AP - Barack Obama told top business leaders Thursday that politics often gets in the way of solving problems that threaten America's ability to stay competitive in the global economy.

AP - The AFL-CIO endorsed Barack Obama for president Thursday, uniting the nation's 15 million union workers behind the Illinois senator and giving him full access to labor's massive bank accounts and political machinery.

AP - Barack Obama has won over more than half of Hillary Rodham Clinton's former supporters, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll that finds party loyalty trumping hard feelings less than three weeks after their bruising Democratic presidential contest ended.

Reuters - Russia seeks a "serious" pact with the European Union reaffirming it as part of Europe, President Dmitry Medvedev told Reuters ahead of a Russia-EU summit in Siberia.

AP - Angry politicians vowed to keep writing laws that condemn child rapists to death, despite a Supreme Court decision saying such punishment is unconstitutional.

AP - The Federal Reserve's aggressive period of cutting interest rates to keep the country from falling into a recession is over. That point is in general agreement. The trouble starts when you try to figure out what period the Fed has now entered.

AP - The Senate signaled an end Wednesday to months of rancorous debate over surveillance legislation that would protect from civil lawsuits the telecommunications companies that helped the government wiretap American lines.

AP - Barack Obama dismissed Ralph Nader's claim that the Democratic candidate is trying to "talk white" and has failed to challenge the power structure to appeal to "white guilt."

AP - Christian leaders, key to President Bush in 2004, might turn away from McCain in 2008 ... Obama, McCain say they disagree with Supreme Court decision outlawing death penalty for child rapists

AP - After fending off ocean drilling critics in California, Republican John McCain on Wednesday bucked opponents of a Nevada nuclear waste repository as he outlined ways to resolve the nation's energy crisis while seeking votes in another swing state.

AP - John McCain's stance on the war is unambiguous: He voted for it, supports the current enhanced U.S. troop presence in Iraq and vigorously opposes any timetable to withdraw.

AP - Democrat Barack Obama said Wednesday he disagrees with the Supreme Court's decision outlawing executions of people who rape children, a crime he said states have the right to consider for capital punishment.