AP - The Federal Reserve's aggressive period of cutting interest rates to keep the country from falling into a recession is over. That point is in general agreement. The trouble starts when you try to figure out what period the Fed has now entered.

AP - Angry politicians vowed to keep writing laws that condemn child rapists to death, despite a Supreme Court decision saying such punishment is unconstitutional.

AFP - The White House said Wednesday that it could move to take North Korea off a terrorism blacklist "quite soon" after, and if, the North delivers a full accounting of its nuclear programs.

AFP - Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai called Wednesday for peacekeepers to be sent to Zimbabwe as President Robert Mugabe defied world criticism by vowing to go ahead with this week's run-off election.

Reuters - U.S. President George W. Bush believes the Iran nuclear issue can be solved diplomatically in a process involving allies including Israel, the White House said on Wednesday.

Reuters - The U.S. Supreme Court in a major capital punishment decision struck down on Wednesday the death penalty for child rape, its first decision in more than 30 years on whether a crime other than murder can be punished by execution.

Reuters - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out the record $2.5 billion in punitive damages that Exxon Mobil Corp had been ordered to pay for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, the nation's worst tanker spill.

Reuters - Zimbabwe's neighbors on Wednesday urged the postponement of Friday's presidential election, saying the re-election of President Robert Mugabe could lack legitimacy in the current violent climate.

Reuters - A new round of storms dumped a half foot or more of rain across parts of the U.S. Midwest on Wednesday, dealing fresh trouble to a region already struggling with billions of dollars in flood damage.

Reuters - Hillary Clinton brushed off suggestions on Wednesday that her husband, former President Bill Clinton, does not seem to share her enthusiasm for campaigning for Democratic White House candidate Barack Obama.

Reuters - The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday and voiced greater concern about inflation, taking a small step down a road toward higher borrowing costs.

AP - Novak Djokovic was upset in straight sets by Marat Safin in the second round Wednesday, ending the Serb's chances of testing his theory about Roger Federer's vulnerability at Wimbledon.

AP - An Italian architect said he is poised to start construction on a new skyscraper in Dubai that will be "the world's first building in motion," an 80-story tower with revolving floors that give it an ever-shifting shape.

AP - A violin case slung over her shoulder, 10-year-old Daniela Fagundez trudges home along a row of muddy yards where chickens scratch among banana trees and laundry hangs drying on wire fences.