The latest news on the Republican Convention, Convention Protests, Pakistan, John McCain, New Orleans, Russia-Georgia, Israel-Syria, India-nuclear, Atomic Veterans, and Zimbabwe.

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Republican convention. Palin mocks media, Washington in her debut speech "Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin formally introduced herself to America on Wednesday night by telling the Republican National Convention about her small-town roots and her disdain for the Washington political establishment." Palin fires up faithful, comes out swinging "The "hockey mom" hit the national stage on Wednesday night with a series of body checks. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain's surprise running mate on the Republican ticket, turned a week's worth of questions about her experience and "reform" image against her Democratic rivals, electrifying the third night of the hurricane-shortened Republican National Convention." Palin Comes Out Fighting "Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin electrified the Republican convention Wednesday night, pitching herself as a champion of government reform, mocking Democratic candidate Barack Obama as an elitist and belittling media criticism of her experience." Small-town 'hockey mom' dazzles as GOP vice presidential nominee "Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said that she would accept her party's vice presidential nomination, highlighting her family - and her journey from "hockey mom" to historic national candidate."

John McCain. McCain must embrace his party - and break with it "Sen. John McCain on Thursday gets what one political scientist calls a Hubert H. Humphrey moment. He gets his chance to show the country how he'd break with an unpopular president from his party, George W. Bush. It's a tricky opportunity." Driven to Serve, and to Succeed "As he accepts the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday night in St. Paul, John Sidney McCain III, of Arizona, stands at the pinnacle of a career defined by a singular ambivalence about his own ambition, and success."

Convention Protests. Protest arrests: Security or repression? "As the city of St. Paul heads into one last day of convention hoopla -- and one final day of protests -- state civil liberties leaders have accused St. Paul police of making many improper arrests and in some cases, provoking more problems."

New Orleans. Despite power outages, New Orleans residents stream back into city after Hurricane Gustav "City and state officials tried to hold them off, but New Orleans residents would have none of it. After Hurricane Gustav brushed by the city, they wanted back in, and now." In Reversal, New Orleans Lets Residents Return "With thousands of residents stacked up at entrances to this city, impatient to return home after evacuating for Hurricane Gustav, Mayor C. Ray Nagin shifted course Wednesday morning and ordered an immediate lifting of barriers blocking their entry."

Pakistan. American Forces Attack Militants on Pakistani Soil "Helicopter-borne American Special Operations forces attacked Qaeda militants in a Pakistani village near the border with Afghanistan early Wednesday in the first publicly acknowledged case of United States forces conducting a ground raid on Pakistani soil." U.S. Troops Crossed Border, Pakistan Says "Helicopters carried U.S. and Afghan commandos many miles into Pakistan on Wednesday to stage the first U.S. ground attack against a Taliban target inside the country, Pakistani officials said. At least 20 local people died in the raid, according to the officials." Pakistan reacts with fury to 'US raid' "Commandos attack houses in village close to known Taliban and al-Qaida stronghold leaving up to 20 dead."

Russia-Georgia. US condemns Russia over Georgia "US Vice-President Dick Cheney visits Georgia and calls Russia's actions there an "illegitimate" attempt to change borders." Bush extends $1 billion in aid to Georgia "Offering new support for Georgia after its losing military clash with Russia last month, President Bush said Wednesday that the United States would provide up to $1 billion in assistance to the beleaguered Caucasus nation."

Israel-Syria. Fifth round of indirect peace talks in two weeks "A fifth round of indirect talks between Israel and Syria will take place in two weeks and will last two days, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Thursday in Damascus. There was no word on where the talks were scheduled to take place." ANALYSIS / France elbows U.S. aside in Syria negotiations "A senior diplomatic source close to the Turkish-mediated talks between Israel and Syria said the United States has been persuaded that it should take part in the talks, but that France has "pushed itself" into Syria; and French President Nicolas Sarkozy's participation in talks in Damascus have led the U.S. to cancel its decision for now."

India-nuclear. India pushes for US nuclear deal "The group of nations that regulate the global nuclear trade is meeting in Vienna to consider lifting restrictions on selling nuclear technology to India." Steady progress on N-deal at NSG meet: US "The US on Thursday said 'steady progress' was being made to rope in NSG members to end India's nuclear isolation as some countries insisted on inclusion of a specific commitment in the draft waiver for stopping nuclear cooperation if New Delhi conducts an atomic test."

Atomic veterans. Ottawa compensates 'atomic veterans' "After decades of pressuring for compensation, Ottawa announced Tuesday that "atomic veterans" - about 900 soldiers who were deployed at atomic-bomb test sites in Nevada half a century ago and showered with radiation - will be eligible for a special payment of $24,000."

Zimbabwe. Mugabe gives deal deadline to MDC "Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe gives the opposition MDC until Thursday to agree a deal, state media reports."