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(CNN) -- He's been described as the Richard Branson of Asian airlines. And he certainly knows a thing or two about building a brand. Tony Fernandes, CEO of Air Asia, spoke to CNN's Andrew Stevens in The Boardroom. In just five years, Tony Fernandes has built Air Asia from a bankrupt local carrier to the region's biggest budget airline -- 18 million passengers will fly the airline this year. CNN's Andrew Stevens talked to Fernandes in Macau to find out why, at the age of 37, he would leave a comfortable job in the music industry to start a new business in the cut-throat, not to mention high risk, aviation industry. Fernandes: Well there's a fine line between brilliance and stupidity, so the second point in a statement that Richard Branson's made is how to become a millionaire, start with a billion and start an airline. Now I was the other way around, I didn't have a billion. So I think that was one of the things, that I didn't have a lot to lose. And I thought I was young enough. I got tired of the corporate life, I got tired of corporate politics. And I saw a business opportunity. Everyone likes to fly. And I think the key number that got me going was only six percent of Malaysians flew. I started looking at the prices of tickets, and to travel from one part of Malaysia to another it was almost someone's one month salary. So that drove me. But I didn't want to be there, you know, at 55, and say I should've done it. Life is about risks, life is about not being afraid to fail. Stevens: But at the time, airlines were going into bankruptcy, oil prices were going through the roof, people were too scared to fly globally, didn't you think, "oh my god I've made the worse decision of my life?" Fernandes: No, I knew Malaysians very well. You put a price low enough, they'd risk their lives. I think also when you start a business the most important thing is does the market want it. And I knew the market wanted it. If that's there, everything is surmountable because people power is strong. Stevens: You like to pluck people from all different walks of life, from all different professions. How do you meld them all together? What's the philosophy underlying this? Fernandes: Well I think, first is that everyone plays a part. There is no hierarchy. Everyone is valuable. I make all my senior management carry bags and things so they appreciate that. Stevens: Do they? Fernandes: Oh yes, they do. Some try to shirk their duties, but it's very hard when they see the CEO doing it -- they have to do it. The second is that everyone's got ability, it's how you bring the best out of them. And that's a very motivating thing. If you see someone who's carrying a bag suddenly flying a plane. That's a very powerful motivator. You can do all the theory and books and promise people the world but when they see it in reality, boy that's a powerful thing to see. Stevens: When Air Asia started, you were known to go down, roll up your sleeves, and really get in with your staff at all levels, do you still have time to do that? Fernandes: I have less time, but I still do it. I think it's fundamental to running my company, because, unless you get down to the floor and see what's happening, you won't make effective decisions. I do it for two reasons. One is, to see what's going on, and to make sure if I'm making the right decisions. And the second thing is, I still want to discover these raw diamonds. Stevens: What's the best piece of business advice you've ever been given? Fernandes: Focus and discipline. Stay focused and disciplined. Stick to a plan, stick to a vision. You change but the vision's still the same. And that came from Conor McCarthy of RyanAir. He has taught me about discipline and focus and I think that's been a really good lesson for me. E-mail to a friend .

Tony Fernandes, CEO of Air Asia, talks to CNN's Andrew Stevens . He turned Air Asia into the region's biggest budget airline . Fernandes is known for joining in with staff at all levels .

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(CNN) -- Aruban authorities questioned Joran van der Sloot in the Netherlands about the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, the Aruban prosecutor's office said Friday. Joran van der Sloot awaits transfer from the Netherlands to Aruba in November. He later was released. It happened less than a week after a Dutch television program aired video footage showing the young man saying he was with the missing Alabama teenager when she died. During the two-hour interview with Aruban investigators, van der Sloot again denied any role in Holloway's vanishing, the prosecutor's office said in a written statement. Van der Sloot said that he was under the influence of marijuana when he was secretly videotaped saying that he was with Holloway when she died, and that he arranged for a friend to dump her body in the ocean, the statement said. On the video, which aired Sunday, van der Sloot also says that he wasn't sure Holloway was dead before a friend disposed of her body. Patrick van der Eem, a man who feigned friendliness toward van der Sloot, recorded the conversations on hidden cameras installed in the Range Rover he was driving, according to the report that aired Sunday. Watch how the video has renewed interest in the case » . Shortly after the video was made public, an investigative judge said that enough evidence exists to reopen the inquiry against the Dutch college student, but denied a prosecution's request that van der Sloot be detained. Hans Mos, the Aruban prosecutor, is appealing that decision, and a three-judge panel will rule on it "after this weekend," Mos said. Watch Holloway's father say van der Sloot should 'come clean' » . Earlier this week, Dutch authorities executed several search warrants at van der Sloot's current and former residences, a source close to the investigation said. They took a hard drive and a laptop computer, the source said. Van der Sloot's attorney, Joe Tacopina, told CNN that the video did not show a "confession" and said that van der Sloot is innocent. The college student is willing to answer "any questions" investigators ask, Tacopina said. Earlier this week, he told ABC that much of what was on the video is "easily disprovable based on corroborative evidence. ... The fact of the matter is he still is not responsible. The evidence -- not Joran, the evidence -- says he's not responsible for Natalee's death." Holloway, 18, was last seen in the early hours of May 30, 2005, leaving an Oranjestad, Aruba, nightclub with van der Sloot, Deepak Kalpoe and his brother, Satish. Mos dropped charges against the three men in December, saying he couldn't be sure of a conviction. See a timeline of the case » . Holloway was visiting Aruba with about 100 classmates celebrating their graduation from Mountain Brook High School in suburban Birmingham, Alabama. Holloway failed to show up for her flight home the following day, and her packed bags were found in her hotel room. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Tracy Sabo contributed to this report.

The two-hour interview takes place in the Netherlands . Joran van der Sloot again denies any role in Natalee Holloway's disappearance . Says he was under the influence of marijuana when he was secretly videotaped . Footage shows van der Sloot saying he was with Holloway when she died .

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TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- A U.S. Marine pleaded guilty Friday to abusive sexual contact with a child under 16, bringing to a close a criminal case that stoked outrage in Japan, a Marine spokesman said. Protesters turned out in March after the rape allegations surfaced. The Marine pleaded guilty to charges Friday. Staff. Sgt. Tyrone L. Hadnott was sentenced to four years of confinement, said First Lt. Judd Wilson, a Marine spokesman in Okinawa, Japan. The Marine Corps withdrew several other charges, including rape of a child, kidnapping and making a false official statement, Wilson said. Japanese police arrested Hadnott in February on charges alleging that he raped a 14-year-old junior-high school student. He saw her while riding his motorcycle, offered to give her a ride and later assaulted her at a park, the police said then. The case stirred outrage at the highest levels of the Japanese government. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda deplored the incident as "unforgivable." The Japanese Foreign Ministry lodged an official protest with the U.S. government. And Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima said the offense "violates the rights of women" and that "this is a crime that we should not accept." The Japanese authorities released Hadnott after the girl withdrew her allegations, but the Marine Corps conducted its own investigation. The Marines charged Hadnott with rape of a child, abusive sexual contact, making a false official statement, adultery and kidnapping. More than 40,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan, most of them on Okinawa. The U.S. military presence has at times bred resentment among locals, who have long complained about crime, noise and accidents. Anti-American sentiments boiled over in 1995, after three American servicemen kidnapped and gang-raped a 12-year-old Okinawan schoolgirl. Two years ago, a U.S. civilian military employee was jailed for nine years for raping two women. The Marine Corps said in a statement on Friday that it does not tolerate sexual assault. "We remain committed to maintaining an environment that rejects sexual assault and attitudes that promote such behaviors," the statement said.

U.S. Marine pleads guilty to abusive sexual contact with a child under 16 . Staff. Sgt. Tyrone L. Hadnott is sentenced to four years confinement . The Marine Corps withdrew several other charges, including rape of a child .

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(CNN) -- Cristiano Ronaldo missed an early penalty as Manchester United earned a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal at Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium on Wednesday night. Cristiano Ronaldo sent his penalty attempt wide as United failed to take an early lead at the Nou Camp. The Portugal winger, the top scorer in this season's competition, spurned the chance to net for the 39th time overall this campaign and give United a vital away goal. The 23-year-old hit the stanchion high outside goalkeeper Victor Valdes' left-hand post in the third minute after Gabriel Milito handled his header from a Paul Scholes corner. It was United's best chance in a game dominated by the home side, who had the best of possession with some silky moves but failed to find the killer pass in the final third of the pitch. United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar made a string of saves, especially in the second half, but was not often seriously tested. Barcelona were boosted by the return of Argentina forward Lionel Messi, who started alongside Samuel Eto'o up front, with Thierry Henry on the bench after also being cleared following an illness. Messi picked out Samuel Eto'o in the 13th minute only for midfielder Scholes -- making his 100th Champions League appearance -- to make a vital interception. Barcelona pressed forward again in the 21st minute and Rafael Marquez got clear of his marker but his header failed to trouble Van der Sar, who was back in the side following a groin injury. Then Yaya Toure showed good skill for the home side and sent a good cross into the area that was turned away by Van der Sar. Ronaldo felt he should have had another penalty in the 30th minute when he was bundled over by Marquez after Xavi had carelessly lost possession, but Swiss referee Massimo Busacca allowed play to continue. Eto'o rattled in a shot after 34 minutes but Wes Brown -- who passed a late fitness test to replace the ill Nemanja Vidic in central defense -- made a vital block. Brown partnered Rio Ferdinand, with England midfielder Owen Hargreaves operating as a makeshift right-back. Deco, starting his first game for Barcelona after two months out with injuries, then failed to test Van der Sar with a free-kick in the 38th minute. Marquez was booked in the 44th minute after tripping Ronaldo as he attempted to surge forward, meaning the Mexican is suspended for next Tuesday's second leg at Old Trafford. Ronaldo sent his effort from an acute angle wide of the post. After the break, Messi saw his effort blocked in the 47th minute and then Van der Sar tipped over defender Gianluca Zambrotta's long-range effort. Messi beat three United players but Ferdinand cut out his low cross from the right, then he played in a superb ball for Eto'o -- who lashed his shot against the side-netting. Deco tested Van der Sar with a low drive, then the Dutchman easily dealt with a 20-yard effort from Xavi. Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard took off Messi in the 62nd minute, replacing him with teenager Bojan Krkic, who scored the winner in the first leg of the quarterfinal against Schalke. A foul on the Serbian-born Spaniard drew a yellow card for Hargreaves in the 73rd minute, then United boss Alex Ferguson bolstered his midfield by bringing on Nani for England forward Wayne Rooney -- who had started up front with Carlos Tevez. Rijkaard responded by replacing Deco with Henry in the 77th minute, and the French forward forced a scrambled save by Van der Sar with a long-range shot on 83. Ferguson brought on veteran winger Ryan Giggs for Tevez soon after, then Van der Sar denied Andres Iniesta and also dived to comfortably save Henry's free-kick from 35 yards. Barcelona continued to press until the final whistle, but still could not create a clear-cut opportunity. E-mail to a friend .

Manchester United earn 0-0 draw away to Barcelona in first leg of semifinal . United's top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo misses penalty in the third minute . Barca dominated Champions League tie but could not breach United's defense . Goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar made several saves but not seriously tested .

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BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- The commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia's Force 47 told reporters in Bogota Monday -- a day after surrendering -- that "the solution is not through war. There must be dialogue." Nelly Avila Moreno, center, alias Karina, is escorted by soldiers after surrendering. Nelly Avila Moreno, 45, whose nom de guerre was Karina, said she and her longtime male companion made the decision jointly to abandon the FARC group, based in the jungle, at 5 a.m. Sunday. She said pressure from Colombian soldiers had been key to their decision, and she called on her fellow rebels to follow her example. "I invite them to change the sensibility that is among the guerrillas," she said, seated by her companion, who said nothing during the news conference. She also had a message for the Colombian people: "It is important to do something for peace in Colombia, and that need to do something is precisely one of my motivations." After 24 years with the FARC, Karina said she wants to reintegrate with society. "At this moment, what I am thinking about is reuniting with my family and with all of society," she said. Karina said she had had no contact with the group's leaders for the past two years. During that time, she said, "I was trying to stay alive." She said she knows nothing about the group's leaders, because "everything in the FARC is very compartmentalized." Still, she did hear through the news media about the killing by another member of FARC of Ivan Rios, a member of the group's central high command. "We suffered a very strong blow," she said. She acknowledged that news led her to worry about the possibility that one of her fellow guerrillas might consider doing the same thing to her. "A person has a lot of combatants alongside, but you don't know what each one is thinking," she said. Asked about news reports of guerrilla operations she may have participated in, Karina admitted to nothing. "They accuse me of a lot of things I wasn't part of," she said. But Miguel Antonio Paez told CNN en Espanol that he remembers well the woman who, with a band of guerrillas, stopped the bus he was on in 2004 in northwest Colombia, ordered him and the other passengers off and the bus be burned. "The commander of that guerrilla group -- a dark-haired woman, tall, with one eye missing -- called herself Karina," he said. "She ordered me tied up. Here, I have the marks from the wires, and there, while I was tied up, she lopped off my penis and testicles and I remained castrated for all my life." Asked specifically about the killing of the father of President Alvaro Uribe in 1983, she said she did not know who carried out the act, and added, "I don't have my hands stained in that deed." She said that with her surrender have come new fears about possible retribution from FARC loyalists, who consider her a traitor. Wearing a red sweatshirt and what appeared to be a diamond earring in her left ear, she said she once believed the FARC would rule Colombia. "I once dreamed of that," she said. Gen. Mario Montoya, chief of the army, said two Colombian air force helicopters were sent Sunday to pick up Karina and her companion, who had given authorities their general location. "With this, we have given a confounding strike to the FARC structure," particularly to Front 47, which at this point is practically dismantled," he said. Since the killing of Rios, 45 members of the group have laid down their arms and accepted a government plan for reinstallation into society, he said. "We want to send a message to all members of FARC who persist in the mountains," he said. "To tell them, what Karina has done is the road all the members of FARC should go down. If they don't, we are going to continue combating them. Today, more than ever, I invite them to lay down their arms, take the plan. We don't want them dead. We want them alive."

Rebel "Karina" and her male companion surrender . Karina was a commander of Colombian rebels . She says, "The solution is not through war. There must be dialogue" She says she fears possible retribution from FARC loyalists .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Al Qaeda is still operating within Pakistan's mountainous tribal region bordering Afghanistan, and the United States lacks a "comprehensive" plan for meeting its national security goals there, said a U.S. government study released Thursday. A Pakistani policeman watches over a border area in February 2008. Despite the United States providing $10.5 billion in military and economic aid to Pakistan, a key U.S. ally, the Government Accountability Office said it "found broad agreement ... that al Qaeda had regenerated its ability to attack the United States and had succeeded in establishing a safe haven" in Pakistan's Federally Administrated Tribal Areas. Of the $10.5 billion in U.S. aid, more than half -- $5.8 billion -- was specifically provided for the tribal region, the GAO said. Furthermore, the report said, "No comprehensive plan for meeting U.S. national security goals in FATA has been developed, as stipulated by the National Security Strategy for Combating Terrorism [in 2003], called for by an independent commission [in 2004] and mandated by congressional legislation [in 2007]." "Our report does not state that the U.S. lacks agency-specific plans; rather, we found that there was no comprehensive plan that integrated the combined capabilities of Defense, State, USAID [U.S. Agency for International Development], the intelligence community," GAO said. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, U.S. officials said intelligence indicated that Osama bin Laden and other senior al Qaeda leaders, who had been based in Afghanistan before the attacks on New York and Washington, were operating in the tribal region. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has denied that claim and has said that U.S. military missions there would violate Pakistan's sovereignty. So, since 2002, the United States has "relied principally on the Pakistan military to address U.S. national security goals" in that region, the GAO report said. Of the $5.8 billion the United States provided for aid in the tribal region, 96 percent of it reimbursed Pakistan for military operations there, the agency said. Two of the eight lawmakers who commissioned the GAO report, Democratic Sens. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Bob Menendez of New Jersey, said it indicated a failing on the part of the Bush administration. "The Bush administration has had six years to come up with a plan to get Osama bin Laden and his group, but it is still flying by the seat of its pants," Menendez said in a statement. "We've dumped 10 billion American taxpayer dollars into Pakistan with the expectation that the terrorists will be hunted down and smoked out, but al Qaeda has been allowed to rejuvenate in the area that is supposed to be locked down," he said. Harkin called the report's findings "appalling." "The White House must propose a strategic policy in this area and follow it, especially when we have this new opportunity to forge a fresh strategic relationship with the new civilian government in Pakistan," he said in a statement. The Defense Department said it agreed with the report's findings, according to letters attached at the end of the GAO report, but the State Department disagreed with them, saying there was a comprehensive plan in place. A letter from Kathleen Turner, a spokeswoman for the office of the Director of National Intelligence, said that office and the National Counterterrorism Center concurred with the report's assessment that the United States has not met its national security goals in the tribal region but maintained that there was a plan in place. USAID said that it generally agreed with the report's recommendation for a comprehensive plan but that work in the tribal areas should be guided by the Pakistani government's own FATA Sustainable Development Plan from 2006. E-mail to a friend .

Al Qaeda has "succeeded in establishing a safe haven," GAO says . Report says there is no comprehensive U.S. plan for reaching security goals . Democratic critic says report is "appalling," blames administration .

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(GameTap.com) -- Everyone wants to be more physically fit, but the toughest thing is finding motivation -- the motivation to get started, the motivation to keep going, the motivation to push yourself to the next level. A man tries out the Wii Fit at a Nintendo launch party in Central Park, New York City. Wii Fit doesn't try to motivate you with before and after photos. It doesn't try to motivate you with testimonials from fitness gurus. It doesn't even offer you three easy payments. But it does entice you to get into shape by making working out look like fun. And that it does very well. In fact, Wii Fit might be some of the most fun you can have by just more or less standing still, which must make it about as mass market friendly as any video game product ever was. Wii Fit requires a Wii, of course, and it comes bundled with a balance board. But the entire setup doesn't take up much space, and the board is no eyesore, either. Unlike a bathroom scale that's usually squirreled away in a closet or shoved into the corner of a bathroom, looking at it doesn't make you feel guilty. Designed to fit in with Japanese living rooms, where space is usually at a premium, the balance board is sleek and elegantly designed. iReport.com: Send us your Wii Fit review . It conveys cool Asian style with a streamlined appearance. It's something you wouldn't mind having in your living room at all. One thing about Nintendo: They know how to make hardware that's rugged but easy on the eyes. Getting started with Wii Fit is a snap, but you might have to get some bad news out of the way first. The balance board connects to the Wii through a Wi-Fi connection. You stand on it and use the Wii remote to record your height and age. The balance board then registers your weight. From those figures, Wii Fit calculates your body mass index (BMI), a standard metric many doctors use to determine a person's overall fitness, which you can track over time. Oddly, however, there's no easy way to just use the scale to see your weight without recalculating your BMI each time. The Wii Fit-ness program is organized into 48 activities divided among four general areas: yoga, aerobics, strength training, and balance games. You can choose to work through all four in one session or just concentrate on one. If you've never tried yoga before, working through the 15 positions here are as good an introduction as any. All of them are done with at least one foot on the balance board, so Wii Fit can measure how centered you keep your body. Yoga is a great way to stretch muscles and joints out and to work on overall flexibility. As meditative as this physical activity would seem, you'll feel the burn even before you reach any of the advanced forms. Once you're loosened up a little with yoga, you might move on to aerobics. The majority of these nine activities are basically variations of hula hooping, jogging in place, and simple step aerobics. The one exception is rhythm boxing, which you unlock later on. By turning these aerobic challenges all into minigames, Wii Fit entices you to keep working on them to earn better scores and ratings. With the hula hoop, for example, you have to stand on the board and grind your hips to keep a virtual hoop twirling. Later, you have to "catch" tossed hoops, and then keep them all twirling, too. Wii Fit sets a mellow, steady pace for all its aerobic challenges, but it still manages to make your heart pump. If just the words "push" and "ups" makes you break out in a sweat, then you've probably already surmised that strength training contains some of the most physically demanding Wii Fit workouts. The torso twist and rowing squat are easy, but push-ups, planks, and even the lunges will show you what you're made of. The push-ups in particular make you work extra hard. You do push-ups with your two hands on the board, but because it's 17 ½ inches wide, people over six feet tall or with broad shoulders might find themselves with their hands positioned inside their shoulder width. While it's certainly a worthwhile goal to build up to, it's difficult to snap off a set of push-ups from that position. The balance games require you to just apply pressure to the board through your feet. Skiing slaloms and ski jumping are fairly straightforward, but you can also walk a tightrope or try to float down a river inside a giant bubble. All of these are simple and fun, and they really do make you aware of how well you maintain good posture and keep your balance. However, they are also short and very limited in the variety of levels and layouts. Could you do all these exercises and balance activities right now without Wii Fit? Sure you could. But would you? That's where the Wii Fit balance board comes in. Just like the Wii itself, it just looks like something you'd like to try out. But once you take that first step onto it, you might find yourself on the way to becoming more fit. READ about video games. WATCH video game news. PLAY complete, original console, arcade and PC games - FREE! Visit GameTap.com. Copyright: TM & © 2007 Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. A Time Warner Company, or its licensors. Patent pending. All Rights Reserved. GameTap is part of the TURNER YOUNG ADULT NETWORK.

Entire 'Wii Fit' setup doesn't take up much space, and the board is no eyesore . Wii Fit calculates your body mass index (BMI), a metric many doctors use . Program organized into 48 activities divided among four general areas . People over 6 feet tall or with broad shoulders may find some activities difficult .

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NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Police imposed a curfew in Jaipur on Wednesday, a day after near-simultaneous bomb attacks in the ancient Indian city killed at least 63 people and wounded more than 200. Indian women mourn the death of their relatives in the May 13 serial blasts in Jaipur. Vasundhara Raje, chief minister of Rajasthan -- the state of which Jaipur is the capital -- blamed an "unnamed international terror group" for the attack, but said it was too early in the investigation to specify which one. H.G. Ragavendhra, Jaipur's superintendent of police, told CNN that police found nine newly-purchased bicycles at the scene, and think they were used to carry the explosives. The owner of the bike shop is helping police draw a sketch of the person who purchased them. Police have also picked up six suspects and were questioning them. Jaipur, known as the "pink city" for its rose-colored forts and palaces, is a popular tourist attraction. The majority Hindu city of 2.7 million people has a sizable Muslim population. The day-long curfew, authorities said, was meant to prevent "communal violence." It was intended to prevent large crowds from gathering at the blast site and hampering the investigation, said Jaipur police director Kanhaiya Lal. Also, tempers could flare as mourners spend the day carrying bodies to their home villages and to crematoriums, he said. Home ministry officials suspect the Islamic militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJi) of being behind the attacks, according to CNN's sister network CNN-IBN and the Press Trust of India. No one has claimed responsibility. In the past, officials have blamed attacks within its borders on "foreign" Islamic extremist groups fighting against Indian rule in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir. It is a term that is commonly understood to refer to Pakistan. Kashmir has been the source of bitter dispute and two wars between India and Pakistan. Both control parts of the region, which is predominantly Muslim. Pakistan has denied any involvement in the attacks. See the aftermath of the explosions. » . Raje told reporters Wednesday that the military had been placed on alert and security tightened around the borders of the state, the western edge of which lies next to Pakistan. She also took to task the central government, saying it had provided no advance warning about the possibility of such an attack. Furthermore, Raje said, the central government left a state-proposed organized crime bill unapproved for two years. The bill would have allowed local police more leeway to interrogate suspects plotting attacks, she said. On Tuesday evening, eight bombs tore through crowded markets and a packed Hindu temple in Jaipur's walled city. The blasts went off within a 12-minute span and within 500 meters (0.3 miles) of each other. Police defused a ninth bomb. The Jaipur blasts bear an eerie resemblance in its pattern to a deadly attack two years ago in India's financial capital, Mumbai. In July 2006, more than 200 people were killed when seven explosions targeted commuter trains in Mumbai, formerly Bombay. In that incident, the explosions went off within a span of 11 minutes. Both attacks used RDX, one of the most powerful kinds of military explosives, and ammonium nitrate, an oxidizing agent in explosives. And both attacks took place during the evening hours and on Tuesdays. The Jaipur blasts occurred near the temple on a day when devotees pray to Hanuman, the Hindu monkey king. Nearby markets and bazaars that were also targeted were filled with tourists and locals. In the Mumbai attack, the blasts were timed to go off during the height of rush hour. And authorities said the bombs all appeared to have been planted on trains that left the Churchgate station -- used daily by thousands of commuters in the metropolis of more than 11 million people. Indian officials blamed Pakistan's intelligence services and a Pakistan-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, for the attack. Pakistan, which banned Lashkar-e-Tayyiba in 2002, denied any involvement. The Jaipur blast has one more element in common with yet another deadly attack: the use of bicycles. Just as on Tuesday, assailants used bombs strapped to bicycles in an attack at a mosque in the western Indian city of Malegaon in September 2006. At least 33 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in that explosion, which took place on a Friday -- when the mosque is filled with Muslim worshippers. That attack was also blamed Lashkar-e-Tayyiba. Authorities have not connected the Jaipur blast to any previous attacks. HuJi -- or the Movement of Islamic Holy War -- is considered a terrorist organization by the United States. It is banned in neighboring Bangladesh, where it is accused of carrying out several attacks, including a foiled plot to kill the country's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2000. And it has been blamed for several attacks inside India, including one at the American Center in Calcutta that killed five policemen in 2002. India ranks among the countries where terrorism is most common, the U.S. State Department said. "The conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, attacks by extreme leftist Naxalites and Maoists in eastern and central India, assaults by ethno-linguistic nationalists in the northeastern states, and terrorist strikes nationwide by Islamic extremists took more than 2,300 lives this year," the agency said. CNN's Tess Eastment and Saeed Ahmed contributed to this report.

Police impose a curfew in Jaipur day after bomb attacks kill at least 63 people . Local Indian official blames "unnamed international terror group" for blasts . Bombs explode within 12 minutes of each other, 200 people also wounded . Police suspect bicycles may have been used to carry the bombs .

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DELHI, India (CNN) -- India is on high alert after a series of near-simultaneous explosions killed at least 60 people and wounded 150 others in a top tourist spot, government and local officials told CNN-IBN. An injured man rests at Swai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur. Bicycles and rickshaws were strewn about the streets, with pools of blood nearby, in the northwestern city of Jaipur. Motorcycles, pieces of which were found at nearly every bomb site, appear to have been used in the attacks, said Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Indian government officials -- including Minister of State for Home Affairs Shriprakash Jaiswal -- were quick to label it a terrorist attack. The eight explosions started at about 7:30 p.m. (1400 GMT) and detonated within 12 minutes of each other, police said. The bombs exploded within about 500 meters (0.3 mile) of each other in Jaipur's old city, which is frequented by tourists. See the aftermath of the explosions. » . An ninth bomb was defused, according to H.G. Raghavendra, a Jaipur city official. He described all the bombs as "medium intensity." "There is no reason to panic," he told CNN-IBN. "Everything is under control." One blast struck near Hanuman Temple, which was crowded with Hindus worshipping Hanuman, the religion's monkey god. Another struck near a market area inside Jaipur's walled city where tourists and locals frequent restaurants and shops. Jaipur, known as the "pink city," is about 260 kilometers (160 miles) southwest of India's capital, New Delhi. Many of the casualties were taken to SMS Hospital, the largest government hospital in Jaipur. People gathered outside the hospital to hear news about friends and relatives; the hospital issued an urgent appeal for blood donations. The state of Rajasthan, where Jaipur is located, was placed on alert, local officials said. Delhi police officials said they too were on high alert after the blasts and were receiving regular updates from Jaipur on developments in the investigation. The Deputy Chief Minister for the state of Maharashtra, R.R. Patil, said the entire state was also on high alert. Mumbai is in the state of Maharashtra. The attack was immediately condemned by the United States. U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the attacks were "quite clearly an act intended to take innocent lives." He told reporters at his daily briefing that Washington was still collecting information, and could not "offer insight into who may be responsible." According to the U.S. State Department, India ranks among the countries where terrorism is most common. "The conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, attacks by extreme leftist Naxalites and Maoists in eastern and central India, assaults by ethno-linguistic nationalists in the northeastern states, and terrorist strikes nationwide by Islamic extremists took more than 2,300 lives this year," the agency said. It said India's counterterrorism efforts "are hampered by outdated and overburdened law enforcement and legal systems," and described the country's court system as "slow, laborious, and prone to corruption."

Eight quickfire explosions kill at least 60 people in northwest Indian city . Bombs explode within 12 minutes of each other, 150 people also wounded . Explosions within a small radius in Jaipur's old city, popular with tourists . Motorcycles appear to have been used in the attacks, state minister says .

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(CNN) -- South Korea's new president has pledged to donate his salary to the underprivileged. South Korean leader Lee Myung-Bak says he would donate his salary to help the underprivileged. Lee Myung-Bak made the pledge during an unscheduled meeting with reporters Sunday in the press room of his presidential office, the state news agency reported. The president said he would donate his salary during his entire five-year term. Lee is a former CEO of an engineering and construction company with a vast personal fortune. As mayor of Seoul from 2002 to 2004, Lee donated his salary to the children of street cleaners and firefighters. "I promised to spend my whole salary earned as a public official on public welfare," Lee told reporters. "My plan to donate the presidential salary to the underprivileged is an extension of that promise." The news agency did not say how much the president earns in a year. During the election campaign, Lee, 66, vowed to donate his entire personal fortune of more than 30 billion won ($30.2 million) to the poor. He said at the time he would keep only a retirement house in Seoul. E-mail to a friend .

South Korean leader Lee Myung-Bak says he will donate his salary to help the poor . While mayor of Seoul, he donated salary to children of street cleaners and firefighters . Lee is a former CEO of an engineering and construction company .

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(CNN) -- Forbes' list of the world's wealthy has named Warren Buffett the richest person on the planet, surpassing his friend and philanthropic partner Bill Gates who had held the title for 13 consecutive years. American investor Warren Buffett has been named world's richest person. The American investor and philanthropist is worth an estimated $62 billion, up $10 billion from a year ago thanks to surging prices of Berkshire Hathaway stock, according to Forbes magazine's annual ranking of the world's billionaires. Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, is now ranked as the world's third richest person. At $58 billion, his net worth is up $2 billion from a year ago. Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu was named the world's second richest man, with a net worth of around $60 billion, up $11 billion since last March. For the first time, Forbes' rich list named more than 1,000 billionaires from around the world, with 226 newcomers. The total net worth of the group is $4.4 trillion, up $900 billion from 2007. Watch who's up and who's down » . This year's survey finds an increasing number of the world's richest coming from emerging markets, including China, India and Russia. Two years ago, 10 of the top 20 billionaires were from the United States. This year, there are only four. India is now home to four of the 10 richest people in the world, the highest number for a single country. But the United States still holds the top spot as the country with the most billionaires -- Americans account for 42 percent of the world's billionaires and 37 percent of the total wealth, according to Forbes. With 87 billionaires, Russia is now in second place, overtaking Germany, with 59 billionaires, which had held that position for six years. It is also a record-breaking year for young billionaires, with Forbes listing 50 billionaires under the age of 40. Check out the youngest billionaires » . Over half of them are self-starters, including Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and India's Sameer Gehlaut, who started online brokerage Indiabulls. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, age 23, was called "quite possibly the world's youngest self-made billionaire ever." E-mail to a friend .

Forbes crowns American investor Warren Buffett as world's richest person . After 13 years on top, Microsoft's Bill Gates drops to number three position . Russia replaces Germany as No. 2 country with 87 billionaires . Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg may be youngest self-made billionaire in history .

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- It's midnight on the streets of Atlanta, and bar owner Rufus Terrill patrols his neighborhood with a rolling crime fighter of his own creation. Meet "Bum-bot," as Terrill describes it; others in his neighborhood call it simply, "Robocop." This former BBQ smoker is armed with a water gun to chase off bums and drug dealers in downtown Atlanta. It's a barbecue smoker mounted on a three-wheeled scooter, and armed with an infrared camera, spotlight, loudspeaker and aluminum water cannon that shoots a stream of icy water about 20 feet. Operated by remote control, the robot spotlights trespassers on property down the street from his bar, O'Terrill's. Using a walkie-talkie, Terrill belts out through the robot's loudspeaker, "That's private property. You guys need to get out of here." Terrill is chasing out unsavory-looking characters from a street corner that resembles a drug dealer's dream at night. More than 20 suspicious people were seen huddling in the dark in the front driveway and side parking lot on this night. Some were seen openly making drug deals. Watch "Bum-bot" in action » . But during the day, it's where young children frolic on a nearby playground at a the Beacon of Light Daycare Center in downtown Atlanta. It has become a nightmare for day care operator Lydia Meredith. "This whole square is enveloped with homeless people and drug dealers, defecating, urinating, prostituting -- the whole nine yards. And the overflow of that behavior, we get to cleanup every morning," she says. Meredith says people often toss used syringes and condoms onto the playground. Terrill, an engineer by trade, is also a board member at the day care center. Tired of cleaning up after the shady characters, he decided to take action. That's when he built his downtown Darth Vader of sorts. "He's a neighborhood vigilante," says Meredith, "and when he came up with this -- you know, I call it Robocop -- I said, 'Praise God.' " The daycare center is a block from a homeless shelter. Meredith has a security guard at the center who leaves in the early evening. "They know when the guard leaves," she says. "They know when the cleaning crew leaves and then here comes the drug dealers to prey on the homeless people." Anita Beatty, the director of the shelter, is suspicious of the barbecue-smoker robot. "I just think the whole 'Robocop' spraying people is a little freaky. We really need some police protection in this neighborhood. I think it's confusing the issue. I think the issue is homeless people. They are being confused with the folks who prey on them and sell them drugs," she says. Atlanta police patrol the area, but say it's difficult to stay on top of the large number of people who roam the streets in the area late at night. Police Major Lane Hagin says the robot is definitely a different crime-fighting idea. "There's no problem with the robot going up and down the street or being visible or any of the other things it does -- with the exception of spraying water on people." Hagin adds, "Then, it becomes an assault no matter where it happens." So far no one has filed charges against Terrill or the robot. But one homeless man who declined to give his name followed Terrill and his robot down the street and laughingly told him, "I know about you. I can sue you for assault." Terrill says he's not hurting anyone and often sprays the water to the side of loiterers as a ploy to get them to move on. He's also not about to back down. "If you're throwing condoms out on the side of the playground, if you're throwing needles, you're throwing crack pipes out there, I'm not going to let those kids be out there like that. I'm going to stop you." Terrill bought his bar four years ago knowing nothing about the restaurant business. He ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor of Georgia in 2006. He's had ongoing problems with people breaking into his bar and stealing things, but it was the day care center problems that spurred him on to create the robot. Some of Terrill's bar patrons say they've seen a difference in the neighborhood. Susanne Coe lives nearby. "I've seen a marked change simply with this robot that doesn't have any power of arrest. It does scare people and to be honest with you I'm grateful for it," she says. On this night, as Terrill and his robot make their way to the street corner, he shines the robot's spotlight on the parking lot of the daycare center. One by one, the shadowy figures stand up, walk away and saunter down the street. "Ninety-nine percent of the time, when I go up there and once I turn the spotlight on and I talk to them through the speaker, they leave," he says. E-mail to a friend .

Atlanta bar owner converts BBQ smoker into robot to chase off drug dealers, others . "Bum-bot" is armed with a water gun and loudspeaker . Cops frown upon spraying water at bystanders, say it could be assault .

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(CNN) -- A video showing the last moments of a Polish immigrant, who died after Canadian police shot him with a stun gun at Vancouver International Airport, has been made public. This image from video shows an agitated Robert Dziekanski, left, before police used a stun gun on him. Robert Dziekanski, 40, was traveling to join his mother, who lives in British Columbia, when he ended up spending about 10 hours in the airport's arrivals area, The Canadian Press said. The video shows Dziekanski, who had never flown before, becoming agitated. It then shows Mounties purportedly shocking Robert Dziekanski with a Taser device after confronting him. Dziekanski did not speak English. The recording was captured by bystander Paul Pritchard on October 14 and was in police hands until he threatened legal action and it was returned to him last week, The Canadian Press reported. Watch as police stun man with Taser » . "Probably the most disturbing part is one of the officers uses his leg and his knee to pin his neck and his head to the ground," Pritchard told CBC News. The dead man's mother, Zofia Cisowski, told CBC News that Tasers should not be used by police. "They should do something because that is a killer, a people killer." The incident is being investigated by police, Canada's national police complaints commission and by the coroner, CBC News reported. E-mail to a friend .

Man died after Canadian police shot him at Vancouver Airport on October 14 . Polish immigrant became agitated after being left waiting at airport for 10 hours . Flight was first time he had been on a plane; he spoke no English . Incident, captured on video by a bystander, is being investigated by authorities .

