Obama blitzing Florida, McCain defends Missouri

WASHINGTON - Democrat Barack Obama opens a campaign blitz in battleground Florida on Monday, buoyed by the endorsement of former Secretary of State Colin Powell while Republican John McCain was defending his turf in bellwether Missouri.

Obama notched the endorsement of Powell, a retired general who was chairman of the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff and served as secretary of state to President George W. Bush, while Obama's campaign reported raking in a record-shattering $150 million in campaign donations last month. The backing of Powell, a moderate Republican, was viewed as a blow to McCain's attempts to paint Obama as unready to serve as commander in chief of the U.S. military.
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CEO of failed WaMu could get millions

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The CEO of failed Washington Mutual Inc., on the job only a few weeks before the nation's largest thrift was seized by the government and sold to JPMorgan Chase & Co., is entitled to more than $13 million in severance and bonus pay.
Alan H. Fishman signed an agreement that provides around $6 million in cash severance and retention of his signing bonus of $7.5 million if he were to leave his job, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.The board of WaMu reached out to Fishman to replace Kerry Killinger as CEO as the Seattle-based bank was in a downward financial spiral, struggling with cascading losses from soured mortgages. On Sept. 8, the same day WaMu announced Fishman's appointment as chief executive, the bank signed an agreement with federal regulators to provide an updated business plan and forecast for its financial performance.
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Philippine leader to proceed with US trip despite violence in south

Manila - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will push ahead with a trip to the United States she cancelled earlier due to escalating violence in the country's troubled south, her press secretary said Wednesday.

According to Press Secretary Jesus Dureza, Arroyo decided to proceed with the visit to New York to attend the 63rd United Nations General Assembly and other meetings with global leaders.

Dureza said the decision was based on the strong recommendations by Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo and Philippine ambassador to the UN Hilario Davide.

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McCain softens his opposition to AIG bailout

ORION TOWNSHIP, MICH. — Republican candidate John McCain, a day after flatly rejecting a taxpayer bailout for American International Group Inc., said Wednesday the government had been "forced" into proposing an $85 billion loan to the nation's largest insurer.

McCain appeared to soften his opposition to the bailout proposed by the Federal Reserve, treating the plan as a necessary evil to protect ordinary Americans — and asserting that such a financial collapse should not be allowed to happen again. He also called for an investigation to uncover any wrongdoing.

Democratic rival Barack Obama blamed the Republican anti-regulatory fervor of recent years for part of the mess, saying the crisis is "a stark reminder of the failures of crony capitalism and an economic philosophy that sees any regulation at all as unwise and unnecessary."
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Yemen arrests 19 after U.S. embassy attack

DUBAI (Reuters) - Yemeni authorities have arrested 19 people suspected of being connected to al Qaeda and having links to Wednesday's attack on the heavily fortified U.S. embassy in Sanaa, Al-Arabiya television said on Thursday.

Two suicide car bombs set off a series of explosions outside the U.S. embassy in Yemen, killing 16 people including six attackers. No U.S. citizens were hurt.

The U.S. State Department said the bombings bore "all the hallmarks" of an al Qaeda attack but the United States had not yet concluded who was to blame.

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California legislators soften stance on budget veto override

SACRAMENTO -- State lawmakers' will to override a budget veto began to falter Wednesday, emboldening Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to press them for more concessions.

Tough talk from lawmakers about quickly overriding Schwarzenegger's expected veto subsided as Republicans expressed reluctance to vote for borrowing from taxpayers -- a provision of the budget Democrats passed without them.

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