KABUL (Reuters) - Two foreign journalists embedded with the U.S. military in Afghanistan were wounded by a roadside bomb, the Associated Press said on Wednesday.

YANGON (Reuters) - China said on Wednesday the world should respect Myanmar's judicial sovereignty after sending Aung San Suu Kyi back into detention, a ruling that triggered Western outrage but only a measured response from its neighbors.

AP - Police said Wednesday that there is no way to know for sure how many people remain buried in the catastrophic mudslide that struck a remote mountain village in Taiwan over the weekend when a typhoon lashed the region.

AP - President Barack Obama is turning his eyes West and hitting the Web as he steps up his counteroffensive against critics of a proposed health care overhaul.

AP - Helicopter-borne U.S. Marines backed by Harrier jets stormed into a strategic Taliban-held town in southern Afghanistan before dawn Wednesday, battling to gain control of the area ahead of next week's presidential elections.

AP - The U.S. attorney in Albuquerque, N.M., didn't see enough evidence when asked to prosecute some voter fraud cases in his state.

AP - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is in the Nigerian capital pressing the government of Africa's most populous nation to curb widespread corruption and enact democratic reforms.

AP - The overnight stranding of 47 airline passengers on an airport tarmac in Minnesota has grabbed the attention of the Obama administration and Congress.

AP - Militia groups with gripes against the government are regrouping across the country and could grow rapidly, according to an organization that tracks such trends.

AP - Investigators in the Michael Jackson case continue to sharpen their focus on the personal physician who was with him when he died.

Reuters - Two foreign journalists embedded with the U.S. military in Afghanistan were wounded by a roadside bomb, the Associated Press said on Wednesday.

AFP - Malaysian terror mastermind Noordin Mohammed Top is still at large and was not killed in a raid on the weekend, Indonesian police said Wednesday after the latest near-miss in a six-year manhunt.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Ensuring justice in last November's Mumbai attack is a 'high priority' for President Obama and the United States will keep pressing Pakistan for action against its planners, a top U.S. diplomat said on Wednesday.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's speaker of parliament on Wednesday rejected as 'baseless' an opposition leader's accusation that some moderates had been raped in jails after their detention in unrest following the June election.

CISHAN, Taiwan (Reuters) - About 700 people from the remote mountains of southern Taiwan have been found alive overnight after it was feared they may have been buried by mudslides, but many are still missing, an official said.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (Reuters) - The vote count for the parliament of the secular Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was set to begin on Wednesday after long delays, an election official said.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The international community should deal with any efforts by Iran and North Korea to acquire nuclear weapons through peaceful diplomatic means, China said on Wednesday.

AP - Struggling with budget shortfalls that reach into the billions, several states nationwide are making deep cuts in college financial aid programs, including those that provide a vital source of cash for students who most need the money.

Reuters - Ensuring justice in last November's Mumbai attack is a 'high priority' for President Obama and the United States will keep pressing Pakistan for action against its planners, a top U.S. diplomat said on Wednesday.

Reuters - China said on Wednesday the world should respect Myanmar's judicial sovereignty after the junta sent Aung San Suu Kyi back into detention, triggering Western outrage but only a measured response from its neighbors.

Reuters - Iran's speaker of parliament on Wednesday rejected as 'baseless' an opposition leader's accusation that some moderates had been raped in jails after their detention in unrest following the June election.

Reuters - About 700 people from the remote mountains of southern Taiwan have been found alive overnight after it was feared they may have been buried by mudslides, but many are still missing, an official said.

Reuters - The vote count for the parliament of the secular Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was set to begin on Wednesday after long delays, an election official said.

Reuters - The international community should deal with any efforts by Iran and North Korea to acquire nuclear weapons through peaceful diplomatic means, China said on Wednesday.

AFP - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took her campaign for good governance Wednesday to Nigeria, hoping to deepen ties with the African power but also help fight corruption and religious strife.

