UNITED STATES

Insurgent attacks in Iraq are on the rise. On Tuesday, a provincial government building was attacked by extremists.

Ryan Dunn is dead. His car went off the road, jumped the guardrail, and crashed into a tree. The vehicle then burst into flames and burned Dunn’s remains.

The risks of the U.S. losing its prized triple-A rating over the medium term have increased as the country faces a political impasse and nears its debt ceiling, Standard and Poor's said on Tuesday.

To celebrate summer's arrival, a blogger has picked out nine books from her shelves that she is going to give away to one of her readers.

For former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, if it isn’t one thing, it’s certainly another. For one thing, his top staff stepped down in mass resignation earlier this month. And for another, the Republican presidential hopeful’s campaign finance team decided to follow suit, a spokesman for Gingrich confirmed to the AP.

A new set of rules proposed by the National Labor Relations Board today would speed up elections in which employees choose whether to unionize, pleasing labor groups and prompting criticism from business interests.

The First Lady makes her first official trip to Sub-Saharan Africa in an effort to strengthen diplomatic relations between the US and Africa.

Credit Suisse said competitive pressure in the smartphone industry was likely to increase over the next 12-18 months as a wave of low-end Android phones hits the market and Apple is seen releasing a cheaper iPhone in 2012.

Nine new warning labels with graphic images will be required on U.S. cigarette packs, FDA announced on Monday. The labels will cover the top half of a tobacco package on both sides, each including a national quit smoking hotline number. 20% of an ad will also be given to warning labels.

Mark Kelly, the astronaut and husband of recovering Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, announced his retirement from the Navy and NASA Tuesday saying he plans to focus on his wife's recovery and work with her to pen a memoir.

Barnes & Noble Inc had a deeper-than-expected fourth-quarter loss as the largest U.S. bookstore chain came under pressure from going-out-of-business sales of rival Borders Group Inc.

President Obama is still mulling his options as he prepares to announce a schedule for withdrawing the 33,000 additional troops he committed to Afghanistan upon assuming office.

U.S. stocks extended gains on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq Composite up 2 percent and the Dow and S&P 500 at session highs as optimism over a confidence vote for Greece and better-than-expected housing data boosted investor appetite for equities.

Apple will not offer free iPods as part of its annual Back to School promotion, instead it will offer a $100 gift card.

Roger Ebert tweeted “Friends don't let jackasses drink and drive” shortly after the death of Ryan Dunn, star of Jackass who died in an automobile on June 20, 2011.

Barnes & Noble Inc reported a deeper-than-expected quarterly loss on Tuesday as the largest U.S. bookstore chain came under pressure from the going-out-of-business sales of bankrupt rival Borders Group Inc.

Best Buy Co's board raised its quarterly dividend by 7 percent to 16 cents a share and approved a plan to buy back $5 billion of common stock, sending its shares up 3 percent.

The Duke of Cambridge forgoes a big party.

Hurricane Beatriz hit Mexican coast on Tuesday, putting tourist areas and major ports on high alert, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Obama's visit to New York City this week includes speaking at the annual LGBT Leadership Gala at the Sheraton New York, in the very midst of 2011 NYC Pride events. Does it hint Obama's new position in same-sex marriage? There are some historical facts that may back up its likelihood.

Despite the attention became focused upon the drunk-driving death of former MTV star Ryan Dunn, the incidence of DUI deaths has actually been decreasing in the U.S.