2nd American militant may have died in Syria...Obama faces questions on Congress' role in Syria airstrikes...Ebola cases could exceed 20,000

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WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say they're checking reports that a second American was killed in Syria while fighting alongside the militant group Islamic State. The U.S. already has confirmed that American Douglas McAuthur McCain was killed while fighting with militants. But now there are reports that two Americans were killed in a battle last week with Islamic State fighters.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Does the White House need permission from Congress to launch airstrikes over Syria? The Obama administration is suggesting that it doesn't. Last summer Congress balked at President Barack Obama's request for a vote to attack Syria's government in retaliation for chemical weapons use. But White House spokesman Josh Earnest suggests that attacking the militant group Islamic State in Syria would be different. Earlier this month, Obama authorized U.S. airstrikes against Islamic State in Iraq.

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization says nearly 3,060 cases of the Ebola virus have been reported, and more than 1,550 of them have died. But the U.N. health agency says eventually, the number of cases in West Africa could exceed 20,000.

DEERFIELD, Va. (AP) — Virginia State Police say rescuers are continuing their search today for a pilot who went missing after an F-15 fighter jet crashed in a remote, heavily wooded area in the western part of the state. More than 100 people and several helicopters searched throughout the day Wednesday. Officials haven't yet said what caused the crash or whether the pilot ejected. Officials say the pilot and jet are with the 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite many signs of a business recovery including improved hiring, Americans are more worried about the economy than they were right after the Great Recession. Seventy-one percent of Americans surveyed by researchers at Rutgers University say the recession put a permanent drag on the economy. In contrast, Rutgers researchers found in a similar survey in November 2009 that only 49 percent thought the downturn would have lasting damage.