NPR 2008-10-28

Alaska Senator Ted 1 Stevens has been convicted on all counts against him at his corruption 2 trial in Washington. The longest-serving Republican in the Senate could face up to five years in prison for each of the seven counts he was found guilty on. Stevens was accused of lying about $250, 000 worth of home renovations and other gifts he received from a wealthy oil contractor 3. Gifts, the Acting 4 Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division with the Justice Department Matthew Friedrich maintained, came with strings 5. "This company, the evidence showed, was not a charity, and in fact, solicited 6 Senator Stevens for assistance in numerous areas during the same time frame, that it provided Senator Stevens with these gifts and things of value." Stevens said he is not dropping out of the Senate race. The 84-year-old lawmaker said he will appeal his conviction and he accused the Justice Department of unconscionable behavior.

Republican John McCain is trying to get the upper hand on the economy. He met early in the day with his economic team in Cleveland. From member station WCPN, Dan Bobkoff has more.

As the economy has suffered, so have McCain's poll numbers. Flanked by his panel of economic advisors 7 including former presidential candidate Mitt 8 Romney, eBay founder 9 Meg Whitman and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, McCain sought to distance himself from both Senator Obama and President Bush. "This is the fundamental difference between Senator Obama and me, the fundamental difference. We both disagree with President Bush on economic policy. The difference is that he thinks taxes have been too low, and I think, and I think the spending has been too high." McCain said he would focus on reducing spending and cutting taxes. And he warned about putting control of the House, Senate and Presidency 10 in the hands of Democrats 12 Nancy Pelosi, Harry 13 Raid and Obama. He called them a "dangerous threesome". For NPR News, I'm Dan Bobkoff in Cleveland.

With a little more than a week remaining in the presidential race, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama laid out his closing argument in the battleground state of Ohio today. From member station WKSU in Canton, Ohio, Amanda Rabinowitz reports.

Barack Obama appeared in Canton, Ohio where he underscored the need for change. Obama outlined his plans for tax cuts for the middle class, job creation and health care. He criticized John McCain for not breaking from Bush on economic policies. "In one week you can put an end to the politics that would divide a nation just to win an election, that tries to pit region against region, and city against town, Republican against Democrat 11, that asks us to fear at a time when we need hope." Obama is expected to spend most of his final week in key battleground states, Ohio and Pennsylvania. For NPR News, I'm Amanda Rabinowitz in Canton, Ohio.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 203 points today to close at 8175. The NASDAQ lost 46 points. The S&P 500 dropped 27 points.

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Syria's foreign minister is condemning 14 a US military raid inside Syrian territory that resulted in the deaths of at least eight people. Calling it an act of criminal and terrorist aggression 15, Syria's Foreign Ministry 16 said that if there is a repeat of this weekend's raid, the country will defend our territories. US military officials have only confirmed US forces conducted a raid in Syria targeted at a network of al-Qaida-linked foreign fighters. Syria says troops in four helicopters attacked a building. They say four of the eight individuals killed in that raid were children. A US counter-terrorism official says forces killed the head of a Syrian network that funnelled 17 foreign fighters in Iraq, weapons and cash.

Two students are dead after a shooting Sunday night on the campus of University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas. From member station KUAR, Kelly McNeil reports.

Campus police aren't talking about what they think might have led to the shooting, but they do say they don't think it was random 18. Two suspects are in custody 19, but police are trying to track down two more. The incident occurred just outside the freshman 20 dormitory where one of the victims 18-year-old Ryan Handerson lived. Also dead is 19-year-old sophomore 21 Shivares Brark. One other man, not a student, was injured. UCA President Tom Courtway says police and resident assistants did everything correctly to secure the campus, but safety policies will be reviewed just in case. "We are going to make sure that our students faculty 22 and staff have a completely safe environment to learn and work." Classes were cancelled but they will resume Tuesday as usual. For NPR News, I'm Kelly McNeil in Little Rock.

Crude oil prices continued to fall today, hitting a 17-month-low. The near month contract for benchmark crude fell $1. 20 a barrel ending the session at $62. 95 a barrel in New York.