AP - Alaska lawmakers are meeting behind closed doors to discuss a politically charged ethics report into Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of her state public safety commissioner.

AP - Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden says Republican candidate John McCain is trying to distract voters from the nation's financial problems.

AP - Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii strongly defended the honor of Republican Sen. Ted Stevens at the Alaska senator's corruption trial Thursday, saying he's never heard of his friend telling a lie.

AP - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, touted by GOP presidential candidate John McCain as his expert on energy, seemed to have problems Thursday explaining whether the government bans oil exports — especially from her state's North Slope fields.

AP - Sworn to secrecy, Alaska lawmakers have begun reviewing a lengthy and politically sensitive investigative report that, when released Friday, could prove embarrassing to Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

AFP - Sarah Palin, the Republican candidate for the vice presidency of the US, will drop the ceremonial puck when the Philadelphia Flyers host New York in a National Hockey League game on Saturday.

AP - A federal judge on Wednesday refused another defense request to declare a mistrial in the corruption case against Sen. Ted Stevens, instead deciding he would tell jurors to ignore disputed portions of the government's evidence.

AP - The wiretaps have been played, the cabin photos have been viewed and the last government witness against Sen. Ted Stevens will soon step down. Now prosecutors must persuade the judge not to abort the corruption trial and dismiss charges against the longest serving GOP senator.

AP - It's no coincidence that Barack Obama did his preparation for this week's presidential debate in North Carolina's western mountains. Or that on the day of the debate, Michelle Obama was rallying voters on the state's Atlantic Coast. Or that the Democratic nominee spent the morning after the first presidential debate in the state.

AP - Barack Obama has his William Ayers connection. Now John McCain may have an Iran-Contra connection. In the 1980s, McCain served on the advisory board to the U.S. chapter of an international group linked to ultra-right-wing death squads in Central America.

U.S. News & World Report - Dropping poll numbers, the increase in contested GOP states, and a lack of time to turn around the presidential election are leading to a deep concern among Republicans and inside John McCain's campaign that the Arizona senator won't be able to scratch back against Sen. Barack Obama by Election Day.