UNITED STATES

Very few U.S. mutual funds put their investors first, and funds from big ones such as Fidelity Investments and Federated Investors lag in governance rankings because of weaker boards or corporate culture, a study found.

The housing market will stay in a slump until buyers feel more confident about the economy and their own finances, and sellers are ready to accept more realistic prices.

KB Home on Thursday posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss on write-downs for land values, and revenue fell 32 percent as the swelling supply of homes and tighter mortgage standards kept potential buyers on the sidelines.

Middle-aged workers counting the days until they can retire may not be eager to pursue a hobby, spend time with family or even take a long holiday -- they could be depressed.

Google Inc is planning to expand its staff by a third, with most of the new hirings in Europe, the Financial Times reported on its Website.

Seeking to narrow the gap with Google, Microsoft Corp unveiled a retooled Web search service that aims to deliver more relevant results and combines text, video and other information onto a single page.

World stocks powered ahead on Thursday and the dollar hit another low against the euro as investors banked on more U.S. interest rate cuts and at least temporarily set aside gnawing fears about global credit.

Pakistan's military leader, President Pervez Musharraf, filed nomination papers on Thursday to run for re-election on October 6, while the Supreme Court prepared to rule on the army chief's eligibility to stand.

Sales of new single-family U.S. homes fell 8.3 percent in August to a 795,000 annual sales pace, its slowest rate in over seven years, while the inventory of homes dropped, a Commerce Department report showed on Thursday.

The White House demanded on Thursday that Myanmar's military government immediately halt an intensifying crackdown by security forces against protesters mounting the country's largest uprising in 20 years.

Troops cleared protesters from the streets of central Yangon on Thursday, giving them 10 minutes to leave or be shot as the Myanmar junta intensified a two-day crackdown on the largest uprising in 20 years.

The U.S.-sponsored meeting of major emitting countries is aimed at supporting and accelerating the U.N. process on climate change, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insisted on Thursday.

Healthy business investment helped the U.S. economy grow at a revised 3.8 percent annual rate in the second quarter, slightly less than previously thought because of brisker demand for foreign goods and services, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.

The U.S. economy grew at a slightly slower but brisk 3.8 percent annual rate in the second quarter, and fresh signs of a surprisingly buoyant job market emerged last week, government reports on Thursday showed.

Usually, when the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates, it's a good time to buy bonds. Folks who had money stashed in bonds this summer, while the stock market was doing its tumultuous thing, are pretty glad they did. And the financial services industry has made it easier than ever to buy individual bonds or baskets of bonds at rock-bottom prices.

Israel killed nine Palestinians and injured 20 in military operations in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, and threatened a major ground sweep of the Hamas-run territory to stem cross-border rocket fire.

Credit rating agencies drew more fire on Wednesday as a powerful U.S. regulator said it was investigating if their judgment had been colored by money from customers selling subprime mortgages.

Nasdaq Stock Market Inc and Borse Dubai, aiming to muscle out potential rival bidders, boosted an offer for OMX to $4.9 billion on Wednesday and pushed close to a majority stake in the Nordic exchange group.Borse Dubai is offering 265 Swedish crowns ($40.57) per share, up 15 percent from a previous offer of 230 crowns. It has now secured 47.6 percent of OMX in stock or options for shares.

The United States rejected on Wednesday Iran's claim that its nuclear program is a "closed" matter and said it would keep pushing for fresh U.N. Security Council sanctions that are resisted by China and Russia.

Cisco Systems Inc said on Tuesday that it will cooperate with the Haier Group, China's largest manufacturer of household appliances, to build networking systems for home and individual users, as well as expanding the Chinese and international markets.

New orders for costly U.S.-made manufactured goods dropped at the sharpest rate in seven months during August, according to a government report which added to signs growth was slowing in the third quarter.