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HONG KONG (Reuters) - Typhoon Nuri, which shut down much of Hong Kong for a day, was gradually weakening on Saturday after making landfall in China, though it disrupted hundreds of flights and left three people dead in Guangdong province.

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and newly minted running mate Joseph Biden made their debut on Saturday, with Biden declaring "it's our time" and quickly going on the attack against Republican John McCain.

DENVER (Reuters) - A jail inmate was charged on Friday with sending a threatening letter laced with white powder to U.S. presidential candidate John McCain, triggering a security scare at his Colorado campaign office.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The Australian government is investigating a media report that 13 Indian children may have been stolen from their parents as part of a child-trafficking network and brought to Australia for adoption.

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil is resuming action at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to take retaliatory trade measures against the United States over subsidies it pays its cotton farmers, the foreign minister said on Friday.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Olympic host city Beijing was sunny and clear on the 15th day of the Games on Saturday, with temperatures expected to rise for a broiling midday men's football final between defending champions Argentina and Nigeria.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund has hired two big-name PR agencies to help spread the fund's message throughout the developing world, a move that also comes as it seeks to buff up its image.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Three people in Ontario have died in a food poisoning outbreak that may be linked to sandwich meat from one of the country's largest meat processors, Canadian health officials said on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund has hired two big-name PR agencies to help spread the fund's message throughout the developing world, a move that also comes as it seeks to buff up its image.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman checked out of Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital on Friday, following several days of tests and observation regarding an elevated heart rate, the Energy Department said.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri appeared in a videotape posted on the Internet on Friday, the second recording since he was reported to have been killed or wounded in Pakistan last month.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said on Friday that serious negotiations in world trade talks should resume in September to see whether a deal is still possible this year.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A draft agreement between the United States and Iraq contains no fixed dates for U.S. forces to withdraw, but Iraq would like combat troops out by the end of 2011, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said on Thursday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California will not investigate claims by former employees of IndyMac Bancorp Inc that a New York senator triggered the bank's collapse by releasing confidential information, the attorney general's office said on Friday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has handled the economic downturn better than any other regional politician and it would be a "great idea" if he sought a third term, Gov. David Paterson said on Friday.

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba and Russia have stirred memories of their Cold War alliance with recent talk of restoring "traditional" ties in what experts said was a warning to their old adversary, the United States.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit the Middle East next week, a spokesman said on Friday as the Bush administration continued efforts for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal this year.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada is one of the top three world suppliers of the psychedelic drug ecstasy, and a significant supplier of marijuana to the United States, the government admitted on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. envoy for nuclear talks with North Korea met his North Korean counterparts on Friday, the State Department said, as negotiators seek to break a deadlock over verifying Pyongyang's nuclear programs.

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe police said on Friday there had been an attempt to blow up a road and rail bridge on one of the country's major highways near Harare.