The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan tells NBC News that a Florida churchs plan to burn the Quran would fuel anti-U.S. hatred rivaling the backlash against the U.S. abuses at Iraqs Abu Ghraib prison.

For the second time in about 18 hours, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has condemned a Florida pastor's plan to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of 9/11.

Crews are searching for five people who didn't leave their homes as a wildfire tore through a canyon in the foothills near Boulder, authorities say.

Transocean Ltd., the owner of the doomed rig leased by BP, says BP's internal investigation into the explosion and Gulf oil spill covered up the critical factor leading to the tragedy: the well design.

The slow moving remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine caused water rescues, evacuations and commuting headaches in central Texas, just as a new tropical storm formed in the deep Atlantic.

Wind-whipped flames swept through at least three Detroit neighborhoods, destroying dozens of homes, including many that were vacant, and even sending waves of searing heat blocks away, officials said.

Arizona's education chief says the federal government has launched an investigation into whether the state discriminates against teachers who are nonnative English speakers.

President Barack Obama strongly defended his opposition to extending Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans on Wednesday and delivered a searing attack on Republicans for advocating "the same philosophy that led to this mess in the first place."

No single election contest this fall combines the buzz and history-making potential of California's Proposition 19, which would make the state the first to legalize recreational use of marijuana.

Tests have found rabies in a coyote that was shot by a policeman after a rash of attacks on humans in a New York City suburb.

NYT: President Obama will rule out on Wednesday any compromise that would extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy beyond this year, officials said.

The Dalai Lama has given $50,000 from his personal trust to support research into the science behind kindness and compassion at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Australia and New Zealand shared first place, and the United States tied for fifth, in a first-of-its kind survey ranking 153 nations on the willingness of their citizens to donate time and money to charity.

Seldom visible in the Yemeni mountains, the elite U.S. commandos training the Yemen's military represent the Obama administration's quest to fight terrorism without inflaming anti-American sentiment.

Her lawyer said Wednesday that "Jersey Shore" star Nicole Polizzi was under the influence of alcohol when she stumbled around the beach in Seaside Heights, using loud language.

Florida pastor Terry Jones will undoubtedly offend and infuriate many people around the world if he follows through on a plan to burn Muslim Qurans at his church this weekend.

Military bases across the U.S. have banned the sale of a new video game that lets a player pretend to be a Taliban fighter and "shoot" U.S. troops.

The imam at the center of the controversy over a YMCA-like Islamic center proposed for a site near the World Trade Center says the project will not be stopped.

Elderly heiress Huguette Clark's attorney has responded to an effort by her relatives to oust him by ridiculing them as Johnny-come-latelies. Msnbc.com's Bill Dedman reports.

Protesters on Tuesday night pelted a police station with eggs, rocks and bottles despite Police Chief Charlie Beck's plea for calm earlier in the day and his promise to thoroughly investigate an officer's fatal shooting of a Guatemalan immigrant wielding a knife.

The FBI on Wednesday was trying to determine whether a passenger staged a bomb hoax that prompted a search of a Thai Airways jetliner at Los Angeles International Airport.

Officials hoisted a 70-foot piece of World Trade Center steel at ground zero Tuesday and vowed to open the Sept. 11 memorial by next year, although they acknowledged that the ongoing construction at the site would limit where and how the public could visit.