DENVER Barack Obama stepped triumphantly into history Wednesday night, the first black American to win a major party presidential nomination, as thousands of Democrats transformed their convention hall into a joyful, shouting celebration.

DENVER Sen. John Kerry, the one-time presidential nominee whose campaign crumbled under attacks on his military service and consistency, told fellow Democrats on Wednesday that he doesn't recognize Republican John McCain, a man he once considered as a runningmate.

DENVER Sen. Barack Obama's formal nomination Wednesday as the Democratic candidate for president brought with it a barrage of renewed attacks on his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain. Some were on point, but others missed the mark.

DES MOINES, Iowa Barack Obama's presidential campaign says Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson will lead the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday.

DENVER A vanquished guest at another's coronation, Hillary Rodham Clinton proved this week she is still a political force - in the short term and for the future.

DENVER Hillary Rodham Clinton isn't the only also-ran on the loose in Denver. Four officials who were mentioned as possible runningmates for Barack Obama but didn't make it onto the ticket were getting a chance to address the Democratic convention Wednesday night.

DENVER It was a closing of sorts, but whether closure was there is another matter.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska Alaska's Republican old guard talked tough Wednesday after a bruising primary, sounding confident they can prevail in the November general election despite criminal probes.

WASHINGTON The Bush administration is raising the stakes in a court fight that could change the balance of power between the White House and Congress.

Sen. Joe Biden was going before the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday to make the case for Barack Obama's presidential bid. Biden, selected as Obama's running mate, has offered different messages in the past.

DENVER We supposedly live in a classless society, but the velvet ropes have been spreading like weeds in recent years. How odd, then, that the power-saturated floor of the Democratic National Convention is, in fact, one of the most democratic places on Earth - providing, that is, you have the proper credentials.

NEW YORK A carefully timed roll call and a sudden recognition of history may prove to be a turning point for Democrats at a convention that hadn't been going well for them as a television event.

WASHINGTON The Justice Department on Wednesday recommended a dramatic reduction in the prison sentence of imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who became the key witness against lawmakers and congressional aides he spent years corrupting.

DENVER Joe Biden, who was to accept the Democratic nomination for vice president Wednesday night, has quietly become a very popular pick among rank-and-file Democrats.

WASHINGTON Conditions in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, where a brutal insurgency once ruled, have improved so dramatically that the United States is handing over responsibility for security in the Sunni stronghold to Iraq within days. Troops freed up in Iraq could shift to Afghanistan.

DENVER A column of people three blocks long, led by members of the Iraq Veterans Against the War, streamed from the Denver Coliseum on Wednesday in an anti-war protest march to the Pepsi Center, where the Democratic National Convention is being staged.

WASHINGTON The State Department urged Americans on Wednesday to be aware of the risks caused by Tropical Storm Gustav to people traveling to Haiti, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Cuba and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

LAS VEGAS Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday that Republican John McCain "doesn't have the temperament to be president."

CLEVELAND Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has ordered a special election Nov. 18 to replace the late U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones.

DENVER Following his wife's lead, former President Bill Clinton prepared Wednesday to deliver an enthusiastic endorsement to Sen. Barack Obama, a unifying gesture that Democrats hope will end talk of bad blood between the two camps.

Speakers for the Thursday night session of the Democratic National Convention. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois is set to accept the party's nomination.

DENVER When this campaign ends, after future presidents have come and gone, and when today's young people are grown old, history will remember Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008, as the day a black man became the presidential nominee of a major party.

DENVER A triumphant Barack Obama will claim his piece of American history Thursday night, becoming the first African-American to win a major-party presidential nomination. As he celebrates that milestone, he must begin his more challenging courtship of the rest of America beyond the Democratic Party.

DENVER Barack Obama will accept his party's presidential nomination by laying out a case for sweeping political change and illustrating the choice voters face between his candidacy and that of Republican John McCain, a top adviser said Wednesday.

DENVER John McCain's potential running mates were in what amounted to a high-stakes waiting game Wednesday as the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting prepared to announce his running mate in the coming days.

DENVER Determined to elect favorite son Barack Obama, feuding Illinois Democrats shook hands and hugged Wednesday in a display of campaign unity that left U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. overcome with tears.

WASHINGTON The Bush administration is proposing that workplace hazard standards be subject to more public and expert scrutiny before being adopted. Critics say the proposals could make it harder to limit worker exposure to carcinogens and other toxic materials.

DENVER A vanquished guest at another's coronation, Hillary Rodham Clinton proved this week she is still a political force - in the short term and for the future.

WASHINGTON More than a quarter of the U.S. intelligence agencies' employees are outside contractors, hired to fill in gaps in the military and civilian work force, according to a survey of the 16 intelligence agencies.

Quotes from the nominating speeches for Barack Obama on Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention in Denver: