AP - Russia's invasion of Georgia presents the West with a difficult choice: Punish Moscow by kicking it out of clubs like the Group of Eight or pursue a strategy of placating it that could invite further bullying in places like Ukraine, the Baltic states or Moldova.

AFP - Darfur rebels claimed to have shot down a Sudanese military spy plane in a wild mountainous area of the war-torn region on Thursday.

AP - More than 200 oil-slicked penguins have washed up dead on the beaches of a popular Brazilian resort, and officials say they are searching for a cause.

AP - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday rejected the idea that Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon might be forced to stay there permanently, saying they should have the right to return home.

AFP - Celtic striker Scott McDonald can't wait to savour the Battle of Britain atmosphere after his side were pitted against Manchester United in Thursday's draw for the Champions League group stages.

AP - Tourists and oil workers fled Thursday as Gustav swamped eastern Jamaica on a path to hit 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 - A surge of violence continued unabated in Pakistan's tribal border region Thursday, with a car bomb blasting a bus filled with Pakistani police and government workers off a bridge and killing eight people aboard.

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 - U.S. forces arrested a top Shiite official in Iraq's government as he stepped off a plane in Baghdad, a political ally said Thursday, and a U.S. military intelligence official linked the man to a June bombing that killed four Americans and six Iraqis.

AP - China and several Central Asian nations rebuffed Russia's hopes of international support for its actions in Georgia, issuing a statement Thursday denouncing the use of force and calling for the respect of every country's territorial integrity.

Reuters - Chinese central government departments misused or mismanaged more than 46 billion yuan ($6.73 billion) last year, including using disaster relief money to build government offices and diverting funds to speculate in stocks, the National Audit Office said on Thursday.

AP - The head of the U.N. refugee agency's office in Somalia says kidnappers have released him from captivity after more than two months.

AP - As of Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008, at least 4,148 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.