UNITED STATES

U.S. stocks dropped on Thursday after the latest jobs and manufacturing data extended a string of lackluster economic figures and raised concerns about the strength of the economic recovery.

The United States should provide information about top militants in Pakistan, a government minister said on Thursday, as Washington stepped up pressure on Islamabad to go after Taliban leaders.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has fined discount retailer Target Corp (TGT.N) $600,000 for allegedly violating a federal lead paint ban on toys.

U.S. farmers could grow enough corn to produce 25 billion gallons of ethanol in 2030, twice as much as this year's target of 12 billion gallons, said the leader of a U.S. corn group on Thursday.

Fiat SpA (FIA.MI) will rush the first all-new Chrysler model to the U.S. market by the end of 2011 and create a new Ram brand for its truck line under a revival plan for Chrysler that will be shown to the U.S. government this week, people involved in the discussions said.

FPL Group Inc's green-energy unit on Thursday said it agreed to buy three wind projects from Babcock & Brown Power for about $352 million.

The United States said it held the highest level direct talks with Iran in three decades on Thursday to try to put to rest Western suspicions Tehran is planning a nuclear bomb.

Cuban exiles, who had previously opposed a concert last month in Havana by Colombian singer Juanes, ended up mostly backing the event after Juanes spoke out in favor of uniting Cubans, a new poll showed.

The International Monetary Fund on Thursday declared that a global economic recovery has begun led by Asia, also cautioning that the strength of the rebound depended on a rebalancing of global growth.

Cisco has agreed to buy Norwegian videoconferencing company Tandberg for $3 billion in cash, its latest big bet that video will drive demand for its core data transmission gear.

U.S. stocks fell further on Thursday as data showed the manufacturing sector grew in September at a slower pace than anticipated and weighed on investor sentiment.

Pending sales of existing U.S. homes rose sharply in August, for a seventh consecutive month of gains, reaching the highest since March 2007, data from a real estate trade group showed on Thursday.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform an entire album from their back catalog each night of the five-night run at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in October, the group announced late Monday night.

A federal judge said Bank of America Corp may pursue a lawsuit accusing former Bear Stearns Cos managers Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin of lying in an attempt to prop up two failing hedge funds.

Activity in global capital markets may be flat or even lower next year as the world economy struggles to pull out of recession, according to a survey released Thursday by RBC Capital Markets.

Government funds propped up an ailing European auto industry in September, in contrast to an expected slump in sales in the United States after its cash for clunkers scheme ran out of money.

John C. Reilly is joining Ed Helms in the road-trip comedy Cedar Rapids.

Contrary to how tabloids portray the actress, Megan Fox says she is really not wild and crazy and instead has a subdued life and rarely leaves her house.

U.S. stocks dipped more than 1 percent on Thursday after the latest jobs and manufacturing data sparked worries about the pace of economic recovery, with technology shares leading losses.

Rather than throwing that bag or hosepipe into the recycle bin, how about turning it into a belt or a shower curtain, joining a growing band of upcyclers?

Ameriprise Financial Inc's purchase of an asset management business from Bank of America Corp contains a key feature -- access to the bank's massive distribution system.