The best reason to watch the UEFA Champions League final Saturday is that Germany's two best teams feature what just might be the winning formula in next year's World Cup.

As the Syrian regime goes on the offensive, one key to its resilience is support from loyal businessmen like Mohammed Jaber, who organizes armed convoys to bring in and distribute fuel.

Fans fret as Big Tex, the 52-foot-tall animatronic cowboy who has greeted visitors to the State Fair of Texas here for decades, gets rebuilt.

The IRS unit under fire for its reviews of conservative organizations has a long history of targeting particular groups for extra scrutiny, including foreclosure-assistance charities and credit-counseling services.

What's News: Business & Finance Top Stories for May 25-26, 2013

Here's the beef: Enjoy the Memorial Day grilling, because retail beef prices are widely expected to set new records in coming weeks.

Bausch & Lomb, which is owned by private-equity firm Warburg Pincus, is nearing a deal to sell itself to generic-drug maker Valeant for about $9 billion.

What's News: World-Wide Top Stories for May 25-26, 2013

Obama outlined the next phase of his administration's counterterrorism efforts, detailing tighter standards for the use of unmanned drone strikes and making the case for closing the military-run prison at Guantanamo Bay.

A plan to ban refillable containers on restaurant tables died amid ridicule from Europe's chilly North, over the protestations from the sunny South.

Despite the emergence of neighborhood-watch groups in several affected areas, violence continued and even spread to more areas around Stockholm.

The leaders of the Pacific Alliance, a regional trade bloc that encompasses Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico, moved Thursday to lower import tariffs between the member countries, a decision that could boost economic integration efforts in Latin America.

Nine months after anti-Japanese riots in China over an island dispute, trade is rebounding—with Chinese consumers particularly warming again to Japanese cars.

Asia's emerging economies are amassing debt to fuel growth, in stark contrast to the scaling back of private debt in the U.S. and Europe.

"Is this a good weapon?" asked Mark. Donnelly, clutching an umbrella, asked a crowd at the Steampunk World's Fair, an annual steam-age science-fiction festival. "It is if it's in my hands at the time of attack."

Procter & Gamble said A.G. Lafley has rejoined the company as president and chief executive, succeeding Bob McDonald.

What's News: World-Wide

What's News: Business & Finance Top Stories for May 23, 2013

Bernanke said the Fed could start reducing bond buying "in the next few meetings" but warned against premature action, amid conflicting messages that roiled markets.