AP - The government was dispatching thousands of inspectors to monitor producers as officials reported Wednesday that the number of babies sick from tainted milk formula had climbed dramatically to nearly 6,200 from 1,200 a day earlier.

AP - Thailand's new prime minister showed his determination to mend political rifts by quickly shaking hands with the opposition leader Wednesday. But the gesture didn't appease anti-government protesters, who called him unfit for the job because of ties to a disgraced former leader.

AP - A suspected U.S. missile strike killed at least six people Wednesday, hours after the top U.S. military officer told Pakistani leaders that America respected Pakistan's sovereignty amid a furor over American strikes into Pakistan's northwest.

AP - The Olympic flame is out, the smog is back, and traffic again clogs the roads.

AP - Attackers armed with automatic weapons, rocket-propelled grenades and at least one suicide car bomb assaulted the U.S. Embassy in the Yemeni capital on Wednesday. Sixteen people were killed, including six assailants, officials said.

AFP - French Defence Minister Herve Morin on Wednesday said years of under-investment in defence by European countries was to blame for a critical shortage of international forces in Afghanistan.

AFP - US military chief Admiral Michael Mullen Wednesday held talks with Pakistan's top army official and prime minister amid tensions after recent cross-border raids by US forces based in Afghanistan.

Reuters - Nigerian militants threatened on Wednesday to broaden their "oil war" to offshore oilfields, after attacking another Shell-operated oil flow station in the Niger Delta.

AP - The message was clear when two explosions ripped through crowds of Mexican Independence Day revelers: Anyone, anywhere, is fair game when it comes to Mexico's intensifying violence.

AFP - Bank Lloyds TSB is in talks to buy bank HBOS, whose share price has collapsed in value this week, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

AP - Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday expressed "personal regret" for recent U.S. airstrikes that killed Afghan civilians, and pledged more accurate targeting in future.

AP - The U.S. military chief met with Pakistani officials Wednesday amid a flap between the two allies over recent American attacks on militant targets in tribal areas near the Afghan border.

AP - Thai lawmakers on Wednesday turned to the brother-in-law of deposed leader Thaksin Shinawatra to be the new prime minister, setting up a showdown with protesters determined to tear down his political legacy.

AP - Rivals for the leadership of Israel's ruling party faced off Wednesday in a race which will put one of them a step closer to leadership of the country.