Datasets:

abisee

/

cnn_dailymail

like 231

(AOL Autos) -- Collecting cars is an expensive hobby. Here's a twist: Buy a new car today that will be worth a fortune as a collectible years from now. The Audi S5 is a slick coupe with solid credentials. Best of all, you don't need to break the bank to buy a hot and value-appreciating ride. But you do have to be patient, since waiting is key. "Many consumers could be driving a future collector car right now," McKeel Hagerty, CEO of Hagerty, a specialty insurer of collector cars in the United States, and himself a respected collector car valuation expert. "Our goal was to find cars that are currently on the road but may be considered nostalgic in 15 to 20 years. Each car on Hagerty's Hot List possesses a 'buzz,' a wow factor that resonates with consumers of all ages, many cars being daily drivers that turn heads already." Why do some vehicles become tomorrow's collector car? Hagerty says it's a combination of pop culture popularity, limited production numbers and the style of the next generation of collectors. Hagerty's Hot List, the top 10 collector cars of the future: . 1. Cadillac XLR-V Roadster . Under the hood sits a hand-built 4.4-liter V8 that's been supercharged and puts out 443 horsepower. This is a serious domestic roadster that competes with the Mercedes SL-Class, Porsche 911 Cabriolet and Jaguar XKR, as well as the four-seat BMW M6 convertible. AOL Autos: Cadillac XLR Roadster . 2. Lotus Exige S . Most practical people will find the Lotus Exige is a miserable little car -- that is if you are shopping for a grocery getter! Research uncovered one anonymous review stating "Bottom Line ... my heart beats faster when I think about this car ... it is that rewarding." AOL Autos: Lotus Exige S . 3. Audi S5 . A slick coupe with solid credentials. It provides good looks, impressive all-wheel-drive handling and an affordable price tag for this segment. AOL Autos: Audi S5 . 4. Mustang Shelby GT 500 KR . The new GT500 KR (King of the Road) takes the bare bones of a GT500 and turns it into a 540 horsepower muscle car that pays tribute to the legendary Carroll Shelby. Production is expected to be around 1,000. AOL Autos: Mustang Shelby GT 500 KR . 5. Chevrolet Corvette Z06 . The ferocious Z06 is a fixed-roof coupe with a 7.0-liter V8 that produces 505 horsepower. The last 50 years have proven that most Corvettes eventually become collectible. AOL Autos: Chevrolet Corvette Z06 . 6. Smart . At first look, the Smart seems too small to be practical. It's not. Rather, it is a marvel of packaging efficiency. This is the first year they will be available en masse in the United States. 7. Subaru Impreza WRX STi . Some Subaru enthusiasts may not like the idea of being spotted in a hatchback, but this will make it more collectible down the road. 8. Honda S2000 CR . Less than 2,000 of the CR editions will be built. This is a high-performance version of the stock S2000 that is regarded as Honda's only true sports car. 9. Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky . This pair of roadsters from GM have all the necessary ingredients: rear-wheel drive, a powerful engine, independent suspension and an impressive weight balance. 10. Dodge Charger Super Bee . It has a 6.1 liter HEMI V8 with 425 horsepower and 420 ft.-lbs. of torque. Need we say more for a family sedan?

The right new car today could be worth a fortune as a collectible later . Cadillac XLR-V Roadster can compete with the Mercedes SL-Class . Less than 2,000 of the Honda S2000 CR editions will be built . The hatchback will make the Subaru Impreza WRX STi a collectible later .

65496e866523b7172ba4ab8bcb9cb14ae8ea4880

(CNN) -- "Pandering." According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to pander is to: "provide gratification for others' desires." So is that what John McCain and Barack Obama are doing with Hispanic voters? Sen. John McCain has said the issue of immigration would be a top priority for him as president. If you follow coverage of their speeches at three Latino events -- the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, the League of United Latin American Citizens and The National Council of La Raza -- the answer would be yes. Why? Because the two candidates are talking about making immigration reform a priority if they reach the White House, and to make it there, they know the Hispanic vote can have a great impact. More than 9 million Hispanics are expected to vote on November 4th. They traditionally favor Democrats, but many have supported Republicans in key races. In 2004, for example, 40 percent of the Latino vote went to President Bush -- so going after them makes political sense. Do Hispanics care about immigration reform? Yes, they do. But it's not the only issue that concerns them. See where the candidates stand on immigration . They, too, pay more than $4 for a gallon of gas, and are worried about the economy, foreclosures, the war in Iraq and access to health care and education. But the debate on immigration has motivated many to apply for citizenship and many others to register to vote. Hispanics aren't a monolithic group as many seem to believe. Some families go back six or seven generations. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens by birth. Cubans can stay if they make it to U.S soil. Latinos from all over Latin America come by plane. Surprisingly, a majority of Latino voters show a deep interest in immigration reform, even though it wouldn't benefit them directly because they are U.S. citizens. They believe reform would help in a community that shares a common language, even though it has many differences. They aren't naïve and won't be swayed with tall tales. But to pander has a negative connotation and the concept seems highlighted when it refers to Hispanics, the largest- and fastest-growing minority in the nation. This electorate is familiar with politicians making promises they don't always keep -- and surely will see that McCain favors border security before immigration reform, a reform he put his name on at great cost. They are aware of the need to learn English in order to succeed, and not necessarily for every child to learn Spanish as Obama suggested. That could fuel fears about Hispanic influence, and spur some to use that fear to score political points. In this case, the approach goes in two directions. It can be seen as pandering to a specific group for political gain, but it can also be portrayed as a challenge to Hispanics. With greater clout comes higher responsibility; it means not only registering to vote, but actually doing it on Election Day, making those numbers count, showing that Latinos are more than a group with great potential. Is pandering to Hispanics any different from pandering to other groups? Why isn't there a similar outcry when candidates address the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on the future of Israel? Or the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People? Isn't that pandering? Hispanics are coming of political age, and probably face a dilemma. But which is better -- being pandered to, or ignored? And no, it's not a trick question.

Candidates talk about immigration reform at Latino events . Hispanics care about a lot of other issues, says Juan Carlos Lopez . Latinos: The largest and fastest growing minority in the nation . Candidates' so-called pandering to Latinos shows the power of the Hispanic vote .

513ad8bd2fac3616b9bbc78b6eb237d716ef0f85

MONTEREY PARK, California (CNN) -- Five men are accused of starting a massive Malibu wildfire at that destroyed more than 50 homes and forced about 15,000 people to evacuate. A firefighter works to contain a wildfire threatening homes in Malibu, California, on November 24. Authorities say the five, ranging in ages from 18 to 27, were drinking in a popular party spot in a cave at the park when they started the fire. All five are from the Los Angeles area and are being charged with three felonies -- including two arson-related charges. Each count carries a sentence of two to four years in prison. Baca said investigators traced the fire to the cave, then used receipts and surveillance camera footage from a nearby store to hunt down the men. Investigators would not comment on why the men started the fire. During the investigation, fire officials speculated that a campfire may have started the blaze -- which engulfed roughly 5,000 acres and destroyed 80 structures, including the 53 homes. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in the wake of the fire, which started on November 24. The blaze, which was fueled by dry Santa Ana winds and low humidity, followed a spate of California wildfires in October that charred more than 508,000 acres in several counties. Those fires forced 1 million people from their homes and left 14 people dead. The men are expected to make their first court appearance on Monday. E-mail to a friend .

NEW: Men were partying in a cave . All five are from the Los Angeles area and are being charged with three felonies . Receipts and surveillance camera footage helped investigators find the men . Fire engulfed about 5,000 acres and destroyed more than 50 homes last month .

0aef0ffd5443bc582aa944bb8714617afbe51973

(CNN) -- Roberto Ascencio has lived in the New Orleans area for 30 years, 28 of them on the West Bank of the Mississippi River. Thousands of drivers sat in traffic for hours as they fled Gulf Coast ahead of Hurricane Gustav's arrival. The last time he fled the city, ahead of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, he was worried about his restaurant, which was two months away from opening. Once again, as he leaves town, his primary concern is his restaurant, which finally opened little more than a year ago after repairing damage from Katrina. "It was very hard to get back to where we were, because the money was gone," he said. "I'm worried because it's my livelihood. My wife runs the restaurant with my sister-in-law. We worked so hard to get there. If it gets destroyed again, I'll probably go bankrupt. I'm just praying that it's going to be OK." Praying is all he or anyone leaving New Orleans can do as Hurricane Gustav makes its away across the Gulf of Mexico towards the Gulf Coast. View a map of Gustav's projected path » . By Sunday night, more than 1.9 million people had fled the city and its surrounding parishes, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said, many of them, like Ascencio, spending hours in traffic. Watch Jindal discuss the progress of evacuations » . "I thought it was going to be a piece of cake. As soon as we hit the interstate, it was bumper-to-bumper. It was very, very slow-moving," he said. As the sun set behind him Sunday, Ascencio was driving east on Interstate 10 with his wife, daughter, three cats, three dogs and two birds. After 16 hours on the road, he was closing in on Biloxi, Mississippi, about 60 miles east of New Orleans. iReport.com: Leaving home? Share your story . "We just took off," he says. "We don't know where we're going right now. It's just crazy." When Katrina hit three years ago, Ascencio and his family fled New Orleans for Houston, Texas. That trip took 18 hours, he said. Then, like now, the worst part was leaving behind his restaurant. This time, Ascencio said he took all the precautions he could before he left, safeguarding his stocks in the restaurant and moving possessions in his two-story home upstairs. CNN's Susan Roesgen report on evacuations from New Orleans » . But supplies were limited. The local home improvement store was out of plywood to board up the restaurant windows when he arrived. But he did what we could and set out on the road, unsure of where he would end up. "Everybody on my side has Louisiana license plates. It looks like we own the whole highway," Ascencio says, almost laughing. But just as quickly, his voice turns serious. "I hope everything is well. I'll need to get back and see how things are going, but right now we've just got to keep going."

About 1.9 million fled the New Orleans area this weekend ahead of Hurricane Gustav . Roberto Ascencio left behind a restaurant that has been open for a year . After 16 hours on I-10, he closes in on Biloxi, Mississippi, about 60 miles away . Ascencio hopes for the best, but right now, "we just got to keep going"

dba1fa51c4e5f88cef30520a2bc6dc4f1e939234

(CNN) -- The small Baltic nation of Estonia is ending its nearly six-year military operation in Iraq by not replacing its platoon of 34 troops. Estonian soldiers on patrol near Baghdad in 2004. Estonia's Defense Minister Jaak Aaviksoo said the country will not deploy its next infantry platoon to Iraq, according to a statement from the ministry. Platoon ESTPLA-18 was ready to replace the previous 34-man platoon which returned to Estonia from Iraq in late December, The Baltic Times reported. The Estonian defense ministry announced Thursday it had failed to reach an agreement with Iraq's government about the troops' legal status. Aaviksoo said the absence of a legal agreement "specifying the legal status of our soldiers" was one of three reasons Estonia ended its military operation in Iraq. He said the other two reasons were the improving security situation in Iraq and the Iraqi government's desire to "continue bilateral cooperation in forms other than battle units." A bilateral agreement spelling out future defense-related cooperation between Iraq and Estonia is still being hammered out, Aaviksoo said. Estonia will continue to participate in a NATO-led training mission in Iraq, with three staff officers, he said. The Estonian defense ministry said Aaviksoo will soon visit Iraq to formally terminate the Estonian Defense Forces' operation and discuss future defense-related cooperation with his Iraqi counterpart, Abdul Al-Qadir Jassam. In late December, Iraq's Presidency Council approved a resolution allowing non-U.S. troops to remain in the country after a U.N. mandate expired at the end of 2008. The resolution authorized Iraq to negotiate bilateral agreements with the countries, including Estonia. If that resolution had not been approved by the end of the year, those countries would have been in Iraq illegally. The United States concluded a separate agreement in November with the Iraqi government authorizing the continued presence of its troops. U.S. combat forces plan to pull back from population centers in Iraq by July 2009 and to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011. The British government says its forces will complete their mission of training Iraqi troops by May 31, 2009, and withdraw from the country by July 31, 2009. Britain has 4,100 troops in Iraq, the second-largest contingent after the United States with 142,500. Australian troops also plan to be out of the country by the end of July.

