NEW YORK

Thousands of workers who suffered health problems after the September 11 attacks in 2001 have reached a settlement worth up to $657.5 million with an insurer representing the city of New York, city officials and lawyers said on Thursday.

With Governor David Paterson enveloped in scandal, New York's lieutenant governoris leading the notoriously difficult budget process and freeing up his boss to fight for his political life, experts say.

The former chief investment officer for New York State's comptroller on Wednesday pleaded guilty to helping favored firms gain access to the state's $129 billion pension fund.

In September 2008, as Lehman Brothers was breaking into a million pieces, a young investment bank was pushing up through the rubble.

The $120 billion that New York state owes in debt, health and pension benefits for public workers puts it in the danger zone, and getting down to the safety zone requires a $20 billion cut, a study said Tuesday.

New York Governor David Paterson on Tuesday said the multi-year deficit-closing plan his lieutenant governor is devising might seek to give governors extra authority to cut over-spending.

A former stock loan trader at Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp in New York received well over $100,000 of cash kickbacks by steering orders to other brokerage firms, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday.

Maurice Hank Greenberg, the former chief executive of American International Group Inc , will testify on Wednesday over a sham transaction involving the insurer and a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc , a judge ruled.

Travel firm TripAdvisor has come up with a list of the top 10 famous movie hotels, according to its editors. This list is not endorsed by Reuters.

Pressure mounted on Thursday on New York state Governor David Paterson to quit after another aide resigned in an expanding political scandal -- and even his most ardent backers offered only tepid support.

Students at California's public universities rallied across the state Thursday to protest massive budget cuts and fee hikes they say has damaged a system of higher education long the envy of the nation.

The Department of Education said on Thursday that 15 states and the District of Columbia are in the final running for new stimulus grants to be distributed this spring.

Buffalo's Statler Towers hotel was, at 18 stories, one of New York state's tallest building when it was erected in 1923. It now stands vacant and boarded up as a sore reminder of the city's long, losing quest to attract business, investment and residents.

U.S. private employers shed 20,000 jobs in February, fewer than the 60,000 jobs lost in January, a report by a private employment service said on Wednesday.

Harold Ford, a former representative from Tennessee, will not challenge Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in the New York Democratic primary, The New York Times reported on Monday.

Consumer spending increased slightly faster than expected in January as consumers dipped into their savings amid a small rise in incomes, a government report showed on Monday.

New York Governor David Paterson withdrew on Friday from the state governor's race, battered by questions of impropriety for his role in an assault case involving one of his top aides.

New York Gov. David Paterson announced Friday that he will not seek election in the fall, after allegations involving him and a top aide.

New York Governor David Paterson said today he will not seek re-election.

New York Governor David Paterson said Friday he is ending his campaign to run for governor of New York in November.

A man was arrested for the kidnapping and abandoning of his 2-year-old daughter.