Seems that Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani is now in Pervez Musharraf's shoes, even though presidential elections aren't until Saturday: The role of being a marked man, that is. Multiple shots were fired at Gilani's motorcade near Islamabad's airport today, and at least two bullets struck the bulletproof window. More:

"The Taliban said it was behyind the attack and said it was targeting Gilani because he was responsible for offensives against their fighters in the country's northwest.

'We will continue such attacks on government officials and installations,' Muslim Khan, a spokesman for the group, said.

...Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera's correspondent, who was at the scene of the assasination attempt, said questions would be asked about the lack of security.

'The question is how the sniper was able to conceal himself and how he was able to make his escape,' he said.

...Mike Hanna, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Islamabad, said the prime minister was returning from a meeting in Lahore yesterday and was due to travel to his residence after arriving at Islamabad's airport.

'This was a highly-skilled sniping attempt, given the vehicles were moving at high speed,' he said."

Expect militants to step up attacks against those in the transitional government and the fragile opposition coalition that took down Musharraf. They're hoping for a distracting power vacuum that could give them a valuable foothold in the country.

(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The Gulf Coast is bracing for Hurricane Gustav after the storm lashed the Caribbean, but the preparations look like night and day compared to preparations for Hurricane Katrina three years ago: About two million residents have left or will leave before landfall, expected at about noon Monday (local time). USA Today has a comprehensive story:

"Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff also was en route to the New Orleans area Sunday.

'I do want to emphasize the window is closing. Once you get tropical storm-force winds, there's no more evacuation,' he said at Andrews Air Force base near Washington. He said the combination of heavy rain and wind from the southwest could cause water to run over the top of New Orleans' levees — even if they hold.

...Most of the city was empty by mid-day. New Orleans police patrolled throughout, often with blue lights flashing. Police and National Guard soldiers stood guard outside boarded-up businesses.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican, said he was sending dozens of school buses to the Gulf Coast to speed evacuation efforts. Mandatory evacuation orders were in effect for Jackson, Harrison and Hancock counties.

The evacuation orders target people living in FEMA trailers and mobile homes, flood zones and Mississippi cottages, which are temporary housing units provided by the state after Katrina."

The key figures people will be watching as the storm rolls through are Mayor Ray Nagin -- highly criticized after Katrina, but re-elected -- and Gov. Bobby Jindal, who replaced the embattled Katrina-era Kathleen Blanco and whose Web site tonight is a veritable portal for information on the storm and emergency preparations. Said Jindal at his afternoon press conference:

"If the storm track remains perfectly on course as predicted by the Hurricane Center, it could slow down and lose half of its power as it moves through Louisiana in the first 12 hours, which means we will see up to around 10 inches of rain even in central Louisiana."

Jindal also provided details on evacuations, National Guard deployment, sheltering individuals with special needs, etc.

CNN has info on how Gustav has changed the agenda at this week's GOP convention.

(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

According to the Cuban government, no one died even though 145 mph winds from Hurricane Gustav lashed a rural province before its march toward the U.S. Gulf Coast. But in a Reuters story on economic impact from the storm, it's clear that the only figures being released are the party line:

"There was widespread destruction of homes, schools, medical facilities, warehouses and infrastructure in Cuba's western province of Pinar del Rio and the Isle of Youth hit hardest by the storm on Saturday, but they account for less than 10 percent of Cuba's 11.2 million residents and except for tobacco, have little economic importance.

The extent of damage to recently picked tobacco being cured to make the island's famous Habanos was not known.

...'The damage will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, but not billions,' a local economist said, asking his name not be used. 'In our country every little bit hurts, so it is still a blow, though it could have been much worse.'"

Gustav killed at least 86 people in in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica, notes another report:

"'High tension towers were twisted and down, roofs blown off entire towns, schools destroyed and in Palacios even the baseball stadium's walls were gone,' Reuters TV cameraman Heriberto Rodriguez said.

Residents could be seen crying over the foundations of their homes or wandering around aimlessly.

There was little information from the Isle of Youth, 40 miles off the southwestern coast, which was raked by Gustav before it made landfall in the southern coast town of Palacios.

State television showed pictures of destroyed homes, submerged factories and boats lifted from their moorings and left in city streets."

(Photo by NOAA via Getty Images)

Felipe Calderon acted quickly after he was sworn in as president two years ago, sending military forces to his home state of Michoacan to battle the drug-fueled crime wave there. Yesterday, more than 150,000 Mexican protesters clad in white clothing marched against the crime that continues to worsen thanks to the cartels: More than 2,300 people have been killed in gang crimes this year, and in April the State Department issued a travel advisory for the border regions after a spike in violence.

After the march Calderon met with protest organizers, and Reuters reports that he renewed his commitment to fight the drug gangs -- a pledge made even more difficult by the fact that cartels have recently issued warnings police and military to go corrupt and work for them, or die. More:

"'The federal government renews its commitment with its citizens and precisely will step up efforts to eradicate this evil,' Calderon said in a nationally broadcast speech.

...Long used to violent crime, Mexicans were nevertheless outraged by the kidnapping and murder of Fernando Marti, 14, whose body was found in a car trunk in Mexico City on Aug. 1, even though his businessman father had paid a ransom.

Mexico is one of the worst countries in the world for abductions, along with conflict zones like Iraq and Colombia.

Calderon, Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard and state governors held an emergency crime summit last week and vowed to stamp out abductions and violent crime."

Still unsolved, as well, are most of the hundreds of murders of women in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua.