sell the toxic loans to fannie mae and freddie mac. while bank of america reaped a windfall, fannie and freddie were stuck with huge losses and foreclosed properties. in another major settlement, bank of america and nine other major lenders have agreed to pay $8.5 billion to settle claims of wrongfully foreclosing on millions of american homeowners. the settlement covers a number of foreclosure abuses including flawed paperwork, robosigning, and wrongly modified loans. the settlement will end in and in a review of all foreclosures, meaning the banks could be avoiding billions of dollars in further penalties. diane thompson, a lawyer with the national consumer law center, criticized the deal, telling the associated press -- opposition activists in bahrain are vowing to continue protests despite the court's decision to uphold the prison terms of 13