UNITED STATES

General Motors Co said on Tuesday it planned to restore about 3,000 jobs at U.S. assembly plants and related facilities and is getting set to raise North American production by up to 45 percent next year.

Cost-savings talks between Ford Motor Co's (F.N) Canadian subsidiary and the Canadian Auto Workers union continued on Wednesday, but the union said Ford had so far failed to address its key issue.

AutoNation Inc.(AN.N), the top U.S. auto dealership chain, is ready to go on offense by acquiring new stores and buying more vehicles as it bets that the battered U.S. auto market is headed for a long and steady recovery, the company's chief executive said.

Appeals court judges hearing the latest round of a long-running patent fight between Microsoft Corp and Toronto technology company i4i on Wednesday questioned a lower court's calculation that the software giant owed $290 million in damages to the smaller firm.

Muammar Gaddafi, in his first address to the United Nations in 40 years as Libya's autocratic ruler, on Wednesday accused major powers on the Security Council of betraying the principles of the U.N. charter.

Actress Mackenzie Phillips said in a memoir published on Wednesday that she had an incestuous affair for years with her father John Phillips, the late singer with 1960s band The Mamas & the Papas.

President Barack Obama pressed world leaders on Wednesday to help confront challenges ranging from the war in Afghanistan to nuclear standoffs with Iran and North Korea instead of expecting the United States to do it all alone.

Actor John Travolta acknowledged Wednesday that his son Jett, 16 who died in January, had autism and suffered from a seizure disorder.

So you're moving from the United States to another country and the most important thing you can think of is how you can watch the new season of American Idol?

President Barack Obama delivered his first speech on Wednesday to the United Nations General Assembly.

As of September 18, Baker Hughes Incorporated reports 293 rigs drilling for oil and 705 rigs drilling for natural gas.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve said economic activity has picked up following a severe downturn, an assessment that suggested the outlook for corporate profits was brightening.

Warner Chilcott Plc, a maker of contraceptives, said privately held Leo Pharma would re-acquire the U.S. rights to its topical psoriasis treatments for about $1 billion in cash, sending its shares up 4 percent.

General Mills Inc posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit and raised its full-year earnings forecast, helped by strong sales of products like its breakfast cereals in the United States, sending its shares up 4.3 percent.

Oil dropped 4 percent to below $69 a barrel on Wednesday after U.S. government data showed a big jump in crude and products stockpiles, stirring concerns about demand in the world's top energy consumer.

Julius Baer's U.S. asset management arm Artio Global Investors Inc is set to price its U.S. initial public offering after Wall Street closes on Wednesday in what is likely to be a test of investors' appetite for new financial issues.

AutoZone Inc (AZO.N), the largest U.S. auto-parts retail chain, posted quarterly results on Wednesday roughly in-line with analysts' expectations as same-store sales growth slowed from the prior quarter.

The U.S. credit card charge-off rate rose to a record high in August, as more Americans lost their jobs, Moody's Investors Service said on Wednesday, in another sign consumers remain under stress.

The Obama administration's plan to merge bank regulatory agencies will not solve future problems or promote efficiency in financial markets, the regulator of U.S. thrifts said on Wednesday.

Ford Motor Co (F.N) will start production of a small car in India early next year, and its chief executive said the U.S. market had was showing signs of recovery and he expected industry sales to rise in the next two years.

Oil dropped more than 3.5 percent to near $69 a barrel on Wednesday after U.S. government data showed a surprise jump in crude and products stockpiles, which stirred concerns about demand in the world's top energy consumer.