CALIFORNIA

Russell Read does not regret pushing Calpers, the biggest U.S. public pension fund, into investment frontiers that consultants avoid -- and he sees the public pension funds at a crossroads on what to do next.

Veterans who suffered physical injuries or developed post-traumatic stress disorder after combat in Iraq or Afghanistan may suffer recurrent headaches, a new study suggests.

Film director Roman Polanski could face two years in prison if extradited to the United States after fleeing sentencing in California on child sex charges in 1978, the Swiss justice ministry said on Friday.

Russell Read, the former chief investment officer of Calpers, the largest pension fund in the United States, knows his trees.

The United States has formally asked Switzerland to extradite film director Roman Polanski, who fled sentencing in California on child sex charges in 1978, the Swiss justice ministry said on Friday.

A small group of Michael Jackson's dedicated fans have started an awareness campaign surrounding the upcoming movie This is It, saying it covers up the grim reality of the dead pop star's final days.

The idea that hundreds of people would line up outside anything to do with Microsoft would have been far-fetched only a few years ago -- but on Thursday that's what happened when the software giant opened its first retail store in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Microsoft Corp opened the first in a planned chain of stores on Thursday, aiming to match rival Apple Inc's successful foray into retailing.

Results of tens of thousands of flu tests indicate that the pandemic H1N1 virus is spreading from school-aged children to the rest of the U.S. population, makers of the tests say.

While obstacles to short sales remain, real estate practitioners say the process is becoming more efficient. Rather than waiting six months or more to push through a deal, agents say banks are more willing to negotiate prices up front.

Italian officials have ordered an investigation into Facebook groups called Let's Kill Berlusconi, saying they incite hatred and might lead to a real rather than virtual attack on the prime minister.

EBay Inc on Wednesday forecast fourth-quarter profit and revenue at the low end of analysts' estimates, disappointing investors' hopes of a substantial turnaround at its main marketplaces division during the crucial holiday season.

Michigan again had the highest unemployment rate of all U.S. states in September at 15.3 percent, followed by Nevada and Rhode Island, which set records, the Labor Department said on Wednesday.

* First weeks of Madoff's prison life* Drug dealer, child molester, mob boss and spy

Chinese solar panel maker Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd (STP.N) said on Wednesday it will begin shipping a new solar system for large-sized projects next year, betting that the U.S. solar utility market will heat up.

Epic swindler Bernard Madoff shared a prison cell with a 21-year-old drug dealer, and other fellow inmates included a spy and a mob boss when he was sent to prison in July, according to court documents.

U.S. mortgage applications fell for a second straight week, led by a plunge in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates climbed, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

The time for the U.S. Federal Reserve to start pulling back its extensive support for the economy is not close at hand and policymakers have time to decide what sequence of steps they will take, San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen said on Tuesday.

Some investors defrauded by epic swindler Bernard Madoff on Tuesday added accounting firm KPMG , JPMorgan Chase and Bank of New York Mellon to a civil lawsuit in a New York court, lawyer Joseph Cotchett said.

Poornima Gupta

California's attorney general sued State Street Corp on Tuesday for committing an unconscionable fraud against the state's largest pension funds and is seeking to recover more than $200 million in alleged illegal overcharges and penalties.