A blast wounded 13 people in Thailand's capital early Thursday when assailants hurled an explosive device at market vendors who had gathered to protest a rent hike at the government-owned facility, police said.

The blast occurred in the Thai capital at around 1 a.m. local time when some protesters were sleeping in makeshift tents while others gathered outdoors, Pol. Col. Sutip Palitkusontap said. Twelve of the injured were hospitalized, two of them with serious injuries, he said.

Hundreds of vendors who operate stalls at the outdoor market have been staging a protest against the facility's new privately contracted management company since Wednesday afternoon, Sutip said.

Two men were seen dropping a plastic bag from a fly-over bridge to the protest side at an intersection in Klong Toey district before the blast occurred, Sutip said, citing witnesses.

"It remains unclear what kind of explosive device it was and who was behind the attack," he said.

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Thursday that Democrat Barack Obama offered few national security specifics in the infomercial he broadcast the night before, accusing him of trying to "soften the focus" in the campaign's final days.

"In times of economic worry and hardship — crisis that we're in right now — someone is attempting to put those concerns aside on Election Day — national security issues," Palin told about 6,000 people at a convention center rally.

The Alaska governor said Obama had "wrapped his closing message in a warm and fuzzy scripted infomercial intended to soften the focus in these closing days. He's hoping that your mind won't wander to the real challenges of national security, challenges that he isn't capable of meeting."

She said Republican presidential candidate John McCain is ready for that challenge.

Obama spent about $4 million on a half-hour campaign commercial broadcast Wednesday night on several network and national cable stations.

Palin also said congressional Democrats want sharp cuts in military spending, but that now is not the time to do that.

"We're fighting two wars ... They think it's the perfect time to radically reduce defense spending. What are they thinking?" Palin said.

Palin received a smattering of boos when she said she was glad to be in the home state of the World Series-champion Philadelphia Phillies. Northwestern Pennsylvania baseball fans favor the Cleveland Indians or Pittsburgh Pirates.

Former Gov. Tom Ridge introduced Palin but mostly spoke of McCain, calling his...

Firework spectacular in Newyork , diwali 2008

From losingest team to longest game, the Philadelphia Phillies are World Series champions. Strange as that sounds. Strange as it was. Brad Lidge and the Phillies finished off the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in a three-inning sprint Wednesday night to win a suspended Game 5 nearly 50 hours after it started.

Left in limbo by a two-day rainstorm, the Phillies seesawed to their first championship since 1980. Pedro Feliz singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh and Lidge closed out his perfect season to deliver the title Philly craved for so long.

"It was a crazy way to win it with a suspended game but we did and it's over and we're very excited," 45-year-old Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer said. "It has been a long wait, but it's worth it."

Bundled in parkas and blankets, fans returned in force to Citizens Bank Park and saw the city claim its first major sports championship in 25 years. No more references needed to those sad-sack Phillies teams in the past and their 10,000-plus losses.

"They could taste it just as much as we could," Series MVP Cole Hamels said.

It was among the wackiest endings in baseball history, a best-of-seven series turned into a best-of-3 1/2 showdown when play resumed in the bottom of the sixth inning tied at 2.

How bizarre? Hamels was a star in Game 5 — and the ace never stepped on the mound Wednesday night; Two Rays relievers warmed up to start, and there was...

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama plunked down $4 million for a campaign-closing television ad Wednesday night and summoned voters to "choose hope over fear and unity over division" in Tuesday's election. Republican John McCain derided the event as a "gauzy, feel-good commercial," paid for with broken promises.

"America, the time for change has come," Obama said in the final moments of the unusual ad, a blend of videotaped moments and a live appearance before thousands in Sunrise, Fla.

"In six days we can choose an economy that rewards work and creates jobs and fuels prosperity starting with the middle class," Obama said.

The 30-minute ad, aired on CBS, NBC, Fox and several cable networks, came days from the end of a race in which Obama holds the lead in polls nationally and in most key battleground states as he bids to become the first black president.

And while it is unusual for candidates to acknowledge the possibility of defeat, Republican running mate Sarah Palin said she intended to remain a national figure even if the ticket loses next week. "I'm not doin' this for naught," she told ABC News in an interview.

Republicans and even some Democrats said the race was tightening as it neared the end. Although Obama made no mention of McCain in his paid television ad, both men sharpened their rhetoric during the day.

McCain, in Florida, argued that Obama lacks "what it takes to protect America from terrorists" as he sought to shift attention away...