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For many months, Barack Obama relied on a speech that last year vaulted him from the ranks of the Democratic presidential candidates to the lead position. But in recent days, he has found it necessary to revise and revamp.

Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker are back on Capitol Hill Wednesday, in an effort to convince lawmakers to freeze U.S. troop levels in Iraq after a small drawdown in the summer. Petraeus and Crocker appear before the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees today.

Exiled former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif says he will challenge President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in elections this fall, even as Musharraf considers a power-sharing agreement with another rival that would have him stepping down as head of the army.

President Bush renews his vow to veto any spending bill for the war in Iraq that attempts to set a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. combat troops. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said that if the timetable fails, he will move to cut off funding for the war by March 31 of next year.

The soaring price of oil is hitting the airline industry. American Airlines announced Wednesday that it would eliminate about 12 percent of its flights by the end of the year and added a $15 surcharge for each checked bag.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain has named Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. Palin, 44, is the first woman named to a spot on the GOP ticket. She has been Alaska's governor since 2006.

President-elect Barack Obama has named Mary Schapiro to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. In a news conference in Chicago, Obama said government regulators "had dropped the ball," leading to the financial meltdown.

The chief U.S. diplomat in Africa ratcheted up the language against Zimbabwe's longtime president Robert Mugabe on Sunday. Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer says the United States won't lift sanctions against that country until Mugabe is gone. NPR's Charlayne Hunter-Gault talks to host Andrea Seabrook about the developments.

For Sunset High School's band, Friday night games help prepare for Saturday competitions. That's when band parents and friends cheer for these champions from Portland, Ore., as lustily as football fans and when judges rate musicianship and movement.

In Fort Hood, Texas, investigators are collecting information about Thursday's deadly attack at a soldier processing center. Thirteen people were killed, 12 of them soldiers, and 30 were wounded when a gunman, identified as Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, opened fire in the facility.