WASHINGTON Executives at American International Group Inc. hid the full range of its risky financial products from auditors as losses mounted, according to documents released Tuesday by a congressional panel examining the chain of events that forced the government to bail out the conglomerate.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Leading in the polls, Barack Obama hopes to cement his standing while John McCain is trying to turn his fortunes around in their second presidential debate - with economic turmoil bordering on chaos suddenly serving as the backdrop.

WASHINGTON 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.

ROCKVILLE, Md. It's nothing to LOL about. Students these days often have ready access to marijuana, alcohol and tobacco but they don't feel comfortable talking about the ramifications. So, some of the nation's government scientists went to the computer chat room Tuesday to make it a little easier for them.

WASHINGTON Sen. Ted Stevens' friends went out of their way to help pay his bills, according to court testimony Tuesday, even conspiring to hide how much money they paid for something as minor as plumbing repairs at the senator's home in Alaska.

WASHINGTON The Bush administration is criticizing a federal judge's decision to immediately free 17 Chinese Muslims at Guantanamo Bay into the U.S. and says it will seek to block the order.

WASHINGTON Dusting off Depression-era emergency powers, the Federal Reserve is extending its reach over the economy as never before, pushing the limits of its authority, if not exceeding them.

WASHINGTON Two close friends of Sen. Ted Stevens schemed to conceal the fact that one was paying for extensive work done at the senator's cabin in Alaska, according to FBI audiotapes played Tuesday at Stevens' corruption trial.

WASHINGTON The federal budget deficit hit a new record in the just-completed 2008 budget year under the latest estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.

WASHINGTON It can be a fine line between investing and gambling. But in Las Vegas, you know the odds. On Wall Street, that's not always the case.

WASHINGTON A well-seasoned Sequoia National Forest logging dispute comes to a boil Wednesday, as the Supreme Court considers when activists can challenge the management of federal lands.

HARRISBURG, Pa. Democratic registration has surged by 13 percent and Republican ranks have shrunk by 1 percent as a record 8.6 million people in battleground Pennsylvania registered to vote in the presidential election.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska Alaska's top finance officer will review payments made to Gov. Sarah Palin for nights she charged the state for staying in her own home.

HARTFORD, Conn. The spokesman for a Connecticut congressional candidate is learning that not everything is private on the Internet.

WASHINGTON Nearly 20 years of John McCain's contrition over his role in a 1980s banking scandal vanished this week in 17 minutes and 30 seconds.

OHRID, Macedonia Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday said the U.S. is committed to keeping troops in Kosovo through late next year despite strong Russian opposition to creation of the world's newest country this year.

WASHINGTON Heating U.S. homes with oil this winter will cost a painful $450 more than a year ago, another slap to families already reeling from high gasoline and food costs and fearful of losing their heat because of unpaid bills.

WASHINGTON President Bush sought to assure Americans on Tuesday that the economy will eventually recover from the global financial crisis but he cautioned that it's going to take time and won't be easy. "Right now we're in tough, tough times. No question about it," he said.

In his liberal Colorado district, it's no big deal that Jared Polis is gay. Yet his expected victory Nov. 4 in a congressional race would be a historic milestone and, he hopes, send an encouraging message to gay and lesbian young people nationwide.

IN THE HEADLINES

WASHINGTON In a dramatic setback for the Bush administration, a federal judge ordered the U.S. government Tuesday to immediately transfer to the U.S. and release 17 Chinese-born Muslims detained for seven years at Guantanamo.

WASHINGTON The attorney representing Bill Allen, the star witness in Sen. Ted Stevens' corruption trial, got a public scolding Tuesday morning from the judge overseeing the case.

SAN FRANCISCO "Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan may finally have found some in her long-shot independent challenge to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

LAS VEGAS Nevada state authorities are raiding the Las Vegas headquarters of an organization that works to get low-income people to vote.

NAIROBI, Kenya Jerome Corsi, the controversial author of a much-criticized book slamming Sen. Barack Obama, was detained in Kenya on Tuesday for an immigration violation as he arrived for a press conference to promote his book.

WASHINGTON The U.S. military is creating an electrical code for U.S. facilities in Iraq as part of an effort to prevent future electrocutions in Iraq. The deaths of at least 18 U.S. service members and contractors in Iraq are under investigation as possible electrocutions.

