UNITED STATES

Italy aims to install full-body scanners at the main airports of Rome and Milan for flights considered at high risk of terrorist attacks, Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said in an interview published on Saturday.

China's economic growth looks set to accelerate into the new year, with booming factories driving a December manufacturing survey to a 20-month high while South Korea's exports to the country surged on strong demand.

The Obama administration on Saturday zeroed in on al Qaeda as the driving force behind an attempt to bomb a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas and promised again to hold accountable those involved in the failed atta

Online retailer Amazon.com Inc's testing Wall Street's patience by repeatedly touting the success of its Kindle electronic reader without providing specific sales figures.

Time Warner Cable and Fox have reached a deal to keep carrying Fox Networks programing after the companies negotiated through New Year's Day to avoid a blackout of TV shows like The Simpsons and college and NFL football games in 13 million U.S. homes.

Investors looking to cash in on a U.S. retail comeback will need to be as selective as the shoppers who scoured stores and websites for the best deals this holiday season.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg pledged on Friday to promote a more open U.S. immigration policy during his third term, much as he made a campaign against illegal guns a hallmark of his second term.

The number of Iraqi civilians killed in violence fell by half in 2009 to about 4,500 but improvements in security have slowed and large-scale attacks took a major toll last year, a study has found.

Danish police said on Saturday they shot and wounded a Somali man with al Qaeda links when he tried to break into the home of a cartoonist whose 2005 caricatures of Prophet Mohammad sparked global Muslim outrage.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday it appeared the man suspected of trying to bomb a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas was a member of al Qaeda and had been trained and equipped by the Islamic militant network.

Italian confectioner Ferrero has met with private equity firms as well as Hershey Co to discuss a possible bid for Britain's Cadbury Plc , Il Sole 24 Ore daily reported on Saturday.

A pension fund may ask the Supreme Court to let it sue BAE Systems Plc in the United States over allegations that the company paid more than $2 billion in bribes to win a record Saudi arms deal, the fund's lead attorney said on Friday.

A suicide bomber blew himself up in an SUV at a volleyball game in northwest Pakistan on Friday, killing 88 people in a village that opposes al Qaeda-linked Taliban insurgents, police said.

The United States will more than double its security assistance for Yemen and Britain will host an international meeting this month to seek ways of preventing the poorest Arab state from becoming an al Qaeda stronghold.

Little has been done to improve Iraq's impoverished city of Basra, but for one slum dweller, the fact that no more corpses are dumped outside his door means Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki gets his vote.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has invited key international partners to a meeting to discuss how to counter radicalisation in Yemen after last week's failed attack on a U.S.-bound plane, his office said on Friday.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will dispatch senior agency officials to meet with airport executives around the world to review security and technology used to screen passengers on U.S.-bound flights, the department said.

Japanese airline All Nippon Airways is considering taking over the international routes of struggling rival Japan Airlines Corp, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said on Friday.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has serious reservations about allowing shale gas drilling in New York City's watershed, warning of a threat to the drinking water for 9 million people.

Time Warner Cable and News Corp's Fox Networks agreed to a brief extension of their current carriage contract on Thursday to avoid a blackout that would have prevented 13 million U.S. homes from seeing TV shows like The Simpsons and college and NFL football games.

Time Warner Cable and News Corp's Fox Networks Group agreed to a brief extension of their current carriage contract late on Thursday to avoid a blackout that would have prevented 13 million U.S. homes from seeing TV shows like The Simpsons and House as well as college and NFL football games.