AP - The big bats came out Friday.

New home sales fell more sharply than expected in February -- and along with them, the price of a new house -- in the latest signs of a slowdown in what had been a white-hot housing market.

New home sales fell more sharply than expected in February -- and with them, the median price of a new house -- in the latest signs of a slowdown in what had been a white hot housing market.

Reuters - Sales of new U.S. homes plunged 10.5 percent in February, the biggest drop in nearly nine years, while prices fell and the number of homes on the market hit a record high, the government said on Friday in a report signaling significant slowing in the housing market.

AP - Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods rose in February by the largest amount in three months, propelled by soaring demand for civilian aircraft.

Reuters - U.S. tech stocks looked set to open higher on Friday, helped by news that Web search company Google Inc. will be added to the S&P 500 index and a stronger-than-expected profit by Palm Inc. , maker of the Treo cell phone.

AP - Bulgaria and the United States have reached an agreement allowing the U.S. military to use several military bases in Bulgaria, officials said Friday.

AP - Toshiba Corp. said Friday it has postponed the release of high-definition DVD players in the United States until April, a month later than planned, so that it can synchronize the sales with title releases from Hollywood studies.

Government-funded drag racing moves to the desert in the United Arab Emirates in the name of saving lives. By Michael Spinelli from Wired magazine.

Reuters - French telecoms equipment provider Alcatel is in talks with its smaller U.S. rival Lucent Technologies to create a combine with sales of 21 billion euros ($25.33 billion), the companies said late on Thursday.

AFP - Indonesia has recalled its ambassador to Canberra amid a furore over Australia's decision to grant temporary visas to 42 asylum seekers from restive Papua province.

Reuters - Finally, there is an answer to the old question, "What's more boring than watching golf on television?" As the new documentary "95 Miles to Go" reveals, watching Ray Romano watching golf on television is much more boring. So is watching Ray Romano eat at Subway. And nibble from a friend's room-service tray. And drive a car.

Reuters - Palm Inc., the maker of Treo cell phones, on Thursday said quarterly profit rose as it doubled sales of its phones and introduced a new device based on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system.

Reuters - Movie theater operators hope to be screening live 3D sports events by 2007 in a bid to lure sports fans away from their home theater systems and bolster sagging mid-week ticket sales.

AP - When Aisha al-Rsheid challenged tradition by campaigning for parliament at a male-only gathering, she received a letter warning her to stop behaving like a man and forget about the race "before it is too late."

Reuters - Insured property losses from hurricanes in Florida and the Gulf Coast are likely to be 40 percent higher for at least the next five years, a leading consultant said on Thursday in one of the most forward-looking studies in the industry.

AP - Lauren Jackson helped Australia finish off a dominating run in the Commonwealth Games. The Seattle Storm forward had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead Australia to a 77-39 win Thursday over New Zealand for the gold medal.

Reuters - Sales of existing U.S. homes climbed 5.2 percent in February, defying expectations for a slowdown, as unseasonably warm weather boosted sales of both single-family homes and condos, according to trade group data on Thursday that showed a pause in the market's cool-down.

USATODAY.com - While spring hasn't generated growth in the music industry, a sunny outlook prevails. With 119 million albums sold to date, sales in the first quarter of 2006 are down 3%. That disappointment is countered by the explosion of digital sales, up 96% with 122.9 million tracks downloaded so far this year, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

AP - Pakistan on Thursday protested the killing by Afghan soldiers of 14 people Pakistan claims were its citizens, the latest source of tension between the neighboring countries amid increasing violence along their rugged border.