Ryan now says he sought economic stimulus money after twice denying it - Washington Post
WASHINGTON -- Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan on Thursday reversed course and acknowledged lobbying the government for millions of dollars in economic stimulus money after twice denying he had done so. The Wisconsin congressman said he … Ecuador gives Assange asylum, but for Australia 'nothing has changed' - CNN International
Editor's note: A five-time Walkley award-winning journalist, Monica Attard spent 28 years with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, where she hosted PM, the World Today and Media Watch. She left to start up The Global Mail where she was, … Amnesty calls for jailed ex-Fiji PM's release
Amnesty International has called for Fiji's former leader Laisenia Qarase to be freed from prison, accusing the country's military regime of using politically motivated charges to silence its critics. AL Capsules:Texas Rangers avoid sweep in New York with 10-6 win over Yankees
NEW YORK, N.Y. – Craig Gentry, starting for the first time in two weeks, hit a two-out, two-run single in the seventh inning that put Texas ahead in a 10-6 victory over New York on Thursday.
Gu Kailai murder verdict Monday
A Chinese court will on Monday issue its verdict in the murder trial of Gu Kailai, the wife of disgraced former Communist party leader Bo Xilai, a local government official said Friday. Pakistan air man dies after audacious base assault
A second air man died of injuries sustained in an audacious Islamist assault on a key Pakistani air base, raising the overall death toll from the attack to 11, the military said Friday. Syrian FM says rebels no match for military
Syria's foreign minister claims rebels have no hope of defeating the military forces of President Bashar Assad's regime. Taliban storm Pakistan air base linked to nuclear program, killing 2 in brazen assault
KAMRA, Pakistan – Heavily armed Taliban fighters blasted their way into a Pakistani air force base with possible links to the country’s nuclear program in a brazen assault that took two hours of fighting to put down, leaving two security officers and nine insurgents dead and underscoring the group’s continued threat despite numerous military offensives.
Shareholder sues Wal-Mart to get Mexico bribery documents
(Reuters) – An Indiana union pension fund that owns shares in Wal-Mart Stores Inc has sued the company to gain access to thousands of internal documents related to allegations that a Wal-Mart subsidiary bribed Mexican government officials. The complaint is the latest challenge to Wal-Mart following a report by The New York Times in April that said Wal-Mart had found evidence its Mexican subsidiary, Wal-Mart de Mexico, allegedly paid bribes to facilitate the awarding of store permits. … China's Hu gives show of support for North Korea
BEIJING (Reuters) – China's President Hu Jintao on Friday met the powerful uncle of North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-un, in a clear show of support for the impoverished ally as it takes tentative steps to rebuild its shattered economy. The uncle, Jang song-thaek, is seen as a driving force for reforms which the isolated and destitute North is believed to be trying and for which it desperately needs Chinese backing. … 
Editor's note: A five-time Walkley award-winning journalist, Monica Attard spent 28 years with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, where she hosted PM, the World Today and Media Watch. She left to start up The Global Mail where she was, … 
Japan is to deport a group of activists who sailed to disputed islands, the government has confirmed. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda had agreed to recommendations to send the group back, the top government spokesman said. The group sailed from Hong Kong … 
The Taylor Bridge wildfire was declared 33 percent contained by late Thursday, and firefighters hope to have it fully contained by Sunday. By Theodoric Meyer Anthony Graaff checks his email before going to sleep in the Walter Strom Middle School gym in … 
Rafael Correa is a committed leftist and former lay missionary whose first run at elected office was his successful 2006 election as Ecuador's president. He is also a US- and European-educated economist who tempers his trademark impulsiveness with high … 
In US District Court, prosecutors charged Floyd Lee Corkins II with assault with intent to kill while armed and interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition. By Keith L. Alexander J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE / AP President Tony Perkins criticizes … 
Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney declared Thursday he has paid at least 13 percent of his income in federal taxes every year for the past decade, offering that new detail while still decrying a "small-minded" fascination over returns he … 
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday said President Barack Obama should stick with Joe Biden as his running mate amid largely Republican calls for a change on the Democratic ticket because of comments Biden made to a Virginia audience that a GOP financial … 
(CBS News) Obama campaign officials confirm to CBS News that Congressman Paul Ryan's most frequent sparring partner has been chosen to play him in debate rehearsals, to help Vice President Joe Biden prepare for his debate with the Republican vice … 
The UK and Sweden have criticised Ecuador for granting political asylum to Julian Assange as the diplomatic row over what to do with him intensifies. The Wikileaks founder took refuge at Ecuador's London embassy in June as he faced extradition to … 
TOKYO/BEIJING (Reuters) – Japan was poised to send back 14 Chinese activists on Friday after some of them landed on an island claimed by both Tokyo and Beijing, Japan's top government spokesman said, in a move that could ease tension between Asia's two largest economies. The activists were detained on Wednesday after using a boat to land on the rocky, uninhabited isles known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. Since then Beijing has issued a succession of demands for their immediate release. … 
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – A Chinese court is due to deliver a verdict on Monday in the case against Gu Kailai, the woman tried for murdering British businessman Neil Heywood, in the latest chapter in a scandal that toppled her once-powerful politician husband, Bo Xilai. "It's set for next Monday at 9 in the morning," a court spokeswoman said by telephone on Friday from the Intermediate People's Court in Hefei, where Gu's 7-hour trial was held on August 9. (Reporting by John Ruwitch; Editing by Robert Birsel) 
A powerful Shiite Muslim clan in Lebanon claimed Thursday to have captured more Syrian nationals in retaliation for the seizure of a family member by rebels in Syria this week. 
