Today’s Top World News from The Washington Post:

-Syrian rebels feel abandoned, betrayed by U.S.--America, once regarded by the Syrian opposition as a natural friend in its struggle for greater freedoms against a regime long at odds with the West, increasingly is being viewed with suspicion and resentment for its failure to offer little more than verbal encouragement to the revolutionaries, reports Liz Sly.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/syrian-rebels-feel-abandoned-betrayed-by-us/2012/08/07/492ab1b6-dfd9-11e1-8d48-2b1243f34c85_story.html?hpid=z3

-Egypt bombs Sinai sites where it believes militants are hiding--The rare aerial bombing on Egyptian soil came two days after armed militants in the Sinai killed 16 Egyptian security forces, broke through the border into Israel and tried, unsuccessfully, to launch a second attack there. The crisis has emerged as a major test for Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first Islamist head of state. Morsi is under heavy pressure to endorse a crushing crackdown on militants in the Sinai, but any missteps or abuses could trigger a backlash from Islamists, his main political base, report Ernesto Londoño, Ingy Hassieb and Henry Shull.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/egypt-bombs-sinai-sites-where-it-believes-militants-are-hiding/2012/08/08/6d7a7cd8-e13f-11e1-ae7f-d2a13e249eb2_story.html

-Olympics could help London mayor go for political gold--Suddenly, the mop-topped mayor’s special brand of slapstick politics is no longer London’s little secret. Johnson’s antics have become the comic relief of U.S. Olympic coverage on NBC. The Russian press collectively rolled its eyes as he challenged President Vladimir Putin to strip “to the waist” for a judo match. France 24 declared his high-wire high jinks the Olympic “moment of indignity.” Johnson has not so much become the breakout star of these Games as its court jester, reports Anthony Faiola.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/olympics-could-help-london-mayor-go-for-political-gold/2012/08/07/e5c1d478-e0ab-11e1-8d48-2b1243f34c85_story.html

-Ethiopians contemplate a nation without Prime Minister Meles Zenawi--Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, the rebel-turned-technocrat who has led Ethiopia since 1991, is sick. And his long absence from public view has given Ethiopians cause to contemplate what their nation — now enjoying one of the longest sustained periods of economic development in its history — might look like without him, reports Matthew D. LaPlante.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/ethiopians-contemplate-a-nation-without-prime-minister-meles-zenawi/2012/08/07/4fb37854-de4b-11e1-8e43-4a3c4375504a_story.html

OTHER TOP NEWS

-Mitt Romney’s poll numbers at standstill, Washington Post-ABC News poll finds--Mitt Romney’s favorability ratings have stalled during his campaign’s bumpy summer months, with his earlier improvements as he was wrapping up the Republican presidential primaries in the spring appearing to flat-line, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, report Rosalind S. Helderman and Jon Cohen.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/romney-poll-numbers-stall/2012/08/08/32b75f56-e0ba-11e1-8fc5-a7dcf1fc161d_story.html

-Republicans in Missouri pick Todd Akin to face Sen. Claire McCaskill in November--Republicans on Tuesday pinned their hopes of winning back a Senate seat in Missouri — and perhaps control of the chamber — on Todd Akin, picking the conservative congressman to take on endangered Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in November.  If the Republican Party is to win the four seats it needs to take the Senate, it will almost certainly need to start by defeating McCaskill, who squeaked into the Senate six years ago in a Democratic wave in a state that has steadily shifted rightward since, reports Rosalind Helderman.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/republicans-in-missouri-vote-for-candidate-to-face-mccaskill-in-november/2012/08/07/92cbe1dc-e0ba-11e1-8fc5-a7dcf1fc161d_story.html?hpid=z1

-OPINION by Dana Milbank: Romney’s Bain games--Romney almost certainly didn’t break the law by putting his money in Switzerland or the Bahamas, or by paying an income tax rate of 15 percent. He didn’t necessarily break any laws by creating a $100 million 401(k).    The question is whether such things are fair, or whether Romney has exploited a system that allows rich people like him to get richer at the expense of less wealthy taxpayers — Italian, in the most recent case, or American, in other cases. Of more concern is that, as president, Romney would further expand the advantages of fellow rich people. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-romneys-bain-games/2012/08/07/92aae1dc-e0c7-11e1-a19c-fcfa365396c8_story.html?hpid=z2

-The case for Paul Ryan to be vice president--Welcome to the Paul Ryan vice presidential boomlet. In the past 48 hours or so, talk of the Wisconsin Republican Congressman as Mitt Romney’s pick for vice president has surged — largely due to a piece written in the Weekly Standard urging the GOP presidential nominee to choose Ryan. Ryan has been a mainstay on our Veepstakes Line — in which we rank the top contenders to be Romney’s pick — for months, and in our last list he was our #3 choice behind only Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, reports Chris Cillizza.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/the-case-for-paul-ryan-to-be-vice-president/2012/08/07/8437453c-e0a4-11e1-8fc5-a7dcf1fc161d_blog.html

-The Root: Romney Backs Gay Scouting; What About Obama?--Against the backdrop of the Boy Scouts of America's reiteration of its ban on gay members that has members across the country returning their badges in protest, and a Scouts for Equality campaign pressuring the organization to cease its discriminatory policy, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign has made his position on the issue clear: Just as he said in a 1994 debate, he still believes that "all people should be able to participate in Boy Scouts, regardless of sexual orientation," Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul confirmed to the Associated Press. "[T]his remains Romney's position today," she said, reports Joshua Weaver.

http://www.theroot.com/blogs/mitt-romney/romney-supports-gays-boy-scouts?wpisrc=root_more_news