DENVER – Hillary Rodham Clinton closed the book on her 2008 presidential bid with an emphatic plea for the party to unite behind Barack Obama.

Now the Democratic convention spotlight turns to her husband, as former President Bill Clinton takes to the prime-time television stage Wednesday evening. He is expected to launch attacks on the Republican's presumptive presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, and on the Bush administration.

Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, Obama's choice as a running mate, will get prime-time exposure as well.

Hillary Clinton, who won 18 million votes but still failed to earn her party's nomination, planned to meet with delegates who still want to cast ballots for her during the nominating roll call Wednesday evening – a symbolic move before Obama is nominated, presumably by acclamation. Clinton has not indicated whether she would have her name placed in nomination or seek a formal roll call vote.

Clinton's aides said it remained unclear how exactly the meeting with the delegates would play out, or how her supporters will react.

US ship carrying humanitarian aid docks at Georgian port of Batumi

BATUMI, Georgia – A U.S. military ship carrying humanitarian aid docked at the Georgian Black Sea port of Batumi on Wednesday, avoiding the port of Poti, which is still controlled by Russian forces.

The move came amid escalating tensions between Russia and Georgia's Western allies. Batumi, where the Coast Guard cutter Dallas docked, is well south of the zone of fighting in this month's war between Russia and Georgia.

The United States and European nations have assailed Russia's recognition of two Georgian territories as separate nations Tuesday, and Moscow has also criticized the U.S. for bringing humanitarian aid into Georgia on military ships.

The U.S. embassy changed its version of events several times in the last 24 hours. At first, it announced Tuesday that its aid ship would dock Wednesday at Poti. Then early Wednesday, the embassy said that plans had changed, and the ship would dock at Batumi.

Later in the day, the U.S. Embassy retracted its earlier statement that an aid ship would dock in Poti. The spokesperson would not allow their name to be used.

Libyan official says hijackers of Darfur plane releasing passengers, but not crew

TRIPOLI, Libya – The hijackers of a plane that took off from Sudan's Darfur region were releasing passengers Wednesday after landing hours earlier at a remote desert airfield in southern Libya, a civil aviation official said.

The official said, however, that crew members were not being allowed off the plane. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Hijackers commandeered the Boeing 737 jetliner, which was carrying 95 passengers and crew, soon after it took off Tuesday from Nyala in the south of Darfur, a vast region where Sudan's government has been battling rebels since 2003.

The plane, which had been en route to the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, was diverted to a World War II-era airstrip in Libya's Sahara desert oasis of Kufra.

Libya's official JANA news agency said negotiations between Libyan civil aviation authorities and the hijackers resulted in the release of all passengers. The agency reported there were 87 passengers and eight crew members.

Gustav drenches Haiti as it weakens to tropical storm, threatens Gulf of Mexico oil rigs

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Tropical Storm Gustav stalled in the Caribbean early Wednesday a day after hitting Haiti as a hurricane.

But the National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm could regain hurricane strength later in the day or on Thursday once it moves away from Haiti.

As of 5 a.m. EDT Wednesday, Gustav's maximum sustained winds were near 60 mph (95 kph) with higher gusts. The storm was centered about 80 miles (125 kilometers) west of Port-au-Prince. The storm had not moved much during the last few hours, the hurricane center said. But it was expected to continue moving toward the west-northwest.

Jamaica issued a tropical storm warning Wednesday and also remained under a hurricane watch along with the Cayman Islands. A watch means hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours.

A hurricane warning was in effect for parts of Cuba including the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay. A warning means hurricane conditions are expected within 24 hours.

Despite indictment, US Sen. Ted Stevens wins Republican primary in Alaska; race in Florida set

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Alaska Republicans gave U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, currently facing a federal indictment, a primary victory on Tuesday.

It sets up a November election race with possibly the toughest opponent Stevens has ever faced in his 40 years in public office, squaring off against popular Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich.

Stevens won his primary with 63 percent of the vote. Begich easily won his Democratic primary over two minor challengers with 91 percent of the vote.

A loud crowd of supporters gathered at Stevens' headquarters, and set off a loud cheer when the first results were announced. When they were posted, Stevens walked closer to the big-screen television, adjusted his glasses and said, “Looks good to me,” before flashing a huge grin.

