PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine's blunt-spoken governor doesn't mince words when opponents dare to cross him but he's saved some of his harshest criticism for newspapers, once telling schoolchildren he isn't a fan of papers and another time saying that reading one is "like paying somebody to tell you lies."

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A woman who quit her job to care for her elderly mother felt at a loss to support herself when the older woman died so she buried her in the yard of their Florida home and lived off her mother's Social Security checks for 14 years, her lawyers and federal authorities say.

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — Former investigators are pushing to reopen the probe into the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800, saying new evidence points to the often-discounted theory that a missile strike may have downed the jumbo jet.

PHOENIX (AP) — A serial killer convicted of murdering six people in a shooting spree that terrorized Phoenix in 2005 and 2006 was found dead Wednesday in his death row prison cell, officials said.

VERACRUZ, Mexico (AP) — Tropical Storm Barry formed off Mexico's Gulf Coast on Wednesday, prompting Mexican authorities to ready hundreds of shelters.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is planning a major push using executive powers to tackle the pollution blamed for global warming in an effort to make good on promises he made at the start of his second term. "We know we have to do more — and we will do more," Obama said Wednesday in Berlin.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted on Wednesday to cut food stamps by $2 billion a year as part of a wide-ranging farm bill.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted on Wednesday to cut food stamps by $2 billion a year as part of a wide-ranging farm bill.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom says he's "in tears" after a European company announced it had deleted all the data it was hosting from the shuttered file-sharing site.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The U.S. Naval Academy on Wednesday charged three midshipmen — all current or former football players — with sexually assaulting a female student at an off-campus house in Annapolis more than a year ago.

FAIRPORT, Mich. (AP) — A wooden beam that has long been the focus of the search for a 17th century shipwreck in northern Lake Michigan was not attached to a buried vessel as searchers had suspected, but still may have come from the elusive Griffin or some other ship, archaeologists said Wednesday.

By Karen Brooks (Reuters) - A 13-year-old New Orleans boy has been arrested on charges he murdered his 5-year-old sister with body slams, elbow punches and other moves he told investigators he had seen while watching professional wrestling on television, police said on Wednesday. Viloude Louis died Sunday from blunt-force trauma that left her with broken ribs and liver damage after a violent encounter with the boy, her half-brother, who was arrested the following day, police said. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a move that could send interest rates higher, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke ended weeks of speculation Wednesday by saying the Federal Reserve will likely slow its bond-buying program this year and end it next year because the economy is strengthening.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a move that could send interest rates higher, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke ended weeks of speculation Wednesday by saying the Federal Reserve will likely slow its bond-buying program this year and end it next year because the economy is strengthening.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge in Baltimore said Wednesday she's satisfied for now with measures the military has taken to release documents related to Army Pfc. Bradley Manning's court-martial in the Wikileaks case.

By Anna Driver and Michael Erman (Reuters) - SandRidge Energy Inc's board of directors removed the energy company's founder and chief executive, Tom Ward, on Wednesday after a months-long struggle with activist investors who accused him of strategic mistakes and self-dealing at the expense of shareholders. Ward, who was also under fire for his high pay, will receive a severance payment of more than $90 million in cash and stock. The oil and gas company's board named its president, James Bennett, to replace Ward as CEO, citing a need for new leadership. ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury which convicted a homeless woman of second-degree murder in the death of a woman pushed off a Los Angeles train platform heard expert opinions Wednesday on whether the defendant was sane at the time of the crime.

By Sarah McBride SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A high profile sex discrimination lawsuit in Silicon Valley should be taken private via arbitration, lawyers for venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers argued on Wednesday, but the plaintiff, former partner Ellen Pao, wants the chance to tell her story before a judge. A lawyer for Kleiner told a panel of state court appellate justices on Wednesday that one reason the firm preferred arbitration to litigation was to avoid disclosing the relative compensation of Kleiner partners. Another reason, he said, was to spare embarrassment to Pao. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — After secretive talks, key senators expressed optimism Wednesday night that they were closing in on a bipartisan agreement to toughen the border security requirements in immigration legislation that also offers a path to citizenship to millions living in the country illegally.

