Reader's Digest eyes bankruptcy

The US publisher of Reader's Digest magazines has said it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it looks to get rid of up to 75% of its debts.

The arrangement, which has been agreed with lenders, comes as it struggles in a weak advertising market.

The move will apply only at its US businesses. Operations elsewhere will not be affected, while the US edition will continue to be published.

Chapter 11 gives firms time to juggle their finances while continuing trade.

'Hammered out'

Reader's Digest has been trying to cut costs since it was bought in 2007 by a group led by Ripplewood Holdings.

If approved by a bankruptcy court, Reader's Digest will see its debt cut to $550m from $2.2bn.

Annual interest payments on remaining debt will also be reduced to less than $80m, from about $145m.

"Our deal has already been negotiated and hammered out with a majority of our creditors," said chief executive Mary Berner.

"It doesn't affect our employees, it doesn't affect the vast majority of vendors, it doesn't mean we'll do mass layoffs, it doesn't mean we're going to be selling off assets. It's business as usual."

The company says Reader's Digest is the largest-selling magazine in the world.

It also sells books, other magazines, recorded music and home videos.

Pakistan militants planning new attacks: Manmohan

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Monday that militants in Pakistan were plotting new attacks in India as he urged security forces to stay on high alert.

‘There is credible information of ongoing plans of terrorist groups in Pakistan to carry out fresh attacks,’ Singh told a summit on internal security attended by the chief ministers from India’s states.

‘After the Mumbai attacks, we have put in place additional measures. There is need for continued utmost vigilance,’ Singh added.

There was no immediate comment from Pakistani officials.

India has boosted its security to prevent assaults after the attacks in the country’s financial capital Mumbai last November, in which gunmen killed 166 people.

‘All states need to actively share intelligence information to avert any terror attack,’ he said.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and training cross-border militants in Muslim-majorityKashmir — a charge Islamabad vehemently denies.

Singh said cross-border terrorism remained a ‘most pervasive’ threat.

‘In dealing with the terrorist challenge, we need to be prepared for encountering more sophisticated technologies and enhanced capabilities. We also need to guard our sea frontier as vigilantly as our land border,’ he said.

The two nuclear-armed countries have fought three wars since independence in 1947 and came dangerously close to a fourth following an attack on the Indian parliament in 2001 by militants New Delhi said came from Pakistan. — AFP

Moody's ups Pakistan rating from negative to stable

LONDON: Moody's Investors Service said on Monday it has raised its rating outlook for Pakistan to stable from negative after the country received a bigger loan from the International Monetary Fund. "The stable outlook was prompted by the recent augmentation of Pakistan's IMF program by $3.2 billion to more than $11 billion, and several ongoing policy and structural reforms" said Aninda Mitra, Moody's analyst for Pakistan, in a statement. Moody's has a B3 rating on Pakistan's foreign and local currency debt.