CISHAN, Taiwan (Reuters) - Hundreds of people were still missing on Wednesday in remote villages in southern Taiwan and disaster officials said they were uncertain how many might have been killed by mudslides triggered by Typhoon Morakot.

AP - Sen. Arlen Specter said Wednesday he thinks people who have been angrily disrupting town hall meetings on overhauling the health care system are 'not necessarily representative of America,' but should be heard.

AP - Rescuers have found nearly 1,000 people alive in the area around three remote villages devastated by Typhoon Morakot, which pummeled the island over the weekend, Taiwan's military said Wednesday.

AP - Investigators in the Michael Jackson case continue to sharpen their focus on the personal physician who was with him when he died.

Reuters - Hundreds of people were still missing on Wednesday in remote villages in southern Taiwan and disaster officials said they were uncertain how many might have been killed by mudslides triggered by Typhoon Morakot.

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's capture of a van packed with explosives by Tamil Tiger rebels gave a glimpse into the intelligence war the government is waging against the remnant operatives of a group finally defeated on the battlefield in May.

AP - The State Department struggled Tuesday to explain Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's face-off with a Congolese student and suggested that the questioner's nervousness sparked the outburst with the mention of her husband's name.

AP - The U.S. trade deficit edged up slightly in June as imports rose for the first time in 11 months, another sign that the worst recession since World War II is beginning to loosen its grip on the economy.

AP - A woman in Ohio is telling a fish story about one that got away — from a bird, and damaged her car. Authorities in northwest Ohio say the fish — a Lake Erie freshwater drum, known as a sheepshead — smashed a car windshield Tuesday when an eagle dropped its catch from a height of about 40 feet.

Reuters - Sri Lanka's capture of a van packed with explosives by Tamil Tiger rebels gave a glimpse into the intelligence war the government is waging against the remnant operatives of a group finally defeated on the battlefield in May.

AFP - Nigeria said Wednesday it expected to bring peace to its oil-producing south by year end as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered US help in a bid to strengthen ties with Africa's largest nation.

GENEVA (Reuters) - China's regime for importing and distributing audiovisual material such as books and films breaks international trade rules and should be revised, a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute panel said on Wednesday.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, an independent technocrat favored by the West, may face pressure to cede his post to a figure from the resurgent Fatah movement, political sources said on Wednesday.

AP - Sen. Arlen Specter, facing more jeers and taunts during another town hall meeting Wednesday, sought to defuse tensions about health care reform debate with a few jokes.

AP - Hundreds of survivors from Typhoon Morakot were stranded in mudslide-ravaged villages in southern Taiwan on Wednesday as heavy rains hampered helicopter rescues and the hunt for many more feared buried beneath rubble.

AP - A public wake for Eunice Kennedy Shriver has been scheduled for a Cape Cod church.

AP - President Barack Obama rejoiced Wednesday in the ascendancy of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, saying her achievement will be an inspiration for generations.

AP - The United States has defeated China in a wide-ranging ruling at the World Trade Organization that could provide massive market opportunities for American makers of everything from CDs and DVDs to music downloads and books.

AP - First the ship reported it had been attacked in waters off Sweden. Then it sailed with no apparent problems through one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. And then it disappeared.

AP - A Muslim woman who tried to go swimming in a head-to-toe 'burquini' has been banned from her local pool in the latest tussle between religious practices and secular authority in France.

Reuters - China's regime for importing and distributing audiovisual material such as books and films breaks international trade rules and should be revised, a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute panel said on Wednesday.

Reuters - Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, an independent technocrat favored by the West, may face pressure to cede his post to a figure from the resurgent Fatah movement, political sources said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it will extend to the end of October a program to buy longer-term government securities, and it kept interest rates steady near zero as expected.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc's contract with energy trader Andrew Hall, which reportedly could pay him up to $100 million this year, will not be subject to rulings by the Obama administration's pay czar, a source close to the bank said on Wednesday.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Pakistan, accused by some powers of blocking progress in the world's top disarmament forum, insisted Wednesday that it wants an end to nuclear weaponry and is playing an active role to bring this about.

