UNITED STATES

Revitalized credit markets have cast a funding lifeline to U.S. companies and banks, but many companies are still hoarding their cash, a practice that may delay a full-fledged recovery.

Central banks that worked hand in hand with governments to contain the financial crisis may succumb to political pressure and delay unwinding ultra-loose monetary policy, risking igniting inflation and speculative bubbles.

AIG , the insurer that received a huge government bail out, said on Friday it is paying $12.1 million in retention awards to some top executives after U.S. pay czar Kenneth Feinberg gave it the green light.

Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke, seeking policy solutions to manage financial risks as the nation exits a severe economic crisis, on Friday stressed the critical need for Congress take action to tighten finance laws and give greater powers to the government's financial supervisors.

Iran ignored a U.N. deadline on Friday to respond to an international draft deal for it to cut an atomic stockpile the West fears could be used for weapons, and challenged the basis of the pact.

U.S. stocks fell on Friday, with the major indexes slipping for the first week in three, as industrial companies' weak results overshadowed robust earnings from tech and retail heavy-weights.

British R&B singer Jay Sean's single Down returned to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 on Thursday, just a week after Britney Spears' No. 1 debut bumped him to runner-up status.

President Barack Obama said on Friday he saw consensus building in the U.S. Congress on climate change and energy legislation that is considered critical to international talks on a new global warming pact.

IFC Films has acquired U.S. rights to writer-director Ruba Nadda's Cairo Time, starring Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddig.

Sales of previously-owned U.S. homes jumped to a two-year high last month, according to data on Friday, though the looming expiry of a tax incentive for first-time home buyers was a major factor spurring sales.

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes jumped to a two-year high last month, according to data on Friday, though the looming expiry of a tax incentive for first-time home buyers was a major factor spurring sales.

AT&T may lose its exclusive deal with Apple for iPhone, which lifted its third-quarter profit with 3.2 million activations over the period, AT&T Mobility CEO intimated on Thursday during a conference call with analysts.

New York gold futures ended lower in choppy trade on Friday, reversing gains from earlier in the session as the dollar rebounded against a basket of major currencies after an optimistic U.S. housing report and bleak U.K. economic data.

Benchmark sterling interbank lending rates paused at 5-week highs on Friday after news that Britain's economy unexpectedly contracted again, while abundant amounts of liquidity kept euro and dollar rates pinned at record lows.

Ivanka Trump is getting ready to say I do to her beau Jared Kushner on Sunday.

Tickets to four of country singer Taylor Swift's 2010 tour dates sold out in two minutes after going on sale on Friday, her publicists said.

Tickets for 15 U.S. shows of Taylor Swift's upcoming 2010 Fearless tour sold out within minutes, her publicist said Friday.

U.S. stocks fell on Friday, with the Dow slipping below the 10,000 mark, as weak results from industrial companies overshadowed robust earnings from tech heavy-weights.

Film director Roman Polanski could face two years in prison if extradited to the United States after fleeing sentencing in California on child sex charges in 1978, the Swiss justice ministry said on Friday.

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives struggled on Friday to agree on which version of a government-run health insurance plan to include in a reform bill, but said one was certain to be in the final legislation.

The U.S. futures regulator urged Congress to require thousands of non-major financial firms and funds to use clearinghouses to reduce the risk of another market collapse as part of its reform of the $450 trillion swaps market.