WASHINGTON (AP) — After secretive talks, key senators expressed optimism Wednesday night that they were closing in on a bipartisan agreement to toughen the border security requirements in immigration legislation that also offers a path to citizenship to millions living in the country illegally.

PHOENIX (Reuters) - An Arizona death row inmate who wrote to the state Supreme Court asking for a speedy execution died on Wednesday after being found unresponsive in his cell, authorities said. Dale Hausner, dubbed the "Serial Shooter," was sentenced to die by lethal injection four years ago for gunning down four men and two women during a 14-month shooting spree. He and an accomplice were arrested in August 2006. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. accused China and Russia of failing to meet minimum standards in fighting human trafficking, ranking them on a par with North Korea and Syria.

NEW YORK (AP) — Financial markets shuddered Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said it could start scaling back its huge economic stimulus program later this year and end it by the middle of next.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Three people were shot to death and a fourth was seriously injured Wednesday at a condominium building in Louisville, Ky.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michael Froman, a senior White House economic adviser and classmate of President Barack Obama at Harvard Law School, on Wednesday won Senate confirmation to be the next U.S. trade representative.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michael Froman, a senior White House economic adviser and classmate of President Barack Obama at Harvard Law School, on Wednesday won Senate confirmation to be the next U.S. trade representative.

EVERGREEN, Colo. (AP) — A new wildfire in the foothills southwest of Denver forced the evacuation of dozens of homes Wednesday as hot and windy conditions in much of Colorado and elsewhere in the West made it easy for fires to start and spread.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the federal oversight board that President Barack Obama said will meet with him to discuss the National Security Agency's secret surveillance program said Wednesday that the group has numerous concerns about the operation and plans to publish a report after a full inquiry.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina has repealed a landmark law that had allowed convicted murderers to have their sentences reduced to life in prison if they could prove racial bias influenced the outcome of their cases.

SAO PAULO (AP) — With massive protests by middle-class Brazilians demanding wholesale government reforms, people all over this continent-sized country have reached a verdict on the streets and online: "The giant has awakened."

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The relocation of Yellowstone National Park bison to tribal lands in Montana can resume, under a Wednesday ruling from the state's Supreme Court that revives a stalled conservation initiative for the animals.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — New York state and Eastman Kodak Co. have reached a deal that will keep some of the troubled company's operations in Rochester and provide $49 million for environmental cleanup at the once bustling Eastman Business Park.

DALLAS (AP) — The owner of a Houston bus company has been indicted on federal charges stemming from the 2008 Texas crash that killed 17 people on their way to a religious conclave, authorities announced Wednesday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Men's Wearhouse doesn't like the way its founder looks anymore.

NEW YORK (AP) — Men's Wearhouse doesn't like the way its founder looks anymore.

By Mari Saito TOKYO (Reuters) - A proposal by Sony Corp's top investor to partially spin off the Japanese company's lucrative entertainment business will be the elephant in the room at an annual shareholders meeting on Thursday. Daniel Loeb, who heads New York-based hedge fund Third Point, will miss the gathering and those attending will not consider his suggestion, sources familiar with the matter said. They gave no reason why Loeb would not attend. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted on Wednesday to cut food stamps by $2 billion a year as part of a wide-ranging farm bill.

By Asher Levine and Tatiana Ramil SAO PAULO/FORTALEZA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil's two biggest cities agreed on Wednesday to revoke an increase in public transportation fares that set off demonstrations that have grown into nationwide protests against poor public services, inflation and corruption. The decisions, made separately in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, followed another day of protests across Brazil, which also included a march by demonstrators around a major international soccer game in the northeastern city of Fortaleza. ...

By Sinead Carew and Liana B. Baker NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sprint Nextel Corp should consider raising its offer price for Clearwire Corp or risk being saddled with a contentious relationship with Dish Network Corp, controlled by feisty billionaire Charlie Ergen. Shareholders of Clearwire, already majority owned by Sprint, will vote on June 24 on Sprint's $3.40-a-share offer to buy the rest of the company. But Clearwire's board has recommended shareholders instead accept a higher, $4.40-a-share tender offer from Dish. ...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The U.S. Naval Academy on Wednesday charged three football players with sexually assaulting a female midshipman at an off-campus house in Annapolis more than a year ago, a case that has brought renewed focus to how the nation's military academies handle reports of sexual assaults.