Ryan Pick Sharpens Romney Duel With Obama Over Fiscal Policy - San Francisco Chronicle
(For more election news, go to ELECT.) Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) — Mitt Romney's selection of US Representative Paul Ryan as his running mate sharpens a race Republicans have sought to cast as a referendum on President Barack Obama's economic record into a … Bomb strikes central Damascus, near U.N. and army sites
ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) – A bomb exploded in central Damascus on Wednesday close to several military buildings and a hotel housing United Nations observers, wounding three people and sending a pillar of black smoke into the sky above the Syrian capital. Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said none of the U.N. monitors was hurt in the explosion, which occurred exactly four weeks after a bomb killed four of President Bashar al-Assad's top security officials. … Wildlife traffickers profit by rampant corruption, lax laws in Asia
BANGKOK – Squealing tiger cubs stuffed into carry-on bags. Luggage packed with hundreds of squirming tortoises, elephant tusks, even water dragons and American Paddlefish. Officials at Thailand’s gateway airport proudly tick off the illegally trafficked wildlife they have seized over the past two years.
Attack by gunmen on bar in northern Mexico leaves 9 dead
MONTERREY, Mexico – Gunmen killed eight people in a bar in the northern Mexico city of Monterrey, which has recently seen bloody turf battles between the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas gang.
Egypt's most extreme hardliners dubbed 'takfiris' have multiplied in a revival in Sinai
EL-ARISH, Egypt – A fringe group so extreme that it worries even Egypt’s Muslim ultraconservatives is secretly reviving itself with greater firepower and followers in the country’s volatile Sinai Peninsula.
Virgin loses high-profile UK rail franchise
Virgin Trains will lose its franchise to operate the busy London to Scotland west coast route after being outbid by a rival.
Nazi suspect in Australia wins court fight against extradition
CANBERRA (Reuters) – An alleged Nazi war criminal living in Australia won on Wednesday a long battle against the government’s attempts to extradite him to Hungary to stand trial for the murder of a Jewish teenager. Charles Zentai, now 90, was accused by Hungarian authorities of beating to death a Jewish teenager, Peter Balazs, in Budapest in 1944. Australia’s highest court ruled that Zentai could not be extradited to the country of his birth because the offence “war crime” did not exist in Hungarian law at the time the murder was alleged to have been committed. …
Man accidentally shoots self in buttocks when gun falls out of pocket at Nevada movie theatre
SPARKS, Nev. – Police say a man accidentally shot himself in the buttocks at a Nevada movie theatre during a showing of “The Bourne Legacy.”
Ecuador says no decision yet on Assange's asylum
QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuador denied a report on Tuesday that it had granted amnesty to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and the country's foreign minister said only he and President Rafael Correa could make the decision. Assange has been taking refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London for the past eight weeks to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning on sex crime allegations. The former computer hacker, who enraged Washington in 2010 when his WikiLeaks website published thousands of secret U.S. … Myanmar navy chief takes vice-presidential post
YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar’s navy chief was sworn in on Wednesday as the second of the country’s two vice-presidents, filling a post vacated by a hard-line ex-general who stepped down in July due to ill health. Admiral Nyan Tun, who is in his late 50s, gave up his four-year command of the navy to take the oath of office before Myanmar’s fledgling parliament, state television reported, after his nomination by military lawmakers. …
Bomb Wounds 3 Near UN Hotel in Damascus - Voice of America
Syrian state television says a bomb has exploded near a hotel used by United Nations observers in Damascus, wounding three people. The report said the blast Wednesday was caused by a bomb planted on a fuel truck. UN officials did not immediately … Main players among Syrian regime, opposition and rebels in the country's civil war - Washington Post
Here are key players in the Syrian civil war: --Syrian regime: Despite major defections and a July 18. explosion in Damascus that killed four top generals, including President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law, the regime's inner circle is still powerful … Wildlife traffickers profit by rampant corruption, lax laws in Asia - Washington Post
BANGKOK -- Squealing tiger cubs stuffed into carry-on bags. Luggage packed with hundreds of squirming tortoises, elephant tusks, even water dragons and American Paddlefish. Officials at Thailand's gateway airport proudly tick off the illegally … Pussy Riot supporters protest at Russian cathedral
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Security guards scuffled with masked protesters who demonstrated outside Moscow’s main cathedral on Wednesday in support of three members of the Pussy Riot punk band who are on trial for staging an irreverent protest at the same church. Witnesses said 18 demonstrators in colorful balaclavas like those worn by the band members mounted the steps of Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral and held up black cards with white letters spelling out the phrase “Blessed are the merciful”. …
Three become four as Pumas step up to big stage
LONDON (Reuters) – Argentina’s much ignored national rugby team finally get their wish this weekend after the best part of a decade of lobbying, pleading and negotiating to join the sport’s elite in regular competition. The Pumas join the southern hemisphere’s expanded Tri-Nations with South Africa, Australia and New Zealand in the inaugural Rugby Championship and the global governing body expects them to be competitive from their first game against the Springboks in Cape Town on Saturday. “Not compete (for) the result (to win) but compete very well… …
London shares open lower amid lack of incentives
London shares opened lower amid a lack of any new factor to spur investors to take new positions, dealers said, with resources stocks and British American Tobacco leading the decline. PREVIEW-Rugby-Three become four as Pumas step up to big stage
LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) – Argentina’s much ignored nationalrugby team finally get their wish this weekend after the bestpart of a decade of lobbying, pleading and negotiating to jointhe sport’s elite in regular competition. The Pumas join the southern hemisphere’s expandedTri-Nations with South Africa, Australia and New Zealand in theinaugural Rugby Championship and the global governing bodyexpects them to be competitive from their first game against theSpringboks in Cape Town on Saturday. “Not compete (for) the result (to win) but compete verywell… …
FACTBOX-Rugby-Key details of Rugby Championship competition
Aug 15 (Reuters) – Factbox on the 2012 Rugby Championshipcompetition, starting on Saturday. – - – - * The original Tri-Nations competition started in 1996, ayear after the sport turned professional, with the threeoriginal SANZAR partners South Africa, New Zealand and Australiaand was expanded this year to include Argentina and rebranded asthe Rugby Championship. * Prior to 2005 under the Tri-Nations, each of the threeoriginal teams played each other on a home and away basis. …
Accused Afghan people smuggler loses court bid to foil extradition from Malaysia to Australia
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Malaysia’s highest court has refused to free an Afghan carpet seller expected to be extradited to Australia on charges of people smuggling.
