The pace of home sales in the United States took a sharp turn for the worse in July, falling a record 27 percent from June and raising new concerns about the economy's health. Sales of previously owned homes fell to an annualized pace of 3.8 million, down from 5.3 million in June and 5.1 million a year earlier.

BEIJING — The China plane crash that killed 42 people late Tuesday night was a rare blot on the country's aviation safety copybook, say experts here. But it highlights the risks of flying in and out of some small regional airports at night, something more airlines are forced to do to meet the demands of China's booming travel industry.

Former President Jimmy Carter is reportedly poised to fly to North Korea on a rescue mission this week that carries what analysts see as tremendous diplomatic significance amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Education entrepreneurs - the sort of people who want to open a new charter school, or have an innovative way to get talented new teachers into schools - would do well to head to New Orleans. Or Washington or New York. Detroit or Philadelphia? Not so welcoming.

WASHINGTON — In Alaska, they’re going into overtime! The Republican US Senate primary race between incumbent Lisa Murkowski and "tea party" favorite Joe Miller remains too close to call following Tuesday’s primary election. It may be days before state election officials decide the race.

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — They came to power as Somalia’s best hope for peace, a government composed of traditional Somali elders, clan leaders, and businessmen under the leadership of a religious scholar, President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

But if Tuesday's attack on Somali parliamentarians in the heart of their own territory in Mogadishu shows anything, it is that the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia - put together at a conference table in Djibouti in January 2007 after a six-month long occupation by Ethiopian forces - is a government in name only.

Insurance rates for cars aren't necessarily the cheapest in these five states. But their residents earn enough that they pay the lowest percentage of their median income to insure a car, according to new numbers from InsWeb, an online website that compares insurance rates.

A suicide strike by two bombers suspected to have belonged to an Al Qaeda-linked group in Somalia killed at least 32 people today, including six legislators from the country's Western-funded parliament.

As the days get shorter the political season is heating up. Today's primaries will affect some of the most interesting races of the year, from Florida’s high-profile Senate contest to Arizona Sen. John McCain’s bid to survive a challenge from the right. Here's what to look for.

The five Midwestern states suing to keep Asian carp - the behemoths that gorge on plankton and leap 10 feet in the air - out of the Great Lakes claimed to score a legal victory Monday. A federal judge held an initial hearing and scheduled more hearings for expert testimony in early September.