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.

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.

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.

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 - Thai-made Nissan March subcompact cars — the first major model from a Japanese automaker being mass produced abroad for sale in Japan — are getting extra scrutiny from a team of quality experts to meet choosey consumer standards, a senior executive said Thursday.

Reuters - Asian stocks edged up and the yen held below a 15-year high on Thursday, after a small rally on Wall Street driven by successful European bond auctions gave investors an excuse to lighten up on their bets.

Reuters - Goldman Sachs has been fined 20 million pounds ($30.9 million) by the UK's financial regulator for failing to disclose it was under fraud investigation by its U.S. counterpart, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

Reuters - Australia's competition regulator blocked National Australia Bank's $12 billion bid for AXA Asia Pacific for a second time, dashing NAB's efforts to cement its dominance in the world's fourth-largest wealth management market.

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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - Former President Bill Clinton said Wednesday it would be a mistake for voters to give in to "anger, apathy and amnesia" and deprive Arkansas of the Senate Agriculture chairmanship by defeating Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln.

AP - South Korea's central bank left its key interest rate near a record low Thursday for a second straight month as the risk of slowing global growth outweighed a buoyant outlook for the local economy.

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.

AP - The top two national security advisers in President Barack Obama's Cabinet on Wednesday denounced plans by a small church in Florida to burn the Muslim holy book to commemorate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, saying it would inflame tensions and put Americans abroad at risk.

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.