UNITED STATES

Chrysler LLC will file for bankruptcy on Thursday after talks to restructure its debt with lenders broke down, U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday.

U.S. lawmakers on Thursday will consider legislation that would allow the federal government to override state objections to establishing corridors for new electricity transmission lines.

Walt Disney Co has reached a deal to become a partner in the popular video website Hulu founded by NBC Universal and News Corp.

Facebook becomes the latest social-networking site to monitor the spread of swine flu, tracking the occurrence of flu-related words and phrases in the United States and in Europe.

Exxon Mobil Corp disappointed investors who in the past week had grown accustomed to energy companies reporting better-than-expected profits despite the collapse in crude oil prices since July.

Chrysler LLC -- battered for the past two years by disappearing global auto sales and the credit crisis -- filed for bankruptcy on Thursday and announced an industry-changing deal with Fiat after talks to restructure its debt broke down.

Chrysler LLC will file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the Obama administration confirmed on Thursday, after the struggling car manufacturer failed to reach a deal with its creditors.

Dow Chemical Co posted a surprise first-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by cost reductions, gains in its agricultural segment and lower raw material costs, sending its shares up as much as 20 percent.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment aid fell unexpectedly last week, suggesting the pace of layoffs was easing, even as benefit rolls in mid-April swelled to another record high.

The Nasdaq rose on Thursday while the Dow industrials and S&P 500 declined as upbeat corporate profits and reassuring job market data offset investors' anxiety about Chrysler's bankruptcy filing.

U.S. securities regulators charged an investment firm and one of its executives in connection with a multimillion-dollar kickback scheme involving New York's largest pension fund, the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday.

Oil fell on Thursday as rising inventories and Chrysler's bankruptcy filing weighed on markets.

Chrysler LLC filed for bankruptcy on Thursday after talks to restructure its debt with lenders broke down.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Thursday he would tell his family to stay off planes or subways to avoid swine flu, prompting his office to go into damage control and the travel industry to complain.

Stocks pared gains on Thursday after an Obama administration official said beleaguered U.S. automaker Chrysler LLC will file for bankruptcy protection in New York almost immediately.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday pressed Congress to quickly approve $83.4 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and for aid to Pakistan.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment aid fell unexpectedly last week, suggesting the pace of layoffs was easing, even as benefit rolls in mid-April swelled to another record high.

Chrysler LLC is expected to file for bankruptcy on Thursday after talks to restructure its debt with lenders broke down, a U.S. government official said.

North Korea on Wednesday threatened a new nuclear test unless the U.N. Security Council apologized for tightening sanctions, confirming some analysts' fears that Pyongyang is determined to build an atomic arsenal.

China said on Thursday the possibility of North Korea conducting a second nuclear test was hypothetical, so it could not say how it would affect relations.

Walt Disney Co has reached a deal to become a partner in the popular Hulu video website founded by NBC Universal and News Corp, the media company said on Thursday.