AP - The Federal Reserve delivered a vote of confidence in the recovery on Wednesday, declaring that economic activity is 'leveling out.' The central bank also signaled that it would end one of its programs aimed at propping up the economy, and kept a key lending rate at a record low.

AP - First the ship reported it had been attacked in waters off Sweden. Then it sailed with no apparent problems through one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. And then it disappeared.

AP - A Muslim woman who tried to go swimming in a head-to-toe 'burquini' has been banned from her local pool in the latest tussle between religious practices and secular authority in France.

AP - Rick Pitino's attorney says the coach gave $3,000 to a woman accused of trying to extort him so that she could buy health insurance.

Reuters - The U.S. Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it will extend to the end of October a program to buy longer-term government securities, and it kept interest rates steady near zero as expected.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc's contract with energy trader Andrew Hall, which reportedly could pay him up to $100 million this year, will not be subject to rulings by the Obama administration's pay czar, a source close to the bank said on Wednesday.

Reuters - Pakistan, accused by some powers of blocking progress in the world's top disarmament forum, insisted Wednesday that it wants an end to nuclear weaponry and is playing an active role to bring this about.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve said on Wednesday the economy was showing signs of leveling out after 20 months of recession and it will extend the duration but not the size of a program to buy long-term government securities to minimize any disruptions from completing it.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan said on Wednesday there were signs of disarray within the Taliban in Pakistan following the apparent death of the group's leader in a missile strike.

AP - Sen. Arlen Specter heard a fresh chorus of taunts Wednesday from opponents of health care reform and said they were 'not necessarily representative of America' but should be heard.

AP - U.S. Marines battled Taliban fighters Wednesday for control of a strategic southern town in a new operation to cut militant supply lines and allow Afghan residents to vote in next week's presidential election.

AP - A more upbeat Federal Reserve is reassuring investors that they've been making the right bets. Stocks bounded higher Wednesday after the central bank said the economy appears to be 'leveling out' rather than simply shrinking at a slower rate. The Fed's more positive take on the economy compared with its assessment in June wasn't surprising but it still bolstered hopes that the economy in in fact rebounding.

AP - Fierce clashes between Taliban fighters and those loyal to a pro-government warlord killed at least 70 people Wednesday, intelligence officials said, a week after a CIA drone reportedly killed the top Taliban leader in Pakistan.

AP - Death row inmate Chadrick Fulks insists he wants to help a slain West Virginia college student's family find solace by leading investigators to her body.

AP - A Muslim woman garbed in a head-to-toe swimsuit — dubbed a 'burquini' — may have opened a new chapter in France's tussle between religious practices and its stern secular code.

AP - The man who robbed a suburban Chicago bank at gunpoint last Friday looks like a hard-boiled, tough guy straight out of pulp fiction. Except for his sweatshirt, which featured a picture of Winnie the Pooh, the lovable Bear who's a classic of children's fiction.

Reuters - The U.S. Federal Reserve said on Wednesday the economy was showing signs of leveling out after 20 months of recession and it will extend the duration but not the size of a program to buy long-term government securities to minimize any disruptions from completing it.

Reuters - The U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan said on Wednesday there were signs of disarray within the Taliban in Pakistan following the apparent death of the group's leader in a missile strike.

AFP - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pledged Russia's military backing for Abkhazia in any new conflict with Georgia, as he visited the rebel Georgian region Wednesday for the first time since Moscow recognised its independence.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday the U.S. economy was showing signs of leveling out two years after the onset of the deepest financial crisis in decades and it moved to phase out one emergency measure.

KABUL (Reuters) - Some 400 U.S. Marines and 100 Afghan army soldiers staged a helicopter assault on Wednesday in the mountains of Helmand province in Afghanistan, part of an effort to secure Taliban-held areas before August 20 elections.

