The home and auto industries are two of the hardest hit sectors in the U. S. Rising foreclosures mark the housing sector, while closing car manufacturing plants are common in the auto plant. Given the parallel routes these two industries pass through, it is not surprising to hear American couples throwing in a used car as a freebie, just to unload on the market a debt-ridden home.

India unveiled Thursday what's being called the world's most inexpensive car. The Nano from Tata Motors costs $2,500, but has some onlookers questioning its eventual cost to the environment. Introduced at India's motor show, the Nano sports a 50-mpg range powered by a two-cylinder 33-horsepower engine that tops out at 60-mph. In an era of GPS navigation and rear-view cameras, the Nano comes without airbags, air-conditioning and passenger mirror.

olice have arrested a 37-year-old man from Flagstaff, Arizona for stealing flowers from a funeral. Christopher Billie faces an auto burglary charge after allegedly climbing into a hearse during a funeral to steal flowers piled inside. Authorities were notified when the funeral director at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church called police Thursday night after 8 p. m. , Associated Press reports.

A pastor at the Taft Free Will Baptist Church, who always keeps a gun and handcuffs in his fanny pack, got a chance to use them when he nabbed a man who allegedly stole a car from his church's parking lot. James Kilgore, a former Bakersfield police officer, says his whole congregation was stunned to find his a 1986 Ford Crown Victoria missing when they came back from a Bible study.

A mechanic in Tinley Park, Illinois had a surprise waiting for him when he checked under a customer's hood; a black kitten. Scott Bella, who works at an auto shop, thought he heard a cat's meow when he was driving a customer's van. Upon returning to the auto shop, he raised the hood to find a cat sitting near the car's radiator. Mr. Bella resolved to call the cat "Lucky" after finding she survived the 350 degree heat of the radiator. He told a local newspaper he questioned the customer over the incident but she denied all knowledge.