UNITED STATES

Haunted vaults, voodoo witches and suicidal forests are enough to make even the most fearless travelers reconsider their trip. Put them together and you have got yourself one heck of a fright night.

U.S. stocks fell further on Wednesday and the S&P 500 briefly fell 2 percent, after disappointing new home sales data sparked worries about the strength of the economic recovery, prompting a sell-off.

The holiday season is crunch time for video game publishers, who are pinning their hopes on a slew of big releases to make up for lackluster sales this year.

China has told the United States that it plans to formally launch an investigation that could lead to new import duties on autos and sports utility vehicles made by Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, a U.S. industry official said on Wednesday.

Somali pirates holding two Britons captive aboard a yacht off the coast of the Horn of Africa nation warned Britain not to try to rescue the couple.

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen hopes to secure Russian help in equipping and training Afghan security forces during a visit to Moscow in December, an alliance spokesman said on Wednesday.

Some of the nation's largest companies pushed back against U.S. Democrats' plans to deliver a government-run insurance option in a healthcare overhaul, decrying it as a step backward that would drive up costs for employers and their workers.

Some of the nation's largest companies pushed back against U.S. Democrats' plans to deliver a government-run insurance option in a healthcare overhaul, decrying it as a step backward that would drive up costs for employers and their workers.

U.S. stocks hit session lows on Wednesday and the Dow industrials briefly fell 1 percent after disappointing new home sales data sparked worries about the economic recovery.

A bill that would give the Obama administration power to impose sanctions on a broad array of companies involved in providing Iran with gasoline cleared a key congressional committee on Wednesday.

A popular $8,000 tax credit for first-time U.S. homebuyers, which has helped lift the housing market out of its worst slump since the Great Depression, is set to expire on November 30.

Australian director Baz Luhrmann's outback epic Australia was passed over on Wednesday for the top film awards in his home country, presented by the Australian Film Institute.

A former client of UBS AG who cooperated in a U.S. probe of the Swiss bank's ties with wealthy Americans hiding money overseas was sentenced to one year house arrest and a fine on Wednesday for a multimillion-dollar tax evasion scheme.

Renegotiating bonuses to American International Group employees is a top priority, the Obama administration's pay czar said on Wednesday, adding he believes he can do so without losing key employees.

Renegotiating bonuses to American International Group employees is a top priority, the Obama administration's pay czar said on Wednesday, adding he believes he can do so without losing key employees.

The benchmark S&P 500 index fell for a fourth straight day on Wednesday after disappointing housing data and a lower forecast for third-quarter U.S. growth by Goldman Sachs.

Motorola Inc's new Droid phone will be the first to use navigation software from Google Inc, in a direct challenge to GPS device makers Garmin and TomTom.

More U.S. manufacturers are optimistic about the economy, but poor demand remains a top concern, according to a survey.

Sales of new U.S. homes unexpectedly tumbled in September, their first drop in six months, underscoring the hazards to an economic recovery even as businesses appeared to be stepping up investment.

Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc and PepsiAmericas Inc sold fewer soft drinks in the United States than analysts anticipated, signaling that consumers remain cautious about spending and pushing shares of both bottlers down.

Malaysia's biggest mobile operator Maxis has secured four cornerstone investors who will buy 28 percent of its roughly $3.7 billion initial public offering, Southeast Asia's largest in over a decade.