Geneva, Sep 10 : Scientists have fired the first beam of protons around a 27.36-kilometre tunnel on Wednesday in science''s next great step to understand the makeup of the universe.

The Large Hadron Collider built since 2003 at a cost of 3.8 billion dollars provides scientists with much greater power than ever before to smash the components of atoms in a bid to see how they are made.

"The beam is the size of a human hair," Paola Catapano, a spokeswoman for the host European Organisation for Nuclear Research said after the protons were fired into the accelerator below the Swiss-French border.

Geneva, September 10 : The first beam in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN was successfully steered today morning around the full 27 kilometers of the world''s most powerful particle accelerator, which is located on the border of France and Switzerland.

"It''s a fantastic moment," said LHC project leader Lyn Evans. "We can now look forward to a new era of understanding about the origins and evolution of the universe," he added.

The LHC is the world''s largest and the highest-energy particle accelerator.

Geneva - What is described as the biggest and most expensive experiment in scientific history got under way Wednesday as scientists started up a 10 billion-dollar underground facility aimed at exploring the origin of matter.

A beam of particles was being accelerated around a massive tunnel or "ring" 27-kilometres in circumference - the so-called Large Hadron Collider (LHC) - located near Geneva on the French-Swiss border.

Physicists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research - known by its French acronym CERN - applauded as the initial beam was successfully turned on at the start of a series of experiments which will go on for years.

Geneva - The new United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, Navaneth

Geneva - Legal proceedings against Hannibal Gaddafi, youngest son of Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi, have been dropped by the Geneva prosecutor's office, it was confirmed Wednesday.

Public prosecutor Daniel Zappelli said the case had been dropped after two domestic servants who brought it also decided no longer to continue their legal action.

Their lawyer Francois Membrez had confirmed Tuesday that the two were dropping their legal action alleging Hannibal Gaddafi inflicted physical injury on them and threatened them.

Geneva  - Two domestic servants employed by Hannibal Gaddafi, youngest son of Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi, have dropped legal action they brought against their employer and his wife, it was stated Tuesday.

Francois Membrez, a lawyer representing the two, said his clients were dropping their legal action alleging Hannibal Gaddafi inflicted physical injury on them and threatened them. The Swiss Foreign Ministry confirmed the action had been dropped.

Libya had insisted on the action being dropped as a condition for its ending retaliatory action against Switzerland, which included stopping oil deliveries.