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.

AFP - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd flagged an increase in defence spending Wednesday as he warned the country's military must start preparing for an arms build-up in Asia and the Pacific.

AP - State-run Korea Development Bank said Wednesday it has ended talks with U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers over a possible stake in the troubled Wall Street institution.

Reuters - South African President Thabo Mbeki has told the king of Swaziland that he expects to end his latest mediation efforts in Zimbabwe by the end of this week, Swaziland's foreign minister said on Wednesday.

AP - The public-service TV ads deliver a cheerful, yet pointed, message to Muslims observing Ramadan's traditional dawn to dusk fast: "Don't overeat" when night comes. "Exercise and stay healthy."

AP - Two top al-Qaida operatives were among four foreign militants killed in a suspected U.S. missile strike in Pakistan's volatile northwest, Pakistani intelligence officials said Wednesday.

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

AP - The world's biggest physics experiment has succeeded in its first major test as a beam of protons was successfully fired all the way around a 17-mile tunnel beneath the Swiss-French border.

AP - North Korea denied Wednesday that leader Kim Jong Il is seriously ill, granting a Japanese news outlet a rare chance to interview top officials who dismissed widespread reports questioning Kim's health.

Reuters - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il failed to appear at a triumphal military parade on Tuesday celebrating his state's 60th birthday, and a U.S. intelligence official said he may have suffered a stroke.

AFP - Angola's former rebel movement and main opposition party UNITA was Tuesday facing up to a crushing electoral defeat in a landmark peacetime poll for the oil-rich African nation.