UNITED STATES

The highly anticipated Air Jordan XI Retro Concord sneakers were finally released at midnight and are already flying off the shelves despite a hefty $180 price tag.

With Christmas two days away, U.S. customers of collapsed broker-dealer MF Global with funds still tied up in the rubble of the company bankruptcy just got a nasty present: a statement by the trustee fighting on their behalf telling them how accountants in London are making it even harder for them to get their money back.

NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) will look into a mysterious space ball, which dropped onto an African village in Namibia in mid-November. The hollow ball is reportedly made of a metal alloy known to man.

The temporary payroll tax fix gives President Barack Obama and the Democrats a political win over Republicans

Stocks edged higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 on track for a fourth straight day of gains as a batch of economic data pointed to an economy that continued to grow at a modest pace.

Washington's ability to mediate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict became more complicated Thursday after the militant Palestinian group Hamas announced plans to join the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), furthering its reconciliation with rival Palestinian faction Fatah.

The X Factor Results are in: Melanie Amaro has been crowned the first winner of the USA edition of the show.

You can rage, rage against gas prices, or you can align your interest with oil producers/refiners by considering shares in an oil play. And here are five.

Monsanto's genetically engineered, drought resistant corn is deregulated, the U.S. Agriculture Department said Thursday, clearing the variety for sale.

The incredible events of 2011 will likely influence global history for decades to come.

Ekaterina Rybolovleva and Petra Ecclestone may both be billionaire heiresses yet the two could not be any more dissimilar.

Stock index futures pared gains on Friday after mixed data on U.S. durable goods orders and consumer spending.

New orders for U.S. manufactured goods soared in November on strong demand for aircraft, but a gauge of business spending plans fell for a second month, suggesting a cooling in investment.

With less than two weeks left in 2011, investors are looking at challenges and opportunities ahead to better position themselves for the coming year.

HTC Rezound was released Nov.14 and is available at Verizon Wireless. It is the first U.S. smartphone with Beats Audio integration and sports some impressive features.

For the past decade, cattle ranchers and meat packers watched with despair as America's beef consumption steadily declined, ceding ground to leaner meats as well as vegetarian trends among the health-conscious.

Pakistan's powerful military pledged on Friday to continue supporting democracy, reiterating it was not planning a takeover as tensions grew over a controversial memo alleging an army plot to seize power.

The top pre-market NASDAQ gainers are: WCA Waste Corp., Tibco Software, Career Education, IPG Photonics and Canadian Solar. The top pre-market NASDAQ losers are: Alaska Communications, Neogen, Vivus, Bed Bath & Beyond and TripAdvisor.

As many Americans put off holiday shopping until the last minute, Republican primary voters continue to browse the various candidates looking for the perfect fit, said FBR Capital Markets.

European stocks rose to their highest in two weeks on Friday, tracking Wall Street gains as the U.S., the world's biggest economy, showed further signs of recovery, especially in the labor market.

Asia'a markets rose more than 1 percent and U.S. index futures also gained on Friday, as signs of a strengthening economy in the United States encouraged a year-end bounce for riskier assets.