DETROIT (AP) - General Motors Co. says it lost $1.2 billion from the time it left bankruptcy protection through Sept. 30, far better than it has reported in previous quarters and a sign that the auto giant is starting to turn around its business. The company also says it will begin repaying $6.7 billion in U.S. government loans with a $1.2 billion payment in December. It could pay off the full amount by 2011, four years ahead of schedule, but the money will come from funds loaned by the gover... Read Full Story

NEW YORK (AP) - Stock futures are pointing to a higher opening Monday, but are slightly off their highs after a new report showed retail sales rebound in October boosted mainly by auto sales. Overseas markets are higher as a weakening U.S. dollar and stronger gold prices are again boosting commodities and shares of resource companies. The Commerce Department said retail sales rose 1.4 percent in October, easily surpassing the 0.8 percent boost economists polled by Thomson Reuters forecast. It... Read Full Story

WASHINGTON (AP) - Retail sales rose more than expected in October, but the gain largely reflected a big rebound in auto sales. Sales fell at many other retail stores as consumer spending remains under pressure, raising questions about the durability of the recovery. The Commerce Department said Monday that retail sales rose 1.4 percent last month. Economists expected a gain of 0.8 percent. But excluding auto sales, retail demand rose 0.2 percent, half of the expected 0.4 percent rise. The gov... Read Full Story

HELSINKI (AP) - Some 2,000 employees in Finland’s technology sector will begin a strike in two weeks time if no agreement is reached in labor talks with company managers, union leaders said Wednesday. The weeklong strike, due to start Dec. 1, would affect certain units at engineering firm ABB, mobile phone maker Nokia Corp., shipbuilder STX [...] Read Full Story

LONDON (AP) – European stock markets showed little movement Friday after strong gains the day before on U.S. data revealing the world’s largest economy had broken out of a yearlong slump. In morning trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2 percent to 5,149.16, Germany’s DAX fell 0.4 percent to 5,563.52 and France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.1 percent to 3,709.35. Wall Street was expected to open lower Friday. Dow Jones industrial average futures were 0.3 percent lower at 9,87... Read Full Story

MUMBAI, India (AP) - The slum kid stars of “Slumdog Millionaire” want a lot of things in life – new houses, a car, trips to London and Paris – but they aren’t too interested in school. Ten-year-old Rubina Ali has missed nearly 75 percent of her classes and her co-star hasn’t done much better – truancy that filmmakers say will jeopardize their trust funds and monthly stipends if it continues. Their parents blame the absences on deaths in the family or ... Read Full Story

NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks are headed for a modest decline Friday, erasing some of the big gains racked up a day earlier after the government said the economy grew more than expected in the third quarter. Overseas markets were mixed. Investors welcomed a report showing the economy grew at 3.5 percent in the third quarter, but much of that growth was fueled by government stimulus programs. With those programs winding down, the economy might not be able to sustain such rapid improvement after... Read Full Story

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California (AP) - Phish and crew bustle about Shoreline Amphitheater’s backstage area, a sprawling patio where memories linger of raging parties from bygone tours. Hours before a recent show, the scene is markedly different. Voices and footfalls carry across the expanse of empty picnic tables. A baby stroller clatters across wooden planks. As afternoon slants into evening, a ruckus finally kicks up: The clip-clop of a pingpong game between Trey Anastasio and his teenage d... Read Full Story

SYDNEY (AP) – An Australian rapper who was a boyhood friend of Heath Ledger has released a music video the star directed shortly before his death. N’fa Forster-Jones posted the 3 minute, 31 second-clip for his song “Cause An Effect” on his YouTube and MySpace pages on Thursday, along with a video in which he explains how the project came about. Ledger, the celebrity-shy star of Batman blockbuster, “The Dark Night,” and the posthumously released “The I... Read Full Story

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Call it a culture clash, trans-Atlantic style. The Brits think the Americans are puritanical and somewhat batty. The Americans find the Brits morally lax and too willing to bend the rules. It all started at a high school in Maine when a student consumed half a bottle of Fentimans Victorian Lemonade, then looked at the label and discovered it contained small amounts of alcohol, listed as less than 0.5 percent. By contrast, a typical American beer usually contains about 5... Read Full Story