SETTLEMENT

California, the state with the second most foreclosures by volume, has passed one of the strongest laws in the country seeking to protect homeowners from improperly losing their homes.

GSK targeted the antidepressant Paxil to patients under age 18 when it was approved for adults only, and it pushed the drug Wellbutrin for uses it was not approved for, including weight loss and treatment of sexual dysfunction, according to an investigation led by the U.S. Justice Department.

Apple will pay a $60 million settlement to secure the iPad trademark in China, opening up sales to the Chinese market, Apple's most profitable after the United States.

The Bank of England (BoE) is cracking down on large financial institutions to prevent them from cheating businesses and consumers worldwide -- a practice that has put a $360 trillion global financial market at serious risk for several years.

Can there be such a thing as secret islands of the Caribbean? Sure, word is out on much of the Caribbean Isles, but there are still a few corners of the salty sea where the mood is laid-back and the culture authentic -- places where the Robinson Crusoe dream is alive and well.

The United Nations cultural agency has added the legendary city of Timbuktu to a list of historically significant sites in danger as rebel factions skirmish in northern Mali.

It now falls to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia to send the contempt citation to a grand jury, an unlikely outcome. Here's what might happen instead.

Russia and other big powers have told mediator Kofi Annan they support his idea of a Syrian national unity cabinet, diplomats told Reuters Wednesday.

Barclays Plc (NYSE: BCS) agreed Wednesday to pay $453 million in fines to settle claims made by U.S. and UK. bank regulators and law enforcement agencies for the bank's alleged involvement in a scheme to manipulate two global benchmark interest rates.

Vietnam has decried China's plan to open up disputed areas of the South China Sea to oil exploration as illegal, ratcheting up tensions between the two communist neighbors over maritime borders and natural resources.

State-controlled Bank of China (Hong Kong: 3988) opened its first branch in Taipei Wednesday in the first arrival of a mainland bank in Taiwan and plans to increase lending to local businesses, China Daily reported.

After agreeing on a settlement, Christie Brinkley and ex-husband Peter Cook can finally move forward. It's been four years since their bitter divorce was official, and now the two have finally come to an agreement regarding the welfare of their children.

The Republican chairman of a House panel is accusing President Obama of either obscuring his involvement in the failed Fast and Furious gun-tracking program or improperly invoking executive privilege

Israel began the evacuation of settlers from the West Bank outpost of Ulpana Tuesday, bringing a sense of finality to the Supreme Court's ruling that it was built illegally on private Palestinian land and had to be dismantled.

With Monday marking three years since Michael Jackson died, many will be getting their MJ fix by watching some of his best videos from over the years, and undoubtedly, Thriller will be on that lineup. But many may wonder, what happened to the woman in the 1983 Thriller video listed in credits as only Ola Ray, Michael's Girl? View the slideshow to see photos of Ola Ray then and now.

China and Brazil finalized an agreement on Thursday to exchange national currencies worth up to $30 billion as part of bilateral efforts to shore up reserves in times of crisis.

Bank of America directors have reached a definitive settlement of litigation by shareholders, who accused the bank of overpaying for Merrill Lynch, a federal judge said.

Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), the No. 3 search engine, could settle its patent dispute with Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social networking site, soon, lawyers told a federal judge in San Francisco.

Ultra Petroleum, Gentex Corp, Groupon, Peabody Energy, Nokia, AK Steel Holding, Goodrich Petroleum, Facebook and Coca-Cola Co. are among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Monday.

Certain financial-market commentators were -- er, uh -- commentating either early Monday or late Sunday (depending on one's global positioning) about a relief rally in this market or that market allegedly propelled by Greece's election results, which suggest the euro zone will not be falling apart. This week, anyway.

Not every Haitian immigrant to the United States completes the dangerous journey to get there, but those who do can have a surprising effect on the quality of life upon the island of their birth.