UNITED STATES

Microsoft Corp. is rolling out a redesigned site of its Live search engine in the coming days called Bing which the company hopes it will lure Web surfers away from its competitors.

General Motors Corp appeared to clear a major hurdle on its way to filing the kind of bankruptcy it favors on Thursday by persuading major bondholders to accept a sweetened deal -- even as talks over the carmaker's Opel unit stalled.

U.S. auto parts makers Visteon Corp and Metaldyne Corp filed for bankruptcy on Thursday, becoming the latest casualties of the global auto industry crisis and adding to the pressure on cash-strapped automakers.

Bill Ackman, the biggest shareholder in bankrupt mall operator General Growth Properties Inc , said he could gain 13 times his investment in a company he called high quality after it is reorganized.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will discuss with top Chinese officials how to boost global economic growth as well as the importance of flexible exchange rates for smoothing imbalances, a senior U.S. Treasury Department official said on Thursday.

General Motors Corp said on Thursday it had reached a deal with major bondholders that would give them a bigger stake in a reorganized and effectively nationalized automaker and could pave the way for a fast-track bankruptcy by GM within days.

Stocks rose on Thursday as a surge in crude oil prices lifted energy shares, sending the benchmark S&P 500 to a session high.

AT&T Inc's Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said on Wednesday that the No. 2 U.S. mobile service would be keen to sell Palm Inc's high-profile Pre phone at some point in the future.

AT&T Inc's Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said on Wednesday that the No. 2 U.S. mobile service would be keen to sell Palm Inc's high-profile Pre phone at some point in the future.

Verizon Wireless plans to start selling Palm Inc's Pre and a new version of the touchscreen BlackBerry Storm in about six months, the top executive for the venture of Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc said on Thursday.

Til Schuermann, VP of Financial Intermediation at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, is testifying today on issues in Commercial Real Estate, and his prepared remarks essentially drown the prospect of green shoots in the context of CRE.

One of eight U.S. households with a mortgage ended the first quarter late on loan payments or in the foreclosure process in a crisis that will persist for at least another year until unemployment peaks, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Thursday.

Freddie Mac (FRE.P) (FRE.N), the second-largest U.S. home funding company, on Thursday said its mortgage investment portfolio shrank by an annualized 50.9 percent rate in April, while delinquencies on loans it guarantees accelerated.

One of eight U.S. households with a mortgage ended the first quarter late on loan payments or in the foreclosure process in a crisis that will persist for at least another year until unemployment peaks, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Thursday.

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, as a rise in oil prices boosted energy shares, overshadowing mixed economic data on housing sales and manufacturing orders.

Despite the well-known benefits of physical activity, eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables, maintaining a healthy weight, moderate alcohol use and not smoking, only a small proportion of adults follow this healthy lifestyle pattern, and in fact, the numbers are declining, according to a study by Dana King, M.D., and colleagues at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).

President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he wants to see new types of biofuels commercialized as quickly as possible, but the corn-based ethanol industry needs to remain viable in the meantime.

A rift between Berlin and Washington threatened to torpedo Germany's goal of shielding Opel from the imminent bankruptcy of its parent General Motors , raising the risk of insolvency for the German carmaker.

Sanofi-aventis U.S., with research and support from The Center for Medicine in the Public Interest (CMPI), has released a report showing the lag in the diagnosis and treatment of insomnia translates to billions of dollars in lost productivity and absenteeism in the American workforce. CMPI also estimates insomnia is responsible for at least $42 billion in direct and indirect healthcare costs each ...

The global economic downturn has aggravated human rights violations and distracted attention from abuses, Amnesty International said on Thursday.

Suicide is rising in Japan as the economic crisis bites, with more than 100 people a day taking their lives in April.