Estonia not replacing its platoon in Iraq . Previous 34-strong platoon left Iraq in December . Defense minister blames lack of new legal agreement on status of troops . Australia, UK also expect their troops to be out by the end of July .

2adfd057c88ef32c9d192a00f1a5e63bafeb4ace

(CNN) -- Griffin Bell, who served as attorney general in the Carter administration, has died, according to the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. He was 90. Griffin Bell is sworn in as attorney general in January 1977. Former President Jimmy Carter issued a statement saying that he and former first lady Rosalynn Carter were deeply saddened by Bell's death. "A trusted and enduring public figure, Griffin's integrity, professionalism, and charm were greatly valued across party lines and presidential administrations," Carter said. "As a World War II veteran, federal appeals court judge, civil rights advocate, and U.S. attorney general in my administration, Griffin made many lasting contributions to his native Georgia and country. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family." The son of a south Georgia cotton farmer, Bell passed the Georgia bar exam while still a student in law school, according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia. He went on to help build the prominent Atlanta law firm King and Spalding, and then to serve as the nation's top legal officer. He was a chairman of John F. Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign, and Kennedy appointed him to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 1961. As a federal judge, Bell was involved in desegregation rulings in the 1960s, and he became known as a moderate legal voice in the South. Fellow Georgian Jimmy Carter nominated Bell as attorney general in 1976. He was confirmed shortly after Carter's inauguration but only after sometimes difficult Senate hearings. Bell's memberships in private segregated clubs and some of his decisions as a federal judge became issues. He was confirmed in January 1977 by a Senate vote of 75 to 21. Bell's tenure as attorney general followed the Watergate era, and he was credited with helping restore public confidence in the Justice Department during the late 1970s. Bell resigned as attorney general in 1979 to return to private law practice in Atlanta with King and Spalding. He resurfaced in the public eye periodically, including in 2004 when he was listed among Georgia Democrats who endorsed President George W. Bush for re-election. Also in 2004, he co-authored an independent study ordered by FBI Director Robert Mueller of the FBI's internal disciplinary procedures. The report sharply criticized the FBI and called its methods for determining punishments for its agents "seriously flawed."

President Jimmy Carter nominated Griffin Bell as attorney general in 1976 . Bell credited with helping restore confidence in Justice Department in late 1970s . His "integrity, professionalism, and charm" valued across party lines, Carter said . In 2004, he was listed among Georgia Dems who endorsed Bush for re-election .

506e1baad13bc8b50b0f1db98518da52aea1c40c

Editor's Note: Donna Brazile, a Democratic strategist, is chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights Institute and founder of Brazile & Associates, a political consulting firm. She was the campaign manager for the Al Gore-Joe Lieberman ticket in 2000 and wrote "Cooking with Grease." Donna Brazile says Barack Obama's inauguration is a huge milestone in the fight for equal rights . WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Today Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America. This is the day for which so many prayed, so many marched and so many more sacrificed. This is a day of jubilation and celebration. This is the day to rejoice and recommit ourselves to restoring the American dream for us all. Barack Obama's election offers our country the opportunity to open a new chapter that will allow us to turn the corner on past prejudices and racial politics. When Sen. Obama announced his candidacy for president in 2007, most people, black and white, thought it would be, at best, an interesting sideshow. After Obama's victories in the early primaries, there came the controversial videos of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, broadcasting a racial divisiveness that cast even greater doubt on an Obama candidacy. But the senator moved quickly to reassure people that Wright's jaundiced view of America did not reflect his own. Americans wanted to move beyond racial categorization and the politics of division. Obama understood that. And so did the voters. But African-Americans didn't believe it. Seventy-one percent of black voters had never thought a black candidate for president would get elected in their lifetime, according to a national poll released in November by CNN/Opinion Research Corp. Yet 59 percent of white respondents said they had thought it was possible. Obama did not just win the caucuses in Iowa -- a state with a white population of more than 94 percent -- he resoundingly captured it. Other primary victories, once thought improbable, soon followed. These included Georgia, and Virginia, the former seat of the Confederacy. On Election Day, Obama won a higher percentage of the white vote than John Kerry did in 2004, though he did not get a majority of whites. Unlike other black presidential candidates before him, Obama did not run as "the black candidate." He ran as a Democratic candidate, a U.S. senator from Illinois, and a progressive. And America, by larger margins than in previous recent elections, voted for the progressive Democratic U.S. senator from Illinois who happened to be biracial. For too long, race has been the stain on the American fabric. As Secretary Condoleezza Rice reminded us, race has been our "nation's birth defect." At times during the long primary and general election, race became a subtle distraction -- but the American people rejected it and it was never the primary issue. Nor was it the primary issue for Americans who voted for Barack Obama. The vast majority of those who voted for and against Obama did so based on the content of his political prescriptions and platform -- not the color of his skin. A lot of lessons were taught November 4. Obama's election revealed the possibility of three new truths for African-Americans: White America may not be as racist as African-Americans thought they were; a solution to our country's lingering racial problem may eventually be found; and the Rev. Martin Luther King's dream that one day all people will be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin is alive and within reach. Obama's election has inspired 6 in 10 blacks to forecast better race relations in the United States. "A majority of blacks now believe that a solution to the country's racial problems will eventually be found," said CNN polling director Keating Holland. "In every previous poll on this topic dating back to 1993, black respondents had always said that racial problems were a permanent part of the American landscape. Even in the most recent polls taken last week, a majority of African-Americans said that a solution to the country's racial problems could be within reach; now blacks and whites agree that racial tensions may end." Yes, of course, racism still exists in America. But if a black man can become president of the United States of America, then aren't all Americans now free to believe they can achieve any goal they set for themselves? So on this day, let us all rejoice and be glad. Let us celebrate this moment in American history and let us resolve to find common ground. Let us resolve to join together as a nation to ensure that racial prejudice in America, as well as an ethic of non-achievement based on excuses and low expectations, dies the same death it did in the November ballot box. What our founders envisioned -- what President Lincoln and the Rev. King fought and died for, we are perhaps finally ready to achieve. This is a remarkable moment. Though not the apex we need to reach, it is still a mountaintop, alive with possibilities, a dream no longer deferred. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Donna Brazile.

Donna Brazile: Obama's inauguration is a time for rejoicing and rededication . Brazile: Hardly anyone took Obama seriously as a candidate two years ago . Brazile: He didn't run as an African-American candidate but as a Democrat . Brazile: We are perhaps ready to achieve what Lincoln and the Rev. King fought for .

6467c484cf7e0fb84f78426daeff0418505f9cd2

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The number of illegal immigrants arrested along U.S. borders dropped 23 percent during the past nine months -- evidence, officials said, that stepped-up enforcement is working. Mexican families swim and wash cars along the banks of the Rio Grande at the U.S. border in Juarez in June. The Border Patrol captured 695,841 people nationwide in the first three quarters of fiscal year 2007, down from 907,445 for the same period the previous fiscal year, or a 23 percent drop, said Border Patrol spokesman Michael Friel. Arrests along the U.S.-Mexico border declined by 24 percent, he said. Border Patrol officials said the reasons for the change are varied and complex, but Friel said, "We're clearly seeing a deterrent." One factor cited by officials is the end of the practice of releasing non-Mexican immigrants, pending court hearings. The Border Patrol captured 50,349 non-Mexican illegal immigrants nationwide in the nine-month period ending June 30, down from 89,952 during the same period of fiscal 2006. That's a 44 percent decrease. The decrease was 48 percent for non-Mexican illegal immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border. Other factors include the 6,000 National Guard troops patrolling along the Southwest border, more detention space and enhanced enforcement in the interior, Friel said. Outside economic, political and social factors also are "always involved" in fluctuating levels of immigrants seeking entry into the United States, he said. Last month, opponents effectively killed President Bush's long-fought and emotion-laden immigration bill in the Senate when members voted against advancing the legislation. The bill aimed to create a path to citizenship for some of the 12 million illegal immigrants and to toughen border security. Supporters and opponents of the legislation said that it probably won't be resurrected until the 2008 elections are over. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Mike M. Ahlers contributed to this report.

Illegal immigrants captured on U.S. borders down 23 percent in nine months . Officials say enforcement having deterrent effect on illegal immigration . Official: Use of National Guard troops along Southwest border may be a factor .

ea05dfab8ef7ff691bd615fe062cc312e57a61aa

(CNN) -- A seventh minute goal from Brazilian teenager Alexander Pato proved enough to give AC Milan a 1-0 home victory over Fiorentina in a match totally dominated by Manchester City's $150 million bid for playmaker Kaka this week. Pato (right) and David Beckham celebrate Milan's only goal at the San Siro on Saturday evening. The goal was created by David Beckham who beat two defenders to a loose ball. He poked it back to Marek Jankulovski who played in Pato inside the penalty area. There still appeared no danger to the Fiorentina goal, but Pato hit a stunning strike from the left that went in off the far post. Fiorentina should have equalized on 66 minutes when Juan Vargas got to the byline and crossed to Mario Santana but the Argentine put his shot too close to goalkeeper Christian Abbiati who managed to save. The result leaves Milan in third place on 37 points, six points behind leaders and city rivals Inter, who have a game in hand. Jose Mourinho's side travel to Atalanta on Sunday. Jankulovski collected a late red card for timewasting, but Milan held on to secure the three points. Meanwhile, Milan supporters made their opposition to the Kaka bid, and his possible departure, perfectly clear throughout the match -- unveiling a host of banners and singing songs pleading with the Brazilian to stay at the San Siro. Reggina remain deep in relegation trouble after suffering a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Siena. Mario Frick's goal 15 minutes from time was enough to give the Bianconeri three points which sees them leapfrog Sampdoria and move up to the relative comfort of 14th spot. Siena in contrast, stay second from bottom and could slip to the foot of the Serie A standings if Chievo beat Napoli on Sunday.

