UNITED STATES

Japan's Nikkei fell for a ninth straight day on Monday as concerns about company earnings outlooks weighed on Asian stocks, while oil languished near a six-week low as faith in a rapid economic recovery faded.

LG Electronics Inc, the world's No. 3 handset maker, is launching an online store for mobile phone applications Tuesday with an initial focus on Asia and aspirations for a more global reach by year-end.

Lance Armstrong is leaving open the possibility of riding again at the Tour de France.

Delay in UBS tax case; CIT Scrambles; Too early for new stimulus talk

U.S. lawmakers on Sunday criticized a plan to raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for a $1 trillion healthcare overhaul and warned Congress was unlikely to meet President Barack Obama's goal of passing the measure by August.

Oil prices steadied at just above $60 a barrel on Monday, pausing from last week's losses, amid growing concerns about the pace of a global economic recovery and its impact on world energy demand.

Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings Co and smaller unlisted rival Suntory Holdings Ltd are in talks to merge and create one of the world's largest beverage and food firms, the Nikkei business daily reported on Monday.

Heavy clouds near the Kennedy Space Center forced NASA to call off Sunday's launch of the space shuttle Endeavour on a mission to deliver a Japanese-built porch to the International Space Station.

Bruno, British satirist Sacha Baron Cohen's latest subversive outing, narrowly claimed the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office in North America, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.

The United States will spend another $1 billion on ingredients for an H1N1 vaccine, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Sunday.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke visit their ancestral homeland this week to press China to join with the United States in stepped-up efforts to fight global warming.

For President Barack Obama, failure on healthcare is not an option.

The U.S. government and UBS AG asked a federal judge on Sunday to delay the start of a closely-watched trial, as they seek to resolve their dispute over U.S. demands for the identities of thousands of wealthy Americans suspected of using the Swiss bank to dodge taxes.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is considering whether to appoint a criminal prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration's interrogation practices involving the CIA, and is expected to make a decision in a few weeks, a Justice Department official said on Sunday.

Sonia Sotomayor looks almost certain to emerge from Senate hearings this week poised to become the first Hispanic member of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The U.S. government and UBS AG asked a federal judge on Sunday to delay the start of a closely-watched trial, as they seek to resolve their dispute over U.S. demands for the identities of thousands of wealthy Americans suspected of using the Swiss bank to dodge taxes.

The U.S. government and UBS AG asked a federal judge on Sunday to delay the opening of a closely-watched trial, as they seek to resolve their dispute over U.S. demands for the identities of thousands of wealthy Americans suspected of using the Swiss bank to dodge taxes.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said it was too soon to decide whether the U.S. economy would need the help of a second round of government stimulus to recover from recession.

President Barack Obama said Saturday more time was needed for his $787 billion stimulus package to work, predicting the spending would have a bigger impact on the economy later this year.

The two American journalists who were detained and later convicted in North Korea have not been sent to a prison labor camp and are being kept at a guest house in Pyongyang, political scientist Han S. Park from the University of Georgia said on Saturday, according to the Associated Press.

Walking the pharmacy aisle of a Target Corp discount store, shoppers can't miss the many anti-shoplifting measures: locked display cases, alarm cords around boxes of expensive merchandise, display hangers with locks on the end.