UNITED STATES

U.S. prosecutors on Friday opposed a request by accused Galleon fund founder Raj Rajaratnam and his main co-defendant for separate trials in what prosecutors have described as the biggest hedge fund insider-trading case ever in the United States.

Online communities within-reach via mobile phones and the internet, can be easily utilized to help people with chronic disease like diabetes. The approach outlined in the International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organizations, would cut down healthcare costs and empower patients to manage their condition more effectively.

Optimism about an improving labor market and corporate profits could propel U.S. stocks higher next week as earnings season approaches.

The U.S. economy is on the path to achieving self-sustaining growth, although the jobs outlook remains uncertain, White House economic adviser Larry Summers said in a newspaper interview to be published on Saturday.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Friday the Obama administration wants to maximize the chances that China will quickly lift the value of its yuan currency and expressed confidence Beijing would decide doing so was in its interest.

The billionaire investor Carl Icahn has slashed his ownership stake in Blockbuster Inc's Class A shares to below 5 percent, two weeks after the video rental company said it might seek bankruptcy protection and that its survival was in question.

The Foreign Correspondents Club of China said on Friday it had shut its website after a burst of hacker attacks, days after attacks on the Yahoo email accounts of some foreign journalists covering China were discovered.

President Barack Obama hailed new signs of an improving U.S. labor market on Friday as proof that we are beginning to turn the corner but warned it would still take time to achieve sustained job growth.

Optimism over corporate profits and an improving labor market could propel U.S. stocks higher next week as earnings season approaches.

The Obama administration has not decided to delay a report that could brand China a currency manipulator and Chinese President Hu Jintao's upcoming visit does not affect the issue, the White House said on Friday.

The first 200,000 electric cars made by each automaker will be given a zero emissions rating under new U.S. fuel efficiency rules, after which the smokestack emissions of power plants will be included.

U.S. employers created jobs in March at the fastest rate in three years as private firms stepped up hiring, the strongest signal yet that the economic recovery is on a solid footing and needs less government help.

In the wake of complaints about sudden acceleration problems that have led to the recall of millions of Toyotas over the past few months.

Few small businesses would choose to set up shop in a poorer section of town, but at a time when capital is hard to come by, the financial benefits for inner-city entrepreneurs can be significant.

The Obama administration will defer a decision on whether to name China a currency manipulator until well after President Hu Jintao visits Washington for a nuclear proliferation summit, the New York Times reported on Friday.

Women might be on a more even footing at work but at home their careers tend to take a backseat to their husband's job with women most likely to quit when both are working long hours, according to a U.S. study.

An Internet startup called Fashion Stake launching in coming weeks aims to shake up the fashion industry, just as peer-to-peer file sharing changed the music industry.

Increasingly confident about the job market, U.S. workers expect higher pay in a economic recovery or many of them will be hunting for new jobs, according to research released on Friday.

The Obama administration will defer a decision on whether to name China a currency manipulator until well after President Hu Jintao visits Washington for a nuclear proliferation summit, the New York Times reported on Friday.

(Reuters) - It is too soon to determine whether tens of thousands of doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine may have to be thrown out if they are not used before their expiration date, a U.S. health official said on Thursday.

China's central bank said on Friday that it expected the dollar to strengthen this year, but it raised the specter of worldwide asset bubbles and inflation.