UNITED KINGDOM

Whether 9/9/09 is deemed lucky or a day to avoid, the rarity of Wednesday's date has inspired loving couples, restaurants and even a movie studio to mark the occasion across the globe.

The United States' and Britain's triple-A sovereign debt ratings are safe for now but both countries will need to severely adjust fiscal policies in the wake of the global financial crisis, Moody's Investors Service said in a statement released late on Tuesday.

McDonald's Corp's August sales at existing restaurants rose 2.2 percent globally, missing analysts' target, as strength in Europe partly offset weakness in the United States and other parts of the world.

Nokia Oyj plans to skip tailoring software of its upcoming top-of-the-range model N900 to different operators, raising the risk some carriers, who focus on integrating their own software, could refuse to offer the model.

Catching a cold or the flu could speed memory loss in people with Alzheimer's disease, researchers reported Tuesday.

A wave of Beatlemania struck Britain's streets on Wednesday as the Fab Four released a specially remastered edition of their albums, complete with an interactive video game for a new generation of fans.

Veteran Australian actor Ray Barrett, who became a familiar figure on British television in the 1960s and most recently appeared in the big-budget movie Australia, has died at the age of 82.

Fans of the Beatles queued on Wednesday to buy the band's collected works on a new set of discs and get their hands on an animated video game featuring some of the Fab Four's greatest hits .

Another global financial crisis is inevitable because human nature always reverts to speculative excesses during a period of sustained prosperity, former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said.

Fans of the Beatles queued on Wednesday to buy the band's collected works on a new set of discs and get their hands on an animated video game featuring some of the Fab Four's greatest hits .

There have been many miraculous cases of people who have healed themselves by clinging to religion or positively thinking themselves out of a life-threatening ailment.

U.S. stocks advanced on Tuesday on an uptick in corporate deal activity while the weak dollar led to gains in commodities, lifting shares of oil and mining companies.

U.S. stocks advanced on Tuesday on an uptick in corporate deal activity while the weak dollar led to gains in commodities, lifting shares of oil and mining companies.

U.S. stocks advanced on Tuesday, led by gains from oil and materials companies, while an uptick in M&A activity spurred recovery hopes, making equities more appealing to investors.

Scientists have found three new major genetic links to Alzheimer's, affecting up to 20 percent of people with the brain-wasting disease, and said on Sunday it was the most significant such discovery in 15 years.

A complete ban on alcohol advertising should be imposed and a minimum drinks price set to help deter excessive drinking in Britain, medics said on Tuesday.

U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as natural resource shares gained from higher commodities while Kraft Foods Inc's offer for confectioner Cadbury raised hopes about more mergers and acquisitions.

Stocks climbed on Tuesday as natural resource shares rose alongside commodities and Kraft's bid for Cadbury buoyed hopes that more merger and acquisition activity was on the horizon.

Deutsche Telekom AG and France Telecom SA plan to merge their British mobile units, responding to intense competition with a venture that would grab top spot in the crowded UK market.

Airbus on Tuesday rejected U.S. calls to renounce government loans for its next airliner after the WTO gave a preliminary ruling against earlier loans, while a Boeing executive hit out at unfair subsidies.

Royal Bank of Scotland has appointed Goldman Sachs to consider a sale or other options for RBS Aviation Capital, one of the world's biggest plane leasing businesses, a person familiar with the matter said.