AP - Invigorated by back-to-back political conventions, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama grappled for the mantle of change Friday as the fall race for the presidency took off in states teeming with the independent voters they needed to win.

AP - The nation's unemployment rate zoomed to a five-year high of 6.1 percent in August as employers slashed 84,000 jobs, dramatic proof of the mounting damage a deeply troubled economy is inflicting on workers and businesses alike.

AP - Tropical storm watches or warnings were extended from Georgia to areas just south of New York City on Friday as states along the Atlantic braced for Tropical Storm Hanna.

AP - The flagship of the U.S. Navy's Mediterranean fleet anchored outside the key Georgian port of Poti on Friday, bringing in tons of humanitarian aid to a port still partially occupied by hundreds of Russian troops.

AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she's excited about a landmark trip she will make to Libya on Friday, becoming the highest-ranking American official to visit the North African country in more than a half-century.

AP - Pakistan's law minister says three Supreme Court judges ousted by ex-president Pervez Musharraf have returned to the bench, but not the deposed chief justice.

AP - Broken and disgraced, lobbyist Jack Abramoff will spend four years in prison for his role in a corruption scandal that upended Washington politics and contributed to the Republicans' loss of Congress in 2006.

AP - Only hours after agreeing to resign and serve time in jail as part of plea deal, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick expressed regret for the scandal that has engulfed the city — and left the door open for a return to public life.

AP - After seeing what "An Inconvenient Truth" did for environmental awareness, Hollywood producer Laura Ziskin wanted to make a documentary about cancer, a disease she has fought since 2004.