Reuters - U.S. home resales surged in January to a 1-1/2 year high and the supply of properties on the market was the lowest in almost seven years, pointing to a nascent housing recovery.

AP - First birth control, now prenatal testing? Once again a fact of life for many American women has become a jarring issue in the presidential race.

Reuters - Republican U.S. presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are running neck-and-neck but neither would beat incumbent President Barack Obama, according to several polls released on Wednesday.

AP - The former chief of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has been released from a French police station after two days of questioning over a suspected hotel prostitution ring.

AP - The housing market is flashing signs of health ahead of the spring-buying season.

AP - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday the current business tax system is bad for business and for job-creation and argued that President Barack Obama's plan to reduce corporate tax rates to 28 percent would make the tax system more globally competitive.

AP - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday the current business tax system is bad for business and for job-creation and argued that President Barack Obama's plan to reduce corporate tax rates to 28 percent would make the tax system more globally competitive.

AP - A four-day rise in oil prices stalled Wednesday following a weak report on Chinese manufacturing and lingering concerns about Greece's bailout.

AP - Jurors in the murder trial of a former University of Virginia lacrosse player began deliberating Wednesday whether he battered his ex-girlfriend to death in a drunken, jealous rage or if his intent to talk with her spiraled out of control, leaving her bleeding and dying in her bedroom.

AP - Just two dozen ultra-wealthy donors are behind a surge of million-dollar contributions to the new breed of political committees during the presidential campaign.

Reuters - U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday with the S&P 500 stalled near a 10-month-old high after weak data on Europe's business activity raised concerns about a recession.

AP - Iraq's prime minister says al-Qaida fighters are continuing to plan and launch attacks in the area south of Baghdad once known as the "triangle of death."

AP - Afghan President Hamid Karzai appealed for calm Wednesday after clashes in several cities between Afghan security forces and protesters furious over the burning of Muslim holy books at a U.S. military base left seven people dead.

AP - Residents say Ethiopian troops and Somali soldiers have seized a key town in south central Somalia.

AP - The Supreme Court appears to be sharply divided over a law that makes it a crime to lie about having been awarded top military honors.

AP - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the current business tax system is bad for business and for job creation and says a plan by President Barack Obama to reduce corporate tax rates would make the tax system more globally competitive.

AP - Americans living and working in New Jersey's largest city were subjected to surveillance as part of the New York Police Department's effort to build databases of where Muslims work, shop and pray. The operation in Newark was so secretive even the city's mayor says he was kept in the dark.

AP - Americans living and working in New Jersey's largest city were subjected to surveillance as part of the New York Police Department's effort to build databases of where Muslims work, shop and pray. The operation in Newark was so secretive even the city's mayor says he was kept in the dark.

AP - A comic collection that includes a staggering array of some of the most prized issues ever published was headed for auction Wednesday in New York City, where it was expected to fetch more than $2 million.

AP - Rick Santorum is looking for another upset or two, while Mitt Romney is hoping to keep his leading rival at bay in the run-up to the 20th debate of the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

AP - Julio Gerena is in a wheelchair, his long career in the U.S. Navy and Army forever behind him. But the 52-year-old recaptured some of the old military camaraderie while peeling potatoes and chopping cilantro in a crowded kitchen.

Reuters - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces rained rockets and bombs down on opposition-held neighborhoods of the city of Homs on Wednesday, reducing buildings to rubble and killing more than 80 people, including two Western journalists.