UNITED STATES

Abortion is much more common in countries where it is illegal, according to a new study.

The pace of factory activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region ticked up in January, though it was not as strong as expected as new orders slipped, a survey showed on Thursday.

There is a looming environmental disaster since the Costa Concordia ran aground on Friday. Officials are worried that the 2,400-tons of diesel fuel may leak into Italy's west coast.

Ford Motor Co will give bonuses and merit-based raises to salaried workers in the United States and Canada this spring, the first time the No. 2 U.S. automaker has paid out both since the onset of the financial crisis.

The pace of factory activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region ticked up in January, though it was not as strong as expected, a survey showed on Thursday.

General Motors has once again grabbed the largest share of global sales and become the world's largest automaker, moving past sales of Toyota and Volkswagen in 2011.

The number of Americans filing for new jobless benefits dropped to a near four-year low last week and factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic expanded, suggesting the economy maintained its momentum early in the year.

American Express Company (NYSE: AXP), the biggest credit-card issuer by purchases, is expected to beat Wall Street's consensus profit estimates, with earnings gains driven by stronger consumer spending and a diversified business model. This is sharp change from prior quarters when the company grew profits by dipping deeper into the company's reserve funds that were set aside to cushion against future losses.

Al-Qaeda has always had a strong presence in Yemen, but with the country currently in the middle of a governmental transition, the terrorist group has launched a violent campaign for land and power.

The Texas governor, known for his numerous on-air gaffes, has withdrawn from the Republican presidential primaries after another lackluster debate performance and poor numbers in South Carolina. Here, relive Perry's best (worst) moments on the campaign trail, from his infamous 'oops' moment to his unintentionally hilarious Strong ad.

U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates fell to 3.88 percent in the week ending Jan. 19, according to Freddie Mac.

The iDevices users' wait for the untethered jailbreak for their iPhone 4S and iPad 2 is nearing the end as the dream team released jailbroken iPad 2 photos and iPhone 4S jailbreak demo video. Joshua Hill, aka p0sixninja of the Chronic Dev Team, stated briefly that SOPA can make the distribution of jailbreaking software illegal. He also said this move could stop the hacker community from making available to users jailbreak news and tutorials.

A live stream of Rick Perry's announcement that he will end his bid for the Republican presidential nomination and endorse Newt Gingrich on Thursday will be live streamed at 11 a.m. EST on CNN.

New U.S. applications for unemployment benefits dropped to a near four-year low last week, a government report on Thursday showed, pointing to continued improvement in the labor market.

U.S. stocks rose early Thursday, putting the S&P on track for its third straight advance after Bank of America and Morgan Stanley earnings lifted financials and strong demand at European bond auctions eased euro zone debt concerns.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) formally introduced a copyright bill backed by the Internet industry to rival the controversial Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA).

Yesterday, Internet titans like Wikipedia, Reddit and Boing Boing launched a coordinated blackout to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). But what is the SOPA bill? How would it affect the way the Internet works now? Who supports and opposes the bill, and is it even likely to pass?

Shares of transportation-focused companies were flying high Wednesday, chugging along to lead the market up after some blue-chip companies in the sector reported surprisingly strong earnings.

At the Guggenheim Museum in New York Thursday, Apple announced it would update its iBooks platform to include textbook capabilities and also added a new platform called iBooks Author, which lets anyone easily create and publish their own e-books.

Iran's foreign minister warned Arab neighbors on Thursday not to put themselves in a dangerous position by aligning themselves too closely with the United States in the escalating dispute over Tehran's nuclear activity.

The Canadian dollar touched a six-week high against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday after Canadian manufacturing data beat expectations and solid demand at a euro zone debt auction eased investor fears about Europe's sovereign debt crisis.