The leaders of 23 European countries moved to tie their economies much closer together in a new treaty in their latest attempt to shore up the euro, but failed to get the four other European Union members, including Britain, to join in.

Following marathon all-night talks, the 23 decided to back a new treaty with strict oversight over national budgets, as they try to convince markets that the euro has a future in the wake of a crippling debt crisis.

Think poinsettia plants are passé? Had enough holly at the holidays? Try tomatoes.

Besides growing dozens of varieties of poinsettias for a national research project, the University of New Hampshire has been experimenting with dwarf tomato plants as holiday decor. Researchers grew about six dozen plants in three varieties of tomatoes and showed them off along with the poinsettias at a holiday open house recently.

Jay-Z didn't graduate from high school, but he's encouraging others to value their education.

The rapper announced Thursday that he will perform two shows at New York's Carnegie Hall in February to benefit the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation and the United Way of New York City.

50 Cent has rapped about getting rich. Now he's focusing on getting fit.

The hip-hop star is putting out a fitness book that's set to be published in January 2013 by Avery Books. Titled "Formula 50: A 6-Week Total Body Transformation Plan," the book will tout metabolic resistance training as the key to getting in shape. It will also include a nutrition guide.

Adele dominated music this year, and iTunes was no exception.

The British songstress had iTunes' best-selling album and song, and she was named its top artist.

Gamers worried their actions on the virtual battlefield could land them at the Hague war crimes tribunal can relax.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says media reports that it is investigating whether the Geneva Conventions apply to video games are false.

A gunman killed a police officer in a Virginia Tech parking lot and was found dead nearby Thursday in an attack that sent fear through the campus nearly five years after it was the scene of the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history.

The school locked down for hours and warned students and faculty members via email and text message to stay indoors. The shootings came as university officials were in Washington appealing a fine that U.S. officials gave them over the school's response to the 2007 rampage.

NASA's lone surviving Mars rover has been busy exploring its surroundings since it rolled up to its latest crater destination four months ago. Now the solar-powered Opportunity is in search of a place to spend its fifth winter.

The robot geologist has been scouting out sites along the crater rim that not only have interesting rocks to examine but also ample sunshine. The hardy rover survived four previous Martian winters. Scientists expect no different and even drew up a to-do list.

The last total lunar eclipse of the year is Saturday. And there won't be another one for three years.

Viewers in the western half of the United States will have the best views Saturday well before dawn. The farther west the better.

Breast cancer experts are cheering what could be some of the biggest advances in more than a decade: two new medicines that significantly delay the time until women with very advanced cases get worse.

In a large international study, an experimental drug from Genentech called pertuzumab held cancer at bay for a median of 18 months when given with standard treatment, versus 12 months for others given only the usual treatment. It also strongly appears to be improving survival, and follow-up is continuing to see if it does.