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The real estate market has turned around in some parts of the U.S., but many buyers aren't seeing true bargains anymore. Investors are driving up prices, and inventory is low, especially for homes priced under $250,000. That's not great news for anyone hoping to buy an affordable house to live in.

Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire is the latest politician to appear on the campaign trail with presumed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. That's fueled speculation that Ayotte is being considered as a running mate.

The nation's second-largest bank is planning to layoff about 2,000 people at its investment banking, commercial banking and wealth management units, according to The Wall Street Journal. The cuts are notable because they include high earning employees in operations that account for most of Bank of America's profits since the financial crisis.

Wal-Mart remains under a cloud after The New York Times reported the retailers expansion in Mexico involved systematic bribes. To get a sense of how that might play out, Steve Inskeep talks to Peter Solmssen, a managing board member and general counsel for Siemens. The German engineering and electronics conglomerate was involved in its own bribery scandal.

South Sudan is the country that voted to break away from Sudan. They've been jostling for control of border zones, including oil fields. And just as the two sides were sitting down to negotiate, fighting broke out.

Two stories out of China — the escape of a blind dissident from house arrest and the corruption scandal involving a top politician and his family — have attracted international attention. But inside China, the picture is different. The government has successfully suppressed the story about the dissident, Chen Guangcheng, such that most Chinese have never even heard of him. The Communist Party has waged a smear campaign against the fallen official, Bo Xilai, whom citizens see as a loser in a power struggle, a corrupt politician or both.

White House counterterrorism official John Brennan has publicly acknowledged the covert practice of drone strikes against al-Qaida targets. It's the first time the Obama administration has described the widely known practice in detail.

In a bid to encourage its members to become organ donors, Facebook says that "starting today, you can add that you're an organ donor to your timeline, and share your story about when, where or why you decided to become a donor."

There's been a policy of only reporting attacks that cause coalition fatalities, the wire service reports. So incidents that end with injuries or with only the attackers dead have not been reported.

Covina, Calif., received a gift from its former sister city in Mexico: a seven-ton Olmec head. It sat in front of the police department for years, until the police needed the space for a memorial. The head is in a maintenance yard while officials decide where to put it.