U.S. National - AFP

ROME (AFP) - US Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday gave his public backing for Sarah Palin -- the Republican party's first female candidate to be vice president.

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AFP) - The US presidential campaign moved into high gear Monday as two opinion polls showed Republican John McCain taking the lead over Democratic rival Barack Obama just eight weeks from election day.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) - Thirteen years after his acquittal in one of the most publicized murder cases in American history, former football great O.J. Simpson returns to court here Monday for jury selection in a robbery and kidnapping case that could send him to prison for life.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - "Nanny" star Fran Drescher, a cancer survivor, advocate of female empowerment and opponent of abortion legislation, was named Monday as a new US public diplomacy envoy.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Oil giant ConocoPhillips will pay up to 9.6 billion dollars (eight billion US) for a half share in a natural gas project owned by Origin Energy in Australia, the companies said Monday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US tobacco giant Altria Group said Monday it would buy UST, owner of smokeless tobacco brands Skoal and Copenhagen and a wine company, in a cash-and-debt deal worth 11.7 billion dollars.

PARIS (AFP) - American veteran Bobby Julich, a former podium finisher at the Tour de France, has announced the end to his 15-year professional career.

NEW YORK (AFP) - American Serena Williams defeated second seed Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 7-5 in the women's US Open final Sunday for her ninth career Grand Slam title and the world number one ranking.

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Columbia Pictures will be spinning two new episodes of the successful, and very lucrative, Spider-Man movies with actor Tobey Maguire returning in the starring role, an industry magazine reported Monday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US government took over ailing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Sunday and placed them in a "conservatorship" in a bid to avert a financial system meltdown from the housing crisis.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Barack Obama and John McCain feuded and laid claim to being the authentic candidate of change and reform on Sunday, as their White House showdown roared into a frenetic eight-week final stretch.

KEY WEST, Florida (AFP) - Boarding up windows and battening down everything else, residents of south Florida turned a wary eye to deadly Hurricane Ike Sunday as it tore into the Caribbean.

NEW YORK (AFP) - Seven years after the September 11 attacks on the United States, few are the signs of rebirth at the site in lower Manhattan where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood.

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AFP) - Republican vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin may be drawing bigger cheers than her running mate, but John McCain isn't bothered in the least, a senior advisor said Sunday.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AFP) - However much executive experience Republican vice presidential pick Sarah Palin has gained from her 21 months as Alaska governor, it is unlike that of any chief executive in the 50 US states.

DETROIT (AFP) - Battered by weak sales, declining market share and miserable credit ratings, Detroit's Big Three automakers are now turning to the US government for help.

NEW YORK (AFP) - Britain's Andy Murray advanced to his first Grand Slam final by stunning world number one Rafael Nadal on Sunday in a US Open semi-final, booking a date with reigning champion Roger Federer on Monday.

FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts (AFP) - National Football League star quarterback Tom Brady injured his knee and left the New England Patriots season-opening game in the first quarter on Sunday.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (AFP) - Economic issues dominated the campaign trail Saturday as presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain battled over who could best lead the nation in troubled times.

MIAMI (AFP) - Tropical Storm Hanna raced across the southeastern United States on Saturday, battering the coast with powerful waves, rain and wind as Florida and Cuba kept a wary eye on a dangerous hurricane.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The jump in US unemployment to a five-year high has heightened worries about recession and puts the struggling economy into sharp focus two months ahead of the presidential vote, analysts said.

PARIS (AFP) - US scientists have unveiled the most complete genetic profile ever attempted of glioblastoma, a common and deadly form of the brain cancer that US Senator Edward Kennedy is battling.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republican White House nominee John McCain earned a record 38.9 million television viewers during his convention speech, edging his rival Barack Obama's record from the previous week, the Nielsen group reported Friday.

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (AFP) - Republican presidential hopeful John McCain backed a government takeover of two mortgage giants Saturday while his Democratic rival warned that taxpayers should not bail out their shareholders.

NEW YORK (AFP) - Boeing machinists took to the picket line on Saturday as they launched a strike that has halted production and could cost the US aerospace giant more than 100 million dollars per day.

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AFP) - Colombia's Camilo Villegas fired a four-under par 66 Saturday and clung to a one-stroke lead after the second round of the seven million-dollar PGA BMW Championship.

NEW YORK (AFP) - Roger Federer moved within one victory of his fifth consecutive US Open title Saturday, firing 20 aces to overpower Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2.

ST PAUL, Minnesota (AFP) - In two breath-taking, intoxicating, adrenaline-fueled weeks history was made in the United States and the country's political landscape redrawn forever.