BUSINESS

Madonna is being sued for $10 million by the Trade Union of Russian Citizens -- a pro-Kremlin activist organization -- for "damaging the cultural foundations of St. Petersburg," according to the Russian website RT.com.

Amid the continue foreclosure crisis, some young people are taking to social media to redirect their frustration and coordinate larger acts of vandalism against abandoned properties.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is consider easing debt-laden Greece's bailout terms, triggering tensions with members of her coalition, who oppose giving the Greek government any more concessions, two German lawmakers said, according to a published report Friday.

The U.S. Treasury is accelerating taxpayer repayments by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance companies that own or guarantee around 60 percent of the country's housing market, but the strategy will only work if the housing market continues to improve.

Shares of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social networking site, fell to a new record low of $19.01 in midday Friday trading, a day after insiders were allowed to sell as many as 241 million shares they had been required to hold since the May 17 initial public offering.

They see the economic crisis as a “wake up call” for Britain to rediscover its tradition of hard work.

A plastic surgery center in Venezuela is under fire after using Ariel from The Little Mermaid in an ad photo promoting surgery, adding breast implants to the Disney Princess. Venezuela Clinica Dempere released the controversial ad campaign, depicting the red-headed mermaid princess with breast augmentations, along with the Frog Price and the Wicked Witch, writing, "We make fairy tales come true."

Some travel destinations are best in the summer. Others in the winter. These 10 spots come alive in the fall.

European investors looking to bet on risky derivatives will be able to use gold to back their trades, one of the Continent's major exchanges said Friday, a development that could both make the yellow precious metal a more valuable asset and foster the growth of derivative trading volume.

For more than a decade, there was a paradigm in financial markets that the yuan can only appreciate. Well, not any more.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 2 is rumored for a release date at the end of August, and as that date approaches another purported leak has surfaced. An image of what is believed to be the device has appeared online, according to KnowYourMobile.

U.S. consumer sentiment edged up this month to a three-month high as a stock market rally appears to have offset the impact of rising gasoline prices.

Shares of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the world's most valuable technology company, set their first record high since April, briefly hitting $644.13 in early Friday trading. That beat the previous record of $644 set on April 10.

Bankrupt imaging giant Eastman Kodak Co. (Pink: EKDKQ) said it may call off its auction of 1,100 patents that was scheduled to conclude Monday. In a statement late Thursday, Kodak said it “has not reached a determination or agreement to sell the digital imaging portfolio.”

Netanyahu is paying a visit to the U.N. General Assembly in New York next month where he will likely bump into U.S. President Barack Obama, or at least expect him to issue strong rebukes against Iran in his speech to the world.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) admitted recent staffing changes made in its retail stores selling iPhones, iPads and Macs were "a mistake," and it is reversing the policies.

In a world where personal and urban mobility is dominated by the bland dorkiness of the Segway, a 13 year old girl and her inventor father are hoping the RYNO Motors microcycle, a motorized unicycle, will revolutionize how mall cops, Arab sheiks and Hollywood's flush rising stars travel.

ArcelorMittal, Nokia Corp, Frontline Ltd, Barclays PLC, Facebook Inc, Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc, VIVUS Inc and Knight Capital Group Inc are among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Friday.

The nation’s prison population soared to an all-time high of 67,161 this year, up from 50,000 the years ago.

Before the curtain falls on this earnings season, investors will hear next week from several more major players, including Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lowe's and Best Buy.

The trial in the whistleblower case involving Infosys and one of its employees in the U.S. has been postponed from August 20 to September 17.

The U.S. stock index futures point to a mixed open Friday as investors maintained a watchful mode awaiting monetary easing measures from policymakers around the world to tackle the weakening of the global economic growth.

European markets rose Friday as investor sentiment turned positive amid hopes that German Chancellor Angela Merkel would step up measures to alleviate the debt burden faced by the euro zone and revive the economic growth momentum.

Catherine Bosley, an Ohio TV newswoman, won a lawsuit against Hustler over publication of a picture showing her naked in a wet T-shirt contest.

The top after-market Nasdaq gainers Thursday were Oplink Communications, Sequenom Inc, ABIOMED Inc, Nathan's Famous Inc and Electronic Arts Inc. The top after-market Nasdaq losers were Marvell Technology Group Ltd, 21Vianet Group Inc, Life Partners Holdings Inc, America's Car-Mart Inc and ScanSource Inc.

Most of the Asian markets rose Friday as investor confidence was lifted after German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed her country's commitment to support measures to alleviate the debt crisis faced by the euro zone.

Walter White isn't just the name of television's most notorious meth cook on "Breaking Bad." It's also the name of a real life meth cook in Alabama. Police are currently looking for the real-life Walter White after he missed a court date following his arrest for manufacturing meth.

Shares firmed Friday as German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced support for the European Central Bank's efforts to contain the euro zone's debt crisis, soothing investor nerves and prompting them to scale back safety bids.

As the trial between Apple and Samsung begins nearing its end, tensions in the court room are getting heated. When Apple's legal team presented a list of 22 more witnesses to call in the case, presiding U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh asked if Apple's lawyers were "smoking crack."