Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg’s Trish Regan, Josh Lipton and Matt Miller report on today’s ten most important stocks including Navistar, Facebook and General Motors. (Source: Bloomberg)
Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The fiscal cliff would cost the government over 500 billion dollars. But how will federal spending cuts and tax hikes impact you? Bloomberg Television goes to one American city, Norfolk Virgina, to see the cliff's true impact on the community as they brace for the worst. Special Correspondent Matthew Dowd spent time with the people, businesses and government in the area to understand the implications that will ripple through the economy. He reports on Bloomberg Television Special, "Fiscal Cliff: USA." (Source: Bloomberg)
Obama administration officials told leaders of business and financial services groups that negotiations with House Speaker John Boehner have deteriorated in the past 24 hours, a person familiar with the meeting said.
Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Gigi Stone reports on headlines making news around the globe. She speaks on Bloomberg Television's "Bloomberg Rewind." (Source: Bloomberg)
Scientists warn that climate change is leading to an increased intensity of storms like Bopha. And victims say they feel completely helpless when faced with such natural disasters. Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas reports from the Compostela Valley in Southern Philippines.
The daughter of South Korea's former military ruler has won the country's presidential election, promising in a speech to her supporters to heal a "divided society". The win over her liberal rival Moon Jae-in on Wednesday makes Park Geun-hye the country's first female head of state. Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett reports from Seoul.
The Cox's Bazaar beach in Bangladesh is a favourite holiday destination for the country's new middle class. Known as the longest beach in the world, it's ideal for learning how to surf. But as the sports starts to take off, female surfers have increasingly felt excluded because of opposition from locals. Al Jazeera's Nicolas Haque reports from Southern Bangladesh.
People in 20 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces live in high-risk areas where emergency food, fuel and medical supplies will be needed to endure the challenges that come with the winter. Chief among those challenges are malnutrition and the physical effects of the harsh winter, which affect more than two million people in the Central Asian nation. The United Nations has appealed for help, but so far they have only managed to raise less than half of the $448m they asked of donor nations. Speaking to Al Jazeera from the Afghan capital, Mark Bowden, UN humanitarian co-ordinator, said this winter will be a "reminder ... of the level of humanitarian needs that exist". Bowden hopes this reminder will be an appeal to international donors who feel "fatigue" at providing aid to Afghanistan. Citing that last year more than 30 people, mostly children, froze in Kabul's IDP camps, Bowden said the UN is "determined to be better organised and better prepared" for this year's cold months.
Syrian refugees fleeing violence have suffered from harsh living conditions in numerous neighbouring countries. In Lebanon, where there are more than 150,000 Syrians officially registered as refugees, winter is bringing more challenges. Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall reports from the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon.
The United Nations says internet access is a basic human right that should be guaranteed and protected. But there are still major disparities between nations on who should get access to the world wide web. Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri reports on how one African nation is benefiting from closing the digital divide.
http://www.euronews.com/ French President Francois Hollande started his two-day state visit to Algeria with a big commercial announcement in the form of plans by Renault to build a factory in the country.
His Algerian counterpart Abdelaziz Bouteflika was also on hand for the announcement, which marks Renault's return to production in the former French colony after a break of 33 years.
Hollande called it a "good project, a good project for Algeria, a good project for Renault and a good project for France. The cars being built here are destined for the Algerian market, but not just Algeria, for other markets too". He stressed it was "not a plant moving from France to Algeria".
The facility at Oran in north west Algeria will start production in 2014, making cars just for the region, unlike the much bigger plant Renault opened in Tangier, Morocco, in February which produces vehicles for export around the Mediterranean.
Renault's push to develop overseas sales has helped to protect it from the worst of the slump in Europe.
Car registrations jumped 57 percent in the first ten months of this year in Algeria. Renault has a 27 percent share of the market.
http://www.euronews.com/ The World Bank has upped its forecasts for next year for China and the developing countries of East Asia - Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Burma.
The Bank's experts now expect China's economy to grow by 8.4 percent, up from an earlier projection of 8.1 percent.
They also said the region remains resilient despite the weak performance of the world economy, but they warned of risks such as a sharp fall in investment growth in China which could shake global confidence.
A slowdown in China's growth in recent months has prompted policymakers to announce various stimulus measures.
These include two interest rate cuts since June, and the approval of infrastructure projects worth more than 113 billion euros.
China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, has also lowered the amount of money that banks need to keep in reserve three times in the past few months in an attempt to boost lending.
"The impact of easing credit conditions and public investment in infrastructure is beginning to show," the bank said in its report.
"The impact is expected to continue to be felt into 2013, as the authorities have accelerated the approval of large projects."
http://www.euronews.com/ Three astronauts set off for the International Space Station on a Soyuz spacecraft that lifted off from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday afternoon.
A Russian, an American and a Canadian will spend the next three months at the space station - where 15 countries carry out research.