UNITED STATES

When General Motors Co Chief Executive Fritz Henderson saw the automaker through bankruptcy in July, he emerged with a new mantra.

Heart disease remains the single leading cause of death in the United States. About every 26 seconds, an American will suffer a coronary event and about every minute someone will die from one. The prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is slightly higher in males than females.

General Motors on Thursday ended months of uncertainty, announcing it had reached a deal to sell a majority stake in its European unit Opel to Canadian car parts maker Magna, backed by Russia's Sberbank.

The Federal Communications Commission, the U.S. agency that regulates the telecommunications industry, is becoming more media savvy by joining popular networking sites such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

Sentiment Rises Again; FedEx Jumps; Microsoft Off the Hook?

Delta Air Lines , the world's largest carrier, is in talks to take a minority stake in Japan Airlines Corp in a bid to expand its reach in Asia, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

A U.S. court of appeals on Friday overturned a $358 million damages award against software maker Microsoft Corp in a long-running patent dispute with French telecoms equipment firm Alcatel-Lucent.

The number of rigs drilling for natural gas in the United States fell 2 this week to 699, the first fall in eight weeks, according to a report on Friday by Baker Hughes in Houston.

The U.S. government on Friday posted a smaller-than-expected $111.40 billion budget deficit for August, marking a record-matching 11 straight months of deficits.

Mourners of victims of the September 11 attacks at the World Trade Center honored them in New York on Friday.

More than 40,000 Japanese people are aged 100 or over, up 10 percent over last year, a government survey showed on Friday, in the latest reminder of the economic problems facing the world's most rapidly aging country.

General Motors Co said on Thursday it will offer consumers a 60-day, money-back guarantee on new vehicles and roll out a barrage of new advertising over the next year aimed at winning back American consumers who have abandoned its brands.

U.S. stocks edged down on Friday after five straight days of gains as the rally started to show signs of fatigue along with a drop in crude oil prices.

Bank of America Chief Executive Ken Lewis said his company is still in talks with U.S. officials on how to compensate the government for a prior loss-sharing agreement, according to a letter released by a watchdog lawmaker on Thursday.

U.S. food giant Kraft will face a tough task in pitching a winning bid for Cadbury as the dollar's dip cuts the value of its initial offer and is set for further weakness, analysts said on Friday.

Scientists have discovered how bacteria fend off a wide range of antibiotics, and blocking that defense mechanism could give existing antibiotics more power to fight dangerous infections.

Two studies published on Thursday confirmed that a single dose of swine flu vaccine can protect people from the new pandemic H1N1 virus -- welcome news to global health officials who had worried that people might need two doses.

The U.S. Coast Guard set off a security scare on Friday with a routine training exercise in the heart of the U.S. capital on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

A U.S. court of appeals on Friday overturned a $358 million damages award against software maker Microsoft Corp in a long-running patent dispute with French telecoms equipment firm Alcatel-Lucent.

China's Alibaba Group said on Friday it will launch an international business-to-business (B2B) platform in the United States by the end of the year, as the company seeks to globalize its brand.