Protesters filled the area outside Lonmin mine in South Africa, where 34 strikers were killed and 78 were injured when police opened fire on the mine workers on Thursday. Julius Malema, a controversial politician who was thrown out of Congress this year, addressed the crowd of thousands and blamed the government for the “Marikana Massacre,” the deadliest protest since the apartheid era. South Africa’s police chief said the officers were acting in self-defense, but President Jacob Zuma has promised an investigation. “We have to uncover the truth about what happened here,” he said. But disgruntled strikers complained that the president hadn’t paid them a visit when he flew in to make the rounds at local hospitals.

Well, isn’t that sweet. Speaking in the Villages, Fla., Paul Ryan said his grandmother relied on Medicare and that his mother currently counts on the program. Ryan brought his 78-year-old mother along to the campaign rally at the world’s largest retirement community, which has been known to slant heavily Republican. Ryan tried to paint President Obama’s health-care plan as cutting Medicare, although Ryan has long pushed for privatizing the federal program. Obama is expected to push that point at a campaign rally in New Hampshire on Saturday.

It’s time for a new plan. The United Nations has replaced Syrian special envoy head Kofi Annan with Lakhdar Brahimi, the former Algerian foreign affairs minister and veteran U.N. adviser. Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa’s office released a statement claiming he “supports Brahimi’s demand to get united support from the Security Council to carry out his mission without obstacles.” The government statement also denied rumors that al-Sharaa had defected. The failed U.N. observer mission comes to a close on Sunday, and the last observers have been leaving the country.

Well, that would be convenient. President Obama told a crowd in New Hampshire Saturday that Paul Ryan’s tax plan would raise the taxes on the middle class by an average of $2,000 annually, while allowing Mitt Romney to pay less than 1 percent. The goal of his plan is “not to reduce the deficit, or grow jobs, or invest in education, but to give another tax cut to people like him,” Obama said. His data comes from a recent analysis of Congressman Ryan’s 2010 budget, which would eliminate taxes on interest, dividends, and capital gains. Another study showed the Republican’s tax plan would force low-income citizens to shell out more in taxes. The Romney campaign spokesman shot back, saying Obama’s attack was false. “The fact is President Obama wants to raise taxes on private investment and job creators, which will lead to higher unemployment and fewer jobs,” the spokesman said.

Double check your fruit salads, everyone. Health authorities have linked the outbreak of salmonella to cantaloupes coming from a farm in Indiana. As of Saturday, the illness has already affected 141 people in 20 different states and killed 2 in Kentucky. The Centers for Disease Control are advising consumers to double-check where their melons are from by looking at the sticker on the fruit. “When in doubt, throw it out,” they advise. Symptoms include cramps, vomiting and diarrhea and if the infection spreads it can be deadly.

Egypt’s new president Mohamed Morsi is scheduled to attend a summit in Iran at the end of this month, a visit that could resume normal relations for the countries. Cairo and Tehran have had barely any diplomatic relationship since Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 and the Islamic revolution shook Iran’s power structure. The visit could also be a strategic move by Egypt to demonstrate that it will remain a major player in the Arab world, according to experts. “This really signals the first response to a popular demand and a way to increase the margin of maneuver for Egyptian foreign policy in the region,” political scientist Mustafa Kamel el-Sayyed told the Associated Press. “Morsi’s visits … show that Egypt’s foreign policy is active again in the region.”

The Russian Orthodox Church said on Saturday that it has forgiven the feminist punk band Pussy Riot for protesting during a church service—but the church hasn’t forgotten. Tikhon Shevkunov, widely believed to be President Vladimir Putin's spiritual adviser, said on Saturday that it did “forgive them from the very start." The three women were convicted Friday of “hooliganism” and sentenced to two years in jail each. The case has divided Russia: While many think the sentence is a slap in the face to free speech, others were shocked by the message. For example, Archpriest Maxim Kozlov said that although he agrees with the band’s sentiment, he hopes they realize "their acts are awful."

Tonight isn’t looking so great. Despite often coming in first in ratings, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno is downsizing and laying off 20 of its staff members. The host himself even took a “tremendous” pay cut to save as many jobs as possible, according to an NBC insider who spoke to Deadline. Leno is rumored to make around $30 million annually from the talk show. Team Coco members, cross your fingers for a Conan return.

Never one to keep quiet, Madonna added her famous voice to criticize the jail sentence given to Russian group Pussy Riot. “I protest the conviction and sentencing of Pussy Riot to a penal colony for two years for a 40-second performance extolling their political opinions,” she said in a statement, adding a plea for Russians to demand they be let free. The three female band members were handed a two-year sentence for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” after an anti-Putin performance in a Russian Orthodox church in Moscow. Other celebrities like Bryan Adams, Sting, and Paul McCartney have also shown support for Pussy Riot, and the U.S. and E.U. have expressed concern over their sentencing.

Oregon and California residents, watch out for some new eight-legged friends! Scientists say they have found a new family of spiders in caves in the two states. The arachnids, which are about 2.75 inches long, have been named “Trogloraptors,” or “cave robbers.” Even creepier? They have pointed claws. It’s been 140 years since the last discovery of this kind, and doubtless there are some people out there who hope it will be another 140 before the next one.

The CEO of failed futures brokerage firm Peregrine Financial Group pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges of lying to federal regulators. Russell Wassendorf Sr. was arrested last month after a suicide attempt put him in the hospital. His firm filed for bankruptcy protection on July 10, after Wassendorf's suicide note revealed that he had been stealing from customers for 20 years. He now stands accused of misappropriating more than $200 million of customers' money and has said that he misled auditors using "little more than a post-office box, laser printers, and Photoshop software.” The latest plea is likely part of an agreement with prosecutors.

