanded that Charter increase its declared risk fivefold (hat tip HA reader Super5): Federal authorities on Friday closed Charter Bank, a closely held, family-run financial institution known for its financing of low-income housing in New Mexico and for the philanthropy of its owners. … Last fall, Office of Thrift Supervision examiners, responding to the national collapse of real estate development, ordered Charter to increase its allowance for loan losses from $10.8 million to $55.4 million, even though Charter had no delinquent commercial construction loans and only [0].34 percent of the loans in its commercial real estate portfolio were behind on their payments. That order reduced the level of capital Charter had on its books. Last Wednesday, OTS ordered Charter to find new capital as a buffer against insolvency or face closure. Charter had hoped to find a buyer, but none appeared. The owners' stake in the company was wiped out by the forced closure. How involved were they in low-income lending? The head of New Mexico's MFA makes it clear: Charter became a major real estate lender and was especially active in underwriting and servicing mortgages for low-income housing. It worked closely with the Mortgage Finance Authority, which was established by the State Legislature to help finance low-income housing construction. According to MFA executive director Jay Czar, Charter services about 95 percent of the mortgages issued through the agency. "They are just class bankers," Czar said. "These are guys who quite frankly really look out for the s

"The Yemeni government ordered an "unprecedented" number of troops into a region controlled by a branch of al Qaeda, as the U.S. and Britain, concerned about the threat of terrorism, both closed their embassies in the capital of Sana. The Obama administration increased the pressure on Islamic militants in Yemen Sunday after the Yemeni branch of al Qaeda claimed responsibility for plotting the failed attempt to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day. The White House's top counterterrorism official didn't rule out U.S. military action. The Fight in Yemen View Interactive * More interactive graphics and photos Yemen deployed troops into provinces east of the capital to combat a growing al Qaeda presence in the area, an aide to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh told The Wall Street Journal Sunday. The move, targeting the group identified as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, follows pledges of increased U.S. and British aid to finance Yemen's effort to fight Islamic militants."

"A powerful earthquake shook Haiti on Tuesday, leveling buildings in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and sending panicked residents into the streets, as beleaguered authorities braced for major casualties. The quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 7.0, occurred about 4:45 p.m. and was centered about 10 miles west of the capital. The U.S. Geological Survey said it was the largest temblor ever recorded in Haiti, and witnesses reported a series of strong aftershocks. "People are out in the streets, crying, screaming, shouting," said Karel Zelenka, director of the Catholic Relief Services office in Haiti. "They see the extent of the damage," he said, but could do little to rescue people trapped under rubble because night had fallen. "There are a lot of collapsed buildings," Zelenka said in a telephone interview from Port-au-Prince. "This will be a major, major disaster." He reported that poorly constructed shantytowns and other buildings had crumbled in huge clouds of dust. Near the CRS headquarters, a supermarket was "completely razed," he said, and a gasoline station and a church were reduced to rubble. Among the worst-hit areas was the impoverished Carrefour section of Port-au-Prince near the sea. "

"A devastating quake left Haiti's capital in ruins, knocking down hospitals, high-rises, and churches Tuesday - and leveling the presidential palace. "There must be thousands of people dead," Catholic Relief Services representative Karel Zelenka told colleagues by phone, just before service went out. "People were screaming 'Jesus, Jesus' and running in all directions," said Reuters reporter Joseph Guyler Delva from the capital Port-au-Prince. "It's total chaos." "The whole city is in darkness, you have thousands of people sitting in the streets, with nowhere to go," said Rachmani Domersant of the relief group Food for the Poor. He and others have reported many downtown buildings collapsed in the city of 2 million, including the parliament, UN headquarters and other other official buildings. Photographs showed the famed domed presidential palace almost completely destroyed."

