UNITED STATES

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was invited to Hong Kong as a keynote speaker for an Asian investment conference.

Oil major BP Plc said it has made an oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, which analysts believe could contain over 1 billion barrels of recoverable reserves, reaffirming the Gulf's strategic importance to the industry.

Is it a book? Is it a movie? Is it a website?Actually it's all three. Anthony Zuiker, creator of the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation U.S. television series, is releasing what he calls a digi-novel combining all three media -- and giving a jolt to traditional book publishing.

U.S. copper futures slumped to a 1-1/2 week low Wednesday morning, as further losses in global equity markets overnight continued to undermine confidence in the economic recovery and weak U.S. jobs data added to the weight of the move.

Customers filled more prescriptions at Walgreen Co. but continued to shy away from general merchandise, with sales at stores open at least a year up just 1.9 percent in August and 2.1 percent in the drugstore chain's recently completed fiscal year.

Government incentives that pay motorists 2,500 euros ($3,590) to trade in old cars for new gave Germany's auto market a final boost in August, lifting registrations 28 percent year on year.

Oil rose above $68 a barrel on Wednesday in choppy trade after U.S. government inventory data showed a sharp drop in gasoline inventories but a lower than expected decline in crude stocks.

Pfizer Inc agreed on Wednesday to plead guilty to a criminal charge relating to promotions of its now-withdrawn Bextra pain medicine and will pay a record $2.3 billion to settle allegations it improperly marketed 13 medicines.

Stocks were mostly flat on Wednesday after three days of declines, as investors digested disappointing reports on the labor market and factory orders that increased worry the rally may have run too far ahead of the economy.

Pfizer Inc agreed on Wednesday to plead guilty to a criminal charge relating to promotions of its now-withdrawn Bextra pain medicine and will pay a record $2.3 billion to settle allegations it improperly marketed 13 medicines.

President Barack Obama is completing work on a new strategy to counter opposition to a U.S. healthcare overhaul and outlining specific areas for compromise, a senior Obama official said on Wednesday.

BMW (BMWG.DE), the world's largest premium carmaker, expects to post U.S. sales growth in the last four months of 2009 as the economy shows signs of coming out of the worst part of the recession, the head of its U.S. operations said on Tuesday.

Stocks edged lower on Wednesday, beginning a fourth day of declines, after disappointing reports on the labor market and factory orders increased fears the rally may have run too far ahead of the economy.

Country singer LeAnn Rimes, 27, is divorcing her husband of seven years Dean Sheremet amid allegations that she is having an affair with actor Eddie Cibrian, her co-star in the film

The bursting of America's housing bubble in the summer of 2006 triggered the global financial crisis and recession. The sharp fall in house prices that followed caused a dramatic downturn in household wealth, leading to lower consumer spending and an overall fall in GDP. By now, wealth in the form of owner-occupied housing is down about 30%, equivalent to a loss of more than $6 trillion of househo...

The European Commission could decide to delay Oracle Corp's $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems Inc with less than 48 hours to go before a deadline, two sources familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.

Alcatel-Lucent's research and development strengths and broad customer base make it an attractive takeover candidate for a rival, but it has to clean up its operations before a deal is likely.

Canada's Superior Plus Corp said it agreed to buy Pennsylvania-based Sunoco Inc's retail heating oil and propane distribution business for about $82.5 million in cash, to expand its fuel distribution business in the United States.

Manufacturers from several countries including the United States produced some upbeat news on Tuesday, indicating that a recovery from the deepest global downturn since World War Two is slowly gaining traction.

Auto sales in Canada fell for a 10th straight month in August, industry figures showed on Tuesday, though Ford managed to maintain the sales and market-share momentum that it gained in the middle of the industry crisis.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Wednesday that his government had put no pressure on Scotland to release the Lockerbie bomber early to improve Britain's trade links with Libya.