GERMANY

Greece sent senior officials to Washington on Monday for meetings with the International Monetary Fund as it raced against the clock to break a deadlock in debt swap talks that has raised fears of an unruly default.

Most people commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day turn to his iconic I Have a Dream speech. But King gave another famous speech the night before he died, known as the Promised Land or Mountaintop speech. In it, he alluded to his imminent assassination and the legacy he would leave behind. Listen to the audio file, watch the video, and read the full text of Dr. King's final speech here.

A stranded Russian science satellite, loaded with rocket fuel for a roundtrip mission to Mars, is expected to plunge back to Earth on Sunday, but officials said on Friday they don't know when or where it will hit.

Dr. King remains one of the most iconic figures of the Civil Rights Movement and one of the most recognizable and quotable men in American history. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, remember the man and his beliefs through some of his most famous and moving quotes, from I Have a Dream to his views on the Vietnam war to his unwavering belief in the strength and love of his fellow man.

Mass Eurozone ratings downgrades are unlikely to shake up investors too much, but with Greek debt talks at an impasse, pressure has been loaded on the bloc to shore up its defenses and glimmers of optimism from last week have been firmly doused.

European shares fell on Monday and the euro was stuck at 17-month lows against the dollar while German government bonds eased after early gains on fears that S&P's mass euro zone sovereign rating cuts and a Greek debt standoff would worsen the region's debt crisis.

The name Pina Bausch might not ring a bell, but even if you don't follow modern dance, you might still be aware of her work as a choreographer - movie fans will remember the two haunting dance pieces she created that bookend Pedro Almodovar's Talk to Her.

Financial markets are unlikely to be derailed by mass euro zone downgrades, but with Greek debt talks at an impasse, pressure has been loaded on the bloc to shore up its defenses and glimmers of optimism from last week have been firmly doused.

The euro zone's bailout fund can hold onto its AAA rating with Standard & Poor's through higher guarantees from the euro zone's remaining triple A countries or lower lending capacity, a senior euro zone official said Sunday.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, scrambling to keep his U.S. presidential bid alive, accused the Obama administration Sunday of overreacting to a videotape that shows four Marines appearing to urinate on dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

Walk softly. Global growth looks to be smoothly downshifting as China slows, the U.S. economy firms, and troubled Europe, at least for now, avoids a messy crash.

Walk softly. Global growth looks to be smoothly downshifting as China slows, the U.S. economy firms, and troubled Europe, at least for now, avoids a messy crash.

Negotiations between Greece and creditor banks on a deal aimed at cutting the country's towering debt pile are tough but will yield positive results, Germany's foreign minister said during a visit to Athens on Sunday.

Now that 153,000 people have exhausted themselves at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, an American visitor can't help thinking that the future of electronics is in Asia, not California's Silicon Valley or Texas.

European leaders promised on Saturday to speed up plans to strengthen spending rules and get a permanent bailout fund up and running as soon as possible, a day after U.S. agency S&P cut the ratings of several euro zone countries' creditworthiness.

Phobos-Grunt -- a stranded Russian science satellite loaded with enough rocket fuel for a round-trip mission to Mars -- is expected to plunge back to Earth either Sunday or Monday, but officials don't know when or where it, or its remnants, will hit.

Stocks dropped on Friday, snapping a four-day winning streak, after news reports that Standard & Poor's would downgrade credit ratings on several euro-zone countries.

France's credit-rating cut dominated the country's newspapers on Saturday, with the left-leaning Liberation blazing below a front-page headline reading S_RKOZY that the president had lost an A.

Ratings downgrades in the euro zone by S&P underline why Europe must seal a pact to tighten fiscal rules quickly and get its permanent bailout fund up and running as soon as possible, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday.

Credit-rating downgrades in the Eurozone by Standard & Poor's underline why Europe must seal a pact to tighten fiscal rules quickly and get its permanent bailout fund up and running as soon as possible, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday.

The top credit rating of Europe's bailout fund depends on additional financial backing from Germany and the other three remaining AAA-rated Eurozone countries, Standard & Poor's said on Friday.