(Scroll down for several updates and the document prosecutors filed today.)

Federal prosecutors in Charleston, W.Va., have filed the most serious criminal charges yet in the April, 2010, coal mine explosion that left 29 mine workers dead.

The conspiracy charges reach into the management ranks of Massey Energy and signal an effort to seek evidence against higher-level executives.

In Michigan, jobs and the economy lead every stump speech given by the candidates vying to win next Tuesday's Republican presidential primary. But reporter Quinn Klinefelter of WDET found that social issues are gaining traction among the rank-and-file GOP voters.

Unless your Internet connection has been disabled for the past month, you've undoubtedly heard of the new darling of the social media world: Pinterest.

The simple and highly visual site lets users save — or "pin" — coveted outfits, recipes, home décor ideas and do-it-yourself projects on virtual bulletin boards, for their own use and to share with others.

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep. Marie Colvin of the Sunday Times in London spent a career documenting the peril that others faced, which meant the American reporter shared their danger. Her paper says she was killed today by artillery fire that struck the Syrian city of Homs. French officials affirm a French photojournalist has also been killed.

The Obama administration is today going to propose a cut in the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent, according to multiple reports. NPR's Scott Horsley notes that the president also wants to scale back some deductions that businesses now get. So, the overall effect of any such changes could be "revenue neutral" and keep corporations' share of the nation's tax burden unchanged, Scott says.

Activists in the Syrian city of Homs say rockets struck the house where the two journalists were staying. Syrian troops have been shelling the city. French officials identify one journalist as photographer Remi Ochlik. The Sunday Times of London confirms the other was American reporter Marie Colvin.

Oh no. Not another debate among those guys who are running for the Republican presidential nomination. By at least one count, Wednesday night's Dustup in the Desert — sponsored by CNN and Arizona's Republican Party — is the 26th such face-off — if you count forums and head-to-head encounters.

"At least four people have been killed and 20 injured in Afghanistan after protests spread over the burning of copies of the Koran at a US airbase," the BBC writes. "One person was killed in Kabul, one in the eastern city of Jalalabad and two in Parwan province."

There's more deadly news today from Syria:

"Syrian troops and militia loyal to President Bashar Assad captured and then shot dead 27 young men in northern villages and two foreign journalists were killed in shelling of the besieged city of Homs, activists said on Wednesday." (Reuters)