Alexander Pato scores seventh minute goal as AC Milan defeat Fiorentina 1-0 . The win puts Milan within six points of Serie A leaders and rivals Inter at top . Milan supporters display displeasure at Kaka's possible departure from club .

0eec5926864110b348394412cf7e9e9a29d8f70d

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- At the Aimin Fat Reduction Hospital in the Chinese city of Tianjin, they have never seen anyone so big. Bland said he misses his family and friends, but his goal is to lose the weight and be "healthier and happier." "Yes this is our record," Dr. Su Zhixin proudly boasted. He's talking about 33-year-old Alonzo Bland of Green Bay, Wisconsin. When Bland stepped off the plane at Beijing Airport in May of this year, he weighed 640 pounds. In fact, he struggled to take more than a few steps, and as he lay flat on his back, exhausted, airport staff called an ambulance. After repeated warnings from his doctor, Bland decided to come to China as a last-ditch effort to shed the pounds. "I needed to take it serious because we were talking about my life." Bland's weight yo-yoed for years, ballooning after he lost his job 12 years ago. "Nobody wanted to hire a guy who couldn't move, you know and so, [I] spent the next ...12 years on the couch and watched my weight constantly going up." Watch more on Alonzo Bland's transformative journey » . At one point he needed an emergency tracheotomy because fat around his neck was crushing his windpipe. Earlier this year, while watching TV on the couch, he did an Internet search for weight-loss competitions. He entered one offering a first prize of an all-expense-paid trip to one of China's most famous boot camps for the obese. The weight-loss clinic is housed in a drab building, far from the city center. "It's a beautiful place. It really is," Bland said. "It is difficult though: I am away from home -- all my family and friends. But my goal here -- my goal is to lose the weight, so I think in the end I will be healthier and happier." Being this far from home, Bland said, has been a clean break from his bad habits. He simply doesn't know where the restaurants are, or how to order takeout. "It is away from everything I know, all those things -- even the excuses you make up: 'Oh I have to do this today, I can't work out, I have this do.' So coming here eliminated all the excuses." So far he has lost nearly 240 pounds -- a result of diet, exercise and traditional Chinese medicine such as acupuncture, which doctors say reduces appetite and increases metabolism. He works out at a gym three times a week, he walks every day and plays badminton as well. Bland's doctors are impressed with his determination to shed the weight. When he was in America, he had a different lifestyle, said Su. If he wanted to eat he would just order on the phone and "every day stay on sofa, playing games, watching TV," Su said. Bland has only been home once in the past seven months, for two weeks. His family was amazed at his weight loss, and more importantly, despite the fears of his doctor, Bland did not put on any weight while he was away. In fact, he woke at 4 a.m. most days, he said, to work out at the gym -- an indication, said his doctors, that he has broken the bad eating and living patterns that caused his weight gain. The ultimate goal for Bland is a weight of 220 pounds. To reach that goal, he must lose another 180 pounds. His doctors hope he can do that in the next five months -- a year after he arrived at the hospital. "I know I will get there. Will it happen in the next five months? I don't know, but I will get there."

Alonzo Bland from Green Bay, Wisconsin, arrived in Beijing weighing 640 pounds . He won all-expense-paid trip to a Chinese boot camp for obese . Bland said after losing his job, his weight ballooned . Bland has lost 240 pounds since May in China .

841e6fe0e5d87aa02edd093e068de909c4c9080b

(CNN) -- Polaroid Corp. announced it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Minnesota-based company said it is taking itself and its subsidiaries into bankruptcy in order to restructure its finances. "Our operations are strong and during this process Polaroid will ship products to our retail partners, work with our suppliers and contract manufacturers to fulfill retailer demand ..." said Mary L. Jeffries, Polaroid chief executive officer. "We expect to continue our operations as normal during the reorganization and are planning for new product launches in 2009," she said, adding that employees should receive their paychecks without interruption. The bankruptcy filing was necessary because of an investigation of its parent company, Petters Group Worldwide, which has owned Polaroid since 2005, the Polaroid statement said. The group's founder and other employees are under investigation for fraud. Polaroid said the investigation does not involve its leadership team.

"Our operations are strong," Polaroid CEO says; company will "fulfill retailer demand" Polaroid: Bankruptcy filing necessary because of investigation of parent Petters . Bankruptcy will allow restructuring of finances, company says . iReport.com: Share your favorite Polaroid pictures .

75e6c61d7fb9388bf5dc9faa4cbe963801625aec

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli troops Thursday killed a Palestinian militant trying to cross into Israel from Gaza and wounded another, according to Palestinian security sources. Israeli soldiers stand in front of the Kerem Shalom crossing Thursday on the Israel-Gaza border. Three armed militants tried to infiltrate into Israel near the Kerem Shalom crossing along the southern Gaza border, according to the Israeli military. Israel Defense Forces said it fired at the militants, hitting two of them. It was unclear what happened to the third. In a separate operation, Israeli forces killed another Palestinian militant Thursday near Jabalya in northern Gaza, Palestinian security sources said. The militant was part of a group trying to launch a mortar shell, sources said. On April 9, Palestinian militants infiltrated Israel through the Nahal Oz border crossing in northern Gaza and fired on the fuel terminal there, killing two Israeli civilian workers. In response, Israel halted already reduced fuel shipments to Gaza. It restarted some shipments on Wednesday but shut down the terminal again Thursday because of Palestinian sniper fire, according to the Israeli military. During the brief time the terminal was open, Israel sent 437,000 liters of diesel fuel and 93 tons of gas to Gaza via Nahal Oz, the only transit route for delivering fuel supplies to Gaza. Israeli forces also clashed early Thursday with Palestinian militants in the West Bank village of Qabatiya, killing the local Islamic Jihad leader and his deputy, the Israeli military said. Bilal Hamuda Machmud Zaalah and his deputy, Adin Machmud Hasani Avidot, were hiding in a vehicle when Israeli soldiers and security forces spotted them and surrounded the vehicle, the military said. "After confirming that the two men were armed, forces fired at the wanted men, killing both," according to an IDF statement. Israel blames Zaalah for attacks against Israeli forces in the West Bank town of Jenin as well as other planned strikes inside Israel. But Palestinian medical sources and witnesses said Israeli forces surrounded a house around 3 a.m., ordering the two members of Islamic Jihad to surrender. The militants wouldn't come out, the sources said, and they died in an exchange of fire with the soldiers. The violence came a day after Israeli airstrikes and ground battles with Palestinian militants in Gaza left 21 dead -- 18 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers -- according to Palestinian security sources. A Reuters cameraman and two bystanders were killed in an apparent airstrike near El Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Hamas security sources and Palestinian medical sources. Other civilians and Palestinian militants also were killed in an Israeli strike on El Bureij. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a statement through his spokesman, said he's "gravely concerned at the escalation of violence in Gaza and southern Israel" on Wednesday. "He condemns the reported civilian casualties among Palestinians, including children, during Israeli military operations, and calls on Israel to abide by its obligations under international humanitarian law and human rights law," the statement said. "The secretary-general also reiterates his condemnation of rocket fire against Israeli civilian targets. He urges all parties to exercise restraint." E-mail to a friend .

NEW: Israel closes fuel terminal on Gaza border after sniper fire, military says . Israel says its troops fired on militants from Gaza trying to infiltrate border . One killed, one wounded, Palestinian security sources say . In separate incident, Israel says two Islamic Jihad militants killed in West Bank .

f37d515bb487d37972a85dce1d6fd33c8fc9d14c

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The driver of the limousine in which Princess Diana and her lover Dodi Fayed were killed spent time in a bar shortly before the 1997 Paris crash, a jury at an inquest into her death has heard. But the jury also watched video from security cameras at the Ritz that gives no outward sign that Henri Paul was drunk when the Mercedes he was driving crashed in an underpass while being chased by paparazzi, as both French and British police have concluded. Paul is seen squatting in the lobby of the hotel to tie his shoe laces, shifting his weight from one foot to another and rising steadily. He is also shown bounding up stairs two at a time. The jury has already heard that Paul ordered two Ricards - an aniseed spirit - that night after arriving at the hotel. The father of the princess's lover Dodi Fayed, Ritz owner Mohamed al Fayed, says Paul was not drunk and that the samples were switched after the tragedy. Watch footage of Diana's last hours » . The purpose of the inquest, which is taking place in London, must decide whether the deaths of Diana and Dodi on August 31, 1997 was an accident or murder. It is expected to be a six-month process. Al Fayed says Diana and his son were murdered because the British royal family "could not accept that an Egyptian Muslim could eventually be step-father to the future king of England," referring to Prince William, the son of Diana and her former husband, Prince Charles. The elaborate efforts of Diana and Dodi to give the paparazzi the slip in the minutes before the tragedy in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel were also shown in a new video. Jurors were shown second-by-second security footage of the couple's efforts to escape the Ritz Hotel undetected. The images show how security staff choreographed a decoy exit in an effort to distract a swelling pack of press photographers and onlookers. But even as Diana and Dodi are led through the bowels of the hotel and out through a service doorway, paparazzi lie in wait. The security footage shows Diana, Dodi's arm around her, standing for 10 minutes behind one exit, waititng for the all-clear to sprint to a car. At one point the princess delivers what appears to be a mock salute as she receives instructions from bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones -- the sole survivor of the crash -- and Paul. The wait over, Diana, Dodi, Paul and Rees-Jones run to a awaiting Mercedes and are immediately surrounded by photographers. But as they leave the paparazzi give chase in cars and on motorcycles. Intriguingly, Paul was earlier seen waving to two photographers who had uncovered the plan to leave by the rear service entrance of the Ritz. On Wednesday previously unseen footage of Diana was shown to the jury. Images taken from a security camera at the Ritz show the 36-year-old smiling as she and Fayed, 42, step into an elevator and later walk out of the hotel. Further footage shows Fayed visiting a jeweler's shop, images that could lend support to claims that he was buying an engagement ring. Earlier, the coroner at the inquest said it may never be known for certain whether Diana was pregnant when she died. Lord Justice Scott Baker told the jury that scientific evidence might be unable to demonstrate "one way or the other" whether she was in the early stages of pregnancy. But he said they would hear "intimate" details of her personal life. Baker told the 11 members of the jury -- six women and five men -- Diana may have been on the contraceptive pill and that evidence she was poised to get engaged to Dodi on the night she died was contradictory. On Tuesday the judge, who is acting as coroner in the case, told the jury that a famous image taken in summer 1997 showing Diana wearing a swimsuit could not be proof she was pregnant with Dodi's child as she had not started a relationship with him at that stage. Next week, the jury is scheduled to travel to Paris to see the crash site, along the River Seine. They are also expected to hear testimony from the paparazzi who were present after the accident. In its evidence section, the Web site for the inquest has posted previously unpublished pictures taken by paparazzi of the limo before and immediately after the accident. One is a closeup -- looking into the front of the vehicle -- that shows Diana, Fayed, Paul and Rees-Jones minutes before the crash. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Barry Neild contributed to this report.

Driver of car in which Diana was killed was in bar before crash, jury hears . CCTV gives no indication though that Henri Paul was drunk, as officials say . Inquest jury also shown new footage of Diana taken hours before her death . Court will make final decision on what happened in car crash 10 years ago .

