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.

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.

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.

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.

HANNIBAL, Missouri (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.

HAVANA (Reuters) - Fidel Castro said Cuba's economic model no longer works, a U.S.-based journalist reported on Wednesday following interviews with the former president last week.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan will soon charge three men with terrorism in connection with the failed attempt to bomb New York's Times Square, a police official said on Wednesday.

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

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Wednesday it would review its extradition laws after criticism that treaty arrangements with other nations, in particular the United States, make it too easy to transfer suspects for trial there.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China and the United States said on Wednesday that their sometimes rocky relationship is sounder after talks in Beijing, with both putting an optimistic face on ties that have been jolted by economic and security tensions.

NEW YORK (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.

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.

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

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Wednesday the United States needed more incentives to stimulate job growth and bolster a slow recovery from a "savage" recession.

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.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The federal government should take mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac off life support sooner rather than later, the Mortgage Bankers Association urged on Wednesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two former chief executives who were criticized during the financial crisis for driving their firms to the brink have found new homes.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The economy has shown "widespread signs" of slowing over recent weeks, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday in a report suggesting that while the recovery has been faltering, the economy may skirt a second recession.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top securities regulator defended its proposed $75 million settlement with Citigroup , saying the penalty reasonably accounts for the seriousness of the bank's alleged misconduct, according to a document filed in court on Wednesday.

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oracle Corp has offered its new co-president, former Hewlett-Packard chief Mark Hurd, a hiring package with a bonus of up to $10 million and options potentially worth tens of millions more.

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

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oracle Corp has offered its new co-president, former Hewlett-Packard chief Mark Hurd, a hiring package with a bonus of up to $10 million and options potentially worth tens of millions more.

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co has begun testing applications that allow subscribers to its OnStar vehicle communication system to update their Facebook status verbally and to receive text messages audibly.

(Reuters) - Sony Pictures Entertainment, a division of Sony Corp, will partner with Marvel Entertainment to animate characters such as Iron Man, X-Men and Blade in Japan and broadcast them worldwide, the Nikkei business daily reported.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc is offering free shipping and other perks on baby items such as diapers to attract new consumers to its growing subscription service in a burgeoning market.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Google Inc will launch its service to bring the Web to TV screens in the United States this autumn and worldwide next year, its chief executive said, as it extends its reach from the desktop to the living room.

LONDON (Reuters) - Salesforce.com will offer mobile versions of its Chatter tool for social networking inside companies from later this year as it seeks to make its software more ubiquitous and its customers more productive.

LONDON (Reuters) - The world's biggest mobile fair will host its first event for Apple developers next year in a sign of Apple's huge influence over the industry, even though the company itself has never participated in the show.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is looking into allegations that Google Inc's purchase of airline ticketing firm ITA Software Inc will cost rivals access to data they need to compete with the search giant as it moves into the travel market, sources familiar with the probe said.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China Mobile shares fell the most in a year after Vodafone sold its stake in the company for $6.5 billion, nearly double what it paid, but analysts expect the stake sale to have no major impact on the Chinese firm.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A former bodyguard for Britney Spears filed a sexual harassment lawsuit on Wednesday accusing the pop star of repeatedly parading herself around in the nude and having sex in front of him.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - British television host Piers Morgan is to replace veteran CNN talk show host Larry King in January, bringing what is expected to be a more acerbic tone to the long-running prime time U.S. interview show.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge warned "Jersey Shore" reality star Snooki that she was acting like troubled actress Lindsay Lohan, and sentenced her on Wednesday to community service for disorderly conduct.

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - "Glee" star Matthew Morrison hopes to release his debut album in February, as he fits recording in between filming episodes of the show's second season.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Michael Dennison, who designed costumes for such films as "Eat Pray Love," "The Book of Eli" and "The Spirit," died September 2 from a brain aneurysm during a film shoot in Pittsburgh. He was 58.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Don Johnson more than doubled his legal judgment against producers of the television show "Nash Bridges" as a judge on Wednesday added $28 million in interest to the sum originally awarded him by a jury.

VENICE (Reuters) - Ben Affleck directs and stars in "The Town," a tense cops-and-robbers thriller set in Boston which is premiering out of competition at the Venice film festival.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Actress Angelina Jolie on Wednesday joined a growing chorus of opposition to plans by a U.S. pastor to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, amid fears it would fan religious hatred.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - John Lennon's killer was denied parole for the sixth time on Tuesday, three months before the 30th anniversary of the former Beatle's death.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Superstar Spaniard Alejandro Sanz and three other singer-songwriters from Mexico, Uruguay and the Dominican Republic led the field of contenders unveiled on Wednesday for the 11th annual Latin Grammys with four nominations each.