Reuters - The U.S. military conceded it was not winning the fight against an increasingly deadly insurgency in Afghanistan and said on Wednesday it would revise its strategy to combat militant safe havens in Pakistan.

Reuters - The U.S. presidential campaign erupted on Wednesday in a spat over gender politics, with John McCain accusing the Democrat of a sexist attack on his running mate and Barack Obama denouncing Republican "lies and phony outrage."

Reuters - Hurricane Ike churned through the Gulf of Mexico's warm waters on Wednesday on a track that will likely skirt the heart of the U.S. offshore oilpatch before it slams into the Texas coast on Saturday.

Reuters - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc plans to sell a majority stake in its asset management unit and spin off commercial real estate holdings, hoping to restore investor confidence and ensure its survival after reporting a record quarterly loss of about $4 billion.

AP - The mother of Titans quarterback Vince Young said he indicated he doesn't want to play football and is "hurting inside and out."

AP - Kenny Chesney, the Country Music Association's reigning entertainer of the year, dominated the CMA Award nominations on Wednesday with seven, including album of the year.

AP - The world's largest particle collider passed its first major tests by firing two beams of protons in opposite directions around a 17-mile (27-kilometer) underground ring Wednesday in what scientists hope is the next great step to understanding the makeup of the universe.

AP - Lehman Brothers, in a desperate bid to survive, announced plans Wednesday to sell a majority stake in its prized investment management business and said a sale of the entire company was possible.

AP - Improved security in Iraq will give the U.S. military flexibility to do more in Afghanistan in coming months, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Congress Wednesday, after years of setting a lower priority for the Afghan fight.

AP - Hurricane Ike grew stronger as it barreled across the warm, energizing waters of the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday toward the Texas coast after crashing through Cuba's tobacco country and toppling aging Havana buildings.

AP - North Korea's Kim Jong Il is on the road to recovery from a stroke and still in control of his isolated country's communist regime, South Korea suggested Wednesday, disputing reports that the leader is gravely ill.

AP - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Wednesday accused Republican John McCain's campaign of using "lies and phony outrage and Swift-boat politics" in claiming he used a sexist comment against vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

AFP - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has suffered a minor stroke but his life is not in danger, a South Korean government official said Wednesday.