CNN Online News - Top Stories

MGM defends safety practices after lion attack caught on tape [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:33:02 EDT]

MGM Resorts defended its safety practices Wednesday after amateur video surfaced showing a lion attacking its trainer inside its habitat at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, as horrified visitors to the hotel looked on.

Tornadoes touch down in Dallas [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:32:58 EDT]

At least four tornadoes spawned by Tropical Depression Hermine touched down in and around Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday evening, sending up debris and swirling around buildings.

Rwanda complains to UN chief about war crimes report [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:30:59 EDT]

Rwandan President Paul Kagame met Wednesday with visiting U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after Rwanda protested a leaked draft U.N. report that accuses troops from the central African nation of widespread violations of human rights.

Who might replace Rahm Emanuel? [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:27:54 EDT]

The smart money in Washington and Chicago, Illinois, says it's all but a certainty that within weeks Rahm Emanuel will throw his hat into the ring to replace retiring Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. So the parlor game over who will replace Emanuel as White House chief of staff has already kicked into high gear.

CNN Student News Transcript: September 9, 2010 [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:25:39 EDT]

September 9, 2010

Vatican: Quran burning 'outrageous' [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:05:49 EDT]

Burning the Quran would be an "outrageous and grave gesture," the Vatican said Wednesday, joining a chorus of voices pleading with a small Florida church not to burn Islam's holy book on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Piers Morgan to join CNN with prime-time hour in Larry King slot [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:46:20 EDT]

British TV host Piers Morgan will take over Larry King's prime-time hour with "a candid, in-depth newsmaker interview program" starting in January, CNN announced Wednesday.

Profile: Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the man behind the NYC Islamic center [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:41:29 EDT]

The imam has stepped into the fray before.

Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs refuses extradition to Texas [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:35:24 EDT]

Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs will stay in a Utah jail for at least two more months after his attorneys objected to his signing an extradition waiver in a Utah court Tuesday.

Fidel Castro casts doubt on 'Cuban model' [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:20:08 EDT]

Fidel Castro told a visiting American journalist that the "Cuban model" no longer works, an apparent admission of failings in the communist economic model introduced by his revolution more than 50 years ago.

7 more arrested in Mexico massacre case [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:16:20 EDT]

Mexican authorities have arrested seven more people in connection with the killings of 72 migrants in northeastern Mexico, said Alejandro Poire, the president's spokesman for security issues.

Two brush fires burn at New York national park [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:03:49 EDT]

A pair of brush fires broke out within two hours of each other Wednesday afternoon on New York's Staten Island, closing part of a national park.

Colorful 'Rahmbo' Emanuel helps shape Obama's agenda [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:59:42 EDT]

Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's chief of staff, is known as a force of nature who efficiently navigates the back halls of Congress to get exactly what he wants.

Watchdog: Attacks on journalists in Mexico threaten press freedom [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:59:14 EDT]

Violence against journalists in Mexico continues with impunity and has resulted in self-censorship that threatens Mexicans' right of freedom of expression, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a report released Wednesday.

Colorado officials: Wildfire torches 140 structures, 4 people missing [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:50:52 EDT]

Cloud cover, cooler temperatures and a little bit of rain assisted firefighters battling a wildfire west of Boulder, Colorado, authorities said Wednesday.

Second television presenter killed in as many days in Iraq [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:45:23 EDT]

A second television presenter was killed in as many days in Iraq, police said Wednesday.

Key Democrats split with Obama on taxes [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:23:29 EDT]

Despite President Obama's accusation Wednesday that Republicans are holding middle class income tax cuts "hostage" by tying them to an extension of tax cuts for wealthier Americans, the reality is several Democratic senators also oppose allowing President Bush's tax cuts for higher earners to expire.

5 just-plain-weird video games [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:56:58 EDT]

From turning random household objects into giant balls to stuffing princesses full of cake until they're morbidly obese, the video game industry has no shortage of strange ideas.

CNN Student News: Daily Discussion [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:52:58 EDT]

September 9, 2010

The CNN Teachers' Lounge [Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:51:54 EDT]

September 7, 2010