AP - The leader of a small Florida church that espouses anti-Islam philosophy says he is going forward with his plans to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11 despite pressure from the White House, religious leaders and others to call it off.

AP - In an internal report released Wednesday, BP blames itself, other companies' workers and a complex series of failures for the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the drilling rig explosion that preceded it.

AFP - Police in Indian Kashmir on Wednesday arrested a leading separatist who has been spearheading months of protests in the disputed Muslim-majority region, sparking violent demonstrations.

AP - Wind-whipped flames swept through at least three Detroit neighborhoods, destroying dozens of homes, including many that were vacant, and even sending waves of searing heat blocks away, officials said.

AP - Stocks resumed their rally Wednesday after a successful auction of Portuguese government debt eased worries about Europe's financial system.

AP - The Taliban's shadowy leader Mullah Mohammad Omar says Afghan fighters are winning the war and warns Americans they are wasting lives and billions in tax dollars.

AFP - US President Barack Obama Wednesday sought to box in his Republican foes on the economy, as the lagging recovery and crippling unemployment threaten Democrats with a mid-term election meltdown.

AFP - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has appointed new military, intelligence and police chiefs, his office said on Wednesday, ahead of January elections in the oil-rich country.

Reuters - President Barack Obama, fighting to keep Democrats in charge of Congress, will push his latest plan to kick-start the economy on Wednesday and set up an election-year battle with Republicans over Bush-era tax cuts.

Time.com - The first congress in three decades of the ruling Workers Party is rumored to be imminent, suggesting that a succession is being prepared that will hand power to a third generation of the first family

AP - Suddenly, the race for Chicago mayor is on. Mayor Richard M. Daley has thrown the competition for the city's top job wide open by announcing he won't run for a seventh term, ending 21 years of token opposition and prompting speculation about who's next in line to lead the nation's third largest city.

AP - A Romanian Gypsy leader on Wednesday compared French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Romania's pro-Nazi wartime leader, following the expulsion of hundreds of Gypsies from France.

AP - Fidel Castro's warnings of a looming war between the United States and Iran have Cuba buzzing with fears of nuclear Armageddon. But the revolutionary icon's alarming predictions have barely registered in the place where it might matter most: Iran.

AP - Authorities are searching for eight people who have not been accounted for as a wildfire tore through their neighborhoods this week.

AP - Most of the country will see a colder-than-usual winter while summer and spring will be relatively cool and dry, according to the time-honored, complex calculations of the "Old Farmer's Almanac."

AP - Germany, the European Union and a major human rights group slammed Iran on Wednesday for its plans to stone a woman convicted of adultery, increasing the global pressure on Tehran over a case it has tried to present as a criminal matter and not one of human rights.

AP - The FBI on Wednesday was trying to determine whether a passenger staged a bomb hoax that prompted a search of a Thai Airways jetliner at Los Angeles International Airport.

AP - Its power spent, what was left of Tropical Storm Hermine made its way north Wednesday, drenching a large swath of Texas and prompting a search for possible flood victims near Austin.

Reuters - Stubbornly high unemployment and signs of persistent weakness in the housing market have prompted economists to further cut their outlook for U.S. growth in the second half of the year, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday.

AFP - US stocks were slightly up on Wednesday after news of a successful Portuguese debt auction eased the previous day's concerns about the European economy.

AP - President Barack Obama is voicing unwavering opposition to extending Bush-era tax breaks for the nation's wealthiest families even for a year or two, drawing a sharp contrast with Republicans eight weeks before the November elections.

AP - Police Chief Charlie Beck pleaded for calm and vowed his department would conduct an exhaustive investigation into a bicycle officer's fatal shooting of a drunken day laborer with a knife.

AP - German exports dipped by 1.5 percent in July compared with the previous month but were still up a strong 18.7 percent over the same month last year, official data showed Wednesday.