U.S. National - AFP

NEW YORK (AFP) - A US aircraft carrier that survived torpedo and kamikaze attacks during World War II only to spend the past month stuck in the mud off New York City was finally towed free.

MIAMI (AFP) - North Carolina police shot and killed an 18-year-old after breaking into a Wilmington home looking for a stolen PlayStation 3 game console, the local district attorney investigating the case said.

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - A hydrogen fuel cell will light California's Christmas tree, governor of the pro-environment US state Arnold Schwarzenegger announced, giving the low-emissions technology a boost.

NEW YORK (AFP) - New York health authorities said they would ban restaurants from using artificial cooking oils known as trans fats, in an attempt to improve residents' health and help tackle heart disease.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Top US regulators voiced their concerns to Congress about the trillion-dollar hedge fund industry and its secretive trading practices and called for improved transparency.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States scrapped proposals to offer foreign investors a greater say in US airlines, throwing an "open skies" deal with Europe into doubt.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, United States (AFP) - The San Francisco Giants are exchanging offers with controversial outfielder Barry Bonds regarding his return next year for a run at the all-time Major League Baseball home run mark.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, United States (AFP) - World consecutive games king Cal Ripken Jnr is wary of the impact that potentially steroid-enhanced numbers will have upon the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Rocky Balboa, Hollywood's favorite underdog boxer, claimed his place in history as his creator -- Sylvester Stallone -- donated props from the "Rocky" films to the National Museum of American History.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Supreme Court heard arguments over how US schools try to promote racial balance, appearing to back the goal of integration but not necessarily the means used to achieve it.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A new full-body x-ray machine to be tested this month at a US airport has raised concerns about privacy issues with some rights advocates saying the technology amounts to a virtual strip search.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Confident after two nearly flawless launches, NASA will send the Discovery shuttle on what it calls the most complex mission yet, to give the International Space Station a new electricity system.

HOUSTON (AFP) - A US federal jury found a Jamaican man guilty in the deaths of 19 illegal immigrants who perished in the truck he was driving in sweltering temperatures near the US-Mexico border.

ORLANDO, United States (AFP) - Major League Baseball announced it will hold its inaugural Civil Rights Game on March 31 as a tribute to one of the most significant eras of social change in US history.

NEW YORK (AFP) - The oldest US bank, The Bank of New York, agreed to purchase Mellon Financial for 16.5 billion dollars in a bid to create one of the world's largest global asset managers.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Securities firm Jefferies and Co. agreed to pay 9.7 million dollars to settle a probe into improper gifts to traders from the Fidelity mutual funds to win more business, regulators said.

NEW YORK (AFP) - Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony and Milwaukee Bucks guard Michael Redd were named the National Basketball Association players of the week.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, United States (AFP) - Rich Aurilia is headed back to the San Francisco Giants after an absence of three years, the Major League Baseball club said.

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Websites are glamorizing anorexia and bulimia and teaching new techniques to youths with the potentially deadly eating disorders, according to a US study published.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The war in Iraq has cost the United States more than 350 billion dollars since the March 2003 invasion, according to an AFP review of Congress figures.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Little Joshua McDonald only wanted to go to the kindergarten closest his house when his mother challenged Louisville, Kentucky authorities on his school assignment.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democratic US Senator Hillary Clinton, the wife of former president Bill Clinton, has begun meeting with top party officials, hoping to garner their support for a likely run for the White House in 2008, a report said.

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - An actor on the US television show "Prison Break", Lane Garrison, was involved in a fatal car accident when a sports utility vehicle he owned slammed into a tree in nearby Beverly Hills, police said.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US administration appears unfazed as the dollar plummets on currency markets, giving a helpful trade boost during an economic slowdown, analysts believe.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A series of surprisingly weak reports has prompted fresh debate on whether the US economic expansion can continue through 2007 or succumb to a housing-led downturn.

DETROIT, United States (AFP) - Three major financial deals last week underscored the lingering weakness of General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. despite more than a year of restructuring and thousands of job cuts.

BEAVER CREEK, United States (AFP) - Sweden's Andre Myhrer captured the first World Cup victory of his career, triumphing in the slalom ahead of Canadian Michael Janyk and Germany's Felix Neureuther.

BERLIN (AFP) - Russia's WBA heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev will defend his title against American fighter Jameel McCline on January 20 in Switzerland, his promoter Wilfried Sauerland said.