AP - Breast cancer survivors have been getting bum advice. For decades, many doctors warned that lifting weights or even heavy groceries could cause painful arm swelling. New research shows that weight training actually helps prevent this problem.

AP - Police arrested a woman twice in one night in two different cars for driving drunk. Police spokeswoman Katie Flood said the woman was pulled over at 1:13 a.m. Wednesday after she allegedly made an illegal turn and was spotted swerving down a south Lincoln street.

Reuters - The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday the U.S. economy was showing signs of leveling out two years after the onset of the deepest financial crisis in decades and it moved to phase out one emergency measure.

Reuters - Some 400 U.S. Marines and 100 Afghan army soldiers staged a helicopter assault on Wednesday in the mountains of Helmand province in Afghanistan, part of an effort to secure Taliban-held areas before August 20 elections.

AFP - Taiwan began airlifting nearly 1,000 people found alive in a cluster of villages flattened by muddy landslides, as survivors recounted the horror of watching their homes vanish.

AFP - Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, is to be freed from a British jail on compassionate grounds, media reported Wednesday.

LONDON (Reuters) - The Scottish government is poised to decide whether to allow the former Libyan agent convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing to be released from prison and return home, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc's contract with an energy trader who may be owed up to $100 million in compensation this year is exempt from rulings by the Obama administration's pay czar, a source close to the bank said on Wednesday.

AP - Sen. Charles Grassley, a Republican who is a key bargainer on health care reform, played to packed crowds across the state who left little doubt that they are not happy with what's on the table.

AP - The 3-foot-long alligator on a bicyclist's shoulders was a real attention-getter. St. Charles Parish sheriff's deputies stopped the cyclist. He allegedly ran, leaving both wheels and his toothy little rider. Capt. Pat Yoes, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, said deputies booked 38-year-old Terron D. Ingram on Friday with resisting arrest, possessing drug paraphernalia, and cruelty to animals by abandonment.

AP - Boston star Kevin Youkilis and Detroit pitcher Rick Porcello were suspended for five games each Wednesday and fined by Major League Baseball, a day after their brawl at Fenway Park.

Reuters - The Scottish government is poised to decide whether to allow the former Libyan agent convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing to be released from prison and return home, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

Reuters - Citigroup Inc's contract with an energy trader who may be owed up to $100 million in compensation this year is exempt from rulings by the Obama administration's pay czar, a source close to the bank said on Wednesday.

AFP - Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, is to be freed from a British jail on compassionate grounds, media reported Wednesday.

LONDON (Reuters) - The Scottish government is poised to decide whether to allow the former Libyan agent convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing to be released from prison and return home, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

AP - A trio of singing siblings, five sisters who tap dance, three tenors from Texas, a husband-and-wife dance team and a man and his dog are advancing to the next round of 'America's Got Talent.'

Reuters - The Scottish government is poised to decide whether to allow the former Libyan agent convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing to be released from prison and return home, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's parliament rejected a plan for the world's most ambitious emissions trade regime as expected on Thursday, bringing the nation closer to a snap election and prolonging financial uncertainty for major emitters.

AP - The number of U.S. households on the verge of losing their homes rose 7 percent from June to July, as the escalating foreclosure crisis continued to outpace government efforts to limit the damage.

AP - Fierce clashes between Taliban fighters and those loyal to a pro-government warlord killed at least 70 people Wednesday, intelligence officials said, a week after a CIA drone reportedly killed the top Taliban leader in Pakistan.

Reuters - Australia's parliament rejected a plan for the world's most ambitious emissions trade regime as expected on Thursday, bringing the nation closer to a snap election and prolonging financial uncertainty for major emitters.

AFP - In the first-ever encounter between a senior US official and the junta strongman, Democratic Senator Jim Webb is due to meet Myanmar supremo Than Shwe later this week, Webb's office said Thursday.