UNITED STATES

Two women, Marissa Gaeta and Citlalic Snell, made history yesterday as the first gay couple to get the first kiss, a Navy homecoming tradition where a sailor is chosen to be the first to greet his or her loved one. Their kiss is an LGBT victory after the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and Navy officials say it's the first time a gay couple has ever participated in the tradition.

Which areas of the United States are likely to receive a White Christmas and which are not?

Imperial Oil Ltd said on Wednesday it will go ahead with an C$8.9 billion ($8.65 billion) plan to double the size of its Kearl oil sands project, even as it said total costs for the massive mining operation have climbed by nearly a quarter.

Investigation had revealed that Countrywide had charged higher fees and rates for more than 200,0000 minority borrowers from 2004-2008, in the midst of the housing boom. Some 10,000 borrowers were also pushed in to sub-prime mortgages when others with similar qualifications got standard mortgages.

Fitch Ratings on Wednesday warned again that the United States' rising debt burden was not consistent with maintaining the country's top AAA credit rating, but said there would likely be no decision on whether to cut the rating before 2013.

Facebook agreed on Wednesday to overhaul privacy protection for more than half a billion users outside North America, after a three-month investigation found that its privacy policies were overly complex and lacked transparency.

Gold lost early gains Friday, along with stocks and the euro, as an unexpectedly high number of Eurozone banks queued up for low-interest loans reminded investors of just how widespread Europe's sovereign debt crisis has become.

The highly anticipated ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime is back in stock in some select stores and shipping to some customers in the U.S., according to the tech blog, Technorati.

Institutional investors such as unions won the right to file private common-law suits against Wall Street firms for alleged securities-related fraud and negligence.

North Korea will shift to collective rule from a strongman dictatorship after last week's death of Kim Jong-il, although his untested young son will be at the head of the ruling coterie, a source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said.

Walgreen Co posted an unexpected drop in quarterly profit as the largest drugstore chain's margins were hurt in part by its contract dispute with pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts Inc .

Home sales rose in November, adding to hints of recovery, but updated data showed the housing crash was much deeper than previously thought.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (NDAA) bill contains some controversial language that codifies the detention of anyone, including U.S. citizens, who is suspected of being terrorists or supporting terrorists.

Interestingly, according to British laws, the deputy Prime Minister would not necessarily ascend to the top job in case of a sudden death.

Since September, members of the U.S. House and Senate have introduced five different amendments to the U.S. Constitution that would overturn key parts of the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee.

Batman star Christian Bale should feel embarrassed for trying to visit a prominent Chinese human rights activist detained in his home in eastern Shandong Province while he promoted his latest film, a government spokesman said Wednesday.

The Toronto Stock Exchange is deferring consideration on whether to accept Crocodile Gold Corp.'s recently adopted poison pill plan so a securities commission can consider the matter.

Europe's markets fell on Wednesday after the large take up rate by banks for cheap European Central Bank loans worried investors about the banks' funding needs and raised doubts they would use the money to buy the region's peripheral debt.

U.S. sales of existing homes were up 4 percent in November to an annual rate of 4.42 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), suggesting that a housing recovery is beginning.

Iran will not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told CBS News on Monday, adding that despite efforts to spoil Iran's nuclear program the country has already progressed enough to assemble a bomb within a year or less.

Verizon Wireless engineers worked on fixing an issue with its high-speed wireless network in the early hours of Wednesday, the second high-profile service problem this month for the company that boasts it is the most reliable.