68ae41bafeb4e327982f437d7eb72a84184a5da1

(CNN) -- A woman accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter and dumping her body in Galveston Bay in Texas has pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence in the case. Kimberly Dawn Trenor is scheduled to go on trial for murder next week in the death of her daughter. But Kimberly Dawn Trenor, 20, pleaded not guilty to the capital murder charge, her lawyer said Wednesday. Trenor and her husband, Royce Clyde Zeigler II, 25, both were charged with tampering with evidence and capital murder in the case of Riley Ann Sawyer, whose body was found in a large blue plastic container on an uninhabited island in Galveston Bay, Texas, in October 2007. The charge of tampering with evidence accused the couple of concealing the child's remains. Trenor was arraigned Tuesday in Galveston, Texas, said her lawyer, Tom Stickler. Jury selection for her trial on the capital murder charge begins Wednesday. The trial will begin in earnest on January 27, he said. The jury also will sentence Trenor on the evidence tampering charge, which carries a penalty of two to 20 years in prison, The Houston Chronicle reported. Zeigler, who is being tried separately, has not been formally arraigned, Stickler said. Both remain in jail. The Houston Chronicle reported bail had been set at $850,000 each. Riley Ann's case garnered national headlines after a fisherman found her body on the island in the bay. Authorities were unsure of her identity, and police dubbed her "Baby Grace." Police distributed composite sketches of the girl nationwide, and Sheryl Sawyers, the girl's paternal grandmother, contacted police from her Ohio home to say the drawing resembled her granddaughter. DNA testing confirmed the child's identity. According to an affidavit, Trenor told police Riley had been beaten and thrown across a room and that her head was held underwater before she died on July 24, 2007. She said the couple hid the girl's body in a storage shed for one to two months before they put it in the plastic container and dumped it into the bay. A medical examiner said Riley's skull was fractured in three places, injuries that would have been fatal. A cross has since been erected on the island where the child was found, which was named Riley's Island in her honor, the Houston Chronicle reported. Trenor moved to Texas from Ohio with the girl in May 2007 to be with Zeigler, whom Trenor had met on the Internet. While in custody, Trenor gave birth this summer to another child, who is now in the care of relatives, Stickler said.

Kimberly Dawn Trenor pleads guilty to tampering with evidence . She faces capital murder trial in death of child known as 'Baby Grace' Child's body was found in plastic container on island in Galveston Bay .

1f4603ad3ef986c557014f69422a92e345e3c9a8

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Previously unseen footage of Diana, Princess of Wales, taken just hours before she was killed in a car crash, has been shown to the jury at the inquest into her death. The footage showed Diana and Dodi step into an elevator at the Ritz Hotel. Images taken from a security camera at the Ritz Hotel in Paris show the 36-year-old smiling as she and her lover Dodi Fayed step into an elevator and later walk out of the hotel. Further footage shows Fayed visiting a jeweler's shop, images that could lend support to claims that he was buying an engagement ring. Earlier, a British coroner at the inquest said tt may never be known for certain whether Princess Diana was pregnant when she died in the Paris car crash. Lord Justice Scott Baker told the jury at the inquest into the deaths of the princess and her lover Dodi Fayed that scientific evidence might be unable to demonstrate "one way or the other" whether she was in the early stages of pregnancy. But he said they would hear "intimate" details of her personal life. Watch footage of Diana's last hours » . Baker told the 11 members of the jury -- six women and five men -- Diana may have been on the contraceptive pill and that evidence she was poised to get engaged to Dodi on the night she died was contradictory. On Tuesday the judge, who is acting as coroner in the case, told the jury that a famous image taken in summer 1997 showing Diana wearing a swimsuit could not be proof she was pregnant with Dodi's child as she had not started a relationship with him at that stage. The jury is set to hear "scene setting" evidence, including CCTV and a tourist video. The inquest to establish cause of death is expected to be a six-month process. Fayed's father, Mohammed Al Fayed, has contended from the start that Diana and his son were murdered because the royal family "could not accept that an Egyptian Muslim could eventually be step-father to the future king of England," referring to Diana's son Prince William. "I'm hoping for justice," Al Fayed said outside court. "At last, we're going to have a jury from ordinary people and I hope to reach the decision which I believe that my son and Princess Diana have been murdered by the royal family." Baker told the jury of Al Fayed's allegations, but again reminded them that they were responsible for deciding the facts of the case, but not to assign blame or guilt. "You have to decide four important, but limited factual questions: who the deceased were, when they came by their deaths, where they came by their deaths and how they came by their deaths," Baker said, according to inquest transcripts. "The first three questions are unlikely to give rise to any difficulty. The fourth is a rather wider question and is directed towards the means by which they died." Diana, 36, and 42-year-old Dodi Fayed were killed on August 31, 1997 when the Mercedes-Benz they were traveling in hit a pillar in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris. They were being pursued at the time by the paparazzi after leaving the Ritz Hotel. Driver Henri Paul, who was also killed, was drunk and driving at high speed. Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was the sole survivor. Next week, the jury is scheduled to travel to Paris to see the crash site, along the River Seine. They are also expected to hear testimony from the paparazzi who were present after the accident. In its evidence section, the Web site for the inquest has posted previously unpublished pictures taken by paparazzi of the limo before and immediately after the accident. One is a closeup -- looking into the front of the vehicle -- that shows Diana, Fayed, Paul and Rees-Jones minutes before the crash. E-mail to a friend .

NEW: Jury shown new footage of Diana taken hours before her death . Diana and Dodi Fayed inquest jury to hear "scene setting" evidence . On Tuesday coroner outlined controversial claims, published new images . Court will make final decision on what happened in car crash 10 years ago .

2b9f6d2414c7374e0239d0e96d456e573184282d

(CNN) -- It's not exactly the war of the roses, but a New York couple is taking a divorce case to a new level. Dr. Richard Batista (left) and his attorney, Dominick Barbara, says the divorce case is not just about a kidney. Dr. Richard Batista and his wife, Dawnell, are fighting over a kidney he gave her. Batista and his attorney, Dominick Barbara, appeared on CNN's Larry King Live on Wednesday to discuss the case and why he filed a lawsuit. The following is an edited version of the interview. Larry King: When did the wife need the kidney? Richard Batista: Well, she needed three of them. The one that I donated was back in 2001. King: Who else donated? Batista: Her father donated the first kidney in -- well, I'm going to go back -- when she was 13 years old. The second kidney she needed after two years of our marriage and that was back in 1992. Thereafter, we had three children, prompting the third kidney transplant, which took place in 2001. King: How is she doing now? Do you know? Batista: To the best of my knowledge, I understand that her kidney is doing better than mine. King: When did the marriage go bad? Batista: It's hard to say, but it was not on a good foundation around the time of the third transplant. King: What's it like, by the way, to donate a kidney? Batista: Well, it is probably the most wonderful feeling that you can possibly ever imagine on this planet. King: Is the surgery difficult? Batista: The surgery, for me, was performed arthroscopically, so I have several port incisions, with a separate hand incision to allow for the kidney to be extracted. The surgery discomfort and pain itself was not all that horrendous, very tolerable. I was on my feet the following day. King: What was the cause of the divorce? Batista: Well, she has her allegations. King: What were yours? Batista: Infidelity. That's my reason. Dominick Barbara: Actually, Larry, in the state of New York, it's one of the grounds for divorce. When the show started, you mentioned the demand for the kidney or the value. Really, that's not what's going on. We use that as an example of what the doctor wants. What the doctor wants is, A) health to be taken into consideration in the division of the assets, whether or not she'd be entitled to maintenance or not. But most of all, (what's) being done so he can be part of the children's lives. That's what really this case is all about. King: He's not allowed to be part of their lives now? Batista: It is my belief that the influence that the children are under, from the household, has put such a pressure on them that they no longer have visitation time with me, despite my most strongest efforts, both through phone call attempts through their mother and through the court system. King: What is he going to do with a kidney back? Barbara: He doesn't want the kidney. Remember, this is a God-like act when one gives a kidney. You can certainly understand that. No, what he wants the court to do is take into consideration what he's done, what a wonderful thing it is he's done and some understanding from the court. You know, it's so strange; here he does this, and when he says he's allowed to see his children, well, legally he is, but these children have been so alienated from him. By the way, prior to the divorce, you should know that this was a 24/7 dad. The children loved him dearly. He's a broken-hearted man from that. Before we started the litigation, we thought very deeply how it's going to affect everyone. It was out of desperation that he did it. King: Dr. Batista, you think this might affect other people donating kidneys? Batista: I hope, at the very least, first of all, I have to say that the real issue here is for me to get my children back. Aside from that, to draw light to the lack of kidney availability, to the number of poor and dying patients across the country who are yearning to live. I hope, and it's my prayer, that this fallout will help enlighten those people who have any question about organ donation come forward, because there are so many people who are dying as a result of not having an organ. King: In view of how bitter this has gotten, Dr. Batista, if you had to do it over again, would you not donate it? Batista: Without hesitation, I would give another kidney.

New York doctor, soon-to-be-ex-wife fighting over kidney he gave her in 2001 . Doctor tells CNN's Larry King "real issue" is to get his children back . Doctor says he hopes case will not deter organ donation .

2fcfba02babfed9414890ac017cb23e0afa6fd3b

(CNN) -- In focus: OPEC quota cuts . OPEC, which pumps 40 percent of the world oil, is set to announce this week plans to cut its output when it meets in Oran, Algeria. CEO Naguib Sawiris is expanding his mobile phone services into North Korea, an area where few businessmen venture. The cut in crude is hoped to stabilize prices and will be the third cut in quotas since September. So what's behind the supply cuts? Is it just a matter of price stability? Or is OPEC trying to protect the cost of future investments? Facetime with Naguib Sawiris, Chairman and CEO of Orascom Telecom . Amidst the economic downturn, one company is venturing into markets where others fear to tread. Orascom launches its mobile phone services in North Korea this week. CEO Naguib Sawiris tells MME about the company's ambitious expansion plans and the effects of the international financial crisis. Watch the show this week at the times (GMT) below: . Friday: 0915, 1945 Saturday: 0645 Sunday: 0815 .

