• Obama seeks a personal touch within a huge stadium 8/28/2008, 8:33 a.m. ET
DENVER (AP) — Barack Obama was unveiling a delicate balancing act Thursday, trying to get personal with 75,000 supporters in a massive stadium and millions more at home while explaining how as president he would make a difference in their lives.

• Officials may evacuate New Orleans as Gustav nears 8/28/2008, 8:23 a.m. ET
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — National Guard troops stand ready, batteries and water bottles are selling briskly, and one small-town mayor has spent a sleepless night worrying. The New Orleans area is skittishly watching as a storm marches across the Caribbean on the eve of Hurricane Katrina's third anniversary.

• Iraqi forces starting to lead but need US aid 8/28/2008, 8:08 a.m. ET
BAQOUBA, Iraq (AP) — The Iraqi battalion leader huddled over the map with his American advisers, showing them how he planned to surround a Sunni enclave where al-Qaida militants were believed hiding.

• Top Iraqi official detained at Baghdad airport 8/28/2008, 8:07 a.m. ET
BAGHDAD (AP) — An Iraqi official says U.S. forces have arrested Ali al-Lami, a top Shiite in charge of keeping senior supporters of Saddam Hussein out of the government.

• Indian political party campaigns against English 8/28/2008, 8:03 a.m. ET
MUMBAI, India (AP) — A regional political party has threatened to attack stores in Mumbai that place English-language signs more prominently than ones in the local Marathi language or refuse to use Marathi signs.

• Obama makes unscripted appearance at the DNC 8/28/2008, 8:02 a.m. ET
DENVER (AP) — Sen. Barack Obama dropped in on his own party at the Democratic convention a day early Wednesday to praise his wife, his former rival, and former President Bill Clinton for going to bat for him.

• 9 killed as violence spreads along Pakistan border 8/28/2008, 8:02 a.m. ET
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Suspected militants bombed a bus carrying prisoners in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least nine people, as fighting between security forces and extremists flared across the country's tribal belt.

• Russia frees 12 Georgians, gets rejected by China 8/28/2008, 8:01 a.m. ET
RUKHI, Georgia (AP) — Russian forces turned over 12 Georgian soldiers on the border of one of the separatist provinces under its control Thursday after the short war that outraged the West and brought Moscow's military deep into Georgia.

• UN criticizes Afghan decision to free rapists 8/28/2008, 8:01 a.m. ET
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The United Nations has criticized Afghanistan's government for freeing two men convicted of raping a woman in northern Afghanistan after they served only a portion of their 11-year sentences.

• Georgia: S. Ossetia ethnic cleansing nearly done 8/28/2008, 8:01 a.m. ET
VIENNA, Austria (AP) — Georgia's foreign minister says the ethnic cleansing of Georgians from the separatist province of South Ossetia has nearly been completed.

• Officials may evacuate New Orleans as Gustav nears 8/28/2008, 7:32 a.m. ET
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — National Guard troops stand ready, batteries and water bottles sold briskly, and one small-town mayor spent a sleepless night worrying. The New Orleans area watched as a storm marched across the Caribbean on the eve of Hurricane Katrina's third anniversary.

• Obama set to woo nation with historic speech 8/28/2008, 7:31 a.m. ET
DENVER (AP) — Barack Obama will stand before delegates and the nation Thursday — the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic "I Have a Dream" speech — to accept the Democratic presidential nomination, the first black man to claim such a prize.

• Lebanese officer dies in helicopter attack 8/28/2008, 7:15 a.m. ET
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Attackers opened fire on a military helicopter Thursday, killing a Lebanese army officer and forcing the craft to make an emergency landing, a senior security official said.

• Georgia warns of ethnic cleansing in South Ossetia 8/28/2008, 7:10 a.m. ET
VIENNA, Austria (AP) — Georgia's foreign minister warns that ethnic cleansing of Georgians is taking place in South Ossetia and will soon be completed.

• UN criticizes Afghan decision to free rapists 8/28/2008, 7:07 a.m. ET
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The United Nations has criticized Afghanistan's government for freeing two men convicted of raping a woman in northern Afghanistan after they served only a portion of their 11-year sentences.

• Tibetans continue protests against China in Nepal 8/28/2008, 6:59 a.m. ET
KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepalese police detained dozens of Tibetan exiles protesting in front of the Chinese diplomatic mission in Katmandu on Thursday.

• Malaysia's Anwar stages Parliament walkout protest 8/28/2008, 6:42 a.m. ET
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has staged a walkout in Parliament with scores of other lawmakers.

• Pa. legislative candidate discloses arrest record 8/28/2008, 6:33 a.m. ET
POTTSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A candidate for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is bringing up his arrest for domestic assault — in his own campaign materials.

• Death for man who kidnapped, murdered Idaho boy 8/28/2008, 6:26 a.m. ET
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — In the end, killer pedophile Joseph Edward Duncan III couldn't — or wouldn't — offer a reason why he should live.

• Owner lowers price on Titian for British galleries 8/28/2008, 6:25 a.m. ET
LONDON (AP) — An aristocrat wants to sell a masterpiece of Renaissance painting to British public galleries if they can meet his $92 million asking price.

• Gustav nears Jamaica as New Orleans keeps watch 8/28/2008, 6:19 a.m. ET
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Tropical Storm Gustav was heading toward Jamaica early Thursday while many miles away, residents in the New Orleans area watched it with a nervous eye.

• Thai protesters defy court order to leave compound 8/28/2008, 6:15 a.m. ET
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Thousands of demonstrators, some armed with golf clubs, batons and bamboo sticks, defied a court order to end their occupation of the prime minister's office compound on Thursday, vowing to remain until the country's leaders resign.

• 9 killed as violence spreads along Pakistan border 8/28/2008, 6:13 a.m. ET
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Suspected militants bombed a bus carrying prisoners in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least nine people, as fighting between security forces and extremists flared across the country's tribal belt.

• Obama makes unscripted appearance at the DNC 8/28/2008, 6:05 a.m. ET
DENVER (AP) — Sen. Barack Obama dropped in on his own party at the Democratic convention a day early Wednesday to praise his wife, his former rival, and former President Bill Clinton for going to bat for him.

• Russia frees Georgian soldiers, tensions persist 8/28/2008, 5:54 a.m. ET
RUKHI, Georgia (AP) — Russian forces have turned over 12 Georgian soldiers at the border of separatist Abkhazia now under Russian control.