Stock Report

World

49 killed, 100s hurt in Argentina train crash

A packed train slammed into the end of the line in a Buenos Aires station, killing 49 people and injuring hundreds of commuters in Argentina's worst train accident in decades.

Iran blocking 30 million from email, Web ahead of election

With parliamentary elections scheduled for next week, Iran has begun blocking Internet services, Web security experts say, adding to concerns that a "clean Internet" that government leaders hope to create will shut off Iranians from the rest of the online world.

NBC's Richard Engel answers reader questions about Syria

Business

Housing perks up, but prices are still falling


Though the pace of home sales picked up last month as the economy and job market improved, home prices have yet to show any meaningful turnaround.Though the pace of home sales picked up last month as the economy and job market improved, home prices have yet to show any meaningful turnaround.


Stocks end lower on concerns over Europe

U.S. stocks closed Wednesday lower, with the S&P 500 stalled near a 10-month-old high after weak data on European business activity raised concerns about a recession in the euro zone.

Consumer watchdog to look into overdraft fees

Of all the bank fees that customers love to hate, overdraft charges on checking accounts have to be near the top. The government's new consumer protection agency appears to agree.

Travel

Unruly airline passenger yelled bin Laden's name

An airline passenger who refused to turn off an electronic cigarette and yelled Osama bin Laden’s name, prompting the pilot to turn the plane around, was charged Wednesday with interfering with the operation of the aircraft.

8 bodies found in Costa Concordia wreck

Salvage divers discovered eight bodies on Wednesday in the submerged part of the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship.

Huguette Clark scandal sparks interest in Butte

This Dec. 24, 2011 photo shows an exterior view of Copper King Mansion in Butte, Mont. A scandal over the fortune of reclusive mining heiress Huguette Clark has renewed interest in the life of her father, copper magnate William A. Clark, once one of the nation's richest men.


Top Stories

Romney and Santorum swap charges in 20th debate (AP)
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:54:13 GMT

AP - Primed for a fight, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum swapped accusations about spending, taxes and congressional earmarks Wednesday night in the 20th and possibly final debate of the roller-coaster race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Poll: Obama benefitting from improving economy (AP)
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:13:00 GMT

AP - President Barack Obama is reaping political benefits from the country's brighter economic mood. A new poll shows that Republicans and Democrats alike are increasingly saying the nation is heading in the right direction and most independents now approve the way he's addressing the nation's post-recession period.

Shelling kills 2 Western journalists in Syria (AP)
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:13:10 GMT

AP - Syrian gunners pounded an opposition stronghold where the last dispatches from a veteran American-born war correspondent chronicled the suffering of civilians caught in the relentless shelling. An intense morning barrage killed her and a French photojournalist — two of 74 deaths reported Wednesday in Syria.

Newark mayor: NYPD Muslim files 'deeply offensive' (AP)
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:13:18 GMT

Imam Abdul A. Muhammad of the Masjid Imam K. Ali Muslim mosque in Newark, N.J., speaks in his clothing and accessories store, regarding surveillance of the Muslim community by the New York Police Department, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012. Americans 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. For months in mid-2007, plainclothes NYPD officers snapped pictures of mosques and eavesdropped in Muslim neighborhoods. The result was a 60-page report, obtained by The Associated Press. It cited no evidence of crimes. It was just a guide to Newark’s Muslims.  (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)AP - The mayor and police director of New Jersey's largest city said Wednesday the New York Police Department misled their city and never told them it was conducting a widespread spying operation on Newark's Muslim neighborhoods. Had they known, they said, they never would have allowed it.


2nd degree murder verdict in lacrosse death trial (AP)
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:38:19 GMT

AP - Jurors found a former University of Virginia lacrosse player guilty of second-degree murder Wednesday in the drunken, jealousy-fueled slaying of his ex-girlfriend, rejecting a verdict of first-degree murder and a possible life sentence.

Police: Girl forced to run 3 hours dies; 2 charged (AP)
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:30:37 GMT

AP - At a doublewide trailer along a dirt road in rural Alabama, authorities say 9-year-old Savannah Hardin was forced to run for three hours as punishment for having lied to her grandmother about eating candy bars. The severely dehydrated girl had a seizure and her death days later was ruled a homicide.

Teenage girl dies after inhaling helium at party (AP)
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:09:30 GMT

AP - Last weekend, 14-year-old Ashley Long told her parents she was going to a slumber party. But instead of spending the night watching videos and eating popcorn two blocks away, she piled into a car with a bunch of her friends and rode to a condo in Medford, Ore., where police say the big sister of one of her friends was throwing a party with booze and marijuana.

Police say love triangle led to CA murder-suicide (AP)
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:01:55 GMT

AP - A 73-year-old gunman entangled in a love triangle shot and killed the treasurer of a remote-controlled airplane club who police said was having an affair with the estranged wife of the attacker.

Cowell: 'X Factor' wants 2 female judges, 2 hosts (AP)
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:08:10 GMT

AP - Simon Cowell is playing it coy about rumors that Fergie, Britney Spears and Janet Jackson are being considered for "The X Factor."

Man's childhood comic collection fetches $3.5M (AP)
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:05:39 GMT

This Feb. 13, 2012 handout photo provided by Heritage Auction , shows the CGC-Certified 6.5 copy of Detective Comics #27 from the Billy Wright Collection at Heritage Auctions in Dallas,Texas. On Wednesday, the collection is expected to bring more than $2 million when Heritage Auctions offers the comics at auction in New York City. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Heritage Auctions)AP - Billy Wright plunked down dime after dime for comic books while growing up in the late 1930s and early 1940s, caring for the collection he started around the age of 9 until his death more than half a century later. On Wednesday, most of that collection sold for a whopping $3.5 million.


Santorum at center stage in Arizona Republican debate (Reuters)
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:04:20 GMT

Supporters listen as Rick Santorum speaks during a campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona February 21, 2012. REUTERS/Joshua LottReuters - Rivals heaped criticism on surprise front-runner Rick Santorum in a debate among Republican presidential candidates on Wednesday, hoping to stall his surge at a pivotal period in the 2012 campaign.


Obama urges corporate tax cut, closing loopholes (Reuters)
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:04:02 GMT

U.S. President Barack Obama is pictured during a Democratic Party fundraiser in Bellevue, February 17, 2012. REUTERS/Jason ReedReuters - President Barack Obama made an opening offer in what could be a long negotiation with corporate America on Wednesday, putting forward his first detailed plan to cut the corporate tax rate.


Assad forces renew barrage on Syria's Homs (Reuters)
Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:01:14 GMT

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

Fitch downgrades Greece on debt swap plan (Reuters)
Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:04:45 GMT

Reuters - Fitch cut Greece's long-term ratings on Wednesday to its lowest rating above a default, becoming the first ratings agency to make the widely expected downgrade after the country announced a bond exchange plan to ease its massive debt burden.