S&P raises Greece’s credit rating

18 December 2012 Last updated at 14:23 ETRatings agency Standard and Poor’s has raised the credit rating of Greece’s sovereign debt by six levels, praising the “strong determination” of fellow eurozone countries to help it stay as a member state.S&P has increased Greece’s rating from “selective default” to “B-minus”.The agency also praised the continuing efforts by Greece’s government to cut its...

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NBC’s Engel, TV crew escape abduction in Syria

BEIRUT (AP) — NBC‘s chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel said Tuesday he and members of his network crew escaped unharmed after five days of captivity in Syria, where more than a dozen pro-regime gunmen dragged them from their car, killed one of their rebel escorts and subjected them to mock executions.Appearing on NBC’s “Today” show, an unshaven Engel said he and his team escaped during a firefight...

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Massachusetts fines Morgan Stanley over Facebook research

BOSTON (Reuters) – Morgan Stanley, the lead underwriter for Facebook Inc’s initial public offering, will pay a $ 5 million fine to Massachusetts to settle charges that its bankers improperly influenced its research analysts when the Internet company went public.Massachusetts’ top securities regulator, William Galvin, charged that Morgan Stanley improperly helped Facebook disclose sensitive financial...

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TV network aimed at millennials set for summer

NEW YORK (AP) — Participant Media plans to launch a cable network aimed at viewers 18 to 34 years old with programming it describes as inspiring and thought-provoking.The as-yet-unnamed network is set to start next summer with an initial reach of 40 million subscribers, the company announced Monday.Targeting so-called millennials, Participant is developing a program slate with such producers as Brian...

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Global malaria battle stalls as financing gets tight

LONDON (Reuters) – Global funding for the fight against malaria has stalled in the past two years, threatening to reverse what the World Health Organisation (WHO) says are “remarkable recent gains” in the battle to control one of the world’s leading infectious killers.After rapid expansion between 2004 and 2009, funding for malaria prevention and control leveled off between 2010 and 2012 – meaning...

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Only balanced plan to avoid “cliff” is Obama’s: White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The only proposal that avoids the year-end U.S. “fiscal cliff” in a balanced manner is the one President Barack Obama has put forward, White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday.“The only plan that we have seen that achieves the size and the balance that’s required for sustainable – for long-term deficit reduction and for putting our economy on a sustainable fiscal path,...

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N. Korea displays Kim Jong Il a year after death

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea unveiled the embalmed body of Kim Jong Il, still in his trademark khaki jumpsuit, on the anniversary of his death Monday as mourning mixed with pride over a recent satellite launch that was a long-held goal of the late authoritarian leader.Kim lies in state a few floors below his father, national founder Kim Il Sung, in the Kumsusan mausoleum, the cavernous...

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Viral Justice: Domestic Abuse Victim Calls Out Attacker on Facebook

Amber Taylor had been living in a Missouri motel with her boyfriend, Austin “Wildboi” McCauley, until this week, when he reportedly beat her unconscious with a baseball bat.Two days later, the 23-year-old took a picture of herself recovering from her injuries and posted it to McCauley’s public Facebook page, calling him out for his abuse and prompting his arrest. Since its...

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“Hobbit” film sets December record in U.S., Canada debut

(Reuters) – “The Hobbit” brought home a big box office treasure over the weekend, setting a December movie record with $ 84.77 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales as legions of fans turned out for the long-awaited big-screen return to Middle Earth.“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” also rung up sales of $ 138.2 million in international markets. Global receipts for the prequel...

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Pope speaks of his pain over “senseless violence” in Connecticut

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Benedict expressed his pain over the killing in the United States of 26 people, including 20 schoolchildren, by a gunman and prayed for the consolation of the victims’ families at his weekly address on Sunday.“I was deeply saddened by Friday’s senseless violence in Newtown, Connecticut,” the pontiff told crowds of pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square...

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