AP - National Guard troops stand ready, batteries and water bottles sold briskly, and one small-town mayor spent a sleepless night worrying. The New Orleans area watched as a storm marched across the Caribbean on the eve of Hurricane Katrina's third anniversary.

AP - Tropical Storm Gustav was heading toward Jamaica early Thursday while many miles away, residents in the New Orleans area watched it with a nervous eye.

AP - Suspected militants bombed a bus carrying prisoners in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least nine people as fighting between security forces and extremists flared across the country's tribal belt.

Reuters - A new tropical depression formed over the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday and threatened to become the eighth storm of the already busy 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

AP - Marion "Suge" Knight was jailed Wednesday on assault and drug charges after he was accused of beating his girlfriend while brandishing a knife near the Las Vegas Strip, police said.

AP - Sen. Barack Obama dropped in on his own party at the Democratic convention a day early Wednesday to praise his wife, his former rival, and former President Bill Clinton for going to bat for him.

AP - Barack Obama stands before delegates and the nation Thursday — the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic "I Have a Dream" speech — to accept the Democratic presidential nomination, the first black man to claim such a prize.

Reuters - Israel on Thursday reopened its border crossings with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, two days after they were shut in response to rocket attacks.

Reuters - Thousands of lawyers blocked roads across Pakistan on Thursday to press the government to reinstate judges purged by former president Pervez Musharraf, as militants attacked police in the northwest, killing 11 people.

Reuters - Thousands of protesters defied a court order to leave Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's official compound on Thursday as the group's leaders vowed to stay until his administration fell.

Reuters - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev looked east on Thursday for support for Moscow's tough line over Georgia, which has inflamed relations with the West and prompted talk of a new Cold War.

AP - Thousands of demonstrators, some armed with golf clubs, batons and bamboo sticks, defied a court order to end their occupation of the prime minister's office compound on Thursday, vowing to remain until the country's leaders resign.

AP - Talk about an extreme makeover: Scientists have transformed one type of cell into another in living mice, a big step toward the goal of growing replacement tissues to treat a variety of diseases.

AFP - Barack Obama will Thursday summon Americans to join his crusade for political change, as he claims his place in history in a dazzling finale to the Democratic convention.

AFP - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev turned to Asian allies Thursday for support in the Georgia crisis as the Group of Seven condemned Moscow in a standoff that is stoking fears of a new Cold War.

Reuters - Four days after closing the 2008 Beijing Games in triumph, China lit the 2008 Paralympics torch amid pomp and ceremony at Beijing's ancient Temple of Heaven, marking the start of a domestic relay for the September 6 Games.

AP - Daniel Murphy hit a tiebreaking double after Carlos Delgado's second solo homer had tied the game in the eighth and the New York Mets beat Philadelphia 6-3 on Wednesday night to reclaim first place in the NL East.

Reuters - A federal jury in Idaho sentenced Joseph Duncan on Wednesday to death for shooting to death a 9-year-old boy in front of his younger sister after kidnapping and sexually abusing the boy.

Reuters - To shouts of "Yes we can," Democrats nominated Barack Obama on Wednesday as their presidential candidate in a historic first for a black American, backed by his ex-rivals Bill and Hillary Clinton.