France

U.S. stock futures are higher with the government reporting that weekly jobless claims edged downward last week, suggesting that employers may accelerate hiring this month.

The roiling political landscape of Europe pushed U.S. stock futures lower Monday as beleaguered voters in Greece and France rejected years of painful budget cuts. The Dow fell 46 points to 12,911. The S&P 500 slipped 5.7 points to 1,356.80. The Nasdaq fell 12 points to 2,613.50.

Markets dipped Monday after official data confirmed that Spain is back in its second recession in three years. Investors had initially bid up stocks on hopes that the Fed would provide more stimulus to the U.S. economy.

The Happiest Place on Earth isn't about to become the hairiest place on Earth, but Disney is loosening up its strict appearance rules for theme park employees: For the first time, male "cast members" will be allowed to wear beards.

On Friday, it looked like this week would be ugly. Standard & Poor's had just downgraded the credit ratings of France and several other E.U. countries, the latest domino to fall in Europe's slow-motion economic train wreck. But at least in the U.S., the stock market has shrugged off that news.

Stock markets in Europe traded in fairly narrow ranges Monday as Germany's leader warned that Greece may not get its next batch of bailout cash. Chinese shares surged after authorities pledged to increase bank lending to entrepreneurs. Europe's stumbling efforts to get a handle on its debt crisis remains the focus of interest in the markets.

The macaron is a filled cookie about the diameter of a half dollar coin that has become a foodie currency in its own right in recent years. It's simple in concept, but near impossible to get right -- and for the first time, Laduree, the French bakery and tearoom that made them famous is opening a U.S. boutique. So, let them eat cake!

The European debt crisis is back: Portugal is in political turmoil, and may need a major bailout, and Spain may too. But the E.U.'s strong healthy are rebelling against propping up their weaker neighbors. The real issue, though, is that the E.U. hasn't yet addressed the fundamental flaw built into it at the euro's creation.

As people in Japan's earthquake-tsunami disaster zone deal with the additional danger of radiation from damaged nuclear reactors, nations across the globe are taking the crisis as a sign that it's time to get more aggressive in their development of safer nuclear power plants.

With cleaner air and energy self-sufficiency high on America's list of priorities, our irrational dislike of nuclear power looks increasingly imprudent. China, France and the U.K. have raced ahead safely on nuclear power: It's well past time for the U.S. to start catching up.