U.S.

All lower 48 states had above-average temps in '12, a year that ranked 2nd, all-time, for extreme weather events.

The brutal gang-rape of a young medical student in India has attracted global attention to the epidemic of sexual assaults.

President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai will meet Friday at the White House to discuss the future of the war and the security situation in Afghanistan.

The insurgent group Seleka is making headway toward Bangui, despite peace negotiations in Gabon planned for this week.

The U.S. trade deficit likely narrowed in November, and the euro-zone recession probably worsened at the end of last year.

Microsoft retail employees have allegedly tipped that the Surface Pro tablet will launch at the end of January.

Just as Samsung has hinted at when its Galaxy S4 device could be released, the first reportedly leaked photo of the handset has appeared online.

The report revealed a lackluster labor market, flat unemployment and a holiday shopping season that may have been a dud. What's the Fed to do?

The unemployment rate may have held at 7.7 percent in December -- the lowest since December 2008.

Asian stock markets extended gains Thursday as encouraging economic reports from the U.S. and China continued to buoy sentiment.

Kourtney Kardashian posed unretouched for Us Weekly after losing 44 pounds following the birth of her daughter Penelope.

An improvement in global sentiment should boost factory sectors in most countries in the coming months, but a strong rebound is unlikely.

S&P said it believes the same conditions that led it to strip the U.S. of its prized AAA rating in August of last year continue to exist.

Us Weekly confirmed that singer Brandy Norwood is engaged to music executive Ryan Press following a sordid romantic life she said once made her lose faith in love.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry advised Iranian citizens to avoid unnecessary travel to the United States this week following the “suspicious death of an Iranian national."

Worries about the fiscal cliff weighed on consumer sentiment in December.

Single-family home sales climb 4.4 percent in November, highest rate in two and a half years.

A less volatile measure of initial jobless claims fell to its lowest level since the early days of the 2007-09 recession.

The American will stay at White Hart Lane until 2014.

Holiday sales are a crucial indicator of the economy's strength. And an early indicator is lowering the odds for a happy new year.

Job cuts this year have been driven by a handful of large-scale cuts. So here's a list of the top 10 major layoff announcements we saw in 2012.