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Before Monday, Eliot Spitzer was a rising star in the Democratic Party -- his squeaky-clean image as a corruption buster led to his being mentioned as a potential vice-presidential candidate and possibly even a future White House contender. New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer arrives with his wife Monday for a press conference. Now, after federal investigators have linked the New York governor to a top-dollar prostitution ring, political advisers are split over whether Spitzer has any political future at all. "There's no way he can survive it," said Ed Rollins, a Republican political consultant and adviser to former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. "All the facts aren't out there, but as they're being reported, there's no way you can survive. "Not only is he a hypocrite, he may also end up being a charged felon." On Monday, Spitzer publicly apologized for an undisclosed personal matter. He did not specifically mention the prostitution sting, nor did he resign. Watch Spitzer's apology » . The apology came four days after federal prosecutors announced the arrests of four people in an international prostitution ring that charged clients up to $5,500 an hour. A source with knowledge of the probe said that wiretaps in the case identify Spitzer as an unnamed client who met a prostitute on February 13 at a Washington hotel. Many political professionals said they were stunned by Monday's developments regarding Spitzer, a man who once made a name for himself going after organized crime and Wall Street corruption as New York's attorney general. "Obviously, the facts are going to come out in the next several days and the story will be told," said Robert Zimmerman, a political adviser and Democratic National Committee member. "But if the facts are as we suspect, it's very hard to imagine him staying in office." But James Carville, a CNN political analyst and onetime adviser to former President Bill Clinton, said Spitzer could hold on to his position if the scandal remains strictly about sex -- or if it's revealed that his political enemies were responsible for leaking the story. Carville mentioned other high-profile politicians who have weathered sex scandals, including Republican Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor after his arrest in a men's room sex sting, and his own former client, President Clinton. "All of us remember the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the immediate rush to judgment," he said. "A lot of people said, 'How could Bill Clinton survive a scandal like that?' Yet, he managed to survive. "If it's not a financial or monetary thing involved, I don't know." Watch a discussion of Spitzer's political future » . On a more personal level, Dina Matos, the estranged wife of former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey -- who resigned after an alleged affair with a male political aide -- said Spitzer should step down whether he thinks he can salvage his political career or not. McGreevey, who announced he is gay and is now attending an Episcopalian seminary, and Matos are in the midst of divorce proceedings. Matos said "was very difficult for the family" when her husband tried to hang on to the governor's office for several months after stories about the relationship with the aide surfaced. "I thought Gov. Spitzer was going to announce his resignation today," Matos told CNN's "Larry King Live." "By not doing so, he's only prolonging the pain and and anguish and humiliation for his wife and family." Watch responses to the question: Will Spitzer have to resign? » . If Spitzer resigns, Lt. Gov. David Paterson would complete his term in accordance with the New York state constitution. Paterson, 53, is the highest-ranking African-American elected official in New York state. Paterson, who is legally blind, is a leading advocate for the visually and physically impaired. E-mail to a friend .

N.Y. governor, a hard-charging ex-prosecutor, falls far amid link to prostitution . "There's no way he can survive" scandal, GOP consultant and adviser says . Ex-Bill Clinton adviser: He has a chance if scandal's enemy-driven or only about sex . Estranged wife of ex-N.J. governor says Spitzer should resign to spare family grief .

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(CNN) -- Mormon leader Gordon B. Hinckley died Sunday night at age 97, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced. Gordon B. Hinckley, 97, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died Sunday. Hinckley had "been in failing health for some time and his passing is due to age," said church spokesman Bruce Olsen. "He was speaking in public as late as two to three weeks ago and had a full schedule in his office as late as last week." Hinckley became president of the Salt Lake City-based church in 1995, at age 84, and had been a member of its top leadership since the 1960s. Mormon church presidents serve for life. The church has about 13 million members worldwide and has experienced 5 percent annual growth in recent years. He died about 7 p.m. Sunday with his family by his side, church officials said. "His life was a true testament of service, and he had an abiding love for others," said U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican and fellow Mormon. "His wit, wisdom, and exemplary leadership will be missed by not only members of our faith, but by people of all faiths throughout the world." Hinckley married Marjorie Pay at the Salt Lake City temple in 1937. They had five children, 25 grandchildren and 38 great-grandchildren. Marjorie Hinckley died in 2004. "I've been blessed so abundantly that I can never get over it," Hinckley told CNN's Larry King in 2004. "I just feel so richly blessed. I want to extend that to others, whenever I can." Hinckley was the 15th president in the 177-year history of the Mormon church. President Bush awarded him a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004. Watch Hinckley receive medal, share his views » . According to a church statement, Hinckley was the most-traveled president in the church's history, visiting more than 60 countries. He also oversaw a massive temple-building program, doubling the number of temples worldwide to more than 100. Hinckley spent 70 years working in the church and is considered the architect of its vast public relations network. He worked to defuse controversies over polygamy and to promote full inclusion of nonwhites. Mormons believe the president of the church is a living prophet and apostle. They considered his words divinely inspired, including his views on homosexuality and the role of men and women in the home. "We are not anti-gay. We are pro-family, let me put it that way," Hinckley told King in 2004. "We love these people and try to work with them and help them. We know they have a problem. We want to help them solve that problem." In an earlier interview with King, Hinckley laid out his views on family structure. "Put father at the head of the house again," he said. "A good father, who loves his wife and whose wife loves him, and whose children love him ... and let them grow together as good citizens of the land." A church body known as the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles becomes its governing body upon the death of a president. It will choose a successor after Hinckley's funeral. No arrangements have been announced, Olsen said. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Matt Smith, Ed Payne and Ninette Sosa contributed to this story.

Hinckley was president of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 1995 . The Church will choose a successor after Hinckley's funeral . Hinckley died at about 7 p.m. with his family by his side .

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DALLAS, Texas (CNN) -- Arizona Sen. John McCain, whose White House aspirations went into a nose dive last summer, clinched the Republican Party's presidential nomination Tuesday night with a sweep of GOP contests in four states. "I am very, very grateful and pleased to note that tonight, my friends, we have won enough delegates to claim with confidence, humility and a great sense of responsibility, that I will be the Republican nominee for president of the United States," McCain told supporters in Texas. CNN estimates that McCain has amassed 1,195 delegates to the GOP's September convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, four more than the 1,191 needed to claim the party's nomination. "Now, we begin the most important part of our campaign: to make a respectful, determined and convincing case to the American people that our campaign and my election as president, given the alternative presented by our friends in the other party, is in the best interest in the country that we love," McCain said. "The big battle's to come," he said. "I do not underestimate the significance nor the size of the challenge." Watch McCain address supporters after sweeping Tuesday's contests » . McCain's last leading rival, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, bowed out of the race after his projected losses in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont and urged his supporters to back the Arizona senator in November. "It's now important that we turn our attention not to what could have been or what we wanted to have been but now what must be, and that is a united party," Huckabee said. Watch as Huckabee ends his presidential bid » . Claiming the title of presumptive nominee will give McCain a head start on the general election campaign while Democratic contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are still locked in a battle for their party's title, said Alex Castellanos, a GOP strategist and CNN contributor. Allocate delegates yourself and see how the numbers add up » . "Tomorrow, he can get started," Castellanos said. "He'll have the [Republican National Committee] behind him. He'll have a broad base of financial support. It's a big step. Meanwhile, it looks like the Democrats are engaged in the land war across Russia, so he's got a big advantage now." Both Clinton, the New York senator and former first lady, and Obama, the first-term senator from Illinois, called McCain on Tuesday night, campaign officials said. Obama told McCain he looks forward to running against him in the fall, campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said. McCain is slated to go to the White House on Wednesday to receive the endorsement of President Bush, according to two Republican sources. The Arizona senator's campaign -- his second run for the White House -- was largely written off last summer amid outspoken opposition from the party's conservative base, a major staff shakeup and disappointing fundraising. But the former Navy pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war rebounded with wins in January's primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina, the state where his first presidential bid foundered. "There were times, obviously, when my political campaign was not viewed as the most viable in America, as you probably know," he told reporters in San Antonio earlier Tuesday. "In fact, I was reminded of the words of Chairman Mao, who said it's always darkest before it's totally black." McCain's fortunes also rebounded as U.S. commanders in Iraq credited the 2007 launch of a campaign to pacify Baghdad and its surrounding provinces with a sharp decline in American and Iraqi casualties. The senator had been one of the most outspoken advocates of the shift and has blasted his potential Democratic rivals for calling for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from the widely unpopular war. "This is a man with a lot of trials in his life," said former Education Secretary William Bennett, a CNN contributor. "He's had a lot of downs; he's been up, and this is a big up." McCain has been turning his fire on the Democrats, for whom Tuesday's races in Ohio and Texas are seen as pivotal. See scenes from Tuesday's voting » . But Democrats have been pounding McCain over his January comment that he would be satisfied if U.S. troops remained in Iraq for 100 years, as long as the insurgency there died down. And Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has attacked his reputation as a reformer over the past week, accusing McCain of trying to evade federal spending limits by opting out of public financing after using the promise of federal funds to obtain a bank loan and automatic ballot access for his primary campaign. Dean told CNN on Tuesday that McCain "really is the focus of what we're doing now, in terms of his ethics problems and his problems with the war and his problems with the huge deficits that they've run up on the Republican side." In 2000, McCain upset then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush in the New Hampshire primary by touting "straight talk" and his record as a Republican maverick. Bush came back in South Carolina amid a divisive and bitter campaign that left McCain denouncing leaders of the party's religious conservative wing as "agents of intolerance," and Bush went on to win the presidency. Since then, McCain has enraged conservative leaders by opposing Bush's signature tax cuts, co-sponsoring the campaign finance reform law that now bears his name and supporting a controversial White House-backed plan to offer a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. But their support was spread among a fractured GOP field, and their main standard-bearer, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, quit the race after a disappointing showing in February's Super Tuesday primaries. Exit polls in Texas and Ohio found that about three-quarters of Republicans would be satisfied with McCain as their nominee, however. Those surveys found that the economy was the top issue for GOP voters in both states -- and by a wide margin in Ohio, which has seen a sharp decline in manufacturing jobs in the past decade. Although national security issues are a strong suit for McCain, Castellanos said he might need some help if a weakening economy is the central issue in November. "It's never been Sen. McCain's strength," Castellanos said. He said McCain would need to make the case that "I'm going to grow this economy; Barack or Hillary, they're going to grow government." McCain had amassed 1,047 delegates before Tuesday, according to CNN estimates. At stake in Tuesday's contests were 256 delegates, allocated on a winner-take-all basis by statewide or congressional district results. E-mail to a friend . CNN correspondent Dana Bash and political editor Mark Preston contributed to this report.

CNN projects McCain wins Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont . Huckabee withdraws from race for GOP nomination . CNN: McCain had amassed 1,047 delegates before Tuesday . McCain campaign was largely written off last summer .

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(CNN) -- Austrian investigators Monday released more details about the elaborate underground cellar where Josef Fritzl kept his daughter imprisoned for 24 years, along with three of their children. Josef Fritzl admitted to authorities he raped his daughter and fathered her children. Investigators believe Fritzl planned to build the cellar as early as 1978, shortly after, according to his daughter, he began raping her at age 11 or 12, said police spokesman Franz Polzer. The 73-year-old Austrian began building the dungeon as part of an addition to his home that year, and simply added the hidden space -- which was not recorded in any building plans -- Polzer said. It took Fritzl until 1983 to finish the addition, Polzer said. Investigators recently discovered another door to the dungeon prison, which was blocked by a 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) steel and concrete door that Fritzl probably stopped using when he later constructed an electronic door for a second entrance, Polzer said. Fritzl, who police believe was the only one with access to the cellar, had to travel through an elaborate maze to get to the prison. "You would have to open up a total of eight doors, and ... (for the) last door which would go into this space (where the family was imprisoned), you would also have to use electronic opening apparatus," Polzer said. "We will have to find out perhaps later from now if perhaps there are other spaces we haven't discovered yet, and perhaps maybe there is something else interesting." Fritzl was recently arrested and confessed to holding his daughter, Elisabeth, captive in the dungeon under the Fritzl home for decades, repeatedly raping her and fathering seven children -- six of whom survived. Three of the children were adopted by Josef Fritzl and his wife after he concocted the ruse that Elisabeth had left the babies on their doorstep. The story of the family's imprisonment began to unravel more than two weeks ago, when one of the children still in the dungeon, 19-year-old Kerstin Fritzl, fell seriously ill with convulsions. The father agreed to take her to a hospital, the first time she was allowed out of the prison where she had spent her entire life with her mother and two brothers. Dr. Albert Reiter, who is treating Kerstin, said Monday that while her condition is still "grave," it "has improved somewhat." "She has become more stable, but despite that we have to continue to keep her under sedation and give her respiratory help," Reiter said, noting it is not clear how long she will be kept under sedation. Elisabeth and her two sons were reunited with her mother, Rosemarie, who police say knew nothing about the basement prison. They were also reunited with the three children that Josef had taken from Elisabeth. The reunited family is living in secluded quarters at a psychiatric clinic, where they are finding a daily routine and adjusting to sunlight -- something the two boys had never seen -- according to the clinic's chief doctor. "The mother and the smallest child have, in just the last couple of days, increased their sensitivity to light," Dr. Berthold Kepplinger said. "So we have been able to equip them with protective sunglasses." Five-year-old Felix is "getting more and more lively," Kepplinger said. "He's fascinated by everything that he sees around him -- the fresh air, the light, and the food -- all of these things are helping them," he said. "Slowly the color of their skin is changing back to a more normal (shade)." He also said the family members are still getting to know each other and live together as a family. Kepplinger praised Elisabeth for having provided a daily living routine for her children during their captivity. He said the family is getting into a new routine in which the mother and the grandmother make breakfast for the family, and the children make their beds. However, he said there is a noticeable difference between the pace of life of the children held in captivity and that of those who grew up in Fritzl's home. He said the mother, Elisabeth, takes breaks and naps several times a day. The health of the family members is satisfactory and hospital staff have been able to let more and more light into the rooms where the family is staying, Kepplinger said. Kepplinger said the children, after being confined to a small space their entire lives, are finding it increasingly easy to be in larger spaces. Initially the dungeon where Fritzl held his daughter was only 35 square meters. In 1993, around the time Elisabeth was pregnant with her fourth child, Fritzl decided to add to the dungeon, building another room that increased the entire living space of the family to about 55 square meters. On Wednesday or Thursday, prosecution authorities will attempt to question Fritzl -- who is no longer talking to police following his initial confession, state prosecutor Gerhard Sedlacek said. A warden at the St. Poelten jail, where Fritzl is being held, told CNN that Fritzl appears to be doing well, but he is refusing to go on walks outside the building where he is detained. E-mail to a friend .

NEW: Hospitalized incest daughter's condition is grave but stable, police say . Fritzl imprisoned and raped daughter, also fathered her children, police say . Wife of Josef Fritzl was too scared to question him, her sister says . Fritzl's wife focused on keeping family healthy, according to her sister .

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BASRA, Iraq (CNN) -- The man, blindfolded and handcuffed, crouches in the corner of the detention center while an Iraqi soldier grills him about rampant crimes being carried out by gangs in the southern city of Basra. Iraqi authorities say this man has confessed to killing 15 girls, including a 9-year-old. "How many girls did you kill and rape?" the soldier asks. "I raped one, sir," the man responds. "What was her name?" "Ahlam," he says. Ahlam was a university student in the predominantly Shiite city of Basra. The detainee said the gang he was in kidnapped her as she was leaving the university, heading home. "They forced me, and I killed her with a machine gun, sir," he says. The suspect, who is unshaven and appears to be in his 20s or 30s, was arrested by Iraq security forces after they retook most of Basra in April. CNN was shown what authorities say was his first confession. On it are the names of 15 girls whom he admitted kidnapping, raping and killing. The youngest girl on the list was just 9 years old. Basra turned into a battleground between warring Shiite factions vying for control of the country's oil-rich south after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Basra's streets teemed with Shiite militias armed with weapons, mostly from Iran, according to the Iraqi forces and the U.S. military. Watch a mom describe her three sons killed » . For four years after the invasion, Basra was under the control of British forces, but they were unable to contain the violence and withdrew in September last year. Women bore the brunt of the militias' extremist ideologies. The militants spray-painted threats on walls across Basra, warning women to wear headscarves and not to wear makeup. Women were sometimes executed for the vague charge of doing something "un-Islamic." In the wasteland on the outskirts of Basra, dotted with rundown homes, the stench of death mixes with the sewage. Local residents told the Iraqi army that executions often take place in the area, particularly for women, sometimes killed for something as seemingly innocuous as wearing jeans. Militias implemented their own laws with abandon, threatening stores for displaying mannequins with bare shoulders or for selling Western music. Many store owners are still too frightened to speak publicly. But the horrors of militia rule are now surfacing as some residents begin to feel more comfortable speaking out. Inside her rundown home, Sabriya's watery eyes peer out from under her robe. She points to the first photo of one of her sons on the wall. "This one was killed because he was drinking," she says. She draws her finger across her neck and gestures at the next photo. "This one was slaughtered for his car." "This one the same," she adds, looking at the third. Her three sons, her daughter and her sister were all killed by the hard-line militia. Her sister was slaughtered because she was a single woman living alone, Sabriya says. "They came in at night and put a pillow on her face and shot her in the head," she says. Sabriya lives on what was once dubbed "murder street" for the daily killings that happened there last year. On the day CNN visited, dozens of young men sat where there used to be piles of bodies. Sheik Maktouf al-Maraiyani shudders at the memory. "Every day, we would find 10 or 15 of our men killed," he says, adding sorrowfully "one of them was my son." His son was 25 years old. Now, "murder street" is part of a citywide effort to get Basra back on its feet. In a project funded by U.S. forces, Sheikh Maktouf and others are being paid $20 a day and upwards to clean up trash. Watch the transformation of 'murder street' » . Basra may be part of the country's oil-rich south, but it wallows in its own sewage and trash. The stench of filth is impossible to escape. The effort also helps with the massive unemployment plaguing the city. British forces officially handed over responsibility of Basra to Iraqi forces in December. "The situation was so bad because the security forces were controlled by the militias," says Brig. Gen. Aziz al-Swady, who commands the 14th Iraq Army Divison. To help curb the violence, British troops have returned to the city, adopting the U.S. approach of embedding with Iraqi units as advisers. The Iraqi prime minister also has flooded the city with additional troops, bringing in soldiers from western Iraq along with their American advisers. "Now the citizens have started to trust the Iraqi security forces," said al-Swady. The biggest difference is that residents are starting to leave their homes, something unthinkable just a few months ago. At one of the parks in the city this past weekend, a father named Al'aa was out with his three young children and his wife. "It's the first time that we have dared to come here in two years," he said. The park was once often used for executions. Everyone, residents and soldiers alike, knows the battle for Basra is not over. Militias still lurk in the shadows, and the security gains may not last without economic gains. "The most important thing, our government must focus on finding jobs, different jobs for these people," says Maj. Gen. Tariq al-Azawi.

Residents of Basra have begun telling stories of militia massacres . Mom says one son was killed for drinking alcohol, two others slain for their car . Authorities: Man admits to killed 15 girls, including one 9 year old . Dad in park says, "It's the first time that we have dared to come here in two years"

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama raised more than $40 million from more than 442,000 donors in March, his presidential campaign announced Thursday. Sen. Barack Obama greets campaign volunteers during a stop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Wednesday. More than 218,000 of the donors were giving for the first time, the campaign said. The figures are estimates, a campaign spokesman said. "We're still calculating." Sources in Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign said the New York senator raised $20 million in March. Impressive as the $40 million figure is, it is well below the $55 million Obama raised in February. Clinton, Obama's rival for the Democratic nomination, raised about $35 million in February. Political analysts say this kind of fundraising power catches the attention of voters. "They add to the so-called 'bandwagon effect' -- the sense that Obama is building, that he's going to be the nominee," said Stu Rothenberg of the Rothenberg Political Report. With its March totals, the Obama campaign has raised approximately $234 million, which surpasses the Democratic record of $215 million that 2004 nominee Sen. John Kerry raised in that presidential primary season. Obama is $25 million shy of President Bush's presidential primary fundraising record of $259 million, set in his uncontested campaign in 2004. Obama raised $194 million through the end of February. Official fundraising tallies for March are due to the Federal Election Commission by April 20. Clinton raised $156 million through the end of February. The Clinton campaign said Thursday morning it would not release March figures until required to file its FEC report, two days before the critical Pennsylvania primary April 22. But later, campaign sources provided the figures, which show March to be Clinton's second-highest fund-raising month for the campaign. A Clinton spokesman downplayed the importance of Obama's fundraising total. "We knew that he was going to out-raise us. He has out-raised us for the last several months," Howard Wolfson said after Obama's figures were released. "We will have the resources that we need to compete and be successful in the upcoming primary states." Wolfson also said he expected Clinton's tax returns to be released soon. Clinton pledged March 25 she would release her returns within a week. Sen. John McCain, the expected Republican nominee, raised $11 million in February. He has not announced his March total. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Rebecca Sinderbrand and Rob Yoon contributed to this report.

NEW: Sen. Clinton raised $20 million in March, campaign sources say . Clinton camp says her tax returns will be released soon . More than 442,000 donors contribute to Sen. Barack Obama's, campaign says . Number is below record $55 million Obama raised in February .

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(Mental Floss) -- We all want to live forever. But, chances are, you'd rather forego a legacy altogether than have your name be synonymous with a goofy flub like a spoonerism or a dim-witted word like "dunce." You can find a saint under tawdry in the dictionary. For the following eponyms, we ask: Did these word-inspiring folks really deserve their drag through the linguistic mud? 1. Dunce . Dictionaries don't play fair, and John Duns Scotus is proof. The 13th/14th-century thinker, whose writings synthesized Christian theology and Aristotle's philosophy, was considerably less dumb than a brick. Unfortunately for Scotus, subsequent theologians took a dim view of all those who championed his viewpoint. These "Scotists," "Dunsmen," or "Dunses" were considered hairsplitting meatheads and, eventually, just "dunces." 2.(slipping a) Mickey . When you have to drug somebody against their will (hey, you gotta do what you gotta do), it just wouldn't sound right to slip 'em a Ricardo, a Bjorn, or an Evelyn. It's gotta be a Mickey. At the turn of the 20th century, Mickey Finn was a Chicago saloon owner in one of the seediest parts of town -- and he fit right in. Finn was known for serving "Mickey Finn Specials," which probably included chloral hydrate, a heavy sedative. After targeted customers passed out, Finn would haul them into his "operating room" and liberate them of all valuables (including shoes). Never a Host of the Year candidate, this Mickey seems to have thoroughly earned his legacy, so don't hesitate to use it the next time you drug and rob your own customers. 3. Spoonerism . Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844--1930) was famous for his muddled one-liners. And though it's hard to know which ones he actually said, lines such as "I have a half-warmed fish" and "Yes indeed, the Lord is a shoving leopard" still prove that the sound-switching flub is pretty charming as far as mistakes go. The spoonerism has even been used as a literary technique by poets and fiction writers, giving Spooner little reason to roll over -- or otherwise inarticulately protest -- in his grave. 4. Lynch . Although several Lynches (not including David) have been investigated by inquisitive etymologists, Virginia native Charles Lynch (1736--1796) is most likely the man behind the murderous word. Lynch was a patriot, a planter, and a judge. But when he headed a vigilante court to punish Tories (British loyalists) during the American Revolution, he decided to play the roles of jury and executioner, too. Lynch has more than earned his besmirched name. In fact, he did half the besmirching himself by egotistically referring to his actions as "lynch law" and "lynching." 5. Shrapnel . While battling Napoleon's army, English General Henry Shrapnel (1761--1842) noticed that original-flavor cannonballs just weren't massacring enough enemies for his liking. So, to get more shebang for his shilling, he filled the cannonballs with bullets and exploding charges. These "shrapnel shells," or "shrapnel-barrages," were pretty darn effective, and later designs proved even more successful in World War I. Shrapnel didn't get much credit for the "innovation" during his lifetime, but he ultimately contributed to enough death and misery that he pretty much deserves to be synonymous with a violent, metallic byproduct of combat. 6. Draconian . A Lexis-Nexis news search shows that folks are still talking about "draconian policies," "draconian penalties," and, most frighteningly, "draconian sex rules." Though Athenian lawgiver Draco is not entirely confirmed to have existed, if he were real, then around 621 B.C.E., he instituted two time-honored traditions: 1) writing laws down and 2) making laws that were batcrap-insane . They include ascribing the death penalty to such atrocities as being lazy, whizzing in an alley, and stealing an apple. Apparently, he justified his measures with a sort of non-logic along the lines of, "Jaywalkers deserve to die, and I can't do anything worse to mass murderers. So what're you gonna do?" 7. Boycott . In a nutshell? Boycott got boycotted. Charles Cunningham Boycott (1832--1897) was a retired English army captain who claimed his unwanted fame in 1880 when the Irish Land League decided to punish him for not lowering his rents. This then-new strategy, which was a mere paragraph in the Russian-novel-size saga of Irish land reform, was a kind of systematic shunning in which Boycott was cut off from servants, supplies, mail, and lifestyle free of death threats. He might have been an evil landlord, but if Boycott could see just how successful his name became, he'd probably be a very sad, regretful, evil landlord. 8. Tawdry . The story of St. Audrey (also known as St. Etheldreda) is a classic example of how bad names happen to good people. St. Audrey was the daughter of the king of East Anglia (then the Norfolk section of Anglo-Saxon England), who lived a monastery-founding, self-abdicating life. But, when she died of the plague in 679, she was sporting a pretty nasty-looking tumor on her neck, which gossipmongers blamed on her penchant for wearing audacious necklaces in her youth. After her death, silk scarves called "St. Audrey laces" were sold in her honor at Ely's annual St. Audrey's Fair. Then the British tendency for dropping letters and syllables took over, and Audrey became "tawdry." It was a short trip from there to the dictionary, and tawdry has been synonymous with gaudy ever since. 9. Chauvinism . Nicolas Chauvin was an early 19th--century French soldier who was so patriotic and nationalistic, he gave patriotism and nationalism a bad name -- or at least a new name. A slave to the cult of Napoleon, Chauvin shed his fair share of blood for the emperor. How did Napoleon show his appreciation? By giving Chauvin a ceremonial saber, a ribbon, and a pittance of a pension. Later, however, French dramatists began basing über-patriotic characters on Chauvin, which paved the way for the soldier's ultimate reward: a dubious spot in the English language. E-mail to a friend . For more mental_floss articles, visit mentalfloss.com . Entire contents of this article copyright, Mental Floss LLC. All rights reserved.

Some awful words named after real people . Tawdry named for St. Audrey who wore audacious necklaces . Draconian came from lawyer who wanted lazy put to death . General Henry Shrapnel built more deadly cannonballs .

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CHARLESTON, South Carolina (CNN) -- Sen. John Kerry on Thursday endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, saying the senator from Illinois is a "candidate to bring change to our country." "Barack Obama isn't just going to break the mold," said Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate four years ago. "Together, we are going to shatter it into a million pieces." The senator from Massachusetts made the announcement in front of an enthusiastic crowd in Charleston, South Carolina, 16 days ahead of the state's Democratic primary. Kerry said he was stirred by the way Obama "eloquently reminded us of the fact that our true genius is faith in simple dreams and insistence on small miracles." Watch Kerry explain why he's picking Obama » . The endorsement could be seen as a blow to former Sen. John Edwards, who was Kerry's running mate in the 2004 election. Edwards also is vying for the Democratic presidential nomination this year. The endorsement shouldn't come as a surprise to Edwards, who was publicly critical of Kerry's campaign after the earlier election. Following news of the endorsement, Edwards released a statement saying he respects Kerry's decision. "When we were running against each other and on the same ticket, John and I agreed on many issues," Edwards said. "I continue to believe that this election is about the future, not the past, and that the country needs a president who will fight aggressively to end the status quo and change the Washington system and to give voice to all of those whose voices are ignored in the corridors of power." Kerry made an oblique reference to the other candidates in the race "with whom I have worked and who I respect" in his speech Thursday. "They are terrific public servants, and each of them could be president tomorrow, and each would fight to take this country in the right direction, but I believe that more than anyone else, Barack Obama can help our country turn the page and get America moving by uniting and ending the division that we have faced," he said. A source suggested senator's support for Obama will be a big boost because Kerry "remains one of the most popular figures in the Democratic Party and [has] an e-mail list with millions of addresses." In an e-mail sent to the JohnKerry.com community Thursday, the former presidential candidate said the next president of the United States "can be, should be, and will be Barack Obama." A Kerry spokesman said Obama will be sending out a note to Kerry's e-mail list, which was created during the 2004 run and numbers 3 million. Obama on Wednesday picked up endorsements from two key unions in Nevada, which holds its caucuses January 19. Atlanta, Georgia, Mayor Shirley Franklin recently announced her endorsement of Obama, and sources said Thursday that Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota also would back the senator from Illinois. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Candy Crowley and Mark Preston contributed to this report.

NEW: Sen. Barack Obama will bring the country together, Sen. John Kerry says . Kerry was the Democratic presidential candidate in 2004 . John Edwards, also running for the '08 Democratic bid, was Kerry's running mate . Obama picked up key endorsements from unions in Nevada this week .

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(CNN) -- Those battling global warming by promoting biofuels may unintentionally be adding to skyrocketing world food prices, creating what one expert calls "a silent tsunami" in developing nations. The rising prices are "threatening to plunge more than 100 million people on every continent into hunger," Josette Sheeran, executive director of the United Nations' World Food Program, said on the agency's Web site Tuesday. Sheeran is one of the experts attending a Food summit hosted Tuesday by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, aimed at determining ways to boost food supplies and identify deterrents. Also attending the meeting are scientists and representatives from the European Union and Africa. On the Web site, Sheeran said the increase in food prices is "a silent tsunami that respects no borders." "The world's misery index is rising ... as soaring food and fuel prices roll through the lives of the most vulnerable," she said Friday. The crisis is forcing the organization to look for cuts in aid to some of its recipients, she said. Soaring food prices have triggered violence in some developing countries, and biofuels are bearing at least part of the blame. Producing fuel from plant crops is supposed to be greener than drilling for oil, and biofuels generally burn cleaner, too. But the global biofuels industry now stands accused of a list of side effects that are said to be damaging lives, especially of the world's poorest people. "The drive for more biofuels means more investment is going into those crops, meaning less land and less investment going in for food crops, causing a massive conflict and resulting in rising prices, which is having a huge negative impact, especially on developing countries," said Clare Oxborrow, food campaigner for Friends of the Earth. See why tortilla makers are blaming biofuel for increasing food prices » . Critics also say that in Africa, Asia and South America, people are being driven from their land and forests are being cleared to make room for the booming biofuel industry. The International Food Policy Research Institute says the use of cereals for industrial purposes like making biofuels has risen by a quarter since 2000. Brown said in an article posted on the 10 Downing Street Web site, "We now know that biofuels intended to promote energy independence and combat climate change are frequently energy-inefficient. "We need to look closely at the impact on food prices and the environment of different production methods and to ensure we are more selective in our support. If our UK review shows that we need to change our approach, we will also push for change in EU biofuels targets," he said. "We must also do more to explore the links between climate change and food, and particularly their impact on the livelihoods and vulnerability of the very poorest, who are likely to be most affected by climate change." The meeting he convened, Brown said, is a precursor to the G8 summit of industrial nations, to be held in July, and a special U.N. summit in September. He urged prompt action. "With one child dying every five seconds from hunger-related causes, the time to act is now," Brown stressed. The World Health Organization views hunger as the No. 1 threat to public health around the world, responsible for a third of child deaths and 10 percent of all disease. Douglas Alexander, Britain's International Development secretary, announced Tuesday that Britain has set aside a 455 million-pound [$900 million] aid package to address the food crisis. His agency manages Britain's aid to poor countries with the goal of eliminating extreme poverty. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Phil Black contributed to this report.

Prices mean 100 million people could go hungry, U.N. official says . Soaring food prices have triggered violence in some developing countries . Expert says focus on biofuels means less focus on food crop . World Health Organization views hunger as main threat to public health .

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(CNN) -- Gasoline prices set a record for the 16th consecutive day Wednesday. A gallon of gas cost an average of $3.62, according to AAA, and much more in some markets. Shell Oil Co. President John Hofmeister says a boost in U.S. production would startle the world market. All three presidential candidates have weighed in on the issue, and President Bush on Tuesday addressed it during a news conference. John Hofmeister, president of Shell Oil Co., the U.S. division of Royal Dutch Shell, addressed rising gasoline prices during an interview Wednesday with John Roberts on CNN's "American Morning." ROBERTS: What do you say to people who are in this budget crunch of trying to fill up the family car? HOFMEISTER: I say we need more gas to be produced in this country. I've been saying that for three years, ever since I took this position [as president of Shell]. If the U.S. set a goal to produce 2 to 3 million barrels more a day in this country, we would send a shock around the world that would immediately say to the speculators, hey, U.S. is serious. President [Bush] said something yesterday about this. I didn't hear him, but I think that's good news. But we should set a specific target. The presidential candidates should be out there on the postings saying let's increase domestic production by 2 to 3 million barrels a day. That would be something that would put money back into this country, jobs back into this country, and it would bring more supply toward the Americans who need it. ROBERTS: The president is advocating more drilling on U.S. territory. Isn't it true that globally we're starting to reach a peak in production and that within maybe a decade or two oil production will begin to decrease? HOFMEISTER: Well, I think there is some argument [that] with convenient, easy oil we will peak sometime in the next decade. I think Shell sees that coming, but in terms of total oil supply to the world, we're a long way from reaching peak oil because it doesn't take into account unconventional oil. I think the president brings up a good point in that we could, we have the available domestic supplies off the coast of Alaska as well as [the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge]. Shell has won $2 billion worth of high bids for the Chukchi Sea -- that's a few years off before we could begin production. But let's remember there's more than 100 billion barrels of untouched oil and gas in this country that is subject to a 30-year moratorium. Now, there's only one body in this country that can set a 30-year moratorium, and that's the U.S. government. ROBERTS: Sen. Hillary Clinton wants to slap you with a 50 percent tax on what she calls windfall profit, profit above a certain level. Is that a good idea? HOFMEISTER: Look at our revenues and our income for the last quarter. If we had made $7.8 million on $114 million of revenue, nobody would call that excessive, because that's 7½ percent. We made $7.8 billion profit on $114 billion revenue -- same 7½ percent. So to me that is not an excessive number when banks and pharmaceuticals and IT companies earn a whole lot more. Watch Hofmeister defend Shell's profits » . ROBERTS: Would it hurt you if she put in place this tax on the windfall profits? HOFMEISTER: Sure it would. It would slow down investment. Taxing the oil companies was tried in the '80s. It drove us to do imports, which is exactly the problem we have today. ROBERTS: Where is the top of all this? How high can the price of a barrel of oil go? How high will the cost of a gallon of gasoline go? HOFMEISTER: I heard somebody say the other day it's as long as a piece of string. We don't know. ROBERTS: The president of OPEC said $200 a barrel. HOFMEISTER: Yeah, well, there are some countries out there subsidizing the cost of their energy to their consumers and industries to compete with America -- or against America -- because they think America won't solve the problem. ROBERTS: You're saying you have no idea where the top is. HOFMEISTER: We don't know. But we should produce more oil in this country. E-mail to a friend .

U.S. should produce 2 million to 3 million more barrels a day, says John Hofmeister . Plenty of oil waiting to be drilled by unconventional means, he says . Shell's $7.8 billion profit not excessive, company president says . Executive says he can't predict how high price of oil will go .

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- It's a neighborhood of shotgun houses painted a rainbow of colors, a community of artists, workaday folks and students where everyone knows everyone's name. Destruction in Atlanta's historic Cabbagetown district, which many artists call home. Saturday morning, people were out walking their dogs, sipping coffee and taking a look at who was hit the worst in Atlanta's Cabbagetown district. It appeared Friday night's 130 mph tornado had delivered its wrath randomly -- some houses were perfectly intact while others were flooded and smashed. "It's a sad thing," said 56-year-old Bertha Wise, standing next to a splintered tree that had buried her car and blocked a side-door to her yellow and cobalt-blue house. A sign advertising her hand-crafted art, which she sells from her home, hung slightly askew. "I was cooking dinner and the lights started to flicker," she said. "There was no warning. My door flung open and papers went flying. By that time, there was nowhere to go." Without a basement, she hunkered down and hoped for the best. But Wise fared well compared with her neighbors in this historic neighborhood, which has gone from crime-ridden to cool in recent years. A few blocks down, a woman named Rebecca -- too distraught to speak with a reporter -- carried what belongings she had left out of her rental home, which had been split in half by a giant oak tree. Watch residents describe the storm's quick arrival » . She wasn't at home at the time, her landlord Mark Rogers told CNN, which was a good thing for her safety. But in the early morning hours, looters got there before she had and took almost everything. Looting was a problem throughout the neighborhood, many said. See photos of the damage » . A few doors down from her, Pastor Richard Davis stared up at the tire-size hole in the roof of his Eastside Christian Community Pentecostal Church. He has been preaching in its single room for 10 years. "Yes...well, that is something isn't it?" he said, then gestured to the church's bathroom -- a brick yellow outhouse. "That's still here though. We'll be OK." He plans to give a sermon on Palm Sunday and ask his parishioners to pray hard that lack of insurance won't force him to close his doors. Steven and Laura Powell, thinking they were in store for a short lightning storm, were startled by the storm's quick escalation. They were frightened when they spotted the storm beginning to circulate in the distance from their tiny home, and rushed to scoop up their sleeping 5-week-old Audrey. Bundled in a soft pink onesie, Audrey was still sleeping Saturday morning as her parents walked the neighborhood, amazed that their home had not been damaged -- and that their daughter had snoozed through the entire ordeal. "I just put myself on top of [Laura] and the baby and we got under the strongest beam in the house," said Steven Powell. "I thought that if a tree came crashing through, I'd take the brunt of it." Cabbagetown's houses were built for the workers at the local Fulton Cotton Mill. The mill closed and the neighborhood slid into decay. The renaissance of Cabbagetown began when the mill buildings were converted to the trendy Fulton Cotton Mill Lofts and the artists and urban pioneers moved in. In addition to hitting the houses, Friday night's tornado seriously damaged the top floor of the lofts. Remarkably, nobody was hurt. Cabbagetown residents remember when the under-construction lofts survived a five-alarm fire in 1999 -- and say they plan to rebuild and survive this disaster as well. E-mail to a friend .

