UNITED STATES

U.S. online holiday sales are up 12 percent to more than $17.5 billion till date this year, with more than half of that making use of free shipping, according to research firm comScore Inc.

Nintendo faces a tough battle to boost growth as rivals snatch the lead in motion-controlled gaming from the long-time world-beater, just as competition from smartphones and tablets batters the handheld market.

A privately owned company put a spacecraft into orbit and brought it back on Wednesday in a groundbreaking test flight NASA hopes will lead to cargo runs to the International Space Station after the space shuttles are retired next year.

Major U.S. airlines on Wednesday said revenues were still improving, but discount carrier JetBlue Airways pointed to weaker-than-expected holiday sales, sending its shares down more than 8 percent.

Stocks were little changed on Wednesday, with investors staying cautious on a strong dollar and higher bond yields, but analysts didn't rule out a year-end rally.

Stocks were little changed on Wednesday, with investors staying cautious on a strong dollar and higher bond yields, but analysts didn't rule out a year-end rally.

Yum Brands Inc said China would surpass the United States as the fast-food restaurant operator's top profit generator this year, and the Chinese market's potential is still largely untapped.

Fortune Brands Inc announced plans to spin off or sell its golf and home products units, paving the way for an eventual sale of its most profitable business of alcoholic drinks.

From keeping the WikiLeaks site alive to helping British anti-austerity protesters outmaneuver riot police, Twitter is entering the Western political mainstream as a powerful tool for dissent.

Domestic monetary policy, monetary policy abroad, wages, and the cost of essential commodities all point to higher inflation in China, according to virtually every single school of economic thought.

Intel Corp has resumed share buybacks after a pause of more than a year and its chips have been chosen for 35 tablet computers as well as some smartphones, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

A project billed as the first micro-philanthropy website dedicated to U.S. filmmakers, writers, musicians and visual artists was launched on Tuesday, aimed at attracting small public donations to bring artistic projects to life.

International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Wednesday said the situation in Europe remained troubling, keeping up pressure on policymakers to find more effective measures to deal with the euro zone's debt crisis.

Top home improvement chain Home Depot Inc gave an outlook for the next financial year that could miss Wall Street expectations amid continued weakness in the U.S. economy and its shares fell.

Steady economic improvement should fuel U.S. stock gains through 2011, according to a Reuters poll of investors and strategists, but international concerns could limit gains in the second half of the year.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who was on a four-day official visit to India along with his wife Carla Bruni left for Paris on Tuesday after signing a few deals worth more than $10 billion, which is almost the same as what US President Obama managed during his visit last month.

Netflix Inc reached a deal with ABC Television Group to add past episodes of popular shows Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters to its online streaming service, the two sides announced on Wednesday.

Hackers, possibly in retaliation for attacks on Wikileaks, forced down the website of the international credit card service MasterCard on Wednesday and warned PayPal they could be next. PayPal has admitted that the US Government was behind the company's decision to sever ties with Wikileaks.

Costco Wholesale Corp posted better-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by strong sales and increased fee revenue as consumers sought out its bulk offerings of food and other items.

Gleacher downgraded Research In Motion to 'neutral' from 'buy,' saying it expects the company to lose share in the high-growth smart phone market as Apple and Android expand carriers and product breadth.

McDonald's Corp reported a smaller-than-expected rise in global sales at established restaurants in November as demand was weaker than anticipated in its key domestic market and Japan.