Impasse on debt ceiling deal drags into critical week

One week before the United States government could default and enter uncharted economic territory, Democrats and Republicans remain at a stalemate on how to reach a debt ceiling deal.

A vote on a Republican plan originally expected for Wednesday was postponed Tuesday after the Congressional Budget Office said it failed to reduce spending and deficits as much as advertised. The proposal was unveiled Monday by House Speaker John Boehner.

The UN General Assembly has admitted South Sudan as its 193rd member.

South Sudan is the first country to join the UN body since Montenegro in 2006, and the day was described by assembly president Joseph Deiss as a "historic and joyous moment".

"Welcome, welcome South Sudan to the community of nations," said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The vote was unanimous and was immediately followed by applause in the General Assembly.

Rebekah Brooks has resigned.

Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International, has resigned, the company has confirmed. Her departure follows days of increasing pressure to step down as the phone hacking crisis grew. In a statement, she said she felt a "deep responsibility for the people we have hurt".

Ecuador president 'to donate $40m libel damages'

The President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, has said he won't keep "one cent" of the $40m (£24m) he received after a libel suit against El Universo, the main opposition newspaper.

Mr Correa has vowed to donate all the money to a government environmental project.

A journalist, Emilio Palacio, and the three newspaper owners were sentenced to three years in jail each over an article published last year.

Venezuela’s Chavez home after chemotherapy in Cuba

"I return in better condition than I was in when I left," President Chavez said as he left the plane in Caracas. He said he had a week of chemotherapy and doctors found no malignant cells. President Chavez had surgery twice last month - once to remove an abscess and once to remove a cancerous tumour.

Obama calls for compromise amid stalemate in debt talks

President Barack Obama called on the American public to pressure elected officials to work out a compromise to raise the federal debt ceiling and avoid a potentially devastating default.

A deal would allow the government to continue borrowing money to pay its debts after August 2. The challenge came during the president's seventh prime-time televised address Monday night. The president singled out House Republicans for intransigence and said the political showdown is "no way to run the greatest country on Earth."