AFP - Former union organiser and anti-apartheid activist Kgalema Motlanthe became South Africa's president Thursday, vowing to keep pro-growth economic policies with a fresh emphasis on fighting poverty.

AFP - US lawmakers said Thursday they had agreed on the fundamentals of a multi-billion dollar historic deal to rescue Wall Street and shore up the world's biggest economy.

Reuters - China's third manned space mission blasted off from a remote desert site on Thursday on a trip designed to showcase its technological mastery, including via its first ever space walk.

Reuters - Russian spies are extremely active in the Czech Republic and are stirring public sentiment against a planned U.S. missile defense base, the Czech counter-intelligence agency said on Thursday.

Reuters - Germany blamed the United States on Thursday for spawning the global financial crisis with a blind drive for higher profits and said it must now accept more market regulation and a loss of its financial superpower status.

Reuters - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Thursday "time is short" to achieve a Wall Street rescue plan as he and Democratic rival Barack Obama headed to Washington to help broker a deal.

Reuters - Orders for costly U.S. manufactured goods plunged in August and new-home sales hit a 17-year low, while new claims for jobless benefits shot up last week, according to government reports on Thursday that showed the economy rapidly weakening.

Reuters - Two NATO helicopters fired upon by Pakistani forces on Thursday were U.S. military aircraft operating inside Afghanistan, the Pentagon said.

Reuters - Lawmakers reached basic agreement on a massive financial bailout plan, lifting world stock markets, sending the dollar up and breathing life into troubled money markets.

AP - Lance Armstrong can try for an eighth Tour de France title — if his team is clean in the run-up to cycling's premier race.

AP - One after the other, the models strutted across the stage to bouncy '80s dance tunes, all showing off designs of the same article of clothing — adult diapers.

AP - Ed McMahon has an unexpected new job title: rapper.

AP - In advance of the new Google phone, T-Mobile USA has changed the wording of the user agreement for its wireless data network and no longer claims the right to slow surfing to a crawl once a subscriber goes over a monthly usage limit.

AP - China launched a three-man crew into space Thursday, including one who will make the country's first spacewalk — its most challenging mission since its first orbital flight in 2003.