Reuters - After a difficult week that sparked Democratic worries, Barack Obama fired back at Republican presidential rival John McCain on Friday with tough ads and a retooled message outlining their differences on taxes.

Reuters - The Federal Reserve Bank of New York held emergency talks with officials of major Wall Street firms on Friday night as concerns grew that Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc may fail to find a willing buyer to save the ailing institution.

Reuters - At least 10 people were killed and more than 100 injured on Friday, with those figures expected to rise, after a freight train and commuter train collided head-on outside Los Angeles.

Reuters - Hurricane Ike crashed onto the densely populated Texas coast near Houston early on Saturday, threatening devastation along the Gulf of Mexico and menacing the fourth-largest U.S. city.

AP - Tim Wakefield gave the Red Sox the big lift they needed after two demoralizing losses to Tampa Bay. Cleveland's Cliff Lee got plenty of offensive support in picking up win No. 22.

AP - Tina Fey is "likely" to play Gov. Sarah Palin on "Saturday Night Live," said a person close to NBC's sketch comedy show.

AP - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Friday she thinks Barack Obama regrets not making Hillary Rodham Clinton his running mate.

AP - A dairy that sold milk powder linked to kidney stones in infants and one death knew in August it was tainted with a banned chemical, weeks before it ordered a recall, the Health Ministry said Saturday.

AP - Ben Harrell waited for Gov. Sarah Palin to stop by at his Mocha Moose coffee house like she does most days she's back home. But things are different now when she's in town.

AP - The Federal Reserve Bank of New York held an emergency meeting Friday night with top Washington policymakers and major financial institutions to discuss the future of Lehman Brothers.

AP - More than 200,000 people turned out for Pope Benedict XVI's outdoor Mass on Saturday — an outpouring of faith for a traditionally Roman Catholic country that has witnessed a sharp decline in churchgoing among Catholics.

AP - A Georgian official says Russia has fulfilled its commitment to withdraw forces from several positions in western Georgia.

AP - Los Angeles fire officials say at least 12 people have been killed in the collision of a Metrolink commuter train and a freight train in the San Fernando Valley.

AP - A massive Hurricane Ike ravaged southeast Texas early Saturday, battering the coast with driving rain and ferocious wind gusts as residents who decided too late they should have heeded calls to evacuate made futile calls for rescue.

AFP - President Robert Mugabe and the opposition will wield equal power in a unity government aimed at ending Zimbabwe's protracted political crisis and economic meltdown, sources said Friday.