DENVER — Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are locked in a highly competitive race for the White House, with voters giving McCain a clear edge as a potential commander in chief but Obama a sizable advantage on economic issues, the subject of greatest concern to voters, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Heading into two critical weeks of the campaign — the four-day Democratic National Convention is set to open here on Monday, followed by the Republican National Convention next week — Obama maintains a narrow, six-point edge over McCain among registered voters. Among those most likely to vote, 49 percent back Obama to 45 percent for McCain.
Pennsylvania: Sept. 11 memorial
Steel from the World Trade Center has been transformed into a cross and placed near where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed on Sept. 11, 2001, in Pennsylvania. The 14-foot-high, 3,000-pound monument traveled from New York to the Shanksville fire station Saturday as part of a 300-mile motorcycle escort from New York. The cross will be dedicated at a ceremony today.
California: Emergency landing
A Chicago-bound United Airlines flight was forced to return to San Francisco International Airport early Saturday after running into engine trouble. United flight 158 carrying 249 passengers and crew members landed safely about 30 minutes after takeoff after one of its engine compressors stalled, a UAL spokeswoman said. The pilot was able to turn the plane around and return to the airport, flying on the aircraft’s second engine. Smoke entered the cabin after the plane landed and the engines were shut down, she said.
Area code glitch blocks 911 calls
The sheriff’s department in Orange County said the 911 emergency call system for much of the county has been repaired after an outage that shut it down for 90 minutes. A sheriff’s official said there were no reports of serious problems or unanswered emergency calls during the outage early Saturday. He said callers could still dial two regular business numbers to reach dispatchers. He said the outage was caused by changes involved in the introduction of a new area code.
Utah: Ten die in King Air crash
A small plane crashed and burned shortly after takeoff, killing everyone on board, including the pilot and nine people who had spent the day working at a skin cancer clinic in remote community. The twin-engine Beech King Air A-100 crashed shortly after takeoff Friday evening from Canyonlands Field airport, 18 miles northwest of Moab. It hit the ground in nearby hills, flattened and exploded on impact, authorities said. Emergency responders rushed to the site to search for possible survivors and fight a brush fire that was apparently sparked by the crash.
Iraq: Sunni fighters disarmed
Iraq’s government is grateful to U.S.-allied Sunni fighters but won’t allow them to keep their weapons indefinitely, the prime minister said Saturday, hinting at a more intense crackdown on the groups. In recent weeks, the Shiite-dominated government has gone after Sunni fighters despite their alliances with the Americans. Some leaders have been arrested, while scores of others have been disarmed and banned from manning checkpoints except alongside security forces. The groups, known as Awakening Councils, Sons of Iraq and Popular Committees, have helped rout al-Qaida in some parts of Iraq.
China: 10 protesters sentenced
Chinese police have sentenced at least 10 foreigners to 10 days of detention for protesting during the Olympic Games, an activist group and officials said Saturday. The most recent detainees included four protesters who were demonstrating against Chinese rule in Tibet, said the New York-based Students for a Free Tibet. The protesters — a German, two Americans and a British citizen — were seized Thursday while unfurling a Tibetan flag near the “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium. Britain’s Foreign Office issued a statement saying, “We continue to underline to the Chinese government the need to respect its commitment to freedom of expression.” The statement also urged British citizens to respect China’s laws.
Italy: Dutch tourists are assaulted
Italian police say a gang of men badly beat a Dutch couple and raped the woman while they camped in an isolated field outside Rome during a cycling tour of Europe. Police said three or four men struck when the married couple, both in their fifties, were asleep in a tent at Ponte Galeria, an area on the Tiber River between Rome and the sea. They are being treated for shock and multiple fractures at Rome’s San Camillo hospital. Police said Saturday the attackers also stole some about $2,200.
Mexico: Tropical storm forms
Tropical Storm Julio formed off Mexico’s Pacific coast on Saturday and was headed toward Baja California Peninsula. The storm was forecast to brush the west coast of the peninsula near Cabo San Lazaro on Monday morning, and make landfall Tuesday further north near Punto Abreojos. The storm packed maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and was centered Saturday afternoon about 240 miles south-southeast of the tip of the Baja Peninsula, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
From Herald news services
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