U.S.

"There is a reason we have never gone back to the moon," says the official Apollo 18 Web site.

Shares of the following companies are actively trading in the pre-market hours Thursday on Nasdaq. The companies are Dendreon, Entropic Communications, Cadence Pharma, Zipcar, On Assignment, GT Solar and Randgold Resources.

The world's largest economy was headed toward an unprecedented default, and all Washington wanted to talk about was the manner in which the president had left a room.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its first multi-year estimates on the national HIV incidence surveillance on Wednesday. It is published in the journal PLoS ONE. The new estimates show that there were 48,600 new HIV infections in the U.S. in 2006 and some 56,000 in 2007. In 2008, there were 47,800 such infections and 48,100 in 2009, data show.

The U.S. has been gaining momentum in its fight against HIV but the number of new infections, about 50,000 per year over the past decade, continues to persist, federal officials said Wednesday. The epidemic still largely concentrates on gay men and rates of new infection have also been rapidly rising in young black men.

U.S. officials called it the largest prosecution of people who participated in an online child exploitation enterprise operated for the purpose of promoting child sexual abuse, disseminating child pornography and evading law enforcement.

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama signed a bill to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, preventing the nation from defaulting for the first time in its history.

A Beijing-based ratings agency on Wednesday downgraded the U.S. sovereign debt rating, while Western agencies such as Fitch and Moody?s reaffirmed their AAA rating, following Congressional approval of a plan to raise the debt ceiling.

The S&P 500 turned negative for the year on Tuesday as the wrangling over the U.S. debt ceiling faded and investors turned their attention to the stalling economy.

Fitch upheld its AAA rating on the United States on Tuesday after lawmakers approved spending cuts to avoid a U.S. default, but it warned the world's largest economy must cut its debt burden to avoid a future downgrade.

New details emerged Tuesday in the mysterious suspension of acclaimed polar bear scientist Charles Monnett. It appears that his 2006 paper on polar bear deaths is not in question. What is, however, is his management of a current study on "Populations and Sources of Recruitment in Polar Bears."

A Panamanian court has convicted Noriega in connection with the death of a military chief. Noriega faces 20 years in prison in the case.

The U.S.' debt woes still threaten the global economy despite a last-minute deal struck by the White House and political party leaders, China's main official newspaper said on Tuesday, nonetheless adding there was no short-term escape from the dominance of the dollar.

Lemonade stand shutdowns are on the rise in America from Appleton, Wisconsin to Midway, Georgia. Are the quintessential kiddy stands becoming a harsh lesson in governmental control?

The debt-ceiling deal hammered out by the Republicans and the Democrats in the Capitol has averted the risk of calamitous cuts in federal spending, while ensuring failure to service debt will not arise. However, analysts say some big questions remain to be answered.

Asian shares fell on Tuesday on concerns about a downgrade of the United States credit rating and economic worries after sluggish data, while the yen gave some gains on jitters over the possibility of intervention by Bank of Japan.

Midwest cash gasoline differentials rose on Monday following cycle changes in both Chicago and Group Three markets.

The La Linea boss is wanted for 1,500 murders

A US artist who lost her left eye in a car accident in 2005 will soon get a web camera in its place.

Global financial markets reflected relief over the resolution of debt limit ceiling impasse in the U.S.

Japan's top government spokesman welcomed the U.S. debt ceiling agreement on Monday and said he hoped it would stabilise markets.