Free Republic

"The epidemic is spreading from the states at the ground zero of the foreclosure problems out into areas that hadn't been previously affected," said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac. The trend is the latest sign that the nation's foreclosure crisis is worsening as homeowners facing high unemployment, slow job growth and uncertainty about home prices continue to fall behind on their mortgage payments. In all, 133 out of 206 metropolitan areas with at least 200,000 residents posted an annual increase in foreclosure activity in the three months ended Sept. 30, RealtyTrac said. The firm tracks notices for...

PARIS (AFP) – Pollution from Asia is boosting levels of ozone in the skies above the western United States, a trend that could hamper US efforts to meet tougher smog standards, experts said on Wednesday. Their study focuses on data for ozone in springtime above western North America at an altitude of between three and eight kilometers (two and five miles). This height is between the stratosphere -- where a thin layer of ozone helps to filter out dangerous ultra-violet light from the Sun -- and ground level, where ozone can be a bad hazard for people with cardiac or...

Mogadishu insecurity worsens By Hassan Barise BBC, Mogadishu Mr Salat is accused of failing to secure Mogadishu The security situation in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, has reportedly been deteriorating, with a wave of killings, abductions and car hijackings. Two heavily armed groups exchanged fire, on Thursday, killing at least eight people and wounding six more, in the busy Taleh neighbourhood of South Mogadishu. The incident took place when gunmen from one Somali faction dominating north Mogadishu used a bus to ambush members of another faction in a busy street. The attack was in retaliation for an earlier incident, but the...

<p>California's monumental budget crisis has been languishing for months, with Capitol politicians seemingly too stunned by its political and financial dimensions to make the tough spending and tax decisions required to resolve it.</p> <p>But this week, with state revenues continuing to plummet and the crisis growing worse by the minute, there were signs that politicians were getting serious about it.</p>