UNITED STATES

Asian stocks hit their highest level in 13 months on Thursday on signs the global economic recovery could be strengthening, while the dollar slid to a fresh one-year low as investor optimism eroded its safe haven appeal.

Japan's new prime minister got some good news on his first full day in office on Thursday as the central bank said the struggling economy was showing signs of recovery from its worst recession since World War Two.

Asian stocks hit their highest level in 13 months on Thursday and the Australian dollar surged after U.S. economic data raised hopes that the global economic recovery was strengthening.

Oil was steady above $72 a barrel on Thursday, taking a breather after a rise of more than 2 percent a day earlier, following a larger-than-expected fall in U.S. crude oil inventories.

Google Inc and a group of authors and publishers are in talks with the U.S. Justice Department about possibly modifying an agreement struck last October to publish millions of books online, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

Google Inc and a group of authors and publishers are in talks with the U.S. Justice Department about possibly modifying an agreement struck last October to publish millions of books online, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

The Australian Dollar opens sharply higher on Thursday at 0.8725 on greenback weakness and a continuation of the recent shift into high-yielding assets.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology said on Wednesday that its endowment shrank 20.7 percent in its last fiscal year as its investments were badly battered by the financial crisis.

Ratcheting up pressure on the largest U.S. bank, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has subpoenaed five current or former Bank of America Corp directors to learn what they knew about Merrill Lynch & Co's problems as the companies prepared to merge.

Twitter is closing a round of funding that will value the company known for its 140-character, stream-of-consciousness blogs at $1 billion, technology news site TechCrunch reported on Wednesday.

The government will have another month to seek an indictment against or reach a settlement with a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc programmer accused of stealing trade secrets.

EU antitrust regulators are in touch with Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc about their search engine deal, a source familiar with the situation said, with the talks seen more as exploratory than indicating any competition concerns.

Leading U.S. cable operator Comcast Corp said on Wednesday it plans to offer subscribers the option to watch their favorite TV shows on mobile devices through its new wireless Internet service.

Chrysler Group said on Wednesday it would offer leases on its newest vehicles just over a year after sharply tighter credit markets and plunging vehicle values forced it to retreat from the market.

Fresh from a visit to Moscow, a gleeful Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez pored over diagrams and charts showing his latest arms purchases.

Canada has decided against launching a review of the $1.13 billion sale of the wireless assets of bankrupt Nortel Networks to Sweden's Ericsson, Industry Minister Tony Clement said on Wednesday.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he would not make a swift decision on sending more U.S. forces to Afghanistan and set out broad goals for Kabul and neighboring Pakistan to rein in militants and corruption that critics dismissed as vague.

Chrysler Group said on Wednesday it would offer leases on its newest vehicles just over a year after sharply tighter credit markets and plunging vehicle values forced it to retreat from the market.

Exxon Mobil Corp's idled 115,000 barrel-per-day gasoline-making fluid catalytic cracker will likely be down for nearly two months for planned maintenance at its 562,500 bpd Baytown, Texas, refinery, traders said Wednesday.

Banks, pension funds and other investment groups representing more than $13 trillion in assets called for a strong global agreement on climate policy on Wednesday, saying it would lead to a flood of investment into the low-carbon economy.

U.S. industrial production rose for a second straight month in August, reinforcing views the nation's recession had ended, while a spike in gasoline costs pushed consumer prices higher.