UNITED STATES

Regulators probing alleged manipulation of Libor rates, the benchmark for interbank borrowing costs, are focusing on five lenders, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday that establishing a no-fly zone over Libya would require the bombing of air defenses, as the U.S. seeks broad action to protect civilians fighting Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

Foreign missions in Tokyo have pressed the alarm button and asked their citizens living in the vicinity of Tohoku Daiichi nuclear plant to stay clear while some of them are planning evacuation of their citizens from Japan, if required.

U.S. stocks advanced on Thursday, bouncing back after three days of declines as investors searched for bargains, but the near-term outlook remains bearish.

U.S. troops and civilian teams have responded to the Japanese government's request to help distribute humanitarian aid supplies and search for survivors in Japan after last Friday's massive 9.0 earthquake and power tsunami.

A woman in the northeastern U.S. state of Delaware is desperate for news about her daughter who is missing in Japan’s earthquake zone.

Gold Bullion prices stalled just above $1400 per ounce for the second day running on Thursday, as crude oil rose sharply amid the near-meltdown at Japan's Fukushima nuclear reactors.

Consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in more than 1-1/2 years in February, driven by higher food and energy prices, but underlying inflation pressures remained generally contained.

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell as expected last week, with the four-week moving average dropping to its lowest level in more than 2-1/2 years, pointing to a strengthening labor market.

FedEx Corp, the world's largest cargo airline, forecast improved revenue and margins in the current quarter and beyond, and sees more shipments for reconstruction in Japan.

If it's QE2 and through, will the Federal Reserve soon start letting the air out of its balance sheet balloon as well?

Stocks were poised to bounce back at the open on Thursday, a day after Wall Street wiped out most of its gains for the year, but Japan's nuclear crisis was set to drive trading in another volatile session for markets.

While the tsunami that crashed into Hawaii did not apparently cause any casualties among humans, it did kill tens of thousands of seabirds, including thousands of albatrosses and other endangered species, at a wildlife sanctuary in the Midway atoll, 1300 miles northwest of Hawaii, according to U.S. wildlife officials.

TMZ is reporting that the defense wants a first generation fingerprint of a broken syringe that was found under Michael Jackson's bed the day he died. The report says that this could potentially prove that Jackson killed himself.

Consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in more than 1-1/2 years in February, driven by higher food and energy prices, a government report showed on Thursday, but underlying inflation pressures remained generally contained.

FedEx Corp, the world's largest cargo airline, forecast improved revenue and margins in the current quarter and beyond, boosted by strong demand.

Honda Motor Co is recalling about 21,700 of its current-model compact Honda Civic cars due to the possibility that fuel will leak in a roll-over crash, the company and U.S. regulators said on Thursday.

The yen briefly hit record highs versus the dollar on Thursday as quake-hit Japan's nuclear crisis unleashed a global risk sell-off, while world stocks traded higher after Tokyo stocks came off earlier lows.

Stock index futures bounced on Thursday, a day after Wall Street wiped out much of its gains for the year, but news on Japan's nuclear crisis was set to drive trading in another volatile day for markets.

Benchmark Capital raised profit estimate of Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) as channel checks reveal strong search advertising, which is driving double-digit cost-per-click (CPC) growth.

Oil rose by more than $2 on Thursday as tensions in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain fueled fears of further supply disruption while investors weighed the impact on energy demand from quake-hit Japan.