MIAMI, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Hurricane Ike was demoted to a Category 3 storm Sunday, after taking dozens of lives in Haiti and heading for Cuba with winds near 120 mph, forecasters said.

At least 10 people drowned in Haiti Sunday -- bringing the island's death toll from the storm to at last 48, The New York Times reported.

The Cuban government has evacuated several communities and authorities in the Florida Keys ordered residents and tourists to leave, the newspaper said. Residents were evacuated Sunday from the Key West Convalescent Center in Key West, Fla.

At 8 p.m. EDT, Ike was centered about 60 miles north of Guantanamo, Cuba, moving west at 14 mph, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. The storm was expected to take a west to west-northwest track, which would take the core of the hurricane away from the Bahamas and over or near eastern Cuba Sunday night and early Monday, and near or over central Cuba later Monday.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 60 miles from the center of the storm.

"Fluctuations in strength are possible tonight but Ike is expected to remain a major hurricane as it approaches eastern Cuba," the hurricane center said in a statement. "Ike is expected to weaken as it moves over eastern and central Cuba on Monday."

Storm surge flooding of 9-12 feet is expected, the center said, along with "large and dangerous battering waves." Associated rains will total 6-10 inches over wide areas, and up to a foot in isolated areas, likely producing flash flooding and mudslides.

Along with parts of Cuba, hurricane warnings remained in effect for the Turks and Caicos Islands, and parts of the Bahamas. A hurricane watch was in effect for the Florida Keys, a tropical storm warning for parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and a tropical storm watch for the Cayman Islands and Jamaica.

Palin sets 1st media interview as nominee

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will sit for an interview with ABC News, her first since accepting the GOP vice presidential nomination, the network said Sunday.

ABC said Palin will be interviewed, but did not say when the session would be held.

Palin has made a series of campaign appearances with Republican presidential nominee John McCain but the campaign has rejected requests for most media interviews. Campaign manager Rick Davis said on "Fox News Sunday" that Palin "will do interviews" on the campaign's "terms and conditions."

"She's not scared to answer questions," Davis said, "but you know what? We run our campaign not the news media."

McCain campaign officials have criticized media coverage of Palin, alleging sexism is behind questions about whether the mother of five can handle the responsibilities of the vice presidency.

Campaign aides said Friday she was being assisted by several foreign policy experts in preparation for a debate with Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden, scheduled for early in October. Palin has little foreign policy experience but is a quick study with sound judgment, said Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella, The Washington Post (NYSE:WPO) reported.

Obama: Middle-class tax cuts a 'priority'

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said Sunday the U.S. economy was "fragile" and he would press for middle-class tax cuts if elected.

Speaking on the ABC News program "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," Obama said middle-class tax relief was his "priority." He said he might put off allowing President George W. Bush's tax cuts for wealthy Americans to expire because such a move might hurt the economy.

"The economy is weak right now," he said. "The news with Freddie Mac. (NYSE:FRE)and Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM), I think, along with the unemployment numbers indicates that we're fragile.

"I want to accelerate those (middle-class) tax cuts through a second stimulus package ... and then we're going to have to re-evaluate at the beginning of the year to see what kind of hole we're in" before deciding on any upper-class tax increases.

Obama said he believed the presidential campaign should not be reduced to a "resume contest."

After noting he served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, headed by running-mate Joe Biden of Delaware, the Illinois senator said he would "be happy to have a substantive debate with John McCain about foreign policy."

"This whole resume contest that's been going back and forth is not what the American people are looking for," he said.

McCain: Economy faces 'tough sledding'

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. economy faces "very tough sledding," but the nation's "best days are ahead of us," Republican U.S. presidential nominee John McCain said Sunday.

"Americans are hurting in a way that they have not hurt for a long time," McCain said on the CBS News program "Face the Nation."

When asked why he previously said the economy was fundamentally sound, McCain said: "Well, because I have great confidence and faith in America, in our innovation, in our capabilities. But these are tough times now. Listen, America's best days are ahead of us. But you know, we've got a very tough sledding to go through."

McCain expressed support for the government's plan, announced Sunday, to rescue the nation's two mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Treasury Department seized control of the two corporations and announced a four-part rescue plan that included an open-ended guarantee to provide as much capital as they need to stave off insolvency.

"I think it has to be done," McCain said. "I think that we've got to keep people in their homes. There's got to be a restructuring, there's got to be reorganization and there's got to be some confidence that we've stopped this downward spiral.

"It's hard, it's tough, but it's also the classic example of why we need change in Washington," he said.