Mark Memmott

"Two U.S. troops have been shot to death and four more wounded by an Afghan solider who turned his gun on his allies in apparent anger over the burning of Qurans at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, an Afghan official tells CBS News."

Officially, the International Security Assistance Force says that:

"A rapid series of attacks spread over a wide swath of Iraqi territory killed at least 50 people on Thursday, targeting mostly security forces in what appeared to be another strike by al-Qaida militants bent on destabilizing the country," The Associated Press reports.

As the case against former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak came to a close today, the trial judge announced he expects to deliver a verdict on June 2.

According to al-Jazeera:

There were 4.3 percent more existing homes sold in January than in December, and the 4.57 million annual rate was the highest since May 2010, the National Association of Realtors reports.

Sales have gone up three of the past four months.

Good morning.

Our early headlines:

-- Killing Continues In Syria, Two Western Journalists Among Victims.

-- Protests Continue In Afghanistan Over Quran Burnings; Some 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.

"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."