John McCain billed himself as a battle-scarred reformer and vowed he and running mate Sarah Palin would change Washington as he accepted the Republican presidential nomination. But his primetime convention speech was briefly interrupted by several anti-war protesters, who had sneaked into the crowd.

One held up a black sign reading "You can"t win an occupation," and started chanting, but was quickly drowned out by the crowd cheering "USA, USA," and then hustled away by security staff.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has vowed to "free Britain from the dictatorship of oil" and promised his government would protect voters feeling the pinch as he stepped up his political fightback.

In a speech to business leaders in his native Scotland, Brown sought to reassure voters that the beleaguered Labour government would shield them from the effects of the global credit crunch and rising oil and food prices.

He unveiled a strategy to wean Britain off oil, and despite finance minister Alistair Darling"s bleak assessment that current economic conditions were the worst for 60 years, insisted he was "cautiously optimistic" about the British economy. ...

Brown said in his speech that "undoubtedly we face a challenging period" but promised voters the government would "act responsibly to prepare people for the inescapable challenges ahead". As well as short-term help with the housing market, he pledged a "revolution in the way we think about and use resources".

"Today I set a new ambition to free Britain from the dictatorship of oil," he said, arguing that the policies implemented would lead to a 20 per cent reduction in the amount of oil used per unit of output by 2020.

He announced a new industry-government working group to look at North Sea oil reserves, a new pilot program for electric cars, and promised to match the car industry"s investment in new fuel efficiency technology.

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