AP - The Gulf Coast watched anxiously as Hurricane Ike trudged toward areas still cleaning up after Gustav, with disasters pre-declared in much of eastern Texas and Louisianans urged to stock up — again — on supplies.

AP - Listening to Barack Obama, it can seem like Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is the main person standing between him and the White House instead of John McCain.

AP - The widower of assassinated former Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto took office as the country's new president Tuesday, facing immediate pressure to crack down on Islamic militants and address daunting economic problems.

AP - The United States remains "dangerously vulnerable" to chemical, biological and nuclear attacks seven years after 9/11, a forthcoming independent study concludes. And a House Democrats' report says the Bush administration has missed one opportunity after another to improve the nation's security.

AP - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Congress should view the next few months as a "time out" in the highly charged debate over what to do with mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

AP - Hurricane Ike roared toward Cuba's densely populated capital of fragile historic buildings after forcing 1.2 million people to evacuate, killing at least four and ravaging homes elsewhere on the island nation.

AP - President Bush plans to pull 8,000 more combat and support troops out of Iraq by February, a measured drawdown that will leave nearly the same level of U.S. forces in the war zone for the rest of the year.

AFP - European stocks soared Monday in a massive relief rally after the US government bailed out ailing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, easing fears of a global financial meltdown.

AFP - President Dmitry Medvedev pledged Monday to withdraw all Russian troops from Georgia within a month, although Russian forces will remain in two breakaway regions recognised by Moscow as independent states.

Reuters - A California judge on Monday rejected a proposed plea agreement sentence of probation and a fine for Broadcom Corp co-founder Henry Samueli as too lenient, and postponed the sentencing until later this month.

Reuters - Missiles fired by U.S. drones killed 23 people, mostly relatives of a Taliban commander close to Osama bin Laden, in a region of Pakistan near the Afghan border on Monday, witnesses and intelligence officials said.

Reuters - The U.S. military said it planned to reopen an investigation into civilian deaths in a coalition air strike in western Afghanistan last month after new evidence emerged about casualties.

Reuters - President George W. Bush on Monday froze a lucrative civilian nuclear pact with Russia, the first big penalty imposed on Moscow after its war with Georgia but one that can be reversed.

Reuters - Hurricane Ike moved over warm Caribbean water off the Cuban coast on Monday after blowing off roofs, toppling trees and flattening sugar cane fields like a giant lawn mower on a path toward U.S. oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico.