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• MOSCOW (AP) -- Did Vladimir Putin's flight with a flock of cranes end up grounding him? The Russian president's spokesman says no.
• In recent weeks, Putin has rarely left his official residence, sparking speculation that illness or injury had laid him low.
• On Thursday, the respected newspaper Vedomosti cited unnamed Kremlin-connected sources saying Putin's September flight in a motorized hang-glider accompany migrating cranes had aggravated an old injury.
• But his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the state news agency RIA Novosti that Putin had an old injury, but it was not connected to the highly publicized flight.
• Peskov was quoted as saying Putin was making only infrequent trips to the Kremlin because he didn't want his motorcade to disrupt Moscow's notoriously bad traffic.
• ___

• WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama dives back into campaigning after three days immersed in managing the federal response to the storm that battered the East Coast. The contours of the presidential race remain much the same, with Obama and Republican Mitt Romney locked in a tight contest and both campaigns predicting victory.
• The president's advisers insist his break from campaigning had minimal impact on his standing. If anything, it gave Obama a chance to offer the type of comfort and command in a crisis that only a president can deliver.
• Still, the Democratic campaign is seeking to make up for the lost time with a heavy travel itinerary in the coming days, including rallies Thursday in Wisconsin, Nevada and Colorado.
• Obama spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said that while the president remains focused on the storm recovery, "there is a reality of a political election happening in five days and he will return to the trail to make the case to the American people on why they should send him back for four more years."
• The storm created headaches for Romney, diverting the public's attention away

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