AP - A top general, the secretary of state, the White House and political and religious leaders from around the world have decried a plan by the leader of a small Florida church to burn copies of Islam's holiest text to mark the 9/11 attacks. The Rev. Terry Jones is not backing down.
AP - The group of Muslims planning to build a 13-story Islamic center and mosque near ground zero appears plagued by divisions that raise questions about the future of the project, with one major investor saying he is prepared to sell some or all of the site if the price is right.
AP - The Los Angeles Times reports the officer who shot and killed a knife-wielding man has been involved in two previous shootings while on duty.
Highway deaths fall to lowest level since 1950 (AP)
AP - The number of people dying on the nation's roads has fallen to its lowest level in six decades, helped by a combination of seat belts, safer cars and tougher enforcement of drunken driving laws.
AP - As exhausted Detroit firefighters battled wind-fed blazes burning wild in some neighborhoods and threatening to char much of the city, a half-dozen departments from surrounding communities brought in sorely needed — and gladly accepted — help.
AP - A sharply divided federal appeals court on Wednesday threw out a lawsuit challenging a controversial post-Sept. 11 CIA program that flew terrorism suspects to secret prisons.
AP - The Florida pastor who plans to burn the Quran on the anniversary of 9/11 is rooted in Pentecostal tradition that believes Christians are engaged in a modern-day spiritual battle with evil.
AP - A wildfire burning in the canyons and steep mountainsides near Boulder became one of the most destructive blazes in Colorado history Wednesday as authorities determined it had destroyed at least 135 homes in just three days.
AP - The remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine swept northward through Texas and into Oklahoma on Wednesday, forcing more than 100 high-water rescues, swamping city neighborhoods, spawning tornadoes and killing at least two people.
AP - BP took some of the blame for the Gulf oil disaster in an internal report issued Wednesday, acknowledging among other things that it misinterpreted a key pressure test of the well. But in a possible preview of its legal strategy, it also pointed the finger at its partners on the doomed rig.
AP - The last time Chicago was left without a Daley at the helm, the next mayor was thrown out of office by voters angry because he couldn't keep snow off the streets.
Ind. activist to head federal anti-carp campaign (AP)
AP - John Goss, an environmental activist and former state official from Indiana, was appointed Wednesday as the Obama administration's point man in the fight to prevent Asian carp from gaining a foothold in the Great Lakes.
CHP: Murder suspect strangled woman during pursuit (AP)
AP - A murder suspect linked to four deaths in Northern California strangled his girlfriend while being pursued by police at speeds of around 100 mph on a blown-out tire last week before being shot and killed by officers, authorities said Wednesday.
AP - Months of political jockeying began in earnest Wednesday as speculation grew about who would try to succeed Mayor Richard M. Daley as leader of the nation's third-largest city, including one-time aide and current White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.
AP - The unprecedented turtle rescue effort at NASA's Kennedy Space Center is winding down.
Xbox blocks W.Va. gamer over town's name: Fort Gay (AP)
AP - Microsoft Corp. and the chief rules enforcer for Xbox Live are apologizing to a small West Virginia town and a 26-year-old gamer accused of violating the online gaming service's code of conduct by publicly declaring he's from Fort Gay — a name the company considered offensive.
