The storm, which earlier had been a major hurricane, was now packing sustained winds of 70 mph, the Miami-based hurricane center said. (Reporting by Will Dunham, Editing by Chris ...

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Authorities declared a state of emergency after a major earthquake hit New Zealand's second biggest city, Christchurch, early on Saturday, bringing down power lines, ripping up roads and wrecking building facades, but authorities reported no deaths. A formal civil defense ...

The world No. 1 search engine company said the probe is the first by a U.S. legal authority into the fairness of its rankings, which can make or break commercial websites. Google faces a similar probe by the European Commission, prompted by complaints from some small websites that felt they were ...

NEW YORK/DETROIT (Reuters) - The U.S. government is likely to take a loss on General Motors Co in the first offering of the automaker's stock, six people familiar with preparations for the landmark IPO said. Subsequent offerings of the government's holdings may be profitable depending on how ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employment fell for a third straight month in August, but the drop was far less than expected and private hiring was a positive surprise, relieving concerns about a stalling economic recovery. Nonfarm payrolls fell 54,000 as jobs were lost in the government sector, and ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday he would outline new measures next week to boost the U.S. economy, but analysts were skeptical he would be able to deliver a big enough package to lift growth significantly. Obama made his remarks after August data showed that jobs -- ...

QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber struck a rally in the Pakistani city of Quetta on Friday, killing at least 54 people in the second major attack this week and piling pressure on a U.S.-backed government overwhelmed by a flood crisis. Pakistan's Taliban claimed responsibility for the ...

CHATHAM, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Residents and business owners in the beach communities of Cape Cod and nearby islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard hung plywood over their shop windows on Friday and rued the arrival of Hurricane Earl, which appeared set to spoil their holiday weekend. But ...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Republican Meg Whitman has opened up a 7-point lead over Democrat Jerry Brown in their closely watched race for California governor, the latest poll of likely voters showed on Friday. Whitman, a billionaire former eBay chief executive who has already poured more than $100 ...

HOUSTON (Reuters) - BP Plc removed a failed blowout preventer from atop its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well on Friday afternoon, a company spokesman said. "The Deepwater Horizon BOP stack was successfully detached" from the Macondo well shortly after 1 p.m. CDT (2 p.m. EDT), spokesman ...