There's yet another difference between the sexes.

There were 4.3 percent more existing homes sold in January than in December, and the 4.57 million annual rate was the highest since May 2010, the National Association of Realtors reports.

Sales have gone up three of the past four months.

Racial Slur or Honest Mistake?

Greg McNeal, Forbes: "ESPN Uses "Chink in the Armor" Line Twice"

(NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro remembers journalist Marie Colvin, who died today in Syria.)

We were exhausted after a long hot day of reporting. Tripoli had just fallen and it was almost sunset. We pulled up to the house of Muatassim Gadhafi, one of Moammar Gadhafi's most feared and loathed sons.

The early morning earthquake that rattled much of Southeast Missouri on Tuesday morning caused little damage. The 4.0 magnitude quake was centered near East Prairie, Missouri.

A House committee heard a bill Tuesday allowing kids from unaccredited school districts to attend non-public schools.

An angry email that named four Missouri state senators and mentioned an Arizona congresswoman who was shot and wounded last year has been traced to an eastern Missouri resident.

The Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act, or MOSIRA, has been ruled unconstitutional by a Cole County judge.

Regional news coverage from the KBIA newsroom, including:

• A Cole County judge rules Missouri science investment bill unconstitutional
• A potentially threatening letter is sent to some state lawmakers
• Plans for a new football tailgate zone in Columbia have some business crying foul

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

We have an update now on a story NPR's been investigating for almost two years. This morning, federal prosecutors filed criminal charges in a 2010 coal mine explosion in West Virginia. Twenty-nine mine workers died in the blast at the Upper Big Branch mine. The charges reach into the management ranks of Massey Energy, the company that operated the mine. NPR's Howard Berkes joins us now for details.

Good morning, Howard.

HOWARD BERKES, BYLINE: Good morning, Renee.