American Express is offering US credit card users the ability to make purchases by sending messages on Twitter.

Tesla Motors chief executive Elon Musk brands a New York Times review of his company's electric saloon car as "fake", after its range is questioned.

Programmers have created a site that lets people pay for pizza using the bitcoin digital currency.

The Grammy Awards pulled in its second biggest US TV audience since 1993, although less than last year's ceremony, after Whitney Houston's death.

Can location-based dating apps like Grindr lead to true love?

A powerful tornado in the US state of Mississippi has wrecked homes and vehicles, uprooted trees and left thousands of homes without power

The Pentagon extends some family benefits to gay troops' partners, but others require a change in federal law, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta says.

A gunman, his estranged wife and another woman are dead after a shoot-out at a courthouse in the US state of Delaware, officials say.

US President Barack Obama presents the Medal of Honor to a former soldier, saying he prevailed in one of the most intense battles in the Afghan war.

Passengers and crew members on a cruise ship stranded in the Gulf of Mexico have limited access to food and bathrooms after a engine fire on Sunday.

Viewpoint: Benedict's missed opportunities

A former US soldier receives the nation's highest military award for fighting off an attack by hundreds of insurgents on an isolated Afghan base.

BBC's North America editor will answer your questions on Twitter

Cardinal Timothy Dolan says he was "very startled" by the news that Pope Benedict XVI would resign, the first pontiff to do so in nearly 600 years.

Musicians including Dave Grohl, Janelle Monae and LA Reid have been paying tribute to Whitney Houston on the first anniversary of her death.

Fun, Gotye, The Black Keys and Mumford and Sons are among the main award recipients at the 55th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

Can extreme calorie counting make you live longer?

Confidence among UK businesses hit its lowest level in at least 21 years last month, a survey suggests, renewing recession fears.

A friend recalls the weekend before Sylvia Plath took her life

Thousands of people across large swathes of the north-eastern United States and eastern Canada battle to clear up after an intense snowstorm.