UNITED STATES

Rachel Uchitel, one of Tiger Woods' alleged mistresses, cancelled a scheduled press conference on Thursday where the public expected her to tell all about her relationship with the golfer.

The U.S. Energy Department on Friday announced it will award up to $979 million to three projects aimed at developing technology to trap and store carbon emissions from coal plants.

Stocks held moderate gains, but retreated from session highs at midday on Friday as investors wrestled with the prospect that the Federal Reserve might have to raise interest rates after data showed the economy shed far fewer jobs than expected last month.

Yum Brands Inc, the parent of the KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut fast-food chains, forecast fourth-quarter sales at established restaurants that were below some analysts' estimates, and its shares fell 4.3 percent.

General Motors and its Chinese partner SAIC Motor are to make small cars and commercial vehicles in India, taking a successful 12-year Chinese partnership into one of the world's fastest growing auto markets.

There were 115,502 U.S. bankruptcy petitions in November, down 13 percent from October but up 26 percent from a year earlier, according to data compiled from court filings by Automated Access to Court Electronic Records, which is part of Jupiter eSources LLC in Oklahoma City.

General Motors Co Chairman and Chief Executive Ed Whitacre announced a broad shake-up of the automaker's senior leadership on Friday, tightening his grip on the company three days after replacing its CEO.

Tesco Plc, Britain's biggest retailer, is set to join rivals in flagging solid pre-Christmas trading next week, but investors will be casting a wary eye on 2010 as the government unveils its budget plans.

U.S. stocks retreated on Friday as a stronger U.S. dollar weighed on commodity prices, overshadowing an earlier boost from a better-than-expected jobs report.

General Motors Co Chairman and Chief Executive Ed Whitacre announced a broad shake-up of the automaker's senior leadership on Friday, tightening his grip on the company three days after replacing its CEO.

Governments can adopt more ambitious carbon pricing schemes to address the effects of climate change without harming the global economic recovery, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday.

British oil giant BP has begun cleaning up a second pipeline leak at its Prudhoe Bay operations in Alaska this week, after fluid spilled from a flow line on Wednesday.

U.S. stocks climbed on Friday after data showed the economy shed far fewer jobs than forecast last month and factory orders unexpectedly rose.

(Corrects month in 2nd paragraph to November, instead of December)

U.S. stocks jumped at the open on Friday, with all three major indexes up more than 1 percent, after the government said employers cut far fewer jobs than expected in November, signaling a strengthening labor market.

A U.N.-led drive to raise cash to help poor nations cope with global warming is looking fairly encouraging, three days before a 190-nation climate conference, the U.N.'s top climate official said on Friday.

After two years of work, and 12 years after their last attempt, 190 nations gather in Copenhagen from Monday to try to avert dramatic climate change -- what one minister called the most difficult talks ever embarked upon by humanity.

Hollywood has finally realized that Tobey Maguire has grown up. The actor who gained fame as a teenager in the Spider-Man movies has embraced fatherhood and a new role as a soldier whose family is torn apart by war.

Sony Pictures on Thursday said global ticket sales for its movies have neared $3.4 billion, beating a studio record with a range of films such as Michael Jackson's This Is It, which raked in more than $250 million worldwide.

Following are the negotiating positions of major nations before a 190-nation U.N. conference in Copenhagen on December 7-18 which will try to work out a new pact to combat climate change.

Shiny-nosed Rudolph proved the biggest draw on U.S. television Wednesday night as the 1964 animated Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer beat Grammy nominees Black Eyed Peas and Aretha Franklin at New York's Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting.