nation/world

Cold weather and higher-than-usual amounts of snowfall across much of the country have hampered post-holiday shopping and spending in the beginning of the year.

The sooner you start explaining the world to your baby, the better.

Cold weather across much of the nation contributed to a drop in retail sales in January. Americans spent less on autos and clothes and at restaurants -- a decline that suggests that momentum from consumer spending at the end of 2013 has tailed off.

A Canadian study that many experts say has major flaws has revived debate about the value of mammograms. The research suggests that these screening X-rays do not lower the risk of dying of breast cancer while finding many tumors that do not need treatment.

The Whited House on Wednesday offered to help U.S. businesses protect their computer systems from cyberattacks that President Barack Obama called "one the gravest national security dangers that the United States faces."

A sinkhole collapsed part of the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky on Wednesday, damaging eight cars but not shutting down the building.

After 50 years of debate over her unattainably perfect figure, Barbie now is unapologetic about her tiny waist and endless legs.

The city dodged the first punch of a dangerous winter storm Tuesday, but forecasters warned of a potentially "catastrophic" second blow in the form of a thick layer of ice that threatened to bring hundreds of thousands of power outages and leave people in their cold, dark homes for days.

Graco is recalling nearly 3.8 million car safety seats because children can get trapped by buckles that may not unlatch. But the company has drawn the ire of federal safety regulators who say the recall should include another 1.8 million rear-facing car seats designed for infants.

Neil Patrick Harris has given way to Hugh Jackman at the Tony Awards.