"BRAZEN Muslim fanatics show off an array of deadly weapons as they threatened a face-off with US forces if they strike al-Qaeda terror cells in Yemen. Brandishing rocket-launchers and machine guns, the rebels marched through Somalian capital Mogadishu threatening to cross the Gulf of Aden to wage war on America. The fighters "graduated" from a war training school and are said to be inspired by al- Qaeda. Commanders of the al Shabaab mob vowed to reinforce al-Qaeda in Yemen if the US strikes - and urged other Muslims to follow suit. Britain and the US closed embassies in Yemen capital Sana'a for a second day amid fears of an attack. The situation in Yemen has escalated since student Umar Abdulmutallab, 23, tried to blow up a jet over Detroit. Two al-Qaeda militants died in clashes with government forces in Yemen yesterday. World leaders are desperate to prevent the Middle East country becoming a new al-Qaeda terror centre. "

"The U.S. does not plan to open a new front in Yemen in the global fight against terrorism despite closing its embassy there in the face of Al Qaeda threats, President Obama's top counterterrorism adviser said Sunday. "We're not talking about that at this point at all," White House aide John Brennan told Fox News when asked whether U.S. troops would be sent to Yemen. "The Yemeni government has demonstrated their willingness to take the fight to Al Qaeda," he said. "They're willing to accept our support. We're providing them everything that they've asked for." The comments came in the wake of the failed Christmas Day attack against a U.S. airliner by an accused 23-year-old Nigerian who says he received training and instructions from Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen. President Obama plans to return from his holiday vacation in Hawaii for a Tuesday meeting at the White House about the airliner plot. On Sunday, the U.S. and Britain shuttered their embassies in the Yemeni capital, San'a, citing security reasons. "We're not going to take any chances" with the lives of American diplomats and others at the embassy in Yemen's capital, Brennan said, making the rounds of four Sunday television talk shows. "There are indications Al Qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against a target inside of San'a, possibly our embassy.""

"Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Clashes between Muslims and Christians in the central Nigerian city of Jos have killed more than 400 people and injured 4,000 more, a domestic human rights group said. Most of the fighting in three days of violence occurred in the city's poor neighborhoods where security forces arrived late, Shehu Sani, president of the Civil Rights Congress, said today by phone from Jos. Earlier, New York-based Human Rights Watch put the death toll at 216. Hospitals are overwhelmed and have run out of supplies to treat the injured, Sani said. Nigerian Vice President Goodluck Jonathan ordered the police and army to "immediately" contain the crisis, Aliyu Bilbis, minister of state for information, told reporters today in Abuja, the capital. The government is "greatly concerned, worried and disturbed" about the situation in Jos, he said. "This is not the first outbreak of deadly violence in Jos, but the government has shockingly failed to hold anyone accountable," Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in an e-mailed statement. The Nigerian government should investigate the cause of the violence and the excessive use of force by the security forces trying to quell the clashes and punish those responsible for the killings, the rights group said. Jonathan is overseeing the government response because President Umaru Yar'Adua has been in a Saudi Arabian hospital for almost two months receiving treatment for a heart ailment. Ethnic Groups While Muslim leaders reported 80 deaths yesterday, in addition to 71 who died in the first two days of fighting, Christian officials have counted 65 deaths, Human Rights Watch said, citing "credible reports" from the city. More than 5,000 people have fled their homes in the Plateau state capital, it said. Sani said the violence had displaced 60,000 people. "

"Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has proposed that the Obama administration negotiate the final borders of a Palestinian state with Israel, a Palestinian official said Wednesday, as a U.S. envoy headed to the region for another attempt to restart Mideast peace talks. Such a proxy arrangement could provide a way around the current deadlock over reviving Israeli-Palestinian talks, which broke off more than a year ago. Abbas says he won't return to the table without a complete Israeli settlement freeze, something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to do. As an alternative, U.S. officials could replace Palestinian negotiators in border talks with Israel, said an Abbas aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the content of internal meetings. The U.S. negotiators would be given clear parameters, the aide said. Advertisement The state would have to be established in the territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War - the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem - but the Palestinians would agree to swap up to 3 percent of the territory to accommodate some Israeli settlements, the aide said. Abbas made the proposal in recent meetings with Egyptian officials who passed the idea along to Washington, the aide said. It was not clear how the Americans reacted. Officials at the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem, which serves the West Bank, had no comment. Abbas has said much ground has been covered in his talks with Netanyahu's predecessor, Ehud Olmert, and that the time has come for decisions. In those talks, Abbas offered a swap of up to 1.9 percent of West Bank land for Israeli territory, while Olmert proposed 6.5 percent. Alternately, Abbas could resume negotiations with Netanyahu, provided the Israeli leader agrees to a six-month settlement freeze in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Netanyahu would not have to announce the freeze, the aide said, presumably to avoid a rebellion in his hardline coalition. The

"PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - A powerful aftershock sent Haitians screaming into the streets on Wednesday, collapsing buildings, cracking roads and adding to the trauma of a nation stunned by an apocalyptic quake eight days ago. The magnitude-5.9 jolt matched the strongest of the aftershocks that have followed the huge quake of Jan. 12 that devastated Haiti's capital. The new temblor collapsed seven buildings in Petit-Goave, the seaside town closest to the epicenter, according to Mike Morton of the U.N. Disaster Assessment and Coordination agency, but there were no reports of people crushed or trapped, perhaps because the earlier quake frightened most people into sleeping outside. Wails of terror erupted in Port-au-Prince, where the aftershock briefly interrupted rescue efforts amid the broken concrete of collapsed buildings, and prompted doctors and patients to flee the University Hospital. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians remain homeless, hungry and in mourning - most still waiting for the benefits of a nearly $1 billion global aid campaign that has brought hundreds of doctors and thousands of troops to the impoverished Caribbean nation. The U.S. Navy's floating hospital, USNS Comfort, dropped anchor in view of the capital on Wednesday with about 550 medical staff, joining teams from about 30 other countries trying to treat the injured. About 250,000 people were hurt in the quake and aid groups say many people have died for lack of medical care or adequate equipment."

"A seriously damaged national port. An already swamped airport. Hospitals in shambles. A homeless president. No fuel. A capital city without phone service or electricity. As military and rescue teams began to stream in Thursday from the U.S. and other countries, veterans of past disasters say the grim realities of the Haiti earthquake set it apart from many other calamities, including the 2004 tsunami that devastated communities around the Indian Ocean, killing an estimated quarter million people. "There are a lot of dimensions that make this an especially complicated situation," said Steve Hollingworth, chief operating officer at the Atlanta-based relief group CARE. Haiti's almost nonexistent government and its battered infrastructure are among the top challenges that will plague relief efforts in coming days and weeks, aid veterans say. Also high on their lists: the country's extreme poverty and history of violence. "When a country's capital city is decimated, you lose a lot in terms of staging and organization," said Randy Martin, head of global emergency operations at Mercy Corps International. Little organization and crumbling infrastructure has stalled relief efforts in Haiti, where time is running out for possible survivors in the rubble. Military and aid groups began to encounter huge obstacles getting relief into the country, less than two days after the earthquake killed an estimated 45,000 to 50,000 people. U.S. military specialists reestablished communications at the Port-au-Prince airport, but a lack of fuel and a crammed tarmac prompted the Haitian government to halt incoming flights. While one airport runway was usable, air-traffic control was limited, able to handle only four aircraft at a time, logistics companies said. "

"Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared on Thursday that Palestinians would not accept any alternative to Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, despite other proposals. Abbas told Russian television that Jerusalem should not be divided and that there should be free passage for people of various faiths. The Palestinian leader added it must be made clear what belongs to the Palestinians and what belongs to Israel. A Advertisement bbas said that he could only recognize Israel as a Jewish state in the framework of a conclusive peace agreement that leads to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Abbas also said that he could not agree to resume the stalled peace negotiations with Israel as long as construction in West Bank settlements and East Jerusalem continue. The peace process would collapse after the first meeting of such negotiations, said Abbas. "If Israel says in the meeting that it will not accept the 1967 borders and that it is not prepared to discuss Jerusalem and the refugee situation, what is there to talk about?" Abbas said in the interview. "If I enter negotiations with them and the building in East Jerusalem continues, Israel will be saying that Jerusalem is theirs. So why would I agree to negotiate while building in East Jerusalem continues?" "

"The Burj Dubai tower officially opened yesterday, six years after construction began on the $4.1 billion, half-mile-high skyscraper. Conceived as a monument to the Arab city-state's economic ambitions, the Burj today looks more like a modern-day Tower of Babel. Dubai has been wracked by a debt crisis, and the building stands mostly empty and unwanted by the international tenants for whom it was supposedly built. But then, the main argument for these monuments has never been purely economic. In early 20th-century New York, one tycoon after another vied to build the world's tallest building, adding their marks to Manhattan's iconic skyline. Both General Motors and Chrysler in their day saw fit to build testaments to their economic might in the form of tall towers. Later on, the gods of vanity shifted to the Far East, where Malaysia's Petronas Towers and more recently Taiwan's Taipei 101 vied to be the world's tallest. Today a half-dozen Asian skyscrapers put Chicago's Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower) in the shade. As for Dubai, the Burj is merely the most recent bauble in a quest for excess that includes the world's largest man-made islands, indoor shopping mall and indoor ski resort. It even boasts the world's heaviest gold ring, weighing in at something like 62 kilos. The economic theory behind all this, we suppose, is that being the land of superlatives confers a comparative advantage to a place of otherwise few charms and little human capital-though we do wonder who proposes to wear that ring. If the past century has taught us anything, it's that there will always be another, bigger building built somewhere, and Dubai cannot hope to keep up indefinitely. By contrast, in cities such as Houston and Hong Kong the skylines are not the cause of their economic prosperity, but merely one visible manifestation of it. That's a prosperity that has been built over the years on the basis of those old reliables: economic freedom, the rule of law, hard work and sound ma

