AFP - Zimbabwe authorities intensified a pre-election crackdown on Wednesday, detaining the opposition leader over accusations he had addressed a rally without authorisation and ordering charities to stop work.

AP - Almost seven years after terrorists hijacked airliners and used them as missiles to kill 2,973 people, five men who allegedly plotted the attacks face a military tribunal Thursday.

AP - Saudi Arabia's king urged a gathering of Muslim scholars Wednesday to open religious dialogue with Christians and Jews. But politics intruded as a senior Iranian figure said the Islamic world should stand up to the U.S. and its "international arrogance."

AFP - Dwain Chambers, who clocked 10.25sec on Wednesday night in his first 100m for nearly two years, could see the High Court appeal on his life-time Olympic ban heard before the end of next week.

AP - Authorities cordoned off some schools that collapsed in last month's mighty earthquake, keeping out grieving parents and reporters Wednesday in a sign that Beijing was becoming increasingly nervous over accusations of shoddy construction.

AP - A tractor-trailer loaded with Shiite militia rockets accidentally exploded Wednesday in a densely populated area of northeast Baghdad, killing 18 people and wounding 75, the U.S. military said. It was the deadliest explosion in Baghdad in more than two months.

AP - Police detained opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday after his convoy was stopped at a roadblock while campaigning ahead of the presidential runoff election set for later this month, his spokesman said.

AP - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Wednesday for renewed dialogue with Hamas after insisting for months that the Islamic militants relinquish control of Gaza first.

Reuters - President Robert Mugabe's government is using food as a weapon ahead of Zimbabwe's June 27 presidential run-off election, U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.

AP - Authors of Palestinian school textbooks took small steps toward softening their portrayal of Israel under the rule of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas — but progress was quickly reversed after the militant Islamic Hamas took over, according to a report released on Tuesday.

AFP - US private equity firm Texas Pacific Group wants to expand further in the British banking sector after agreeing to buy 23 percent of Bradford & Bingley, the Daily Telegraph said Wednesday.