Reuters - Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden clashed on the economy and Iraq during a lively but polite debate on Thursday, and aimed the most criticism at their rivals at the top of the ticket.

AP - With one more loss to the Phillies, CC Sabathia and the Milwaukee Brewers will have all winter to rest. Brett Myers rankled Sabathia with a pesky at-bat and dominated the rest of the Brewers from the mound, and Philadelphia beat Milwaukee 5-2 on Thursday night behind Shane Victorino's grand slam for a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five NL playoff series.

AP - Manny Ramirez and the Dodgers look ready to run the shaky Chicago Cubs out of the playoffs early and extend their championship drought to 100 years.

AP - New duo Dailey & Vincent dominated the International Bluegrass Music Association awards Thursday, winning entertainer of the year, album of the year, vocal group, emerging artist and gospel recorded performance.

AP - An Alaska judge on Thursday refused to block a state investigation into whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power when she fired her public safety commissioner this summer.

AP - Pakistan's war against Islamic extremists will go on until the country is "terrorism-free," a senior official said Friday after mounting violence prompted the United Nations to raise its security stance.

AP - Steve Fossett chose a small single-engine airplane to scout a site for his next big adventure. But the crash that authorities say almost certainly claimed his life was as epic as the life the millionaire thrill-seeker tried to live.

AP - Wind power developers, disaster victims, college students, teachers and millions of taxpayers and businesses stand to see substantial benefits from the tax relief package that lawmakers added to the huge financial rescue plan.

AP - After seven years at war, the military paid recruits hundreds of millions of dollars over the past year as they answered the call to duty.

AP - Rejected once amid public fury about bailing out reckless financiers, a $700 billion rescue package is getting a second chance in the House as voters anxiously ponder an economic meltdown that could wipe out their ability to borrow, plunder their savings and put them out of work.

AP - Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden sparred over taxes, energy policy and the Iraq war in a high-profile debate in which Palin sought to reclaim her identity as a feisty reformer and Biden tried to undercut the maverick image of GOP presidential hopeful John McCain.

AFP - Twin suicide bombings near Shiite mosques in Iraq's capital killed 20 people on Thursday as worshippers celebrated Eid al-Fitr, which ends the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, officials said.

AFP - US senators Thursday sent a sweetened 700-billion-dollar Wall Street bailout back to the House of Representatives, feverishly working to convince the last holdouts to back the bill.

Reuters - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit India this weekend, officials said on Thursday, celebrating a foreign policy victory on a nuclear trade pact while encouraging India to buy American technology.

Reuters - House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Thursday said he saw a good chance that the $700 billion financial industry bailout bill passed by the Senate will clear the House of Representatives this week.