Florida pastor not backing down on Koran-burning

GAINESVILLE, Florida (Reuters) - An obscure U.S. Christian pastor whose plan to burn copies of the Koran on September 11 has sparked an international outcry said on Wednesday he would go ahead with the event despite warnings it would endanger American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Health reforms trigger spending shift

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New U.S. reforms are poised to dramatically shift the nation's healthcare spending, not only curbing Medicare costs but also pumping more money toward the private sector as roughly 32 million people gain coverage.

Economists cut U.S. growth forecast again

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Projected U.S. economic growth for the rest of this year and next was revised down for a third month in a row by a panel of about 50 economists.

U.S. slips in WEF's competitiveness rankings

BEIJING (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.

Mysterious N.Korea keeps world guessing on rare meeting

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's capital is ready for its biggest political event in decades: giant billboards proclaim an event to make the country's "history shine forever," the dress rehearsals are complete and the army is ready.

Afghanistan seeks to dilute foreign anti-graft role

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan will limit foreign involvement in two major anti-crime units in a move likely to worry its Western backers and stoke fears about President Hamid Karzai's commitment to fighting endemic graft.

BP points fingers in oil spill blame game

LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - BP Plc and its Gulf of Mexico oil well partners traded blame on Wednesday after an internal BP investigation tried to downplay the company's role in the world's biggest offshore spill.

Obama: U.S. can't afford to extend tax cuts for rich

PARMA, Ohio (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.

Seven Mexican gunmen arrested in migrant massacre

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican authorities arrested seven suspected drug cartel members believed to have killed 72 migrants heading to the United States, in what is said to be the worst massacre in the country's escalating drug war, the government said on Wednesday.

Google seeks to speed up Web searches

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc's search engine now displays results before users finish typing.

British MPs to grill BP CEO Hayward

LONDON (Reuters) - British Members of Parliament (MPs) will next week grill outgoing BP Plc Chief Executive Tony Hayward, as part of an investigation into risks around deepwater drilling in the North Sea.

Karzai aims to limit foreign role in probes: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai intends to impose rules restricting international involvement in anti-corruption investigations, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

B vitamins found to slow progression of dementia

LONDON (Reuters) - Daily tablets of large doses of B vitamins can halve the rate of brain shrinkage in elderly people with memory problems and may slow their progression toward dementia, data from a British trial showed on Wednesday,

New clashes erupt at Mexico's Cananea copper mine

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Fresh clashes erupted on Wednesday between union workers and company contractors at the massive Cananea copper mine in northern Mexico leaving several people severely injured, the local government said.

BP and partners trade blame for oil spill

LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - BP Plc and its Gulf of Mexico oil well partners traded blame on Wednesday after an internal BP investigation tried to downplay the company's role in the world's biggest offshore spill.

BP says report not about blame, then names

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - "We were not about apportioning fault or blame," BP Plc's top safety official told reporters as the company released its internal investigation into the world's worst offshore oil spill.

Factbox: Energy supply accidents in the Americas

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Energy production and distribution is a dangerous business, in spite of strict safety regulations in most countries in North and South America for oil and natural gas producers and processors.

Vatican condemns planned Koran burning in U.S.

ROME (Reuters) - The Vatican added to world condemnation of plans by a Florida church to commemorate the September 11 attacks on the United States by burning a Koran, calling it an "outrageous" act.

German Jews condemn planned Florida Koran burning

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's leading Jewish group condemned plans by a Florida pastor to burn the Koran on the anniversary of 9/11, saying it evoked the mass killings of Jews in the Holocaust that followed Nazi book burnings.

Google calls for pressure on Internet censors

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Google Inc's legal chief called for pressure on governments that censor the Internet, such as China and Turkey, arguing that their blocking access to websites not only violates human rights but unfairly restrains U.S. trade.