AP - Helicopter-borne U.S. Marines backed by Harrier jets stormed a Taliban-held town in southern Afghanistan before dawn Wednesday, the launch of a new operation to uproot Taliban fighters from a longtime base and provide security for next week's presidential election.
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 - 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 - 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. The Arctic Sea, a Maltese-flagged cargo ship, was supposed to make port in Algeria with its cargo of timber on Aug. 4. More than a week later, there's no sign of the ship or its Russian crew.
AP - NASA is charged with seeking out nearly all the asteroids that threaten Earth but doesn't have the money to do the job, a federal report says.
AP - President Barack Obama is presenting the nation's highest civilian honor to 16 actors, athletes, activists, scientists and humanitarians.
AP - The Swiss and U.S. governments announced a deal Wednesday to settle American demands for the identities of suspected tax dodgers, despite Switzerland's vaunted bank secrecy. But they kept all details under wraps, including how many of the 52,000 names sought by the IRS from banking giant UBS AG will be revealed.