WASHINGTON No Texas or U.S. motor safety officers were on duty when an unsafe bus crossed the border hours before a fatal crash, says National Transportation Safety Board investigator Pete Kotowski. He said the Mexican-made bus was checked by customs and border officers when it came into the United States at a Laredo, Texas, crossing in January.

WASHINGTON President Bush reached out to European leaders on Tuesday to urge coordination on efforts to solve the financial crisis spreading around the globe. The White House said Bush was open to the idea of a leaders' summit on the economic upheaval.

WASHINGTON The Internal Revenue Service, seeking to make cash more available during the current credit crunch, has issued a rule making it easier for U.S. corporations to bring home money made by their foreign subsidiaries.

WASHINGTON Germany has returned over 20 pounds of highly enriched uranium fuel to the U.S. for safeguarding from terrorists or potential misuse, the government said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON - In another aggressive move to try to prevent vital credit markets from freezing up, the Federal Reserve announced Tuesday morning it would buy the short-term debt issued by major domestic and foreign corporations based in America.

THE POLL: Washington Post-ABC News poll of 772 likely Ohio voters (20 electoral votes).

WASHINGTON With panic tightening its grip on investors here and abroad, pressure was growing on the United States Tuesday to take further aggressive steps to stem the economic crisis and swiftly implement a $700 billion financial bailout.

WASHINGTON The government is weighing a bold plan to buy massive amounts of unsecured short-term debts in a dramatic effort to break through a credit clog that is imperiling the economy.

PRISTINA, Kosovo The United States will continue its troop presence in Kosovo until at least late next year, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said just before he arrived here Tuesday, reaffirming U.S. support for the newly declared nation in the face of stern opposition from Russia.

SANTA FE, N.M. A glitch that would have kept votes from being counted in the presidential and other top-of-the-ticket races was discovered during a pre-election check of a voting machine in Santa Fe County, officials said.

SAN FRANCISCO Supporters and opponents of a ballot initiative that would outlaw same-sex marriage in California have poured $41.2 million into the race, more than the combined total spent in the 24 states where similar measures have gone before voters since 2004.

HELENA, Mont. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and his Republican challenger have both called for increased energy development, lower taxes and a more open state government.

Sarah Palin's promise for a new era of government openness as the reform governor of Alaska started to crack even before Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign built a wall of protectiveness around her.

BOSTON For years, Massachusetts was known derisively as "Taxachusetts." But voters could help shed that label in November by completely eliminating the state's income tax in a single stroke.

COLUMBUS, Ohio It's one of Republican presidential candidate John McCain's most surefire applause lines, a vow to veto pork barrel spending like the road and bridge projects that lawmakers hold dear.

ASHLAND, Va. Barnstorming Virginia to fire up Democrats for Barack Obama's presidential bid is something Terry McAuliffe says comes naturally for him.

IN THE HEADLINES

ASHEVILLE, N.C. The two men who supposedly exemplified a different kind of politics are engaged in an increasingly bitter campaign as character attacks are emerging to compete with issues like the troubled economy.

WASHINGTON The now-bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers arranged millions in bonuses for fired executives as it pleaded for a federal lifeline, lawmakers learned Monday, as Congress began investigating what went so wrong on Wall Street to prompt a $700 billion government bailout.

CLEARWATER, Fla. Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin expanded her attack on Democrat Barack Obama's character Monday to include his relationship with an incendiary former pastor as well as his ties to 1960s-era radical Bill Ayers.

RICHMOND, Va. The wife of Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel plans to endorse Democrat Barack Obama.

COLUMBUS, Ohio A weeklong period in which Ohioans could register to vote and immediately cast a ballot ended Monday with turnout that didn't quite match the expectations of election officials - or the campaign predictions that preceded it.

PHOENIX An anti-abortion group has won a long legal fight to force Arizona to issue "choose life" license plates, and the proposed new plates could be available to the group's members within several months.

WASHINGTON Running short on time, John McCain has the most riding on the second presidential debate, though Barack Obama will be out of his scripted comfort zone in the town hall-style confrontation. It could be ugly if Monday's tussling is any indication.