Pending home sales hit record low

Pending sales of existing U.S. homes dropped to a seven-year low in November, data showed on Tuesday.

Indian airline fires 9 overweight crew members
Nine flight attendants who couldn't meet the weight standards of India's national airlines have been fired, an official said Tuesday.

Ukraine: Russia slashed gas to Europe

Ukraine's gas company Naftogaz said Tuesday that Russia cut natural gas supplies to Europe by about two-thirds, raising the stakes in a dispute between the two neighbors that bodes ill for European consumers.

Bush to create huge marine sanctuaries

President George W. Bush on Tuesday will designate three remote Pacific island areas as national monuments that together will make up the largest marine conservation effort in history.

Toyota to suspend car production in Japan

Toyota is suspending production at all 12 of its Japan plants for 11 days over February and March as it grapples with shrinking global demand.

Baby's corpse thrown out with hospital's trash
Police are searching garbage dumps in New Jersey and Pennsylvania for the body of a baby that was apparently thrown out with the trash at a Jersey City hospital.

'Jealous wife' charged in fatal genitals fire
An Australian woman accused of setting her husband's genitals on fire because she thought he was having an affair has been charged with murder.

Policeman feared missing arrested in Vegas

An Alabama police organized crime specialist who vanished last week was arrested in Las Vegas and accused of staging his disappearance to cover up a theft, police said Tuesday.

War tactics used against Rio gangs
Police are using counterinsurgency tactics in battle against gangs in Brazil's favelas, or slums.

Congress, Obama gird to fight slump

The House and Senate have convened for a new Congress that will immediately confront the country's struggling economy.