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U.S. home sales surge to highest level in 2 1/2 years

In this Nov. 17, 2009 photo, A 'sold' sign is seen outside a home in Los Angeles. October home sales are up 10.1 percent, beating expectations, as tax credit spurs sales. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
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AP - 1 hour, 3 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Home sales surged for the second month in a row in October, climbing to the highest level in 2 1/2 years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of an expiring tax credit.

  • Mom: Son in coma heard everything for 23 years AP - 1 hour, 37 minutes ago

    BRUSSELS - 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.

  • In this image made from video and released by NASA, astronaut Robert Satcher Jr. is seen preparing to work on a high-pressure tank on the International Space Station. The third and final spacewalk of space shuttle Atlantis' mission will conclude Monday, 23, 2009, at 1 p.m. EST. Satcher will be joined outside by Randolph Bresnik, the father of a new baby girl. The two will hook up a fresh oxygen tank and science experiments at the International Space Station. (AP Photo/NASA)
    Astronauts take spacewalk No. 3 after suit snag AP - 51 minutes ago

    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - 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.

  • FILE - This image released by TLC, shows Jon Gosselin, right, and his wife Kate Gosselin, from the TLC series 'Jon & Kate Plus 8,' in Hawaii. (AP Photo/TLC, Mark Arbeit)
    Attorney: Gosselin divorce could be finalized soon AP - 21 minutes ago

    ALLENTOWN, Pa. - 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.

  • FILE - In this file photo taken Aug. 29, 2005, file photo, a female kangaroo and her joey are seen in suburban Sydney, Australia. An Australian man was in stable condition Monday, Nov. 23, 2009, after being slashed across the abdomen and face by a kangaroo that was holding his dog underwater. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith, File)
    Kangaroo tries to drown dog, attacks owner AP - Mon Nov 23, 7:57 AM ET

    MELBOURNE, Australia - 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.

  • Spain's Rafael Nadal reacts during his ATP World Tour Finals tennis match against Sweden's Robin Soderling at the O2 Arena in London, Monday Nov. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
    Nadal loses to Soderling at ATP Final in London AP - 1 hour, 9 minutes ago

    LONDON - 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.

  • U.S. home sales at 2-1/2 year high Reuters - 54 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sales of previously owned U.S. homes jumped last month to their highest level in more than 2-1/2 years, but a fall in an economic activity gauge was a reminder recovery from recession would be patchy.

  • Rescuers prepare to enter the Xinxing coal mine to search for survivors following a gas explosion at the mine in Hegang, Heilongjiang Province November 22, 2009. REUTERS/Aly Song
    China families protest mine disaster, toll hits 104 Reuters - Sun Nov 22, 9:57 PM ET

    HEGANG, China (Reuters) - Relatives of victims of a gas blast at a mine in northeastern China scuffled with police and demanded answers from the owners on Monday as state media put the toll from the country's latest mine disaster at 104.

  • Gunmen kill 21 in Philippine political war Reuters - Mon Nov 23, 8:39 AM ET

    MANILA (Reuters) - Gunmen abducted and killed at least 21 people in the southern Philippines Monday, apparently to prevent a woman filing her husband's nomination to run for provincial governor in elections next year, the military said.

  • Men, fleeing a military offensive in South Waziristan, line up in a queue while waiting for their turn to collect handouts at a distribution point for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Dera Ismail Khan, located in Pakistan's restive North West Frontier Province, November 22, 2009. REUTERS/Mustansar Baloch
    Pakistani forces attack Taliban, kill 22 Reuters - Mon Nov 23, 9:00 AM ET

    HANGU, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani security forces, backed by tanks and artillery, attacked Taliban positions in the northwest of the country, killing 22 militants, a senior police official on Monday.

  • NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, left, looks at Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk prior to talks in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, Nov. 23, 2009. Rasmussen came to Poland to discuss NATO issues including the current situation in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
    Obama to meet advisers on Afghanistan Reuters - 4 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday added to his schedule an evening session with top advisers on Afghanistan as he closes in on a decision on whether to send thousands more U.S. troops.

  • A view of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant from Goldsboro, Pennsylvania, March 22, 1999. REUTERS/STR New
    Radiation leak investigated at Three Mile Island Reuters - Mon Nov 23, 8:09 AM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal officials are investigating a radiation leak at Three Mile Island, scene of the worst U.S. nuclear power accident, but said on Sunday there was no threat to public health or safety.

  • Abbas al-Bayati (C), a Turkmen member of the Iraqi parliament, speaks to the media after voting on an election law at the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad, November 8, 2009. REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen
    Iraq parliament passes new vote law Reuters - 2 hours, 57 minutes ago

    BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's fractious parliament on Monday approved an amended version of a law needed to hold a general election next year, but sidestepped a veto by Sunni Arab Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi, lawmakers said.

  • China attacks "biased" U.S. cyber-spying report Reuters - Mon Nov 23, 3:01 AM ET

    BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Monday accused a U.S. congressional advisory panel of bias for a report in which it said the Chinese government appeared increasingly to be piercing U.S. computer networks to gather useful data for its military.

  • Philippine soldiers patrol the streets of Manila. At least 21 people were murdered in the lawless southern Philippines on Monday in a massacre that the military and relatives of the victims said was likely linked to a political rivalry.(AFP/File/Jay Directo)
    Philippine kidnappers kill 21 in 'political massacre' AFP - Mon Nov 23, 8:48 AM ET

    MANILA (AFP) - At least 21 people were murdered in the lawless southern Philippines on Monday in a massacre that the military and relatives of the victims said was likely linked to a political rivalry.

