BBC News with Jerry Smit

The opening ceremony is underway for the London Paralympic Games, which will be the biggest since the event was founded 64 years ago. The performance features more than 3,000 singers and dancers, and was launched with a dramatic

flypast

by a disabled former British soldier piloting a light plane. Angus Crawford reports from the Olympic Stadium.

"Three, two, one."

Enlightenment

is its title, and organizers have called it a 'journey of discovery'. It began with Professor Stephen Hawking describing the mysteries of the universe, then, in

a burst of

fireworks, the stadium was transformed into a

nebula

of gases in deep space – the big bang coming to Stratford. With the help of thousands of umbrellas, it changed again into the image of an enormous eye, staring into the night.

The authorities in New Orleans have ordered a dusk-till-dawn on

curfew

as a powerful storm pounds the American city seven years after it was

ravished

by Hurricane Katrina. The governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, said more than 8,000 members of the National Guard were being deployed across the state to help with flood defense, search and rescue work and to guard against

looting

. Mr Jindal said Isaac, which has been downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, would affect Louisiana for some time.

"This is a very strong moving storm. That means there are gonna be sustained periods of heavy wind and heavy rain. The storm is almost