Some homes damaged, others unscathed in Atlanta's Cabbagetown district . The community of shotgun-style homes is home to artists and students . Neighbors surveyed damage Saturday and offered help to each other . Church is damaged, says pastor, but he plans to give Palm Sunday sermon .

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(CNN) -- A member of the group dubbed the "Jena 6" is facing misdemeanor assault charges after a fight at his Texas high school Wednesday, police said Thursday. Bryant Purvis was arrested after a fight Wednesday at his Texas high school, police said. Bryant Purvis, 19, was arrested after the incident at Hebron High School in Carrollton, Texas. Carrollton police Sgt. John Singleton told CNN the altercation does not appear to be racially motivated. School officials contacted police about the fight Wednesday morning. An 18-year-old student told authorities two males approached him and asked if he had flattened the tires of "their homeboy's" car, according to an affidavit supporting the arrest warrant. The student said he didn't, but the two told him they didn't believe him and walked away. Purvis, he said, approached him from behind immediately afterward, then grabbed him with one hand and began to choke him. "Purvis continued to choke [the student] and told him, 'Don't you ever mess with my car again,'" the affidavit said. "Purvis then pushed his head into the seating area of the bench," causing the student to strike his left eye, then walked away. The affidavit said that in a written statement, Purvis wrote, "I walked over to him and grabbed him by his neck, then told him not to mess with my car anymore, then I left." Police reported the student had marks on his neck and bruising on his eye. A municipal judge set Purvis' bond at $1,000, and he was transferred to the Denton County Detention Facility, Singleton said. Purvis is one of six former students in Jena, Louisiana, accused of being involved in the beating of a white student. He initially was charged with second-degree attempted murder and conspiracy, but charges against him were reduced in November to second-degree aggravated battery. He is awaiting trial in that case. Civil rights leaders Martin Luther King III and Al Sharpton led more than 15,000 marchers to Jena -- a town of about 3,000 -- in September to protest how authorities handled the cases against Purvis and the five others accused in the December 2006 beating of fellow student Justin Barker. After his arraignment in November, Purvis told reporters he had moved to another town to complete high school. E-mail to a friend .

Bryant Purvis, 19, is facing misdemeanor assault charges, police say . Fight involving Jena 6 teen does not appear to be racially motivated, official says . Purvis allegedly choked a teen who he thought flattened friend's car tires . Teen, whose bond is $1,000, is still awaiting trial in the Jena 6 case .

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LAGOS, Nigeria (CNN) -- A group of Nigerian rebels who wrote a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush, stating that they attacked two oil pipelines Monday, have asked for former President Jimmy Carter and actor George Clooney to help solve issues in the oil-rich Niger-delta. Military policemen patrol the creeks of the Omadino community in Warri South district of the Niger Delta. In a letter written by a group called Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, the group said they attacked two pipelines they believed are owned by Chevron Corp. and Shell oil. A spokesman for Royal Dutch Shell said its pipeline was damaged last week. The attack will temporarily cut shipments by 169,000 barrels a day as workers try to repair the damage, the spokesman said. The pipeline is owned jointly by Shell and Nigerian, French and Italian oil companies, the spokesman said. Chevron spokesman Kurt Glaubitz told CNN that "No Chevron pipelines have been vandalized in Nigeria." There was no immediate comment from the Nigerian government. In the letter the group called themselves "commandos" and stated that their aim was "the crippling of the Nigerian oil export industry." Watch how Nigeria attacks help hike gas prices » . "Today's attack was prompted by the continuous injustice in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria where the root issues have not been addressed by the illegal and insincere government," the letter stated. The letter stated that two other letters had been sent to Bush and also actor George Clooney, and the group also asked for President Jimmy Carter to help. Clooney is one of the United Nations' Messengers of Peace, and has campaigned for an end to the long-standing conflict in Darfur, as well as further humanitarian relief efforts in the region. Carter is currently in the Middle East, where he has met with the exiled militant Hamas leader Khalid Meshaal, on what he calls a "study mission" to support peace, democracy, and human rights in the region. "MEND is prepared for talks and will prefer Ex President Jimmy Carter to mediate. Mr. Carter is not in denial as the rest of you who brand freedom fighters as terrorists," the letter stated. "The ripple effect of this attack will touch your economy and people one way or the other and hope we now have your attention." The organization also said they attack was in response to one of the arrest of one of their members, Henry Okah, who was arrested last year and according to local reports, is charged with treason. Since late 2005, MEND militants have carried out numerous attacks on Nigeria's oil sector and abducted dozens of foreign workers, releasing nearly all of them unharmed. In the past the organization has said it had ratcheted up its attacks to redress what it says is the unequal distribution of the nation's oil wealth. E-mail to a friend .

Nigerian rebels write to U.S. President George W. Bush, say they attacked oil pipelines . Appeal for former U.S. President Carter, actor George Clooney to help mediate . Group say they attacked two pipelines believed owned by Chevron Corp., Shell oil. Adds that their aim was "the crippling of the Nigerian oil export industry"

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(CNN) -- Sin Hwa Dee began operations in the 1970s as a cottage industry in the former soya sauce-producing enclave of Kim Chuan Road, in the Paya Lebar area of Singapore. Mr. and Mrs. Chng Kee started out producing soya and oyster sauces, bean paste and plum paste in the 1970s. It was founded by the late Mr. Chng Kee, a former soya salesman, who ran the business with his wife, a soya production operator. Together they sold mainly soya and oyster sauces, bean paste and plum paste in bulk under the Sin Hwa Dee label to the restaurant, hotel and catering industries. In 1990, the company began producing the preserved fruits and vegetables used to make the traditional Lunar New Year dish of Yu Sheng. One of Sin Hwa Dee's factories is dedicated exclusively to the production of Yu Sheng products, while another factory produces noodles for the restaurant and catering industries. Mr. Chng's daughter Jocelyn first decided to introduce the company's products to the foreign market when she attended the SIAL exhibition in Paris in 1992, noting that there was a clear interest in Asian food. Sin Hwa Dee's first premix, the Laksa Paste, was launched into the food services market under the CHNG Kee's label in 1994, followed by the Kung Bo Sauce, the Black Pepper Sauce and their famous chicken rice mix. In 1996, the company invested heavily in equipment and technology to produce sauces and premixes in bottles for the retail market under the CHNG Kee's label. In 2005, Sin Hwa Dee moved into their own building, CHNG Kee's Foodlink, located in Senoko South Road, north of Singapore, with a production team of over 75 employees producing more than 20 tons of sauces per day. Today, their clientele includes Singapore Airlines, Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King, hotels such as the Ritz Carlton, Conrad International Centenniel, Raffles Hotel, Hilton Hotel, Marriott Hotel, and restaurants such as Lei Garden and Crystal Jade.

Sin Hwa Dee founded by former soya salesman and soya production operator . One of Sin Hwa Dee's factories dedicated exclusively to Yu Sheng products . In 2005, Sin Hwa Dee moved into their own building, CHNG Kee's Foodlink .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Striking Hollywood writers will be back at their keyboards Wednesday after voting overwhelmingly to end a 100-day walkout that essentially shut down the entertainment industry. Writers Guild of America member Steven Binder shows his approval as he votes Tuesday in Beverly Hills, California. More than 92 percent of the Writers Guild of America members who cast ballots Tuesday in Los Angeles and New York voted to end their work stoppage over residuals for writing in the digital age, including new media and the Internet. The new deal is for three years. "The strike is over. Our membership has voted, and writers can go back to work," said Patric Verrone, president of the WGA's West chapter. Michael Winship, president of WGA's East guild, said, "The success of this strike is a significant achievement not only for ourselves but the entire creative community, now and in the future." WGA members walked off the job November 5 after talks broke down over how writers are paid for the use of their material on the Internet and DVDs, among other issues. "It is not all that we hoped for, and it is not all we deserve," Verrone said when a tentative deal was announced Saturday. But he added, "This is the best deal this guild has bargained for in 30 years." Leslie Moonves, chief executive officer of CBS Corp., told The Associated Press, "At the end of the day, everybody won. "It was a fair deal and one that the companies can live with, and it recognizes the large contribution that writers have made to the industry." The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents production companies and media conglomerates, has had no comment on the agreement. The vote meant that the Academy Awards ceremony on February 24 will be the usual scripted gala, the AP reported. "I am ecstatic that the 80th Academy Awards presentation can now proceed full steam ahead," without "hesitation or discomfort" for the nominees, Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which stages the Oscars, told the AP. As long as the strike continued, the traditional Oscars spectacular was in doubt since many Hollywood stars would not cross WGA picket lines. It's unclear how soon new episodes of scripted programs will start appearing, because production won't begin until scripts are completed, the AP reported. It will take at least four weeks for producers to get the first post-strike episodes of comedies back on the air; dramas will take six to eight weeks, the AP said. Verrone said the WGA achieved two of three goals through negotiations with the studios. Watch Verrone explain what he thinks the strike accomplished » . The first goal relates to writers' "jurisdiction" in new media, Verrone said, meaning that any content written by guild members specifically for new media, such as the Internet or cell phones, will be covered by their contract. The second goal relates to reuse of content in new media, Verrone said. The agreement bases payment for reuses on a distributor's gross formula for residuals, "so that when they get paid, we get paid," he said. It is the "first time in our history that a new delivery system pays on a residual formula superior to the prior existing system," Verrone said. The third goal, which Verrone said the guild did not achieve, was to shore up writers' shares of the revenue from animation and reality television. "Giving up animation and reality was a heartbreaking thing for me personally," he said. "But it was more important that we make a deal that benefited the membership, the town as a whole, that got people back to work and that solved the biggest problems in new media." E-mail to a friend . Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

More than 92 percent of writers vote to end 100-day walkout and return to work . Writers Guild of America strike began November 5 . Issues in walkout included handling of writers' work for new media such as Internet . Report: February 24 Oscar show will go on as usual .

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Editor's Note: In our Behind the Scenes series, CNN correspondents share their experiences in covering news and analyze the stories behind the events. CNN's Senior Vatican Analyst John L. Allen Jr. is following the pope during his U.S. trip. Pope Benedict XVI asked pilgrims in St. Peter's Square on Sunday to pray for the success of his U.S. trip. NEW YORK (CNN) -- The official motto of Pope Benedict XVI's April 15-20 visit to the United States, the first of his papacy, is "Christ our Hope." Based on the frequency with which papal spokespersons have struck a different note, however, its unofficial motto might well be, "This is not a political event." Here's a typical example from early April: "The pope is not coming to get mixed up in the local political process," said Italian Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the pope's ambassador to America, in an interview with the National Catholic Reporter. "His presence is about something more universal and, at the same time, more personal." Fear that Benedict's visit might be read through the lens of party politics reflects a key fact of electoral life in America: The "Catholic vote" matters. To take the most obvious example, if a few heavily Catholic counties in Ohio had gone the other way in 2004, pundits would today be handicapping the re-election of President John Kerry. America's almost 70 million Catholics, representing a quarter of the country's population, are diverse and divided. They don't all agree with official church positions, and although Catholics were once reliable Democrats, today they're not clearly aligned with either party. That's a key reason why states with large Catholic populations, such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Florida, are considered crucial battlegrounds. Already in the 2008 race, Catholics have made themselves felt. On the Democratic side, they're the biggest single reason Sen. Hillary Clinton is still afloat. So far, the more Catholic a state, the better Clinton has done. With her back to the wall not long ago in Ohio and Texas, Clinton decisively outpolled Sen. Barack Obama among Catholic Democrats. In Ohio, Clinton won the Catholic vote by a margin of 63 percent to 36, while in Texas it was 62 percent to 38. Clinton is now hoping that Catholics will come through for her again in Pennsylvania's April 22 primary. The state's 3.87 million Catholics represent more than 30 percent of the population, and Clinton is clinging to a lead despite Pennsylvania Sen. Robert Casey's endorsement of Obama. Casey is a hero to pro-life Catholic Democrats, and his backing is apparently helping Obama narrow the gap. Clinton does better than Obama among Latinos, who are disproportionately Catholic. She's also winning Catholic "Reagan Democrats," meaning socially conservative blue-collar voters. Obama's recent gaffe, telling a crowd in San Francisco, California, that small-town Americans were "clinging to guns or religion" out of economic frustration, may help cement that advantage. Once the Democrats settle on a candidate, the Catholic vote seems wide open in November. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, appeals to many Catholics because he's pro-life and has a moderate stance on immigration. Yet his willingness to remain in Iraq for "100 years" is at odds with the church's opposition to the war. Either Clinton or Obama could make a strong appeal to Catholics on peace-and-justice issues, yet both are out of sync with Catholic teaching on issues such as abortion, stem-cell research and gay rights. Both sides are expected to court Catholics aggressively. The McCain campaign recently formed a "National Catholics for McCain Committee" led by former Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback and former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, along with a "who's who" of prominent Catholic conservatives. Obama has his own "National Catholic Advisory Council," led by Casey and former Indiana Rep. Tim Roemer, both pro-life Democrats. Clinton likewise has top-drawer Catholic advisers. Pope Benedict's trip is unlikely to offer a decisive boost to either side. He'll probably strike pro-life notes that Republicans can exploit, but he'll also likely accent peace, concern for the poor and the environment, issues that generally skew to the Democrats. Watch as CNN's Rosemary Church speaks with Vatican analyst John Allen about the pope's visit » . Any political fallout may thus depend on what happens to the pope's message once it's swept up into the sausage grinder of American spin. Benedict XVI usually speaks not in sound bites but in carefully crafted paragraphs, which sometimes leaves the door ajar for competing explanations of what he really means. One can expect a "war for the microphone" among Republican and Democratic operatives, each looking to exploit pieces of the pope's message. In a tight race, movement of even a few percentage points among Catholics could be decisive. One sign the Democrats understand what's at stake is that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has arranged an April 16 conference call with reporters to comment on Benedict's trip -- in effect, not wanting President Bush, and by extension the Republicans, to claim a monopoly on the pope. All this makes the political implications of the pope's presence difficult to anticipate. The best advice boils down to that classic broadcast cliché: "Stay tuned!" E-mail to a friend . John L. Allen Jr. is CNN's senior Vatican analyst and a senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter.

Papal representatives stress Benedict's U.S. trip is "not a political event" But Catholic vote still matters in U.S. politics, as 2004's close Ohio vote showed . Obama's "guns and religion" gaffe may help Clinton with blue-collar Catholics . Once Democrats settle on a candidate, Catholic vote seems wide open in November .

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(CNN) -- Canada's House of Commons voted Thursday to extend the country's military mission in Afghanistan until 2011, with the stipulation that NATO send reinforcements to the volatile Kandahar province. Canadian soldiers walk along a track at the Kandahar Air Base in Afghanistan last month. Most of Canada's 2,500 troops in Afghanistan are in Kandahar as part of the NATO-led mission to stabilize the war-torn country. Their presence has sparked controversy in Canada, with the Bloc Quebecois and the New Democratic Party calling for an immediate troop withdrawal. Supporters of the mission argued that Canadians have made progress in providing schools, health care and clean water for thousands of Afghans. They said the improving conditions would be impossible without troops ensuring a secure environment for aid workers and local residents. "The military needs to be there," said Harold Albrecht, a conservative member of Parliament. "The military provides the civil order we would expect from police here." The Canadian mission in Afghanistan was to end next February. It has claimed the lives of 80 soldiers and a diplomat, according to The Associated Press. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has endorsed a panel's recommendation to keep troops in place only if another NATO nation dispatches additional troops to Kandahar. Canada wants a minimum of 1,000 reinforcements, The Globe and Mail reported. Thursday's motion, passed with a 198-77 vote, brought Harper's Conservative party and the opposition Liberals together on the issue. Other parties, however, noted that the cost of maintaining a troop presence in Afghanistan has not been disclosed to Parliament or the public. "We must provide clarity to the Canadian people," said Nathan Cullen of the New Democratic Party. "We believe it to be wrong for our country." E-mail to a friend .

Troops to stay until 2011, with the stipulation that NATO contribute more forces . Most of Canada's 2,500 troops in Afghanistan are in Kandahar province . The Canadian mission in Afghanistan was to end next February . Critics say the cost has not been disclosed to Parliament or the public .

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(AOL Autos) -- Some drivers would say that the United States is a crazy quilt of speed limits, with an emphasis on the "crazy." A sign indicating the highest speed limit in the country stands by Interstate 10 outside of the West Texas town of El Paso. Since 1995, states have been free to set their own maximum speed limits, leading to long debates on safety standards. To some folks, the speed limits are just insane -- either too low or too high, depending on their views about what makes driving safe. Advocates of low speed limits won't find much to like about Texas. True to its frontier roots, it stands out as the land of the fast getaway. The top rural speed limit is normally 70 mph, but in 2006 it set a maximum daytime speed of 80 miles per hour, the highest speed limit on the country, on more than 500 miles of rural interstate in its southwest corner. This includes parts of Interstate 10 between Kerrville and El Paso and of I-20 between Monahans and the I-10 interchange. The speed limit for rural roads in Montana is 75 mph. As a result, it takes just three hours to travel the 228 miles from Billings to Butte at the posted speed. But that's much slower than a Montana driver could have made the trip in early 1999. At that time there was a six-month speeders' honeymoon when the state had almost no control over rural speeds, partly as a result of an unfavorable court ruling. St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands is at or near the other end of the spectrum. In the U.S. territory the speed limit is 20 mph in the city and 30 out in the country. When it comes to accident rates, though, you would be far better off on a Montana interstate than competing with the island's frenetic drivers on the way to Paradise Point. Nationwide, maximum speeds range from 60 miles per hour in Hawaii to 75 in most of the West. Meanwhile, much of the eastern Midwest and the Northeast has opted for maximum speeds of 65 mph, although Michigan and Indiana chose the 70 mph standard more common to the South and the Great Plains states. So if you are cruising west along I-90 out of Ohio, you can enjoy the increase in speed across 150 miles of Indiana before Illinois' lower speed limit -- or its state police -- reins you in. As you continue west, interstate speed limits bump up to 70 in Iowa, and then you can maintain a steady 75 from Nebraska through to the California line, where interstate speeds drop off to 70 again. Should you choose to detour into Oregon, you're back down to 65. From a highway safety standpoint, the patchwork of speed limits at least seems to make sense. Speeds are slower in more populous Eastern states and faster in the wide-open West, although the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety argues that some of the new, higher speed limits out West and elsewhere are costing lives. It estimates that deaths on interstates and freeways have increased 15 percent due to the higher speed limits. But some researchers are skeptical about the link between accidents and high speeds on rural highways, if not on city streets and rural two-lanes. They point to the lower fatality rates on European highways, even though the speeds are generally higher. The maximum legal speed is roughly 80 mph in Poland, Austria, France and a few other countries. There is no speed limit on much of Germany's autobahn, although some sections are restricted to about 80 mph or less. Ironically, the new regime of U.S. speed limits has helped researchers make sense of whether higher rural speed limits are dangerous. Political scientist Robert Yowell, a professor at Northeast Lakeview College in Texas, examined what happened after states began setting higher rural speed limits in 1995. With the federal 65 mph limit gone, it was possible to compare the accident rates before and after the new limits went into effect. The results were clear: "By and large, across the 50 states, there was no discernible effect from the higher limits," Yowell said. "Two or three states actually had a decrease in fatalities." Once speed limits are raised on interstates, drivers are more likely to get off the more dangerous two lanes and use the faster routes, Yowell said. Furthermore, the motorists traveling the fastest on the higher-speed interstates tend to be good at that kind of driving. The less competent drivers at high speeds tend to drive more slowly. While Yowell admits most states are well-intentioned, he's "not willing to accept that speed limits are solely a function of safety," he said. "They are a function of revenue generation as well. There have been cases of judges saying communities have to raise their speed limits because they were obviously being used to raise revenues and that's not a proper use of the law." In part, Yowell looks to differences in political cultures to explain the great continental divide in speed limits. "It may be that certain states have a different approach to questions involving personal liberty versus collective safety," he said. His research doesn't surprise Jim Baxter, president of the Waunakee, Wisconsin-based National Motorists Association. His organization had lobbied heavily for an end to the federal limits. Baxter's rule of thumb for computing the right speed limit is the traffic engineering standard known as the 85th percentile speed. That's the speed that 85 percent of motorists drive at or below. But it tends to be well above the speed limits that most jurisdictions set. With the speed limit set at that level, traffic tends to move smoothly, reducing the risk of accidents, Baxter said. If you put the limit below that speed, some vehicles are traveling far more slowly than the fastest drivers, creating the most dangerous conditions of all. Baxter argues that most drivers naturally tend to drive at speeds that suit the road conditions and their driving skills. St. Thomas is a case in point, albeit an extreme one. With its congestion and rugged terrain, the island is bereft of performance cars; many of the vehicles are older pickups, aging Japanese compacts and SUVs. The treacherous conditions restrict speeds far more effectively than any local law. As Joe Aubain, executive director of the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce, puts it, "Even if you wanted to go a whole lot faster, you couldn't," he said. E-mail to a friend .

U.S. drivers face patchwork of speed limits across the nation . Parts of Texas have speed limits of 80 miles per hour . Some researchers skeptical of link between accidents, high speeds .

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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) -- His name is "Average" and the story of his desperate flight from the wreckage of President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe is an increasingly common one. Math teacher Mawise Gumba fled Zimbabwe and found his qualifications mean little as a refugee. The tall 34-year-old, slouching exhausted in a Johannesburg church that has become a de facto transit camp, is one man in a tide of migrants washing up in South Africa. "There is nothing for me there in our country any more. I had no job and I could not afford anything. Even when I was working life was tough," he said. "It's hard for everyone ... I thought it was better for me here," said the former store clerk, whose dusty jeans and boots tell of a long and difficult journey. The tale told by Average -- whose name is not unusual in Zimbabwe -- is depressingly familiar to a people who have watched their once prosperous land spiral into economic disaster. When Mugabe's government, facing inflation of close to 5,000 percent, ordered companies to halve prices of basic goods and services a month ago -- effectively demanding that they operate at a loss -- Average lost his job as the supermarket chain he worked for cut staff. Facing the prospect of homelessness and hunger in his own country, he joined the estimated 4,000 Zimbabweans who head south to South Africa, most of them illegally, every day. Mugabe, 83 and in power since the country's independence from Britain in 1980, has been accused of running Zimbabwe's economy into the ground while implementing a draconian crackdown aimed at keeping power. His decision to launch violent seizures of white-owned farms seven years ago is partly blamed for soaring unemployment and the highest inflation rate in the world. Average scraped together his last salary, some money he made from trading sugar bought at a discount from the supermarket where he worked, and funds borrowed from friends to secure a visitor's visa and bus ticket to Johannesburg. A friend who promised to meet him on arrival failed to show up, leaving him stranded without a place to sleep. On Wednesday evening he walked into the Central Methodist Church in downtown Johannesburg and joined a long queue of people waiting for shelter and food. The church's homeless shelter has become a virtual refugee camp for 800-900 Zimbabweans and a smaller number of migrants from other countries. "Over the past three years, and more so over the past couple of months, I have noted an exponential increase in the number of people we have from Zimbabwe," Bishop Paul Verryn said. Outside his office the line of people waiting for help grew. Many of the new arrivals were asleep in their seats. "We offer them a place off the streets, where they are protected and have warmth from the inclement streets of Johannesburg," Verryn said. At sunset the refugees crowd into the building and lay out reeking blankets. "People just sleep anywhere they can find a space to sleep. Some people sleep on the steps here, in the corridors and others in the foyer and in the meeting rooms," said 27-year-old Walter Rusike from Harare. The commerce graduate and his wife and two children share a meeting room with other families and have been at the shelter for four months. Average said he hoped to get accommodation for a few days until he finds his friend, work or both. "I have a diploma in stores management and store control, a certificate in security and a driver's licence. I think maybe I will be able to find some work with my qualifications. Anything will be better than the situation I was in," he says. E-mail to a friend . Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

His name is "Average," he fled wreckage of President Mugabe's Zimbabwe . One of the 4,000 who flee hunger, homelessness into South Africa a day . Once-prosperous nation now an economic disaster with 5,000 percent inflation .

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Three U.S. soldiers were killed and 31 others wounded in two rocket attacks Sunday afternoon in Baghdad, the U.S. military said. Mehdi Army militiamen celebrate after attacking an Iraqi Army vehicle in Baghdad's Sadr City on Sunday. Earlier Sunday, fighting between U.S. troops and the Mehdi Army militia loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr left at least 20 dead and 52 wounded in Baghdad's Sadr City, according to an Iraqi Interior Ministry official. The U.S. military said it had no information about the Sadr City fighting. Sunday's violence came as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki demanded al-Sadr disband his Mehdi Army and threatened to bar al-Sadr's followers from the political process if the cleric refused. Watch a report from the front line in Sadr City » . "A decision was taken yesterday that they no longer have a right to participate in the political process or take part in the upcoming elections unless they end the Mehdi Army," al-Maliki said. Sunday's American fatalities bring the death toll of U.S. troops in the Iraq war to 4,022; that toll includes eight civilian contractors working for the Pentagon. Nearly 30,000 others have been wounded in action. An attack involving a "couple of rounds" of fire on the International Zone, also known as the Green Zone, killed two soldiers and wounded 17 others about 3:30 p.m., a military official said, declining to give the specific location of the attack for security reasons. A separate attack about 30 minutes earlier killed one soldier and wounded 14 at a U.S. military outpost in Rustamiya in southeastern Baghdad, the military said. Responding to al-Maliki's comments, a spokesman for al-Sadr, Sheikh Salah al-Obeidi, said that any effort to bar Sadrists from participation in politics would be unconstitutional -- and that any decision to disband the Mehdi Army is not the government's to make. "It is up to the side that established it," he said. Al-Maliki spoke in an exclusive interview with CNN after a weeklong military offensive against what Iraqi officials called gangs and militia members in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. Hundreds were killed or wounded in the fighting across Iraq, which reportedly ended when Iranian and Iraqi Shiite officials held talks in Iran with al-Sadr. Asked about Iran's role in ending the Basra conflict, al-Maliki attributed the cease-fire to the work of his security forces. Haidar al-Abadi, an Iraqi lawmaker who belongs to al-Maliki's Dawa Party, said last week that Iranian officials participated in the discussions, and another source close to the talks said the Iranians pressured al-Sadr to craft an agreement. "I am not aware of such an attempt," al-Maliki said Sunday. "What happened on the ground and the breakdown in the structure of this militia is what made Muqtada al-Sadr issue his statement to withdraw his militants from the streets. What happened was something to save Muqtada, not to help us." Watch al-Maliki talk about issues that concern Iraq » . In northern Iraq, security forces detained a suspect Sunday and were searching for others in connection with the kidnapping of 42 college students, authorities said. Gunmen seized the male students in northern Iraq before releasing them several hours later, according to a military spokesman and police in Nineveh province. None was harmed, according to the U.S. military. Gunmen stopped two buses loaded with students who were on their way to college, but one bus managed to escape, police said. Four students on the bus that escaped were wounded by gunfire, police said. Students on the other bus were released Sunday afternoon after coalition military forces spotted the bus during an air patrol on the western outskirts of Mosul, according to a U.S. military news release. The kidnappers fled the vehicle after it was stopped, according to a military press release. Other developments . • A Christian priest was shot and killed in eastern Baghdad's Wihda neighborhood around noon Saturday, according to an Iraqi Interior Ministry official. The priest was identified as Father Yousif Adel. He belonged to St. Peter and Paul's Assyrian Orthodox Church. • At least two people were killed Saturday and 16 others wounded when a bomb exploded in a minibus in eastern Baghdad's Beirut Square, the official said. • President Bush is planning to address the nation Thursday morning about the Iraq war, sources said. Bush is expected to address the administration's decision to reduce combat tours of duty from 15 months to 12 months, Republican and Democratic sources said. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Nic Robertson, Jomana Karadsheh and Ingrid Formanek contributed to this report.

Rocket attacks kill 3 U.S. troops, wound 31 . Prime minister to ban Sadrists from politics if Mehdi Army not disbanded . One arrested in kidnapping of a busload of college students, police say . Interior Ministry official says militia fighting U.S. troops in Sadr City .

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(CNN) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama defended himself and his wife Sunday against suggestions that they are insufficiently patriotic. Sen. Barack Obama defended himself and his wife against recent suggestions that they are not patriotic. After a town hall meeting in Lorain, Ohio, a reporter asked Obama about "an attempt by conservatives and Republicans to paint you as unpatriotic." The reporter cited the fact that Obama once failed to put his hand over his heart while singing the national anthem. Obama replied that his choice not to put his hand on his heart is a behavior that "would disqualify about three-quarters of the people who have ever gone to a football game or baseball game." The reporter also noted that the Illinois senator does not wear an American flag lapel pin, has met with former members of the radical anti-Vietnam War group, Weather Underground, and his wife was quoted recently as saying she never felt really proud of the United States until recently. Asked how he would fight the image of being unpatriotic, Obama said, "There's always some nonsense going on in general elections. Right? If it wasn't this, it would be something else. If you recall, first it was my name. Right? That was a problem. And then there was the Muslim e-mail thing and that hasn't worked out so well, and now it's the patriotism thing. "The way I will respond to it is with the truth: that I owe everything I am to this country," he said. The first-term senator from Illinois has been the subject of various debunked rumors since launching his presidential campaign -- allegations that he is a Muslim, that he took his oath of office on a copy of the Quran and that he attended a radical Islamic school while living in Indonesia as a boy. "You will recall that the reason I came to national attention was a speech in which I spoke of my love of this country," said Obama. He and his wife, Michelle, had already explained her comments. "She simply misspoke," he said. "What she was referring to was [that] this was the first time she has been proud of politics in America. Watch what Michelle Obama said » . "That's true of a lot of people who have been cynical and disenchanted. And she's spoken about how she has been cynical about American politics for a very long time, but she's proud of how people are participating and getting involved in ways that they haven't in a very long time." About not wearing an American flag lapel pin, Obama said Republicans have no lock on patriotism. "A party that presided over a war in which our troops did not get the body armor they needed, or were sending troops over who were untrained because of poor planning, or are not fulfilling the veterans' benefits that these troops need when they come home, or are undermining our Constitution with warrantless wiretaps that are unnecessary? "That is a debate I am very happy to have. We'll see what the American people think is the true definition of patriotism." Obama did not respond to the question about the Weather Underground, a group whose members bombed the U.S. Capitol and the Pentagon during the 1970s. Last week, the New York Sun reported that as an Illinois state senator in 2001, Obama accepted a $200 contribution from William Ayers, a founder of the group who was not convicted for the bombings and now works as a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. But the paper said that, in a statement, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, William Burton, said, "Sen. Obama strongly condemns the violent actions of the Weathermen group, as he does all acts of violence ... But he was an 8-year-old child when Ayers and the Weathermen were active, and any attempt to connect Obama with events of almost 40 years ago is ridiculous." Former first lady Sen. Hillary Clinton has said repeatedly that she is a stronger candidate because she has already shown she can withstand conservative attacks. E-mail to a friend .

Obama responds to question about attempts to paint him as unpatriotic . Obama cited for not wearing American flag lapel pin, among other things . Obama: "There's always some nonsense going on in general elections" Clinton has said she has shown she can withstand conservative attacks .

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BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- Six Italian men were shot dead in the German city of Duisburg on Wednesday in an execution-style killing linked to a mafia feud. Police remove a body from the scene. Italian Interior Minister Giuliano Amato said the shootings appeared to be linked to a feud between two mafia clans in the southern region of Calabria, home to the 'Ndrangheta organized crime group. Here are some key facts about the group: . ORIGINS: . -- The Calabrian "Honored Society", known as "'Ndrangheta", in the Calabria region of south Italy is the equivalent of the Sicilian Mafia. -- 'Ndrangheta began as a defense network for impoverished rural peasants against aristocratic landlords. Members emigrated to Canada and the United States, and were discovered running an intimidation scheme in Pennsylvania mining towns in 1906. HOW DOES IT WORK? -- They are known as "The Honored Society", Fibbia or Calabrian mafia. Instead of the pyramid structure of bosses used by other mafia, The 'Ndrangheta" uses families based on blood relationships, inter-marriages, or being a Godfather. Each group is named after their village, or after the family leader. TWENTIETH CENTURY EXPANSION: . -- When Calabria began the process of industrialization and urbanization in the late 20th century, the 'Ndrangheta became interested in drug trafficking, weapons sales and public works and construction. THE PRESENT: . -- In 2004, authorities uncovered an international drugs trafficking network involving gangs in South America, Australia, and Europe. Drugs from Colombia were destined for countries such as Greece and Bulgaria. -- Italian officials estimated at the time that 80 percent of Europe's cocaine had arrived from Colombia via Gioia Tauro's docks in Reggio Calabria. -- Italian anti-organized crime agencies have estimated that the 'NDrangheta earns about $30 billion annually, mostly from illegal drugs, but also from ostensibly legal businesses such as construction, restaurants and supermarkets. -- There are believed to be about 100 'Ndrangheta families in Calabria, who have become more successful than their Sicilian counterparts because their family ties are closer. E-mail to a friend . Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Six young Italians found shot in the head in western German city of Duisburg . Five were dead when authorities arrived, one died later . The victims were between 16 and 39 years old, police say . Police believe the killings may be linked to organized crime in Italy .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An elementary school at the center of a civil rights battle, a hospital ravaged by Hurricane Katrina and a hangar that once housed U.S. Navy dirigibles are on this year's National Trust for Historic Preservation's endangered list. Sumner was the centerpiece of the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education. The 11 sites represent the country's architectural, cultural and natural heritage, and "reflect extraordinary periods of American history," National Trust Director Richard Moe said. The sites were chosen from about 70 nominees by the member-supported nonprofit group. Founded in 1949, it aims to protect significant buildings and locales, now protected under the 1966 Historic Preservation Act. Of the roughly 200 places listed by the organization in the past 20 years, the National Trust says only six have been lost. Moe said the list is designed to raise awareness. "The 11 represent the different kinds of historic places in different parts of the country. It's a representative list," said Moe, who leads the organization of nearly 300,000 members. Endangerment doesn't necessarily mean the building is in the potential path of a bulldozer, according to Moe. Lack of funding can be just as serious, as the case of the California state parks demonstrates. The sites are listed in alphabetical order: . Boyd Theater, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The Art Deco movie palace known as the Sameric was closed in 2002 and is for sale. A local group, Friends of the Boyd, is trying to save the 1928 theater, the last of its kind in Philadelphia. Only a few elaborate theaters from that era have survived, and the Boyd was the only one built in the downtown area. Moe said a "sympathetic developer" could restore the theater. California's park system The largest state park system in the United States suffers from chronic underfunding, including $1.2 billion worth of deferred maintenance, the National Trust said. The problem is worsening because of California's budget crisis. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger submitted a budget proposal this year that would have closed 48 parks, but the National Trust said the revised budget restored $11.8 million of the $13.3 million in cuts he requested. Current funds cover only 40 percent of maintenance and operations, which means irreplaceable historic and cultural resources remain endangered, the National Trust said. The system includes 278 parks, 1.5 million acres and 295 miles of ocean front. Many parks house historic buildings such as the 1820s-era Franciscan La Purisima Mission complex near Lompoc. Charity Hospital and adjacent neighborhood, New Orleans, Louisiana Charity Hospital, once the main trauma center for southeastern Louisiana, was closed after Hurricane Katrina swamped New Orleans in 2005. The building was declared unsalvageable, according to Donald R. Smithburg, chief executive of Louisiana State University Health Care Services Division, which operates university hospitals. There are plans to demolish nearly 200 homes in the Mid-City neighborhood to accommodate construction of two new hospitals. Alternate locations for the new hospitals are available, and Charity Hospital could be rehabilitated, according to the National Trust. Great Falls Portage, Great Falls, Montana This National Historic Landmark is one of the best-preserved landscapes along the Lewis and Clark Trail, but a massive coal-fired power plant is planned in the area. "Development abutting the Great Falls Portage, an undeveloped rural area under panoramic blue Montana skies, will irreparably harm the cultural and visual landscape," the National Trust said . Hangar One, Moffett Field, Santa Clara County, California The hangar was built in 1932 to house U.S. Navy dirigibles. It is a cavernous, 200-foot-tall, dome-shaped structure sitting on more than 8 acres. A 2003 inspection revealed carcinogenic PCBs leaking from the hangar's metallic exterior, the National Trust said. PCBs were widely used in electrical transformers. The Navy transferred Hangar One to NASA in 1992. Although the Navy remains responsible for environmental remediation, it is not required to preserve the building. Lower East Side, New York The Lower East Side in southeast Manhattan was home for immigrants and the working class in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but it is becoming gentrified. Development threatens historic churches, theaters, schools and tenements, "a unique architectural type which, by the sheer numbers who lived in such a building, had an impact on more Americans than any other form of urban housing," the National Trust said. Michigan Avenue Streetwall, Chicago, Illinois This 12-block stretch of historic buildings along Michigan Avenue between 11th and Randolph Streets dates back to the early 1880s. The streetwall is a collection of notable buildings by architects including Adler & Sullivan, Louis Sullivan, D. H. Burnham and Holabird & Roche, the National Trust said. Although the stretch was designated a Chicago Landmark in 2002, the National Trust says its historic character is threatened by the inappropriate addition of large-scale towers that retain only small portions of the original buildings or their facades. Peace Bridge Neighborhood, Buffalo, New York The bridge and neighborhood, which has homes and buildings dating to the 1850s, includes two parks on the National Register of Historic Places that are part of Frederick Law Olmsted's park system. The Public Bridge Authority proposes to expand the bridge and build a 45-acre plaza that would destroy more than 100 homes and businesses, many of which are eligible for inclusion on the National Register, the National Trust said. According to the organization, the PBA has refused to "properly consider" other sites. The Statler Hilton Hotel, Dallas, Texas When the Statler Hilton opened in downtown Dallas in 1956, it was considered the most modern hotel in the country. Today, the vacant building sits on a desirable parcel of real estate. The Statler Hilton faces pressure from encroaching development that may lead to demolition. The National Trust says a sympathetic developer is needed to restore and reopen the hotel. Sumner Elementary School, Topeka, Kansas Sumner was the centerpiece of the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education. The court's decision that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" helped launch the civil rights movement by declaring school segregation unconstitutional. Vizcaya and the Bonnet House, Florida The development of out-of-scale buildings and corresponding zoning changes will ruin the vistas surrounding Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami and the Bonnet House Museum and Gardens in Fort Lauderdale, the National Trust said. Such development could set a precedent for high-rise structures, it added.

National Trust for Historic Preservation releases list of 11 endangered sites . List includes urban neighborhoods threatened by development, gentrification . School at center of Brown v. Board of Education makes list . The National Trust hopes the list will draw awareness to the endangered sites .

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(CNN) -- Panama City Beach, Florida, police are looking for a hotel security guard accused of raping an Alabama student and throwing her off a sixth-floor hotel balcony, a police spokesman told CNN. Police released this photo of Shawn Wuertly, who worked as a hotel security guard in Panama City Beach, Florida. The 18-year-old woman from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, remains hospitalized, but her injuries are not life-threatening, Lt. Dave Humphreys said. The incident happened early Monday at the Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort in Panama City Beach during spring break. Police have issued an arrest warrant for Shawn Wuertly, 29, who worked as a security guard at the resort, Humphreys said. He is wanted for attempted felony murder, sexual battery and false imprisonment. Wuertly had been questioned by police regarding the attack, but they lacked the evidence to hold him, the spokesman said. The police investigation has found that the suspect had seen the girl "several times" at the hotel and had "taken a liking to her at some point," Humphreys said. Around 1 a.m. on Monday, the suspect grabbed the woman and pulled her into an unoccupied room on the sixth floor, using his key to get in, Humphreys said. She said he sexually assaulted her and, after a brief altercation, threw her over the balcony, the police spokesman said. She hit two smaller roofs on her way down, which likely saved her from more serious injuries, before she came to rest in a second floor stairwell, Humphreys said. After his initial questioning, Wuertly told police he was leaving for Tennessee and would return on Wednesday. Wuertly has an outstanding arrest warrant, something that police did not discover until after he was released. "Obviously no one checked his warrants because he has an outstanding warrant in Indiana," Humphrey said, noting that police are "not happy and will address that." CNN's calls to the hotel's manager regarding Wuertly's outstanding warrant were not returned. E-mail to a friend .

Police in Panama City Beach, Florida, looking for hotel security guard Shawn Wuertly . He's suspected of raping teen staying at hotel, tossing her from 6th-floor balcony . Victim remains hospitalized; injuries not life-threatening, police say . Wuertly was questioned by police earlier, released for lack of evidence .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former ABC News chief national security correspondent John McWethy died from injuries in a Colorado skiing accident, a coroner said Thursday. John McWethy, right, shares a laugh in 2002 with former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Washington. A witness said McWethy, 61, was skiing fast on an intermediate trail Wednesday at Keystone Ski Resort when he lost control and slammed into a tree, said Joanne L. Richardson, the Summit County, Colorado, coroner. McWethy died while being treated for blunt-force injuries at Summit Medical Center, Richardson said. "He just missed a turn and slid sideways is what we're surmising," she told CNN. McWethy was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, she said. With his wife, Laurie, McWethy recently had moved to Boulder after nearly 30 years as an ABC News correspondent, so he could enjoy Colorado's ski trails, according to a statement from ABC News President David Westin. "He was doing something that he truly loved," Weston said. "But he deserved many more years doing it than he was given." Friends and former colleagues described McWethy as an outstanding reporter who also cherished life outside work. "He always knew without exception what so many in the powerful business of TV news fail to learn until it's too late: In the end, all we have is our families and our friends and our self-respect as news reporters," said CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr, who worked as a producer with McWethy for three years. Both Starr and former CNN producer Chris Plante admired McWethy's coolheaded reporting from the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, when a hijacked airliner punched a huge, fiery hole in the building's massive facade. "He was unflappable even in the most extreme situations because he was always centered by his love for his family and the knowledge that the television news business and all of this Washington hoo-ha was not 'real life,' " Plante said. "Unlike so many, he really did have a handle on what life was for. And the last moments of his life are proof of that." College classmate Bob Steele wrote about McWethy's "mighty" skepticism of authority in an article published online for the Poynter Institute. While they attended Depauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, Steele said McWethy "challenged the University President and his policies. He protested against the Vietnam War." Steele wrote that McWethy considered "why" to be "the most powerful word in the English language." Len Ackland of the University of Colorado's Center for Environmental Journalism told The Denver Post that his longtime friend "was a very humble guy." Ackland told the paper that McWethy "didn't talk about himself much. He was the kind of journalist who didn't want to be out front. It was always about the story, not about him. He was the kind of guy you enjoyed sitting down to have a beer with." McWethy left behind two sons, Adam, 28, and Ian, 24, according to the Post. His wife, who was with McWethy at the time of the accident, told the Post her husband was a good skier who enjoyed living in Colorado. "He loved it here," she told the paper. "I think he loved the beauty of its nature, the open spaces, the wildlife, everything." In his statement, Westin said, "He was one of those very rare reporters who knew his beat better than anyone, and had developed more sources than anyone, and yet, kept his objectivity." After working as a reporter for U.S. News & World Report, McWethy joined ABC News in 1979, going on to cover conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo and Liberia, according to the ABC News Web site. McWethy was the network's primary reporter assigned to Secretaries of State James Baker, George Shultz, Warren Christopher and Lawrence Eagleburger, ABC said, and he had traveled to more than 50 countries. McWethy was honored with at least five national Emmys during his time at ABC and also received an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award and an Overseas Press Club Award, according to ABC News' Web site. "For three years I watched one of the finest news reporters do what so many in television still cannot do to this day: be a reporter first, foremost and always," Starr said. Colleagues said he'll be missed. "Everyone that knew Jack is trading stories today," Plante said. "There is nothing but a sense of unambiguous loss on the part of all of his friends, colleagues, competitors and even the uniformed military officers that he covered as a reporter." E-mail to a friend .

Ex-ABC News reporter John McWethy, 61, dies in Colorado ski accident . McWethy was wearing helmet at time of crash, coroner says . Reporter died doing "something he truly loved," says ABC president . "Unflappable" reporter "really did have handle on what life was for," ex-colleague says .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Record oil prices, the sub-prime mortgage mess and slumping stock markets are hardly music to the ears of investors. In tough economic times like these, investors seek out safe, stable investments such as guaranteed government bonds or CDs. Yet a growing number are being wooed by the sweet sounds, and profits, of something new -- investment funds specializing in high-end musical instruments. The Stradivarius violin -- only about 700 are believed to exist -- is the premier investment instrument. Talented musicians want them, but can't afford them -- one fetched $3.5 million at auction. Enter Nigel Brown, winner of The Queen's Award for Enterprise and Chairman of the NW Brown Group, a financial services company. He brings musician and investor together. "What happens is, a musician comes along to see me, having fallen in love with an instrument," Brown says. "Then, what I do is to pull a syndicate of people together to buy this instrument so that the musician can then have the use of it ..." Down the road, the musician can buy the instrument from the investors. They split the profits if its value appreciates. That's how violinist Matthew Trusler got his $2 million Stradivarius. Brown loved Trusler's playing and funded the instrument himself. "They are just the most fantastic violins that were ever made," Trusler says, clutching his. "This one was made in 1711 ... and it's been around for 300 years and it's a really wonderful violin." Not everyone is convinced a Stradivarius is such a great deal -- particularly modern instrument makers. "I think if you can get hold of one of the very best Strads, not just any Strad ... I think they probably give you, as a player, something special," says violin-maker Andreas Hudelmayer. "But if you can't have one of the very few best, you are just as well off with a new instrument." His reasoning? The cost of insuring a Stradivarius for just a couple of years would pay for a new, top-quality violin, Hudelmayer says. Even so, the reality is that old violins are attracting those looking for alternative investments. A new hedge fund called the Fine Violins Fund is dedicated to top-range instruments. The latest studies show exclusive violins are earning a steady 3.5 percent a year since 1850. That beats U.S. Treasury bonds over the same timeframe, with their 2.19 percent average yield. Of course, you have to be in the investment game for the long haul. "They've proved to be fantastic investments," says Simon Morris, director of Beare's -- a broker and appraiser of high-end violins, violas and cellos. "For many of the musicians that bought say in the 1960s, they've been the best pension plan they could've had. "Like anything, you have to purchase well and sell well. You can't just go and buy any old thing." But for these investors, the financial return is only part of the investment. "The fact they make a financial gain is of course gratifying at the end of the day, but it is mostly the support of the musician," says Brown. "They like being able to go along to a concert and hear their instrument performed by their artist." E-mail to a friend .

Investors are being wooed by funds specializing in high-end musical instruments . The Stradivarius violin is the premier investment instrument . A new hedge fund called the Fine Violins Fund is dedicated to top-range instruments .

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MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- Buses that carry women only are experiencing a smooth ride with passengers in Mexico's capital. A woman rides on a bus exclusively for female passengers last month in Mexico City. Fans of the new service call their daily commutes more pleasant now that bus rides steer clear of too-close-for-comfort contact with men. "We're not just talking about sexual harassment, about rapes or about incidents of violence," said Ariadna Montiel, director of the Network of Passengers' Transportation for the Government of the Federal District. "But also about touching, staring, which is what generally occurs on public transport." The single-sex service, which started in January, is available on four major lines in the city, and it's expected to expand to another 15. Other plans include replacing male drivers with women. One woman described the service as "excellent," saying it's "more comfortable too because it doesn't make as many stops." Another passenger said she feels more comfortable and safer. Last year, the government received seven complaints of sexual abuse aboard the city's buses, which provide 200 million rides each year, officials said. Authorities said that a single complaint is enough to justify taking such measures. Juan Flores, who has driven buses in Mexico City for 15 years and now steers one for women only, said he even notices a difference. "I feel more tranquil, I work more peacefully and the interior of the bus is cleaner," he said. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Mario Gonzalez contributed to this report.

Passengers on female-only buses describe their commutes as more pleasant . Seven complaints of sexual abuse aboard Mexico City buses made last year . Single-sex service is available on four major lines in Mexican capital .

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MILAN, Italy -- European Super Cup winners Milan were brought back down to earth at the San Siro on Monday, as Fiorentina held them to a 1-1 draw in Serie A. Kaka (right) wheels away in celebration after scoring his penalty against Fiorentina. Fiorentina striker Adrian Mutu earned the visitors a point with a 56th-minute header after Milan playmaker Kaka had scored from the penalty spot in the 27th minute. Milan, who beat Genoa 3-0 in their opening league game, join Fiorentina as one of seven teams with four points in the league table. Mutu scored against the run of play from Mario Alberto Santana's cross. Earlier, Fiorentina defender Dario Dainelli had conceded a penalty when he tripped Massimo Ambrosini in the area. Filippo Inzaghi wasted a golden chance to win the match in the 71st minute when Kaka slid the ball across the front of Fiorentina's goal. However, the Italy forward somehow managed to miss the ball and an open net. Fiorentina could have won it late on but midfielder Zdravko Kuzmanovic hit the post. "I am always angry when we don't get the maximum points, but in this case we did everything we possibly could," said Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti. "We tried to win and ran quite a few risks, but so soon after our last game it was understandable we had some difficulties." E-mail to a friend .

Super Cup winners AC Milan are held to a 1-1 home draw by Fiorentina . Brazilian Kaka gave Milan the lead with a penalty after a foul on Ambrosini . Adrian Mutu equalised for Fiorentina with a header from Santana's cross .

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(CNN) -- Two hours before his scheduled execution Thursday, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles commuted the death sentence of Samuel David Crowe, his lawyer said. Samuel David Crowe's death sentence was changed to life in prison by Georgia authorities, his attorney says. Crowe was convicted in 1988 of murdering Joseph V. Pala, the retail manager at Wicks Lumber Company in Douglas County. Crowe admitted to the crime. The board's ruling means Crowe's sentence will be changed to life without the possibility of parole. The board did not give a reason for its decision. When attorney Ann Fort called Crowe with the news, he was quiet. "He was really shocked and relieved but very somber about it. He takes very seriously the deep harm that he caused when he committed this crime," she said. Crowe had a cocaine habit that his attorney says he kicked in prison. He spent his time behind bars counseling other inmates, teaching some of them to read and writing to people outside of prison who had drug habits. "He didn't want them to go down the path he did," Fort said. As for the Pala family, they are devastated. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Pala's widow, Fran Pala, and his daughter, Lisa Pala-Hansen, were too upset to address the parole board. A representative spoke to the board on their behalf, the newspaper said. Crowe had been scheduled to be executed by injection at 7 p.m. ET Thursday at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, 45 minutes south of Atlanta. He would have been the 19th inmate in Georgia executed by injection. William Earl Lynd was executed by injection the first week in May. He was the first inmate to die in the state since September, when the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider whether the three-drug combination represented cruel and unusual punishment. Lynd was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend in 1988. The U.S. Supreme Court had effectively halted all executions in the country last September, when it agreed to consider whether the three-drug combination used by most states violated the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Death penalty opponents have argued that if inmates are not given enough anesthetic, they could be conscious enough to suffer excruciating pain without being able to express it because of the paralyzer. Their claims are supported by medical studies. Of the 24 death sentences the Georgia board has considered, Crowe's is the third it has commuted. Also this week, Mississippi executed murderer Earl Wesley Berry by lethal injection. Berry confessed to abducting Mary Bounds in 1987, beating her to death and then dumping her body in a rural road. The courts rejected Berry's attorneys' arguments that he should be spared because he was mentally retarded. CNN's Ashley Fantz contributed to this report.

NEW: Attorney says inmate was shocked, relieved, somber . NEW: Victim's family too devastated to address parole board . Samuel David Crowe's death sentence was changed to life in prison Thursday . Crowe admitted killing a store clerk in 1988 in Georgia .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Air crash investigators are trying to work out why a Boeing 777 landed short of the runway at London Heathrow airport, skidding on grass and ripping apart sections of the aircraft. I-Reporter Alex Quinonez took this image of a casualty being taken by medics from Heathrow Airport. An investigator who has been briefed on the incident told CNN the plane's captain "is claiming there wasn't power when he needed it." Passenger Paul Venter told the UK Press Association: "The wheels came out and went for touchdown, and the next moment we just dropped. I couldn't tell you how far." London ambulance services said 17 people suffered minor injuries, and the number could increase as several others are still being assessed. Images showed the Boeing 777 -- BA flight 38 from Beijing, China -- grounded on tarmac after touching down several hundred meters short of the airport's south runway, close to a perimeter road, with its emergency chutes deployed and white fire-fighting foam covering the engines. The undercarriage, left wing and left engine of the aircraft were severely damaged, as if it had skidded across the ground. At least one of the plane's wheels had been torn off. The most visible damage was to the left wing, which was covered in mangled metal where it meets the fuselage. Tire tracks hundreds of meters long could be seen in the grass behind the plane, which was surrounded by fire engines and other emergency vehicles. Eyewitness Neil Jones said the plane had made a "very, very unusual approach" to the airport and sounded louder than usual, PA reported. "You could see the pilot was desperate, trying to get the plane down. The aircraft hit the grass and there was a lot of dirt. The pilot was struggling to keep the plane straight. I think he did a great job." Read passenger and eyewitness accounts of the crash landing . The BBC said an unidentified Heathrow worker told the broadcaster that he had spoken to the pilot. The pilot said, according to the worker, that the plane's electronics had failed and that he was forced to glide it to the ground. The UK Air Accident Investigation Branch will lead the inquiry into the crash landing. A team from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is also heading to London, accompanied by representatives from Boeing and the Federal Aviation Adminsitration. Jerome Ensinck, a passenger aboard the flight, said there had been no indication that the plane was making an emergency landing. "There was no indication that we were going to have a bad landing," he said. "When we hit the ground it was extremely rough, but I've had rough landings before and I thought 'This is the roughest I've had.' "Then the emergency exits were opened and we were all told we should go through as quickly as possible, and the moment I was away from the plane I started to realize that the undercarriage was away, and we had missed the runway. "I feel lucky at the moment, but I think now I realize I've had a close call. If we had hit the runway, it would have been worse." In a statement, British Airways said all 136 passengers and 16 crew members had been evacuated from the plane with six minor injuries taken to hospital. BA chief executive Willie Walsh praised the actions of the crew. "We are very proud of the way our crew safely evacuated all 136 passengers on board," Walsh said in a statement. "The captain of the aircraft is one of our most experienced and has been flying with us for nearly 20 years," he added. Walsh also said that an investigation was being conducted by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch and that it would be inappropriate to speculate about likely causes. Airport authorities said Heathrow's southern runway had been closed, but the northern runway remained open. But the incident immediately led to major delays for passengers. Some incoming flights were being diverted to other airports on a flight-by-flight basis, according to Heathrow's Web site. A spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police said there was nothing to suggest the incident was terror-related. The Boeing 777 is the mainstay of many airlines' long-haul fleets and has never been involved in a fatal accident. However, the aircraft involved in Thursday's incident appeared to have had a fortunate escape, having approached Heathrow over heavily-populated west London suburbs before its crash landing. CNN's Richard Quest, who covers the airline industry, said it appeared the damage happened after the plane touched down. The incident occurred at 12:42 p.m. (7:42 a.m. ET) as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was due to leave Heathrow for a visit to China and India. His flight was delayed but his jet was not directly involved, PA said. • British Airways has set up helpline numbers for friends and relatives concerned for passengers involved in the incident: . From within UK: 0800 389 4193. From outside UK: +44 191 211 3690 E-mail to a friend .

Beijing to London jet lands short of runway at Heathrow Airport . NEW: Investigator says pilot talked of not having power . Passenger: We just dropped. I couldn't tell you how far . 136 passengers evacuated from plane; 17 minor injuries reported .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Every day, five U.S. soldiers try to kill themselves. Before the Iraq war began, that figure was less than one suicide attempt a day. A U.S. soldier patrols the streets of Baghdad in January. The dramatic increase is revealed in new U.S. Army figures, which show 2,100 soldiers tried to commit suicide in 2007. "Suicide attempts are rising and have risen over the last five years," said Col. Elspeth Cameron-Ritchie, an Army psychiatrist. Concern over the rate of suicide attempts prompted Sen. Jim Webb, D-Virginia, to introduce legislation Thursday to improve the military's suicide-prevention programs. "Our troops and their families are under unprecedented levels of stress due to the pace and frequency of more than five years of deployments," Webb said in a written statement. Watch CNN Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre on the reasons for the increase in suicides » . Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, took to the Senate floor Thursday, urging more help for military members, especially for those returning from war. "Our brave service members who face deployment after deployment without the rest, recovery and treatment they need are at the breaking point," Murray said. She said Congress has given "hundreds of millions of dollars" to the military to improve its ability to provide mental health treatment, but said it will take more than money to resolve the problem. "It takes leadership and it takes a change in the culture of war," she said. She said some soldiers had reported receiving nothing more than an 800 number to call for help. "Many soldiers need a real person to talk to," she said. "And they need psychiatrists and they need psychologists." According to Army statistics, the incidence of U.S. Army soldiers attempting suicide or inflicting injuries on themselves has skyrocketed in the nearly five years since the start of the Iraq war. Last year's 2,100 attempted suicides -- an average of more than 5 per day -- compares with about 350 suicide attempts in 2002, the year before the war in Iraq began, according to the Army. The figures also show the number of suicides by active-duty troops in 2007 may reach an all-time high when the statistics are finalized in March, Army officials said. The Army lists 89 soldier deaths in 2007 as suicides and is investigating 32 more as possible suicides. Suicide rates already were up in 2006 with 102 deaths, compared with 87 in 2005. Cameron-Ritchie, the Army psychiatrist, said suicide attempts are usually related to problems with intimate relationships, but they are also related to problems with work, finances and the law. "The really tough area here is stigma. We know that soldiers don't want to go seek care. They're tough, they're strong, they don't want to go see a behavioral health-care provider," Cameron-Ritchie said. Multiple deployments and long deployments appear to exact a toll on relationships, thereby boosting the number of suicide attempts, she said. Traditionally, the suicide rate among military members has been lower than age- and gender-matched civilians. But in recent years the rate has crept up from 12 per 100,000 among the military to 17.5 per 100,000 in 2006, she said. That's still less than the civilian figure of about 20 per 100,000, she said. The "typical" soldier who commits suicide is a member of an infantry unit who uses a firearm to carry out the act, according to the Army. Post-traumatic stress disorder also may be a factor in suicide attempts, Cameron-Ritchie said, because it can result in broken relationships and often leads to drug and alcohol abuse. "The real central issue is relationships. Relationships, relationships, relationships," said U.S. Army Chaplain Lt. Col. Ran Dolinger. "People look at PTSD, they look at length of deployments ... but it's that broken relationship that really makes the difference." To reduce suicides, the Army said it is targeting soldiers who are or have been in Iraq for long periods and teaching them to notice signs that can lead to suicide. That training came too late for Army Specialist Tim Bowman. The 23-year-old killed himself in 2005 after returning from Iraq. "As my family was preparing for a 2005 Thanksgiving meal, our son Timothy was lying on the floor, slowly bleeding to death from a self-inflicted gunshot wound," said his father, Mike Bowman, in testimony to a House Veterans' Affairs committee hearing in December. "His war was now over." He said veterans return home to find an "understaffed, under-funded, under-equipped" Veterans Affairs mental health system. "Many just give up trying," he said. E-mail to a friend .

Average of 5 soldiers per day tried to commit suicide in 2007, Army figures show . Sen. Jim Webb introduces legislation to improve care for soldiers . Army psychiatrist says soldiers must overcome stigma of treatment . Psychiatrist: "We know that soldiers don't want to go seek care"

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A German woman held hostage in Iraq since February has been freed, but her son was still being held, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Wednesday. An image taken from a video issued in April shows Hannelore Marianne Krause and her son Sinan. The woman, Hannelore Marianne Krause, was taken to Germany's embassy in Baghdad after being taken captive with her adult son 155 days earlier. Steinmeier said he was "very relieved" Krause was released on Tuesday, yet there still remains "a great deal of uncertainty" about her son, who "remains in captivity." "Rest assured we will do everything in our power to reach her son, Sinan," the foreign minister said. In early March, Iraqi militants holding Krause and her son hostage demanded that Germany withdraw its troops from Afghanistan to ensure their safety. As part of NATO's Afghanistan force, Germany sent about 3,000 troops in the relatively peaceful northern part of the country. German troops also help train Iraqi soldiers and police, but not in Iraq. The Arrows of Righteousness group posted video clips on the Internet, threatening to kill the two in 10 days if Berlin did not comply. CNN could not independently confirm the authenticity of the video. In it, the woman identified as Krause urged German Chancellor Angela Merkel to heed the demands. A passport with Krause's name was shown in the video. While sitting next to her son, Krause tells Merkel, "These people want to kill my son in front of my eyes, and then they'll kill me, if the German troops did not withdraw out of Afghanistan." She and her son clutch each other and cry as they speak while three militants, two armed with large assault rifles, stand behind the pair. "They are not joking, and they'll kill us. I am very tired. Please help me. Take any decision or we will be killed." Reading a prepared statement, one of the militants says, "We have warned you. Otherwise you will not see their bodies." "Muslims are all one nation, and have one religion. It is not acceptable that Germany leads the coalition troops in Afghanistan, and attacks the secured villages and claim it is not fighting in Iraq." E-mail to a friend . CNN's Diana Magnay contributed to this report.

German foreign minister says woman was released after 155 days . Germany will continue efforts to free her adult son, who remains in captivity . In video, militants had demanded that German troops leave Afghanistan .

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SANTIAGO, Chile (CNN) -- Nearly 100 former Chilean soldiers and secret police will be prosecuted on charges they tried to cover up the disappearance and deaths of 119 people during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, a judge ordered Monday. Former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet, pictured in 2000. The disappearances occurred between 1974 and 1975, during what was known as "Operation Colombo," which targeted Pinochet's opponents. Chile's military government published information outside the country to make it seem that the victims had died fighting guerrillas. Chilean magistrate Victor Montiglio based his order on an investigation that says 60 victims were illegally arrested by the Office of National Intelligence (DINA) and kept in detention centers before they disappeared. DINA's former director, retired Gen. Manuel Contreras, has already been sentenced to 250 years in prison in other cases involving human rights violations. He found out about Montiglio's ruling in his prison cell. Minister of Justice Carlos Maldonado said the former soldiers will be taken to military compounds after they appear before Montiglio on Tuesday. The civilian suspects will be jailed in the Santiago Uno and Punta Peuco penal facilities, which are outside Santiago, he said. A U.S. backed-coup toppled democratically elected President Salvador Allende in 1973, after which Pinochet took power. In March 2008, a court in Chile sentenced 24 former police officers for their roles in kidnappings, torture and murders that happened just after the coup, Chile's Judicial Authority said. Thousands of Chileans were victims of the national crime wave. Pinochet, whose reign lasted from 1973 to 1990, was widely blamed for encouraging subordinates to kidnap, torture and kill people with suspected leftist ties, such as journalists and union members. Years after he left power, courts indicted Pinochet in two human rights cases, but judges threw out the charges on the grounds that he was too ill to stand trial. Pinochet died in 2006. CNN's Alberto Pando contributed to this report.

Chilean judge orders prosecution of 98 former Pinochet soldiers, agents . Order is related to investigation of 60 people who disappeared in 1970s . Hundreds were killed or disappeared during Augusto Pinochet's rule . Suspects are expected to appear in court in Chile on Tuesday .

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MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama told Florida's Cuban-American community Friday that his Cuba policy would be based on "libertad" and freedom for the island nation's people. Sen. Barack Obama speaks at a Cuban Independence Day event in Miami, Florida, on Friday. "My policy toward Cuba will be guided by one word: 'libertad,' " he said, using the Spanish word for liberty at an event celebrating Cuban Independence Day in Miami, Florida. "The road to freedom for all Cubans must begin with justice for Cuba's political prisoners, the right of free speech, a free press, freedom of assembly, and it must lead to elections that are free and fair," Obama said. "That is my commitment. "I won't stand for this injustice; you will not stand for this injustice, and together we will stand up for freedom in Cuba. That will be my commitment as president of the United States of America," he said. Watch Obama call for freedom in Cuba » . Obama also said the policy for Cuba and the rest of Latin America would be guided by "the simple principle that what's good for the people of the Americas is good for the United States." "After eight years of the failed policies of the past, we need new leadership for the future," he said. "After decades of pressing for top-down reform, we need an agenda that advances democracy, security and opportunity from the bottom up." Obama called for looser restrictions on travel to Cuba so Cuban-Americans can visit family members relatives as well as allowing larger money transfers to the island, two positions that are popular within the Cuban-American community. Obama, however, may lose votes among Cuban-Americans if they think he is willing to talk with Raúl Castro, the president of Cuba who recently took over leadership of the island nation from his brother, Fidel Castro. Speaking in Miami on Tuesday, Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, blasted Obama for changing his positions on normalization with Cuba and for wanting to "sit down unconditionally for a presidential meeting with Raúl Castro." "These steps would send the worst possible signal to Cuba's dictators: There is no need to undertake fundamental reforms; they can simply wait for a unilateral change in U.S. policy," McCain said. "I believe we should give hope to the Cuban people, not to the Castro regime. Watch McCain blast Obama's position on Cuba » . "My administration will press the Cuban regime to release all political prisoners unconditionally, to legalize all political parties, labor unions and free media, and to schedule internationally monitored elections. The embargo must stay in place until these basic elements of democratic society are met," McCain said. But Obama said McCain had misrepresented his position. "John McCain's been going around the country talking about how much I want to meet with Raúl Castro, as if I'm looking for a social gathering; I'm going to invite him over and have some tea. That's not what I said, [and] John McCain knows it," he said. Obama also faulted McCain for pursuing what he called the failed Cuba polices of President Bush. "Now, I know what the easy thing is to do for American politicians. Every four years, they come down to Miami, they talk tough, they go back to Washington, and nothing changes in Cuba. That's what John McCain did the other day," Obama said. "He joined the parade of politicians who make the same empty promises year after year, decade after decade. "Instead of offering a strategy for change, he chose to distort my position and embrace George Bush's and continue a policy that's done nothing to advance freedom for the Cuban people. That's the political posture that John McCain has chosen, and all it shows is that you can't take his so-called straight talk seriously." Republicans have been able to count on the support of southern Florida's Cuban American community by maintaining a no-compromise stance against Cuba's Communist regime. And with a 70 percent turnout rate, Cuban-Americans have been a powerful force in Florida and thus, because of Florida's role as a swing state, national politics. Watch how Obama is wooing Cuban Americans » . Younger Cuban-Americans, however, are beginning to question their community's alliance with the GOP. "In reality, all they give to Cuban-Americans is lip service, and I think Cuban-Americans of my generation, Cuban-Americans of previous generations, are tired of the lip service," said Giancarlo Sopo, who is backing Obama. But despite Democratic efforts to reach out to Cuban Americans, "the reality is, there is no change," says Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Republican who has represented his South Florida district for eight terms. Obama, Diaz-Balart said, may even help Republicans unite Cuban-Americans behind the GOP banner once again. "This community is steadfast. It's solid. It understands the value of freedom," Diaz-Balart said.

NEW: Sen. Obama says Cuba policy will be based on liberty for Cuban people . NEW: Democratic front-runner accuses Sen. McCain of distorting position . Obama calls for looser restrictions on travel, fund transfers to Cuba . McCain argues for continuation of hard line policy against communist regime .

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MUGELLO, Italy -- Italian Valentino Rossi's resurgence continued on Saturday, as the five-time MotoGP champion took pole position at his home race in Mugello. Rossi gives the thumbs up after taking his first pole position of the season at his home race in Mugello. The 29-year-old has struggled since winning his last title in 2005 but is back at the head of the field this season on his Fiat Yamaha and has won the last two races. A lap of one minute 48.130 seconds was enough to see him take his first pole position of the season ahead of Dani Pedrosa in second and fellow-Italian Loris Capirossi in third -- the 50th pole of his career and 40th in MotoGP. "For sure we will try to keep this winning streak going. I was quite worried after practice because we had some problems but the team modified the bike and it is faster now," said Rossi. "My last pole position was a long, long time ago -- I can't even remember when it was, so I am very happy. Loris is behind me and with two Italians on the front row the crowd will be very special here." Rossi is three points ahead of Repsol Honda rider Pedrosa and his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo going into Sunday's race with reigning champion Casey Stoner a further 28 points back on his Marlboro Ducati. Rossi's time bettered the previous record pole time by Spaniard Sete Gibernau by more than 0.8 seconds, and that marker was posted two years ago on a more powerful bike. In fact, the top seven finishers all beat Gibernau's lap, achieved on a 990cc bike as opposed to the 800cc versions of today.

Valentino Rossi claims pole position for Sunday's Italian MotoGP in Mugello . A lap of one minute 48.130 seconds enough to give Rossi first pole of season . Yamaha rider Rossi three points ahead of Honda's Dani Pedrosa in standings .

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(CNN) -- Actress Sharon Stone said in a statement Saturday that she "could not be more regretful" of her comments this month regarding the earthquake in China, in which she suggested that the quake was an act of "karma." Sharon Stone made the controversial remarks before she hosted a charity auction at the Cannes Film Festival. "Yes, I misspoke," said the statement released by Stone's publicist and entitled "In my own words by Sharon Stone." "I could not be more regretful of that mistake. It was unintentional. I apologize. Those words were never meant to be hurtful to anyone," Stone said. "They were an accident of my distraction and a product of news sensationalism." Stone said Saturday that she was issuing the statement to set the record straight about the comments she made to a reporter at the Cannes Film Festival. The statement drew fire from citizens and government officials. "There have been numerous reports about what I said in Cannes. I would like to set the record straight about what I feel in my heart and end all of the understandings," she said. "They're not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a friend of mine," Stone said on camera at the time, discussing the Chinese. "And then all of this earthquake and all this happened and I thought, is that karma? When you're not nice, that bad things happen to you?" Qin Gang, spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, said Stone "should do more to promote understanding and friendship between nations." French fashion house Christian Dior said it would drop Stone from its advertisements in China after her May 22 remarks. "We absolutely disagree with her hasty comments, and we are also deeply sorry about them," Dior said in a statement from its Shanghai, China, headquarters. But Stone said she was "deeply saddened by the pain that this whole situation has caused the victims of the devastating earthquake in China." As of Friday, the death toll from the May 12 magnitude-7.9 quake stood at 68,858, with another 18,618 missing.

Sharon Stone had suggested that deadly earthquake might be karma . Actress issues statement "to set the record straight" regarding remark . Stone says comments were product of "news sensationalism"

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(CNN) -- Three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal made light work of his heavy schedule and a recurring foot problem to reach the last 16 of the French Open on Friday. Rafael Nadal inspects his blistered foot during his third-round victory against Jarko Nieminen. The world No. 2 crushed Finnish 26th seed Jarkko Nieminen 6-1 6-3 6-1 in his fourth successive day of action on the Paris clay, following frustration this week with bad weather. He will play fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco after his 7-6 5-7 7-6 6-1 win over 15th seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia. Third seed Novak Djokovic was also untroubled in a later third round match to see off Wayne Odesnik of the United States 7-5 6-4 6-2. Nadal will be hoping for some time to let his blistered foot recover, needing treatment during the match against Nieminen for a problem that saw him beaten in the second round of the Rome Masters earlier in the claycourt season. He is bidding to become the second man after the legendary Bjorn Borg to win four successive titles at Roland Garros, but has already vented his anger at the ATP Tour for scheduling four top-level clay events in as many weeks. Watch Nadal talk about his tournament hopes » . Nadal showed little signs of tiredness as he cruised past Nieminen in less than two hours to extend his winning record at the tournament to 24 matches. His opening victory against Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci took two days due to torrential rain, then on Thursday he saw off another qualifier in straight sets when he beat Frenchman Nicolas Devilder. In other third round action on Friday, Spain's Nicolas Almagro again showed his clay court pedigree with a 6-3 6-7 6-3 7-5 win over Britain's 10th seed Andy Murray. Almagro, who has won two titles on clay this season, was made to work hard by Murray, but recovered from a 3-1 deficit in the third set to win seven games in row and take command. He will now play 145th-ranked Frenchman Jeremy Chardy who ended the run of 30th seed Dmitry Tursunov of Russia in straight sets. Latvia's Ernests Gulbis continued his fine run as he defeated Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador 6-3 7-5 6-2 to set up a clash with home hope Michael Llodra who beat Italy's Simone Bolelli in straight sets. In second-round action, France's Florent Serra completed a hard-fought 6-4 6-3 6-7 7-6 win over Victor Hanescu of Romania and will next face American Bobby Ginepri.

Three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal into last 16 of the French Open . Spanish world No. 2 crushes Finnish 26th seed Jarkko Nieminen 6-1 6-3 6-1 . Second seed next faces Fernando Verdasco who beat Mikhail Youzhny . Third seed Novak Djokovic later joins Nadal in the fourth round at Roland Garros . Nicolas Almagro of Spain puts out 10th seed Andy Murray of Britain .

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(CNN) -- Seven players involved in last week's Champions League final have been excused from England's trip to Trinidad and Tobago for their friendly international on Sunday. Only Jermaine Defoe (second right) of the England players congratulating John Terry will travel to Trinidad. Coach Fabio Capello confirmed that of the men involved in Moscow last week, only Manchester United central defender Rio Ferdinand, who has links with the Caribbean, and Chelsea full-back Wayne Bridge, who did not get onto the pitch at the Luzhniki Stadium, will be part of his 22-man squad for the final game of the season. Chelsea's John Terry, who opened the scoring in Wednesday's 2-0 win over the United States at Wembley, is one of those given a holiday along with Wayne Rooney, Wes Brown, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Owen Hargreaves. England squad: . Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Joe Hart (Manchester City), Joe Lewis (Peterborough). Defenders: Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), Stephen Warnock (Blackburn), David Wheater (Middlesbrough), Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham). Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), David Beckham (LA Galaxy), David Bentley (Blackburn), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham). Forwards: Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Ashley Young (Aston Villa), Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Dean Ashton (West Ham), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth).

Seven players have been cut from the England squad for friendly in Trinidad . The seven players had all appeared in the Champions League final last week . However, Manchester United central defender Rio Ferdinand will be playing .

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(CNN) -- A federal grand jury indicted a man arrested last week in connection with a mysterious case of exposure to the deadly biological agent ricin, prosecutors said. Authorities found ricin, weapons and an anarchist manual in Roger Von Bergendorff's Nevada hotel room. Roger Von Bergendorff, 57, was indicted on charges of possession of a biological toxin, possession of unregistered firearms and possession of firearms not identified by serial number, said Natalie Collins, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bergendorff was hospitalized for two months with suspected ricin poisoning, and was discharged before his arrest. His initial court appearance was last week, Collins said, and he did not enter a plea. An arraignment is scheduled for May 2. Bergendorff was hospitalized in February complaining of breathing difficulties. Two weeks later, Thomas Tholen, a cousin who went to Bergendorff's Las Vegas hotel room to recover his belongings, discovered what turned out to be ricin. Authorities also said a search of the room found four guns, the book "Anarchist's Cookbook," a collection of instructions on poisons and other dangerous recipes and castor beans, syringes and beakers. Ricin is extracted from ground-up castor beans. Tholen was charged earlier in April with failing to report the commission of a crime. A federal grand jury indicted him for allegedly concealing the knowledge that production and possession of a biological agent -- a felony -- was being committed. Bergendorff previously lived in Tholen's home in Riverton, Utah, just south of Salt Lake City. After the ricin was discovered, the FBI searched that home as well as storage units Bergendorff used in Utah. Authorities said FBI agents searching the storage units found castor beans, chemicals used in the production of ricin, a respirator, filters, laboratory glassware, syringes and a notebook on ricin production. If convicted as charged, Bergendorff would face a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. E-mail to a friend .

Roger Von Bergendorff indicted on ricin possession charges . Bergendorff had been hospitalized with suspected ricin poisoning . Authorities found ricin, guns in Bergendorff's Nevada hotel room . Thomas Tholen, Bergendorff's cousin, also faces charges .

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(CNN) -- Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has warned against outside influences in next month's run-off election, likening one American diplomat to a "prostitute" and threatening to oust another from his country. Robert Mugabe tries to stir voters with a blistering speech criticizing the U.S. and Britain. "Zimbabwe cannot be British, it cannot be American. Yes, it is African," said Mugabe, whose speech Sunday was quoted Monday in The Herald, the state-run newspaper. "You saw the joy that the British had, that the Americans had, and saw them here through their representatives celebrating and acting as if we Zimbabwe are either an extension of Britain or ... America. You saw that little American girl [U. S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer] trotting around the globe like a prostitute..." Mugabe went on to say that U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee would be expelled from the country if he "persisted in meddling in Zimbabwe's electoral process," the newspaper reported. The fallout from Zimbabwe's stalled election has brought international criticism, with Frazer taking the most emphatic stance. In April, Frazer accused Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe for nearly three decades, of "trying to steal the election" and "intimidating the population and election officials as well." The first election was March 29. An announcement of the winner of the presidential election was delayed for weeks as opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai claimed he had won. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, after a long delay, ruled that neither candidate had won the required majority of votes, and scheduled a runoff election for June 27. Since the March balloting, there have been numerous reports from Tsvangirai's party and church groups about kidnappings, torture and other violence, including the deaths of opposition party members. They say the violence targets opponents of Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party. At about the same time Sunday that Mugabe was giving his campaign speech, Tsvangirai was speaking at a funeral. Tsvangirai spoke harshly as he stood near the casket of a man he claimed was killed by Mugabe's supporters. Watch Tsvangirai address mourners » . "This is a clear testimony of the callousness of this regime," said Tsvangirai to a funeral procession of hundreds gathered outside the capital city of Harare. "They can kill us. They can maim us. But we are going on the 27th of June, our hearts dripping with blood, to vote him out of office." Mugabe denies his supporters were responsible for election-related violence.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe likens U.S. diplomat to prostitute . Mugabe warns U.S. and Britain to keep out of Zimbabwe . Morgan Tsvangirai attends funeral and accuses Mugabe supporters of murder .

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(CNN) -- Serie A champions Inter Milan have confirmed the dismissal of coach Roberto Mancini, opening the way for former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho to replace him. Mancini guided Inter Milan to the Italian league title for three successive seasons. Ironically, the 43-year-old Mancini, who guided Inter to three successive Italian league titles, is now the favorite to take Mourinho's former job at Stamford Bridge. Inter -- who won the first of their three titles in 2006 because those above them were demoted or deducted points over the matchfixing scandal -- released a statement about the sacking. "Inter Milan have informed Roberto Mancini that he has been relieved of his role as coach, especially because of his comments that he was not going to stay after the end of the season following the Champions League tie against Liverpool on March 11," read their statement. Mancini, however, rescinded those comments the following day declaring that he had made them in the heat of the moment following Inter's elimination from the competition, losing 3-0 on aggregate. Inter's reasons for sacking Mancini appear less credible after club president Massimo Moratti announced that the coach had changed his mind about leaving at the end of the season. "I've had a talk with Mancini, who confirmed to me that he wanted to stay at Inter next year to see out his contract. He wants to win the Champions League for us next season," Moratti said on March 12. "Mancini's words surprised me, I didn't expect it and even less so I believe the people close to him." Mourinho, nicknamed 'The Special One' for guiding Porto to the Champions League in 2004 and then Chelsea to two Premier League titles, would not come cheap, but the exit of Mancini has cost Inter dear too as his contract, which runs till 2012, will leave him 24 million euros richer as compensation. However, Mancini was unable to make Inter into viable Champions League contenders despite the three Serie A titles. Mancini is the ninth coaching casualty under Moratti, following Ottavio Bianchi, Roy Hodgson, Luigi Simoni, Mircea Lucescu, Marcello Lippi, Marco Tardelli, Hector Cuper and Alberto Zaccheroni.

Serie A champions Inter Milan confirm dismissal of coach Roberto Mancini . Mancini allegedly fired for comments made after defeat to Liverpool in March . Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho favorite to take over at the San Siro .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- She's faced the glare of public life since she was a girl, but Chelsea Clinton must contend with renewed press scrutiny as she increasingly assumes a role in her mother's campaign for president. Chelsea Clinton accompanies her mother to the polls on Super Tuesday in Chappaqua, New York. The former first daughter always has been off-limits to the media, especially while she was growing up in the White House. But pressure to burst this protective bubble is likely to grow as the soon-to-be 28-year-old campaigns across the country for Sen. Hillary Clinton, even heading to Hawaii -- Sen. Barack Obama's home turf. Chelsea Clinton will spend three days there to strum up last-minute votes before the state's Tuesday caucuses, said a source from her mother's campaign. In the rough-and-tumble world of politics, her parents always have been protective of her -- including most recently after a TV correspondent's comment that the Clinton campaign found inappropriate. Watch how controversy goes with the last name » . "Doesn't it seem as if Chelsea is being pimped out in some weird sort of way?" MSNBC correspondent David Shuster said this month about her reputed calls to superdelegates. Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson excoriated Shuster and called his remarks "beneath contempt" and disgusting. The senator from New York even sent a damning letter to NBC and demanded "appropriate action." "I am a mom first and a candidate second, and I found the remark incredibly offensive," she said. (Shuster was suspended indefinitely for the remark, made February 7 when he was a guest host for Tucker Carlson. MSNBC said Thursday that the suspension will end February 22.) Even a fourth-grader apparently can't get through to the press-shy Chelsea Clinton. Scholastic News "kid reporter" Sydney Rieckhoff was in pursuit of a story as she questioned presidential candidates last month on the campaign trail in Iowa, according to The Associated Press. Approaching Chelsea Clinton, she reportedly asked, "Do you think your dad would be a good 'first man' in the White House?" But Clinton wasn't talking. "I'm sorry, I don't talk to the press and that applies to you, unfortunately. Even though I think you're cute," she said, according to the AP. During a campaign stop at the Luckie Food Lounge in Atlanta, Georgia, in mid-January, one supporter asked Clinton to reveal something that nobody else knew about her. She responded she would love to -- if all the cameras weren't around. Clinton has proven to be an effective campaigner for her mother, according to a campaign source, saying there's a strong correlation between her visits and improved performance. At this point, the campaign has become a fight for delegates, and even narrowing a loss has a big impact, a source said. This election cycle, Clinton campaigned for her mother in California, the first state where the senator won the youth vote. A rural congressional district in Nebraska where she campaigned reportedly outperformed others in the state. Politicians protecting their children from the spotlight is hardly new. The Bushes complained when daughters Jenna and Barbara became fodder for late-night comics and media outlets. Vice President Dick Cheney also has been reticent when it comes to his daughter Mary, who had a child with her lesbian partner. During a debate with Cheney in 2004, Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards broached the topic, saying, "I think the vice president and his wife love their daughter. I think they love her very much. And you can't have anything but respect for the fact that they're willing to talk about the fact that they have a gay daughter." Cheney responded, "Let me simply thank the senator for the kind words he said about my family and our daughter. I appreciate that very much. ... That's it." But the vice president later slammed Sen. John Kerry for his remarks about Mary Cheney when asked about homosexuality during a debate with President Bush. The vice president said Kerry was "out of line;" wife Lynne Cheney called him "not a good man." These exchanges show that as Chelsea Clinton's public persona rises, so too will questions about why she doesn't make herself available to reporters. The Clinton campaign said Chelsea Clinton is trying to reach as many people as possible and has "appeared in dozens of venues in more than 20 states." But she's still not granting interviews. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Trisha Henry, Frank Sesno, Rebecca Sinderbrand and Jessica Yellin contributed to this report. Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

Chelsea Clinton steps up her role in her mother's campaign . The Clintons have always shielded their daughter from the media spotlight . Ex-first daughter, who soon turns 28, will campaign in Hawaii for Tuesday caucuses .

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(CNN) -- A shadowy figure in the back seat of an SUV in surveillance photos is a second "person of interest" in the slaying of the University of North Carolina student body president, police said Monday. Investigators say a second male appears in the back seat in this ATM photo, which has been colorized. Police on Saturday released photos taken by an ATM camera that show a young man driving a sport utility vehicle possibly using one of student Eve Carson's ATM cards in the Chapel Hill area. A large, shadowy form appears in the back seat of the vehicle, which police say may have been Carson's. Carson, 22, was found shot to death early Wednesday in a suburban neighborhood near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus. Her Toyota Highlander was found the next day in another neighborhood to the west, close to where she lived with roommates. "We do believe there is a second unidentified male seated in the rear seat," the Chapel Hill Police Department said in a statement. "We have been exploring ways to enhance the quality of this photo in an effort to learn more about this person." Police have not identified the pictured driver, who was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a vintage Houston Astros baseball cap. Chapel Hill Police Chief Brian Curran said Saturday that Carson's killing "feels like a random crime." The medical examiner told police that there were no injuries to Carson's body besides gunshot wounds and no signs of sexual assault, Curran said. On Sunday, more than 1,000 people crowded the First United Methodist Church in Carson's hometown of Athens, Georgia, for her funeral, the Athens Banner-Herald reported. The University of North Carolina will hold a memorial service for Carson after students return from this week's spring break, Chancellor James Moeser said in a statement on the school's Web site. On Saturday, the school's top-ranked men's basketball team wore reminders of the popular student president on their jerseys as they took on Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Watch as students remember the slain campus leader » . The North Carolina players wore patches on the jerseys that simply read "Eve," and many of Duke's fans donned small light-blue ribbons as a show of support. A moment of silence for Carson also was held before tipoff. The UNC-Chapel Hill board of trustees has pledged $25,000 to the Crime Stoppers program in the area for information leading to the arrest of anyone responsible in Carson's slaying. Carson was a student member of the board. E-mail to a friend .

ATM photo shows driver, shadowy figure in back seat of SUV . Driver appears to be using one of student Eve Carson's ATM cards . Carson was found shot to death early Wednesday near campus . Carson was student body president at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill .

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(CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton on Thursday sharpened her attacks on Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama as she faces what even her supporters admit are must-win situations in Texas and Ohio in the weeks ahead. At a campaign stop at a General Motors Corp. plant in Youngstown, Ohio, the senator from New York accused Obama of caving in to special interests. "My opponent says that he'll take on the special interests," she said. "Well, he told people he stood up to the nuclear industry and passed a bill against them. But he actually let the nuclear industry water down his bill -- the bill never actually passed." Clinton was referring to a 2006 bill that Obama drafted after an Illinois nuclear power plant was found to have released radiation into surrounding groundwater. Obama's original bill would have required power plants to notify the public and government officials when any radiation was released, but subsequent versions had less stringent reporting requirements, The New York Times reported. The bill was never voted on by the full Senate. Clinton also accused Obama of supporting "billions of dollars of breaks for the oil industry" by voting for an energy bill she opposed and said he did not support the workers of a Maytag Corp. plant that closed in his home state of Illinois. Watch Clinton attack Obama » . Reacting to Clinton's charges, Obama spokesman Bill Burton said his candidate "doesn't need any lectures on special interests from the candidate who's taken more money from Washington lobbyists than any Republican running for president." "Sen. Clinton may have said that attacks and distortions are the 'fun' and 'exciting' part of the campaign, but they're exactly what everyone else in America is tired of," Burton said. In recent days, Clinton has challenged Obama's ability to deliver on his rhetoric. "There's a big difference between us -- speeches versus solutions, talk versus action," she said. "Speeches don't put food on the table. Speeches don't fill up your tank or fill your prescription or do anything about that stack of bills that keeps you up at night." Her remarks in Ohio echo statements she made a day earlier in McAllen, Texas, when she said, "I am in the solutions business. My opponent is in the promises business." Clinton was set later Thursday to hold events in Dayton and Columbus, Ohio. Obama was to be in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois, and had no public events scheduled. CNN contributor and Clinton supporter James Carville said the senator must do well in the March 4 Ohio and Texas primaries if she is to stop Obama's momentum. Carville said he thought Clinton could still win the nomination. "You know, this thing is close. Not all the Democrats have been heard from. ... If anybody can do this, I think she can," said Carville, a major force behind President Clinton's successful 1992 campaign. Clinton's aggressive stance may be in reaction to Obama's momentum after he won eight contests in a row -- including victories by wide margins in Tuesday's primaries in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Watch how the so-called Potomac primaries put Obama on a roll » . In those contests, Obama also outpolled Clinton among demographic groups she had carried earlier -- women, lower-income voters and Latinos. Clinton is banking on those groups to carry her to victory in Texas and Ohio. The wins in the Potomac primaries gave Obama a lead over Clinton in the delegate count for the first time -- 1,253 to 1,211, according to CNN calculations. "In my neighborhood, you know, you had to win games if you wanted to brag," said Jamal Simmons, a Democratic strategist and Obama supporter. "And I think right now, Barack Obama is ahead in delegates. He's ahead in states. He's ahead in the popular vote. He's winning. "Sen. Clinton has got to win some of these contests, you know, to get to the finals." Neither Clinton nor Obama is likely to pick up the 2,025 delegates needed to win the nomination outright before the primary season ends in June, mainly because Democrats divvy up each state's delegates in proportion to the candidates' share of the popular vote. Watch an outlook of the Democratic race » . The Democratic nomination likely will be decided by the roughly 800 superdelegates, which include party officers, elected officials and activists. Obama's camp argues the superdelegates should support the candidate with the most popular support, as indicated by a majority of pledged delegates going into the convention. Clinton's campaign, on the other hand, says the superdelegates should support the candidate they think will be the best nominee in the general election as well as the best president. Watch how the campaigns are fighting for superdelegates » . MoveOn.org, an influential liberal activist group, on Thursday said it would launch a petition drive calling on the superdelegates not to go against the popular vote. "The worst thing for the party and democracy is if all these new voters feel like the nomination was brokered in a backroom somewhere. The superdelegates have got to let the voters decide," MoveOn.org Executive Director Eli Pariser said in a statement. MoveOn.org has endorsed Obama. In a possible indication that Clinton is going to fight for every delegate, her camp on Thursday announced that daughter Chelsea Clinton would be dispatched to Hawaii to campaign before the state's primary Tuesday. Watch how each campaign is fighting for delegates » . However, Chelsea Clinton may face an uphill battle there since Hawaii is Obama's native state. Bill Clinton on Thursday was scheduled to campaign in Wisconsin, which also holds its primary Tuesday. Recent polls in that state have shown a tight race between the two Democrats. A Strategic Vision survey conducted February 8 through Sunday finds Obama ahead of Clinton 45 percent to 41 percent, a lead outside the poll's margin of error of 3 percentage points. Carville said Clinton could recover from a loss in Wisconsin. "It certainly would be preferable for her to win Wisconsin, but I don't put it in the same category as I would put Texas and Ohio on March 4," he said. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Peter Hamby and Chris Welch contributed to this report.

NEW: Spokesman says Obama "doesn't need lectures on special interests" Sen. Hillary Clinton accuses Sen. Barack Obama of caving to special interests . Clinton has challenged Obama's ability to deliver on his rhetoric . Clinton supporter James Carville says she must win in Texas, Ohio on March 4 .

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GEROLSTEIN, Germany -- Mineral water company Gerolsteiner have decided to drop their sponsorship of the German ProTour cycling team, which expires at the end of the 2008 season. German rider Stefan Schumacher is a member of the Gerolsteiner team. Gerolsteiner, who have been team sponsors since 1998, said there was a change in marketing strategy. Gerolsteiner has invested around $12 million annually in the team, which includes riders Stefan Schumacher, Fabian Wegmann, Markus Fothen and Robert Foerster. Gerolsteiner said on Tuesday they were no longer reaching their targeted audience through cycling because it was changing from being solely a producer of mineral water to a supplier of nonalcoholic drinks. Gerolsteiner team chief Hans-Michael Holczer was deeply upset by the news. "There were tears in my eyes," said Holczer. The German Cycling Federation (BDR) said they would help the team to find a new sponsor. "It is not an entirely unexpected decision. After such a long collaboration, you notice changes in your partner," said Holczer, who will begin the hunt for a new sponsor. "We have one of the best teams on the market with a national and international reputation." The T-Mobile cycling team has fired rider Lorenzo Bernucci after his positive doping test at the Tour of Germany last month. Bernucci violated the team's code of conduct and was removed from T-Mobile's roster at the Spanish Vuelta, the team said on Tuesday. He tested positive for a non-amphetamine appetite suppressant. Bernucci is licensed by the Monaco cycling federation, which will be responsible for further investigation and possible additional sanctions, T-Mobile said. He tested positive on August 15 for the substance sibutramine, an appetite suppressant sold under various brand names, such as Reductil and Ectiva. The world governing body of cycling, UCI, informed T-Mobile of Bernucci's positive test. Bernucci told team management that he had been using Ectiva for four years and had purchased it over the counter at a pharmacy in Italy, not knowing it been added to the list of prohibited substances by the World Anti-Doping Agency, T-Mobile said. According to UCI rules, a first violation for sibutramine -- if it is determined that it was not intended as a performance enhancer -- can result in anything between a warning and a one-year suspension. "We do not know if this was an attempt at performance enhancement or just poor judgment," T-Mobile team chief Bob Stapleton said. "But we know it is unacceptable that riders take any medication without the approval of the team doctor. It's a clear violation of our code of conduct and we act now on that basis." E-mail to a friend .

The Gerolsteiner company is ending its sponsorship of the Pro Tour team . They have been team sponsors since 1998 and their contract ends next year . Stefan Schumacher and Davide Rebellin are leading team members . T-Mobile have fired Lorenzo Bernucci after a positive dope test .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Negotiations between the United States and Libya that could result in compensation for past acts of state-sponsored terrorism by Libya are under way, a senior State Department official said Friday. The wreckage of Pan Am 103 in Lockerbie, Scotland; the bombing killed 270 people in 1989. U.S. and Libyan officials met Wednesday and Thursday, the official said. The nations hope to hammer out a deal in which Libya would "resolve all outstanding claims in good faith" and offer "fair compensation" to victims and their families, he said. "We are just at the beginning of this process. The goal is to get something that is fair and comprehensive," the official said. The official said that any agreement would cover about eight acts, including the 1989 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 259 passengers and 11 people on the ground; and the 1986 bombing of the La Belle disco in Berlin, Germany, that killed two people and injured at least 120, including 40 Americans. Outstanding terrorism claims have been a problem for Libya in its attempts to normalize relations with the United States and to begin development of its oil resources. Libya has expressed disappointment that it has failed to reap any political and economic benefits promised by the U.S. government and others after Libya renounced terrorism and stopped development of weapons of mass destruction. And some of the largest U.S. oil companies are eager to begin exploration and development of Libya oil fields, among the 10 largest in the world. The new negotiations and development of an agreement would ideally fulfill all outstanding lawsuits against Libya and allow investment to move forward. A joint U.S.-Libyan statement said, "Both parties affirm their desire to work together to resolve all outstanding claims in good faith and expeditiously in the establishment of a fair compensation mechanism."

Nations hoping for deal in which Libya would compensate terrorism victims . Eights acts would be covered in possible agreement . Libya has tried to normalize relations with U.S. by renouncing terrorism . U.S. oil companies want to explore and develop Libya's oil fields .

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(CNN) -- Researchers have produced aerial photos of jungle dwellers who they say are among the few remaining peoples on Earth who have had no contact with the outside world. Indigenous Brazilians are photographed during an overflight in May, reacting to the sights over their camp. Taken from a small airplane, the photos show men outside thatched communal huts, necks craned upward, pointing bows toward the air in a remote corner of the Amazonian rainforest. The National Indian Foundation, a government agency in Brazil, published the photos Thursday on its Web site. It tracks "uncontacted tribes" -- indigenous groups that are thought to have had no contact with outsiders -- and seeks to protect them from encroachment. More than 100 uncontacted tribes remain worldwide, and about half live in the remote reaches of the Amazonian rainforest in Peru or Brazil, near the recently photographed tribe, according to Survival International, a nonprofit group that advocates for the rights of indigenous people. "All are in grave danger of being forced off their land, killed or decimated by new diseases," the organization said Thursday. Illegal logging in Peru is threatening several uncontacted groups, pushing them over the border with Brazil and toward potential conflicts with about 500 uncontacted Indians living on the Brazilian side, Survival International said. Its director, Stephen Cory, said the new photographs highlight the need to protect uncontacted people from intrusion by the outside world. "These pictures are further evidence that uncontacted tribes really do exist," Cory said in a statement. "The world needs to wake up to this, and ensure that their territory is protected in accordance with international law. Otherwise, they will soon be made extinct." The photos released Thursday show men who look strong and healthy, the Brazilian government said. They and their relatives apparently live in six communal shelters known as malocas, according to the government, which has tracked at least four uncontacted groups in the region for the past 20 years. Watch a report on the tribe » . The photos were taken during 20 hours of flights conducted between April 28 and May 2.

The photos are published on the National Indian Foundation's Web site . Government: Men appear strong and healthy, live in communal shelters . "Uncontacted tribes" are thought to have had no contact with outsiders .

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MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Tropical Storm Arthur, the first named storm of the 2008 Atlantic season, formed Saturday near the coast of Belize, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Tropical Storm Arthur could make its way across the Yucatan and re-emerge in the Gulf of Mexico. The storm made its way over land and was expected to weaken, but the center said the storm could re-emerge in the Gulf of Mexico and regain intensity Sunday. At 11 p.m., the center of Arthur was over the southern Yucatan Peninsula, about 80 miles (125 km) west of Chetumal, Mexico, and about 120 miles (195 km) south-southeast of Campeche, Mexico. It was moving west at about 7 miles (11 km) per hour. The storm's maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph (65 km/hr), with higher gusts, mainly over water east of its center. Tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 260 miles (415 km) from the center of the storm, forecasters said. The government of Belize issued a tropical storm warning for the nation's coast, and the government of Mexico issued a tropical storm warning from Cabo Catoche south to the border with Belize. A tropical storm warning means tropical storm conditions are expected within the warning area -- in this case, within the next six to 12 hours. The storm was forecast to dump up to 10 inches of rain over Belize, up to 15 inches in isolated areas, the hurricane center said. The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season begins Sunday. On Thursday, Tropical Storm Alma, the first one of the year in the eastern Pacific, formed near the west coast of Central America, according to the National Weather Service. The storm was downgraded to a tropical depression and dissipated over the high terrain of Central America. The federal government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted this month that the Atlantic season would be more active than normal, with up to 16 named storms and up to five major hurricanes of Category 3 or above. The noted Colorado State University hurricane forecasting team predicted this year that there would be 15 named storms, eight hurricanes and four major hurricanes. The team calculated a 69 percent chance that at least one major hurricane will make landfall on the U.S. coast. A survey released this week found that 50 percent of 1,100 adults surveyed in Atlantic and U.S. Gulf Coast states did not have disaster plans or survival kits. "Nearly one in three said they would not prepare their home until a storm is within 24 hours of landfall," Bill Read, director of the National Hurricane Center, said Thursday. "Now is the time to buy all that stuff," he said upon the release of the survey by polling firm Mason-Dixon.

NEW: Storm could re-emerge into Gulf of Mexico and regain intensity . Storm's maximum sustained winds near 40 mph . Storm forecast to dump up to 10 to 15 inches of rain over Belize . 2008 hurricane season begins Sunday .

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Imams delivering their Friday sermons in Iraq are denouncing the shooting of a Quran, the holy book of Islam, by a U.S. soldier. Col. Ted Martin kisses a copy of the Quran before presenting it to tribal leaders Saturday. "If we were strongly united from the beginning, that silly-minded American soldier wouldn't have used the Quran as a target," said Sheikh Ahmed Abdul-Ghafour al-Samarie, delivering a sermon at Um al-Qura Sunni Mosque in Baghdad. The U.S. military and President Bush have apologized, but it did not stem the violent protests in Afghanistan and calls from both Sunni and Shiite Iraqis for the soldier to be severely punished. Muslims around the world were angered when it came to light last week that an American staff sergeant -- a sniper section leader -- had used a Quran for target practice in Iraq. Imams at mosques in the largely Sunni cities of Falluja and Mosul, and in Baghdad, condemned the act. The Baghdad mosque prayer was broadcast live on state TV. "This soldier put the head of his state in embarrassment that he had to apologize to the prime minister. We call upon this soldier to be punished. This act, we reject and we stand against it," al-Samarie said. He said if a similar incident happened again, "the world will turn upside down and things will not go back to how they were." Watch residents of Baghdad protest » . Sayyed Muhanned al-Mossawi, a Shiite imam at al-Hakma mosque, said: "We condemn and denounce the criminal act by the American soldier in Radhwaniya in tearing the Holy Quran and using it as a shooting target." Friday's prayer service is the most important Muslim event of the week. The U.S. commander in Baghdad issued a formal apology Saturday and read a letter of apology from the shooter. Watch the U.S. military formally apologize » . The sergeant has been relieved of duty as a section leader, officially reprimanded by his commanding general, dismissed from his regiment and reassigned to the United States, the U.S. military said. Iraq's most powerful Sunni Arab party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, has demanded the "severest of punishments" for the American soldier. CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq and Saad Abedine contributed to this report.

"We condemn and denounce the criminal act," Shiite imam says in Friday sermon . Sunni imam calls soldier "silly-minded American" who embarrassed leader . American staff sergeant had used a Quran for target practice in Iraq . Friday prayers most significant event of the week for Muslims .

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SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- On the question of whether recent immigrants assimilate as quickly as previous waves, many Americans exhibit short fuses -- and even shorter memories. Ruben Navarrette Jr. notes that immigrants have been criticized throughout history for not assimilating. They have convinced themselves that, instead of adapting to the customs of this country, new arrivals -- most of whom come from Asia or Latin America -- expect the rest of us to accommodate them. They go ballistic over little things -- Mexican flags, taco trucks, libraries that offer bilingual story time, or having to "press one for English." Yet, even as they look down on new immigrants, many Americans look back fondly upon their immigrant ancestors. Legend has it that when grandpa arrived from Ireland, Germany, Italy or Poland, he jumped off the boat, immediately draped himself in the American flag, ripped out his native tongue, and abandoned his culture -- all while singing "Yankee Doodle Dandy." Germans did not move to Milwaukee and make beer and cheese. The Irish did not settle in Boston and join organizations like the Hibernian Society to preserve their heritage and culture. And even while Americans complain about how the current crop of immigrants aren't like their predecessors, they miss the irony: At the time, there were people who said the same thing about their ancestors; the Germans were thought to not be like the English, the Irish weren't like the Germans, the Italians weren't like the Irish etc. And the Chinese weren't like anyone who had come before them, and so they were labeled "unassimilable" by the Tom Tancredos of that era. Some things never change. When I was growing up in Central California, which is home to a large population of immigrants from Southeast Asia, thousands would gather to celebrate Hmong New Year. The local newspaper would do a feature. And, in the days that followed, someone would write an angry letter to the editor complaining that these people weren't melting into the pot. Yet, there is more melting going on than one might think, according to a new report from the Manhattan Institute. Billed as the first annual Index of Immigrant Assimilation, the study was written by Duke University Professor Jacob Vigdor. It measured three kinds of assimilation: economic (employment, education, homeownership, etc.); cultural (intermarriage, English proficiency, family size, etc.); and civic (citizenship, military service, political participation, etc.). Far from discovering that recent immigrants are ducking the assimilation process, the study found that "immigrants of the past quarter-century have assimilated more rapidly than their counterparts of a century ago, even though they are more distinct from the native population upon arrival." Of course, individual groups still fall behind in some categories. Chinese and Indian immigrants have low levels of cultural assimilation. Mexican immigrants have low levels of economic assimilation. And Canadian and Indian immigrants have low levels of civic assimilation, since few of them become citizens. But, overall, the news is good. After more than 200 years, America still does an excellent job of assimilating immigrants. Even if a particular group tried to resist the process, they wouldn't stand a chance. Assimilation happens, whether the immigrants are ready or not. Those are the facts. Of course, fear doesn't listen to facts. That is something else that hasn't changed. Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a member of the editorial board of the San Diego Union-Tribune and a nationally syndicated columnist. Read his column here. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.

Navarrette: Americans perceive new immigrants as not assimilating . Americans think ancestors got off the boat waving the Stars and Stripes, he says . That leads to resentment of current wave of immigrants, he says . But a recent study says new immigrants are joining the mainstream .

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(CNN) -- Australia leg-spinner Stuart MacGill has announced he will quit international cricket at the end of the ongoing second Test against West Indies. MacGill will retire after 10 years of Test cricket, in which he has taken 207 wickets. The 37-year-old made his Test debut against South Africa 10 years ago and has since gone on to take 207 wickets at an average of 28.28 over 43 Test matches. "Unfortunately now my time is up," MacGill said. "I am incredibly lucky that as well as providing me with amazing opportunities off the field, my job allows me to test myself in one of Australia's most highly scrutinised sporting environments. "Bowling with some of crickets all time greats such as Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee has made my job a lot easier. I want to be sure that exciting young bowlers like Mitchell Johnson enjoy the same privilege," he added. MacGill took the only wicket to fall on a rain-interrupted third day of the Test in Antigua. He had Ramnaresh Sarwan brilliantly caught at slip by Michael Clarke for a well-constructed 65, but otherwise drew blank on a frustrating day for the tourists. The ever dependable Shivnarine Chanderpaul (55 not out) and Dwayne Bravo (29 not out) took the West Indies to the close on 255 for four wickets. They were replying to Australia's 479 for seven declared and with only two days remaining a draw looks the likely outcome in MacGill's farewell appearance. Australia won the first Test in Jamaica by 95 runs.

Australian leg-spinner Stuart MacGill has announced he will quit Test cricket . The 37-year-old made his Test debut 10 years ago and has taken 207 wickets . MacGill took only wicket to fall in rain-interrupted third day of second Test . Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo compile unbroken stand of 73 .

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JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- An Indonesian businessman known for publicity stunts dropped 100 million rupiah, or about $10,700, from an aircraft Sunday to promote his new book. Bank notes are dropped from a small airplane Sunday to promote Tung Desem Waringin's new book. Tung Desem Waringin circled eight times over a soccer field in the city of Serang, about 40 miles west of Jakarta, emptying bag after black bag of cash. Below, men snatched bills from the hands of young ones. Giddy schoolchildren jumped up and down in excitement, holding up notes they picked up. One man held a blue cap that he had stuffed with money. Another sat in a corner of the field, massaging his feet after a madcap dash for cash. Watch Waringin make it rain » . The stunt was to promote Tung's book "Marketing Revolution," said Fajar Ramdani, the media coordinator for the event. Tung initially wanted to pull the stunt over the capital of Jakarta, but police, fearing large crowds and potential chaos, did not grant him permission, local media reported. Three years ago, the 42-year-old motivational speaker rode a horse along Jakarta's main streets dressed as one of the country's most celebrated war heroes to launch his first book. The book went on to become a best-seller. Millions of people in Indonesia live on fewer than $2 a day. The publicity stunt was expected to generate a tremendous response because the country is grappling with rising food and fuel prices. CNN's Kathy Quiano contributed to this report.

Indonesian businessman circles soccer field eight times, dumping bags of cash . Men snatch bills from youngsters; one man stuffs blue cap with money . Businessman wanted to pull stunt over Jakarta, but police feared chaos . Author once rode on horseback through Jakarta, dressed as war hero .

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WICHITA, Kansas (CNN) -- She found her husband on their bed in a pool of his own vomit, dead from an accidental overdose of drugs he received from an online pharmacy. These pills were sent to CNN's Drew Griffin, even though he was never seen by a doctor. Every night before her husband went to bed, he would open a prescription bottle of the muscle relaxant Soma and swallow the eight or nine pills it took for him to fall asleep, said the woman. She spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity because she wants to protect her husband's identity and not embarrass his family. The drugs arrived at their doorstep every week. She thought they were being prescribed by a treating physician. Her husband had been in a car accident and suffered back pain, and Soma was the one drug that could relieve the aches. She was wrong. The drugs were purchased online without a doctor's visit. She says that her husband had become an addict -- and that the Internet sites that sold him the drugs were his pushers. "Absolutely," she said. "That's exactly what they are." "These pharmacy people that are doing this and these doctors that are doing this, they don't give a dadgummit about people. It's just the almighty dollar; that's all it is." Rusty Payne, a spokesman with the Drug Enforcement Administration, agreed. The abuse of pharmaceuticals "is one of the biggest drug problems we are dealing with," he said. "The Internet is the biggest culprit," Payne said. About $39 million in cash, bank accounts, property and computers were seized in 2007 as a result of Internet drug investigations, he said. In 2004, the figure was $11.9 million. The DEA has formed an initiative with Google, Yahoo! and AOL to warn people about buying drugs online. Between 2005 and 2007, Payne said the official warning popped up nearly 80 million times. A CNN investigation shows just how easy it is to purchase prescription drugs online without a legitimate prescription, revealing a growing new battle in the war on drug abuse. Watch why 'I wanted to end it' » . To prove it, a CNN investigative reporter went to linepharmacy.com, which advertises a long list of prescription drugs for sale. The site sent back an e-mail saying "all orders made are still subjected to Doctor's evaluation." The reporter placed two orders for anti-depressants with the site: one for Prozac, the other for Elavil. A health survey on the site was already filled in. The reporter submitted a credit card and a shipping address. Within 24 hours, the Prozac had arrived at the reporter's front door. The Elavil arrived two days later. Both prescription bottles had a doctor's name and pharmacy on the label. Watch woman describe online drug 'Christmas' sales » . The reporter had neither seen a doctor nor talked to a doctor on the phone. In fact, he hadn't even heard of the doctor listed on the bottle. Carmen Catizone, the executive director of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, which works to implement and enforce uniform pharmaceutical standards, said prescription drugs are the new crack and heroin, and Internet sites that sell them are the new drug dealers. Except narcotics, Catizone said, "you can order virtually any drug in the world by simply clicking a mouse and going to various Web sites that exist out there." His group blames unscrupulous doctors for writing prescriptions without ever seeing the patients or even reviewing their medical records. It has created a list of nearly 80 sites selling online drugs that it recommends people not use. It is illegal in every state for doctors to prescribe medicines to patients whom they do not know across state lines. It is also illegal in most states for pharmacies to ship prescriptions to where they have no license to operate. The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy has tried to lobby Congress, asking for some federal oversight or federal prosecution to stem the tide of illegal Internet pharmacies. But Catizone says legislators gave the board a chilly response: "'Show us the dead bodies,' and if that was me or my family, that's a pretty sad statement for our legislators to give." It is unknown just how many people have died from overdoses related to these online drug sales. It is also unknown how many people have tried to commit suicide with drugs bought online, as Nancy Fitzpatrick of Washington state tried to do earlier this year. She showed CNN her prescription for Soma. The drugs were delivered by a pharmacy in American Fork, Utah, and prescribed by a doctor in Long Island, New York. "I wanted to end it, I wanted to die," "Fitzpatrick said, describing how she swallowed about 130 pills after she fell into a deep depression. Fitzpatrick, the sister of CNN investigative producer David Fitzpatrick, says she had no contact with the doctor or the pharmacy. Read about a sister found, an abuse uncovered . The doctor, Kareem Tannous, lives in a $4-million estate on Long Island and runs three health clinics. When confronted about the prescriptions in front of his Valley Stream, New York, clinic, Tannous hustled to his car and drove off without answering any questions. Workers inside Roots Pharmacy in American Fork, Utah, also refused to answer questions about why Fitzpatrick's prescriptions from Tannous were filled. The office in the small foothill town has a bolted security door and closed-circuit security cameras. The workers inside refused to even open the door or provide the name of the owner. In the reception area on the first floor, dozens of boxes of Federal Express envelopes were waiting to be filled. While CNN cameras rolled, one of the workers emptied a large clear plastic trash bag filled with empty wholesale prescription drug bottles. Most of the containers were labeled Carisoprodol, the generic name of the muscle relaxant Soma. "They need to be stopped," Fitzpatrick said of the doctors and pharmacies involved. "It just boggles my mind that it's so simple." CNN's Kevin Bohn contributed to this report.

