Investors halted the stock market's three-day losing streak Monday, buying on a range of factors including the weaker dollar and better-than-expected home sales numbers.

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.

Tyson Foods Inc. said Monday a hefty impairment charge in its beef business left it with a loss for the fourth quarter, but said its sales rose and its chicken business was profitable for the second straight quarter.

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.

The federal government said Monday that it has found a "strong association" between problematic imported Chinese drywall and corrosion of pipes and wires, a conclusion that supports complaints by thousands of homeowners over the last year.

Price-conscious grocery shoppers are being choosy about what they buy to cook at home, even from the value-oriented Campbell Soup Co.

Consumers continue to take control of their debt as the delinquency rate on credit cards heads toward 1 percent.

Shares in British chocolate maker Cadbury PLC hit their highest level in at least five years Monday on reports that another rival, Switzerland's Nestle SA, may make a takeover bid.

Television retailer QVC has made aggressive plans to keep shoppers watching _ instead of mall-hopping _ on Black Friday, an event it has traditionally ignored.

General Motors Co. on Monday asked European governments to help pay most of the euro3.3 billion ($4.9 billion) it needs to restructure its struggling European operations.

Entertainment  (top)

During rehearsals for his outlandish American Music Awards performance, amid a thundercloud of throbbing theater lights and special-effects fog, Adam Lambert effortlessly governs the sprawling stage while gripping a microphone in his gloved hands and donning a tight T-shirt slathered with an image of David Bowie's face.

The King of Pop is still winning awards and setting records doing it.

Artist Nate Giorgio recalls the last time he saw Michael Jackson, just days before the singer's death.

Like any wife who knows her husband well, Nancy Martus knows what will annoy her man. Like when she utters the phrase, "Oprah says..."

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.

Another interview coup for Oprah Winfrey: Vicki Kennedy, wife of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Television retailer QVC has made aggressive plans to keep shoppers watching _ instead of mall-hopping _ on Black Friday, an event it has traditionally ignored.

To create an album as hard-hitting as his multiplatinum-selling debut, 2003's "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," 50 Cent says he had to tap into the troubles he dealt with before he became one of hip-hop's biggest stars.

Michael Jackson's doctor has returned to work at his Houston medical clinic for the first time since the pop star's death.

Pilot Chesley Sullenberger jokes that his heroic handling of a disabled jetliner brought him "rock star sex" in an interview for "NBC's People of the Year" TV special.

Headlines  (top)

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Health  (top)

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."

Parents who thought their preschoolers were spending time in home-based day cares, taking naps, eating healthy snacks and learning to play nicely with others may be surprised to discover they are sitting as many as two hours a day in front of a TV, according to a study published Monday.

The former director of the National Institutes of Health is advising women to ignore new guidelines that delay the start of routine mammogram testing for breast cancer.

Lawmakers broke along party lines on a new aspect of the health care debate Sunday as a former National Institutes of Health chief urged women to ignore guidelines that delay the start of breast cancer screenings.

Republicans are seizing on this week's recommendations for fewer Pap smears and mammograms to fuel concern about government-rationed medical care _ and to try to chip away support by women for President Barack Obama's proposed health care overhaul.

A Canadian woman on long-term sick leave for depression says she lost her benefits because her insurance agent found photos of her on Facebook in which she appeared to be having fun.

Marines treated at Camp Lejeune for post-traumatic stress had to undergo therapy for months in temporary trailers where they could hear bomb blasts, machine-gun fire and war cries through the thin walls, according to servicemen and their former psychiatrist.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops defended their involvement in the health care debate, saying Monday that church leaders have a duty to the nation and God to raise moral concerns on any issue, including on abortion rights and coverage for the poor.

Four North Carolina patients at a single hospital tested positive for a type of swine flu that is resistant to Tamiflu, health officials said Friday.

Hitech  (top)

Apple Inc's iPhone is coming to South Korea this week, a local carrier announced Sunday, bringing the iconic communications device to one of the world's most sophisticated mobile phone markets.

While U.S. newspapers are losing subscribers at a staggering rate, a few dailies stand out because their circulation is rising. But they aren't necessarily selling more copies.

The chief executive of Fox Filmed Entertainment said Monday the U.S. should join France in cutting off the Internet connection of users who repeatedly download copyright-protected films.

Sony's new online service connecting the whole range of its gadgets to downloadable content like movies and games should help build brand loyalty, a top executive said Friday.

A leading climate change scientist whose private e-mails are included in thousands of documents that were stolen by hackers and posted online said Sunday the leaks may have been aimed at undermining next month's global climate summit in Denmark.

Increasing numbers of English-language Web sites are spreading al-Qaida's message to Muslims in the West. They translate writings and sermons once largely out of reach of English readers and often feature charismatic clerics like Anwar al-Awlaki, who exchanged dozens of e-mails with the Army psychiatrist accused of the Fort Hood shootings.

Nathaniel Lester scored 19 points and Hofstra held off Yale 68-63 in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Monday night.

Yahoo Inc. is jumping on the Twitter bandwagon in its latest attempt to get people to use its Internet search engine more frequently.

