AP - Like many other New Orleanians nearly a year after Hurricane Katrina, John McCusker was experiencing the overwhelming stress of rebuilding his life.

AP - More than 433,000 people have been evacuated from parts of China's southeastern coast that are due to be hit by Typhoon Saomai, a government news agency reported Thursday.

AP - The city is showing signs of rebirth nearly a year after Hurricane Katrina, but a lack of health care and other services and a dearth of affordable housing could stymie a full recovery, according to a study released Wednesday.

AP - Maria Rodriguez-Winter has added another step to her morning walks this summer — spraying on mosquito repellent. "They're just really, really thick," she said.

AP - An assistant professor of chemistry is developing a tiny testing kit that women can carry in their purses and use to quickly detect date-rape drugs.

Reuters - Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski on Wednesday suggested that BP Plc misled the state with satisfactory maintenance reports and launched an investigation into the oil giant's handling of its pipeline corrosion.

AP - Paleontologists have created detailed three-dimensional images of evolution's first multicellular creatures in their embryonic stages, some so detailed that they reveal more about the development of long-extinct creatures than scientists know about their modern counterparts.

AP - Iranian doctors have overseen the country's first animal cloning — a lamb that died minutes after birth — and plan future experiments in genetics and stem cell research, a member of the team said Wednesday.

AP - The 20-foot tree stands half naked, much of the bark stripped from its trunk. It has only months to live. "It doesn't know it's dead," says U.S. Forest Service botanist David Taylor, pointing to the healthy leaves overhead.

AP - The decision in Britain to allow couples to screen embryos for genes that raise the risk of developing cancer highlights the vastly different practice in the U.S. and has revived calls for a global standard on the issue.

AP - A volcano in the Philippines spewed ash Wednesday after the amount of gas coming from the crater dropped suddenly, worrying experts that something had blocked the flow of magma and could cause a bigger eruption.

AP - Federal officials agreed Tuesday to conduct a yearlong review of whether a rare Nevada butterfly at one of the largest sand dunes in the West should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.

AP - The government on Wednesday expanded its monitoring of wild migratory birds for a deadly bird flu virus to cover the entire nation and U.S. territories in the Pacific.

Reuters - The Hurricane Katrina anniversary comedy night is off the schedule. Plans for celebratory fireworks were cut, too.

AP - Local authorities pleaded Wednesday for emergency relief for thousands of villagers made homeless by heavy rain and flooding that has ravaged provinces in eastern Afghanistan and left at least 35 people dead.

AP - The decision in Britain to allow couples to screen embryos for genes that raise the risk of developing cancer highlights the vastly different practice in the U.S. and has revived calls for a global standard on the issue.

Reuters - Stronger hurricanes forecast for the next few decades could flood major cities including Miami and New Orleans, environmental scientists said on Wednesday.

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AFP - An international team of geneticists has pinpointed a gene that can help save rice plants from disastrous floods, according to their study, published in the British science journal Nature.

AP - The 20-foot tree stands half naked, much of the bark stripped from its trunk. It has only months to live.