UNITED STATES

With California Governor Jerry Brown making little progress in his efforts to solve the state's intractable budget problems, a number of private groups are maneuvering to put new tax measures to the voters next November.

The Sundance Film festival, the top U.S. gathering for independent cinema, on Wednesday unveiled its competitive lineup for 2012, some of which will become the most talked-about movies of the upcoming year.

Getco LLC, an electronic market maker and high-frequency trading specialist, on Wednesday said it agreed to buy Bank of America Corp's floor-trading operations at the New York Stock Exchange, significantly expanding its market-making operations.

An English teacher and coach at a prestigious Massachusetts high school was suspended after it emerged he was also a porn star.

Burger King said it plans to roll out new-and-improved French fries next week, as competition from rival fast-food chains rises.

The former chief executive of Japan's disgraced Olympus Corp, Michael Woodford, launched a campaign on Thursday to oust the board of directors, reclaim his old job and install his own team to save the firm from a big accounting scandal.

Short lead times from manufacturing customers are making it tough to predict end demand for microchips and hard to say whether an inventory correction is bottoming out, the chief executive of Maxim Integrated Products said.

The whistleblower in the accounting scandal engulfing Japan's Olympus Corp, ex-CEO Michael Woodford, quit the firm's board of directors on Thursday and called for an urgent shareholder meeting to replace its disgraced top brass.

As cholesterol fighter Lipitor goes generic, its maker Pfizer Inc is hoping to hold onto perhaps a third of the 3 million Americans who take the biggest-selling drug of all time.

The whistleblower in the accounting scandal engulfing Japan's Olympus Corp, ex-CEO Michael Woodford, has quit the firm's board of directors and called for an urgent shareholder meeting to sweep aside its disgraced top brass.

Horse meat may soon be brought back to the table in the United States, as horse slaughterhouses will be revived under an obscure inclusion in a recent appropriations bill.

The 2012 lineup includes big names, career changers and an economic theme.

The U.S. population 65 and older is now the largest in terms of size and percent of the population, compared with any previous census, according to the new 2010 Census data released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The group grew at a faster rate than the total population between 2000 and 2010.

Senate Republicans Wednesday introduced a bill that would force President Barack Obama to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline within 60 days.

Clearwire Corp is expected to reach a funding agreement with Sprint Nextel at least by year-end and possibly in time for Clearwire's December 1 debt interest payment deadline, according to people following a standoff between the wireless service providers.

A six-week-long fight with Olympus Corp in one of Japan's biggest corporate scandals ever is taking its toll on the whistleblower -- former CEO Michael Woodford.

Private equity firms Blackstone Group and Bain Capital will lead a bid for the whole of Yahoo Inc after agreeing to team up with Alibaba Group, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday sped up the review of a ruling that moved consideration of Bank of America Corp's $8.5 billion settlement over mortgage debt to federal court from a New York state court.

U.S. weapons makers told investors this week they are doing all they can to prepare for leaner and more uncertain U.S. defense budgets, including redoubling their efforts to cut costs, drum up export sales and sell more goods to commercial clients.

Siri, iPhone 4S' now famous digital assistant, is not available on the iPhone 4 or 3GS, but when the new iPhone 5 and iPad 3 come out next year, could she be included? It's far too early to tell if Siri will be on these two highly anticipated devices, but if she does appear on one or both of the devices, it would keep Apple in the top spot of the U.S. smartphone world.

LivingSocial Inc is set to run a national discount offer with McDonald's Corp as the second-largest daily-deals company moves to catch larger rival Groupon Inc.