OPEC, which supplies 40 percent of world oil plans on cutting more output . This is the third cut since the fall and is supposed to stabilize prices-will it? Or is OPEC just looking out for its own interests? Plus, CEO Naguib Sawiris talks about his North Korea expansion plans .

d91d2f3b435c9be31d8613ec2b4634d23a7fb6d9

(CNN) -- Ben Cahan wishes he hadn't damaged his old snapshot of a person in a prosthetic alien suit sitting with his Macintosh. Luckily, he still has a late-1980s picture of actor Kurt Russell with his boxy Mac desktop. Ben Cahan worked with Hollywood films and spotted Kurt Russell sitting with his Mac in the 1980s. Rubbing elbows with big-name celebrities was not unusual for Cahan, who is a software developer. He used his Mac to create Hollywood screenwriting software that formed the basis for programs still in use today. Cahan never expected his old computers to become museum pieces, and he didn't think much about saving funny photos of them at the time. He almost wants to kick himself when he thinks about the lost photo of extraterrestrial attire. "Who would have thought that would be an interesting picture?" he mused. But as the Macintosh computer celebrates its 25th birthday Saturday, Cahan and other iReporters are seeking to preserve memories and the history of what they consider to be simple, classic and timeless designs. At the same time, they ponder the purpose of preserving such a short legacy. Gil Poulsen of Franklin Park, New Jersey, says he can understand confusion from people who see the meticulously curated collection in his basement. iReport.com: Go behind the museum's velvet rope . "Computers almost become like antiques or dinosaurs very quickly. It does seem like a contradiction in terms to have a computer as a museum piece." Watch Poulsen talk about his museum » . Poulsen keeps an elaborate stash of vintage Macs, portable devices, accessories and artwork. Two of his favorite pieces are a special vertical flat-screen unit made for Apple's 20th anniversary and a chassis cover designed to deflect radiation. Small placards explain the details of each item in the collection, and a velvet rope gives the space a real museum feel. He remembers the days when the computers ran exclusively on floppy disks, necessitating frequent disk switching whenever the onboard memory filled up. As storage innovations cropped up, users sought to purchase additional floppy drives and, later, units with hard drives. His collection chronicles many of these changes. Upstairs, he keeps a couple "Macquariums" on display. Among Mac enthusiasts, a popular form of artwork is the conversion of an old Mac case into a shell for a fish tank. The resulting aquarium setup mimics a popular screen saver on the units that featured swimming fish. iReport.com: See iReporter Bob Mushchitz's Macquarium . Building inspectors and plumbers who visit are sometimes taken aback at the little computer museum. "I often get very strange reactions from contractors visiting the house because they don't quite know what to make of it when they see it," Poulsen said. Blake Patterson of Alexandria, Virginia, can certainly relate. His family is in awe of the computer room downstairs, which he calls the "Byte Cellar." He maintains a blog by the same name that chronicles his experiences with vintage computing. iReport.com: Get a peek inside the Byte Cellar . "My wife is quite amazed and sort of frightened by that. She stays out of the computer room. It's a little bit scary." He purchased an original 128K Macintosh in 1985 and has owned several more machines. Much of his collection was built in the past eight years or so. Patterson, who operates Web sites, currently uses a three-screened Mac Pro for high-end tasks. See both old and new photos of vintage Macs » . The legacy of the Mac, now 25 years old, is one of innovation, he says. "It was quite a notable achievement 25 years ago when the Mac first came out. It was a big, new thing. People were a little bit baffled by the innovations." Classic Macs were some of the first commercially successful home computers to incorporate a graphical user interface, mouse and streamlined chassis. This new form of design allowed flexibility for manipulating graphics and page layouts onscreen. Mike Tuohy of Seattle, Washington, acknowledges that artists and the Mac seem especially well-suited for one another. In fact, he likes to do much of his art on Mac cases themselves. "There are certainly out-of-the-box kind of approaches that appeal to me," he said. "That technology appeals to the more artistic side of the population." Over the years, he has amassed several old Macintosh units. Some are complete with signatures from Apple developers molded onto the inside of the chassis. He likes to paint the outside of the computers to create artistic interpretations. iReport.com: See the painted Macintosh cases . One piece spins the concept of a "vintage computer" on its head with a wood paneling design. Another almost exudes a glow of primary colors. "I don't want to create a lot of canvas work that I have to drag across the country," Tuohy said of his preference for art created on -- and with -- computers. Cahan, the software developer, says he relishes the heyday of the early Macintosh computer lines. He could see the appeal for artistic types like himself. "I loved Macs in the '80s and '90s," Cahan said. "The entertainment industry was one of the big movers for the Mac back in those days." But after all these years, he has opened up to using Windows-based PCs. He points out that perhaps the greatest legacy of the Macintosh's innovation may be the many permutations and inspirations that later occurred. iReport.com: Read about Cahan's encounter with Kurt Russell . "All the innovation is on the Mac," he said. "But that's what competition is all about. You think the PC people are supposed to sit around and lose their market share? It's just plain old business." Looking back, Cahan isn't sure he would have been as successful with computers today as he had been back then when things were simpler. Software development manuals have bloated to upwards of 3 feet thick. "It costs a million bucks to make stuff nowadays," he said. "Back then, I could do it in my bedroom."

iReport.com: Outpouring of photos, stories ahead of Macintosh's 25th birthday . Software developer Ben Cahan photographed Kurt Russell with his old Mac . Gil Poulsen's basement computer museum includes placards, velvet rope . Mike Tuohy paints his old Mac cases to look like wood and primary colors .

e3248851a6f18bb53c6b242447f3f4967fd2364f

(CNN) -- Federal officials are urging consumers to put off eating foods that contain peanut butter until assurances are made that the foods do not contain products manufactured by the Peanut Corp. of America, some of which were found to contain salmonella. A salmonella outbreak has sickened almost 500 people and killed at least six. Food and Drug Administration officials said Saturday that peanut butter and peanut paste made from ground roasted peanuts, manufactured in Peanut Corp.'s Blakely, Georgia, plant were found to contain the bacteria, although a direct link to the strain that has now sickened 474 people in 43 states has not been found. Six deaths may have been connected to this salmonella outbreak. Peanut Corp. announced an expanded recall of peanut butter and peanut paste produced from its Georgia plant Friday night. Peanut Corp. doesn't directly supply to supermarkets, so brand-name peanut butters are not expected to be affected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Instead, Peanut Corp. sells produce in bulk. The peanut butter is sold in containers from 5 to 1,700 pounds. Peanut paste is sold in sizes from 35-pound containers to tankers. The peanut paste is used in the manufacturing of cakes, candies, crackers, cookies and ice cream, FDA officials say. Minnesota and Connecticut health officials have confirmed salmonella Typhimurium linked to this outbreak in bulk containers found in institutions such as prisons, schools and nursing homes. The FDA is urging companies that make these foods to check whether they use peanut butter or paste produced by the company. The recalled peanut butter was manufactured on or after August 8, 2008; the peanut paste was produced on or after September 26, 2008. The administration is urging companies to notify consumers if the products they manufacture may contain peanut products from Peanut Corp. It is also urging companies whose products do not contain Peanut Corp. peanut butter or paste to make that information available to the public. The Kellogg Co. announced a voluntary recall of 16 products, including Keebler and Famous Amos peanut butter cookies, because they contain peanut butter that could be connected to Peanut Corp. The FDA does not have the authority to order a recall of products. It has to rely on companies doing so voluntarily. Congress would have to pass a law to give the FDA such power . Peanut Corp. products are also distributed by King Nut Co., which voluntarily recalled its products a week ago. "The majority of products [like cookies, crackers, ice cream] are manufactured with products that don't come from PCA," said Dr. Stephen Sundlof, the FDA's director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. However, until people can be sure that the peanut cookies or crackers they have do not contain product from Peanut Corp., the FDA is asking consumers to hold off on eating them. Sundlof said a previous outbreak linked to salmonella-contaminated peanut butter showed that the bacteria are not necessarily killed if the product is heat-treated or baked. "It took temperatures up to 250 degrees [Fahrenheit] to kill salmonella," Sundlof said. Even if a cookie is cooked at 350 degrees, it doesn't guarantee that the center of the food gets that hot, making it possible for some some salmonella bacteria to survive. CNN's Miriam Falco contributed to this report.

NEW: Salmonella outbreak has sickened 475 says FDA . Peanut Corp. of America products found to contain salmonella . Brand-name peanut butters are not expected to be affected . FDA urges manufacturers to announce whether they use certain products .

