BATON ROGUE, La. -- President Bush flew over flooded fields and downed trees Wednesday as he kept a close watch on the Hurricane Gustav recovery, in contrast to his administration's bungled response to Katrina three years ago.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- John McCain's campaign on Wednesday angrily called for an end to questions about Sarah Palin's background, calling it a "faux media scandal designed to destroy the first female Republican nominee" for vice president.

ALGER, Wash. -- A man recently released from jail on drug charges and whose mother calls him "desperately mentally ill" is accused of a shooting spree that left six people dead and two others injured in northwest Washington.

NEW ORLEANS -- Cars, campers and sports utility vehicles jammed the roads back to the Louisiana coastline Wednesday, as the 2 million evacuees chased away by the threat of Hurricane Gustav tried to make their way home.

SAHARSA DISTRICT, India -- Hungry villagers rioted, desperate families swam for their lives and chaos spread across a wide swath of flooded plains in northern India Tuesday as authorities mounted one of the country's largest relief efforts.

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department refused to prosecute former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for improperly -- and possibly illegally -- storing in his office and home classified information about two of the Bush administration's most sensitive counterterrorism efforts.

NORTHFIELD, Ill. -- Hundreds of Chicago public school children are spending the first day of classes lined up outside a wealthy suburban school to protest district funding disparities.

NEW ORLEANS -- Many of the illegal immigrants who have been rebuilding New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina stayed behind when Gustav struck because they were afraid of being arrested if they boarded the buses and trains arranged by emergency officials.

DETROIT -- The Michigan Court of Appeals won't stop Gov. Jennifer Granholm from holding a hearing today that could lead to the ouster of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A U.S. investigation into U.N. and Afghan allegations that dozens of civilians were killed during an operation in a small village found Tuesday that up to seven civilians died but that the overwhelming majority of the dead were Taliban.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Republicans assailed Barack Obama as the most liberal, least experienced White House nominee in history Tuesday night and enthusiastically extolled their own man John McCain as "ready to lead this nation." Convention delegates rallied behind running mate Sarah Palin in the face of fresh controversy.

ALGER, Wash. -- A shooting rampage Tuesday afternoon in northwest Washington has left six people dead, including a sheriff's deputy, the State Patrol said. A suspect in the shootings has surrendered.