Sarah Palin to introduce herself to voters
ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin introduces herself to the Republican Party delegates and the nation Wednesday at the party's convention in St. Paul, Minn.
Palin, 44, will accept the vice presidential nomination to close the third session of the four-day Republican National Convention.
She said her speech will focus on government reform.
Also scheduled to speak Wednesday are several primary rivals of Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who is prepared to accept the GOP presidential nomination Thursday, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
The theme for Wednesday evening is "Reform." Interspersed among featured speakers will be videos on prosperity and McCain's economic reform package.
Country singers John Rich, Gretchen Wilson and Cowboy Troy also are scheduled to perform.
FEMA helps with Gustav, preps for Hanna
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Relief workers are providing protection and sustenance in areas affected by Hurricane Gustav along the U.S. Gulf Coast, a federal official said Wednesday.
"So now we're in the life protection and life-sustaining mode, making sure we have the tarps down there for the homes, we have water, food, cots, blankets, all those types of things we're going to need," David Paulison, Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, said in a briefing with White House press secretary Dana Perino aboard Air Force One.
Paulison was traveling to Baton Rouge, La., with President George Bush for an on-site assessment of storm damage.
While some places have been opened to evacuated residents, Paulison cautioned people against returning to their homes until local officials say it's safe.
"(Most) of the areas don't have electricity; some of them don't have water, and there's no infrastructure in place," he said. "So we caution people not to come back in until they're sure that their parish has power, has water, sewer, and all those types of things it takes to survive."
Besides helping Gulf Coast states after Hurricane Gustav, FEMA also is preparing to help Atlantic Coast states that may be affected by Hurricane Hanna.
"(We've) already got our supplies ready to move in," Paulison said. "(We've) got a lot of pre-staged stuff in Atlanta, in Florida, and up in North Carolina. I've moved teams into all of those states already."
Palin says Iraq war is 'task from God'
WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Likely Republican U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin told her church congregation that the Iraq war was part of God's plan, a videotape revealed.
A 14-minute video of a speech the Alaska governor delivered in June to the Wasilla, Alaska, Assembly of God Church and posted Tuesday on the Huffington Post Web site showed her saying the United States' involvement in Iraq is "a task that is from God."
She is seen saying: "Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending (troops) out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."
In the speech, she tells the congregation that building a long-sought, 1,715-mile natural gas pipeline from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Alberta, Canada, is also part of God's plan.
"I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," she said.
N. Korea said resuming nuclear plant work
WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- The United States indicated Wednesday it wasn't changing its stance on North Korea despite reports that Pyongyang had resumed construction of a nuclear plant.
White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe told CNN that Washington would only remove North Korea from its list of terrorism sponsors when North Korea agreed to independent verification that the nuclear complex at Yongbyon was being disassembled.
An unconfirmed report from Japan's Kyodo news agency said that North Korea had resumed reassembly of the Yongbyon facility, apparently as a protest over not being taken off the U.S. terrorism list.
"We and our partners in the six-party talks have made clear to North Korea that we need a credible verification protocol, and as soon as have it, we will remove North Korea from the terror list," Johndroe said. "North Korea knows what it needs to do at this point."
CNN said the sticking point appears to be Pyongyang's refusal to permit unannounced inspections at all of its nuclear facilities.
U.S. urges closer NATO to buck up Baltics
BRUSSELS, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. ambassador to NATO says the treaty alliance needs to send new signals to Russia that it is prepared to defend the independence of the Baltic states.
The EU Observer said Wednesday Ambassador Kurt Volker said the "signals" would both reassure jittery governments in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and ensure Moscow knows that NATO is still a force to be reckoned with.
The Observer said Volker, in an interview Tuesday with the Financial Times, said that one option would be closer, but non-provocative, military planning and exercises with the Baltic states.
Latvia and Estonia have large ethnic Russian populations, much the same as the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia and now Transniestria, a region of Moldavia where Russian-speaking separatists are calling for the stationing of Russian troops.
Italian foreign minister visits Georgia
TBILISI, Georgia, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Italy would be willing to join other countries in the European Union in a peacekeeping mission in Georgia, the Italian foreign minister said Wednesday.
Franco Frattini arrived in Tbilisi for a short visit to Georgia, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. He said that the proposal to field an EU policing force in the buffer zone around the breakaway region of South Ossetia is to be discussed Friday and Saturday during an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in southern France.
The peacekeeping force would number about 200 Frattini said. One condition would be Russia's granting unlimited access to the force in the buffer zone.
Frattini also offered to host an international conference in Rome to discuss the crisis in Georgia.
The foreign minister is to visit Russia Thursday. In Georgia he said that Russian objections would not affect a timetable for Georgia moving closer to NATO membership.
