NEW YORK

Some busy Starbucks coffee shops in New York City have started blocking electrical outlets to discourage laptop users from hogging space, and to free up seats for other customers.

Executives at a concrete testing company were arraigned on Thursday on charges of falsifying thousands of reports on public and private projects, including the new Yankee Stadium and an air-traffic control tower at LaGuardia Airport.

Transocean Ltd (RIGN.VX) (RIG.N), the world's largest offshore drilling contractor, raised its 2011 tax rate guidance for the second time due to a shift in the regional mix of its working rigs.

Los Angeles' restless and ever-changing food scene is hard to define, but it has forced U.S. diners to rethink their concept of what a restaurant is.

We've talked about the rise of New York as a tech hot spot, but the challenge of attracting good engineering and technical talent remains one of the region's biggest hurdles. Now Next Jump, a New York-based rewards and offers provider, is teaming with the New York Stock Exchange to host a major engineering-only recruiting event on the floor of the NYSE.

South African government bonds extended a recent rally on Thursday, gaining sharply on the back of worries about the global economy that saw investors running to safer assets.

Business focused social media network Linked In posted profits ahead of projections, likely easing fears that the company was overhyped after its hot IPO this year.

President Barack Obama has asked Timothy Geithner to stay on as Treasury secretary and a decision is expected soon, officials said on Thursday.

Paul McCartney, addressing reporters at the Television Critics Association event live via satellite from a concert tour stop in Cincinnati, confirmed that he has been drawn into the hacking scandal that has enveloped News Corp. and led to the closing of the British tabloid News of the World.

Investors fled Wall Street in the worst stock-market selloff since the middle of the financial crisis in early 2009 in what has turned into a full-fledged correction.The Dow and the S&P tumbled more than 4 percent on Thursday and the Nasdaq lost 5 percent on fear the United States is staring at another recession and that Europe's sovereign debt crisis is swallowing two of its largest economies.

Kate Middleton makes her way onto Vanity Fair?s 72nd Annual International 'Best-Dressed' List this year, making the fashion cut for the second time in 3 years. Middleton's inaugural appearance came in 2008, and a whirlwind of fashion successes followed.

The Tea Party-swayed Republican Party won the U.S. debt deal crisis: federal spending was cut substantially. But amid a weak economy, did the coalition cut spending too soon?

New York City has announced its plan to spend $127 million in public and private funds on the launch of a major policy initiative to help the minority youth in the city.Mayor Michael Bloomberg and hedge fund manager George Soros will each donate $30 million according to the mayor's office.

President Barack Obama turned 50 on Thursday. But the celebration was muted by a big decline on Wall Street. Some economists are suggesting the U.S. is just "one shock" away from another recession, and questions are being peppered to Obama about his plans for turning around the U.S. economy.

iPad Head Girl hits the Big Apple

The Bank of New York Mellon announced Thursday that it will start charging large customers a small fee for taking their deposits. Starting August 8, clients with $50 million or more will be charged 0.13 percentage points for balances 110 percent above their average balance.

AT&T Inc said some New York customers had voice service outages on Thursday morning because of a software problem that occurred during "routine maintenance activities."

The man behind the "Sex and the City" TV series and movies said on Wednesday he is not working on a possible "prequel" and has no interest in one, quashing media speculation about a new chapter in the hugely successful franchise.

Faye Dunaway, the Oscar-winning actress, said on Wednesday that she intends to give up her rent-stabilized New York City apartment after her landlord filed papers in housing court Tuesday to evict her for not actually living there.

Charles "Bubba" Smith, a 66-year-old actor who was well-known for his performance in Police Academy shot in 1984,,was found dead at home in L.A. on Wednesday.

Charles "Bubba" Smith, a 66-year-old actor who was well-known for his performance in Police Academy shot in 1984,,was found dead at home in L.A. on Wednesday.