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room. This, however, would have left the impression that Putin had bowed to public pressure, something he has resisted throughout his 12 years in power.
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• LONDON (AP) -- It was a warning meant to remind Ecuador that Britain's patience has limits. But as the stalemate over Julian Assange settled, it appeared London's veiled threat that it could storm Ecuador's embassy and drag Assange out has backfired -- drawing supporters to the mission where the WikiLeaks founder is holed up and prompting angry denunciations from Ecuador and elsewhere.
• Experts and ex-diplomats say Britain's Foreign Office, which warned Ecuador of a little known law that would allow it to side-step usual diplomatic protocols, messed up by issuing a threat it couldn't back up.
• "It was a big mistake," said former British ambassador Oliver Miles. "It puts the British government in the position of asking for something illegitimate."
• Britain's warning was carried in a set of notes delivered to Ecuadorean diplomats Wednesday as they tried to negotiate an agreement over Assange, who has spent nearly two months holed up at the Latin American nation's London mission in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he's wanted over allegations of sexual assault.
• The notes, published by Britain on Thursday, said ominously that keeping Assange at the embassy was incompatible with international law. They added: "You

should be aware that there is a legal basis in the U.K. -- the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act -- which would allow us to take action to arrest Mr. Assange in the current premises of the embassy."
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• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Eddie Murray made big money in baseball with his powerful swing from both sides of the plate.
• According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, he had some illicit help after leaving the game.
• The Hall of Fame slugger has agreed to pay $358,151 to settle federal civil charges of profiting in stock trades by using confidential information passed to him

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