Reuters - U.S. energy companies shut nearly all offshore oil production and were racing to bring down flood-prone Louisiana refineries on Sunday ahead of Hurricane Gustav's landfall, which could rival the wrath of 2005's Hurricane Katrina.

AFP - Military chiefs are to meet with an animal rights group on Tuesday to discuss alternatives to the traditional bearskin hats famously worn by the guards at Buckingham Palace.

Reuters - President George W. Bush will not attend the Republican convention and will instead address the assembly via satellite so he can oversee the federal response to Hurricane Gustav, the White House said on Sunday.

AP - Stranded by hundreds of miles of floodwaters and trapped on rooftops and trees, desperate villagers stormed rescue boats on Sunday as they tried to escape the flooding that tore through a riverbank and spilled over northern India's vast plains.

AP - If Democrats hoped to portray John McCain as captive to the oil industry, their task became more complicated with his selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate.

AP - Zoo Atlanta's giant panda family just got larger.

AP - Residents were ordered to flee an only partially rebuilt New Orleans Sunday as another monster storm bore down on Louisiana nearly three years to the day after Hurricane Katrina wiped out entire swaths of the city.

AP - On the grasslands a few miles from the pinnacles and spires of Badlands National Park, federal wildlife officials have been waging a war since spring to save one of the nation's largest colonies of endangered black-footed ferrets.

AP - If Democrats hoped to portray John McCain as captive to the oil industry, their task became more complicated with his selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate.

AP - The craggy gullies where Idaho cowboy Paul Nettleton runs 1,200 head of cattle are often precious minutes from reliable cell phone coverage.

AP - Barack Obama expressed hope Saturday that the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina three years ago would help to protect the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Gustav this time. His running mate, Joe Biden, urged people to pray that the levees in New Orleans hold.