AP - European Union leaders warned Russia on Monday that talks on a wide-ranging political and economic agreement would be postponed unless Russian troops pull back from positions in Georgia.

AP - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the GOP vice presidential candidate, is being represented by an attorney in the investigation into the firing of her public safety commissioner.

AP - Hurricane Gustav slammed into the heart of Louisiana's fishing and oil industry with 110 mph winds Monday, delivering only a glancing blow to New Orleans that raised hopes the city would escape the kind of catastrophic flooding brought by Katrina three years ago.

Reuters - Vijay Singh, helped by three monster putts on the back nine, eased to his third PGA Tour title in five weeks with a commanding five-shot victory at the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday.

AFP - The European Union on Monday froze talks with Moscow on closer ties until Russian troops withdraw from Georgia, as hundreds of thousands staged an anti-Russian rally in the Georgian capital.

Reuters - Energy companies watched anxiously on Monday as Hurricane Gustav lurched across the nation's largest concentration of oil platforms and refineries in the biggest threat to U.S. fuel supplies since 2005.

AP - American forces on Monday handed over security responsibility to the Iraqis in a province that the U.S. once feared was lost — a sign of the stunning reversal of fortunes since local Sunnis turned against al-Qaida in Iraq.

AP - Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales mishandled highly classified notes about a secret counterterror program, but not on purpose, according to a memo by his legal team.

Reuters - The 17-year-old unmarried daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is pregnant, Palin said on Monday in an announcement intended to knock down rumors by liberal bloggers that Palin faked her own pregnancy to cover up for her child.

AP - Oil prices tumbled to $111 a barrel Monday as Hurricane Gustav weakened along the Gulf Coast and posed less of a threat to oil drilling and refining operations.

Reuters - Republicans shifted from politics to storm relief on the opening day of their convention on Monday, shelving the usual glitter and celebration out of deference to Hurricane Gustav.

Reuters - Commerzbank outlined its plans to cut 9,000 jobs and shrink investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort to a rump after buying Dresdner Bank, but investors were unhappy about the $14.5 billion deal.

Reuters - Unpopular Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda resigned on Monday over a political deadlock, becoming the second leader to quit abruptly in less than a year and threatening a policy vacuum as Japan slips towards a recession.

Reuters - The U.S. military handed over Iraq's Anbar province to Iraqi security forces on Monday, less than two years after it almost lost the western region to a Sunni Arab insurgency.

AP - With a historic evacuation complete, and gun-toting police and National Guardsmen standing watch over this city's empty streets, even presidential politics stood still Sunday while the nation waited to see if Hurricane Gustav would be another Katrina.

AP - John McCain tore up the script for his Republican National Convention on Sunday, canceling most opening-day activities and positioning himself as above mere politics as Hurricane Gustav churned toward New Orleans.

Reuters - Tens of thousands of people in New Orleans and the U.S. Gulf Coast fled their homes on Sunday as Hurricane Gustav moved within 24 hours of striking land, possibly with a weaker punch than 2005's Hurricane Katrina.

Reuters - Republican John McCain on Sunday ordered political speeches canceled for his Republican nominating convention on Monday to avoid a festive atmosphere while Americans cope with Hurricane Gustav.

AP - Although attention is focused on the petroleum industry as Hurricane Gustav takes aim at the Gulf Coast, billions of dollars are at stake in other economic sectors: New Orleans' trademark tourism industry, the shipping business, sugar harvesting — and even such niche products as red-hot Tabasco sauce.

AFP - The United States girded for disaster Sunday as Hurricane Gustav plowed toward Louisiana, with over a million people fleeing the Gulf Coast and oil production all but shut off in the Gulf of Mexico.

AP - Roger Federer looked every bit a champion and stayed perfect at this U.S. Open. Andy Roddick showed shades of winning form, too.

AP - Barack Obama seems to have only one problem with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican candidate for vice president: She holds the same positions as John McCain, the GOP presidential candidate who tapped her.

AP - The drawdown of Marines from the former Sunni insurgent stronghold of Anbar will take time because there is still much work to be done, a top U.S. commander said Sunday on the eve of the once violent province's transfer to Iraqi security control.

AP - Television networks rapidly shifted focus and personnel away from the Republican national convention to Gulf Coast communities in the path of Hurricane Gustav on Sunday, wondering how much of their political planning will be for naught.

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.

Reuters - Hurricane Gustav was no longer expected to reach Category 4 strength before hitting the U.S. Gulf Coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Sunday.

AP - Russia's president said Sunday his country will give military aid to the two separatist regions at the center of the war with Georgia — signaling Moscow has no intention of backing down in the face of Western pressure.

AP - An Afghan army commander said that U.S. and Afghan troops were fired on first from a village where a government investigative commission says scores of civilians were killed, according to a report released Sunday.

AP - A year after aviator and adventurer Steve Fossett vanished on a Labor Day solo flight over western Nevada, friends and admirers are waging a new search for some sign of him in an area of rugged mountains.

Reuters - Russia does not want confrontation with the West but will hit back if attacked, Kremlin leader Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday, a day before EU leaders meet to draft a response to Moscow's actions in Georgia.

AFP - President Dmitry Medvedev warned Sunday that Russia was ready to retaliate against sanctions, on the eve of European Union summit called to agree on a response to the Georgia conflict.

Reuters - Five Sudanese men accused of murdering a U.S. aid worker are religious extremists who plotted to attack foreigners at New Year's Eve gatherings, Sudanese prosecutors told a court on Sunday.

Reuters - President George W. Bush's decision to mount a troop "surge" in Iraq last year was taken against the initial recommendations of his top advisers, including his field commander, The New York Times reported in Sunday editions.

Reuters - More than 150,000 Mexicans dressed in white marched on Saturday to protest a wave of kidnappings and gruesome murders, putting pressure on President Felipe Calderon to meet his promises to crack down on crime.