PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A 10-year-old girl whose efforts to qualify for an organ donation sparked debate over how organs are allocated was getting a double-lung transplant Wednesday after a match with an adult donor was made.

STANTON, Calif. (AP) — Jan Cooper could see the would-be burglar's dark silhouette through a crack in the vertical blinds as he tried to slide open her porch door.

By Francesca Trianni NEW YORK (Reuters) - A motor failure left two window washers hanging for more than an hour on a platform outside a building 45 stories above New York City on Wednesday before they were pulled in by rescue workers, the fire department said. The workers were doing regular maintenance work when the middle motor of their platform got stuck 500 feet above the ground, and dangled outside the 46-story Hearst Tower in Manhattan. About 60 firefighters from 12 companies rushed to the skyscraper, on 57th Street and 8th Avenue. ...

By John Whitesides and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the National Security Agency said on Wednesday that extensive U.S. surveillance efforts had helped stop "dozens" of possible attacks, and warned that making details of the top-secret programs public had compromised national security. In his first appearance before Congress since an NSA contractor lifted the veil on the agency's broad monitoring of phone and internet data, General Keith Alexander defended the program as an essential tool in the fight against terrorism. ...

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Three Colorado wildfires fueled by hot temperatures, gusty winds and thick, bone-dry forests have together burned dozens of homes and led to the evacuation of more than 7,000 residents and nearly 1,000 inmates at medium-security prison.

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys trying to seat a jury in George Zimmerman's trial for shooting an unarmed teen stopped questioning a white man in his 20s Wednesday after he gave answers that indicated he wouldn't be impartial.

MIAMI (AP) — President Barack Obama put his second term appeal to the test Wednesday, seeking to boost Democrats in Boston and Miami both as a fundraiser and as a political drawing card, even while trailed by controversies over government prying.

By Amanda Orr HOUSTON (Reuters) - The Southern Baptist Convention on Wednesday voted to voice opposition to the Boy Scouts of America decision to admit gay members, saying that homosexual conduct is contrary to a scout's oath to do his duty to God. The Southern Baptists, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, approved a non-binding resolution opposing the policy at its annual convention in Houston. The resolution requires no action by member churches but leaves them to decide individually whether to stop sponsoring scout troops. ...

HOUSTON (AP) — A former Houston police officer convicted Wednesday for his role in the 2010 beating of a teenage burglary suspect that was caught on surveillance video will avoid prison because of a last-minute agreement that places him on probation for two years.

HOUSTON (AP) — The Southern Baptist Convention approved a resolution Wednesday expressing its opposition to the Boy Scouts of America's new policy allowing gay Scouts, though it doesn't explicitly call for churches to drop all ties with the organization.

HOUSTON (AP) — It started out as a normal night where Ana Trujillo and her boyfriend went out to a local Houston bar they often frequented. They enjoyed a couple bottles of wine, and tossed back a few shots of tequila.

WILDWOOD, N.J. (AP) — Hindsight will soon be punishable by a $25 fine in this Jersey Shore resort.

By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. government investigators began an urgent search for Edward Snowden several days before the first media reports were published on the government's secret surveillance programs, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Snowden, who has admitted to providing details of the top-secret programs, had worked on assignment at a Hawaii facility run by the National Security Agency for about four weeks before he said he was ill and requested leave without pay, according to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. ...