THE NEWS WRAP: Obama insists the US still deserves its AAA credit rating

US president Barack Obama has insisted that the country still deserves its AAA credit rating, despite its recent downgrade.

Speaking after Standard & Poor’s decision to lower the US from the AAA to the AA bracket, Obama said: “Markets will rise and fall, but this is the United States of America. No matter what some agency may say, we have always been and always will be a triple-A country.”

The President added that the US’ debt problems, which have destabilised markets across the world, are “imminently solvable.”

Murdoch’s daughter turns down board role

The daughter of media magnate Rupert Murdoch has turned down the chance to join the board of his company, News Corporation.

According to the company, Elisabeth Murdoch said it would be “inappropriate” for her to join the business’ board. It was anticipated that she would join the board following the sale of her production business Shine to News Corp.

Child hacker exposes mobile gaming flaws

A 10-year-old “hacker” has exposed serious security flaws in leading mobile games at a conference in the US.

Going by the name CyFi, the youngster showed how advancing the clock on a tablet or a phone can, in many games, open a loophole that can be exploited. She discovered the flaw after becoming bored with the slow speed of her games.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped by 5.5%, falling below the 11,000 mark for the first time since November. The Australian dollar was down to 103.55 US cents.