UNITED STATES

Microsoft said it will stick to its development strategy for the China Internet search market regardless of the outcome of Google's high-profile spat with Beijing.

Asian shares surged on Friday after encouraging U.S. retail sales and jobs data suggested Asia's biggest export market was stabilizing, while the euro remained on the defensive amid the Greece debt crisis.

Toyota Motor Corp said a partial review of complaints of unintended acceleration after vehicles were repaired for accelerator pedal problems, had found no evidence of failure in the electronic throttle system or in the repairs.

Toyota Motor Corp said a partial review of complaints of unintended acceleration after vehicles were repaired for accelerator pedal problems, had found no evidence of failure in the electronic throttle system and or the repairs.

The number of people working in the United States likely fell in February as winter storms that pounded parts of the country kept some workers at home but a swift recovery is expected in March.

Militant groups, foreign states and criminal organizations pose a growing threat to U.S. security as they target government and private computer networks, FBI Director Robert Mueller said on Thursday.

U.S. regulators said they were reviewing more than 60 complaints that fixes made on recalled Toyota Motor Corp vehicles.

Crude edged up on Friday, capping two consecutive weeks of trading above $80, after China signaled it would maintain its economic stimulus, rekindling hopes for accelerating growth to drain excess oil supplies.

The elections in Iraq on March 7, 2010, are likely to serve as an important indicator of the prospects for a resolution of the long-running dispute over the administration of the ethnically mixed and resource-rich province of Kirkuk in the north of the country. The Iraqi Kurds have repeatedly called for Kirkuk to be transferred to the control of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which already administers three provinces in the predominantly Kurdish north of Iraq. The other...

China is in consultations with technology giant Google to resolve its dispute with the company, which has threatened to abandon the Chinese market over hacking and censorship concerns, said a Chinese official on Friday.

U.S. retailers posted their best monthly sales performance since just before the recession started in 2007, as lean inventories meant they did not need to resort to steep discounts.

The Obama administration has opposed a vote of a resolution that would recognize the 1915 mass killing of Armenians as genocide, contradicting a promise President Barack Obama made while campaigning in the Democratic primaries.

The number of U.S. workers filing for jobless benefits fell last week, but a surprise drop in pending home sales to a 10-month low in January underscored the uneven nature of the economic recovery.

Microsoft Corp is aiming to launch two phones that will be sold by top U.S. mobile operator Verizon Wireless in late spring or early summer, a person briefed on the matter said on Thursday.

A tax question holding up American International Group Inc's sale of its foreign life insurance unit to MetLife Inc is expected to be resolved favorably, clearing the way for a roughly $15 billion deal, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Stocks rose on Thursday as better-than-expected monthly sales from retailers and a drop in the number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits pointed to stabilization in the economy.

A much larger than forecast narrowing in Australia's trade deficit added some support to the Aussie dollar in local trade yesterday however resistance above 0.9050 saw it slide lower in afternoon exchange.

Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Vikram Pandit on Thursday voiced support for key Obama administration financial reform goals, including a consumer protection authority, but government watchdogs questioned his earnestness.

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.

By pushing Congress for final passage of U.S. healthcare reform, President Barack Obama is gambling voters will reward Democrats for the accomplishment rather than punish them in November congressional elections.

In a highly divided vote, the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday voted 23 to 22 to recommend that the United States recognize the killing of Armenians in 1915 in Ottoman Turkey as genocide.