AP - John McCain has insisted that his trip through Mexico and Colombia was not supposed to be campaign-related. But there have been plenty of political overtones throughout.

AFP - The government must rein its public deficit to meet an EU limit by the end of the fiscal year ending in March 2010, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

U.S. News & World Report - Republican strategists trying to game Sen. Barack Obama's choice for a running mate are focusing more and more on the possibility that he might pick former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, a friend of labor and blue-collar workers. "Gephardt is the one we're most afraid of," said a key GOP strategist and Bush ally.

AP - People would rather barbecue burgers with Barack Obama than with John McCain.

AP - Republican John McCain toured a Colombian port by boat Wednesday to get a firsthand look at the country's drug interdiction programs, a day after he praised President Alvaro Uribe for Colombia's anti-drug efforts but pressed him to improve the government's record on human rights.

Politico - Steve Schmidt is taking over the day-to-day operation of John McCain’s campaign, according to multiple campaign sources.

AP - A Republican congressional candidate in a majority-white Mississippi district runs ads trying to tie his Democratic rival with Barack Obama's former pastor, seen by some as an anti-white firebrand. Democrats distribute fliers accusing the Republican of wanting a statue to honor the founder of the Ku Klux Klan.

AP - John McCain denied a Republican colleague's claim that he roughed up an associate of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega on a diplomatic mission in 1987, saying the allegation was "simply not true."

AP - In a bastion of the religious right, Barack Obama urged Americans Wednesday to look past the "bustle and busyness" of their everyday lives to find a way to help make the American dream real not just for themselves, but for all.

AP - Republicans deemed it beyond the pale when Sen. John McCain crossed the Capitol, set up shop in an office belonging to House Democrats and lobbied wavering lawmakers on legislation to reduce the role of money in politics.

AP - France's six-month European Union presidency got off to a shaky start Tuesday amid bickering between the bloc's trade chief and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and glum comments from Poland's leader on the EU's future direction.

AFP - A senior US senator said he would push Congress to adopt a civilian nuclear deal with India if New Delhi was keen to pursue it as reported.

AP - Mayor Gavin Newsom has taken his first public step toward seeking higher office, filing papers to form an exploratory committee for a potential gubernatorial bid in 2010.