DENVER, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama's acceptance speech in Denver Thursday will address the urgency of change, the party said in a statement.

As many as 75,000 people were expected to attend the Illinois senator's speech at Invesco Field. The speech is being hailed as a historic event as Obama becomes the first black to lead a major U.S. party's presidential bid, CNN reported.

The Democratic National Convention Committee said in a statement Obama's speech would echo his campaign platform of "Change You Can Believe In."

"Obama will communicate the urgency of the moment, highlight the struggles Americans are facing and call on Americans to come together to change the course of our nation," the statement said.

Democrats also scheduled a tribute at the football field to assassinated political activist the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, exactly 45 years ago in 1963.

Obama won the nomination by acclamation Wednesday at the request of his rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, who endorsed him.

Jamaica braces for Gustav storm strike

MIAMI, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- A warning of imminent hurricane strike was posted in Jamaica Thursday as a strengthening Tropical Storm Gustav bore down.

Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said at 7:30 a.m., Gustav was about 80 miles east of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 170 miles south of Guantanamo, Cuba.

Sustained winds had increased to near 70 mph, just below the hurricane threshold of 74 mph, and winds extended 50 miles around the center.

Forecasters said Gustav's center would strike Jamaica Thursday and warned of coastal storm surge flooding of 1 to 3 feet above normal tide levels and as much as 12 inches of rain. Wednesday, officials in Haiti and the Dominican Republic reported at least 22 people were killed by flooding and landslides when Gustav hit Hispaniola as a Category 1 hurricane.

U.S. forecasters said the storm would likely regain hurricane status as it moved over warm waters toward the west at 6 mph on Thursday.

While Gustav's ultimate path wasn't certain, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency Wednesday and mobilized 3,000 National Guard troops, The Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans reported.

U.S. gives Anbar security role to Iraq

BAGHDAD, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Security responsibility in the violent western Iraqi province of Anbar is being relinquished by the U.S. military to Iraqi forces, military officials said.

Marine Corps Gen. James Conway said at a Washington news conference a ceremony marking the transfer would occur in the next few days, the New York Times (NYSE:NYT) reported.

Conway said Anbar no longer requires 25,000 Marines, many of whom he said would be better employed fighting the "growing bolder" Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, the Washington Post (NYSE:WPO) said.

The U.S. military had planned to hand over security of the primarily Sunni Muslim province that borders Baghdad to Iraq in June, but that was postponed.

Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Chris Hughes told reporters in Anbar the number of U.S. troops in the province had dropped to 25,000 from 37,000 in February, and Iraqi police force numbers had climbed to 28,000 from 5,000 three years ago, the Times said.

Officials said insurgent attacks in Anbar are at the lowest level -- two or three a day -- since the war began in March 2003, when there would be more than 20 per day, the Post said.

Russia condemned by fellow G8 members

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Russia was condemned Wednesday by its fellow G8 members for invading Georgia and undermining its authority over South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom said Russia's recognition of the independence of the two states violates Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty. They said the action also is contrary to United Nations Security Council resolutions supported by Russia.

"Russia's decision has called into question its commitment to peace and security in the Caucasus," the statement continued. "We deplore Russia's excessive use of military force in Georgia and its continued occupation of parts of Georgia."

The G8 foreign ministers unanimously called on Moscow to fully implement the six-point peace plan brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on behalf of the European Union.

Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney lambasted Russia's incursion into Georgia when he spoke to members of the American Legion veterans group in Phoenix, American Forces Press Service reported.

"That young democracy has been subjected to an unjustified assault, and the international community has joined in condemning Russia's invasion of a sovereign, democratic neighbor and its recognition of Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia," Cheney said.

The vice president, at President George Bush's behest, will travel to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine and Italy next week.

Killer sentenced to death in Idaho

BOISE, Idaho, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Convicted child killer Joseph Duncan III smiled Wednesday as a jury's verdict sentencing him to death was passed to the judge at a courthouse in Boise, Idaho.

The jury took three hours before deciding Duncan should be executed for the torture slaying of Dylan Groene, who he kidnapped along with his sister from his Idaho home, KTRV-TV in Boise reported.

Duncan may now be sent to Southern California to stand trial for the 1997 kidnapping and killing of Anthony Martinez, 10.

Authorities said Duncan killed Dylan's mother, older brother and his mother's fiance to kidnap him and his younger sister.

Duncan took the two children to a Montana campsite where he raped and tortured them before shooting Dylan in the head and burning his body. Dylan's sister was rescued weeks later when a waitress at a restaurant in Coeur d'Alene called police after recognizing the two.