WASHINGTON - January 26, 2011 - Among the many legal problems now being discovered with the foreclosure documents that banks have been using are false notarizations. The most typical variety of this problem occurs when a notary certifies that the person whose signature appears on a document really did sign it, even though the notary didn't witness the signing.

LONDON, England - January 25, 2011 - Households face the most dramatic squeeze in living standards since the 1920s, the Governor Mervyn King of the Bank of England warned, as he reacted to the shock disclosure that the economy was again shrinking.

WASHINGTON - January 25, 2011 - The unemployment rate rose in 20 states last month as employers in most states shed jobs.

The Labor Department says the unemployment rate rose in 20 states and fell in 15. It was unchanged in another 15 states. That's nearly the same as in November, when the rate rose in 21 states, fell in 15 and was the same in 14.

LONDON, England - January. 24, 2011 - Rapid inflation and robust demand in China and other emerging markets are rippling through to the still recuperating developed world, driving up prices from the gas pump to McDonald’s.

As inflation warnings grow more strident, along with the cost of food, energy and other key commodities in regions such as Asia, monetary authorities around the world are renewing their vows to keep an old arch-enemy in check, even if that means higher interest rates when their troubled economies can least afford them.

PLANO, Texas - January 24, 2011 - J.C. Penney Co. is closing some stores, outlets and call center locations and continuing to work on an exit from its catalog business in an effort to streamline operations and boost profits.

NEW YORK - January 21, 2011 - Bank of America on Friday reported a loss of $1.6 billion in the fourth quarter after its costs related to soured home loans increased.

NEW YORK - January 20, 2011 - Policy makers are working behind the scenes to come up with a way to let states declare bankruptcy and get out from under crushing debts, including the pensions they have promised to retired public workers.

Unlike cities, the states are barred from seeking protection in federal bankruptcy court. Any effort to change that status would have to clear high constitutional hurdles because the states are considered sovereign.