- Argentine train slams into station, killing 49 (AP)
AP - A packed train slammed into the end of the line in Buenos Aires' busy Once station Wednesday, killing 49 people and injuring hundreds of morning commuters as passenger cars crumpled behind the engine. It was Argentina's worst train accident in decades. - 2 Western journalists killed as Syria shells Homs (AP)
AP - A French photojournalist and a prominent American war correspondent working for a British newspaper were killed Wednesday as Syrian forces intensely shelled the opposition stronghold of Homs. President Bashar Assad's regime also escalated attacks on rebel bases elsewhere, with helicopter gunships strafing areas in the northwest, activists said. - 7 killed as Afghan Quran protests turn violent (AP)
AP - Afghan President Hamid Karzai appealed for calm Wednesday after clashes in several cities between Afghan security forces and protesters furious over the burning of Muslim holy books at a U.S. military base left seven people dead. - Geithner: Obama seeks 28 percent corp. tax rate (AP)
AP - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday the current business tax system is bad for business and for job-creation and argued that President Barack Obama's plan to reduce corporate tax rates to 28 percent would make the tax system more globally competitive. - Rising sales point to better year for housing (AP)
AP - The housing market is flashing signs of health ahead of the spring-buying season. - Poll: Santorum surges, Obama leads Republicans (AP)
AP - A surging Rick Santorum is running even with Mitt Romney atop the Republican presidential field, but neither candidate is faring well against President Barack Obama eight months before Americans vote, a new survey shows. - Italy: Divers find 8 more bodies in ship wreckage (AP)
AP - Divers searching the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship off a Tuscan island found eight bodies Wednesday on one of the passenger decks, including that of a missing 5-year-old Italian girl, authorities said. - NYPD built secret files on NJ, Long Island mosques (AP)
AP - Americans living and working in New Jersey's largest city were subjected to surveillance as part of the New York Police Department's effort to build databases of where Muslims work, shop and pray. The operation in Newark was so secretive even the city's mayor says he was kept in the dark. - Obama helps break ground on black history museum (AP)
AP - President Barack Obama heralded a new national black history museum as "not just a record of tragedy, but a celebration of life" as he marked Wednesday's groundbreaking of the long-sought-after museum on the National Mall. - 'Conan' renewed by TBS for 2 more years (AP)
AP - Conan O'Brien's got his desk job for at least two more years. - Obama urges corporate tax cut, closing loopholes (Reuters)
Reuters - President Barack Obama launched a dialogue with corporate America on Wednesday over business tax reform, offering his first clear plan to cut the corporate tax rate, with little prospect of it becoming law in an election year. - U.S., French journalists killed in Syria (Reuters)
Reuters - American correspondent Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed in the besieged Syrian city of Homs on Wednesday when rockets fired by government forces hit the house they were staying in, opposition activists and witnesses said. - Fitch downgrades Greece on debt swap plan (Reuters)
Reuters - Fitch cut Greece's long-term ratings on Wednesday to its lowest rating above a default, becoming the first ratings agency to make the widely expected downgrade after the country announced a bond exchange plan to ease its massive debt burden. - Existing home sales at 1-1/2 yr-high, supply falls (Reuters)
Reuters - U.S. home resales surged in January to a 1-1/2 year high and the supply of properties on the market was the lowest in almost seven years, pointing to a nascent housing recovery. - Assad forces try to bomb Homs into submission (Reuters)
Reuters - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces rained rockets and bombs down on opposition-held neighborhoods of the city of Homs on Wednesday, reducing buildings to rubble and killing more than 80 people, including two Western journalists. - Karzai urges calm as six die in Afghan Koran protests (Reuters)
Reuters - Afghan President Hamid Karzai appealed for calm Wednesday after officials said six people were shot dead and dozens wounded in protests over the burning of copies of the Koran, Islam's holy book, at NATO's main base in the country. - Greece rushes to pass bailout laws amid protests (Reuters)
Reuters - Thousands of protesters angry at punishing spending cuts poured into Athens' central Syntagma Square on Wednesday as Greek lawmakers rushed to pass laws needed to secure payment of a second bailout for the debt-laden country. - Boeing says flaw could affect 55 Dreamliners (Reuters)
Reuters - About 55 of Boeing Co's 787 Dreamliner jets could have a recently discovered flaw in the fuselage, the company said on Wednesday, while reiterating that the world's first carbon-plastic passenger plane is safe to fly. - Could Rick Santorum super PAC do more harm than good? (The Christian Science Monitor)
The Christian Science Monitor - One point being made repeatedly in the media of late is that super PACs are changing the usual dynamics of the presidential nominating process by allowing underdog Republican candidates to remain in the race. - Stolen Valor Act at Supreme Court: Is lying about being a hero a right? (The Christian Science Monitor)
The Christian Science Monitor - When Xavier Alvarez stood up and introduced himself at a local water district meeting in July 2007, he had no idea he was about to commit a federal crime.