International  (top)

Dozens of gunmen hijacked a convoy carrying journalists, and family and supporters of a candidate for provincial governor, killing at least 21 of the travelers Monday in the southern Philippines' worst political violence in years.

McDonald's is going green _ swapping its traditional red backdrop for a deep hunter green _ to promote a more eco-friendly image in Europe.

Israel and Hamas are close to a deal to swap 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for an Israeli soldier held for more than three years by the Islamic militant group, a Palestinian familiar with the talks said Monday.

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.

The world's largest atom smasher made another leap forward Monday by circulating beams of protons in opposite directions at the same time in the $10 billion machine after more than a year of repairs, organizers said.

A veteran dissident was sentenced Monday to three years in prison after casting a spotlight on poorly built schools that collapsed during China's massive earthquake last year, killing thousands of children _ an apparent government attempt to squelch such information.

Iraq's parliament amended the country's vetoed election law on Monday with a version that failed to appease Sunni Arabs, who fear they are being marginalized.

A cutting-edge French warship sailed into St. Petersburg Monday to show off its capabilities to potential buyers in the Russian navy, whose pursuit of an amphibious assault capacity is frightening some neighboring countries.

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.

Engaging, not isolating Iran is the way to push for peace and stability in the Middle East, said Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva as he headed into private talks Monday with his increasingly alienated Iranian counterpart.

Olympics  (top)

The projected final cost of construction for the 2012 London Olympics has risen slightly, but the overall budget for the games remains unchanged.

Tony Benshoof's back problem is back, already causing concern for the Olympic season.

Steven Holcomb said the U.S. bobsled team was going to be a powerhouse this year. He sure seems like a prophet.

Comedian Stephen Colbert took the "Night Train" and it nearly left him speechless.

Marcel Hirscher of Austria won the second edition of the parallel slalom Champions Cup on a giant ramp in a promotion of Alpine ski events for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

Listening to her coach paid off for Joannie Rochette.

U.S. skier Resi Stiegler is out for the season after breaking two bones in her left leg in a crash during giant slalom training.

The home-ice advantage for the U.S. skeleton team vanished for the second straight week in World Cup competition and Canada and Germany took advantage in the snowless Adirondack Mountains.

Vancouver Olympic organizers didn't violate women ski jumpers' rights because they had no power to include their event in the 2010 Winters Games.

Petter Northug enters the Olympic season as the man to beat in cross-country skiing, and he isn't doing much to downplay expectations.

Politics  (top)

Reports of hate crimes against gays and religious groups increased sharply in 2008, according to new FBI data released Monday.

President Barack Obama says he will have a national science fair next year to honor young inventors with the same gusto that college and professional athletes celebrate their victories at the White House.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is holding out the possibility that Iraq's national election could be delayed beyond January because of a dispute over the allocation of seats in parliament.

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."

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy will be a tough act to follow, even for the Kennedys. His death, coupled with the decision by family members not to seek the seat he held for nearly five decades, has prompted predictions that the family's long-running political dynasty is over.

India has watched with wariness as President Barack Obama's administration has lavished attention on rivals Pakistan and China. Now, Obama is trying to ease Indian worries by honoring Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with the first state visit of his presidency.

Suddenly the Federal Reserve is everybody's punching bag.

After the beatings by President Robert Mugabe's policemen, the overcrowded, lice-ridden jail cells, the degradation of nightly strip-searches, Jenni Williams and Magondonga Mahlangu still cling to hope for Zimbabwe.

Lawmakers broke along party lines on a new aspect of the health care debate Sunday as a former National Institutes of Health chief urged women to ignore guidelines that delay the start of breast cancer screenings.

Since the 1997 international accord to fight global warming, climate change has worsened and accelerated _ beyond some of the grimmest of warnings made back then.

Religion  (top)

The sign sits propped on a wooden chair, inviting all comers: "Ask an Atheist."

More than 150 Christian leaders, most of them conservative evangelicals and traditionalist Roman Catholics, issued a joint declaration Friday reaffirming their opposition to abortion and gay marriage and pledging to protect religious freedoms.

Fallout continues from the summer controversy over the University of Notre Dame awarding an honorary degree to President Barack Obama, who supports abortion rights.

Terverius Black believes in hip-hop gospel so much he sold his first home to get the money needed to start his Christian-themed entertainment company.

Former megachurch pastor Ted Haggard said he will continue to hold weekly prayer meetings at his home, three years after he was ousted from the church he founded amid a scandal involving a male prostitute and drug use.

The nation's Roman Catholic bishops have affirmed that the church defines marriage between one man and one woman, and sex is meant for procreation.

Science  (top)

The world's largest atom smasher made another leap forward Monday by circulating beams of protons in opposite directions at the same time in the $10 billion machine after more than a year of repairs, organizers said.

Getting one of the roughly 11,500 permits granted each year to backpack overnight in the Grand Canyon has become so competitive and "unfair" that managers at the national park have decided to change the system.

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.

Since the 1997 international accord to fight global warming, climate change has worsened and accelerated _ beyond some of the grimmest of warnings made back then.

