Ken Stanford

A fourth straight month of solid hiring cut the U.S. unemployment rate to a five-year low of 7 percent in November. Meanwhile, the government also reported Friday that consumer spending in October rose 0.3 percent.

Flags were lowered to half-staff and people in black townships, in upscale mostly white suburbs and in South Africa's vast rural grasslands commemorated Nelson Mandela with song, tears and prayers on Friday while pledging to adhere to the values of unity and democracy that he embodied.

There's more evidence that U.S. births may be leveling off after years of decline.

As Texas residents prepared for what one hardware store manager called "Ice Friday," schools started canceling classes and thousands of shoppers jammed store aisles to buy milk, pet food and other supplies.

It looks like President Barack Obama's fickle health insurance website is finally starting to put up some respectable sign-up numbers, but its job only seems to have gotten harder.

The outlook for hiring is improving and the economy is growing at its fastest pace in more than a year, so what's the bad news for the stock market?

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel faces a tough challenge as he looks to reassure nervous allies in the Gulf that the U.S. will continue its strong military support to the region, even as world powers move forward on the nuclear pact with Iran.