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DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp is recalling 857,735 vehicles equipped with a heated windshield wiper fluid system for a potential short-circuit problem, according to federal safety regulators.

As health-care costs continue to soar, millions of confused consumers are paying medical bills they don't actually owe. Typically this occurs when an insurance plan covers less than what a doctor, hospital, or lab service wants to be paid. The health-care provider demands the balance from the patient. Uncertain and fearing the calls of a debt collector, the patient pays up.

FRANKFURT (AFP) - German insurance giant Allianz is in "advanced talks" on the future of its Dresdner Bank unit, "that may or may not lead to a deal," it said Friday in a brief statement to financial markets.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - Alabama's Jefferson County and lenders pulled back from the brink of a threatened bankruptcy filing on Friday after the county proposed restructuring $3.2 billion of soured sewer debt.

INSTITUTE, W.Va. - Federal officials are investigating the cause of a plant explosion that rocked an area west of Charleston, hurling a fireball hundreds of feet into the air, killing one worker and injuring a second.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks tumbled on Friday, led lower by tech shares after computer maker Dell warned that companies worldwide are cutting back on technology spending.

WASHINGTON - Consumer spending slowed to a crawl and personal incomes plunged in July, reflecting the waning impact of $93 billion in economic stimulus payments.

WASHINGTON - It took seven years, but Charles Ulrich did something many people dream about, but few succeed at: He beat the IRS in a tax dispute.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is seen as a strong advocate for opening new areas to oil drilling, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but has taken a hard line in negotiations with oil companies and raised taxes on the state's energy producers.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. has settled on a structure that will allow it to offload billions of dollars in real-estate loans from its books, according to the on-line edition of the Wall Street Journal.

MILAN (AFP) - Alitalia said Friday that it has asked to be declared bankrupt and placed under special administration, the first step in a rescue plan that will see the struggling Italian flag carrier relaunched.

WASHINGTON - General Motors Corp. said Friday it was recalling 944,000 vehicles because of a problem with a windshield wiper fluid system that could lead to a fire.

DEARBORN, Mich. - It seems like an easy solution: Americans are looking for more fuel-efficient vehicles, so Ford Motor Co. is bringing over some of the small, gas-sipping cars it's been selling to Europeans for years.

SEATAC, Wash. - Leaders of Boeing Co.'s Machinists union called Friday for a strike after rejecting the aerospace giant's "best and final" contract offer. They urged union members to reject the offer in a vote set for Wednesday.

MOSCOW - At the outset of this year, Russia proudly proclaimed itself an island of stability at the annual economic gathering in Davos, setting itself apart from the tumult of the global financial crisis.

Microsoft warned developers preparing to download the new Beta 2 release of Internet Explorer 8 that under certain conditions those who have already installed IE8 Beta 1 cannot revert to older iterations of the browser.

ATLANTA - The grip U.S. airlines have on travelers' wallets is about to get tighter as carriers go ahead with plans to trim their domestic schedules due to the high cost of fuel.