Mitt Romney has brought his campaign to a new technological level with a podcast, but he brought up the old issue of Medicare. In his first podcast, Romney claims that President Obama’s health-care proposal had taken $716 billion from the Medicare fund, which would deny "elderly Americans the care they've worked for their entire lives." Romney proposes that his plan would put more money into helping "the poor or the sick.” Medicare will be front and center on the campaign trail on Saturday: Obama plans to mention it in a speech in New Hampshire, and Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan will be campaigning with his 78-year-old mother at a retirement community in Florida.

Ryan Lochte: swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, reality-TV star? It seems that way: He has been following up his Olympic victories with appearances all over Hollywood. Just this week, Lochte filmed a cameo on the CW's 90210 (an experience he found difficult). The swimmer is also reportedly open to being the next Bachelor in addition to filing to trademark his catchphrase, "Jeah," which will soon appear on swim caps, sunglasses, and workout DVDs the world over.

That didn’t take long. Bushy-tailed Republican veep candidate Paul Ryan paid a tax rate of 20 percent in 2011 and 15.9 percent in 2010, according to tax returns the campaign gave the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The percentage was based on Ryan and his wife’s 2010 income of about $215,000 and $323,000 in 2011. While about half of that came from his congressional salary, much of Ryan’s investment money comes from his wife. Ryan has assets of $2.1 million to $7.8 million—which includes a trust valued from $1 million to $5 million. The trust is from his wife's inheritance of her mother's estate. His net worth exceeds $4 million.

You can rest easy now: Steve Jobs's stolen iPad has been recovered by California police—albeit in the hands of a clown. Kenneth Kahn, who performs as Kenny the Clown, used the iPad to play music while he made balloon animals for children. Kahn said he had been given the iPad by Kariem McFarlin, who owed Kahn $300—and Kahn insisted he had no idea it was stolen. McFarlin has acknowledged he broke into Jobs’s home, and police said McFarlin has written an apology letter to Jobs’s widow. Apple investigators identified McFarlin after he logged into his iTunes account from the stolen device.

The last United Nations observers left in Syria are preparing to leave on Saturday, as their official mission ends Sunday at midnight. Most should be out of the country within hours. There were about 300 observers in the civil-war-torn country at the peak of the mission earlier this year; that number is down to about 100 now. Conditions for the mission's possible extension—including ending the Syrian government's use of heavy weapons—have not been met, and the U.N. plans instead to open a small liaison office to continue peace efforts.

Norway's national police chief, Oystein Maeland, resigned on Friday after the release of a government-commissioned report on last year's massacre. The report, released on Monday, came out while the world waited for Andres Breivik, the perpetrator, to be sentenced. The report said police could have stopped the attack and bomb plot, and cited numerous failures, including the agency's neglect in carrying out already-adopted security measures. Maeland cited lack of confidence as his reason for stepping down, saying that the justice minister's trust—now lost—is key to carrying out his job.

Aspiring actor Joey Kovar, who appeared in MTV's The Real World: Hollywood in 2008 and VH1's Celebrity Rehab in 2010, was found dead in a friend's Chicago home on Friday. Kevar, 29, had blood coming out of his nose and ears when he was found. In the past, he had claimed that he had previously "come very close to death through an overdose" and had been addicted to alcohol, cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamine, and steroids.

A science-fiction dream is about to become reality, if on a pretty small scale. The Mars rover Curiosity, which landed on the Red Planet earlier this month, has been undergoing a series of checkups before it begins its real work, and later tonight is scheduled to test its laser by burning a hole in a small rock. Next week, engineers will take Curiosity for a short drive before it goes on its first real mission: driving 1,300 feet to a spot with varied terrain and ending up at the foot of a mountain by year's end in search of evidence of microbial aliens.

Is anyone surprised? Robert Pattinson says he is fed up with being hounded by the media after his breakup with Twilight costar Kristen Stewart. "You can't win," he said. "The annoying thing is that you can't attack them, but you can't defend yourself." Pattinson is currently talking with media outlets to promote his new film, Cosmopolis, which has largely been panned by critics. It seems the outlets think his personal life is much more interesting.

Michelle Obama will go to Milwaukee on Thursday to meet with the families of victims of the massacre at a Sikh temple there. While the president himself has not visited the community, Attorney General Eric Holder attended a memorial service, and the first lady's visit is part of a continued effort by the administration to reach out to the Sikh community. While she is in Wisconsin—Paul Ryan’s home state—she also plans to attend a campaign event.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants from India's northeastern states are fleeing urban centers including Bangalore and Mysore, terrified of rumors of potential violence by Muslims—rumors spread on text messages and social media. The migrants are mostly from states such as Assam, where the Bodo tribe has had a violent spat with Muslims over land and power. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has denounced the rumors and pleaded for calm, but hysterical citizens are running for train stations. In Assam, 78 people were killed, some butchered, and 14,000 homes were torched.

A Philippine official and two pilots are missing after their plane crashed en route from Cebu City to Naga City on Saturday. The official, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Manalastas Robredo, was on his way to an award ceremony for his daughter when the plane encountered problems, missing the nearest airport and crashing into the ocean. A Robredo aide who was also on the flight and rescued by fisherman said the three other men were still in the plane. The U.S. Navy has now joined in the search effort.