While many farmers and politicians acknowledge it's time to end direct payments to farmers, many argue that crop insurance payments are still needed to help them hedge their bets against the next big disaster.

The new phone, which has voice assistance, longer battery life and a better camera, will be launched on Oct. 14. Many of Apple's fans who had been looking forward to seeing a completely new device — the iPhone 5 — were disappointed by what many saw as an incremental improvement.

Nearly 18 months after a disastrous oil spill killed wildlife and endangered businesses along the Gulf of Mexico, the federal government announces it will regulate not only the operators of offshore oil rigs, but the contractors who work on them, as well.

In Boomerang, writer Michael Lewis tells the stories of the countries hit hardest by the 2008 financial crisis. He also profiles some people who bet against European governments and are likely to make millions if and when they default.

Warnings were given but action wasn't taken, an inspector general says. Read the report.

Alibaba, China's largest search engine, may be trying to stage a takeover of Yahoo. The prospect raises thorny issues — not only because of Yahoo's stormy relationship with its subsidiary — but because of China's checkered history using communications infrastructure for hacking, as well as monitoring the activities of its own citizens.

The nation's No. 3 mobile carrier Sprint is betting its future on a major deal with Apple. The Wall Street Journal reports Sprint has committed to buy more than 30 million iPhones. This would be the first time Sprint is putting the iPhone in its lineup.

Bill Frezza, a venture capitalist and a fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute says the idea that creating jobs leads to growth and prosperity is a fallacy. He tells Lynn Neary that the jobs myth is at the heart of the nation's unemployment problems.