BUSINESS

The share of privately-owned U.S. homes fell to a 15-year low in the first quarter as falling house prices and stringent lending conditions push younger Americans, in particular, into renting.

Google Inc and its board were sued on Monday by a shareholder who wants to block the company's stock split plan because it entrenches the Web search company's co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, according to court documents.

Exxon Mobil Corp has shut the 160,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) North Line crude oil pipeline in Louisiana after a leak spilled 1,900 barrels of crude oil in a rural area over the weekend, affecting a conduit that supplies the nation's third-largest refinery.

Stendra, the first new drug to enter the erectile dysfunction market in nearly a decade, aims to become the new Viagra alternative after receiving approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

The one constant that we can rely on is the willingness of the Federal Reserve to act promptly if the data were to become unambiguously negative

Edvard Munch's The Scream could become the most expensive painting ever sold at auction on Wednesday if predictions that the work could fetch up to $150 million are to be believed.

Nobel prize-winning Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk realizes a long-nurtured dream on Saturday with the opening of an actual Museum of Innocence - a collection of relics of a half-century of ordinary life - as depicted in his 2008 novel of the same name.

U.S. stocks ended the last day of April on a sour note with all three major indices posting their first monthly loss of the year, following three months of solid gains. Investors were spooked by a duo of lackluster U.S. economic reports and news that confirmed Spain has plunged into a double-dip recession.

Almost 40 people were killed and hundreds wounded by unknown shooting assailants in a tragedy that officially remains a mystery.

China pushes ahead with efforts to create a regional and global alternative to GPS.

Mergers and acquisitions are on the upstream as low interest rates, rising business and consumer confidence plus depressed prices for some assets have companies seeking buys that will allow them to expand or cut costs through synergy.

Swedish retailer Ikea rejected claims in a new documentary that claims it used East German political prisoners in its factories in the 1970s and 1980s.

MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom Schmitz, has won back $750,000 in assets after a New Zealand court hearing. The money, which was technically Schmitz's in the first place, had been confiscated by New Zealand authorities after he was arrested on charges of money laundering, racketeering and copyright infringement in relation to the MegaUpload enterprise.

Campaigning for President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton said the Obama administration was beating the clock on the U.S. economic recovery, and he rebuked Mitt Romney for pushing Bush-era policies on steroids.

Goldcorp Inc, Canada's No. 2 gold miner, said environmental permit approval for its El Morro copper-gold project was suspended by the Supreme Court of Chile.

Grupa ADV (Pink: GPVSY), a fast-growing Polish media and software group, expects international sales to double this year, said CFO Adam Kuszyk.

LG is launching a new cloud storage service, LG Cloud, that will place emphasis on streaming and storing media.

Starwood Hotels and Resorts, operator of the Sheraton hotel chain, will open two new facilities in Iraq, 20 years after shutting down its operations there when the First Gulf War broke out.

The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) is in talks to buy energy drink maker Monster Beverage Corp. (Nasdaq: MNST), an $11.6 billion company whose shares rocketed more than 20 percent Monday, in what would be Coca-Cola's largest acquisition, the Wall Street Journal reported.

After initiating a hunger-strike in early February, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja along with 20 other jailed opposition activists will have his case re-tried.

As U.S. and Chinese leaders are set to meet in Beijing on May 3-4, a year of troubles and differences will be prominent in their minds.

Manufacturing activity indexes for April released Monday showed a further slowdown across the nation in a confirmation of a statistical trend seen in other data releases last week that points to weaker growth in the second quarter.

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL), the second-largest U.S. commercial airline, is reportedly close to a bid for a Pennsylvania oil refinery that could mitigate high fuel costs by cutting out the middleman.

House Speaker John Boehner accused President Barack Obama of diminishing the presidency by picking fake fights during his re-election bid. But even in the political fake fight realm, who is winning?

Three generations of a Bronx-Dominican family died on Sunday when an SUV carrying seven people, including three little girls, plummeted off an overpass and plunged 60 feet into the Bronx Zoo, instantly killing everyone inside and destroying the vehicle.

Gold prices slid towards $1,650 an ounce on Monday, taking a breather after four straight days of gains, as upcoming elections in France and Greece and a European Central Bank meeting later this week pressured the euro versus the dollar.

Japan and India on Monday decided to launch two separate dialogues in maritime and cyber security domains and also to resume negotiations on civil nuclear cooperation.

Medical device maker Hologic Inc. said Monday it would acquire diagnostic test maker Gen-Probe Inc. for about $3.7 billion in cash to expand its molecular diagnostic business, international presence and cross-selling opportunities.

On Monday, ABC News released a teaser for an upcoming Good Morning America exclusive with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who invited GMA's Robin Roberts to Facebook's headquarters in Palo Alto to share a feature that could save lives.