NewsCosmos

New Orleans and other Louisiana coastal areas increasingly took on the eeriness of ghost towns Sunday as residents heeded a mandatory evacuation order ahead of a speedier Hurricane Gustav.

Authorities evacuating residents from New Orleans ahead of Hurricane Gustav are making amends with four-legged friends after thousands of pets perished in Hurricane Katrina.

President Bush said Sunday he is skipping the Republican National Convention on Monday and will travel instead to Texas to meet with emergency workers and evacuees as Hurricane Gustav nears.

John McCain tore up the script for his Republican National Convention on Sunday as Hurricane Gustav churned toward New Orleans.

Two St. Louis-area hospital emergency rooms are on lockdown after the arrival of patients who appeared to be exposed to chemicals.

From backyards in Tennessee to riverbanks in Southeast Asia, researchers said they have seen fireflies — also called glowworms or lightning bugs — dwindling in number.

President Felipe Calderon faced one of his biggest challenges Saturday as Mexicans poured into the streets nationwide for mass protests against the tide of killings, kidnappings and shootouts sweeping the country.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected Israel’s idea of an interim peace agreement at a Sunday summit, a Palestinian negotiator said, insisting on an all-or-nothing approach that virtually ruled out an accord by a January target date.

Russian troops remaining in Georgian territory are effectively preventing Georgians from returning to their homes, a U.N. representative said Saturday.

The number of cyclists has doubled in a decade in cities as disparate as Berlin and Bogota. Global bicycle production has increased for six consecutive years, according to a report. Yet when it comes to using a bike for everyday transportation, the boom appears to have bypassed many countries.