AP - Three suspected U.S. missile strikes in less than 12 hours hit militant targets in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, officials said, an unusually intense barrage that follows four other such attacks in the last week. At least 14 suspected militants were killed.

AP - European Union nations and the continent's biggest human rights organization slammed Iran on Wednesday for its plan to stone a woman convicted of adultery, while Iran's ambassador to the Vatican said there is "hope" the punishment could be eased upon review by Iranian authorities.

AP - The Taliban's shadowy leader told Afghans on Wednesday that the insurgents are winning the war and warned Americans that they are wasting lives and billions in tax dollars by continuing in the conflict.

AP - Fidel Castro told a visiting American journalist that Cuba's communist economic model doesn't work, a rare comment on domestic affairs from a man who has conspicuously steered clear of local issues since stepping down four years ago.

Queen Latifah will team up with Dolly Parton in the gospel musical comedy, Joyful Noise.

The movie quest to get married gets flipped on its axis in the cute, delightful new comedy White Wedding.

It looks like Brandy will be juggling two reality shows this fall.

American Bandstand may have been first to air, but once it premiered Soul Train soon became the indisputable American cultural institution of soul music.

Despite lukewarm responses from most film critics, Takers, proved to be a crowd pleaser; it debuted number one its first week in theaters stateside, taking in 20.5 million at the box offic

Just when it seems like everyone and their mama has a reality show, minority and female racing enthusiasts are getting added to the mix and are changing the game.

Los Angeles Laker Ron Artest is probably best known for being one of the NBA?s most talented and skilled basketball players, but in tonight?s edition of TV One?s documentary series

AP - A Hong Kong fashion model was busted on felony drug charges at the Burning Man counterculture festival in Nevada and crashed her rented motor home into Reno's landmark arch the next day, authorities said Wednesday.

'Losing Paradise,' a new botanical art exhibition of 44 rare species, illustrates the art form's enduring value ? even in this age of digital.

Esperanza Spalding's new album, 'Chamber Music Society,' three unseen Ken Burns documentaries on pbs.org, adult drama 'City Island' on DVD, and more.

'Red Horse' CD from three of folk music's warmest voices, 'The Sartorialist' ? a blog for the fashion cognoscenti, an eye-opening documentary on the bottled-water industry, and more.

Classic Daffy Duck toons out on DVD, mouthwatering 'Fresh From Maine' cook book, 'Many Hands: Family Music for Haiti' CD, and more top picks.

AP - Calling her "a Lindsay Lohan wannabe," a judge fined "Jersey Shore" star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi $500 on Wednesday and ordered her to perform community service after she pleaded guilty to disturbing others on a beach in July.

AP - A former bodyguard sued Britney Spears on Wednesday, claiming the singer repeatedly subjected him to "repeated unwanted sexual advances" and harassment.

AP - British tabloid veteran Piers Morgan, hired by CNN to start as Larry King's replacement as a prime-time interviewer in January, promised that he "came here to win."

Rich Cronin, part of the pop music trio LFO, died Wednesday, according to E! Online. He was 35.

The singer wrote LFO's 1999 break-out hit "Summer Girls," which infamously gave a shout-out to...

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 - A top general, the secretary of state, the White House and political and religious leaders from around the world have decried a plan by the leader of a small Florida church to burn copies of Islam's holiest text to mark the 9/11 attacks. The Rev. Terry Jones is not backing down.

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 - 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 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 - 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 - Google Inc. stepped on its Internet search accelerator Wednesday by adding a feature that displays results as soon as people begin typing their requests.

AP - A former bodyguard sued Britney Spears on Wednesday, claiming the singer repeatedly subjected him to "repeated unwanted sexual advances" and harassment.

Reuters - Stocks rose on Wednesday as investors latched onto positive news out of Europe in the latest in a string of low-volume sessions suggesting little confidence in market direction.

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.