UNITED STATES

State sales tax revenues grew slowly in June, with an average gain of only 2.1 percent, according to a report released on Wednesday, suggesting a weakening trend that could threaten states' recoveries.

The U.S. Women's World Cup team will be vying for the soccer world cup title for the first time since it last won in 1999.

Six-year-old Etan Patz disappeared one day from the streets of SoHo in lower Manhattan in May 1979 and was never seen alive again.

Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann defied party leadership by maintaining her unwavering opposition to raising the debt ceiling, dismissing any risk of default.

The missing Brooklyn boy was found dismembered and killed. On Wednesday, body parts of the 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky were discovered in both the refrigerator of 35-year-old Levi Aron and in a dumpster about 2 miles away from Aron's residence.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday the central bank is ready to ease monetary policy further if the economy weakens and inflation moves lower, hinting policymakers were actively mulling further stimulus.

The U.S. Women's World Cup 2011 team will advance to the finals after defeating France 3-1.

Luanda beat out perennials such as Tokyo, Oslo and New York as the city with the highest cost of living.

When thieves ransacked eight air conditioners in an apartment complex in the city of Mobile, Alabama, the culprits made off with $800 worth of scrap metal and left residents with $38,000 worth of damages.

The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), one of the most powerful interest groups in the United States, has launched a new ad campaign to protect benefits seniors have earned through a lifetime of hard work.

A look at the US goalkeeper

The following are highlights of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's prepared remarks on Wednesday to the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee as part of his semi-annual testimony on the U.S. economy and monetary policy.

Wall Street stocks rebounded from a three-day selloff on Wednesday as comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke raised hopes for further stimulus of the U.S. economy if needed.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday the central bank is ready to ease monetary policy further if the economy weakens and inflation moves lower, suggesting policymakers are actively mulling further stimulus.

The United States beat France 3 to 1 in the Women's World Cup semifinals on Wednesday in Germany.

The horn of an adult triceratops unearthed in Montana belongs to the last survivor of the mass extinction discovered by paleontologists. The find gives weight to the theory that an asteroid caused the catastrophic end of the age of Dinosaurs.

The Japanese Women's national soccer team is getting ready to face off with the Swedish nation team at 2:45 p.m. EST in the Women's World Cup 2011.

A 35-year-old man is awaiting charges after he confessed to authorities that he kidnapped and panicked, killing Leiby Kletzky, the Brooklyn boy who went missing on his way home from summer camp.

Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, assailed by his own party for a debt deal proposal that would surrender Congressional authority to President Barack Obama, laid out his brazenly political strategy for endorsing the move: shift the blame.

The text of President Barack Obama's statement on the Mumbai attacks. Obama strongly condemn[s] the outrageous attacks in Mumbai, and my thoughts and prayers are with the wounded and those who have lost loved ones.

Burger King, IHOP, Chili's, and some 15,000 other restaurants have joined forces to offer more nutritional options on its menus. The measure is in part directed at fighting childhood obesity by offering more healthy options on menus, but the main question is will it make a difference?