Bank of America and Duke Energy are among 301 Fortune 500 companies that maintain off shore bank accounts to avoid paying taxes in the U.S. The Charlotte-based companies said that if they brought the profits to America, they'd owe billions. Apple has come under congressional scrutiny recently for maintaining such accounts. If it brought profits home, the California-based company would owe about $36 billion in taxes.

Tension between China and the U.S. continues to mount after the Justice Department charged five Chinese military officials with hacking the systems of U.S. companies. Claiming the charges are false, China summoned the U.S. ambassador to its foreign ministry and suspended a joint working group on cyber security between it and the U.S.

India has a new prime minister. Narendra Modi will lead the world's largest democracy, saying in a speech that he vows "to increase efforts to eradicate poverty, create employment opportunities for the country's young workers and provide a safer environment for women."

The Antarctic ice sheet is losing 159 billion tons of ice each year, more than double the amount than when it was last surveyed.