UNITED STATES

The U.S. economy contracted in the second quarter at a slower pace than previously thought, while a surprise slide in manufacturing activity in the country's Midwest region in September pointed to a patchy recovery from recession.

The U.S. economy contracted in the second quarter at a slower pace than previously thought, while a surprise slide in manufacturing activity in the country's Midwest region in September pointed to a patchy recovery from recession.

American First Lady Michelle Obama said on Wednesday she was excited to be in the Danish capital and was ready to do a lot of work in support of Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics ahead of Friday's vote.

Microsoft did not infringe a patent held by anti-piracy software maker Uniloc Inc, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday, nullifying an earlier $388 million (242 million pound) damages award against Microsoft.

A congressional panel will expand its examination of credit rating agencies to look at why U.S. securities regulators ignored warnings from former Moody's Corp executives about the company's weak compliance department and ratings process.

Iran said on Wednesday it viewed pending nuclear talks with six world powers as an opportunity and a test, and the United States said an extraordinarily difficult process was starting with more meetings likely.

German police said Wednesday they had broken up an international child pornography network that exchanged pedophile images on the Internet and sexually abused children.

U.S. stocks dropped on Wednesday, after an unexpected contraction in Midwest business activity sounded a dour note at the end of a strong quarter.

U.S. President Barack Obama announced a plan on Wednesday to spend $5 billion to create new jobs for medical and scientific research, medical supplies and improved laboratory capacity.

Chinese leaders have told their diplomats to seek greater political and economic influence, changing tack from the low profile they relied on for decades to allay foreign concerns about the country's growing might.

The following are planned mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:

Oil rose above $68 per barrel on Wednesday, buoyed by a drop in U.S. gasoline inventories and a weak dollar.

Lawyers for Oscar-winning film director Roman Polanski lodged an appeal with a Swiss court on Tuesday against his arrest on a U.S. extradition warrant to face sentence for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

French food group Danone settled a legal row with China's top beverage producer Wahaha by selling out of their joint venture, as analysts speculated Danone is looking to the United States for a big acquisition.

More than 5,800 people were killed and 515,000 injured in U.S. car crashes last year tied to distracted driving, according to data released on Wednesday.

Environmental software company Village Green Global Inc is joining the dash in the market to track carbon footprints, partnering with software giant Microsoft Corp to capture the business of cities and local governments.

U.S. holiday sales in 2009 will likely be almost flat with the anemic showing of a year ago, a new survey predicted, following in a line of cautious early forecasts for the period.

U.S. stocks fell sharply on Wednesday as an unexpected fall in business activity in the U.S. Midwest sparked worries about the pace of economic recovery.

Freddie Mac said on Wednesday it plans to sell about $1 billion of multifamily mortgage-backed securities next week and expects new issues at least quarterly.

The number of home foreclosures in process and delinquent mortgages rose during the second quarter, while home retention actions also rose, U.S. bank regulators said on Wednesday.

The U.S. economy contracted at slower pace than previously thought in the second quarter as improved consumer and business spending cushioned the impact of a record decline in inventories, according to a government report on Wednesday.