Aside from Wall Street companies and other business enterprises, a rise in bankruptcy filings among nonprofit groups has been observed in the U.S. Included in those filing for Chapter 11 are charitable organizations.

There is no data on the number of nonprofit groups that have filed for bankruptcy, although experts said Chapter 11 filings are becoming more common as the non-profits are under pressure from donors to run like a business enterprise.

The automotive, housing and retail sectors in the U.S. are suffering record-high losses with plunging sales and income figures. In contrast, gold is selling briskly, with sales 10 times the amount sold 12 months ago, according to Arthur Blumenthal of Stack's, a Manhattan bullion and coin dealer.

In October, right after the global economic crisis broke, gold was selling at $713 an ounce. Since then, the price of gold has climbed to $977.70 per ounce.

Albuquerque, NM police found a sixth set of human remains in the desert just west of the city.

The latest set of bones were found Tuesday and police think all the victims were placed in the desert by the same person.

A new media survey released two days before the U.S.' 44th President Barack Obama takes his oath of office showed that racism is no longer viewed by many Americans as a major problem compared to 12 years ago.

The Washington Post-ABC News survey said only 25 percent still view racism as a prominent problem of society, that percentage stood at 54 percent in 1996. Obama's election as president is seen as yielding a positive effect on better race relations.

Motorola Inc. introduced a cell phone made from recycled plastic water bottles.

The MOTO W233 Renew's plastic housing is not only made of recycled material, but the company said the device is the first "carbon neutral" phone.