UNITED STATES

U.S. mortgage applications fell 3.7 percent in the week ending Dec. 30, compared to the week ending Dec. 16, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

Gene Bartown, basketball coach at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB), died on Tuesday from stomach cancer. He was 81.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will travel to China and Japan next week to discuss U.S. sanctions on Iran and the state of the global economy with top government officials, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

Now that a federal ruling has allowed the FBI to hook up a GPS device to a Missouri man's car without a warrant, will jack-booted thugs be coming in the night for the rest of us? That depends now on what the Supreme Court says about the practice, although they won't rule on the case until later this year.

Turkey is itself the sixth-largest buyer of Iranian oil, according to Reuters, although the two countries have had a rocky relationship.

On Tuesday, Delta became the first airline to add a surcharge on flights to and from Europe after the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme went into affect.

The Corporation for National an Community Service (CNCS) leads Americans throughout the country who want to honor Dr. King's legacy and spirit of racial equality achievement by helping neighbors and their community. The MLK Day of Service involves thousands of projects, including those big and small, and reaches across all 50 states in the U.S.

New orders for factory goods rose solidly in November, but business spending on capital goods is cooling, a government report showed on Wednesday.

Obama's true secret was revealed on Wednesday - that he is a space travelling chrononaut who worked with the head of DARPA to teleport to Mars on several occasions when he was 19-years old.

Rick Santorum surprised voters Tuesday by nearly winning the Iowa Caucus, the first indication in the 2012 Election as to which candidate may win the Republican nomination. Santorum was only eight votes shy of Mitt Romney, the GOP frontrunner, and the Caucus has been deemed an essential tie between the two leading candidates. Here are the thirteen top political, social and economic issues and Santorum's position on the issues.

Gold was set for its strongest two-day rally in 2-1/2 months on Wednesday after an agreement in principle among European leaders to ban Iranian oil imports boosted the crude price and catapulted bullion to two-week highs.

Donald Trump has put together his biggest cast of characters for the lineup of the next Celebrity Apprentice, including mob boss daughter Victoria Gotti and American Idol alum Clay Aiken.

It is not clear who is the principal suspect in the latest incident.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will travel to China and Japan next week to discuss U.S. sanctions on Iran and the state of the global economy with top government officials, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

U.S. stocks dipped on Wednesday as the euro zone's debt problems curbed market enthusiasm that fueled a rally in the previous session.

Ron Paul’s 2012 campaign is the only hope of ending the political theater of Democrats vs Republicans.

Chevron Corp. Tuesday night lost a judicial appeal against $18 billion in fines the company is being asked to pay by authorities in Ecuador. The company denies the charges and says the court ruling is the product of fraud and corruption.

James Franco is going to publish a novel, on his own terms.

A video of a failed UCLA marriage proposal has gone viral but is the whole thing fake?

WJB Capital Group Inc. announced Tuesday that the Wall Street firm is halting its brokerage operations after a difficult year. The firm now also faces a lawsuit by an investor, James McNally, alleging fraud.

U.S. President Barack Obama is naming Richard Cordray to be the country's chief consumer watchdog through a recess appointment, despite stubborn GOP opposition.