27e34dca10f873b1c116b489de7fe9cd076b9a9c

(AOL Autos) -- The conventional wisdom, among most folks, anyway, is that buying a used car is usually something done out of necessity, by those on a budget -- that is, people who want, or need, to "move down" from the new-car market because a new model is simply out of their reach. Bottom line, the Lexus reputation is for high-end luxury, quality and long-term dependability. However, there is another category of used cars that appeal to those with a bit more disposable income: used luxury cars. For some buyers, the used-luxury market is a way of getting into that Lexus, Lincoln, Infiniti or Porsche you always wanted, without laying out $70,000 or $80,000 for something you're not actually going to live in. For others, scouring the used-luxury-car listings is a way of re-visiting the halcyon years of their youth. At this point, some of these used-luxe models have been around so long that they almost qualify as vintage throwback editions. Recently, Consumer Reports magazine issued its list of best and worst used cars, and divvied them up by price range. Using CR's recommendations as a guideline, here is a list of some of the best used luxury cars currently on the market in the $24,000-30,000 price range. 2005 & 2006 Acura MDX . A luxury SUV, the MDX is spacious, seats seven, and boasts distinctive styling and Acura's famed attention to detail. Plus, it packs some punch under the hood -- this generation was powered by 3.5-liter, 253-hp V6 matched to a five-speed automatic transmission. AOL Autos: Used Acura . Priced just right as a new vehicle, it included safety features like dual-stage front airbags, three-point seatbelts and adjustable head restraints for all seating positions. 2007 Acura RDX . A crossover vehicle that mixes sedan-like ride with SUV roominess, the '07 RDX offered unibody construction, leather upholstery, heated front seats, power moonroof, 18-inch alloy wheels with all-season tires, xenon HID headlights with foglamps and the 2.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine -- plus a five-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters on the steering wheel, and the patented SH-AWD (SH for Super Handling) system. 2006 & 2007 Acura TL . A mid-size, front-wheel-drive, four-door sedan powered by a 258-hp 3.2-liter V6, the Acura TL is a fine road machine. Actually, it was available for '06-'07 as both a TL and a higher-end TL Type S -- the latter of which sported an upgraded engine, a 286-hp 3.5-liter. Depending on trim level, you can find it with a five-speed automatic with a console-mounted lever or shift paddles on the steering wheel. 2007 Audi A3 . Audi designers have always shown a certain flair for dynamics, and that is evident here, in a sharply-engineered, handsomely-appointed vehicle that offers a fine balance between silky ride, nimble handling and zesty performance. This sporty compact was powered by a 200-hp 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine in '07, and came standard with a six-speed manual and an optional Direct Shift Gearbox. AOL Autos: Used Audi . 2005 & 2006 BMW 3-Series . The 3-Series is another winning stable of cars, but Consumer Reports especially liked specific model years/versions/features in the 3-Series family: The 2005 RWD coupe and convertible; the '06 325i RWD sedan; the '06 330i RWD sedan and the '05 Z4. Depending on the model year and version, the standard engine ranged from a 184-hp 2.5-L to a 255-hp 3.0-L. AOL Autos: Used BMW . 2005 & 2006 Infiniti FX35 . Another of the many crossovers that have hit the market the last several years, the FX35 is one of the sportier editions. During these model years, the FX35 2WD came with a 280-hp 3.5-liter V6 and a five-speed automatic transmission. Rear-wheel-drive was standard, but AWD was also an option. Some spiffier features included leather seating surfaces, 18-inch wheels, dual-zone climate control with microfiltration and steering-wheel controls. AOL Autos: Used Infiniti . Infiniti G35 . The G35 is one of the more svelte sports-sedan beauties on the road, offering Infiniti's typical attention to detail and sporting attitude. Yes, it has four doors, but it handles like a sporty coupe, with its power coming from a finely-tuned 3.5-liter V6. Horsepower output is 280 for the automatic and 298 with the manual. Luxo amenities include leather upholstery, automatic climate control, steering wheel audio controls, illuminated visor vanity mirrors and high-intensity discharge (HID) xenon headlamps. Lexus . Any luxury-car aficionado knows that a Lexus is one of the most exquisitely-designed, high-performing chariots on the luxury-car market, and CR saw fit to include more than a half-dozen Lexus models on this list of recommended used luxury cars -- from the '02 SC and LX models, to the '03-'04 GX edition, '03 LS, '04 / '06 IS entries, '04-'05 RX model, '05 GS and '06 ES to ... well, you get the picture. Bottom line, given the Lexus reputation for high-end luxury, quality and long-term dependability, it's hard to go wrong with any of the above-named Lexus entries. And all have plenty of engine oomph and luxo-line amenities. AOL Autos: Used Lexus . 2007 Lincoln MKX . This luxury crossover vehicle debuted in '07 as a replacement for the Aviator, and made a big splash. A higher-end and pricier version of the Ford Edge, it seats five and is powered by a 265 hp 3.5-liter V-6 and comes with standard six-speed automatic tranny. Either FWD or AWD is available. One cool option was the glass-paneled roof dubbed the "Vista Roof." 2007 Lincoln MKZ . Also new for the '07 model year, this handsome and fully-loaded mid-size luxury sedan replaced the Zephyr. Under the hood purrs a muscular 263-hp V6 hitched to a six-speed automatic transmission. FWD is standard, but AWD is optional. Standard safety features include side-impact air bags in the front; curtain-style head protection airbags for all outboard positions; plus traction control and antilock brakes with electronic brake-force distribution. 2007 Lincoln Town Car . A venerated luxury car whose heritage goes way back, the Town Car still "has game" -- and is a far cry from the floaty boats your granddad drove in the '70s and '80s. It's still cavernous inside, but now boasts a much more refined design. It seats six comfortably and is powered by a 239-hp 4.6-liter V-8 that's linked to a four-speed automatic. The well-appointed cabin is trimmed in premium leather and burl walnut appliques. Available in Signature, Signature Limited, Designer and Signature L trim levels, you can find one to fit any taste. 1998 Porsche 911 . No, your eyes don't deceive you -- CR did include a primo, high-line vehicle like a Porsche 911 on its list of recommended used cars under $30,000. But, take note: This is the 1998 edition. But when you're dealing with quality of this level, even an 10-year-old vehicle has a lot of juice left in it. So, by "going vintage," driving enthusiasts can get into their car of their dreams without breaking the bank. In '98, the 911 was powered by a 3.6L H-6 282 hp engine. So, while it wasn't quite the road-burner it is today, is still packed plenty of thrust. 2007 Volvo S60 (FWD) Only a year old, the '07 used edition should still be in fine condition, and it boasts top-drawer performance, stylish design and Volvo's all-world safety features. The '07 S60 came in several trim levels, with an array of engine sizes, from the turbocharged 2.5-liter 208 hp job to the 2.3-liter 257-hp inline five-cylinder plant to the 2.5-liter high-pressure turbocharged and intercooled engine that churned out 300 ponies. Depending on the trim line, either a manual or automatic transmission can be had. 2006 & 2007 Volvo XC70 . The XC70 is a crossover vehicle, splitting the difference between an SUV and a wagon. And it's one of the finest crossovers on the road. It's all-wheel drive, and the latest used-model-year, the '07, was powered by a 208-hp turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-five-cylinder engine matched to a Geartronic five-speed automatic transmission that also offers manual gear selection.

Some buyers go to used-car market to get the luxury car they always wanted . Consumer Reports magazine issues its list of best and worst used cars . Infiniti G35 is one of the more svelte sports-sedan beauties on the road . 1998 Porsche 911 made the list of cars for under $30,000 .

9d827c2fde85a66357fe5cdcf75bff87c441ec0a

(CNN) -- Robert Barnett, a prominent Washington attorney, has worked on eight national presidential campaigns, focusing on debate preparation. He played the role of George H.W. Bush in practice debates with Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and with Michael Dukakis in 1988, and practice debated Bill Clinton more than 20 times during the 1992 campaign. He also played the role of Dick Cheney in 2000 and 2004 and helped prepare Hillary Clinton for 23 primary debates for the 2008 nomination. Barnett spoke with CNNI's Michael Holmes. Robert Barnett has been in practice debates with Democrats from Geraldine Ferraro to Bill Clinton. CNN: How does Tuesday night's town hall format differ from other debates? Barnett: The individuals will not necessarily express the question as a journalist would. So, for example, one of these people will probably not ask about Internal Revenue Service Code section 341, but rather will ask about their taxes and their tax burdens and what they care about with respect to taxation. And so you have to be very careful to be sure you understand what the individual is asking about and you have to be particularly careful to answer the question, because if you don't, you risk alienating the questioner and the audience and the listeners. CNN: You're in a unique position. You have prepped, I think, seven or eight presidential campaigns. You've done debate prep, you've stood in and played the role of Dick Cheney and others. What's that like? What are you trying to do to prepare the candidate, any candidate? Barnett: If I'm playing the surrogate, if you will, if I'm the Republican for a Democrat, I try to prepare myself -- not to imitate; I'm not Darrell Hammond or Dana Carvey. I'm not that talented. But I try to be ready with what my candidate that I'm playing, if you will, has said -- the exact words used, the way they counterattack, the way they attack. And I try to make sure that the candidate I'm working with, meaning the Democrat, has heard just about everything that they could hear from their opponent before they ever walk on the stage. CNN: Do you try to bait them, get them to bite a little and then say that's not what you should be doing? Barnett: Well, it can get pretty contested. When I prepared with Rep. Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 when she was running against then-vice president George Herbert Walker Bush, I baited her a lot and she got so angry with me that she frequently walked over to me and slugged me on the arm. So I left the process black and blue. CNN: When you're doing that sort of thing, how direct can you be with the candidate? Or do you have to treat them with a bit of kid gloves? Barnett: I treat them with no kid gloves. It's fair to say I'm direct, I make sure they hear everything from me before they hear it on the stage and maybe hear it even a little more aggressively so they can be prepared.

Robert Barnett: Candidates must make sure they answer town hall questions . Barnett has played Republicans in practice debates for more than 20 years . Barnett: I try to prepare candidates for the attacks they will face . Barnett says he'll make the case aggressively to prepare candidates .

3d1090ed32b442c478f4f775ca76080839baa88e

(CNN) -- Sen. John McCain played offense against Sen. Barack Obama during much of the final presidential debate as he challenged his rival on his policies, judgment and character. Obama said he is the candidate who can bring "fundamental change" to the country and continued to try to link McCain to President Bush. In one of the more forceful moments of the debate, McCain turned to Obama and said, "I am not President Bush." "If you want to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago. I'm going to give a new direction to this economy and this country," the Arizona senator said. Watch McCain say he's no Bush » . McCain aides said they had been working on him to be more explicit in drawing a distinction between himself and Bush. With less than three weeks before the election, it was one of several jabs McCain took at his opponent, who is leading the race in most national polls and has an 8-point lead in CNN's average of national polls. A CNN/Opinion Research poll of people who watched the debate found 58 percent said Obama did the best job while 31 percent said McCain did. Watch entire debate: Part 1 » | Part 2 » | Part 3 » . The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, and the sample of debate-watchers in the poll were 40 percent Democratic and 30 percent Republican. McCain touted what he called his "long record of reform" and said to Obama: "You have to tell me one time when you have stood up with the leaders of your party on one single major issue." Obama said he has a "history of reaching across the aisle" and pointed to his support for charter schools, pay for performance for teachers and clean coal technology. See scenes from the debate » . "Sen. Obama, your argument for standing up to the leadership of your party isn't very convincing," McCain said. The third and final presidential debate took place at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, and was moderated by Bob Schieffer of CBS News. Analysts weigh in on the debate » . As McCain tried to put the pressure on Obama, he told the Illinois senator that voters need to "know the full extent" of his relationship with Bill Ayers, a former 1960s radical who belonged to the Weather Underground. "Mr. Ayers is not involved in this campaign, he has never been involved in my campaign, and he will not advise me in the White House," Obama said. McCain's campaign has charged that Obama's association with Ayers should cause voters to question his judgment. Ayers was a founding member of the radical Weather Underground, a group that was involved in bombings in the early 1970s, including attacks on the Pentagon and the Capitol. Obama said Ayers had committed "despicable acts" 40 years ago, but pointed out that he himself had been 8 years old at the time. Watch what Obama says about Ayers » . Obama said Ayers has become the "centerpiece" of McCain's campaign and said the fact that McCain keeps bringing Ayers up "says more about your campaign than it says about me." The Republican nominee also brought up comments made last weekend by Rep. John Lewis and pushed Obama to repudiate them. Lewis on Saturday compared the feeling at recent GOP rallies to those of segregationist George Wallace. "I think Congressman Lewis' point was that we have to be careful about how we deal with our supporters," Obama said. "I do think that he inappropriately drew a comparison between what was happening there and what had happened during the civil rights movement, and we immediately put out a statement saying that we don't think that comparison is appropriate," he said. As the candidates butted heads over tax policy, both made frequent mention of "Joe the plumber." Watch voters react when 'Joe' comes up » . Last weekend, while Obama was canvassing for support in Holland, Ohio, the Democratic nominee ran into a man since dubbed Joe the plumber. In that exchange "Joe" asked Obama if he believed in the American Dream -- he said he was about to buy a company that makes more than $250,000 a year and was concerned that Obama would tax him more because of it. Obama explained his tax plan in depth, saying it's better to lower taxes for Americans who make less money, so that they could afford to buy from his business. At the debate Wednesday, McCain characterized Obama's plan as trying to "spread the wealth around." Watch the candidates debate tax plans » . "We're going to take Joe's money, give it to Sen. Obama, and let him spread the wealth around. I want Joe the plumber to spread the wealth around," McCain said. He added, "Why would you want to increase anybody's taxes right now? Why would you want to do that to anyone, anyone in America, when we have such a tough time?" Obama countered that both he and McCain want to cut taxes, but that his plan would cut taxes for "95 percent of American families," more than McCain's plan. On spending, Obama promised as president he would "go through the federal budget page by page, line by line, and cut programs that don't work," echoing a vow his rival has made repeatedly. McCain in turn promised an "across the board spending freeze." He said he would balance the federal budget in four years, and went on to name specific programs including subsidies for ethanol when Schieffer pressed both candidates to identify specific budget cuts they would make. The candidates also talked about abortion rights, a topic not addressed in the previous presidential debate. Watch the candidates debate abortion » . McCain refused to commit to nominating only judges who opposed abortion, saying he would "never impose a litmus test" on court nominees. But he qualified the statement a moment later, saying he would base his nominations on "qualifications" -- and that he did not believe a judge who supported Roe v. Wade, the case that legalized abortion, "would be part of those qualifications." McCain hammered Obama on abortion, accusing him of "aligning himself with the extreme aspect of the pro-abortion movement in America." Obama rejected the charge out of hand, saying: "Nobody is pro-abortion." He advocated sex education as a way of reducing the number of unintended pregnancies that result in abortions. "We should try to prevent unintended pregnancies by providing appropriate education to our youth, communicating that sexuality is sacred and they should not be engaged in cavalier activity," he said. At the conclusion of the debate, Schieffer signed off with a line borrowed from his mother: . "Go vote now. It will make you feel big and strong."

