What's in the News

AP - Barack Obama aims to weave the personal with the political Thursday night as he tells 75,000 supporters in a football stadium — and millions more at home — how as president he would make a difference in their lives.

AP - The economy shifted to a higher gear in the spring, growing at its fastest pace in nearly a year as foreign buyers snapped up U.S. exports and tax rebates spurred shoppers at home.

AP - Tourists and oil workers fled Thursday as Gustav churned toward Jamaica and the Cayman Islands with winds near hurricane force. Louisiana called a state of emergency and put the National Guard on standby, hoping to avoid the chaos of Hurricane Katrina three years ago.

AP - Looking toward his turn in the spotlight, Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain sought to siphon attention from Democrat Barack Obama's show in Denver by playing coy about his pick for vice president.

AP - A four-day battle that began with an ambush on a joint U.S-Afghan patrol in southern Afghanistan has killed more than 100 militants, the coalition said Thursday.

AP - Baseball's replay central is an 18-by-24 foot room on the fifth floor of a former baking factory in Manhattan's Meatpacking District that's crammed with so many computers and television screens that it looks like NASA's Mission Control.

Reuters - Democrats prepared a grand celebration on Thursday for Barack Obama, who will accept a historic presidential nomination with a speech that spells out his vision for change in America.

Reuters - Jamaicans deserted the streets and government offices closed as a strengthening Tropical Storm Gustav took aim at the island on Thursday on a path toward the Gulf of Mexico oil fields as a powerful hurricane.

Reuters - Strong exports and consumer spending supported by government stimulus checks pushed the U.S. economy ahead at a solid 3.3 percent annual rate in the second quarter, much stronger than first thought, but growth is expected to flag as those factors fade.

Reuters - An outbreak of an unusual strain of Salmonella that put 286 people into the hospital appears to be over in the United States, federal health officials said on Thursday.

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 sanctions.

Reuters - Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces have killed more than 100 Taliban in the southern Afghan province of Helmand during three days of fighting, the U.S. military said on Thursday.

Reuters - Russia successfully tested a long-range Topol missile designed to avoid detection by anti-missile defence systems from its Plesetsk launch site, a Russian military spokesman said on Thursday.

AFP - Russia on Thursday tested an inter-continental missile, heightening tensions with the West as France said the European Union could impose sanctions on Moscow over the Georgia conflict.

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.