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.

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.

AP - Georgia's foreign minister says the ethnic cleansing of Georgians from the separatist province of South Ossetia has nearly been completed.

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.

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.

AP - Wall Street headed for a lower open Thursday as investors awaited key government readings on U.S. economic growth and unemployment.

AP - A blogger suspected of streaming songs from the unreleased Guns N' Roses album "Chinese Democracy" on his Web site was arrested Wednesday and appeared in court, where his bail was set at $10,000.

AP - This small northeastern Georgia town's population boom is frightening. In a bid to break a world record for scarecrows and scare up some fun for the fall season, thousands of straw-stuffed newcomers are creeping across town.

AP - Daniel Murphy hit a tiebreaking double after Carlos Delgado's second solo homer had tied the game in the eighth and the New York Mets beat Philadelphia 6-3 on Wednesday night to reclaim first place in the NL East.

Reuters - To shouts of "Yes we can," Democrats nominated Barack Obama on Wednesday as their presidential candidate in a historic first for a black American, backed by his ex-rivals Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Reuters - Tropical Storm Gustav strengthened Thursday morning as it headed towards Jamaica, and the system was expected to regain hurricane status later today, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory.

Reuters - Russia faced diplomatic isolation over its military action against Georgia on Thursday, with its Asian allies failing to offer support and France saying EU leaders were considering imposing sanctions.

Reuters - Thousands of lawyers blocked roads across Pakistan on Thursday to press the government to reinstate judges purged by former president Pervez Musharraf, as militants attacked police in the northwest, killing 11 people.

Reuters - Thousands of protesters barricaded inside Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's official compound defied a court order to leave on Thursday as their leaders vowed to stay until his administration fell.

Reuters - U.S. troops will on Sept. 1 hand over control of Iraq's Anbar province, once the heart of a bloody Sunni Arab insurgency, reflecting a dramatic drop in violence across the country, an Iraqi official said on Thursday.

Reuters - Four days after closing the 2008 Beijing Games in triumph, China lit the 2008 Paralympics torch amid pomp and ceremony at Beijing's ancient Temple of Heaven, marking the start of a domestic relay for the September 6 Games.

Reuters - Afghan and international forces killed or wounded more than 30 militants in fighting in the south and southeast of the country, the Defense Ministry and the U.S. military said on Thursday.

AFP - Russia won support Thursday from China and Central Asian states in its standoff with the West over the Georgia conflict as the European Union said it was weighing sanctions against Moscow.

AFP - Barack Obama will Thursday summon Americans to join his crusade for political change as he claims his place in history in a dazzling finale to the Democratic convention.