BARACK OBAMA

The U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open Monday as trading volume is expected to be low ahead of the Christmas holiday.

Crude oil prices declined during the Asian trading hours Monday as concerns about the fiscal cliff negotiations continued to weigh on the sentiment.

Asian markets rose marginally Monday as investors remained cautious with the Christmas period set to be quiet in terms of both economic data and political events.

December began with a major labor-management dispute on American docks, and the month may end the same way.

Tagg Romney told the Boston Globe in a recent interview that his father Mitt Romney did not really want to be U.S. president.

The White House is promising Democrats it will do all it can to hold the Massachusetts seat against a Scott Brown comeback.

The FISA Amendments Act -- allowing the U.S. government to engage in warrantless wiretapping -- will likely be reauthorized before New Year's Day.

The NBA superstar won a title and a gold medal this summer.

Most Asian markets fell by week's end as investor sentiment turned negative due to Congressional leaders' lack of progress on reaching an agreement to avert the looming fiscal cliff.

President Barack Obama on Friday nominated John Kerry to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, calling him the "perfect choice" as he began reshaping his national security team for his second term.

A look at the top celebrity relationship stories of 2012: Who made the cut?

Maybe others have lost all hope for a fiscal-cliff deal, but House Speaker John Boehner, despite his Plan B failure, has not.

First lady Michelle Obama wrote an open letter to the residents of Newtown, Conn., one week after a school shooting there left 20 children and six adults dead.

The dangerous fiscal deadline isn’t Dec. 31 -– it’s February 2013, when we bump against the debt limit, again.

After staying mum on the Newtown gunfire mass murder, the NRA Friday backed better security in schools, led by armed guards.

The election, and possibly Newtown, gave Obama a "bump" in the polls - a "rally-around-the-president" pattern that occurs mid/after crises.

A moment of silence in recognition of the massacre in Sandy Hook, Conn., will take place on Friday at 9:30 a.m. ET, marking the moment one week ago when Adam Lanza killed 26 people before committing suicide.

Republicans rebel against Speaker John Boehner's tax bill, forcing the last-minute cancellation of the vote.

The pro-Israel lobby has been vociferously pushing back against ex-Sen. Chuck Hagel's widely expected nod for defense secretary.

Korea's state media has misleadingly reported to its people that Time Magazine selected their leader, Kim Jong Un, as "Man of 2012."

President Barack Obama gets caught in Spiderman's web in latest White House photo of the day.