The best way to finance a car might be to skip the dealer. Here are some alternatives. Ever wonder how auto dealerships make money these days? Thanks to the information superhighway (sorry, we couldn’t resist), it’s getting harder for salespeople to squeeze customers on price. That leaves them with the …

DETROIT – Detroit automakers, led by a stalling General Motors Corp. (GM), posted weak U.S. sales for August Thursday as heavily publicized discounts that delivered near-record July results lost their punch. Shares of the traditional Big Three automakers weakened, meanwhile, on fears higher gasoline prices stemming from damage to oil …

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – Turkey insisted Thursday that it has fulfilled conditions for European Union (search) membership, as foreign ministers of the 25-nation group started meeting here to assess the predominantly Muslim nation’s efforts to join the bloc. The EU has imposed tough conditions on membership for Turkey, a nation of …

Skateboarding, rock climbing, ultimate Frisbee, training for a triathlon — those aren’t exactly activities you would expect to find in a traditional high school gym class, but they’re becoming more common as students get more choices in their physical education. Don’t expect to find students tossing a Frisbee across the …

CRAWFORD, Texas – President Bush spent part of his Thanksgiving Day on his Texas ranch phoning 10 members of the military to thank them for their service. But spoke to members of the U.S. armed services, Coast Guard, Army, Navy and Air Force, including those in Afghanistan, Iraq and one …

KUWAIT CITY – The deadly strain of bird flu that has devastated poultry and killed more than 60 people in Asia has been detected in a bird in Kuwait, the first known outbreak of the virus in the Gulf region, an agricultural official said Friday. Tests showed a migrating flamingo …

See you weeknights in the No Spin Zone at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET! Tonight “The O’Reilly Factor” is on … Breaking News in the Natalee Holloway case! Today Alabama Governor Bob Riley called for a travel boycott of Aruba until authorities on the Dutch Caribbean island cooperate more …

ORANGE, Calif. – More than 30 patients died waiting for liver transplants while the understaffed University of California Irvine Medical Center turned down organs, a published report said. The hospital received 122 liver offers between August 2004 and July 2005 but transplanted just 12, the Los Angeles Times said, citing …

Stop that incredibly slow-moving lawn mower! A drunk parolee who allegedly stole a riding lawn mower led Southern View, Ill., cops on a low-speed chase through a cornfield, according to The State Journal-Register. Officers told the paper Charles H. Carter, 45, was a “happy drunk” — laughing at police as …

JERUSALEM – A deal was emerging Tuesday for elder statesman Shimon Peres to leave the Labor Party, his political home for 60 years, and join Ariel Sharon’s government if the prime minister is re-elected in March. A Sharon associate and newspaper reports said Peres likely would be charged with developing …