Last week the Bush administration announced a rescue package that would allow the US treasury to buy toxic mortgage debts from firms in crisis. The markets responded with euphoria. But now politicians – both Republican and Democrat – say they're not prepared to rubber-stamp the $700bn bailout strategy. The Observer's financial columnist William Keegan explains what the effect of that delay will be.
Thabo Mbeki has anounced his resignation after nine years as South African president. His departure follows a long and bitter power struggle with his rival Jacob Zuma. Chris McGreal reports from Johannesburg.
The truck bomb blast in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, may have been a response to an offensive by Pakistani forces against Islamists near the Afghan border, where al-Qaida and Taliban militants are believed to be based. With incursions by US troops into Pakistan across the border from Afghanistan, the new Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is facing a groundswell of opinion at home that's increasingly anti-American. Saeed Shah reports from Islamabad.
Japan has a new leader, Taro Aso, who easily won a vote in the ruling Liberal Democratic party. He takes over from Yasuo Fukuda, who quit earlier this month. Justin McCurry reports from Tokyo.
What was Stonehenge for? Archaeologists have found charcoal fragments dated to 7000BC – evidence that our prehistoric ancestors believed that giant blue stones – that had somehow been brought from Wales – had healing powers. The Guardian's Maev Kennedy told Belinda Rhodes on our Daily podcast what the archaeologists were looking for.
