AP - Swedish police arrested two maintenance workers on suspicion of plotting sabotage after they tried to enter a nuclear power plant Wednesday with traces of a powerful explosive like that used in the 2005 London transit bombings, officials said.

AP - China's national anthem struck up and 200 young students bellowed along inside a huge tent at a camp for homeless earthquake survivors.

AP - President Thabo Mbeki gave the go-ahead Wednesday for troops to step in and quell a surge of anti-immigrant violence that has left 42 dead and driven thousands from their homes.

AP - Pakistan's new government struck a peace deal Wednesday with Islamic militants in a valley of northwestern Pakistan, a breakthrough for a policy that Western officials worry could take the pressure off Taliban and al-Qaida hardliners.

AFP - Police probing child abuse allegations on the Channel Island of Jersey said Wednesday there was evidence of possible "homicide" after more bones were found at a former children's home.

AP - South Africa's president has given troops there the go-ahead to quell violent attacks against immigrants.

AFP - Leading shares here closed higher but off earlier highs with record oil prices of over 130 dollars per barrel lifting the oil sector.

Reuters - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon began a mission on Wednesday for Myanmar's cyclone victims, saying "our focus now is on saving lives," as the military government gave approval for the first foreign helicopters to distribute aid.

Reuters - South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki gave approval on Wednesday for the army to help end attacks on foreigners that have killed at least 25 people.

AP - An Afghan detainee was dragged from his cell to his first pretrial hearing at Guantanamo on Wednesday, then refused to participate, telling the judge he felt "helpless."

AFP - The pound weakened against both the euro and the dollar on Wednesday amid concerns about the economy following the release of minutes from the Bank of England's last meeting.

AP - Rescuers saved a 35-year-old woman who survived nine days trapped in a tunnel despite multiple fractures, the only survivor found Wednesday in the rubble of China's massive quake zone.

AP - Myanmar's military junta will set up orphanages for the hundreds of children whose parents died in the recent cyclone, state media reported Wednesday.