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.

Reuters - Some Tea Partiers admit mistakes were made. Others are quick to describe the movement's recent efforts in the political arena as not quite ready for prime time.

AP - President Barack Obama doesn't go there anymore.

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 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.

AP - Massive flooding that has submerged vast swaths of Pakistan has stretched thin the Pakistani military and will hamper its fight against terrorists, the country's ambassador to the U.S. said Wednesday.

AP - Defense Secretary Robert Gates is adding his voice to those of top U.S. generals and others who say that a Florida church's plan to burn the Quran could endanger U.S. forces in the field.

AP - A Romanian Gypsy leader on Wednesday compared French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Romania's pro-Nazi wartime leader, following the expulsion of hundreds of Gypsies from France.

AFP - The United States should scale back troops and goals in Afghanistan as its military campaign has backfired and boosted the Taliban, according to a study billed as a Plan B for President Barack Obama.