AP - Amid financial turmoil, McCain says he would fire SEC chairman ... Obama mocks McCain's call for fire SEC chairman, says vote out Republicans in November ... Biden calls McCain's economic answers 'the ultimate Bridge to Nowhere' ... Palin: Biden will bring experience, sound bites to vice presidential debate ... Michelle Obama says don't vote because 'she's cute'

AP - Wall Street rallied in a stunning late-session turnaround Thursday, shooting higher and hurtling the Dow Jones industrials up 400 points following a report that the federal government might create an entity to absorb banks' bad debt. The report also cooled investors' fervor for safe investments like government debt that were in demand for much of the day.

AP - Republican John McCain, buffeted by criticism about his response to Wall Street's financial problems, said Thursday he would fire the SEC chairman and create a special trust to help strengthen weak institutions.

Reuters - The head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said the agency would have more to say on short-selling rules "as early as tomorrow" and commissioners were meeting on Thursday night to address the Bush administration's proposal to calm financial markets.

Reuters - Asia-Pacific nations kept up efforts on Friday to shield the region from the fallout of Wall Street upheaval even as stock and currencies rallied in response to emergency action from the world's top financial authorities.

AP - Amid the spiraling market crisis and mounting pressure from lawmakers, the Securities and Exchange Commission is considering taking the dramatic step of temporarily banning the routine practice of betting against company stocks.

AFP - Trading was to resume Friday on Russia's battered stock market after the government put up tens of billions of dollars in liquidity during three days of suspensions to prevent a meltdown.

AP - Asian stock markets soared Friday after a punishing week as news of a possible U.S. government plan to rescue banks from toxic mortgage debt brought hope of a letup in the world's worst financial crisis in decades.

AP - Barack Obama turned to a team of advisers that shaped America's economy in happier days to fashion fresh ideas for calming the stomach-churning financial crisis that has thundered from Wall Street to Main Street.

AP - Russia's leading stock exchanges suspended trading Friday less than an hour after reopening because the stocks rose too sharply.

AFP - Trading was suspended Friday on Russian stock markets when share prices soared minutes after the exchanges opened following a massive Russian government rescue plan, market officials said.

AFP - Asian stocks rallied Friday on the back of a rebound on Wall Street, as the US government and the world's central banks took action to keep the global financial crisis from deepening.

AFP - Europe's main stock markets soared early on Friday in the wake of massive gains across Asia and on Wall Street overnight as world governments took action to tackle the global financial crisis.

AFP - London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares surged by 4.43 percent to 5,096.40 points soon after the start of trading Friday in the wake of massive gains across Asia and on Wall Street overnight.