WASHINGTON - November 15, 2011 - The U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday reported a $5.1 billion loss for fiscal 2011 and warned of more trouble if has to meet obligations to pay into a retiree health benefits program.

CHICAGO, Illinois - November 15, 2011 - Thieves have snatched a copper sword from the burial site of president Abraham Lincoln, local media reported.

The roughly three-foot sword was brandished by the statue of a Civil War artillery officer at the Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site, located in Springfield, Illinois. The sword was broken off at the handle, The State Journal-Register reported.

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

LONDON, England - November 14, 2011 - The relief rally from technocrat takeovers in Italy and Greece has already wilted, once again reviving the elemental question of whether Germany will go beyond rhetoric and commit its full strategic power to halt Europe's debt crisis.

WASHINGTON - November 14. 2011 - The Treasury Department dramatically boosted its estimate of losses from its $85 billion auto industry bailout by more than $9 billion in the face of General Motors Co.'s steep stock decline.

LOS ANGELES, Kalifornia - November 10, 2011 - More U.S. homes entered the foreclosure process in October than in the previous month, with Florida, Pennsylvania and Indiana registering among the largest monthly increases, new data show.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - November 10, 2011 - Alabama’s Jefferson County filed for bankruptcy court protection on Wednesday in the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Commissioners for the county, which is home to Birmingham, the state’s biggest city and economic powerhouse, voted 4-1 to declare bankruptcy after meeting behind closed doors for two days in a last ditch-attempt to restructure its debt out of court.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - November 10, 2011 - German and French officials have discussed plans for a radical overhaul of the European Union that would involve setting up a more integrated and potentially smaller eurozone, EU sources say.