UNITED STATES

The United States committed $2.7 billion on Wednesday to help fight HIV infection in Kenya where more than a million people are living with the disease.

Significantly more Americans are nearsighted today than in the early 1970s, a report released today indicates.

The Obama administration said on Tuesday it will move some Guantanamo Bay detainees to an Illinois prison and hold U.S. military commission trials there in plans immediately criticized as risky by Republicans.

European leaders are courting some African, Asian and Latin American nations to counter the clout of China and the United States at the climate change talks in Copenhagen, French officials said.

Southwest Airlines Co topped the list of the 50 best U.S. places to work, based upon employee opinions, according to research released on Wednesday.

U.S. President Barack Obama has written a personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il amid efforts by the United States to persuade Pyongyang to return to nuclear disarmament talks.

A majority of job-seekers in the finance sector would consider taking a pay cut since their job searches are taking longer than initially expected, according to a survey by an online career management company.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who helped steer the U.S. economy through its darkest days since the Great Depression, was named Time magazine's 2009 Person of the Year on Wednesday.

The landlord and tenants of a vast New York City apartment complex have reached an interim rental agreement for 4,000 apartments hit with illegal rent increases, attorneys for the two sides said on Monday.

U.S. mortgage applications nudged higher last week, marking a third straight weekly rise, driven by a slight uptick in demand for home refinancing loans, an industry group reported on Wednesday.

Wall Street was set to rise at the open on Wednesday after data showed consumer prices did not overheat in November, quelling inflation worries ahead of a statement from the Federal Reserve that will be scrutinized for clues on the state of the world's largest economy.

Detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was briefly allowed out of her home on Wednesday by the military government to meet senior members of her party and one said they had agreed to changes in the party leadership.

New housing starts rose but were lower than expected in November as construction activity for single family dwellings increased only marginally, a government report showed on Wednesday.

World leaders took the stage at the largest ever climate talks on Wednesday as ministers scrambled to rescue troubled negotiations on a pact to avoid dangerous global warming.

A senior Iranian oil official said on Wednesday a move by U.S. lawmakers to target the Islamic Republic with fuel sanctions would not cause any problems because Tehran had many suppliers.

Factory Push for White House; Fed's Market Impact; Citi's Tax Boon

Global equities edged higher on Wednesday, led by banks after a report that global banking regulators are eyeing delaying the implementation of new capital rules, while gold and crude prices were also in demand.

The United States must improve the business climate for manufacturers and not place undue regulatory burdens on the sector, the White House said on Wednesday ahead of a meeting focused on the industry.

The United States must improve the business climate for manufacturers and not place undue regulatory burdens on the sector, the White House said on Wednesday ahead of a meeting focused on the industry.

EU antitrust regulators accepted on Wednesday Microsoft's offer to allow users in Europe choose rival Internet browsers, ending a decade-long dispute and averting a possible fine for the company.

U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday ahead of a statement from the Federal Reserve that will be scrutinized for clues on the state of the world's largest economy.