Chuck Hagel will have to wait at least another 10 days to find out if the Senate will confirm him as the next secretary of defense. That's because Senate Democrats failed to muster the 60 vote supermajority needed to break a GOP filibuster of the former Nebraska Republican senator's nomination.

This week's debacle on the Carnival Triumph is a setback that may cost the company as much as $80 million and hurt the industry's image. Carnival says passengers who were on the Triumph the last five days without power were miserable, but at least they were safe. Industry watchers say Carnival generally has handled the mishap well, but that the industry may need to rethink how it deal with events like power outages on floating cities than can carry more than 5,000 people.

The latest economic numbers from Europe are in and they are not encouraging. The countries that make up the eurozone say their economies shrank at a 2.3 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter. Italy and Spain had especially sharp declines.

Several anti-violence activists have been calling for President Obama to visit his hometown after a series of deadly incidents involved guns. They want to hear the president's plans to curb a gun problem many consider an epidemic.

Conventional wisdom says fewer airlines mean higher fares and fewer flights. But experts say the American Airlines-U.S. Airways proposed merger is a mixed bag. Past mergers haven't led to significantly higher fares, but will this time be different?

The Palestinian Authority has been running on fumes since November. The group's successful bid to be recognized as a "state" by the U.N. has led to financial sanctions by Israel and the U.S., and pledges from the Arab world have not shown up.

The International Olympic Committee's unexpected move to eliminate wrestling as of the 2020 games was a particular shock to Turkey. Turks love the ancient sport, and two-thirds of Turkey's Olympic medals are in wrestling.

The owner of an oil and natural gas drilling company in Youngstown, Ohio, has been charged with violating the federal Clean Water Act. He's accused of dumping tens of thousands of gallons of drilling waste water into a storm sewer that eventually runs into a local river.

Scientists are learning what artists have already figured out: there's money out there. Specifically, there's money among the users of the Internet, and they are willing to donate it for what they consider to be good causes.

Given how much money the Die Hard franchise has made, it's not surprising that A Good Day To Die Hard plays like an extended victory lap for star Bruce Willis. Not surprising, but not a whole lot of fun either.

Women from around the globe held rallies on Valentine's Day to take up the cause of ending sexual violence. A demonstration in New Delhi is particularly poignant following the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old student.

He was in his late 50s. She was in her late 40s. Louis and Harriet Caplan talk about how they became a couple at a stage in life when most people give up on falling in love, and about making the most of their time together.

The Chilean political drama No is the first film from that country to be nominated for the Best Foreign Language Academy Award. The powerful, poignant film uses an unlikely main character to chart the surprising end of a dictator's reign.

Warren Buffett is teaming up with another big investor in the $28 billion deal. Berkshire Hathaway has been looking for places to invest, with other recent deals involving consumer icons Coca-Cola and Mars.

A woman was shot and killed Thursday at the home of South African Olympic and Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius. Police tell South African news outlets that Pistorius is the only suspect.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released "Preparedness 101." It's a tongue-in-cheek guide in case of a zombie pandemic. A Canadian member of parliament asked the foreign minister how his country is preparing. The foreign minister replied, "Canada will never become a safe haven for zombies ever!"

The National Retail Federation says Americans will spend more than $800 million on gifts for their pets from heart-shaped treats to heart-healthy vitamins.

Oscar Pistorius has been charged with murder after his girlfriend was shot dead Thursday at his home in South Africa. Pistorius is the sprinter and double-amputee known as "Blade Runner."

What do you do when you're a scientist and you have no job and no money for your research? If you're Ethan Perlstein, you try crowd funding. He raised $25,000 to investigate where the drug methamphetamine is stored in the brain.

Preschool is just one example of the ways in which President Obama says government can play a constructive role in the economy. He's trying to reorient the debate in Washington from deficit reduction alone to wise investment.