UNITED STATES

U.S. stock index futures point to a higher opening Friday following expectation among investors that central banks around the world will announce stimulus measures to regain the economic growth momentum.

The top after-market NYSE gainers Thursday were Netsuite Inc, Rentech Nitrogen Partners, Foot Locker, Cash America International and ENSCO plc. The top after-market NYSE losers were Green Dot Corp, Fortune Brands Home & Security, Superior Energy Services, Newmont Mining Corp and Renren Inc.

As the world converges on London for the 2012 Summer Olympics, here's a look at five lesser-known Olympic hosts.

The Syrian army shot to death a 3-year-old Syrian boy early Friday while firing at his parents and a dozen other refugees as they tried to cross a Jordanian border fence, Jordan's government said.

Lady Gaga will appear in Robert Rodriguez's "Machete Kills" as La Chameleon. She joins a cast that already includes Mel Gibson, Charlie sheen, Jessica Alba and Alexa Vega.

An English hotel has opted to replace Bibles with the New York Time's best-seller "Fifty Shades of Grey," NBC News reported. That's right -- the Holy Bible has been replaced by "mommy porn."

Here's how to watch the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony via free online live stream on your computer, Apple iPhone or iPad or other devices.

"The Daily Show" host criticized Romney and the GOP on his show Wednesday night for misrepresenting a quote from Obama that made it seem like the president was saying "If you've got a business - you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."

Bolt is planning to successfully defend all three of the 2008 gold medals in this year's London Olympics. However, Bolt faces much more scrutiny in the 2012 Olympics due to leg and back injuries that supposedly hindered his recent training. The current 100 and 200 meter world record holder also faces arguably his toughest competition yet, his own teammate Yohan Blake.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: HOT), which operates the Sheraton, Westin and W hotel brands, is moving ahead with its expansion in China, even as the world's second-largest economy suffers a recent slowdown in growth.

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is recalling 485,000 model-year 2001 to 2004 Escape crossover SUVs, owing to a risk of unintended acceleration from stuck throttle pedals, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The latest figures on U.K. GDP, released this week, were so demoralizingly bad that some economists and market-watchers are simply refusing to believe them, suggesting they are the result of a statistical anomaly and will be subject to large upward revisions soon.

The British Parliament confirmed on Thursday that members of the country's Royal Air Force operated drones in Libya during 2011.

The U.S. men's basketball team is a heavy favorite to repeat as gold medal champions at the 2012 London Olympics.

U.S. President Barack Obama says he believes most gun owners would want guns out of the hands of those who want to do harm, thus background checks and other means to safe gun sales shouldn't be a controversial issue.

Freedom and democracy don’t come easily to a land that’s known precious little of it over time.

As the Sunlight Foundation demonstrates, Mitt Romney has made more money than any of the last five presidents, while simultaneously paying the lowest effective tax rate.

Thousands are fleeing Syria as violence brings the country to the brink of civil war, a situation that is doubly traumatizing for Iraqi refugees there who had sought to escape the conflict in their own country.

The 30-year U.S. mortgage rate fell to new record low of 3.49 percent in the week ending Thursday, an unprecedented 1.06 percent below last year's value of 4.55 percent, according to mortgage financier Freddie Mac, with the drop reflecting growing concern over the economy.

The Spanish crisis, last week’s German vote, talk of a possible withholding of funds for Greece, and now the downgrading of the credit outlook for Europe’s strongest economies, point to a worsening of the financial crisis, a reduction in support for the euro, and a global economy increasing at risk.

John Baird, owner of Christian Pilgrim Tours Inc., promised the trip of a lifetime to his devoutly religious clients. In the end, however, the customers lost thousands of dollars and never made it on their vacations to the Holy Land.