UNITED STATES

After a landmark win in the House of Representatives, President Barack Obama's push for healthcare reform faces a difficult path in the Senate amid divisions in his own Democratic Party on how to proceed.

Volkswagen's premium carmaker Audi (NSUG.DE) tweaked its 2009 sales target higher by some 5,000 units to 925,000 vehicles, it said on Monday after revealing volumes edged 0.4 percent up in October.

Millionaires down on their luck now have a place to sell their mega-yachts, super-cars and family jewels without having to resort to the pawn shop.

General Motors Co said on Monday its China vehicle sales in October more than doubled from a year earlier, continuing a string of monthly sales records since the start of the year due to Beijing's stimulus policies.

The global car market has bottomed and is on track for 60 million units sales this year and next, Carlos Ghosn, who heads Japan's Nissan Motor Co and France's Renault SA, said on Sunday.

A suicide bomber in an auto-rickshaw blew himself up in Pakistan on Monday, killing three people while four soldiers were killed in South Waziristan when militants struck back in their captured headquarters.

Over 1,000 Toyota and Lexus owners have reported sudden, spontaneous acceleration of their vehicles since 2001, including crashes blamed for 19 deaths, far more than earlier disclosed, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.

Myanmar's detained opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, expressed hope on Monday that U.S. engagement with the county's military rulers could spur democratic reforms, her lawyer said.

Britney Spears has done it again, hitting the headlines during her first Australian tour over a row about lip-synching and a lacklustre performance that her tour promoter said had left her extremely upset.

President Barack Obama was due to hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Monday amid floundering U.S. efforts to jump-start stalled Middle East peace talks.

China has executed nine people convicted of violent crimes during ethnic rioting in the far western Xinjiang region in July, the first to be put to death over the unrest, the China News Service said Monday.

Iraqis will vote in a general election on January 21 now that parliament has passed a law needed for a vote to take place, the head of the country's electoral commission said on Monday.

Automobile output in Brazil rose sharply in October as factories ramped up production after a slump the previous month, the national automakers' association Anfavea said on Monday.

People who think they may have H1N1 flu need to stay away from work, avoid sneezing on their spouses and children and now, they have someone else to worry about infecting too -- their pets.

The Jonas Brothers are keepers at Disney Channel.

Oil rose well over a dollar to more than $79 a barrel on Monday after Hurricane Ida forced the shut in of U.S. oil and gas production and Group of 20 talks sent equities up and the dollar down.

Injecting tiny polymer spheres into rats right after a spinal cord injury helped the animals recover movement and prevented secondary nerve damage that often follows such injuries, U.S. researchers said on Sunday.

Morgan Stanley is looking to sell its 34 percent stake in investment bank China International Capital Corp, the U.S. bank's China chief executive said on Monday.

Morgan Stanley is looking to sell its 34 percent stake in investment bank China International Capital Corp, the U.S. bank's China chief executive said on Monday.

U.S. retailers are poised to defy gloom this week as earnings expectations have improved, but the big test will be what they say about holiday shopping.

Wall Street was set to open higher on Monday on renewed risk-taking sentiment after the Group of 20 pledged to maintain economic stimulus in place until a recovery was reassured.