AP - Politically weakened but refusing to bend, President Barack Obama insisted Wednesday that Bush-era tax cuts be cut off for the wealthiest Americans, joining battle with Republicans - and some fellow Democrats - just two months before bruising midterm elections.

AP - The leader of a small Florida church that espouses anti-Islam philosophy said Wednesday he was determined to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11, despite pressure from the White House, religious leaders and others to call it off.

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 - Fidel Castro told a visiting American journalist that Cuba's communist economic model doesn't work, a rare comment on domestic affairs from a man who has conspicuously steered clear of local issues since stepping down four years ago.

AP - The remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine caused widespread flooding in northern Texas and began buffeting southern Oklahoma on Wednesday, killing at least two people and submerging low-lying pockets of Arlington under several feet of water.

AP - White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday he has "no doubt" that chief of staff Rahm Emanuel will be weighing his future options now that the race for Chicago mayor is wide open.

AP - Google Inc. stepped on its Internet search accelerator Wednesday by adding a feature that displays results as soon as people begin typing their requests.

AP - The weird world of dinosaurs has just gotten a tad more bizarre. Scientists found a nearly complete fossil of a new dinosaur that sports a noticeable hump, maybe as possible advertising.

AP - Calling her "a Lindsay Lohan wannabe," a judge fined "Jersey Shore" star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi $500 on Wednesday and ordered her to perform community service after she pleaded guilty to disturbing others on a beach in July.

Reuters - President Barack Obama, fighting to keep Democrats in charge of Congress, said on Wednesday the United States could not afford to extend Bush-era tax cuts for the rich and accused Republicans of being fiscally irresponsible.

Reuters - An obscure Christian pastor whose plan to burn copies of the Koran on September 11 has sparked an international outcry said on Wednesday he will go ahead with the event despite warnings it will endanger American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Reuters - Some Tea Partiers admit mistakes were made. Others are quick to describe the movement's recent efforts in the political arena as not quite ready for prime time.

Reuters - Fidel Castro said Cuba's economic model no longer works, a U.S.-based journalist reported on Wednesday following interviews with the former president last week.

Reuters - Pakistan will soon charge three men with terrorism in connection with the failed attempt to bomb New York's Times Square, a police official said on Wednesday.

Reuters - The United States does not plan to contribute to a NATO request for 2,000 troops for the Afghan war, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, even as the head of the alliance held out the possibility of U.S. participation.

AFP - A small Florida church Wednesday shrugged off a wave of global outrage and vowed to go ahead with a Koran burning ceremony, as local officials drew up plans to tamp down the protest.

AFP - BP sought to spread the blame for the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster Wednesday, setting off a battle of oil industry giants with tens of billions of dollars in potential fines and legal liabilities at stake.