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• China claims virtually the entire area and has created an entirely new city to administer it, sparking deep concern from rival claimants. The sea hosts about a third of the world's cargo traffic, has rich fishing grounds and is believed to store vast oil and gas reserves.
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• CHICAGO (AP) -- U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s disclosure that he is suffering from a "mood disorder" still leaves many questions about his secretive medical leave and whether the Illinois congressman has satisfied mounting calls to be more open about his month-long absence.
• Just hours after Democratic leaders in Congress ratcheted up pressure on Jackson to reveal more information, his office released a brief statement from his doctor on Wednesday saying the Chicago Democrat was receiving "intensive medical treatment at a residential treatment facility for a mood disorder."
• But it offered no details about Jackson's whereabouts or even the name of the doctor, citing federal privacy laws.
• Several experts said that based on the doctor's use of the term "mood disorder," they believed Jackson might be suffering from depression. But the statement did not elaborate on his condition and rejected claims that the 47-year-old congressman was being treated for "alcohol or substance abuse."
• "He is responding positively to treatment and is expected to make a full recov

ery," the statement said. His spokesman declined to elaborate.
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• LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Banks are increasingly placing homes with unpaid mortgages on a countdown that could deliver a swell of new foreclosed properties onto the market by early next year, potentially weighing further on home values.
• June provided the latest evidence of this trend, as the number of U.S. homes entering the foreclosure process for the first time increased on an annual basis for the second month in a row, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.
• California in particular saw a big spike in foreclosure starts, or homes placed on the foreclosure path for the first time. They increased 18 percent versus June last

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