CNN reporter gets drugs online without ever seeing a doctor as part of investigation . Widow describes losing her husband to overdose of drugs bought online . Expert says online pharmaceutical industry needs better regulation . Woman tells CNN she tried to commit suicide after falling into deep depression .

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CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- At a debate in front of thousands of labor union activists Tuesday, Sen. Barack Obama's Democratic presidential rivals blasted him for his remarks about Pakistan. Last Wednesday, the Illinois senator said that if it were necessary to root out terrorists, he would send U.S. forces into Pakistan without the country's approval. "You can think big, but remember, you shouldn't always say everything you think if you're running for president, because it has consequences around the world," Sen. Hillary Clinton said during a 90-minute Democratic presidential forum in Chicago sponsored by the AFL-CIO. Chicago is Obama's hometown, and Clinton's statement drew boos. The New York senator responded, "We don't need that right now." Despite the frosty reception, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd joined Clinton in criticizing Obama. He said Obama's stance could undermine Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, the country's military ruler, who has been a U.S. ally in the fight against al Qaeda. "While General Musharraf is no Thomas Jefferson, he may be the only thing that stands between us and having an Islamic fundamentalist state in that country," Dodd said. "So while I would like to see him change, the reality is, if we lose him, then what we face is an alternative that could be a lot worse for our country." Obama jumped into the fray. "I find it amusing that those who helped to authorize and engineer the biggest foreign policy disaster in our generation are now criticizing me for making sure that we are on the right battlefield and not the wrong battlefield in the war against terrorism," he said. "If we have actionable intelligence on al Qaeda operatives, including [Osama] bin Laden, and President Musharraf cannot act, then we should," Obama said. "That's just common sense." He also said Americans had the right to participate in the debate over such a key aspect of American foreign policy. But Clinton countered by saying that while U.S. forces might have to pursue action inside Pakistan "on the basis of actionable intelligence," it was "a very big mistake to telegraph that and to destabilize the Musharraf regime, which is fighting for its life against the Islamist extremists who are in bed with al Qaeda and the Taliban." "Remember, Pakistan has nuclear weapons. The last thing we want is to have al Qaeda-like followers in charge of Pakistan and having access to nuclear weapons." Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware responded later in the debate, noting that the strategy Obama outlined was already U.S. policy. "Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts," Biden said. "It's already the policy of the United States -- has been for four years -- that there's actionable intelligence, we would go into Pakistan." E-mail to a friend .

Sen. Hillary Clinton booed when she criticizes Sen. Barack Obama at debate . Clinton, Sen. Chris Dodd slam Obama's stance on Pakistan . Obama: U.S. should go into Pakistan if intelligence warrants it . Debate sponsored by AFL-CIO drew thousands of labor activists .

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(CNN) -- The U.S. military is promising action to address conditions in a barracks at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, after a soldier's father posted images on YouTube showing a building that he said "should be condemned." A soldier battles overflowing sewage in the Fort Bragg barracks shortly after coming home from Afghanistan. "This is embarrassing. It's disgusting. It makes me mad as hell," Ed Frawley said of the building where his son, Sgt. Jeff Frawley, had to live upon his return this month from a 15-month deployment to Afghanistan. Frawley said Monday that Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Dick Cody called him to say he shares Frawley's anger and that "there's no excuse." Cody said he would not want his own sons or any troops to return to such conditions, Frawley said. Frawley's 10-minute video shows still photos from throughout the building, which appears to be falling apart and filled with mold and rust. Paint -- which Frawley said is lead-based -- is chipping. Ceiling tiles are missing. A broken drain pipe allows sewer gas into the building, while another one has tissues stuffed into it in an apparent effort to stop the gas from coming in. Photos from the communal bathroom show some of the most disgusting images. In one, a soldier stands in a sink to avoid what Frawley describes as 3 inches of sewage water that filled the floor when toilets overflowed. Watch the run-down conditions that soldiers have been living in » . At times, "sewage water backs up into the sinks in the lower floors of these barracks," Frawley said in his narration. "The soldiers have to tell one another who's taking a shower when they turn the sinks on, or the person taking the shower gets scalded with hot water." Frawley said the Army promised to have new barracks ready when his son's unit, part of the 82nd Airborne Division, returned. "The conditions depicted in Mr. Frawley's video are appalling and unacceptable, and we are addressing the concerns he expressed," said Maj. Tom Earnhardt, spokesman for the 82nd Airborne, in a written statement. "Our paratroopers are our most valuable resource, and our commitment is to their well-being. Our actions now must represent the best we can do for our soldiers." "Fundamentally, we acknowledge these conditions are not adequate by today's standards," he added. "The images in Mr. Frawley's video are alarming, and our soldiers deserve the best conditions we can provide as an institution." Watch an interview with Frawley » . Officials at the base invited the media into the barracks and acknowledged that there are serious problems. Earnhardt said the building had been mostly unused during the 15 months Frawley and his unit were away. Fort Bragg has a massive construction project under way to create housing, but it is behind schedule, Earnhardt said. The buildings used by the 82nd Airborne are about 50 years old, he said. Earnhardt said the incident with the overflowing toilet took place the first day after the unit's return and has been addressed. Sen. Elizabeth Dole is among government officials who have responded to the video. In a written statement, she called living conditions in the barracks "unacceptable" and said the situation "must be immediately corrected." Ed Frawley said he is "hoping no one gets fired. I just want to see it get fixed." "They have the slowest contractors in the world," he said, adding that people in jail live "in better conditions." E-mail to a friend . CNN's Mike Phelan, Sarah Carden and Mary Lynn Ryan contributed to this report.

Video shows moldy, rusty building with paint chipping; broken drain pipe . Picture: Soldier in a sink to prevent 3 inches of sewage water from overflowing . "This is embarrassing. It's disgusting," soldier's father says . Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Dick Cody: "There's no excuse" for conditions .

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(CNN) -- Ecological and conservation groups are praising a move by the Environmental Protection Agency to impose new restrictions on rat poisons to help reduce the threat of accidental exposure to children and wildlife. The rules say only farmers, livestock owners and certified rodent control employees can buy rat poison in bulk. "We are very happy that the EPA has done all it can to get these products off of the consumer market," said Michael Fry, director of conservation advocacy for the American Bird Conservancy. "By putting these restrictions in place, they are allowing a compromise to be made between themselves and organizations who have been working on this problem for a long time." The EPA's new measures, which were handed down Thursday, require that rat poisons be kept in bait stations above ground and in containers that meet agency standards. Loose bait, such as pellets, and the four most hazardous types of pesticides, known as "second-generation anticoagulants," will no longer be sold for personal use. Under the new restrictions, only farmers, livestock owners and certified rodent control employees will be allowed to purchase rat poison in bulk. Bags larger than 8 pounds will no longer be sold at hardware and home-improvement stores. Children who come into contact with highly toxic pellets can experience terrible symptoms from digesting them. They include internal bleeding, nosebleeds, hair loss and extensive bruising. Between 2001 and 2003, rat poison was responsible for nearly 60,000 poisonings, according to a study done by the American Association of Poison Control Centers. About 250 of these yearly exposures result in serious injuries or death. The EPA said it believes the restrictions will not only keep the products out of children's hands, but also reduce the ecological and wildlife risks associated with exposure to rat poison. Bait blocks that are typically placed on the ground use fish and other flavors that attract endangered species, including mountain lions. "In California, almost every animal tested by the National Wildlife Service had residues of rodenticides," said Fry. "The rat baits are also very lethal to scavengers, because the toxins remain in the rodent's body long after they initially die." Although the EPA is receiving considerable praise for the initiative, this isn't the first time the agency has worked to combat the threat of rat poison. In 1998, the EPA established two standards for rat poison. The agency required manufacturers to include an ingredient that made the poison taste bitter and use an indicator dye that would make the ingestion of pesticides more recognizable. But regulations were revoked in 2001 after the agency came to a mutual agreement with manufacturers to rescind the requirements. "We determined that the dye wasn't effective in keeping children from being accidentally exposed and the bittering agent actually resulted in a loss of efficiency in controlling rodents," said Steven Bradbury, director of the agency's Division of Special Review and Re-registration. "In our decision Thursday, we felt that we needed an approach that would stop children coming in contact with the pesticides in the first place. That ultimately led to the implementation of bait stations," Bradbury said. The decision to revoke the requirements led the West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. and the Natural Resource Defense Council to file a lawsuit three years later. Both organizations saw the retraction as a way to make it easy for consumers to purchase unsafe rodenticides over the counter. According to the West Harlem group, inner-city housing and park departments such as the New York City Housing Authority could continue laying rat baits in public areas that were easily accessible to children. "Studies show that the number of poisonings in minority children is much higher than others," said Aaron Colangelo, a staff attorney at the Natural Resource Defense Council. "Not only do we have an environmental health issue, but an environmental justice issue as well." New York State Health Department studies showed that 57 percent of children hospitalized for rat poisoning were black and 26 percent were Latino. The EPA said it is working to reduce those numbers in upcoming years with regulations like the ones it introduced this week. "We were frustrated that the EPA dragged their feet for three years before finally taking some productive steps," said Colangelo. "But, from our perspective, they are finally starting to do what needs to be done in order to protect children." After June 4, rat poison manufacturers will have 90 days to comply with the EPA's guidelines. They will then have the opportunity to design new bait stations and formulas for their poisons. All new products should be registered and certified by June 2011.

EPA says new regulations will reduce rat poison exposure to children, wildlife . Environmental groups laud efforts to keep rat poison off consumer market . New restrictions prohibit sale of loose pellets, bulk bags for personal use . Bait blocks for rats that are used in the wild can attract endangered species .

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(CNN) -- Suspected Islamic insurgents fired mortar rounds at a plane carrying Somalia's transitional president, but no one -- including Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed -- was harmed, a presidential spokesman said. Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, pictured late last month during a visit to France. The attack happened while the plane was about to take off from Mogadishu's airport Sunday around 11 a.m. local time, spokesman Hussien Mohammed Huubsireb said. "Al-Shaabab has actually tried to harm to president, but thank God nobody was hurt," Huubsireb said. Al-Shaabab is an Islamic militia that is trying to seize control of Somalia. It is a splinter group of the Islamic Courts Union, which ousted Somalia's transitional government in 2006. The ICU was deposed in December of that year following Ethiopia's military invasion. Bloody battles between Al-Shaabab and the Ethiopian-backed government forces in Mogadishu have forced residents to flee the capital. More than 40,000 displaced civilians have taken shelter in dozens of makeshift settlements west of Mogadishu, described by the United Nations as "precarious conditions." Sunday's mortar attack is the second assassination attempt on Ahmed. The president survived a car bombing in September 2006 outside Somalia's parliament in Baidoa that killed at least eight others. Somalia's Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi has been more frequently targeted by the Islamic insurgents seeking to destabilize the government. Somalia has been mired in chaos since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and sparked brutal clan infighting. Somalia's current transitional government is trying to maintain control of the capital, with the help of the better-equipped Ethiopian forces. But the presence of the Ethiopians has united various Islamic militant groups in Somalia, including Al-Shaabab, who are trying to oust the Ethiopian forces and gain control of Mogadishu. The United States classified Al-Shaabab as a terrorist organization in March, partly because of what Washington says is the group's close ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda militant group.

Suspected Islamic rebels fire at a plane carrying Somalia's transitional president . Plane attacked as about to take off from Mogadishu, no injuries reported . Attack is the second assassination attempt on Ahmed after car bomb in 2006 . Somalia in chaos since 1991, when warlords deposed dictator Mohamed Siad Barre .

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PICHER, Oklahoma (CNN) -- Powerful storms killed 22 people in three states over the weekend, including an Oklahoma mother who died while huddling over her child, authorities said. Her son survived with facial injuries. Teresa Bland, left, comforts Betty Bayliss among the debris in Picher, Oklahoma, on Sunday. Emergency management agencies in two states reported deaths in four counties. There were six people killed in Ottawa County, Oklahoma; 13 in Newton County, Missouri; one in a small community just east of Carthage in Jasper County, Missouri; and one in Purdy in Barry County, Missouri. The severe weather moved into the Southeast, killing at least one person in Laurens County, Georgia. Watch how the storm hit one Georgia town hard » . The deadly Midwest tornado -- at times, a mile wide -- blew winds estimated at up to 175 miles per hour, tracking a total of 63 miles from Oklahoma to southwest Missouri, according to the National Weather Service. The storms spawned five twisters in Oklahoma and two in neighboring Arkansas. Possible tornadoes also were reported Sunday evening in the coastal Carolinas, according to the weather service. No injuries or fatalities were immediately reported. An official surveying the damage in the Midwest said it looked like a "war zone." "It's just horrific. It's devastating to all of us," said Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry, who declared a state of emergency in Ottawa County. "It appears the search and rescue part of the mission is over and now we're in the cleanup phase." Sherri Mills was in the small Oklahoma town of Picher -- northeast of Tulsa -- trying to find family pictures inside the wreckage that had been a friend's home. Mills said her friend was not home when the tornado struck. See scenes from the devastation » . "Thank God she wasn't here," said Mills, standing in front of the piles of brick and wood. "[She] lost everything. This was a two-story big brick home." Another man in Picher said he was home with his family when the storm hit. He said he was blown around inside the home and was lucky to be alive. "We got down on the floor and huddled up together, and we weren't in there thirty seconds when it hit the house," the man said. "We ended up right there under that door. At least I was under the door. My wife, two granddaughters, and my daughter was all there, just bunched up against each other." Watch a longtime pilot say he's never seen such destruction » . President Bush pledged federal support. "Mother's Day is a sad day for those who lost their lives in Oklahoma, Missouri and Georgia because of the tornadoes," Bush told reporters in Waco, Texas. "We send our prayers for those who lost their lives. The federal government will be moving hard to help." Aboard Air Force One, Bush contacted Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt and spoke with Henry after arriving at the White House. Bush did not specify what support the federal government would provide. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Federal Emergency Management Agency chief David Paulison also were in touch with the governors and planned to tour the disaster areas Tuesday. "We will partner with our state counterparts to ensure that we bring the full complement of federal resources to their aid as needed," Paulison said. Lisa Janak, spokeswoman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, said one person was killed in Dublin, just south of Macon. And the nearby town of Kite, with about 200 residents, was "significantly damaged," she said. Earlier, Janak said there were reports that the town was "gone," but added later that those claims were exaggerated. Perdue declared a state of emergency Sunday in six counties in Georgia. Watch how a severe storm took Georgia by surprise » . Authorities fear there may be additional casualties in Missouri, said Susie Stonner, spokeswoman with the state Emergency Management Agency in Jefferson City, Missouri. A twister touched down in the northeastern corner of Oklahoma shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday and killed six people in Ottawa County, according to emergency officials. Another 150 were injured and an unknown number of people were missing. No other information was available about the Oklahoma mother who died while huddling over her child. Michelann Ooten, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, said the town enlisted firefighters from surrounding areas who went house-to-house in a 20-block area, sifting through rubble and searching for survivors. "It looks like a war zone," she said. "Some homes have fallen in, some homes have lost roofs and some are now just slabs." Freelance journalist Mike Priest went to a heavy-hit neighborhood in Picher on Sunday, surveying an area where almost all the houses were leveled. All the residents had evacuated leaving behind, cars, clothes and even their pets, Priest said. "As you can see some people's pets have been left behind and they are fighting over some food," he said, shooting footage of the scene. "Just total devastation. Houses wiped all the way down to the foundation. You can see what used to be a house in the driveway. The storm was incredibly, incredibly strong right through here." CNN's Lee Garen, Susan Candiotti and Janet DiGiacomo contributed to this report.

15 dead in Missouri, 1 killed in Georgia, six in Oklahoma, officials say . States of emergency declared in Oklahoma, Georgia counties . Storm system struck Midwest, then continued into the South . President Bush has pledged federal support, has talked to states' governors .

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(CNN) -- Brendon Pelser said he saw pure terror in the faces of his fellow passengers after an engine fell from a wing as it took off from Cape Town, South Africa, Wednesday. Men were sweating profusely, women were crying. "There was fear on their faces," Pelser said. "Everyone started panicking." But the pilot of Nationwide Airlines' Boeing 737 Flight CE723 was able to fly long enough to dump fuel and make an emergency landing at Cape Town International Airport. Including crew, 100 hundred people were on the plane that departed at 3:50 p.m. on an hourlong flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. No one was injured. The jet had only been in the air about 10 minutes before the engine fell. "We heard something crash and bang, the plane veering left and right. A person on the right side said the engine was missing -- had broken clean off," said Pelser. Watch Pelser describe how the flight crew told passengers to "prepare for the worst" » . "They flew us in very slowly. We were all prepared for the worst. We went into the fetal position, head between the legs," he said. "Then we hit the runway." "I did kind of pray. I didn't want to die. I'm not really ready to die," the 33-year-old said. An object had been sucked into the engine as the nose wheel lifted from the ground and officials are trying to identify it. The engine-to-wing supporting structure is designed to release an engine "when extreme forces are applied," to prevent structural damage to the wing, Nationwide said on its Web site. The airline described the incident as a "catastrophic engine failure." As the nose wheel lifted from the ground, "the captain heard a loud noise immediately followed by a yaw of the aircraft (sideways slippage) to the right," the airline said in a news release. The flight instruments showed the No. 2 engine on the right side had failed, it said. Pelser said he spent the night in Cape Town, then flew back to Johannesburg where he lives, on the same airline. Nationwide said the engine had undergone a major overhaul in March 2005 at "an approved Federal Aviation Authority facility in the U.S.A." and had flown only 3,806 hours since then. "These engines typically achieve 10,000 hours between major overhauls," Nationwide Airlines' press release stated. E-mail to a friend .

Nationwide Airlines pilot dumped fuel until he landed plane Wednesday . An object was sucked into the engine as the nose wheel lifted from the ground . 100, including crew, were on the plane; no one was injured . Plane passenger: "Everyone started panicking"

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The nation's largest publicly owned utility company may be vulnerable to cyber attacks, according to a new report. In 2007 President Bush visited the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The Tennessee Valley Authority, which supplies power to almost 9 million Americans, "has not fully implemented appropriate security practices to protect the control systems used to operate its critical infrastructures," leaving them "vulnerable to disruption," the Government Accountability Office found. Simply put, that means a skilled hacker could disrupt the system and cause a blackout. Rep. James Langevin, a Rhode Island Democrat, fears the problem is much larger than just the TVA. "If they are not secure, I don't have a great deal of confidence that the rest of our critical infrastructure on the electric grid is secure," he said. The TVA operates 52 nuclear, hydroelectric and fossil-fuel facilities in the southeastern United States. Among the government watchdog agency findings: . • The TVA's firewalls have been bypassed or are inadequately configured . • Passwords are not effective . • Servers and work stations lack key patches and effective virus protection . • Intrusion-detection systems are not adequate . • Some locations lack enough physical security around control systems. The GAO recommends 73 steps to correct the problems in its report to Congress. In September, CNN first aired dramatic footage of a government experiment demonstrating that a cyber attack could destroy electrical equipment. The experiment, dubbed "Aurora," caused a generator to fall apart and grind to a halt after a computer attack on its control system. The test was conducted by scientists at the Idaho National Laboratory. In October, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. told Congress that 75 percent of utilities had taken steps to mitigate the Aurora vulnerability, but Langevin said it now appears that Congress was misled. A congressional audit of the electric reliability corporation's claim cast doubt on the assertion that most utilities were taking steps to fix the problem. "It appears that they just made those numbers up," Langevin said. "It is not acceptable. It is outrageous." He said the result is there is now no clear picture of how vulnerable utilities are to cyber attacks. The electric reliability corporation -- a nongovernmental group that oversees the power system and comprises members of the industry and some consumers -- told CNN it regrets the confusion. Experts told CNN that Cooper Industries is the only manufacturer of hardware that can close the Aurora vulnerability. The company estimated it would need to sell about 10,000 devices to fix the problem nationwide. It has sold just over 100, it told CNN. Langevin said the federal government may need new powers to require utilities to take corrective actions to close cyber security gaps, and he will press to give those powers to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The congressman is chairing an Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology subcommittee hearing Wednesday afternoon. Representatives of the TVA, the GAO, the federal commission and the electric reliability corporation are to appear before the subcommittee.

A hacker could disrupt Tennessee Valley Authority system, causing blackouts . TVA supplies power to almost 9 million Americans . Congress was told 75 percent of utilities fixed problems to combat attacks . Representative: no clear picture of how vulnerable utilities are to cyber attacks .

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(CNN) -- Meals Ready to Eat, or MREs are used by the military to provide nutritious and compact meals for the troops. The meals spark memories good and bad, for those who ate them in the military and even for some civilians who used them during disasters, when food was not readily available. Harald Schweizer was 19 when this photo was taken in the summer of 1968 in Vietnam. He is holding a C ration. CNN.com readers shared their stories and memories of MREs and C rations. Some of the responses have been edited for clarity and length. Here is a selection: . Michael Reimers of Gresham, Oregon MREs are the fancy ones. We had C rations. Probably left over from WWII! For my 21st birthday in 1982 I was on border patrol at the Czech border and my friends snuck in two beers and made a cake for me out of what was available. They took a fruitcake that was in something like a tuna can tin and they mixed hot chocolate mix with grape jelly to make the frosting and added a candle and two German beers and we were in business out in the woods. It was very cool being with all my buddies and them doing that for me. Ronald Mervyn of Burton, Michigan I served in the army from April 1985 to February 1988. MREs were not all that bad. I liked the chicken ala king, the dehydrated potatoes patty and the chocolate chip cookies the best. They were all edible. I wish I could have brought some home to share with family and friends. Steven Carrigan of Salina, Kansas I served in the U.S. Marine corps. Did I eat MREs? You bet and a lot of them. They get the job done but always needed a bit of spicing up, Tabasco sauce that someone would bring to the field, usually. Cold weather affected them more than anything. Nothing worse than getting the beans and franks in cold weather. The beans would be semi-hard and the franks rock solid. The preservative that they are in gels up and looks like petroleum jelly. Had to carry them next to your body to get them warm. To me the worst one was the chicken ala king, disgusting. The desserts were always good. Some guys had recipes that you could mix together two or three MREs and have a pretty good meal if you had heat and the time to cook it. Even though I thought I left them behind when I left the military, I still have them in the car during the winter and when I do ice fishing. They are great in a pinch. Annette Sweet of Leavenworth, Kansas This is a different side of life all together; I believe the best memories were how to heat your MRE before they came out with the heating pouch. Spaghetti, wow that was a good one, the best way to serve it was to take your MRE cheese, a mini bottle of the Tabasco that came in the pack and mix it all together and place on the hood of your Humvee on a hot day or by the heater on a cold day. Umm good. Now, the worst ever that I believe they came out with was the loaf, I can't even say whether it was meat or vegetables but it really left a very heavy feeling in the pit of your stomach. You can never forget the ham slices; unfortunately they forgot to slice it, it was about ½ inch thick filled with gristle and very salty, very hard to digest. The different assortments of all the MREs were, as I call them, Charms candy, hard as a rock and stuck to your teeth; Tootsie roll, huge and didn't taste like chocolate; Chicklet gum, send you straight to the throne; the peanut butter and crackers, well, a bit oily but I considered a keeper. Oh, by the way, they did have real coffee. I believe it was Tasters Choice, not sure though. And fruit loaf, what can you say about a loaf? Once a loaf, always a loaf, and staying with tradition of blended items, you mixed a pack of the powered cream they gave you for the coffee in with just a smidgen of water and you had peaches ala mode. I never went hungry, but sometimes I never was full. I have retired now and have come to appreciate what is good food. It's being a civilian, sitting at a real table, with silverware, plate and glass, looking back on where I came from and knowing that I can't go back in body but in spirit. From a retired soldier, just keeping it real. To all my comrades that came before me, with me and after me, God Bless you and thank you for all that you do. Suzanne Yeltnuh of Ahwatukee, Arizona I was a victim of Hurricanes Jeanne, Frances and Wilma. We had no power for 21 days and the stores were out of food. I stood in lines for hours for ice and MREs and was very thankful. I actually think they are very good! Now that I moved to Arizona, at least I don't have to worry about hurricanes!Watch as civilians taste MREs . Clarence Ragland of Tucson, Arizona I not only had MREs, but I also had their predecessor, the C ration! C-rats, as they were called, came with a can opener called a P-38, and were OK. The MRE has come a long way since its inception, and the chicken ala king was one of the best. Still have some at home, although I retired from the Air Force in 2000. Megan Sterrett of APO, New York While I was in the Middle East in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, I sent an MRE to my children so they could see what they were like. My daughter, who was in the second grade, took it in to school for show and tell. One of the girls in the class declared that she would rather eat sand, to which my daughter replied, "Well you can chose to eat this or choose to die." It's always interesting to get a child's perspective on things. You never know what they will come up with.Explore the history of U.S. combat rations . Gary Burton of Clarksville, Tennessee My father served in Vietnam and related this story to me about the old C rations they were served to eat. He said the canned sponge cake was an "acquired taste," so instead of eating it, they opened a petcock valve on the nearby helicopters and filled the cake and tin with aircraft fuel. When lit, the sponge cake would burn for hours and allow the men to heat the rest of their meal with it. David Hollingsworth of Baltimore, Maryland I was a member of the 18th Airborne Corps F.A. b 5/8th Artillery in August 1990; among the first troops from Fort Bragg to deploy in that area. MREs were considered pretty OK meals to eat until my unit was linked in a special mission with the French troops. Their rations were of something that came off of our dinner tables. (Real food!) We would trade them every night for food until they realized what the big fuss was all about. I know real sardines and things of that nature might not sound as appetizing as other foods. However, compared to the MREs we were eating, the French troops' food was a delicacy to most. Mark Grocki of Birmingham, Michigan I have not served in the military, but I have eaten MREs on backpacking trips through Michigan provided to me by a friend's cousin who serves in the Marines. I've always looked forward to them, and have found the entrees like Mexican rice, beef stew, and ham and cheese omelets rather tasty. The crackers and various snack items are good on the go, too, but don't drink the water from the heating element! When asked by other people, "What do they taste like?" I have only one word for them. "Freedom." E-mail to a friend .

CNN readers recall good and bad memories of MREs . "They get the job done but always needed a bit of spicing up" Meat-vegetable-loaf "left a very heavy feeling in the pit of your stomach" Canned sponge cake an "acquired taste"

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DERBY, England -- Substitute Emmanuel Adebayor struck his second hat-trick against Derby this season as Arsenal ran riot with a 6-2 Premier League victory at Pride Park. Arsenal players celebrate Robin Van Persie's goal in their comfortable 6-2 victory over Derby. The Gunners, 5-0 winners at The Emirates earlier in the season, made sure of third place in the table with a rousing second-half display against relegated Derby, who move closer to being the Premier League's worst-ever side. Arsene Wenger's side led 2-1 at the break after goals from Nicklas Bendtner and Robin van Persie either side of a Jay McEveley effort. Theo Walcott was on target too, but the second half belonged to Togo international striker Adebayor, who struck three times to take his season's tally to 30 in all competitions, with Rob Earnshaw grabbing a consolation for the hosts in this eight-goal thriller. Bottom side Derby, now 30 league games without a victory, began the more purposefully and Emanuel Villa only just failed to connect Tyrone Mears' inviting low cross . Then Mile Sterjovski's drive took a major deflection off Alex Song to wrong-foot goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, making his first league start for Arsenal, only for the ball to creep past the right-hand post. The Gunners struggled to find their rhythm early on and were fortunate not to go behind when Villa's bullet header flew just over. Derby were made to pay for those early misses when Darren Moore's 25th minute mistake presented the ball to Niklas Bendtner, who played a one-two with Robin Van Persie before coolly slotting the ball into the left corner. However, Derby soon scored the equalizer they deserved. Robbie Savage's inswinging free-kick landed on the six-yard line and Jay McEveley reacted first to hook the ball home. The home side's joy was short-lived though, when Derby's defensive frailties were exposed again as Van Persie as given all the time in the world to chest down Kolo Toure's floated pass and volley home in style. Adebayor replaced Van Persie for the second-half and Arsenal immediately looked intent on adding to their goals tally. Twice Kolo Toure, playing at right-back, fired over, the second opportunity created by Cesc Fabregas' brilliant backheel. There was nothing goalkeeper Roy Carroll could do to deny Adebayor Arsenal's third goal. Walcott took advantage of Alan Stubbs' slip to cut the ball back to Emmanuel Eboue, who gave Adebayor an easy finish. Walcott should have made it four when he was put through by Bendtner but the teenager fired wide with the goal at his mercy. By now it was looking all too easy for the Gunners as they toyed with home side, creating chances at will -- but against the run of play Derby reduced the deficit to just a single goal when substitute Robert Earnshaw stroked the ball home. Yet within a minute the two-goal cushion was restored, Gael Clichy pinging a pinpoint pass to Walcott wide on the left before the youngster cut inside and curled into the top-right corner. Adebayor grabbed another poacher's goal, sliding to convert another Clichy assist with 10 minutes remaining before he wrapped up his hat-trick from an acute angle in added time. With two games remaining, Arsenal are four points behind Manchester United and Chelsea, still with an outside chance of lifting the Premier League title. E-mail to a friend .

Emmanuel Adebayor hits hat-trick as Arsenal thrash Derby 6-2 at Pride Park . The result follows Arsenal's 5-0 win against bottom side earlier this season . Arsenal are four points behind Man United and Chelsea with two matches left .

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(CNN) -- Some 220 square miles of ice has collapsed in Antarctica and an ice shelf about seven times the size of Manhattan is "hanging by a thread," the British Antarctic Survey said Tuesday, blaming global warming. Scientists say the size of the threatened shelf is about 5,282 square miles. "We are in for a lot more events like this," said professor Ted Scambos, a glaciologist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Scambos alerted the British Antarctic Survey after he noticed part of the Wilkins ice shelf disintegrating on February 28, when he was looking at NASA satellite images. Late February marks the end of summer at the South Pole and is the time when such events are most likely, he said. Watch aerial footage of the area » . "The amazing thing was, we saw it within hours of it beginning, in between the morning and the afternoon pictures of that day," Scambos said of the large chunk that broke away on February 28. The Wilkins ice shelf lost about 6 percent of its surface a decade ago, the British Antarctic Survey said in a statement on its Web site . Another 220 square miles -- including the chunk that Scambos spotted -- had splintered from the ice shelf as of March 8, the group said. "As of mid-March, only a narrow strip of shelf ice was protecting several thousand kilometers of potential further breakup," the group said. Scambos' center put the size of the threatened shelf at about 5,282 square miles, comparable to the state of Connecticut, or about half the area of Scotland. See a map and photos as the collapse progressed » . Once Scambos called the British Antarctic Survey, the group sent an aircraft on a reconnaissance mission to examine the extent of the breakout. "We flew along the main crack and observed the sheer scale of movement from the breakage," said Jim Elliott, according to the group's Web site. "Big hefty chunks of ice, the size of small houses, look as though they've been thrown around like rubble -- it's like an explosion," he said. "Wilkins is the largest ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula yet to be threatened," David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey said, according to the Web site. "I didn't expect to see things happen this quickly. The ice shelf is hanging by a thread -- we'll know in the next few days or weeks what its fate will be." But with Antarctica's summer ending, Scambos said the "unusual show is over for this season." Ice shelves are floating ice sheets attached to the coast. Because they are already floating, their collapse does not have any effect on sea levels, according to the Cambridge-based British Antarctic Survey. Scambos said the ice shelf is not currently on the path of the increasingly popular tourist ships that travel from South America to Antarctica. But some plants and animals may have to adapt to the collapse. "Wildlife will be impacted, but they are pretty adept at dealing with a topsy-turvy world," he said. "The ecosystem is pretty resilient." Several ice shelves -- Prince Gustav Channel, Larsen Inlet, Larsen A, Larsen B, Wordie, Muller and Jones -- have collapsed in the past three decades, the British Antarctic Survey said. Larsen B, a 1,254-square-mile ice shelf, comparable in size to the U.S. state of Rhode Island, collapsed in 2002, the group said. Scientists say the western Antarctic peninsula -- the piece of the continent that stretches toward South America -- has warmed more than any other place on Earth over the past 50 years, rising by 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit each decade. Scambos said the poles will be the leading edge of what's happening in the rest of the world as global warming continues. "Even though they seem far away, changes in the polar regions could have an impact on both hemispheres, with sea level rise and changes in climate patterns," he said. News of the Wilkins ice shelf's impending breakup came less than two weeks after the United Nations Environment Program reported that the world's glaciers are melting away and that they show "record" losses. "Data from close to 30 reference glaciers in nine mountain ranges indicate that between the years 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 the average rate of melting and thinning more than doubled," the UNEP said March 16. The most severe glacial shrinking occurred in Europe, with Norway's Breidalblikkbrea glacier, UNEP said. That glacier thinned by about 10 feet in 2006, compared with less than a foot the year before, it said. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Marsha Walton contributed to this report.

A large chunk of the Wilkins ice shelf in Antarctica broke away last month . Only a narrow strip of ice is protecting the shelf from further breakup . "I didn't expect to see things happen this quickly," scientist says . Ice shelves are floating ice sheets attached to the coast .

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MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A woman who died after she was hit by a spotted eagle ray leaping from the water off the Florida Keys suffered "multiple skull fractures and direct brain injury," a medical examiner said Friday. The dead spotted eagle ray lies on the deck of a boat in Florida. Judy Kay Zagorski, 55, of Pigeon, Michigan, died Thursday of "blunt force craniocerebral trauma" after the ray hit her when she was in a boat, Monroe County medical examiner Michael Hunter determined. He gave no indication in the preliminary report whether the blow from the ray itself or her head hitting the deck, or both, killed her. "It's just as freakish of an accident as I have heard," said Jorge Pino of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "The chances of this occurring are so remote that most of us are completely astonished that this happened." Zagorski was on the boat with her father and other family members and friends. She was seated or standing in the front of the vessel as it was traveling about 25 mph out of a channel, Pino said. "The ray just actually popped up in front of the vessel," he said. "The father had not even a second to react. It was too late. It happened instantly and the woman fell backwards and, unfortunately, died as a result of the collision." The accident happened off the coast of Marathon Key, about 2½ hours' drive south of Miami. Zagorski was taken to the Fishermen's Hospital in Marathon, where she was pronounced dead. Watch marine officers work around dead ray on boat » . Pino said he had seen rays leap into the air, but added, "it's very rare for them to collide with objects." Watch experts explain why eagle rays leap » . The spotted-eagle ray weighed about 75 to 80 pounds and had a 6-foot wingspan, Pino said. Watch officials investigate eagle ray collision » . Florida Fish and Wildlife said eagle rays "are not an aggressive species, but they do tend to leap from the water." Spotted eagle rays can have a wingspan of up to 10 feet and can weigh 500 pounds, it said. Learn more about eagle rays » . Television personality Steve Irwin was killed when a ray's barb pierced his heart in September 2006. A month later, an 81-year-old Florida man, James Bertakis, survived after a ray leaped from the water and stung him in the heart, according to the Orlando Sentinel. He spent five weeks on a ventilator and his recovery took several months, his sons told the Detroit Free Press in his former home state of Michigan. E-mail to a friend .

