UNITED STATES

While Asia's economy has recovered from the lows hit a year ago, a bumpy road is ahead, with companies needing to shed debt burdens and increase capital bases, according to Nomura's Asia Pacific investment banking head.

Large drug companies have inherent advantages -- including cash to conduct expensive drug studies and to assure survival when trials fail -- that will be increasingly important in coming years, senior executives of Wyeth and Merck and Co said on Tuesday.

The United States is still working toward an agreement with G20 partners to phase out subsidies for fossil fuels, a top White House adviser said ahead of this week's G20 summit.

U.S. stocks were little changed in early trading on Wednesday as investors cooled their heels ahead of a Federal Reserve policy statement.

The most anticipated climate meeting in years will be held in the Danish capital in December. Out of those talks a broader climate pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol is expected to emerge.

Apparently healthy people with normal or even low cholesterol levels might benefit as much from taking statin drugs as people with high cholesterol, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

U.S. oil and gas exploration and production firm SandRidge Energy Inc has struck a deal to buy bankrupt rival, Crusader Energy Group, for $230 million, in a cash and stock deal that would give it additional acreage in the Anadarko and Permian basins.

Warner Chilcott Plc said privately held Leo Pharma would re-acquire the U.S. rights to its topical psoriasis treatments for about $1 billion, sending the specialty pharmaceutical company's shares up 4 percent.

U.S. mortgage applications jumped last week to their highest since late May as interest rates tumbled below 5 percent, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

Democrats pushed on Tuesday to make insurance reforms more affordable for workers and Republicans decried what they called a rush to judgment, as a key Senate panel began debate on a sweeping healthcare overhaul.

Wall Street was set for a slightly higher open on Wednesday ahead of a Federal Reserve policy statement and following results by food company General Mills Inc, which beat profit estimates.

Al Qaeda's number two Ayman al-Zawahri appeared on Wednesday in a new video marking the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, attacking Arab leaders and Barack Obama for their policies on Israel.

Scientists offered new hope in the fight against a difficult-to-treat skin cancer on Wednesday as an early-stage clinical trial showed an experimental drug dramatically shrank tumors.

General Mills Inc posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by strong sales in the United States and lower commodity costs.

Fighting in Somalia's capital Mogadishu killed at least 12 people and wounded 17 others after Islamist insurgents attacked government forces and African Union (AU) peacekeepers, witnesses said on Wednesday.

Working Mother magazine on Tuesday named the best U.S. companies for working mothers, citing those that have kept or expanded family-friendly programs and policies amid the pressures of recession.

When the National Day parade rolls down Beijing's streets next week, foreign observers will look beyond the goose-stepping soldiers for signs that China is developing a new missile able to threaten U.S. aircraft carriers.

More than a year and a half into America's worst housing crisis since the Great Depression, rising unemployment is pushing ever more homeowners in rural Ohio toward foreclosure.

Sarah Palin, accused during her 2008 U.S. vice presidential campaign of having a limited knowledge of foreign affairs, travelled to Hong Kong to push on Wednesday for stronger ties and trade with China.

The worst U.S. economic recession in 70 years is forcing senior citizens out of retirement, leaving them fighting for jobs in a weak labor market or risk homelessness, according to a private study.

When the 49ers were battling the Cardinals in a National Football League game earlier this year, a Facebook update by stun gun maker Taser proclaimed that the San Francisco-based team's Taser formation could be the tipping factor.