AFP - The main suspect in the Philippines' worst political massacre goes on trial on Wednesday, amid allegations of witness intimidation and fears the case could drag on for years.

AFP - The BBC World Service could face drastic budget cuts that may force it to withdraw from Myanmar, a move that critics fear would be a "gift to the military junta", a report said Wednesday.

AP - Tropical Storm Hermine gave a wet and windy punch to Texas on Tuesday but left only minor scrapes in the storm-weary Rio Grande Valley, which is proving resilient this hurricane season after taking a third tropical system on the chin.

AP - Mayor Richard M. Daley, who wielded more control over Chicago than anyone but his father decades before, said Tuesday he will not seek re-election, a surprising end — at least for now — of a dynasty whose surname became synonymous with the city's legendary political machine.

AP - The international crossfire over Iran's stoning sentence for a woman convicted of adultery intensified Tuesday with a top European Union official calling it "barbaric" and an Iranian spokesman saying it's about punishing a criminal and not a human rights issue.

AP - David Myers knew it was time to leave when he looked out into the forest and spotted bright red flames towering skyward. Then came a blinding cloud of smoke and a deafening roar as the fire ripped through the wilderness.

AP - Disgruntled voters, a sluggish economy and vanishing enthusiasm for President Barack Obama have put 75 seats or more in the House — the vast majority held by Democrats — at risk of changing hands and putting Republicans in charge.

AP - The government turned up the pressure Tuesday on the head of a small Florida church who plans to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11, warning him that doing so could endanger U.S. troops and Americans everywhere.

AP - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard barely retained power when the last two independent legislators made kingmakers by deadlocked elections ended a tense 17-day standoff and agreed to join her government. Her next challenge? Keeping the unlikely bedfellows of her coalition together.

AP - Fidel Castro criticized Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for what he called his anti-Semitic attitudes and questioned his own actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 during interviews with an American journalist he summoned to Havana to discuss fears of global nuclear war.

AP - Iraq displayed hundreds of recovered artifacts Tuesday that were among the country's looted heritage and span the ages from a 4,400-year-old statue of a Sumerian king to a chrome-plated AK-47 bearing Saddam Hussein's image.

AP - Government scientists studying the BP disaster are reporting the best possible outcome: Microbes are consuming the oil in the Gulf without depleting the oxygen in the water and creating "dead zones" where fish cannot survive.

AP - An Iraqi soldier fired a barrage of bullets at American troops protecting one of their commanders during a visit to an Iraqi army base Tuesday and killed two of them, the first U.S. servicemen to die since President Barack Obama declared an end to combat operations in the country last week.

Reuters - Republicans in Congress showed little willingness to help President Barack Obama approve $350 billion in measures to boost the economy with midterm elections less than two months away.

AP - A salvaged 50-ton steel column was hoisted onto a support structure Tuesday at the World Trade Center site, where it will eventually serve as part of the entryway to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

Reuters - Hewlett-Packard Co sued former Chief Executive Mark Hurd and asked a court to block him from joining Oracle Corp, saying his hiring by the rival technology firm puts HP's trade secrets "in peril."

Reuters - U.S. stocks fell in very light volume on Tuesday as investors seized on renewed concerns about European banks as a reason to sell shares after strong gains last week.

AP - The flight attendant accused of onboard antics that captured the nation's attention when he told off a passenger and slid down the plane's emergency chute with a beer will undergo a mental health evaluation with the aim of avoiding jail time in a possible plea deal.

AP - Iran's nuclear chief said Tehran has the right to bar some U.N. inspectors from monitoring its disputed nuclear program, the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported.

AP - The Obama administration is trying to jump-start its sputtering attempts to tackle the foreclosure crisis with an effort to assist homeowners who owe more on their properties than their homes are worth.

AP - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he has asked the U.S. to settle a dispute with Israel over settlement expansion that is threatening to derail Mideast peace talks.

AP - Motorists should see pump prices slide again after spending a little more to fill their tanks over the Labor Day weekend.

AP - Merriam-Webster's "Word of the Summer" is not even a word. That's something no one can "refudiate."