Grenades at east Afghan mosque wound 9 people
Two grenades exploded inside a mosque compound during morning prayers in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, wounding at least nine worshippers, an Afghan official said. 
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Paul Ryan's plan for Medicare gets all the attention, but the GOP vice presidential candidate has proposed more fundamental changes to medical care for the poor and disabled. Under the Wisconsin congressman's Medicaid plan, … 
AP BURLINGTON, Vt. -- A Vermont woman whose former lesbian partner fled the country with the daughter born while they were joined in a civil union is suing her and a Virginia pastor who helped them flee to Nicaragua. Fair Haven resident Janet Jenkins … 
JOLIET, Ill. -- A judge Wednesday again is poised to decide whether to cut short former police officer Drew Peterson's murder trial -- the third time in as many weeks he is giving serious consideration to declaring a mistrial after a blunder by … 
BEIJING, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) — China has urged Japan to keep its promise of facing up to and reflecting on its invasion history, after two Japanese Cabinet ministers visited the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman … 
By By LOLITA C. BALDOR - 1 minute ago WASHINGTON (AP) -- US defense officials are accusing Iran of increased meddling in Syria, including efforts to bolster its flagging armed forces, who are weary after 18 months of war. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta … 
WASHINGTON – Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson won the Republican nomination for a US Senate seat Tuesday that the party is trying to capture for the first time in more than five decades. Thompson's win was one of the premier races as four states … 
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Syria's former prime minister, who fled the country last week, said on Tuesday in his first public appearance since his defection that the government of President Bashar al-Assad was crumbling internally under the pressure of … 
(CNN) — A global organization representing 1.5 billion Muslims will convene Wednesday amid the divisive topic of suspending Syria from the group. The 57 member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation are in the holy city of Mecca, … 
WASHINGTON -- Immigration authorities are bracing for a deluge of applications starting Wednesday when more than 1.2 million young illegal immigrants who were brought to America as children can seek to legally stay and work in the country under … 
By By ROD McGUIRK - 1 minute ago CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- Australia has urged other countries to adopt the world's toughest law on cigarette promotion, which was upheld Wednesday by the country's highest court and prohibits tobacco companies from … 
Richard Branson's Virgin Rail has lost a long-held deal with the government to run a major railway network linking London with Glasgow, the Department for Transport announced Wednesday. 
PARIS (Reuters) – When U.S. carmakers slashed production capacity in exchange for government rescue four years ago, workers faced up to change. Though unions bargained hard for existing employees, they agreed to factory closures and cuts in wages and benefits for new hires. Thousands of workers accepted redundancy payouts and moved on, without a huge outcry. In Europe it's different. In July, after workers at French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen learned of company plans to close a plant in the suburbs of Paris, union leader Jean-Pierre Mercier went on the attack. … 
Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to send a joint military team to investigate a recent surge in cross-border attacks that have soured relations between the two neighbours, Kabul said Wednesday. 
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Politicians should treat India's economic growth as a national security issue, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday, warning a lack of consensus is holding back Asia's third-largest economy as it tries to drag millions from poverty. Singh was more optimistic on the economy than many private economists, predicting growth of more than 6.5 percent this year, but he said more was needed to improve livelihoods. "If we do not increase the pace of the country's economic growth… … 
By By JULIE PACE - 1 minute ago WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's campaign is launching state-specific efforts to target elements of Paul Ryan's austere budget proposals, expanding beyond its opposition to the Republican vice presidential … 
CHILLECOTHE, Ohio -- A comment by Vice President Joe Biden that Mitt Romney's banking policies would "put y'all back in chains" reverberated across the presidential campaign Tuesday, with Republicans accusing President Obama's team of seeking to divide … 
Myanmar's parliament on Wednesday appointed the navy chief to replace a regime hardliner as one of the country's vice presidents, in a move seen as strengthening government reformers. 
Four roadside bombs exploded in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur on Wednesday as the country celebrated independence day, police said, adding that no one was injured. 
England midfielder Frank Lampard admits the stars of the Premier League can learn something from the spirit which helped carry Britain's athletes to their best showing at an Olympic Games in over a century. 
A large explosion has hit near a military compound in the Syrian capital, Damascus, near a hotel used by the UN's observer mission. Syrian state television said three people had been injured in the explosion, which it said had been caused by a bomb … 
Legislation to allow the transfer of boatpeople seeking asylum to Pacific states cleared Australia's lower house Wednesday, with politicians saying it will effectively deter people-smugglers.