AFP - Australian regulators rejected National Australia Bank's 12.2 billion US dollar bid for financial services firm AXA Asia Pacific Thursday over concerns about competition in the industry.

AFP - A US drone attack Thursday killed six militants in Pakistan's rebel-infested northwestern tribal belt, security officials said -- the fourth strike in 24 hours.

Reuters - President Barack Obama, fighting to keep Democrats in charge of Congress, said on Wednesday the United States could not afford to extend Bush-era tax cuts for the rich and accused Republicans of being fiscally irresponsible.

AFP - England manager Fabio Capello has ruled out the possibility that he will continue in the job after the Euro 2012 tournament, killing off speculation that recent good performances could prolong his stay.

Time.com - In North Korea, the first congress in 30 years of the Workers' Party of Korea may be imminent, suggesting that a succession is being prepared to hand power from Kim Jong Il to his son Kim Jong Un

AP - Politically weakened but refusing to bend, President Barack Obama insisted Wednesday that Bush-era tax cuts be cut off for the wealthiest Americans, joining battle with Republicans — and some fellow Democrats — just two months before bruising midterm elections.

AFP - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday called Sudanese leaders in a bid to defuse what she called the "ticking time bomb" of an inevitable secession of the country?s restive and oil-rich south.

Reuters - Stocks rose on Wednesday as investors latched onto positive news out of Europe in the latest in a string of low-volume sessions suggesting little confidence in market direction.

AP - General Motors' new CEO told employees that the automaker needs to make cars and trucks that are better than those of competitors such as BMW.

AP - European Union nations and the continent's biggest human rights organization slammed Iran on Wednesday for its plan to stone a woman convicted of adultery, while Iran's ambassador to the Vatican said there is "hope" the punishment could be eased upon review by Iranian authorities.

AP - Israelis usher in the Jewish new year, or Rosh Hashana, at sundown Wednesday with a widespread sense of pessimism that a new round of U.S.-sponsored Mideast talks can achieve peace.

AP - Fidel Castro told a visiting American journalist that Cuba's communist economic model doesn't work, a rare comment on domestic affairs from a man who has conspicuously steered clear of local issues since stepping down four years ago.

AP - The Taliban's shadowy leader told Afghans on Wednesday that the insurgents are winning the war and warned Americans that they are wasting lives and billions in tax dollars by continuing in the conflict.

AP - The hidden face of the Emirates' economic crunch is in places such as Industrial Zone 18 and the ramshackle compound for about 700 migrant workers within. For more than six months, they have lived on charity, fought off rats and slept amid piles of trash after a construction company abruptly closed and left them jobless.

AP - Three suspected U.S. missile strikes in less than 12 hours hit militant targets in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, officials said, an unusually intense barrage that follows four other such attacks in the last week. At least 14 suspected militants were killed.

AFP - World stock markets fell on Wednesday as investors sought safety amid fresh worries about the fragile economic recovery, helping propel the yen to a 15-year high against the dollar, analysts said.