Around the country, Americans are tightening their belts, scrapping vacation plans, eating more dinners at home, getting rid of their SUVs and watching “For Sale” signs linger on front lawns. But in oil-and-gas rich West Texas, folks are living large _ again.

China’s booming Internet population has surpassed the United States to become the world’s biggest, with 253 million people online despite government controls on Web use, according to government data reported Friday.The latest figure on Web use at the...

China’s booming Internet population has surpassed the United States to become the world’s biggest, with 253 million people online despite government controls on Web use, according to government data reported Friday.The latest figure on Web use at the...

In a bad economy, fun is often the first casualty.For James Hedrick, that means it’s a busy time in his line of work. He’s one of those dreaded repo men.He spends his days scanning megayachts, sailboats and fishing skiffs as he steers his dinghy...

To Wild Turkey master distiller Jimmy Russell, the piercing sounds of a warehouse rising in the Kentucky countryside are the sounds of prosperity.”As long as you see work going on _ and the construction, and increasing your size _ you know your business...

Susan Popp was a manager at Hewlett-Packard and her husband was a pilot at the Air Force Academy when they decided to become bison ranchers.Now the U.S. bison industry is trying to encourage more people _ be they veteran cattle ranchers or newcomers like...

Those who fetch $130 for a barrel of oil can call the tune these days. And it seems the tune is becoming so catchy that even Madonna, the original Material Girl, might be singing soon in this rich Gulf city-state.Flush with oil dollars, Dubai is no...

Modern apartment buildings and schools crumbled, smoothly paved highways buckled and bridges collapsed _ their flimsy construction no match for the awesome forces of nature.As the death toll soars from the powerful earthquake that ravaged central...

China’s booming population of Internet users has soared to 221 million, tying the United States for the biggest number of people online, according to data reported Thursday.The figure, as of the end of February, reflects China’s explosive growth in...