"HONIARA, Solomon Islands - Landslides and a tsunami destroyed the homes of about one-third of the population on a Solomon Island, but lives were likely spared as residents with memories of previous disasters fled quickly to higher ground, officials said Tuesday. From the air, extensive damage could be seen on a remote western island after a 7.2-magnitude temblor triggered the landslides in the Pacific Solomon Islands on Monday, said disaster management office director Loti Yates. No injuries have been reported some 30 hours after the biggest in a series of quakes churned a tsunami wave that was up to 10 feet (3 meters) high as it plowed into the coast, officials said. However, more than 1,000 people have been affected after some 200 houses were destroyed on Rendova, an island some 190 miles (300 kilometers) from the capital Honiara. Only 3,600 people live on Rendova. Photographs taken from police helicopters Tuesday showed debris lining the foreshore and damaged houses on the coasts of Rendova and Tetepare, as well as deep scars on hills and cliffs caused by landslides. Yates said some 200 households were taking shelter in emergency centers on Rendova."

"JERUSALEM - Israel has approved construction of four new apartment buildings in disputed east Jerusalem, officials said Tuesday, fueling tensions with the Palestinians at a time when the U.S. is laboring to get peace talks moving again. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem for a future capital and demand all construction there stop before negotiations resume. The 24-unit project is being developed in an Arab neighborhood by Irving Moskowitz, an American Jew who has generously funded Jewish settlers determined to cement Israel's hold on contested areas of the holy city. The latest project is potentially even more contentious than others because it is not in any of the established Jewish neighborhoods. Instead, it is located in the heart of a predominantly Arab area of the city. Jerusalem is the most explosive issue between Israel and the Palestinians, and the new buildings would be located in one of its most volatile sites, just outside the walled Old City with its Christian, Muslim and Jewish shrines."

"Saturday's 6.5 temblor off California's remote North Coast was the strongest to hit the state in six years, but it caused few injuries and little major damage aside from downed chimneys, broken windows and rattled nerves. But experts say it could have been far worse. Because the epicenter was located in solid rock about 25 miles offshore - and the rural region's population is scattered and resides primarily in wood-frame housing - damage was minimal for a quake of that size. The quake was also a powerful reminder that the area is the seismic capital of our state, yet its turbulence receives far less attention than quakes in the Bay Area and Los Angeles Basin. Every year at least 80 temblors with magnitudes over 3 are recorded off the Cape Mendocino coast, according to the University of California-Berkeley Seismology Laboratory. Humboldt County officials reported that more than two dozen residents sought emergency medical care, with only one serious injury - a broken hip. The picturesque city of Eureka, the hardest-hit community in the region, reported $12.5 million in structural damage, with 14 residents displaced. "On the whole, I think we dodged a bullet," said state Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro, D-Eureka. Most Californians are anxious about the San Andreas Fault, yet the so-called Cascadia subduction zone - which created Mount Lassen - is twice the length of the San Andreas and is believed capable Advertisement Quantcast of generating larger quakes than our notorious fault."

"Haitians are lining bodies along the streets of Port-au-Prince, where thousands are feared dead after a massive earthquake destroyed much of the capital. The 7.0 magnitude quake that struck Tuesday was the most powerful to hit the Caribbean nation in 200 years. The temblor collapsed the presidential palace, ministries, homes, schools, monuments and the city's largest hospital. The International Red Cross says up to 3 million people have been affected. Bodies were pulled Wednesday from the collapsed United Nations headquarters in Port-au-Prince. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says more than 100 U.N. personnel are missing, including the mission chief, Hedi Annabi. "

"KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Three Christian churches were attacked with firebombs Friday as tensions rose in a dispute over whether Christians could use the word "Allah" in this largely Muslim nation. Skip to next paragraph Enlarge This Image Mark Baker/Associated Press Muslims gathered outside a mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Friday to protest a recent court ruling allowing Christians to use the word Allah. Later in the day, small crowds rallied outside two major mosques in the capital, in a growing protest over a court ruling that overturned a government ban on the use of "Allah" by Roman Catholics as a translation for God. The government has appealed that ruling, insisting that the ban should remain in force, and made no move to bar the unsanctioned rallies, as it commonly does."

"PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - The largest earthquake ever recorded in the area shook Haiti on Tuesday, collapsing a hospital where people screamed for help. Other buildings also were damaged and scientists said they expected "substantial damage and casualties." With communications disrupted there were no reports of deaths or injuries soon after the quake, as powerful aftershocks shook the country. The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 and was centered about 10 miles (15 kilometers) west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It had a depth of 5 miles (8 kilometers). It was the largest quake recorded in the area, said USGS analyst Dale Grant, and the last major one since a magnitude-6.7 temblor in 1984. An Associated Press videographer saw the wrecked hospital in Petionville, a hillside Port-au-Prince district that is home to many diplomats and wealthy Haitians. Elsewhere, a U.S. government official reported seeing houses that had tumbled into a ravine. Haiti's ambassador to the U.S., Raymond Joseph, said from his Washington office that he spoke to President Rene Preval's chief of staff, Fritz Longchamp, just after the quake hit. He said Longchamp told him that "buildings were crumbling right and left" near the national palace. He said he has not gotten through by phone to Haiti since. Don Blakeman, an analyst at the USGS in Golden, Colorado, said such a strong quake carried the potential for widespread damage."

"On Dec. 17, a mob of nearly 1,000 Muslims attacked a church building under construction in Bekasi Regency, near Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, according to VOM Canada. At midnight, Muslims arrived on bikes and on foot at the Church of Saint Albert. They stormed into the building, carrying banners and tanks of kerosene. One witness reported hearing them shout, "Destroy! Destroy it! Replace the church with mosque!" Muslims damaged bricks, broke lights, uprooted newly planted trees and set the building on fire. Praise God, no one was injured in the attack, but damage amounted to about 60 million rupees (approximately $6,235). Local Christians were planning to use the nearly completed building for a Christmas service. Following the attack, a leader of the church's construction committee said, "Even though our chapel was attacked, we are not afraid. We will continue the construction of this chapel until its completion." The Voice of the Martyrs actively supports persecuted believers in Indonesia by providing resources for churches and pastors and helping displaced believers rebuild their lives. VOM encourages you to pray that these believers will not be discouraged but will continue to rest in the joy and provision of Christ. Pray that Indonesian Christians will be emboldened by the Holy Spirit to share the truth of the Lord. "

"2009 ended with a flurry of important events on the climate-change front. In November, the Climategate scandal broke. An anonymous whistle-blower released over 1,000 e-mails from key scientists (both British and American) in the alarmist climate-change camp. The e-mails revealed a shocking pattern of the abuse of science by both American and British scientists collaborating at the Climate Research Unit of East Anglia University the source of various global-warming studies that have formed the alleged scientific justification for capping human CO2 emissions. E. Calvin Beisner wrote that the e-mails showed: serious scientific malfeasance the fabrication, corruption, destruction, hiding, and cherry-picking of data as well as intimidation of dissenting scientists and journal editors and efforts to evade disclosure under Freedom of Information Laws in the United Kingdom and the United States. James Delingpoles blog found Conspiracy, collusion manipulation of data, private admissions of flaws in their public claims and much more. The incriminating e-mails were followed in December by charges from Russia's Institute of Economic Analysis that Britain's Meteorological Office deliberately skewed Russia's temperature data. With the underlying climate-change science so thoroughly compromised, did policymakers pause to reconsider the need for colossally expensive CO2-curbing policies? No. Instead they are locked into automatic-pilot mode. In the United States, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) dismissed Climategates revelations as irrelevant and continued to push her expensive cap-and-trade proposal (potential cost: trillions of dollars; potential climate impact according to its own proponents: a few hundredths of a degree). Internationally, last month's U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen ignored it. The delegates didn't skip a beat in pursuing a multi-trillion-dollar transfer of wealth from developed to undeveloped countries. Could it be that climate-change politics is more a