Begich, for his part, and a throng of his sign-carrying supporters walked to the city's convention center. “It's clear to me people want new ideas,” Begich said.

30 suspected Taliban killed in series of clashes, airstrikes and bomgings in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – More than 30 Taliban fighters and four policemen were killed in a series of clashes, airstrikes and bombings in Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday.

Taliban fighters attacked a police checkpoint in the Nad Ali district of southern Helmand province Tuesday, sparking a clash that killed 18 militants, provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal said.

The militants attacked the officers guarding a government compound in the district before being repelled by the police, Andiwal said. There were no casualties among Afghan troops, he said.

The militants have attacked the same checkpoint many times in the past, and the authorities had reinforced their position, Andiwal said.

U.S.-led coalition troops, meanwhile, clashed and called in airstrikes on another group of militants in the same province killing over a dozen insurgents, the coalition said in a statement.

Immigrant community in fear after nearly 600 detained in southern Miss. ICE raid

LAUREL, Miss. – A day after the largest single-workplace immigration raid in U.S. history, Elizabeth Alegria was too scared to send her son to school and worried about when she'd see her husband again.

Nearly 600 immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally were detained, creating panic among dozens of families in this small southern Mississippi town.

Alegria, 26, a Mexican immigrant, was working at the Howard Industries transformer plant Monday when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stormed in. When they found out she has two sons, ages 4 and 9, she was fitted with a bracelet and told to appear in federal court next month. But her husband, Andres, wasn't so lucky.

“I'm very traumatized because I don't know if they are going to let my husband go and when I will see him,” Alegria said through a translator Tuesday as she returned to the Howard Industries parking lot to retrieve her sport utility vehicle.

The superintendent of the county school district said about half of approximately 160 Hispanic students were absent Tuesday.

Kara DioGuardi reports to work as judge No. 4 on 'Idol,' flirts with Simon Cowell

NEW YORK – It was only her first day as an “American Idol” judge, but already Kara DioGuardi seemed part of the dysfunctional family.

DioGuardi, the freshly-installed fourth “Idol” critic, joined Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson in a public show of solidarity Tuesday afternoon as the quartet entered a Chelsea Piers building on Manhattan's west side for a round of season eight auditions.

They walked a red carpet amid a media circus aimed at getting the first photo opportunity of DioGuardi with her new co-workers. Cowell summed up the thinking behind adding the 37-year-old singer-songwriter to the panel.

“It's like, you know, having dinner with three people for seven years, and getting quite bored of each other,” Cowell told reporters. “So it's having a fourth person, new opinion, I think it's gonna be interesting.”

“I think it's gonna make it sexier,” said Jackson, chiming in.

FAA: Communication failure at Ga. facility that processes flight plans caused delays

ATLANTA – Mass flight delays caused by an electronic communication failure at a Federal Aviation Administration facility drew new criticism for an agency that has been scrutinized over air traffic controller staffing levels and inspection standards for its ground-based equipment.

The Northeast was hardest hit by the delays prompted Tuesday by a glitch at a Hampton, Ga., facility that processes flight plans for the eastern half of the U.S.

By early evening, the FAA said that the situation around the country was returning to normal, with delays remaining in Atlanta and Chicago.

At one point, an FAA Web site that tracks airport status showed delays at some three dozen major airports across the country. The site advised passengers to “check your departure airport to see if your flight may be affected.”

The FAA said the glitch appeared to have involved a software problem.

Federer is No. 2 in rankings and seedings, but still looks like top dog at U.S. Open

NEW YORK – Perhaps that No. 2 in front of Roger Federer name made Maximo Gonzalez believe he had a shot at knocking off the four-time defending U.S. Open champion.

Not so fast, Maximo.

For a while in the first set, Federer couldn't shake Gonzalez, who was making his Flushing Meadows debut Tuesday night. No easy task any time, but way worse to get your feet wet against the man that had been ranked first in the world for 4½ years until last week.

“One or 2 is always pretty much the same thing,” the 27-year-old Federer said of his seeding. “The change I feel is fans are really supporting me and telling me I'm still No. 1 and still the best.”

Federer ran off wins in 10 straight games over three sets to turn a competitive match into the rout everyone expected. It took only 1 hour, 22 minutes for Federer to look familiarly fearsome in a dominating 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 win.