Flooding in Midwest, South - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it intends to continue a controversial plan to breach a levee on the Mississippi River to help stop catastrophic floods in several states. The group wants to open the final crevasse in the Birds Point-New Madrid levee, moving ahead with a plan to blast holes in it to ease unprecedented flood pressure. The Corps started the blasting Monday.

Some who live where the Ohio and Mississippi rivers meet said it has helped. The Ohio River level at Cairo, Illinois, has dropped nearly 2 feet since Monday afternoon. Officials said they believe the levels would be up to 3 feet higher now if the levee had not been detonated.

Despite the plan, many areas were inundated as the Mississippi River spilled out across huge swaths of farmland, creating massive flooding from Minnesota to Louisiana. Part of westbound Interstate 40 was shut down in eastern Arkansas on Thursday due to flooding, state police said.

South African gay activist allegedly targeted - A 24-year-old lesbian activist was raped and stoned to death in South Africa, accoring to Human Rights Watch. Noxolo Nogwaza was attacked last month after dropping off her girlfriend in a township near Johannesburg. Her slaying has sparked renewed calls for justice as rights groups warn of escalated homophobic attacks in South Africa. The crime is being described as "corrective rape,"  or an attempt to reverse victims' sexual orientation.

Obama at ground zero - President Barack Obama on Thursday plans to visit the New York site where the twin towers once stood. His visit comes after Sunday's raid in Pakistan that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. More developments on the killing of the al Qaeda chief continue to come in to CNN, including details about bin Laden's many wives and a U.S. secret, stealth chopper used in the SEALs-led operation on bin Laden's compound. For complete coverage of the death of bin Laden, click here.