AP - Florida's governor is concerned about safety at home and around the world, a feeling shared by national and world leaders, over a plan by the head of a small church to burn copies of Islam's holiest text to mark the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

AP - The imam behind a proposed Islamic community center and mosque near ground zero cautioned Wednesday that moving the facility could cause a violent backlash from Muslim extremists and endanger national security.

AP - As thousands of people waited to learn if their homes survived a raging Colorado wildfire, Dan Hackett hiked a second time behind roadblocks to make sure his house near boulder was still standing.

AP - The police officer who shot and killed a knife-wielding man whose death has sparked three days of violent protests in Los Angeles had been involved in two previous shootings while on duty, according to a media report.

AP - BP's long-awaited internal report on what it believes went wrong when a rig exploded and started the massive Gulf oil spill never mentions the words blame, regret, apology, mistake or pollution. The word fault shows up 20 times, but only once in the same sentence as the company's name.

AP - The remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine trekked northward after forcing more than 100 high-water rescues in Texas, swamping streets, producing several tornadoes and killing at least two people.

AP - Former first lady Laura Bush will speak at a National Park Service fundraiser in Pittsburgh on Friday, a day before joining Michelle Obama in rural Pennsylvania to remember the victims of Flight 93, which crashed there in the Sept. 11 attacks.

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 - 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.

Reuters - Switzerland remains the world's most competitive economy, while the United States has fallen from second to fourth after losing the top spot last year, according to the World Economic Forum's annual rankings issued on Thursday.

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 - 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 - For a city already struggling with high unemployment, widespread foreclosures and deep budget cuts, here was another crisis: Wind-whipped fires tearing through row after row of homes, some of them abandoned.

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.

AP - From mortgage problems to education and budget issues, Nevada leaders on Wednesday delivered a sobering assessment of the state's future as a result of the Great Recession during seven hours of testimony before a federal panel investigating the country's financial meltdown.

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.

AFP - President Barack Obama admitted Wednesday if US voters in the upcoming midterm elections make their choices based on their opinion of the economy, his Democratic Party could be in big trouble.

AP - The threatening note found in the restroom of a Thai Airways plane was a hoax, FBI officials said Wednesday.

Reuters - President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that Democrats risked punishment in November's congressional elections if they allow the vote to be just about the U.S. economy, rather than the two parties' policies.

AFP - US President Barack Obama Wednesday admitted some of his policies were unpopular and had not revived the economy quickly enough, but sought to rekindle his frayed bond with American voters.

AFP - The US economic recovery is showing "widespread" signs of slowing, the US Federal Reserve warned Wednesday, as it gears up for a key policy meeting later this month.

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 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 - The Twitterverse is full of far more mysterious forces than indecipherable trending topics and Lady Gaga.