NEW: Woman suffered brain injury, multiple skull fractures, medical examiner rules . Spotted eagle ray leaps from water, strikes woman on boat, officials say . Victim was 55-year-old woman from Michigan . Spotted eagle ray weighed 75 to 80 pounds, official says .

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PARIS, France -- Top-seeded Maria Sharapova was a shock casualty at the French Open on Monday when she crashed 6-7 7-6 6-2 against fellow Russian Dinara Safina in Paris. Ecstasy: Safina releases her emotions after her comeback win over Maria Sharapova in the French Open last 16. Bidding for the only Grand Slam title she has yet to win, new world No. 1 Sharapova twice blew big leads in the second set. Sharapova's customary screeches reached maximum volume as the match slipped away, and the noise seemed to annoy fans. They whistled and booed Sharapova as she left Court Suzanne Lenglen after the match, and she didn't acknowledge the crowd. "I can't please everyone. It's not in my job description," she said. "I'm an athlete, and I go out there and fight my heart out. They paid the ticket to watch me, so they must appreciate me on some level, right?" Sharapova won five consecutive games in the second set to go ahead 5-2, and held a match point serving in the next game. She also led 5-2 in the second tiebreaker before losing five consecutive points, then unraveled down the stretch, losing the final four games and 10 of the last 12 points. It was the latest setback for Sharapova on clay, her least-favorite surface. "On this stuff, things happen in a hurry," she said. "It was all in her hands," Safina said. "Then suddenly it changed." Safina, the younger sister of two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin, duplicated her upset of Sharapova in the fourth round at Roland Garros in 2006. She received a congratulatory text from her brother and said she hopes to join him as the winner of a major title. "A dream of all our family," she said. "Once we do this, we can put the racket on the wall and say we did everything we could. But to get to his level, I still have to work a little bit harder." The No. 13-seeded Safina's next opponent will be No. 7 Elena Dementieva, who won another all-Russian matchup against No. 11 Vera Zvonareva, 6-4 1-6 6-2. Trailing Sharapova 5-3 in the second set, Safina saved match point with a backhand winner, then broke two points later when Sharapova pushed a forehand wide. In the second tiebreaker, Sharapova double-faulted for 5-4 and then hit three errant backhands. That evened the match, but the momentum favored Safina. Sharapova's customary squeals during rallies became more intense during the sixth game of the final set, and she screamed at herself after points. "Just trying to pump myself up," she said. "I was trying to get angry about something. I just started playing tentatively." She erased three break points before conceding the game with a forehand into the net. That gave Safina a 4-2 lead, and she closed out the victory, falling to her knees with glee when Sharapova socked a wild forehand on match point. It was latest in a series of memorable victories over the past month for Safina. She was the last player to beat recently retired Justine Henin, a four-time French Open champion. That upset came on clay in early May at Berlin, where Safina went on to win the biggest title of her career. "She's a really tough opponent on this surface," Sharapova said. "I came very close, but it didn't go my way for some reason." In other fourth round ties, Russian fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was leading Belarussian 16th seed Victoria Azarenka 6-2 2-2 while Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic and Estonia's Kaia Kanepi were 3-6 6-3 when play was halted.

Top-seeded Maria Sharapova was a shock casualty at the French Open . World No. 1 crashed 6-7 7-6 6-2 against fellow Russian Dinara Safina . Safina, the 13th seed, faces another Russian Elena Dementieva in last 8 .

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GUDDA, India (CNN) -- In Gudda, a village with very little, residents are literally beaming. Just two years ago, villagers had never seen light after dark, unless it came from the moon. Then, solar light arrived and changed everything. Children in Gudda stand on rooftops near a solar panel. Solar power first arrived two years ago. "When the lanterns first arrived, the villagers asked, 'What is this?' " says Hanuman Ram, the local solar engineer. "I explained to them how it worked. Then slowly, as people saw it, they said, 'Wow, what a thing this is!' " There are no real roads that lead to the tiny village in the state of Rajasthan in northwestern India, home to about 100 families. There are only thin strips of tar dotted with massive potholes that force vehicles into thick brush. Other times, cars have to maneuver over just dirt. There is no electricity -- power lines don't extend out here. Water is scarce, too. At the village well, women balance jugs of water on their heads, deftly evading the livestock that saunters along. Visit the sites of Gudda with CNN's Arwa Damon » . It's a simple lifestyle of farming, tending to goats, caring for children and carrying out household chores -- a daily routine that hasn't changed much over the centuries. That's why light transformed Gudda. Villagers could play music at night. Children could study well past sundown. Watch villagers smile as they light their solar lamps » . As Yamouna Groomis kneads dough for her family's evening meal, she blows through a pipe every once in a while to keep a flame burning in an outdoor clay pit. Her days used to end when the sun went down. She smiles as she proudly flicks on a solar lamp. "When I saw this light coming on for the first time, I was very happy," she says. The light is powered by a solar panel on her roof that charges a battery. Panels can be seen on almost every rooftop in Gudda. See where Gudda is located » . Ram, the man credited with the transformation, doesn't have a high school degree. But he did attend an institution about an hour away called Barefoot College, established 35 years ago with an emphasis on helping India's rural population find solutions for their problems among themselves. The college, in part funded by the Indian government, trains villagers all over India who have little or no education, giving them a range of skills to change their lives. The entire campus, which has amenities such as a library, meeting halls, open-air theater and labs, uses solar power. On a recent visit to the main college campus, a group of village women were hard at work making solar cookers, which can boil a liter of water in eight minutes. They are part of the "Women Barefoot Solar Cooker Engineers Society" -- six women who came together and started their own business. Barefoot College serves an outlying community of 125,000 people. In a nearby village, women flock to a water desalinization and purification plant set up by the college and maintained by Barefoot graduates. The station, powered by solar panels, provides the area with a rare commodity: clean drinking water. At the local store in Gudda, owner Ram Swarup puts his solar panels to maximum use. He says the solar lights have allowed him to increase his business by a third. The panels also have powered up the only DVD player and television in the village. Partly paralyzed by polio, Swarup never dreamed that he would have so much in life. He says it took courage -- and light. The villagers say that they now feel empowered -- less reliant on a far-off government. Even the village's engineer is amazed. At Ram's house, the solar lamps flicker to life. He smiles as he says that before, he didn't even know what artificial light was, and now, he's a solar power expert. "I never saw light before," he says. "How could I think that I could bring light here?" Like most of the Barefoot graduates, he was selected to attend the college by his village elders. Now, every night when the lights flicker on, he says, he feels great. With the extra earnings he's made as a solar engineer, he's made another of his childhood dreams come true. He purchased his favorite instrument, a harmonium, and now the family can gather around every night and listen to his music. He says he hopes his daughter, now 14 years old, will follow in his footsteps and become a solar engineer. Ram's 80-year-old mother, meanwhile, beams with pride about her son's accomplishments: "I just wanted him to do something good for the village." E-mail to a friend .

Residents had never had light after dark until two years ago . When villagers saw solar lights in action, their reaction was "Wow" Nearby college helps India's poorest of the poor solve problems . Villager describes seeing light for first time: "I was very happy"

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(CNN) -- Tom Cruise expounds on his beliefs in Scientology in a 2004 video that made its way onto the Internet this week. Tom Cruise appears with his wife, Katie Holmes, at a movie premiere earlier this month. "I think it's a privilege to call yourself a Scientologist, and it's something you have to earn," Cruise says at the beginning of the video. Cruise says he's "driven ... by the opportunity to really help, for the first time, change people's lives. I'm absolutely, uncompromisingly dedicated to that." The video was shown at a 2004 Scientology ceremony honoring Cruise for his humanitarian work. Church of Scientology officials said it can be viewed at any of its churches, but it created a stir this week when what the church calls a pirated and edited version appeared on YouTube. The video has since been taken off YouTube, but an interview portion remained available on the celebrity Web site gawker.com on Thursday. Watch snippets of Cruise video » . "The Cruise Indoctrination Video Scientology Tried To Suppress" is the title of gawker.com's presentation. "You have to watch this video," the site says. "It shows Tom Cruise, with all the wide-eyed fervor that he brings to the promotion of a movie, making the argument for Scientology," which it calls "the bizarre 20th-century religion. Watch "Showbiz Tonight" discussion of Cruise video » . Cruise talks over a repetitive guitar-riff soundtrack, and appears to be answering questions, though an interviewer is not seen or heard. A second part of the video, made available to CNN by the publisher of a new unauthorized biography of Cruise, shows Cruise accepting Scientology's Freedom Medal of Valor award and exchanging military-like salutes with Scientology chairman David Miscavige to audience applause. The publisher denies leaking other parts of the video to the Web. In the video by the publisher, Cruise also salutes a portrait of L. Ron Hubbard, cited on the church's Web site as the founder of "the only major religion founded in the 20th century." Hubbard's biography cites his accomplishments as everything from mariner and horticulturalist to author and humanitarian. In the video, Cruise puts emphasis on the latter role. A Scientologist "has the ability to create new realities and improve conditions," Cruise says. On its Web site, the Church of Scientology highlights its humanitarian work, from anti-drug campaigns in places from Minnesota to Taiwan to teacher training in India. The Web site defines Scientology as "the study of truth." Cruise embraces that in the video. "If you're a Scientologist, ... you see things the way they are," Cruise says. He also says he finds peace in the religion. "The more you know as a Scientologist, you don't become overwhelmed by it," according to Cruise. The unauthorized biography of Cruise is by author Andrew Morton. A Cruise spokesperson and the Church of Scientology have disputed the book, saying Morton did not seek their comment. "Accuracy and truth were not on Morton's agenda," according to a church statement. Morton denies that and says Cruise, who he calls "a towering figure on the international scene," and his faith are worthy of scrutiny. "Tom Cruise has done remarkable work for his faith over the past few years," Morton said. "If it wasn't for him the Church of Scientology would be a shadow of what it is today." E-mail to a friend . CNN's Brad Lendon, David Mattingly and Don Lemon contributed to this report.

Scientology membership a privilege that's earned, Cruise says . 2004 video part of ceremony honoring Cruise for humanitarian work . Scientology defined as "study of the truth"

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In what he called a "defining moment for our nation," Sen. Barack Obama on Tuesday became the first African-American to head the ticket of a major political party. Sen. Barack Obama on Tuesday told supporters he will be the Democratic nominee. Obama's steady stream of superdelegate endorsements, combined with the delegates he received from Tuesday's primaries, put him past the 2,118 threshold, CNN projects. "Tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another -- a journey that will bring a new and better day to America," he said. "Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States." Watch Obama say he'll be the nominee » . Obama's rally was at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota -- the same arena which will house the 2008 Republican National Convention in September. Speaking in New York, Sen. Hillary Clinton, congratulated Obama for his campaign, but she did not concede the race nor discuss the possibility of running as vice president. "This has been a long campaign, and I will be making no decisions tonight," she said. Watch Clinton congratulate Obama » . There were reports earlier in the day that she would concede, but her campaign said she was "absolutely not" prepared to do so. Two New York lawmakers also told CNN on Tuesday that during a conference call Clinton expressed willingness to serve as Obama's running mate in November. Watch the latest on a possible joint ticket »' One source told CNN that Clinton told those on the call that if asked by Obama, she would be interested in serving as his running mate. One of the lawmakers said Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, has been pushing the idea privately for several weeks. The Clinton campaign maintains the New York senator merely said she would do whatever is in the party's best interest, and that her comments Tuesday are no different than what she has been saying for weeks. Clinton said she would meet with supporters and party leaders in the coming days to determine her next steps. She also asked people to go to her Web site to "share your thoughts with me and help in any way that you can." Watch what could be in store in Clinton's future » . CNN has projected that Clinton will win the primary in South Dakota and Obama will take Montana. Those states marked the final contests in the primary season. Obama praised Clinton's campaign. He has been speaking favorably of the New York senator as his focus has turned toward the general election and his battle against John McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. "Sen. Hillary Clinton has made history in this campaign not just because she's a woman who has done what no woman has done before, but because she's a leader who inspires millions of Americans with her strength, her courage, and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight," he said. Diving into general election mode, Obama turned his attacks to McCain, saying it's "time to turn the page on the policies of the past." "While John McCain can legitimately tout moments of independence from his party in the past, such independence has not been the hallmark of his presidential campaign," he said. "It's not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush 95 percent of the time, as he did in the Senate last year." Earlier Tuesday night, McCain portrayed himself as the candidate of "right change." "No matter who wins this election, the direction of this country is going to change dramatically. But the choice is between the right change and the wrong change, between going forward and going backward," he said in Kenner, Louisiana. CNN's Candy Crowley, Jim Acosta, Suzanne Malveaux, Paul Steinhauser and Robert Yoon contributed to this report.

NEW: Clinton says she's not making any decisions tonight . NEW: CNN projects Clinton wins South Dakota; Obama takes Montana . Obama passes delegate threshold . Clinton tells New York lawmakers she would be Obama's No. 2 .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday that it is investigating an incident in which a panel separated from the wing of a Boeing 757 while it was in flight last week. iReporter and Flight 1250 passenger Paul Shepherd took this photo of the damage through the aircraft's window. The incident occurred Saturday on US Airways Flight 1250 from Orlando, Florida, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the NTSB said in a statement. The separation occurred over Maryland. The aircraft landed in Philadelphia about 30 minutes later, and none of the 174 passengers or six crew members aboard was injured. The panel, on the trailing edge of the upper side of the left wing, broke loose and struck several windows toward the rear of the aircraft, causing the outer pane of one window to crack, the agency said. Pressurization of the cabin was not compromised. The wing panel has not been located. NTSB investigators are using a computer program to pinpoint the area where it might be and will notify local authorities that an aircraft part may be there, the statement said. The plane's cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder have arrived at the NTSB laboratory in Washington, the agency said, and are being evaluated. E-mail to a friend .

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating US Airways flight . Plane was en route from Orlando, Florida, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . Wing panel struck several windows, cracking the outer pane of one . Plane landed in Philadelphia about 30 minutes after the incident with no injuries .

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(CNN) -- On video, Joran van der Sloot says he "didn't lose a minute of sleep" over knowing Natalee Holloway's motionless body had been taken out to sea and dumped. Joran van der Sloot awaits transfer from the Netherlands to Aruba in November. He later was released. In the video that aired Sunday on Dutch television, van der Sloot, a suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Holloway, told a man he was with the Alabama teen on an Aruban beach when she apparently died and that a friend of his with a boat disposed of Holloway's body. "He went out to sea and then he threw her out, like an old rag," van der Sloot told Aruban businessman Patrick van der Eem January 16. Van der Eem recorded their conversations on hidden cameras installed in the Range Rover he was driving, according to the Dutch TV report. Watch van der Sloot on hidden camera » . On the tapes, van der Sloot also says that he wasn't certain Holloway was dead before his friend dumped her body in the ocean. "No, but it didn't look good," he said, when van der Eem asked him if he checked her pulse or other vital signs. "I wasn't [expletive] sure, but from the time it happened to the time he came, she wasn't doing anything any more." Aruba's chief prosecutor, Hans Mos, called the account that aired "very impressive" and announced he was reopening the investigation. Van der Sloot later said the statements were lies, and on Monday his attorney said the video contains "no admission of a crime." In the video, van der Sloot says Holloway and her friends begged him to go out with them the night of May 29, 2005. The Dutch student said he and two friends -- brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe -- met the women at a bar in Oranjestad. When they arrived, he said, the women appeared to have been drinking heavily and some were using cocaine. Holloway was in Aruba with about 100 classmates celebrating their graduation from Mountain Brook High School in suburban Birmingham, Alabama. After declining an invitation from Holloway to dance on stage with her, he agreed to drink a shot of liquor from her navel as she lay on the bar, he said. About 1 a.m. May 30, he said, she left the bar with him and the Kalpoes, telling her friends she would meet them at their hotel before their planned return flight the next day to the United States, he said. The three men previously told authorities they then drove to the beach with Holloway, leaving her there when she told them she wanted to stay. But van der Sloot gave a different account in the hidden-camera footage. He said he wanted to have sex with Holloway, but she told him she did not want to go to her hotel. Instead, she said, she wanted to see sharks, he told the informant. The two brothers then used their car to drive van der Sloot and Holloway to the beach by the hotel and left them, van der Sloot said. He and Holloway then had sex, he said. But as they were caressing each other, she started shaking, then said nothing, he said. "All of a sudden, what she did was like in a movie," he said. "She was shaking, it was awful. ... I prodded her, there was nothing." He said he panicked and, when she did not appear to be alive, shook her but was unable to resuscitate her. He said he carried her body to a stand of trees, walked to a pay phone near the pool of the hotel and, instead of using his cell phone, called a friend who owned a boat that was tied up at a nearby dock. Upon the friend's arrival, the two men carried Holloway's body to the boat, and the friend told van der Sloot to go home, he said. The student then walked back to his house, where his father was asleep when he arrived about 15 minutes later, he recounted. He estimated the time at 2:30 or 3 a.m. Van der Sloot said the boat owner showed up at his house later in the morning and told him he had taken the body out less than a mile from land and dumped it overboard. He added that the incident with the woman has not bothered him. "I didn't lose a minute of sleep over it," he said. The video footage shows van der Sloot is "not innocent," Holloway's mother said Monday. "Once people see the video, there are no more questions; there is no one that could walk away from this believing that he is innocent," Beth Twitty told ABC. Twitty described the video as a source of "comfort," saying "it means everything." "I felt that it put an end to my nightmare," she said. "The nightmare is not knowing, and I feel as if now, I can begin the mourning and the healing process for losing a child." She added, "Not knowing is the absolute cruelest thing that a person can endure." Van der Sloot's attorney, Joe Tacopina, told ABC Monday that "there's no confession, there's no admission of a crime by Joran on any of these tapes." He said much of what was in the video is "easily disprovable based on corroborative evidence. ... The fact of the matter is he still is not responsible. The evidence, not Joran, the evidence, says he's not responsible for Natalee's death." Tacopina added, "I'm certainly not asking at this point for anyone to believe Joran. ... Clearly his credibility is zero." Last week, van der Sloot called the Dutch television program "Pauw & Witteman" and acknowledged having made the comments but said they were lies. "That is what he wanted to hear, so I told him what he wanted to hear," van der Sloot said. A judge denied a prosecution request that van der Sloot, the son of a lawyer, be detained in the Netherlands, where he is a student. The judge did determine that sufficient reason exists to reopen the inquiry against van der Sloot. Watch CNN's Frederik Pleitgen report on the new video » . Mos said that on Tuesday he will appeal the judge's decision barring Van der Sloot's arrest and said that a three-judge panel will have eight days to rule on it. In a statement, the Office of the Public Prosecutor on Sunday cautioned the report does not necessarily solve the case. "There is a big difference between the reality of a courtroom and the reality of a television screen," it said. Watch a CNN legal analyst discuss the Holloway case » . On Monday, Tacopina said at least two points of his client's story could be disproved. He said the Aruban coast guard had checked the pay phone where van der Sloot said he had called his friend, and the records show that "there's no such call." Also, Tacopina said, the friend whom his client names in the video met van der Sloot two months ago, and the friend wasn't in Aruba in May 2005. He also has never owned a boat, the attorney said. Van der Eem told ABC he befriended van der Sloot by pretending to be a gangster after meeting him in a casino. "Why did I want this? It's obvious. Everybody was looking for the truth. For her mother," he said. In the interview with ABC, van der Eem became emotional himself while saying that van der Sloot talked about Holloway's death "without any emotions." Van der Eem, who ABC reported once spent a year in prison on drug charges, said he and van der Sloot smoked marijuana on long car rides over the course of several months. Van der Eem told the network he pretended to invite van der Sloot into a drug operation to gain his trust. He approached reporter Peter R. de Vries' television show, telling them he had gained van der Sloot's trust, and the program outfitted an SUV with hidden video cameras. Van der Eem has been paid about $35,000 by the show -- which has a format similar to the U.S. show "America's Most Wanted." E-mail to a friend .

Suspect says on hidden camera Holloway appeared to have died on beach . Lawyer: Facts disprove client's videotaped story of Natalee Holloway's death . Holloway's mom says video leaves no doubt about daughter's death . Report: Hidden camera captures suspect saying Holloway's body was dumped .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. has restored Fulbright scholarships to seven Gaza-based students, saying it erred last week when it rescinded the awards because of travel restrictions that Israel imposes on the Palestinian territory. Student Hadeel Abukwaik, 23, says she hopes to have an exit visa to leave Gaza for the U.S. by August. In e-mails to the students on Sunday, the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem said the United States was working with Israeli authorities to let them leave the Hamas-ruled zone to study at American universities. The scholarships were reinstated after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed outrage about the initial decision, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Monday. McCormack said the initial decision was partly the result of a "faulty decision-making process" by the State Department. "The secretary saw it when it got to her level. She said, 'Fix it,'" McCormack said. "We hope that it has been fixed and that we are working with the Israelis to get these exit permits so that these individuals, again, can have a visa interview." Watch how the students learned about the scholarship loss » . U.S. officials had said the scholarships were rescinded because Israel had denied them exit visas. But McCormack said Monday that U.S. authorities did not take up the matter with Israel until after the matter became public. Israel, which has been criticized for banning hundreds of students from leaving Gaza to study abroad, said it considers each application individually. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev indicated Sunday that his country would be willing to grant the students visas. "This can happen," Regev said. "No one has to pressure Israel on this issue. We have an interest. A real interest." Citing security concerns, Israel imposed an embargo on the movement of people and goods from Gaza after Islamic militant group Hamas took over the territory last year. Palestinians can leave Gaza only with Israeli permission. Hamas has refused to recognize Israel's right to exist, and Israel, the United States and the European Union have designated it a terrorist organization. McCormack said the seven Gaza Fulbright students must be interviewed by Israeli authorities before they can get visas to the United States. "Should they have a successful visa interview -- and by law I can't prejudge an outcome of a visa interview -- then they would be able to come to the United States and pursue their program," he said. If the seven are allowed to leave, it would be the first time Israel has let students do so from Gaza since January, according to Palestinian advocacy group Gisha. One of the Gaza Fulbright scholars, Hadeel Abukwaik, 23, said she "laughed like crazy" from sheer joy when she received Sunday's e-mail. "I was really hoping for this, but I didn't want to want it too much," the software engineering student said by phone Monday. "I didn't want to be disappointed again. "This is really good news." Fulbright scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic merit and leadership potential under the U.S. government-funded Fulbright program, which was started in 1946. The scholarships allow U.S. citizens and foreign nationals to study and teach abroad to promote the "mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries of the world." More than 279,000 participants have been chosen for Fulbright scholarships. Abukwaik said the e-mail she received Sunday gave no indication about when the students might be able to travel. She is waiting to hear back from several universities, including ones in California and Florida. She said academic programs start in August and she hopes to have a visa to leave Gaza by then. CNN's Atika Shubert in Gaza City and Elise Labott in Washington contributed to this report.

NEW: State Department says U.S. erred when it rescinded scholarships . U.S. tells students it is trying to persuade Israel to let them leave Gaza . U.S. cited Israeli travel restrictions on territory when it rescinded awards last week . Israeli spokesman indicates his country would be willing to grant visas .

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BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Police in Tibet have arrested 16 Buddhist monks and are seeking three more for their alleged involvement in one bombing and two attempted bombings, authorities in Tibet told state-run media. Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers are shown in the streets of Lhasa, Tibet, on March 14. All three cases occurred in Tibet's Mangkam county during the first half of April, according to the Tibet Autonomous Regional Department of Public Security. The suspects confessed, police said, saying they had listened to foreign radio and were following separatist propaganda from the Dalai Lama, China's Xinhua news agency reported. CNN could not confirm whether the suspects confessed. The Dalai Lama has said he does not advocate violence or a separate and independent Tibet. He has said he wants a genuine autonomy that preserves the cultural heritage of Tibet. Beijing blames the Dalai Lama and his followers for violence that erupted March 14 amid anti-Chinese demonstrations in Tibet. Some protesters advocated independence from China while others demonstrated against the growing influence of ethnic Han Chinese in Tibet and other regions of China with ethnic Tibetan populations. The Chinese authorities cracked down on the protests, which began peacefully on the 49th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising. Widespread violence broke out across China's Tibetan region, especially in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, following a week of protests by hundreds of Buddhist monks. "Real Buddhists should learn Buddhist scriptures by heart, love their country and their religion, abide by the law, and bring happiness to people," said Dainzin Chilai, vice-chairman of the China Buddhist Association and vice-chairman of the People's Political Consultative Conference of Tibet Autonomous Region. "They should not involve themselves in cruel killing and sabotage." Both groups Chilai represents are affiliated with the Chinese government. The unrest resulted in the deaths of at least 18 civilians and one police officer, according to government figures. It also injured 382 civilians and 241 police officers and led to the looting of businesses and home and the burning of shops and vehicles. Tibet's self-proclaimed government-in-exile put the death toll from the protests at 140. At the time of the unrest, roughly 1,000 people hurled rocks and concrete at security forces, demolishing military trucks and pushing back riot police, a witness told CNN, and Tibetans seemed to be targeting shops and vehicles owned by Han Chinese, the predominant ethnic group in China.

Arrests tied to three bombings in April, police tell Xinhua . China says suspects confessed; CNN could not confirm . Lhasa, Tibet was site of deadly unrest in March .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Workers using blowtorches accidentally started a weekend fire at Universal Studios, Los Angeles County spokeswoman Judy Hammond told CNN Monday. The fire burns buildings and movie sets at Universal Studios on Sunday. The fast-moving, early morning blaze destroyed several movie sets and the King Kong exhibit. It also damaged a video vault but copies of reels and videos are kept at another location, said Ron Meyer, chief operating officer of Universal Studios. "Fortunately, nothing irreplaceable was lost," he said. "The video library was affected and damaged, but our main vault of our motion picture negatives was not." While firefighters were battling the blaze Sunday, a pressurized cylinder exploded at Universal Studios on Sunday, injuring two firefighters, officials said. Eight other firefighters were injured during much of Sunday as they fought back enormous flames. Universal Studios officials resumed normal business hours Monday, including the studio tour. The fire destroyed an area called New York street, which includes movie set-style buildings designed to look like the cityscape of New York City. Hours after the blaze was reported, the roughly two-block area appeared charred and resembled a "disaster movie," said Los Angeles Councilman Tom LaBonge. LaBonge said he could see the smoke from his Silver Lake home Sunday morning. "It looked like a bomb had exploded," he said. The fire began around 4:45 a.m. and was contained initially by 9 a.m. Throughout the morning, large plumes of black smoke rose as the fire burned the vault containing hundreds of videos, said Meyer. The set of "The Changeling," a film recently directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Angelina Jolie, was "completely destroyed," Meyer said. Another area called "Courthouse Square" also was destroyed, he said. Numerous movies have been shot in that area, including several scenes of the 1985 hit "Back to the Future."

Workers using heating tools started Sunday's fire, an official told CNN . The blaze destroyed movie sets and a King Kong exhibit . 10 firefighters were injured .

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DORCHESTER, England (CNN) -- Englishman John Webber thought nothing of the small, shiny cup, passed down from his junk dealer grandfather and stashed under a bed for years, until appraisers said it was an ancient Persian artifact. The ancient Persian gold cup, thought to date from the third or fourth century B.C., fetched $100,000 at auction. The 5½-inch gold cup, which experts have dated to the third or fourth century B.C., fetched $100,000 at an auction in Dorchester, southern England, Thursday. The identity of the winning bidder wasn't immediately known. The relic features the double faced ancient Roman god Janus, the god of gates and doors who always looked to both the future and past and is often associated with beginnings and endings. The cup has two faces with braided hair and entwined snake ornaments at the forehead. Webber's grandfather, William Sparks, was a rag and bone man, the British term for a junk dealer, Duke's said, who established the iron merchants Sparks and Son in Taunton, Somerset, in southwestern England, in the 1930s. Sparks acquired the cup along with two other pieces, also up for auction, in the 1930s or 1940s, the spokeswoman said. Watch CNN report on the auction » . Before he died, Sparks gave the items to Webber, who didn't realize their value, the spokeswoman said. "Because he mainly dealt in brass and bronze, I thought that was what it was made from," Webber told the Bournemouth News and Picture Service. "I put it in a box and forgot about it. Then last year I moved house and took it out to have a look, and I realized it wasn't bronze or brass. "I sent it to the British Museum, and the experts there hadn't seen anything like it before and recommended I had it tested at a laboratory. So I paid quite a bit of money for it to be examined by a lab the museum recommended. And they found the gold dated from the third of fourth century B.C." Webber, who is in his 70s, said he remembers the cup from when he was a small boy. "It's been quite exciting finding out what it was," he told the agency. Webber brought the items to Duke's at the start of the year for potential sale, because he wanted to "realize some money," the auction house spokeswoman said. A spokeswoman for Duke's Auction House, which is selling the cup, said the cup is believed to be from the Archaemenid empire in ancient Persia. The other two items are a second century B.C. round gold mount with a figure, probably of ancient Greek hero Ajax, who besieged Troy, and a decorated gold spoon with an image of a Roman emperor. "He had a good eye for quality over the years," said the spokeswoman, who asked not to be named, "and anything interesting he'd put aside." Scientists analyzed trace elements of a gold sample taken from the cup to determine its age, and analysts from Oxford University concluded that they are consistent with Archaemenid gold and goldsmithing, Duke's said.

Gold cup stashed under bed for years is $100,000 ancient Persian artifact . Small urn went under the hammer at auction in southern England Thursday . Artifact acquired by junk dealer, grandfather of current owner, in the 1930s or 1940s . Experts say it is believed to date from the third or fourth century B.C.

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(CNN) -- From a country which brought the world brands like Sony and Toyota, there's another name that's crept quietly to global prominence. Hello Kitty, the moon-faced cat with a bow in her hair and no mouth. Shintaro Tsuji, CEO of Sanrio, famous for its Hello Kitty brand, speaks in The Boardroom. She's one of 450 characters developed by Japan's Sanrio Group, but she's by far most popular -- the embodiment of what's known in Japan as Kawaii, or the culture of cute. Her image adorns some 50,000 objects, from cute, of course, to downright crazy. But there's nothing cute about the numbers. Hello Kitty is responsible for more than half of Sanrio's billion dollar annual turnover. Her creator and founder of Sanrio is the effervescent 79-year-old Shintaro Tsuji. He told The Boardroom's Andrew Stevens what he thinks is the marketing secret behind a cultural icon. Tsuji: Selling something which people want to buy is one of the ways of doing business. But I thought, goods that I want are also something other people want. So we wanted to make goods which people want to send to somebody else as a gift. The idea is that goods are for social communication purposes and that has been accepted worldwide. In addition, to give Hello Kitty goods as a present is very thoughtful. Our three concepts of friendship, cuteness and thoughtfulness have been reaching out to people. It conveys the importance of being friendly. Such gestures are necessary for the Japanese nation. You care about other people by sending some gifts. Those concepts have been accepted worldwide. Stevens: My first question to you is Sanrio has developed something like 450 characters. Why it is Hello Kitty has stood out so much more than the others? What is the secret of its success? Tsuji: At first we were using characters which were created by outsiders, such as cartoonists or artists, but in this case we had to pay the royalty. So we decided to create our own characters. We hired many artists and asked them to create various characters. According to our own research, the most popular animal character was a dog then a white cat and the third one was a bear. Snoopy already existed as a dog character -- that's why we went for the second most popular character. We asked the artists to design a character based on a white cat. Stevens: Let me just ask you a question about your life, growing up. Reading your autobiography, you lost your mother when you were 13 years old. You went to live with your auntie. And you describe your life; your childhood, has been a quite lonely. How do you think that has shaped you in your business life? Tsuji: I felt that the most important thing in your life is to have someone whom you can open up your heart to and talk about anything; to have many friends whom you can talk with your heart is the most blessed thing in your life. Then I asked myself how can you make friends -- in what way people can make a friend with those people. That is not just to avoid behaving, which makes people uncomfortable. But do something, which makes people happy. In this way people can make friends. For example, when people are ill, you can say something to them, or when people did something for you, you say thank you to them. For those kinds of occasions, you send a small present rather than an expensive gift. It is important to show your appreciation since you are able to make good friends in this way. This idea has formed as a business. As a result, Hello Kitty was created. Hello Kitty has become known among everybody and it means that people are becoming friends. I am pleased with this phenomenon. Stevens: What, in your business career, is the most important lesson you think you've learnt? Tsuji: A good company means that, first of all, its sale increases each year and secondly it makes profits each year. This is what people call a quality company. But this is not my main concern. Obviously, a company shouldn't lose money. A company cannot contribute to a society easily. But for me, it is important to establish a company, which has a good reputation. Stevens: Much easier said than done, how do you remain true to your original ideas, though, because there are so many pressures from shareholders among other people to make those profits? Tsuji: The company shareholders actually say "Make more profits or dividends." But what I always say to them at the general assembly is that the shareholder should be someone who truly values my company and is proud of having my company's share. According to newspapers, there are companies which make a profit by polluting the environment or breaking laws. But this is not acceptable by our standard. I bet the company staffs want to have an increase in the wages. But I want my staffs to be proud of themselves, in particular, when their children ask them where they are working. In my view, that is very important. Stevens: What advice would you give to someone starting out their own company in 21st century? Tsuji: It is not only about making profits or establishing a huge corporation. A bigger country doesn't mean a better country. Having a larger military capacity doesn't mean a better thing. It will be ideal to establish a company which is a value to the world. It's not just about the money. So I would say "How about creating companies which people appreciate?" E-mail to a friend .

Shintaro Tsuji, CEO of Sanrio speaks to Andrew Stevens in The Boardroom . Sanrio's most famous character is Hello Kitty, a moon-faced cat . Hello Kitty is responsible for more than half of Sanrio's billion dollar turnover .

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(CNN) -- U.S. President George Bush railed against the government of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe Monday, calling intimidation of opposition figures "deplorable." Leading opposition figure Artur Mutambara was arrested following his criticism of President Robert Mugabe. "The continued use of government-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe, including unwarranted arrests and intimidation of opposition figures, to prevent the Movement for Democratic Change from campaigning freely ahead of the June 27 presidential runoff election is deplorable," Bush said in a statement released by the U.S. Embassy in neighboring South Africa. Zimbabwean authorities Sunday arrested an opposition leader on charges stemming from his criticism of the government and its handling of the recent presidential election, an official with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change told CNN. Police in Harare surrounded the house of student activist-turned-opposition politician Arthur Mutambara and arrested him on charges of contempt of court and publishing falsehoods, MDC official Romualdo Mavedzenge said. While Zimbabwe authorities have arrested dozens of MDC supporters and activists over the past two months, Mavedzenge said "this is the highest profile MDC official (arrested) since the March 29 election." Mutambara is president of an MDC faction that split from the main party headed by Morgan Tsvangirai. After Tsvangirai's party won the majority of seats in parliament, the two leaders agreed to join forces in parliament under Mutambara's leadership. Both charges stem from an opinion piece written by Mutambara in which he criticized President Robert Mugabe for the way the March 29 elections were handled. Raphael Khumalo, chief executive of The Sunday Standard, which published the article, was arrested last month on charges of publishing falsehoods. Bush said Mugabe's government is failing on multiple levels. "We call on the regime to immediately halt all attacks and to permit freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, and access to the media," Bush said. "We urge the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, the United Nations, and other international organizations to blanket the country with election and human rights monitors immediately." Zimbabwe's election commission said Tsvangirai won the March presidential election, but didn't win a majority of the vote, forcing this month's vote. The MDC contested the results, saying Tsvangirai won outright, but decided to take part in the runoff and not cede the election to Mugabe.

Bush: Continued use of government-sponsored violence deplorable . Opposition unable to campaign freely ahead of June 27 presidential runoff election . Police arrest student activist-turned-opposition politician Arthur Mutambara . Bush: Mugabe's government is failing on multiple levels .

