Last week the number of workers seeking unemployment benefits shortened. Analysts wonder whether it is a new trend or a temporary change on labor-market.

Local hospitals find it difficult to recruit and retain qualified nurses.

Republican congressman Mark Kirk, who is seeking re-election this year, is pushing for legislation banning access in schools and libraries to Second Life.

California's stem-cell agency Wednesday awarded nearly $271 million in grants to build stem-cell laboratories statewide, with more than $126 million of that designated for universities and other research institutions in and around the Bay Area.

British scientists discovered that a computer keyboard poses a considerable health risk which equates to those presented by a toilet seat.

The California Institute of Regenerative Medicine has awarded the University of California, Davis, $20 million for its $62 million stem cell research facility.

DirecTV Group Inc. (NYSE: DTV), an American direct broadcast satellite television company, reported 10 percent increase in first-quarter revenue.

Yesterday DayJet announced that it was scaling back its operations and laying off employees in all segments of the company.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV), a Texas-based low-cost airline, announced its plans to expand its service by addition of three new routes.

Enterprise Inns Plc (LSE: ETI), a UK leased and tenanted pub company, advanced the most in 17 years in London trading after becoming a real estate investment trust.

KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR), an American engineering and construction company, announced today that it would acquire Birmingham, Alabama-based engineering and construction firm BE&K for $550 million.

U.S. researchers discovered another risk factor that increases chances of developing dementia.

Four thousand people are reported dead after a cyclone tore through the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar late Friday night and early Saturday morning. Over 10 hours, winds traveling up to 150 miles per hour struck Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, and dumped 20 inches of rain on the harbor town, formerly known as Rangoon.

Private equity firms Avista Capital Partners and Nordic Capital have agreed to acquire biopharmaceutical business unit ConvaTec from Bristol-Myers Squibb Company for approximately $4.1bn, subject to adjustments based on ConvaTec's audited 2007 financial statements and closing working capital.

In a study of adolescent rats, scientist saw that early alcohol exposure led to a tendency toward heavy drinking later on -- and the same might be true for humans.