  • A seriously injured miner lies in hospital in the city of Hegang in northeast China's Heilongjiang province. Relatives of victims angrily demanded answers Monday as hopes of finding more survivors after China's worst mining disaster for two years took a blow with the death toll rising to 104.(AFP/Peter Parks)
    Anger builds as China mine toll hits 104 AFP - Mon Nov 23, 7:10 AM ET

    HEGANG, China (AFP) - Relatives of victims angrily demanded answers Monday as the death toll from China's worst mining disaster in two years climbed to 104 and hopes of finding more survivors faded.

  • Iranian technicians remove a container of radioactive uranium at the Isfahan Uranium Conversion Facilities in 2005. Iran's envoy to the UN atomic watchdog said that Tehran wants a guaranteed supply of fuel for a research reactor as a military chief warned that any attack on its nuclear sites would be crushed.(AFP/File/Behrouz Mehri)
    Iran wants nuclear fuel guarantees, warns against air attack AFP - Sun Nov 22, 2:47 PM ET

    TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's envoy to the UN atomic watchdog said on Sunday that Tehran wants a guaranteed supply of fuel for a research reactor as a military chief warned that any attack on its nuclear sites would be crushed.

  • Israelis take part in a protest calling for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in Jerusalem in March 2009. Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Sunday there has been "progress" in talks to free Shalit, held in the Gaza strip for the past three years.(AFP/File/Gali Tibbon)
    Israel's Peres reports 'progress' in talks to free Shalit AFP - Sun Nov 22, 3:12 PM ET

    JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Sunday there has been "progress" in talks to free soldier Gilad Shalit, held captive by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip for the past three years.

  • Incumbent president Traian Basescu casts his vote at a polling station in Bucharest. Romania's incumbent president and his Social-Democrat rival will face a run-off after Sunday's first round election, exit polls showed, as the recent EU member tries to recover from a political crisis and a deep recession.(AFP/Daniel Mihailescu)
    Romanian president, rival face run-off vote: exit polls AFP - Sun Nov 22, 4:24 PM ET

    BUCHAREST (AFP) - Romania's incumbent president and his Social-Democrat rival will face a run-off after Sunday's first round election, exit polls showed, as the country aims to recover from a political crisis and a deep recession.

  • Handout picture shows workers at the Statkraft Osmotic power plant prototype in Tofte, south of Oslo, in October 2009. After wind, sun, currents and tides, a company is preparing to make clean electricity by harnessing another natural phenomenon, the energy-unleashing encounter of freshwater and seawater.(AFP/Statkraft/File)
    Harnessing the power of salt, Norway tries osmotic power AFP - Sun Nov 22, 6:54 PM ET

    OSLO (AFP) - After wind, sun, currents and tides, a company is preparing to make clean electricity by harnessing another natural phenomenon, the energy-unleashing encounter of freshwater and seawater.

  • With Spain facing its worst recession in decades, the government will approve this week a sweeping package of reforms aimed at changing the nation's economic growth model, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, pictured on November 19, said Sunday.(AFP/ANP/File/Valerie Kuypers)
    Spanish PM vows sweeping reforms to boost economy AFP - Sun Nov 22, 5:39 PM ET

    MADRID (AFP) - With Spain facing its worst recession in decades, the government will approve this week a sweeping package of reforms aimed at changing the nation's economic growth model, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Sunday.

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  • A special agent holds an X-ray film file of a healthcare fraud case at a warehouse near Miami, Florida November 23, 2009. It's a crime so profitable that even dead people are in on the act and law enforcement experts, who say it costs U.S. taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars a year, see little hope of reining it in any time soon. Healthcare fraud has garnered increased attention amid the congressional debate about overhauling the U.S. healthcare system, especially since President Barack Obama wants to cover some of the cost of reforms by fighting abuse. REUTERS/Carlos Barria (UNITED STATES HEALTH CRIME LAW BUSINESS)
    FAQ: A normal person's guide to health care reform The Yahoo! Newsroom - Sat Nov 21, 9:27 PM ET

    If you've recently found yourself wondering, "What the heck is going on with the health care reform debate?", you're not alone. The American legislative process is unwieldy, and never more so than in the United States Senate. The Senate voted Saturday to move its bill to a full debate, but some big hurdles still remain.

  • The logo of social networking website 'Facebook' is displayed on a computer screen in London inr 2007. Facebook can be a double-edged sword, a Canadian woman learned when an insurance company cut her health benefits, claiming she was healthy after seeing pictures of her smiling in bikini at the beach.(AFP/File/Leon Neal)
    Smiling on Facebook costs Canadian her insurance AFP - Sat Nov 21, 2:08 PM ET

    MONTREAL (AFP) - Facebook can be a double-edged sword, a Canadian woman learned when an insurance company cut her health benefits, claiming she was healthy after seeing pictures of her smiling in bikini at the beach.

  • A job seeker picks up a copy of the Washington Job Guide at a job fair in a Washington hotel, August 6, 2009. REUTERS/Jason Reed
    9 Insider Secrets to Getting Hired U.S. News & World Report - Mon Nov 16, 4:06 PM ET

    While searching for work alongside 16 million people who are angling for the same openings, getting a hiring manager to tell you why you didn't get hired is about as easy as actually getting the job. But one of the best things you can do is examine your job search with a critical eye: Is your résumé really a good advertisement for your skills? Does your nail-gnawing habit turn off prospective employers? Do you tend to make your interviewers a little nervous?