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 - 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 - 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 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 - 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.

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.

AFP - Large daily doses of B vitamins could halve the rate of brain shrinkage in elderly people with warning signs of Alzheimer's, potentially delaying the onset of the disease, a study suggested Thursday.

AFP - Australian regulators rejected National Australia Bank's 12.2 billion US dollar bid for financial firm AXA Asia Pacific on competition concerns Thursday, in a move welcomed by rival suitor AMP.

AFP - At least 21 people were killed and a further 10 feared dead after a passenger bus plunged into a fast-flowing river in central India, police said Thursday.

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.

Time.com - In North Korea, the first congress in 30 years of the Workers' Party of Korea may be imminent, suggesting that a succession is being prepared to hand power from Kim Jong Il to his son Kim Jong Un

AP - Cuba's communist economic model has come in for criticism from an unlikely source: Fidel Castro.

AP - A blind, self-taught activist lawyer who documented forced abortions and other abuses was released from a Chinese prison Thursday and promptly locked down in his rural village with no access to communication, a relative said.

AP - The captain of a Chinese fishing boat that collided with Japanese patrol vessels near disputed islands could stand trial in the latest territorial spat between the neighbors, officials said Thursday.

AP - The third Mexican mayor in a month was slain by suspected drug gang hitmen on the same day the U.S. secretary of state raised hackles in Mexico by saying the country is "looking more and more like Colombia looked 20 years ago."

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 - Wearing white to symbolize purity, worshippers throughout this African capital gathered to pray on one of the final nights of Ramadan. To purify the soul and purge sin, they hadn't eaten all day and refrained from drinking, smoking and having sex — which during the holy month is only allowed among spouses at night.

AP - A suspected American missile strike killed five alleged militants in northwestern Pakistan early Thursday, an intelligence official said, the fourth attack in 24 hours as the U.S. steps up the tactic to keep al-Qaida and its allies under pressure.

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.