UNITED STATES

The U.S. said on Thursday the killing of Osama Bin Laden was not an assassination and that the U.S. Navy SEALs who stormed his hideout and killed him were on a 'kill or capture' mission.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.29 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.27 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.56 percent at 0735 GMT.

Nissan Motor Co posted a 7.2 percent rise in quarterly operating profit on Thursday and said global production disrupted by Japan's March 11 earthquake will return to normal a least a month earlier than predicted by bigger home rival, Toyota Motor Corp.

According to Harold Camping, leader of the independent Christian ministry Family Radio Worldwide, the world is going to end on May 21.

A U.S. senator who viewed Osama Bin Laden's death photos made available by the CIA confirmed that the images were of the terror master mind and that they were 'pretty gruesome'.

Asia's reserve-rich nations see no viable option but to keep on purchasing U.S. government debt despite their uneasiness about Washington's fraught political battle over public spending.

Japan's largest drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co is in talks to buy privately-held Swiss rival Nycomed in a deal that could be valued at about $14.2 billion, Bloomberg said, citing two people with knowledge of the matter.

Oil rebounded by about $1 on Thursday as investors focused on strong demand growth in Asia after a sell-off the previous day triggered by a surprise increase in U.S. gasoline stockpiles.

In a shocking report, evidence about child abduction by family planning officials in China for the purpose of oversees adoption has raised questions on the current human-rights situations of the country.

The head of al-Qaida's Yemen-based wing has vowed to fight on after the killing of Osama bin Laden, saying: What is coming is greater and worse in a statement posted on the internet on Wednesday.

The number of Americans who lost their homes to the bank fell in April as faulty paperwork continued to slow foreclosure activity, which fell to a more than three-year low, a closely watched survey said on Thursday.

On the same day that a jury convicted hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, federal prosecutors notched another victory when a former account manager at a semiconductor company, Manosha Karunatilaka, pleaded guilty to charges of insider trading.

Asian share markets fell on Thursday after a second big sell-off in commodities in less than a week cut investor appetite for riskier investments and boosted the U.S. dollar, although oil prices clawed back some losses in early trade.

Steven A. Cohen's $13 billion fund firm is facing scrutiny from U.S. regulators but in a rare public appearance on Wednesday the hedge fund manager said he has no plans of quitting what he loves doing.

Amazon.com could cut its partnership with affiliates in more U.S. states that require the online retailer to collect sales tax, Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said on Wednesday.

Oil prices tumbled nearly 5 percent on Wednesday, as easing supply concerns sent gasoline into a tailspin that briefly forced trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange to stop.

Longtime Republican foe of Washington Democrats Newt Gingrich threw his name into the ring of the 2012 presidential race, even as the White House said President Barack Obama hasn't opined on the GOP process.

Telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent sees no end in sight to booming demand in the United States as major operators invest to keep up with a data overload driven by smartphones and streaming video.

The CME Group raised margin requirements on oil futures for May 10 for the fourth time since February to $6,250 per contract. In response, oil futures plunged more than 5 percent to $98.5 per barrel on May 11.

What was discovered in bin Laden's documents.

Intel Corp said on Wednesday it plans to sell up to 10 million shares of wireless service provider Clearwire Corp to book certain tax benefits.