Sixty-five world leaders have said they will attend the Copenhagen climate summit in December, and several more have responded positively to invitations, Danish officials said Sunday.

Vladimir Gapor is a plumber by trade, but now he's a scavenger, prying bits of scrap steel from the ruins of his old factory and selling them for a pittance.

A Vatican researcher has rekindled the age-old debate over the Shroud of Turin, saying that faint writing on the linen proves it was the burial cloth of Jesus. Experts say the historian may be reading too much into the markings, and they stand by carbon-dating that points to the shroud being a medieval forgery.

The creatures living in the depths of the ocean are as weird and outlandish as the creations in a Dr. Seuss book: tentacled transparent sea cucumbers, primitive "dumbos" that flap ear-like fins, and tubeworms that feed on oil deposits.

Computer hackers have broken into a server at a well-respected climate change research center in Britain and posted hundreds of private e-mails and documents online _ stoking debate over whether some scientists have overstated the case for man-made climate change.

Sports  (top)

Connecticut remains a unanimous No. 1 in the AP women's college basketball poll.

Florida coach Urban Meyer says he plans to coach the Gators "as long as they'll have me."

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.

Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles found a way to pull out a close win. They also hurt the Chicago Bears in the process.

The sky cleared and Lorena Ochoa and Jiyai Shin were left with one day to settle their duel for LPGA Tour player of the year.

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.

The projected final cost of construction for the 2012 London Olympics has risen slightly, but the overall budget for the games remains unchanged.

Prosecutors have dropped attempted aggravated robbery charges against Tennessee freshman safety Janzen Jackson.

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.

A person with knowledge of the decision says winless Western Kentucky has hired Stanford assistant Willie Taggart as its football coach.

Strange  (top)

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.

Britain's authority on etiquette says it's more hygienic to exchange kisses on the cheek than to shake hands _ so the swine flu pandemic should not make people afraid of kissing under the mistletoe this holiday season.

Police say a bank robbery suspect in Ohio may have eaten evidence when he gobbled a piece of paper while handcuffed and lying across the hood of a police cruiser.

Federal officials say they arrested a man who strapped 15 live lizards to his chest to get through customs at Los Angeles International Airport.

A 39-year-old Southern California man has been arrested for misdemeanor child annoyance after allegedly paying a teenager $31 to spit in his face. The Ventura County Sheriff's Department says Charles Hersel was arrested Wednesday in a sting operation at a mall in Thousand Oaks. He's free from jail pending a court hearing.

Authorities in western Michigan arrested a person twice in three days for driving the wrong way down the highway Kalamazoo County deputies said they were alerted about 1:30 a.m. Friday after several people called 911 when they passed the unidentified driver traveling south on northbound U.S. 131.

A western Pennsylvania woman has been ordered to stand trial on charges she passed a drug-filled balloon to a state prison inmate while kissing him. State police said guards at the State Correctional Institution-Mercer became suspicious when an inmate appeared to swallow something after a prolonged kiss with a visitor on Oct. 19.

California tax officials say an interior designer's false disability claim was uncovered when he was spotted on a home improvement television show.

A North Carolina doctor could lose his medical license after a patient complained he made cutting criticisms, including telling her she was fat. The News & Observer of Raleigh reported the North Carolina Medical Board will decide if Dr. Earl Sunderhaus of Asheville overstepped the bounds of professional decency.

Wichita police arrested a pregnant woman after she allegedly robbed homes after asking residents for help. Police said the woman, who is eight months pregnant, had been telling people in west Wichita that her car broke down and she needed to call someone for a ride.

Today-in-history  (top)

Today is Monday, Nov. 23, the 327th day of 2009. There are 38 days left in the year.

Us  (top)

The federal government said Monday that it has found a "strong association" between problematic imported Chinese drywall and corrosion of pipes and wires, a conclusion that supports complaints by thousands of homeowners over the last year.

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.

At the newly opened Cannabis Cafe, people sit around taking tokes from a "vaporizer" _ a contraption with a big plastic bag that captures the potent vapors of heated marijuana. Glass jars hold donations of dried, milky-green weed, and the cafe serves up meals and snacks for the hungry.

A U.S. program that offers trusted trucking companies speedy passage across American borders has begun attracting just the sort of customers who place a premium on avoiding inspections: Mexican drug smugglers.

Funeral services are under way for a 15-year-old Michigan boy who police say pleaded for mercy before being fatally shot by his father.

Kentucky State Police say two arrests have been made following the discovery of three bodies in rural Kentucky.

A bitter dispute over abortion that prompted Rhode Island's Roman Catholic bishop to ask Rep. Patrick Kennedy not to receive Holy Communion has revealed the depth of the divide among Catholics over how politicians should reconcile their faith with their public duties.

Michael Jackson's doctor has returned to work at his Houston medical clinic for the first time since the pop star's death.

Over the last three years, the FBI scoured faded documents, interviewed aging lawmen and tracked down witnesses from killings that occurred decades ago, many of them involving white police officers who shot black men or teenagers.

The five men facing trial in the Sept. 11 attacks will plead not guilty so that they can air their criticisms of U.S. foreign policy, the lawyer for one of the defendants said.