August 28th 3:59 am ET

Headlines

US lays groundwork for possible Syria strike

White House press secretary Jay Carney answers questions about Syria and chemical weapons during his daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2013. The U.S. was expected to make public a more formal determination of chemical weapons use on Tuesday, however Carney stated that the president did not have a decision made about the response to announce at this time. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The Obama administration is laying the groundwork for potential military action in Syria in the coming days, with intelligence agencies readying additional evidence about last week's alleged chemical weapons attack and high-ranking U.S. officials declaring there was "no doubt" that Bashar Assad's government was to blame.

When to strike: Tense decisions for Obama on Syria
Preparations for a highly anticipated strike on Syria could lead to an awkward decision on timing.

NYPD designates mosques as terrorism organizations
The New York Police Department has secretly labeled entire mosques as terrorism organizations, a designation that allows police to use informants to record sermons and spy on imams, often without specific evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

Calif. fire prompts unhealthy air warnings in Nev.
The giant wildfire burning at the edge of Yosemite National Park has not only destroyed buildings and threatened water supplies, electricity and sequoias, it has also unleashed a smoky haze that has worsened air quality more than 100 miles away in Nevada.

His life on line, Fort Hood gunman blocks lawyers
With his life on the line, Maj. Nidal Hasan has done nothing to dissuade jurors from giving him a death sentence. When his standby lawyers pleaded in vain to argue on his behalf, he described them as "overzealous."

Fukushima crisis new blow to fishermen's hopes
Fumio Suzuki, a third-generation fisherman, sets out into the Pacific Ocean every seven weeks. Not to catch fish that he can sell but to catch fish that can be tested for radiation.

Obama embodies King's dream and his struggle
President Barack Obama won't need to mention race — a subject he doesn't talk a lot about in public — when he stands at the Lincoln Memorial on the anniversary of the March on Washington.

Tramway planned for Machu Picchu's 'sister city'
The ruined city known as the "cradle of gold" was once a mountaintop refuge of Incan royalty, with elegant halls and plazas much like those of fabled Macchu Picchu just 30 miles (50 kilometers away). Yet only a handful of tourists visit each day, those willing to make a two-day hike to reach its majestic solitude.

NY Times site inaccessible, Twitter problems also
Readers who tried to click on the New York Times' website got nothing but error messages for several hours Tuesday during the site's second major disruption this month, and people also had trouble accessing Twitter. A hacker group calling itself the "Syrian Electronic Army" claimed responsibility.

Police: Woman gouges 6-year-old's eyes in China
A woman tricked a 6-year-old boy into going into a field in northern China, and then gouged out his eyes, police said Wednesday.