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- A massive blast targeting the Danish Embassy in Pakistan Monday killed at least six people and wounded as many as 18, authorities said. The scene of devastation in Islamabad Monday after a suicide car bomb attack near the Danish Embassy. The blast left a four-foot deep crater in the road. Confusion lingered about the attack in the capital city of Islamabad and the number of casualties. Police at the scene said a suicide car bomber pulled up next to the embassy at about 1 p.m. and detonated explosives. But Senior Superintendent of Police Ahmad Latif told CNN that authorities could not immediately label it a suicide attack. Likewise, a medical worker told CNN the explosion killed eight people, including a young child and at least one foreign national. But Latif put the number of fatalities at six and said none of the dead were foreigners. Among the wounded, he said, was a Brazilian citizen of Pakistani descent. Watch Pakistan's foreign minister respond » . Authorities differed on the number of wounded as well, with figures ranging from five to 18. No embassy official was seriously hurt, Latif said. It is not uncommon for preliminary casualty figures to vary: police cautioned that the numbers could rise. Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller condemned the act. "My immediate reaction is that you can only condemn this," said Stig Moeller. "It is terrible that terrorists do this. The embassy is there to have a cooperation between the Pakistani population and Denmark, and that means they are destroying that. They're destroying the Pakistanis' ability to connect with Denmark. It is completely unacceptable." Watch the aftermath of the deadly attack » . The blast, heard more than two miles away, sheared off the embassy's front wall and kicked in its metal front gate. The impact blew out the building's windows and also damaged the offices of a non-profit organization. The Danish and the EU flag, knocked off their staff, hung limply from a spot on the embassy balcony. Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir told reporters at the scene that police are beefing up security at embassies and foreign missions throughout the city. "I just want to assure everybody that the government will do everything to protect the diplomatic missions and also the security and safety of the citizens of Pakistan," he said. The explosion was the first deadly attack in Islamabad since a bomb was hurled over a wall surrounding an Italian restaurant on March 15. That explosion killed a Turkish woman and wounded 12 people, including four U.S. FBI agents. After Monday's attack, dozens of cars -- blanketed with dirt kicked up by the blast -- littered the street, their windows knocked out. Rescue workers carried away a bloodied person, covering his body with a blanket. Pieces of shoes and tattered clothing lay amid the rubble. Police said the attack targeted the embassy. Danish embassies in predominantly Muslim countries, such as Pakistan, have been the scene of protests since Danish newspapers reprinted cartoons that Muslims say insult their prophet. In February, several newspapers in Denmark reprinted the controversial cartoons of Islam's prophet, Muhammad, after Danish authorities arrested several people who allegedly were plotting a "terror-related assassination" of the cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard. Westergaard's cartoon depicted the prophet wearing a bomb as a turban with a lit fuse. He said he wanted his drawing to say that some people exploited the prophet to legitimize terror. However, many in the Muslim world interpreted the drawing as depicting their prophet as a terrorist. Islam generally forbids any depiction of the prophet -- even favorable ones -- fearing that it may lead to idolatry. Two years ago, demonstrations erupted across the world after some newspapers printed the same cartoons. Some protests turned deadly. The protests prompted Danish officials to temporarily close the embassy in Islamabad. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for Monday's blast. In the past, authorities have blamed Islamic militants for carrying out attacks inside Pakistani cities. The country experienced a month-long lull in attacks after a new government took office in March and set on a course to negotiate with militants. But since then, attacks have picked up again. CNN's Reza Sayah contributed to this report.

Suicide car bomber targeted Danish embassy in capital, Islamabad . Differing accounts put death toll at between eight and six people . Medical worker says a child and at least one foreign national died in blast . Danish embassy scene of protests last year over Muhammed cartoons row .

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DURHAM, North Carolina (CNN) -- An operation to remove a malignant tumor from Sen. Edward Kennedy's brain was successful, and the Democrat should suffer no permanent damage from the procedure, his surgeon reported Monday. Sen. Edward Kennedy, right, leaves a Boston hospital with his son Patrick on May 21. The patient himself expressed satisfaction. "I feel like a million bucks," Kennedy said after the surgery, according to a family spokesperson. "I think I'll do that again tomorrow." Kennedy's doctor's statement focused on the 3½-hour operation, which was performed at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. "I am pleased to report that Sen. Kennedy's surgery was successful and accomplished our goals," Dr. Allan Friedman said in a written statement issued after the procedure. "Sen. Kennedy was awake during the resection, and should therefore experience no permanent neurological effects from the surgery." Friedman called the resection "just the first step" in Kennedy's treatment plan, which is to include radiation and chemotherapy, to be carried out at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Paging Dr. Gupta Blog: Mapping Ted Kennedy's brain . The 76-year-old Massachusetts senator, patriarch of one of the leading families of American politics, said in a written statement earlier that he expected to remain in the hospital for about a week after surgery. He is also expected to undergo radiation and chemotherapy. During such surgery, doctors locate the areas of the brain responsible for key attributes such as movement and speech, and map them to ensure they avoid cutting in those areas. They then attempt to resect as much of the tumor as they believe they can safely remove. Watch Dr. Sanjay Gupta explain possible treatment » . During such operations -- which Friedman and the Duke hospital are known for -- surgeons typically ask a patient to identify objects in pictures or make a certain movement, such as squeezing a hand to make sure areas of the brain involving speech and movement are not being impaired. Kennedy, a senator since 1962, suffered a seizure May 17 while walking his dogs at his home in Hyannisport, Massachusetts. Three days later, Kennedy's doctors at Massachusetts General said preliminary results from a brain biopsy showed a tumor in the left parietal lobe was responsible for the seizure. Friedman is chief of the division of neurosurgery and co-director of Duke's Neuro-Oncology Program, according to the hospital's Web site. He is responsible for more than 90 percent of all tumor removals and biopsies conducted at Duke, the Web site says. A tumor in the left parietal lobe could affect the senator's ability to speak and understand speech as well as the strength on the right side of his body, said CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Hear iReporter describes what gave him strength through brain cancer battle . Gupta said such tumors don't usually metastasize or spread to other parts of the body. "What they do do -- and I think that's a concern to people -- is that they grow, and sometimes they invade other normal parts of the brain. That is the big concern here," he said. Malignant glioma is the most common primary brain tumor, accounting for more than half of the 18,000 primary malignant brain tumors diagnosed each year in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute. An expert explains potential complications » . Kennedy is the brother of President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in Dallas in 1963, and New York Sen. Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated while seeking the White House in 1968. Though his own attempt to seek the presidency failed, Edward Kennedy has built a reputation as one of the most effective lawmakers in the Senate. Kennedy's Monday statement focused on the current presidential race as well his surgery. "After completing treatment, I look forward to returning to the United States Senate and to doing everything I can to help elect Barack Obama as our next president," he said. Obama, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, described Kennedy as a "giant" of the Senate when the tumor was diagnosed. "I think you can argue that I would not be sitting here as a presidential candidate had it not been for some of the battles that Ted Kennedy has fought," Obama said. "He is somebody who battled for voting rights and civil rights when I was a child. I stand on his shoulders." Obama's rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, said Kennedy's courage and resolve made him one of the greatest legislators in Senate history. "He's a fighter. There isn't anybody like him who gets up and goes out and does battle on behalf of all of us every single day," Clinton said. "I know he's a fighter when it comes to the challenges he's facing right now." Sen. John McCain, the presumed GOP presidential nominee, also offered his thoughts and prayers for Kennedy's family. "I have described Ted Kennedy as the last lion in the Senate. And I have held that view because he remains the single most effective member of the Senate," McCain said. President Bush said in a statement he would keep the senator in his prayers. "Laura and I are concerned to learn of our friend Sen. Kennedy's diagnosis. Ted Kennedy is a man of tremendous courage, remarkable strength and powerful spirit. Our thoughts are with Sen. Kennedy and his family during this difficult period," he said. Kennedy had surgery in October to clear his carotid artery in hopes of preventing a stroke. Until the seizure, the powerful Democrat appeared in fine health. He suffers chronic back pain from injuries suffered in a 1964 plane crash. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta and correspondent Dan Lothian contributed to this report.

NEW: Kennedy should not have any "permanent neurological effects" from surgery . NEW: "I feel like a million bucks," senator reportedly says after surgery . Chemotherapy and radiation will follow surgery in North Carolina, statement says . Kennedy expected to stay at Duke hospital for about a week .

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(CNN) -- Retired Adm. William Fallon resigned in March as leader of the U.S. military's Central Command after reportedly clashing with President Bush. Retired Adm. William Fallon told CNN he resigned to maintain confidence in the military chain of command. During an interview Tuesday on CNN's American Morning," Fallon denied a magazine article's assertion that he had been forced to resign over his opposition to a possible war with Iran. CNN's Kyra Phillips asked Fallon about his resignation and about U.S. policy regarding Iraq and Iran. Kyra Phillips: How were you informed that this was it? Who called you? Fallon: The story is -- the facts are that the situation was one that was very uncomfortable for me and, I'm sure, for the president. One of the most important things in the military is confidence in the chain of command. And the situation that developed was one of uncertainty and a feeling that maybe that I was disloyal to the president and that I might be trying to countermand his orders, the policies of the country. ... The fact that people might be concerned that I was not appropriately doing what I was supposed to do and following orders bothered me, and my sense was that the right thing to do was to offer my resignation. Watch Fallon break his silence » . Phillips: Do you feel you were pushed out? Fallon: What was important was not me. It wasn't some discussion about where I was with issues. It was the fact that we have a war in progress. We had a couple of hundred thousand people whose lives were at stake out in Iraq and Afghanistan and we needed to be focused on that and not a discussion on me or what I might have said or thought or someone perceived I said. That's the motivation. Phillips: [Esquire magazine writer] Tom Barnett made it appear that you were the only man standing between the president and a war with Iran. Is that true? Fallon: I don't believe for a second President Bush wants a war with Iran. The situation with Iran is very complex. People sometimes portray it or try to portray it in very simplistic terms -- we're against Iran, we want to go to war with Iran, we want to be close to them. ... The reality is in international politics that [there are] many aspects to many of these situations, and I believe in our relationship with Iran we need to be strong and firm and convey the principles on which this country stands and upon which our policies are based. At the same time demonstrate a willingness and openness to engage in dialogue because there are certainly things we can find in common. Phillips: Would have you negotiated with Iran? Fallon: It's not my position to negotiate with Iran. I was the military commander in the Middle East. I had responsibility for our people and their safety and well-being. It's the role of the diplomats to do the negotiation. Phillips: So when talk of the third war came out, a war with Iran, the president didn't say to you, "This is what I want to do," and did you stand up and say, "No, sir. Bad move"? Fallon: It's probably not appropriate to try to characterize it in that way. Again, don't believe for a second that the president really wants to go to war with Iran. We have a lot of things going on, and there are many other ways to solve problems. I was very open and candid in my advice. I'm not shy. I will tell people, the leaders, what I think and offer my opinions on Iran and other things, and continue to do that. Phillips: Do you think that cost you your job? Fallon: No, I don't believe so at all. It's a confidence issue of do people really believe the chain of command is working for them or do we have doubts, and if the doubts focus attention away from what the priority issues ought to be, then we've got to make a change. Phillips: We talk about your no-nonsense talk and the fact that you had no problems standing up to the president. Your critics say that Admiral Fallon is a difficult man to get along with. Are you? Fallon: You probably could ask my wife about that. She would have a few things to say. I think that what's really important here is that when I was asked to take this job about a year and a half ago, I believe it was because we were facing some very difficult days in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the region. I had some experience in dealing with international problems. I certainly had a lot of combat experience, and I was brought in in an attempt to make things better. That's what I went about doing. Again, there are things that are important and other things in life that are less so. A lot of the issues that became points of discussion to me were not really important items. The important items were the people, what they're doing, how to get this job done, how to get the war ended and get our people home. Phillips: Hillary Clinton [and] Barack Obama talk about pulling troops out by next year. John McCain says, no, we've got to stay the course. What is the best course for Iraq right now? Watch what the candidates say about war policy » . Fallon: I believe the best course is to retain the high confidence we have in General Dave Petraeus and his team out there. Dave has done a magnificent job in leading our people in that country. Again, this situation is quite complex -- many angles. There's a very, very important military role here in providing stability and security in this country, but that's not going to be successful, as we know, without lots of other people playing a hand. The political side of things in Iraq has got to move forward. That appears to be improving. People have to have confidence in their futures. They want to have stability. They would like to be able to raise their families in peace. They would like to have a job. They would like to look to tomorrow as better than today. It takes more than the military, but the military is essential to provide stability and security. The idea we would walk away from Iraq strikes me as not appropriate. We all want to bring our troops home. We want to have the majority of our people back and we want the war ended. Given where we are today, the progress that they've made particularly in the last couple months, I think it's very, very heartening to see what's really happened here. The right course of action is to continue to work with the Iraqis and let them take over the majority of the tasks for ensuring security for the country and have our people come out on a timetable that's appropriate to conditions on the ground.

Former Central Command chief William Fallon denies president sought third war . Fallon: Concern for confidence in chain of command led to resignation . "There are many other ways to solve problems" besides war, he says . Fallon: Best course in Iraq is to maintain confidence in Gen. David Petraeus .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton on Saturday will officially suspend her campaign for the presidency and "express her support for Senator Obama and party unity," her campaign said Wednesday. Sen. Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that she will let her supporters and party leaders decide her course. The Clinton campaign said she will make the announcement at "an event in Washington, D.C.," where she will also thank her supporters. Sen. Barack Obama and Clinton were in Washington on Wednesday to each address the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The candidates ran into each other at the AIPAC conference and had a brief chat, Obama spokeswoman Linda Douglass said. "She's an extraordinary leader of the Democratic Party and has made history alongside me over the last 16 months. I'm very proud to have competed against her," Obama told the Israel lobbying group. Obama became his party's presumptive nominee Tuesday and will be looking to unite Democrats divided by the long and contentious primary season. "I am very confident how unified the Democratic Party is going to be to win in November," he said in a Senate hallway Wednesday. iReport.com: Obama/Clinton -- dream team or nightmare? Some say that putting Clinton on the ticket might fit the bill for uniting Democrats. Clinton lavished her opponent with praise Tuesday, saying he ran an "extraordinary race" and made politics more palatable for many. Watch how the primary played out » . Prominent Clinton backer Rep. Charles Rangel, D-New York, thinks the New York senator could have been "far more generous" during her speech Tuesday night after it was clear that Obama had clinched the Democratic nomination. Rangel, the senior member of the New York congressional delegation and an early supporter of Clinton's presidential campaign, said Wednesday that Clinton should have been more clear about what her plans are. "I would agree that after the math was in before her speech, that she could have been far more generous in terms of being more specific and saying that she wants a Democratic victory," Rangel said on MSNBC. "I don't see what they're talking about in prolonging this," Rangel added. "There's nothing to prolong if you're not going to take the fight to the convention floor. ... I don't know why she could not have been more open in terms of doing up front what she intends to do later." But with some Democrats clamoring for her to join Obama on the ticket, and with the Democratic National Convention -- and thus, the official anointment -- still more than two months out, the senator from New York gave no hint as to her plans. See VP prospects' pros, cons » . She again invoked the popular vote, saying she snared "more votes than any primary candidate in history," but primaries come down to delegates, and according to CNN calculations, Obama has her beaten, 2,156 to 1,923. Even the White House seemed convinced of Obama's victory. White House press secretary Dana Perino said Wednesday that President Bush congratulated Obama on becoming the first black nominee from a major party. She said his win shows that the United States "has come a long way." Clinton vowed to keep fighting for an end to the war in Iraq, for universal health care, for a stronger economy and better energy policy, but she didn't indicate in what capacity she would wage these battles. That, she said, would be up to her supporters and the party brass. See what lies in store this fall » . The party's best interests were high on the minds of party leaders Wednesday, as Sen. Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin and DNC Chairman Howard Dean called on Democrats to focus on the general election. "To that end, we are urging all remaining uncommitted superdelegates to make their decisions known by Friday of this week so that our party can stand united and begin our march toward reversing the eight years of failed Bush/McCain policies that have weakened our country," said a statement from the four. Billionaire businessman Bob Johnson, a close Clinton adviser and friend, said on CNN's "American Morning" on Wednesday that Obama could best forge party unity by offering Clinton the vice presidential slot. A day after the final two primaries in South Dakota and Montana, Johnson sent a letter to House Majority Whip James Clyburn to lobby the Congressional Black Caucus to endorse Clinton as Obama's running mate. Saying Clinton would "entertain the idea if it's offered," Johnson said, "This is Sen. Obama's decision. If the Congress members can come together and agree as I do that it would be in the best interest of the party to have Sen. Clinton on the ticket, they carry that petition to Sen. Obama." Watch how the world reacted to Obama's win » . "This is not a pressure. This is elected officials giving their best judgment," said Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television. Johnson's letter to Clyburn says, "You know as well as I the deep affection that millions of African-Americans hold for both Senator Clinton and President Clinton." It continues, "But most important, we need to have the certainty of winning; and, I believe, without question, that Barack Obama as president and Hillary Clinton as vice president bring that certainty to the ticket." Watch Johnson urge Obama to pick Clinton » . Johnson is one of many influential Clinton supporters who have raised the prospect of her joining Obama on the ticket. They say she has solid credentials and wide appeal, exemplified by her popular support in states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio, which will be crucial to a Democratic victory in the fall. Obama and Clinton spoke by phone for a few minutes Wednesday. He told her he wants to "sit down when it makes sense" for her, said Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs. Clinton said that would happen soon, Gibbs said, but he also said Obama did not raise the issue of the vice presidency. Clinton campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe confirmed that there had been "absolutely zero discussions" on the matter. The Clinton campaign issued a statement saying she was open to becoming vice president. "She would do whatever she could to ensure that Democrats take the White House back and defeat John McCain," the statement said. CNN's Alexander Mooney and Ed Hornick contributed to this report.

NEW: Clinton will suspend presidential campaign Saturday, sources say . Obama, Clinton spoke by phone Wednesday, but VP slot was not discussed . Rangel says Clinton could've been "far more generous" on Tuesday night . Obama says he's "very confident" he can unite Democrats by November .

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(CNN) -- U.S. Navy ships loaded with supplies for victims of Myanmar's cyclone will sail away from the country's coast on Thursday, after the ruling junta refused for three weeks to allow them to deliver aid. U.S. ships steam in formation off the coast of Myanmar on May 23. Adm. Timothy Keating said the USS Essex group would leave the shores of Myanmar, also known as Burma, on Thursday, but that he would leave several heavy lift aircraft in Thailand to assist international relief efforts. "We have made at least 15 attempts to convince the Burmese government to allow our ships, helicopters and landing craft to provide additional disaster relief for the people of Burma, but they have refused us each and every time," Keating said in a statement Wednesday. Cyclone Nargis made landfall early last month, killing more than 77,000 people in the southeastern Asian country, according to a United Nations estimate. Some 55,000 others are missing, the United Nations said, and as many as 500,000 to 600,000 people, mainly in the Irrawaddy Delta region, have had to be relocated. The White House issued a statement Wednesday saying more than a million victims have yet to receive assistance. Watch a discussion of Myanmar's handling of the crisis » . "I am both saddened and frustrated to know that we have been in a position to help ease the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people and help mitigate further loss of life, but have been unable to do so because of the unrelenting position of the Burma military junta," Keating said. Myanmar leaders did grant permission for U.S. planes to deliver aid, a total of 106 plane-loads of supplies worth more than $26 million. Transportation cost about $6.8 million, it said. But the junta never gave permission for the United States to distribute the aid directly to the storm victims, prompting questions about whether some of the assistance went astray. Last weekend, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon guided a conference of 52 donor nations in Myanmar, where countries pledged in excess of $100 million to help Myanmar recover -- and said they are willing to open up their wallets further once aid groups are granted access to the worst-affected areas. The country's government had asked for $11 billion in assistance, saying that the relief phase of the disaster was already over and that it needed the money for reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts. More than a month after the cyclone struck, more than 1 million people affected have received help, Elisabeth Byrs of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Tuesday. She added that aid has reached nearly half of the people in the Irrawaddy Delta. However, she said, "There remains a serious lack of sufficient and sustained humanitarian assistance." On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that the United States would continue to push to get emergency supplies to the country's victims. "We are not going to abandon those ... people," McCormack said. Of the Navy ships leaving the area, he said, they "are needed elsewhere and there is no rational expectation at this point we will be effectively able to use those assets in an humanitarian relief operation." "Our folks will do the forensics on that to see if there are any lessons learned," McCormack said. "We think that to the extent that there has been significant loss of life that we as well as others could have reduced that number had we been allowed to act more quickly with a large-scale intervention." CNN's Charley Keyes and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

NEW: U.S. ships to leave area Thursday, admiral says; some planes will stay . NEW: Adm. Timothy Keating says he's frustrated that aid was refused . Myanmar junta leaders did not grant permission for U.S. Navy ships to deliver aid . U.S. will keep pushing efforts to get emergency supplies to victims, despite rebuff .

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SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- Hyundai Chairman Chung Mong-koo escaped a prison sentence for embezzlement after a South Korean court ruled Thursday to instead impose a suspended five year sentence, according to a company spokesman. Hyundai Motor chairman Chung Mong-Koo, center, leaves the High Court after his trial in Seoul in June. In February, the 68-year-old executive was sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted of embezzling money from the South Korean conglomerate. He appealed that verdict and on Thursday the company said Chung will now only be required to undertake community service. Chung was accused of funneling $106 million in company money into a slush fund to seek favors from the government and with breach of trust for incurring more than $300 million in damages to the company. Hyundai is the world's sixth-largest automaker and a pillar of South Korea's economy. Chung spent two months in jail after his arrest last April before being released on $1 million bail. He admitted using affiliated companies to set up slush funds, but said he knew no details of the arrangements. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Eunice Yoon contributed to this report.

Hyundai Chairman Chung Mong-koo has escaped prison for embezzling . South Korean court ruled instead to impose a suspended five year sentence . In February, the 68-year-old executive was sentenced to three years in prison . Chung was accused of placing firm's money in fund to earn government favors .

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The remains of two U.S. contractors who were kidnapped in Iraq have been found, FBI officials said Monday. The bureau identified the two as Ronald Withrow of Roaring Springs, Texas, abducted on January 5, 2007, and John Roy Young of Kansas City, Missouri, who was captured on November 16, 2006. Withrow worked for Las Vegas, Nevada-based JPI Worldwide Inc., and Young worked for Crescent Security Group. The FBI said it had notified the families of the contractors. Meanwhile, four U.S. soldiers died Sunday night in a roadside bombing in Iraq, military officials reported, bringing the American toll in the 5-year-old war to 4,000 deaths. The four were killed when a homemade bomb hit their vehicle as they patrolled in a southern Baghdad neighborhood, the U.S. military headquarters in Iraq said. A fifth soldier was wounded. The grim milestone comes less than a week after the fifth anniversary of the start of the war. "No casualty is more or less significant than another; each soldier, Marine, airman and sailor is equally precious and their loss equally tragic," said Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, the U.S. military's chief spokesman in Iraq. "Every single loss of a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine is keenly felt by military commanders, families and friends both in theater and at home." Of the 4,000 U.S. military personnel killed in the war, 3,263 have died in attacks and fighting and 737 in nonhostile incidents, such as traffic accidents and suicides. Eight of those killed were civilians working for the Pentagon. The numbers are based on Pentagon data counted by CNN. Check out a company that makes headstones for fallen U.S. troops » . President Bush made remarks about lives lost in Iraq at the State Department on Monday. "One day, people will look back at this moment in history and say, 'Thank God there were courageous people willing to serve, because they laid the foundations for peace for generations to come,' " he said. "I have vowed in the past and I will vow so long as I'm president to make sure that those lives were not lost in vain; that, in fact, there's an outcome that will merit the sacrifice that civilian and military alike have made." Also Sunday, at least 35 Iraqis died as the result of suicide bombings, mortar fire and the work of gunmen in cars who opened fire on a crowded outdoor market. Nearly 100 were wounded in the violence. Estimates of the Iraqi death toll since the war began range from about 80,000 to the hundreds of thousands. Watch an Iraqi family talk about faith in a war zone » . Another 2 million Iraqis have been forced to leave the country, and 2.5 million have been displaced from their homes within Iraq, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Many of the Iraqis and U.S. troops killed over the years, like the four soldiers slain Sunday in Baghdad, have been targeted by improvised explosive devices -- the roadside bombs that have come to symbolize Iraq's tenacious insurgency. Watch how the bombs have become a deadly staple » . The Pentagon's Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization has been developed to counter the threat of roadside bombs in Iraq as well as Afghanistan. The group calls such bombs the "weapon of choice for adaptive and resilient networks of insurgents and terrorists." Nearly 160,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, and the war has cost U.S. taxpayers about $600 billion, according to the House Budget Committee. Senior U.S. military officials are preparing to recommend to Bush a four- to six-week pause in additional troop withdrawals from Iraq after the last of the so-called surge brigades leaves in July, CNN learned last week from U.S. military officials familiar with the recommendations but not authorized to talk about them. The return of all five brigades added to the Iraq contingent last year could reduce troop levels by up to 30,000 but still leave about 130,000 or more troops in Iraq. Also Monday, the U.S. military said six people killed in a weekend attack were "terrorists" and not members of an American-backed militia, as initially reported. Those first reports suggested the area of Saturday's helicopter strike may have been a Sons of Iraq checkpoint. Such groups are generically referred to as Awakening Councils -- largely Sunni security forces that the U.S. military have recruited. A police official in the north-central city of Samarra said the helicopter mistakenly hit a Sons of Iraq checkpoint, killing the six. But the U.S. military said that it believes those killed were not part of the Sons of Iraq. "I can tell you that two of these individuals were fiddling with something on the side of the road and trying to hide themselves under a blanket when they heard the helicopter," said Maj. Bradford Leighton. "The location of the checkpoint was not at or near any known Sons of Iraq checkpoint." A joint Iraqi-U.S.-led coalition force is investigating the deaths. Other developments . CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq and Kelli Arena contributed to this report.

NEW: Remains found of two U.S. contractors who were abducted in Iraq, FBI says . U.S. death toll at 4,000 after four soldiers die when roadside bomb hits vehicle . At least 35 Iraqis killed in attacks Sunday . People killed in U.S. weekend strike were "terrorists," not allies, U.S. says .

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DORCHESTER, England (CNN) -- Englishman John Webber thought nothing of the small, shiny cup, passed down from his junk dealer grandfather and stashed under a bed for years, until appraisers said it was an ancient Persian artifact. The ancient Persian gold cup, thought to date from the third or fourth century B.C., fetched $100,000 at auction. The 5½-inch gold cup, which experts have dated to the third or fourth century B.C., fetched $100,000 at an auction in Dorchester, southern England, Thursday. The identity of the winning bidder wasn't immediately known. The relic features the double faced ancient Roman god Janus, the god of gates and doors who always looked to both the future and past and is often associated with beginnings and endings. The cup has two faces with braided hair and entwined snake ornaments at the forehead. Webber's grandfather, William Sparks, was a rag and bone man, the British term for a junk dealer, Duke's said, who established the iron merchants Sparks and Son in Taunton, Somerset, in southwestern England, in the 1930s. Sparks acquired the cup along with two other pieces, also up for auction, in the 1930s or 1940s, the spokeswoman said. Watch CNN report on the auction » . Before he died, Sparks gave the items to Webber, who didn't realize their value, the spokeswoman said. "Because he mainly dealt in brass and bronze, I thought that was what it was made from," Webber told the Bournemouth News and Picture Service. "I put it in a box and forgot about it. Then last year I moved house and took it out to have a look, and I realized it wasn't bronze or brass. "I sent it to the British Museum, and the experts there hadn't seen anything like it before and recommended I had it tested at a laboratory. So I paid quite a bit of money for it to be examined by a lab the museum recommended. And they found the gold dated from the third of fourth century B.C." Webber, who is in his 70s, said he remembers the cup from when he was a small boy. "It's been quite exciting finding out what it was," he told the agency. Webber brought the items to Duke's at the start of the year for potential sale, because he wanted to "realize some money," the auction house spokeswoman said. A spokeswoman for Duke's Auction House, which is selling the cup, said the cup is believed to be from the Archaemenid empire in ancient Persia. The other two items are a second century B.C. round gold mount with a figure, probably of ancient Greek hero Ajax, who besieged Troy, and a decorated gold spoon with an image of a Roman emperor. "He had a good eye for quality over the years," said the spokeswoman, who asked not to be named, "and anything interesting he'd put aside." Scientists analyzed trace elements of a gold sample taken from the cup to determine its age, and analysts from Oxford University concluded that they are consistent with Archaemenid gold and goldsmithing, Duke's said.

Gold cup stashed under bed for years is $100,000 ancient Persian artifact . Small urn went under the hammer at auction in southern England Thursday . Artifact acquired by junk dealer, grandfather of current owner, in the 1930s or 1940s . Experts say it is believed to date from the third or fourth century B.C.

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(CNN) -- A former member of the radical 1970s group Symbionese Liberation Army is back in custody after a clerical error miscalculated her prison release date, a California Department of Corrections spokesman said Saturday. Sara Jane Olson wipes away a tear at a Los Angeles courthouse in 1999. Sara Jane Olson was freed Monday. But her earliest release date is now March 17, 2009, Chief Deputy Secretary Scott Kernan said, calling the error "an aberration." "Our department immediately rearrested her, and she will serve her full sentence," Kernan said. He described Olson as cooperative and said the arrest took place "without incident." She will serve the year at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, California. "The department is sensitive to the impact such an error has had on all involved in this case and sincerely regrets the mistake," Kernan said. Watch explanation for mistaken release » . An investigation is under way to find out how the error happened, he added. Olson had served about six years behind bars for her role in incidents in 1975: the attempted bombing of two police cars and the shooting death of a customer during a bank robbery. Prosecutors said she was part of an SLA plot to murder Los Angeles police officers by planting bombs under their squad cars. One of the cars was parked outside a crowded Hollywood restaurant. The bombs did not go off, and no one was hurt. The SLA is best known for its 1974 kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst. A parole board hearing in 2004 reduced the sentence related to the attempted bombing charge, but "an administrative error failed to take into account" the second-degree murder charge for the shooting death, Kernan said. David Nickerson, one of Olson's attorneys, said he and co-counsel Shawn Chapman Holley intend to file a petition with Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday. Olson cannot be treated as "yo-yo" in regard to the law, he said. Chapman Holley called her return to custody "ridiculous." "It's like they make up all new rules when it comes to her," Chapman Holley told The Associated Press. "It's like we are in some kind of fascist state." The administrative error was verified late Saturday morning, Kernan said, after a thorough review of Olson's case. He said "concerns" about her release date prompted the review. Olson was taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday night, Kernan said. Olson had been granted interstate parole and was on her way to Minnesota, where she lived for more than two decades as a fugitive before she was arrested in 1999, Nickerson had said. From the Los Angeles airport, authorities took Olson to her home in Palmdale, California, where she remained until she was arrested midday Saturday, when the review was completed, Kernan said. Originally named Kathleen Soliah, Olson fled California after authorities began looking for her and then changed her name and lived for more than two decades as a fugitive before she was arrested in 1999 in Minnesota. She had married and was raising three daughters. Many residents rallied to Olson's cause and helped post bail for her. But one group in California, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, denounced her release. "She needs to serve her full time in prison for these crimes and does not deserve time off for working in prison," the group said. "After participating in one killing and attempting two more, she managed to elude authorities and live a guilt-free middle class life for decades. Criminals who attempt to murder police officers should not be able to escape justice simply because they have good lawyers." E-mail to a friend . CNN's Irving Last contributed to this report.

NEW: Sara Jane Olson's attorney says she cannot be treated as "yo-yo" Ex-Symbionese Liberation Army member freed Monday after serving about six years . California Department of Corrections says clerical error led to release . Her earliest release date is now March 17, 2009 .

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Artist Robert West is proud of his connection to the Pullman Company. His grandfather, Allen Parrish, was a Pullman Porter and helped inspire some of his train paintings. Robert West paints his latest project in his Atlanta, Georgia, studio. "When I was growing up, we would often take grandfather to work at the train station. I became impressed and mesmerized with trains through this experience. This passion ultimately led me to become a full-time railroad illustrator," West said. The Pullman Company was one of the largest employers of African-Americans in the 1920s and '30s. It hired them as porters in railroad sleeping cars to assist railroad passengers and make up beds. These jobs were once highly regarded in the black community because they offered the opportunity to travel and better pay and security than most jobs open to blacks at the time. West says trains have an important place in African-American history -- from symbolism in Negro spirituals to a real conveyance for the mass migration of blacks moving to the North in the 1930s, '40s and '50s. "Trains have so long symbolized hope, freedom and power -- what better metaphor could there be to represent our struggle and our assimilation into mainstream American life," West said. Many of West's paintings depict historical scenes with the now defunct Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, because that's where his grandfather worked for many years. Watch award-winning artist on trains and history » . West paints other trains, including the Steam, Gas turbine, Electric, as well as first through sixth Generation Diesel Electric Locomotives. He wears a conductor's hat as he works. "I think it's important that all the cultures in the United States look back at our history by way of the railroads," West said. "It was through our contributions to the railroads, that also pushed us forward as a nation and as a human race." West has been drawing and painting trains since the age of 2. In 1973, he decided to make railroad illustrating a profession. Through the years his work has won several awards in shows of national and regional scope. "I'm probably more of a visual historian more than anything else, because I conduct weeks, months, sometimes years of research prior to doing a painting," he said. West has painted more than 500 original works, which have sold across the United States and around the world. Train enthusiasts are his largest market. "When one looks at my paintings, I like for them to not only feel a sense of joy, but to feel good about times when times were happier, kinder, and gentler," he said. E-mail to a friend .

Robert West was inspired by family history to paint trains . Artist's grandfather was a Pullman train porter . "Visual historian" does a lot of research before painting .

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KIEV, Ukraine (CNN) -- A planned missile defense system in Eastern Europe poses no threat to Russia, President George Bush said Tuesday, responding to concerns that the U.S. might use interceptor missiles for offensive purposes. President Bush, with President Viktor Yushchenko, praised Ukraine's democratic and military reforms. "The missile defense system is not aimed at Russia," Bush said at a news conference in Kiev following talks with the Ukrainian president. "It's viewed as an anti-Russian device. Well, it's not." His comments came before he left Kiev for a NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania, that is expected to highlight divisions over the plan. The summit begins Wednesday. Russia and some European countries have expressed concerns about the missile defense system. While Poland and the Czech Republic have agreed to host parts of the system, others in Europe share Russian concerns that the defensive shield could be used for offensive aims. Outside the U.S. Embassy in Kiev on Monday, protesters gathered to denounce Bush's visit. They chanted, thrust signs into the air -- one reading, "Yankee Go Home" -- and burned an effigy of Bush in the street. Watch the demonstration » . The U.S. has tried to dissuade opposition over the plan. Washington offered to allow Russian monitors at the missile sites and to negotiate limits to the system over time. The United States also told Russia the system would not be operational until Iran test-fires a missile that could threaten Europe. Many European countries don't believe the U.S. assertion that the system is needed to guard against imminent threats from Iran or North Korea. Europe is dependent on Russia for at least 40 percent of its oil and is reluctant to upset the Kremlin. The issue will likely be divisive at this week's three-day NATO summit, where Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to make a rare appearance. Putin normally declines invitations to attend. Bush is slated to meet Sunday with Putin in the Russian resort city of Sochi on the Black Sea, according to RIA Novosti. It will be the last meeting between the two men before the outgoing Russian president steps down, the Russian news agency reported. Russia also is unhappy with NATO's eastward march. The alliance has already welcomed former Soviet republics such as Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Bush is pushing hard for Georgia and Ukraine to join NATO as well. Before leaving Tuesday for Bucharest, Bush said that Russia will not be able to veto Georgia's or Ukraine's inclusion into NATO. Bush said that both countries should be able to take part in NATO's Membership Action Plan, or MAP, which is designed to help aspiring countries meet the requirements of joining the alliance. "I strongly believe that Ukraine and Georgia should be given MAP," Bush said. "And there's no tradeoffs, period." The U.S. president further said he was working "as hard as I can" to ensure the two countries are accepted into the MAP and that Russia will have no power to block their inclusion. In remarks last month, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Steven Pifer told the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe that NATO "has long made clear that any decision regarding membership is between NATO and the country concerned, and not subject to veto by any third party." Russia is not a NATO member but works with the alliance via the NATO-Russia Council. Russia's concerns also align with those of some NATO members who oppose welcoming Georgia and Ukraine into the fold. Pifer said last month that NATO should strive to maintain good relations with Russia, but "should not allow Moscow a veto, either explicit or tacit, over relations between the alliance and third countries." Allowing Russia a say, Pifer said, "would encourage those in Russia who wish to reassert a Russian-led post-Soviet bloc rather than develop a relationship of cooperation and full partnership with Europe and the West." Bush said he phoned Putin recently to reassure him on both issues. "NATO is an organization that's peaceful. NATO is an organization that helps democracies flourish. And democracies are good things to have on your border," Bush said he told Putin. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said his country should be able to start the NATO membership process. "We are not speaking about joining NATO; we are only speaking about MAP," he said at the news conference. "Why should Ukraine be deprived of that sovereign right, since the principle of open doors is the basic principle for NATO?" Bush added that Ukraine already contributes to NATO missions, specifically in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo. Ukraine also has demonstrated a commitment to democracy, he said. Responding to a reporter's question, Bush denied that the United States might ease off on membership plans for Ukraine and Georgia if Russia acquiesces on the missile shield. Both issues threaten to destabilize NATO, said Jane Sharp of the Center for War Studies at King's College London, but she has heard particularly sharp criticism of the missile defense plan. "Somebody in the UK Ministry of Defense said to me, 'We are being dragged along on this missile defense thing to the American trough like pigs with rings in our noses,'" Sharp said. "It's a nuisance for Europeans, and I think they are irritated with the Czechs and the Poles for trying to do deals with the Americans." E-mail to a friend .

NEW: Bush: Russia can't veto Georgia's, Ukraine's inclusion in NATO's MAP program . European countries share doubts that system is designed to deter Iran, North Korea . U.S. president says he will push for Ukraine, Georgia to join NATO . Analyst says both issues threaten to destabilize NATO .

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