Barack Obama chose Senator Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat, to be his vice presidential running mate, selecting one of the party's leading foreign-policy figures and harshest critics of Republican John McCain's national security views.

Barack Obama's speech announcing his running mate Joe Biden singled out the Delaware senator's son who is headed for Iraq. Obama didn't mention the profession of Biden's other son, who lobbied for two drug companies and five universities.

Citigroup Inc. is closing a $400 million convertible arbitrage fund, the final step in winding down its $2 billion Tribeca Global Investments group, people familiar with the plans said.

HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's biggest bank by market value, said emerging markets may grow more slowly this year and first-half profit fell 29 percent as bad loans rose in the U.S.

The federal indictment of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, the Senate's longest-serving Republican and one of its most influential lawmakers, is the latest election- year blow to a party that's already reeling.

Sergeant Brian Moore had one foot in his bunker in April when a rocket exploded, spraying his back with a dozen bits of burning shrapnel. His spine swelled, paralyzing the New Hampshire National Guardsman for two days.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard indicated that inflation should become the top priority for the central bank as the U.S. economy recovers in the second half and financial turmoil fades.

Teenagers are finding it increasingly difficult to get work for the summer, particularly in the retail industry, as the U.S. labor market softens.

Australian house prices fell in the first quarter by the most in five years after the central bank raised interest rates at the fastest pace in more than a decade.

European Central Bank council member Axel Weber said financial markets, which expect an interest-rate increase in July, understood the ECB's message when it stepped up its inflation-fighting rhetoric.

The U.S. lost jobs for a fifth month and the unemployment rate rose by the most in more than two decades, as an influx of students into the workforce drove the biggest jump in teenage joblessness since at least 1948.

South Korea's consumer prices climbed by the most since 2001 in May on soaring fuel and food costs, indicating the central bank may keep interest rates at a seven- year high next week. Bonds declined.