NEW: More viewers say Obama won the debate, poll shows . NEW: Candidates debate Bill Ayers, John Lewis, negativity . NEW: McCain, Obama make frequent mention of "Joe the plumber" McCain, Obama start debate with talk of economic plans .

f4693cf097efddefb3e5720eeab5ac78afaf440f

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The missing engine from a US Airways jet that ditched in the Hudson River was recovered Friday, more than a week after the crash landing. A jet engine lost after Flight 1549 ditched in the Hudson River is hoisted from the water Friday. Icy conditions and strong currents hampered efforts to locate and raise the plane's left engine, which apparently tore from the Airbus A320 when it hit the water in an emergency landing January 15. The engine was found Wednesday in about 50 feet of water. The divers who found it reported that it was in one piece, said New Jersey State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones. A crane brought the engine up Friday afternoon as daylight began to fade. It was placed on a barge and hauled to the New Jersey side of the river, according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which was supervising the recovery. Watch the engine pulled from Hudson River » . After an initial examination at the site, the engine will be shipped with the plane's other engine to the manufacturer, where "the NTSB will supervise and direct a complete tear-down of each engine," NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said. The right engine was still attached to the plane when it was pulled from the Hudson last week. It will be at least next week before any information from the initial examination is released, Knudson said. Investigators said this week that they found a single feather and evidence of "soft-body impact damage" on the aircraft. The find reinforces the pilot's report that the plane was brought down by a flock of birds. Pilot Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, 58, told investigators that his aircraft struck birds, disabling both engines, about 90 seconds after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in New York. Map » . The feather, found on a flap track on the wing, was sent to identification experts at the Smithsonian Institution, the National Transportation Safety Board said. Samples of what appears to be organic material found in the right engine and on the wings and fuselage have been sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Meanwhile, a pilot program involving "birdstrike avoidance" radar systems will be expanded to include LaGuardia, said a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. See authorities' efforts to retrieve plane » . The Air Force has been using such systems at its bases for years, and last year the Port Authority -- which operates five metropolitan New York airports -- struck an agreement with the Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration to install the bird-detecting system at John F. Kennedy International Airport. In the wake of the US Airways crash-landing, that program will be expanded to include LaGuardia and Newark International airports within a few months, according to Pasquale DiFulco, spokesman for the Port Authority. Newly released video captured seconds after the Airbus A320 ditched in the Hudson River showed passengers trying to flee the aircraft almost immediately after it settled in the water and began to float along the river current. All 155 crew members and passengers on the plane survived the incident, which Gov. David Paterson dubbed a "miracle on the Hudson." The video, which the Con Edison utility company released Thursday, first shows a long wake behind the plane before zooming in on the aircraft. Steam surrounds the plane as it floats with a slow counterclockwise twist. An exit hatch opens on the plane's left side, and several people file out onto one of the plane's wings. Seconds later, an inflatable evacuation ramp extends from the opposite side of the plane. Watch their escape » . Passengers run onto the plane's other wing as the aircraft floats off-screen for a few seconds. The camera jerks, and when the plane reappears, passengers can be seen at the bottom of the inflatable ramp. Some passengers jump into the water, which was a chilly 41 degrees when the plane splashed down on the afternoon of January 15. Within minutes, a ferry and other boats come into the picture and begin to take the people aboard. The video came from a surveillance camera at Con Edison's 59th Street Station, a steam plant, spokesman Chris Olert said. A person manning the camera from inside the plant saw the plane hit the water and redirected the camera, Olert said. CNN's Eliott C. McLaughlin, Mike Ahlers and Alona Rivord contributed to this report.

Missing engine recovered from Hudson, hauled to New Jersey riverbank . Video shows at least two passengers jump off plane's wings into chilly Hudson River . Single feather and evidence of "soft-body impact damage" found on plane . US Airways flight crash-landed in river after reportedly hitting flock of birds .

de67acf0d1ca59b9bcfd917c26a741817e22bf0d

Barry Eichengreen is George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of "Golden Fetters: The Gold Standard and the Great Depression, 1919-39" and "Financial Crises and What to Do About Them." Barry Eichengreen says Barack Obama will have to fix the credit crisis, the auto industry and trade policy. BERKELEY, California (CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama has been holding his economic cards close to his vest. He did not participate in person at last weekend's meeting of G20 leaders. He has been reluctant to encourage the lame-duck Congress to adopt a major fiscal stimulus package. He may be right in saying that the U.S. has only one president at a time. But this makes it all the more important that he hit the ground running on January 20. This will mean, first of all, addressing the credit crisis. Despite all the actions of the Fed and the Treasury, the banks are still not lending. In some cases this is because their own finances are weak. But in others it is because they have other more convenient uses for their funds, ranging from acquisitions to dividend payments. This reflects a flawed bank recapitalization scheme that gives the government no voting shares in the banks into which it is injecting public funds and hence no say in their decisions. Fortunately (as it were) there will be an opportunity to correct this, since as the recession deepens there will be more loan losses and the need for more capital injections. The next round of public money should come with voting rights so that taxpayers' interests are protected. Then there is the need for increased public spending on infrastructure and federal grants to state and local governments to offset the collapse of private spending. Candidate Obama spoke of $150 billion of fiscal stimulus. But if this recession turns out to be the deepest since World War II, as now seems certain, the appropriate figure will be at least four times that large. Anything less would fail to cushion the downturn. A trillion-dollar deficit will excite fears of government out of control if not accompanied by a plan to balance the budget once the recession ends. The new president therefore will need to offer not just a stimulus package but also a multiyear budget. Then there is the problem of the auto industry. The best course normally would be Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This would allow the Big Three to shed bad management and contracts, both of which would be thrown out in the bankruptcy process. If GM, Ford or Chrysler is then able to come up with a viable business plan, they should be able to obtain the new money, known as debtor-in-possession financing, needed to implement it. Admittedly, the credit crisis makes new money difficult to obtain. But if this is a problem, then the government can provide the debtor-in-possession financing. In other words, it can make its aid conditional on the Big Three first going through bankruptcy workouts. A further complication arises from the fact that cars last for years and when they break down are expensive to repair. Warranties matter, in other words. If a producer was undergoing bankruptcy reorganization, from which it might or might not emerge, consumers would question whether its warranties were worth the paper they were written on. But if this is the problem, then the government can guarantee the warranties. It could reimburse the cost of major repairs subject to terms and conditions. It is not as if our government has been reluctant to guarantee other products, ranging from bank deposits to money market mutual funds. And this guarantee should be provided only to auto companies that undergo bankruptcy reorganization. Finally, it will be important for the new president to reassure our foreign partners about his economic intentions. There may be jubilation in Kenya and Indonesia over the election of a candidate they may view as a native son, but there is trepidation in Asia and Latin America about his protectionist rhetoric. President Obama will need to reassure Mexico that while he believes in labor and environmental standards, he also believes in NAFTA. He should encourage the Congress to ratify our free trade agreements with Colombia and Korea. He should reassure the Chinese, who now have economic problems of their own, that he will not bash them over their exchange rate policies. If Obama wishes to help Americans impacted by import competition there are better ways. He can expand trade adjustment assistance for displaced workers. He can propose wage insurance -- partial compensation for a limited period for workers moving to lower-paid jobs. He can ramp up spending on education and training. He can address concerns over the environment by proposing a carbon tax rather than allowing blame for global warming to be shifted to Mexico and China. That should be enough to keep the new president occupied for his first 100 days. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Barry Eichengreen.

Barry Eichengreen: Obama will have daunting agenda on economy . He says government must take a voting stake in banks getting public money . Eichengreen: Economic stimulus package must be large, at least $600 billion . Obama should take steps to show he is committed to free trade, he says .

c483873d06833c991f455b11c848558e29135221

(CNN) -- Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama hammered away at each other's judgment on the economy, domestic policy and foreign affairs as they faced off in their second presidential debate. Obama tried to tie McCain to President Bush's "failed" policies, while McCain pushed his image as a "consistent reformer" at the debate, which took place at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. The debate was set up as a town hall meeting, and the audience was made up of undecided voters. Obama and McCain fielded questions from the crowd, Internet participants and moderator Tom Brokaw of NBC News. The candidates spoke directly to each other at times, but at other times they spoke as if their opponent were not on the same stage, a few feet away. Debate report card . In comparison to the first debate, Tuesday's event -- which came on the heels of several days of increasingly aggressive attacks from both sides -- took on a more contentious tone. On foreign policy, McCain charged that Obama "does not understand" the country's national security challenges. McCain said he knows how to handle foreign affairs and questioned Obama's ability to do so. Analysts weigh in on the debate » . "Sen. Obama was wrong about Iraq and the surge. He was wrong about Russia when they committed aggression against Georgia. And in his short career, he does not understand our national security challenges," McCain said. "We don't have time for on-the-job training, my friends." McCain said the "challenge" facing a president considering using military force "is to know when to go in and when not." "My judgment is something that I think I have a record to stand on," McCain said. Video highlights of key moments » . Obama shot back and questioned McCain's judgment in supporting the invasion of Iraq. "When Sen. McCain was cheerleading the president to go into Iraq, he suggested it was going to be quick and easy, we'd be greeted as liberators," he said. "That was the wrong judgment, and it's been costly to us." The candidates spent about 30 minutes of the debate focusing on foreign affairs. They spoke about the economy for about 45 minutes and spent 15 minutes discussing domestic issues. See scenes from the debate » . A national poll of debate watchers suggested that Obama won the presidential debate. Post-debate poll . Fifty-four percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released 30 minutes after the end of the debate said that Obama did the best job, while 30 percent said McCain performed better. The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll was conducted by telephone with 675 adult Americans who watched the debate. All interviews were taken after the end of the debate. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points. iReport.com: Tell us who you think won round two . At the start of the debate, Obama said the country is in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. He blamed President Bush and McCain for the crisis, saying they had worked to "strip away regulation." Bush: The elephant in the room . McCain said the system in Washington "cries out for bipartisanship" and pushed his record as a reformer. He proposed having the government buy up and renegotiate bad home loans to stabilize the property market. He admitted the plan would be expensive but said it was necessary. Watch McCain talk about his plan for the economy » . The Arizona senator also hammered away at his rival's tax policies, saying that "nailing down Sen. Obama's various tax proposals is like nailing Jell-O to the wall." Watch McCain slam Obama's tax plan » . McCain charged that "Obama's secret that you don't know" is that he would increase taxes on small business revenue, which he said would lead to job cuts. Fact check: Did Obama vote 94 times for higher taxes . Obama shot back, saying "the Straight Talk Express lost a wheel on that one." "Let's be clear about my tax plan and Sen. McCain's," he said. "I want to provide a tax cut for 95 percent of Americans." Watch Obama talk about his plan for the middle class » . The candidates talked about their plans to revamp the health care system. Obama said the country has a "moral commitment as well as an economic imperative" to address the health care problem. The Illinois senator said health care is a "crushing burden" for small businesses and is "breaking family budgets." Obama said health care was a "right," while McCain said it was a "responsibility." Watch the candidates debate health care » . Obama and McCain both proposed computerizing medical records to reduce costs and limit errors. Obama's health care plan includes the creation of a national health insurance program for individuals who do not have employer-provided health care and who do not qualify for other existing federal programs. His plan does not mandate individual coverage for all Americans, but requires coverage for all children. McCain opposes federally mandated universal coverage. He believes competition will improve the quality of health insurance. McCain says he would reform the tax code to offer choices beyond employee-based health insurance coverage. McCain argued that Obama's plan included fines for small businesses that did not insure their employees, while his was based on "choice" rather than "mandates." Immediately after the debate, Obama's campaign highlighted a moment when McCain sought to criticize Obama for supporting the 2007 Bush-Cheney energy bill: . "It was an energy bill on the floor of the Senate, loaded down with goodies, billions for the oil companies, and it was sponsored by Bush and Cheney," McCain said. "You know who voted for it? You might never know. That one. You know who voted against it? Me." Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton immediately e-mailed reporters noting McCain's seemingly peculiar reference to the Illinois senator. "Did John McCain just refer to Obama as 'that one?'" Burton asked. Obama campaign highlights 'that one' McCain and Obama will face off for a third and final time next Wednesday at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.

