UNITED STATES

Kenya is considering legalizing genetically modified maize, which it has long shunned.

Stocks rallied on Friday for a fifth day and were on track to record their best week in nearly a year, after a surprising jump in manufacturing data eased concerns about a tepid economic recovery.

Tony Alvarez recalls his doubts as he contemplated the wrecked, two-bedroom foreclosed house up for sale 30 years ago with his real estate agent's reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Barry Manilow, the piano man who didn't write his big hits despite proclaiming otherwise in I Write the Songs, is back in stores with his first album of original material in a decade.

Ford Motor Company posted strong sales results for June, up 10 percent from the same month one year ago. General Motors also showed a June sales increase, but its numbers were below analyst expectations.

The nation's highest-ranking fiscal official Friday reaffirmed the Aug. 2 deadline for raising the U.S. debt ceiling -- urging Congress to act soon to avoid the catastrophic economic and market consequences of a default crisis by raising the statutory debt limit in timely manner.

General Motors Co on Friday reported a weaker-than-expected gain in June U.S. sales and tempered its full-year forecast for the industry as some consumers were still holding back on buying cars.

Medicare continues paying for cancer drugs Avastin for breast cancer, and Provenge, for prostate cancer, regardless of what health regulators rule on the medicine's fate.

General Motors sales increased more than 10 percent in June, but the results reported today are lower than analyst expectations.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc said its second amended $65 billion bankruptcy liquidation plan won support from thirty institutions and affiliates, possibly setting the stage for the end of the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Minnesota's state government shut down at midnight on Thursday as Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton was unable to strike a budget compromise with the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Stocks advanced for a fifth straight session on Friday and were poised to record their best week in nearly a year after data showed the U.S. manufacturing sector grew faster than expected in June, helping to dispel some recent gloom about the economy.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which begins its assault Tuesday night, should pick up noticeably as the July 4th holiday weekend gets underway in the United States.

'Better burger' chains like Five Guys and fast, fresh alternative restaurants like Chipotle are winning customers, and hurting Chili's, Applebee's and Ruby Tuesday in the process.

The pace of growth in the manufacturing sector picked up for the first time in four months in June, a sign of optimism for the sputtering economy, according to an industry report released on Friday.

Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) said it will cut about 1,500 jobs at the Aeronautics unit in a move to curb costs and offer better priced products to customers. Added to the costs, President Barack Obama's goal of reducing defense spending by $400 million is also a burden on Lockheed Martin.

Lundbeck, the Danish drug company, said it will restrict the distribution of its Nembutal drug in order to prevent U.S. prisons from using it in lethal injections.

U.S. airlines will step up their campaign against European Union climate policy next week, with a legal challenge at Europe's highest court to their inclusion in the EU carbon market.

Washington Mutual Inc's officers, directors, underwriters and auditor have agreed to a $208.5 million settlement to end class-action securities fraud lawsuits, according to court documents.

Stocks were set to post their best week in nearly a year on Friday as investors looked ahead to key national manufacturing data, with confidence growing that the economic slowdown could be temporary.

General Motors Co announced two separate recalls on Friday affecting a little more than 10,000 pickup trucks, predominantly in North America.