It began with a loud pop like a tire bursting. A toxic cocktail of copper concentrate laced with a periodic-table's mix of volatile compounds then shot skyward. 
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Brent crude slipped below $115 on Friday as supply worries eased on a possible release of oil reserves by the United States while Israeli comments on Iran reduced fears of a potential conflict in the Middle East that could disrupt exports. News that the White House is "dusting off old plans" for a potential reserve release helped benchmark contracts come off the previous session's three-month highs. … 
Australia's parliament has passed a law allowing it to transfer asylum-seekers arriving by boat to other countries, despite objections that refugees could be held indefinitely in remote camps. 
Radiation from the leaking Fukushima nuclear plant following last year's tsunami caused mutations in some butterflies and damaged the local environment though humans seem relatively unaffected, researchers say. 
TOKYO (Reuters) – Shares firmed on Friday as German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced support for the European Central Bank's efforts to contain the debt crisis in the euro zone, soothing investor nerves and prompting them to shift money to riskier assets. Merkel said ECB President Mario Draghi's declarations last month to do whatever it takes to save the euro and raising the prospect of buying the bonds of stricken Spain and Italy were "completely in line" with the approach taken by European leaders. She also called for Europe's swift fiscal policy integration, saying time was running short. … 
A U.S. military helicopter crashed during a firefight with insurgents in a remote area of southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing seven Americans and four Afghans in one of the deadliest air disasters of a war now into its second decade. The Taliban claimed they gunned down the Black Hawk. 
Updated at 1:58 pm ET (CBS/AP) LONDON – British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Thursday that the UK will not allow WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange safe passage out of the country. The announcement came hours after Ecuador granted Assange … 
By JEANNE WHALEN and PAUL SONNE LONDON--Ecuador granted political asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Thursday, setting the stage for a standoff between the Andean nation and the UK, which vowed to extradite Mr. Assange to Sweden to face … 
GREER, SC -- Trying to defuse Democratic criticism of his refusal to release more tax returns, Mitt Romney said Thursday that he paid a federal tax rate of at least 13% in each of the last 10 years, and his wife, Ann, said there would be no further tax … 
Singapore conglomerate Fraser and Neave (F&N) and Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) both requested trading halts Friday as a multi-billion-dollar battle for the makers of Tiger Beer heated up. 
All 14 pro-China activists arrested after sailing to an island disputed with Japan will soon be in immigration custody as Tokyo prepares their immediate deportation, police said Friday. 
North Korea's Olympic squad has returned home to a heroes' welcome, with cheering crowds lining the streets and the cabinet hosting a celebration banquet, according to the official news agency. 
Encouraging signs about the U.S. housing market and strong earnings from U.S. tech giant Cisco helped lift Asian stock markets higher in early trading Friday. 
Olympic champion Andy Murray was sent crashing out of the Cincinnati Masters, falling 6-4, 6-4 to French lucky loser Jeremy Chardy. 
South African police opened fire on striking miners armed with machetes and sticks at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine on Thursday, killing at least a dozen men in scenes that evoked comparisons with apartheid-era brutality. In the incident, filmed by … 
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange might live as a free man in Ecuador -- if he can ever get out of England. Shortly after the Andean nation granted Assange asylum Thursday, UK authorities said he would not be allowed to leave Ecuador's London embassy, … 
BEIRUT -- At least 60 charred bodies were found Thursday in a suburb of the Syrian capital of Damascus in what activists described as another massacre committed by government forces. The bodies, all with their hands tied behind their backs, … 
LONDON (Reuters) – One of Britain's infamous Moors Murderers, Ian Brady, has revealed information about where one of his young victims is buried, British media reported on Friday. Brady disclosed the whereabouts of 12-year-old Keith Bennett, the only body never found, to a long-term visitor to the psychiatric hospital where he is serving his life sentence, reports said. A 49-year-old woman had been arrested in South Wales on suspicion of preventing the burial of a body without lawful exercise, according to reports, citing police. … 
LONDON (Reuters) – One of Britain's infamous Moors Murderers, Ian Brady, has revealed information about where one of his young victims is buried, British media reported on Friday. Brady disclosed the whereabouts of 12-year-old Keith Bennett, the only body never found, to a long-term visitor to the psychiatric hospital where he is serving his life sentence, reports said. A 49-year-old woman had been arrested in South Wales on suspicion of preventing the burial of a body without lawful exercise, according to reports, citing police. … 
BEIRUT/ALEPPO (Reuters) – Syria's government and rebels have "chosen the path of war", a U.N. peacekeeping chief said as the world body ended its doomed monitoring mission to Damascus and deadlock persists among world powers over how to contain the spreading conflict. Two weeks after former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan quit as mediator in frustration with the failure of a four-month-old truce, military observers have no peace on the ground to monitor and U.N. officials said on Thursday the last of the few dozen remaining team members would quit Damascus by August 24. … 
A fire broke out early Friday at a nightclub popular with foreign tourists on the Thai resort island of Phuket, leaving four people dead and about a dozen injured, officials said. 
GRANADA, Nicaragua (Reuters) – A U.S. citizen serving a 22-year prison sentence in Nicaragua for drug trafficking and money laundering, who a United Nations group has said was wrongly convicted, appeared in court on Thursday for the start of a long-awaited appeals proceeding. In a brief statement before the court, Jason Puracal maintained his innocence, saying he hoped justice would prevail. Puracal, 35, was detained by Nicaraguan authorities in November 2010 along with 10 Nicaraguans and accused of transporting drugs to El Salvador and Guatemala. …