Muhammad Yunus receives Nobel Peace Prize

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus, often called the banker to the poor, received the Nobel Peace Prize on Sunday for his efforts to relieve poverty as a cornerstone for building peace.

Yunus, 66, shared the award with his Grameen Bank, which helps people rise above poverty by giving them microcredit: small, usually unsecured loans.

The first Nobel laureate from Bangladesh, Yunus and Grameen Bank bard member Mosammat Taslima Begum accepted the $1.4 million prize from awards committee chairman Ole Danbolt Mjoes at a ceremony in Oslo.

The Nobel Prizes are always presented in Oslo and Stockholm, Sweden, on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of their creator, Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)