2011 | featured news

Towards the end of 2011 a large and hugely expensive robotic rover called Curiosity is due to blast off for Mars from Cape Canaveral. If it makes it safely to the planet’s surface in August 2012 one of the first things it will do is sniff the air. Its creators, back on Earth, will be straining to see if that air carries a whiff of methane.

Gold futures finished the year with a 10th consecutive annual gain amid expectations for new record highs next year.

Stock indexes were mixed Friday in quiet New Year's Eve trading....

After being left for dead in the wake of the 2008 election, Republicans staged a stunning comeback over the past year.

Multicolored starbusts and gigantic sparklers lit the midnight sky over Sydney Harbor in a dazzling fireworks show witnessed by 1.5 million enthusiastic spectators who camped out all day to ring in the new year.

Before you go making your list of resolutions for 2011, make sure you aren't setting yourself up for failure. Some resolutions, after all, are just begging to be broken by February.

For generations now, our national values have placed an emphasis on home ownership. Renters were the people who were rootless or just not being quite ready to "settle down." As home ownership has become less of a financial asset and more of a liability over the last few years, there has been a shift in the very fabric of what renting means in our society.

Postage stamps honoring the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and the centennial of President Ronald Reagan's birth are part of the lineup of new stamps for 2011.

The ripple effects from over 4,000 canceled flights at the New York area’s three major airports threatened to leave travelers stranded through the New Year.

U.S. airlines collected $2.56 billion in baggage fees during the first nine months of the year. With industry experts expecting slower economic growth and rising oil prices in 2011, those ancillary fees aren't going anywhere.