UNITED STATES

The number of U.S. homes headed for foreclosure fell in the second quarter for the first time since the housing slump began in 2006, but improvements may be fleeting as the number of newly delinquent homeowners rose, a banking group said on Wednesday.

Maybe it's the success of Slumdog Millionaire. Perhaps it's because corporate outsourcing is now a very real -- and frustrating -- part of Westerners lives. Or perhaps it's because India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and its influences have finally spread to Hollywood.

Actor Paul Hogan, best known for playing an outback hunter in the Crocodile Dundee movies, has been stopped from leaving Australia until he pays a multi-million dollar tax bill, according to his lawyer.

Most stroke patients leave the hospital with cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, a nationwide US study shows, in keeping with medical guidelines.

Angelina Jolie will direct her first feature film about a Serbian man and Bosnian woman who meet on the eve of the 1992-95 Bosnian war, the movie's production company has confirmed.

Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola is to get a lifetime achievement Oscar to add to his stack of five Academy Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said on Wednesday.

World oil prices advanced towards $73 in Asian trade Thursday mainly on a weak dollar after overcoming impacts over a massive increase in US crude reserves. Light sweet crude for October delivery was seen trading at $72.81 a barrel at 11.30 a.m Singapore time while Brent crude for October delivery was at $73.85 a barrel in London.

Gold prices remain higher in Asian trade Thursday a day after the WGC said regional giants India and China were likely to provide the main thrust to demand growth this year.

The Australian Dollar has opened slightly lower today after losing more than one US cent due to an increase in risk aversion in Europe and the US, as evidenced by falls in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to as low as 9,938 on the release of durable goods orders and further evidence of weakness in the US housing market.

British scientists have created liver cells in a lab for the first time by reprogramming stem cells taken from human skin, paving the way for potential new treatments for liver diseases that kill thousands each year.

Men who have undergone surgery to treat earlier stage prostate cancer may not need to keep up yearly PSA tests to screen for a cancer recurrence, a new study suggests.

People who use prescription antihistamines to relieve allergy symptoms may be more likely than non-users to carry excess pounds, a new study suggests, although the significance of the connection is not yet clear.

Men who show signs that their disease has returned after prostate cancer treatment are still more likely to die of other causes, a new study in US veterans shows.

China's Geely Automobile Holdings, whose parent bought Ford's Volvo unit this month, warned of tougher competition and slower sales after its record first-half earnings beat forecasts on Wednesday.

New U.S. single-family home sales slumped to the slowest pace on record in July and orders for costly durable goods were weak, according to government reports on Wednesday that heightened fears the economy was at risk of a new downturn.

Prices of U.S. single-family homes fell for the first time in four months in June, and by an adjusted 1.7 percent from a year earlier, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said on Wednesday.

Mortgage applications rose last week as record low rates lifted demand for home refinancing loans to its highest level in over 15 months, a development that could provide a much-needed jolt to the economy.

U.S. health regulators plan to give restaurant companies more time to comply with new rules that require clear calorie and nutritional information on menus.

The chances of surviving a gunshot or a car crash may vary across North America, researchers have found, suggesting room for improvement in some healthcare systems.

New York has more unwanted nocturnal guests than other urban areas and has been named the most bedbug infested city in the United States.

GlaxoSmithKline's diabetes drug Avandia was no riskier to the heart than a rival, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday, a finding that contradicts earlier studies and adds new fodder to the roiling debate over the drug's safety.