Mark Brooks

The change was confirmed by Mexico's Foreign Ministry on Monday as the government lays out a broad bilateral agenda in advance of Thursday's visit by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Benchmark crude for June delivery gained $1.50 to finish at $94.50 a barrel in New York. Oil hadn't finished above $94 since April 10.

July corn rose 40 cents, or 6.5 percent, to $6.5975 a bushel. That's the biggest one-day gain since June 25, when last year's drought was pushing up prices.

Hollande, looking to stimulate flagging growth and cut into the nation's 10.6 percent jobless rate, also ordered the Interior Ministry to introduce visas for foreign entrepreneurs, and to speed up the process to make the country more attractive to foreign professionals.

The bulk of the national debt -- soon to exceed a staggering $17 trillion -- is held by the Federal Reserve, Social Security system, various pension plans for civil service workers and military personnel, U.S. banks, mutual funds, private pension plans, insurance companies, and individual domestic investors.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says the spire pieces and a steel beacon will be lifted at a later date from the rooftop to cap the building at 1,776 feet.

Still, the health of the economy "is going to be an important factor" in 2014 races, said Democratic pollster and strategist Mark Mellman.

The ECB tries to achieve an inflation rate of just under 2 percent for the 17 European Union countries that use the euro.

Currently, the president can lose his job if convicted of high treason or any offenses "involving dishonesty or moral turpitude" or becomes permanently incapacitated physically or mentally.

No sooner did hackers send a false Associated Press tweet reporting explosions at the White House on Tuesday than investors started dumping stocks -- eventually unloading $134 billion worth. Turns out, some investors are not only gullible, they're impossibly fast stock traders.

Students' scores of economic literacy changed little between 2006 and 2012, suggesting that the national discussion about the millions of jobs that were lost and homes that were foreclosed didn't translate to higher academic achievement.

Gold for June delivery rose $14.90 to $1,423.70 an ounce. Most other metals prices also rose, except palladium.

The recession forced parents and teens to cut back on spending for the annual high school dance, but wallets are finally opening again.

White House spokesman Jay Carney says that if Congress wants to address the effect of automatic spending cuts on the Federal Aviation Administration, "we would be open to looking at that."

It's possible that official figures on first quarter economic growth, to be released Thursday, could show the country is back in recession, and tension is building.

The House Ways and Means Committee passed a bill that would exempt interest and principal payments on Treasury bonds from the statutory debt limit. It would also exempt interest payments to the Social Security trust funds.

Benchmark oil for June delivery rose $1.94 to $91.12 a barrel in Wednesday afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The iTunes music store became much more than a solution; it changed how we consume music and access entertainment.

With Republicans blaming the administration for the inconvenience, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid proposed immediate passage of legislation to scrap the spending cuts and make up the money by cancelling funds ticketed for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The redesigned note incorporates added security features, such as a blue, 3-D security ribbon and a disappearing Liberty Bell in an inkwell. The features are designed to thwart counterfeiters.