UNITED STATES

U.S. telephone giant AT&T Inc. risks losing customers to cable rivals unless it builds a fiber network closer to customers than currently planned for its video and Internet services, analysts said.

More than 20,000 blue-collar workers at General Motors Corp. have accepted buyout offers, surpassing the automaker's internal target, with a month to go before the deadline, the Detroit News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the situation.

The U.S. economy grew at a quick 5.3 percent pace in the first quarter of the year, more quickly than the past 2 1/2 years.

Along with rising gasoline prices, Americans are going to have to deal this summer with higher costs for cooling their homes.

Worldwide output at Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Japan's second-largest auto maker, plunged by a fifth in April, the company said on Wednesday, a drop that reflects planned inventory cutbacks but also falls in sales.

Consumer sales of diamond jewelry so far this year are stronger than in 2005, but the cutting and manufacturing sector is sluggish partly due to a De Beers price hike on rough diamonds in February, officials of the diamond giant said on Tuesday.

Almost everywhere investors turn, signs of inflationary pressures make it less likely the Federal Reserve will pause from two years of interest rate increases.

DaimlerChrysler could face a $640 million fine as a result of a bribery probe by the U.S. justice department and the U.S. stock market regulator, German weekly Der Spiegel said on Saturday.

U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Friday he was confident the Federal Reserve will protect growth by keeping inflation in check, and denied the Bush administration was softening its strong-dollar policy.

Insurer Royal & Sun Alliance is being sued in Britain for about $1 billion by General Motors, the U.S. auto giant, in a long-running dispute about personal injury claims linked to asbestos, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.

European generic drug firms hope to lead the world in developing cheap copies of biotech medicines, but industry experts see hurdles ahead and warn that carving out a major market will not happen overnight.

These are good times for diversified U.S. manufacturers. So why aren't they doing more big mergers and acquisitions?

The drop in oil and metal prices this week has raised fears that a speculative bubble in commodities is bursting, but giant U.S. fund manager PIMCO says fundamentals will hold up the asset class.

Northrop Gumman Corp announced on Thursday that it has promoted its chief financial officer Wesley Bush to the post of president, assisting the current chief executive officer Ronald Sugar.

Internet media giant Yahoo Inc. plans to introduce its revamped Web search advertising system in the third quarter, but expects no financial contribution in 2006, executives said on Wednesday.

Being diversified isn't as easy as it used to be, but it's more important than ever.

The number of Asian-owned businesses grew 24 percent from 1997 to 2002, according to a new report by the US. Census Bureau.

Boeing Co. plans to pay $615 million to settle a U.S. Justice Department suit over procurement violations, according to a report on the Wall Street Journal's Web site on Monday.

Mobile phone group Vodafone could sell its stake in its joint venture with Verizon Communications for about $48 billion (25 billion pounds) before the end of the month, according to the Observer newspaper.

One of the winningest mutual fund managers ever is warning investors to back off of recent popular buys like commodities and emerging market stocks, and embrace old-fashioned blue chips.

Time Warner announced on Friday that it has completely acquired the Courtroom Television Network LLC, buying out Liberty Networks 50% stake for $735 million.