Today's news

--> Tblisi, Georgia: Georgia's president said today that his country is under attack by Russian tanks and warplanes, and he accused Russia of targeting civilians as tensions over the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia appeared to boil over into full-blown conflict.

"All day today, they've been bombing Georgia from numerous warplanes and specifically targeting (the) civilian population, and we have scores of wounded and dead among (the) civilian population all around the country," President Mikhail Saakashvili told CNN in an exclusive interview.

Asked whether Georgia and Russia were now at war, he said, "My country is in self-defense against Russian aggression. Russian troops invaded Georgia."

--> Islamabad, Pakistan: President Pervez Musharraf will stage a spirited defense against impeachment charges the governing coalition is pursuing against him, and has no intention of resigning under pressure, his key allies said today.

Mr. Musharraf, who has been president for eight years, faces the first impeachment proceedings in Pakistani history, after the leaders of the two major political parties in the ruling coalition announced Thursday they would seek to remove him.

The grounds for impeachment included mismanagement of the economy, along with Mr. Musharraf’s imposition last November of emergency rule and the firing of nearly 60 judges, the party leaders said.

--> New York, NY: Retail gasoline prices fell, on average, more than a penny overnight, extending declines for the 22nd straight day, a survey of gas station credit card swipes showed today.

The national average price for a gallon of regular gas fell to $3.836 from $3.849 the previous day. That's down nearly 7% from the record high of $4.114 that gas prices hit on July 16.
Gas prices have eased substantially in recent weeks amid signs that global demand for petroleum products is slowing.

--> Miami, FL: A man who authorities said was keeping weapons and military-style gear in his hotel room and car appeared in court Thursday on charges he threatened to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Raymond Hunter Geisel, 22, was arrested by the Secret Service on Saturday in Miami and was ordered held at Miami's downtown detention center without bail Thursday by a federal magistrate.

In the interview with a Secret Service agent, Geisel said "if he wanted to kill Senator Obama he simply would shoot him with a sniper rifle, but then he claimed that he was just joking," according to court documents.

In a search of Geisel's 1998 Ford Explorer and hotel room in Miami uncovered a loaded 9mm handgun, knives, dozens of rounds of ammunition including armor-piercing types, body armor, military-style fatigues and a machete. The SUV, which has Maine license plates, was wired with flashing red and yellow emergency lights.