Free Republic

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong's financial secretary has ordered regulators to study how to reconcile Muslim financial rules with local laws in hopes of launching a market for Islamic bonds, according to a speech transcript reviewed Tuesday. Secretary John Tsang said he hopes to promote Hong Kong, a popular stock market for Chinese companies, as a gateway for Middle Eastern investment in China, according to transcripts from a Monday speech at a financial conference. "Islamic finance is an important element of the global financial system," he said. "For Hong Kong to be a major international financial center — not just...

ATLANTA - Home buying among Latinos in metro Atlanta has slowed significantly in recent months amid jitters over immigration reform, say real estate agents and lenders who cater to the Spanish-speaking community. The cooldown is an early sign that a 2-month-old Georgia law intended to reduce illegal immigration could be having an effect. "There's no question that there's a panic in the Hispanic community," said Raymond Amengual, a lender with AHM Mortgage. "The problem is not so much their immigration status as the new laws that make them think they might not be able to work." Illegal immigrants buy homes...

Couple poisoned children to escape debts BEAUVAIS, France, Oct 18 (AFP) - A French married couple poisoned their five children in a desperate bid to escape spiralling consumer debt but only their 11 year-old daughter succumbed to the injection of insulin, a court was told Tuesday. Emmanuel and Patricia Cartier, aged 37 and 44, accumulated EUR 230,000 euros of debt divided between more than 20 bank and loan accounts, and when they could no longer meet repayments resolved to take the family "to a better place", the court heard. However the murder-and-suicide pact went wrong on August 19, 2002, when...

Lenders Sink U.S. Soldiers Into Debt By RUSS BYNUM ASSOCIATED PRESS FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) - On Gen. Screven Way, the one-mile strip of fast-food joints and pawn shops leading to the front gate of Fort Stewart, getting a cash loan of $100 to $500 is about as easy as buying a cheeseburger. Numerous strip-mall businesses bear names like Check Into CA$H ("Need Cash Today? It's Easy as 1-2-3"), First American Cash Advance, Gold Check C.S. Payday Advance, and PJ Cash ("Civilian and Military Welcome"). Fort Stewart has declared these so-called payday lenders enemies at its gate, accusing them of...