WASHINGTON (AP) — Home sales surged for the second month in a row in October, climbing to the highest level in 2½ years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of an expiring tax credit.
Economists expect the joblessness that has weighed down the nation's economic recovery will start to slowly abate in 2010, but they predict consumers will continue to keep a tight rein on spending, according to a new survey.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A leading Senate Democrat said Monday his party is determined to push through a health care overhaul bill with or without Republican support because the "system is broken."
KABUL (AP) — Bomb attacks and a firefight killed four U.S. troops in 24 hours in Afghanistan, the military said Monday, adding to the growing toll as NATO and the U.S. consider whether to send more forces to the war.
HEGANG, China (AP) — The coal mine that exploded in northern China, killing 104, had too many workers underground in an effort to increase output, a government official said Monday, exposing the risks often taken to meet the country's insatiable energy demands.
BRUSSELS (AP) — A mother says her son has emerged from what doctors thought was a vegetative state to say he was fully conscious for 23 years but could not respond because he was paralyzed.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A pair of astronauts stepped out on the third and final spacewalk of their shuttle mission Monday, helping to install an enormous oxygen tank at the International Space Station.
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Jon Gosselin offered his estranged wife a bouquet of red roses at their divorce arbitration hearing over the weekend. She evidently turned them down. Despite the snub, the marathon session went so well that the feuding stars of "Jon & Kate Plus Eight" could be divorced by the end of the year, his attorney said Monday.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A kangaroo startled by a man walking his dog attacked the pair, pinning the pet underwater and slashing the owner in the abdomen with its hind legs.
LONDON (AP) — Rafael Nadal lost to Robin Soderling for the second straight time, falling 6-4, 6-4 Monday in their opening round-robin match at the ATP World Tour Finals.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Michael Phelps is ready to put an up-and-down post-Olympic year behind him and focus on the challenges that await in 2010, including adjusting to a ban on the high-performance suits that rocked his sport.
LONDON (AP) — The projected final cost of construction for the 2012 London Olympics has risen slightly, but the overall budget for the games remains unchanged.
NEW YORK (AP) — Iowa and Penn State ended their seasons eligible for an at-large BCS bid, and Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech are also in position to be eligible for invites to the four big-money bowl games even though they have no shot to win their conferences.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A person with knowledge of the decision says winless Western Kentucky has hired Stanford assistant Willie Taggart as its football coach.
LONDON (AP) — American businessman Stan Kroenke has bought 10 more Arsenal shares to put him closer to the threshold that forces him to make a takeover bid.
NEW YORK (AP) — Mississippi, California and North Carolina, teams that started the season with lofty expectations before stumbling, have surged back into the AP Top 25 college football poll.