Barack Obama, John McCain spend half of debate discussing economy . McCain pushes reformer image; Obama ties McCain to Bush Obama, McCain question each other's judgment . Debate set up like a town hall, with audience of uncommitted voters .

289c8befc56bbf1d1dd7e183aac8ffc64eb26356

DENVER, Colorado (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama's acceptance of the Democratic Party's presidential nomination may be historic in many ways. One of them is the size of the audience at Invesco Field. More than 75,000 people packed into the football stadium in Denver, Colorado, to hear Obama's historic speech as the first African-American Democratic presidential nominee. The enormity of the crowd was borne out by the gridlock that greeted them as they left the stadium. Attendees shuffled along like herds of cattle, moving inches at a time, as they attempted to leave the grounds. But those in attendance said the size of the audience contributed to the event's electric atmosphere.iReport.com: Watch wave break out at Invesco . "What his whole campaign is about is bringing people together," said iReporter William Gilbane III. "The mix of people -- young, old, gay, straight, white, black -- everything you could imagine was represented in the crowd and it was just really, really exciting." Watch Gilbane describe the scene inside the stadium » . Local authorities worked with the Secret Service to get as many people into the stadium as possible. Obama said he chose to speak Thursday at Invesco Field, which seats 76,000 people, to make sure "everybody who wants to can come." Some attendees stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the stadium floor for hours, mingling among the likes of celebrities such as Spike Lee, Farrah Fawcett, Susan Sarandon and Oprah Winfrey. iReporter Zennie Abraham said he talked politics with actor Matthew Modine and former San Francisco, California, Mayor Willie Brown. Watch Abraham talk about mingling with celebrities » . A few ticket-holders and would-be attendees arrived at Invesco Field by 9 a.m. ET. By noon, the line for the entrance included roughly 1,000 people, according to media reports. The parking situation near Invesco filled up, even with garages charging $50 to $60 for Thursday night. iReport.com: Check out the sights and sounds . By midday, thousands stood in the warm temperatures to wait in lines that were nearly six miles long, according to local police. The lines snaked around ramps and onto the Auraria Boulevard overpass, which leads to Invesco Field. Watch thousands walk toward the stadium » . A group of transportation volunteers in orange T-shirts with the convention logo walked toward the front of the line. They called out, "What time is it?" People responded, "Obama time!" Les Spencer and Tony Viessman, lifelong Democrats who call themselves "Rednecks for Obama," went through the crowds, talking about their support for the Illinois senator. "Don't be afraid to vote for Obama!" Les said. Their motto, according to Les and Tony, is "workin' for the man who'll do more for the workin' man." Obama's speech fell on the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Two of King's children, the Rev. Bernice King and Martin Luther King III, participated in a tribute to their father at the convention. The crowd also heard from former vice president Al Gore, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and party chairman Howard Dean. CNN Laura Bernardini, Ed Hornick, Julia Leja, Justine Redman and Martina Stewart contributed to this report.

NEW: Attendees encounter gridlock as they leave Invesco Field . Lines to enter stadium were up to six miles long, police estimate . About 75,000 people attended Sen. Obama's acceptance speech .

58f3ec064c17a35ce0eef03a596cdb5851946241

(CNN) -- Former NBA star and TNT sports analyst Charles Barkley attended the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday and answered five questions for CNN.com at the CNN Grill. Former NBA star Charles Barkley says the next president must deal with poverty and the war in Iraq. CNN.com: Why are you here in Denver? Barkley: I just wanted to be here. I'm just so excited. I never thought in my lifetime we'd have a black man with a legitimate shot of being president. CNN.com: Are you a Barack Obama supporter? Barkley: Barack has been a friend of mine for a long time. I met him when I was writing my last book, and he was running for Senate, and I got to know him, and we stayed in contact. I consider him a friend. I think he'd make a fantastic president. I want to make it clear that if I didn't think he could do the job, I wouldn't vote for him. I think he'd make a fantastic president. And I'm not voting for him because he's black. I think he's a great person. CNN.com: What do you think the Democrats need to do here to win the White House? Barkley: I think they've got to just make sure to get those troops home from Iraq, that's a big deal. But No. 1, we've got to give poor people a chance. America is divided by economics, and we as Americans, we've got to do a better job of supporting poor people. CNN.com: How? Barkley: We've got to improve the public school system. If you're born in this country poor, whether you're white or black, you're going to be born in a bad neighborhood; you're going to go to a bad school. It's going to be very difficult for poor people to be successful. iReport.com: Are you at the DNC? Share sights, sounds . CNN.com: What are you doing in Denver for fun? Barkley: I'm going to the Hill Harper party tonight. Last night we just went out and had a real nice meal and just took it easy because I knew today was going to be a long day. I just want to be here. Plain and simple. CNN.com: Are you running for governor in Alabama? Barkley: I'm planning on running for governor. I can't screw up Alabama. Politics, it's just so important, and I just want to do good things with my name, and I'm just going to keep continuing to do that.

Former NBA player Charles Barkley says he favors his friend Obama . America's public schools should be a priority, Barkley says . TNT sports analyst also says he's running for governor of Alabama . "I just want to do good things with my name," he says .

a4a0d6a36e32c971e4b47f53e333a9f24d77dab5

AUSTIN, Texas (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, needing a win in Texas to derail Sen. Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, sought Thursday to contrast her opponent's rhetorical skills with what she called her superior ability to govern. Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton face off in a high-stakes debate. "I do think that words are important and words matter," Clinton said at a debate at the University of Texas. "But actions speak louder than words." Obama responded by laying out issues he's worked on in the Senate and others he'd support as president -- then called it ridiculous to suggest his supporters are "being duped." "The implication is that the people who have been voting for me or involved in my campaign are somehow delusional," he said. Obama said his supporters perceive the reality of what's going on in Washington very clearly, and they want to see it change. "What they see is that if we don't bring the country together, stop the endless bickering, actually focus on solutions and reduce the special interests that have dominated Washington, then we will not get anything done." Watch Obama talk about his plan to change Washington » . Much of the 90-minute debate featured the two candidates staking out similar positions on issues like Iraq, the economy and immigration. Watch the candidates weigh in on the economy » . "It was a very odd debate -- the questioners had to beg them to differ with each other," said CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider. See what CNN's political team thought of the showdown » . The debate was the first the two have participated in since they met in Los Angeles January 31. Five days later, the two effectively split the victories on Super Tuesday. But since then, Obama has rolled to 11 straight wins, a streak that leaves Clinton needing wins in delegate-rich Texas and Ohio on March 4. Vermont and Rhode Island also hold primaries that day. Texas is the biggest prize, with 193 Democratic delegates. Going into those primaries, Obama leads Clinton by 140 pledged delegates. Responding to a question from the panel, Clinton's sharpest attack on Obama came when she went after him for borrowing lines from a speech by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, his campaign co-chairman, in his own campaign speeches. The Clinton campaign has called that plagiarism. "If your campaign is going to be about words, they should be your own words," she said. "Lifting whole passages isn't change you can believe in; it's change you can Xerox." Watch the spat over plagiarism » . Some in the audience booed Clinton for the line. "This is where we start getting into silly season in politics," Obama replied, saying Patrick is a friend who suggested he use the lines. "People start getting tired of it." A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll out Monday suggests the Democratic race in Texas is a statistical dead heat. Watch uncommitted Texas students discuss debate » . In the survey, taken before Obama's Tuesday victories in Wisconsin and Hawaii, 50 percent of likely Democratic primary voters support Clinton as their choice for the party's nominee, with 48 percent backing Obama. The poll's margin of error is 4.5 percentage points. Two other recent polls also show the race statistically even. With so much at stake, analysts said Clinton needed a very strong performance in the debate, the only time the two candidates will share a stage in Texas before the state's primary. "Texas is the endgame. Hillary Clinton has to stop Obama in Texas. This means she has to do something to shake the race up. She has to raise doubts about Obama and get Democrats to rethink whether they really want to rally behind him," Schneider said. In a state where Hispanic voters are expected to make up a large share of the March 4 electorate, the pair fielded questions on immigration reform and dealing with Cuba's government in the wake of President Fidel Castro's decision this week to step down. Watch the candidates talk about Cuba » . Both Clinton and Obama voted to authorize President Bush to build a border fence between the United States and Mexico -- but both said Thursday they would consult with leaders in border areas about where fencing is needed and where other methods could be used to secure the borders. Watch the candidates debate immigration » . "As with so much, the Bush administration has gone off the deep end," Clinton said. Both also said they'd be willing to meet with Fidel Castro's brother Raul -- who is expected to become president of Cuba after his brother stepped down -- if the nation's leadership has shown signs of improving its record on human rights, freedom of the press and other issues. Schneider said neither candidate appeared to have gained or lost significant ground in Thursday's debate. After months of campaigning that have included 19 Democratic debates, some analysts said the two may be satisfied to stand on the themes they've established and simply let voters decide. E-mail to a friend .

Clinton, Obama discuss immigration, economy, taxes in mostly civil debate . "It was a very odd debate," says CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider . Clinton, Obama in close race in Texas, polls show . Texas holds its primary March 4 .

a0df9574d9568bff803c2800675340f0ca6b5091

(CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama, who in 10 days will be sworn in using the Bible of his political hero Abraham Lincoln, visited the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Saturday night with his family. The Obama family walks down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Saturday. Obama, wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha made the unannounced stop shortly after 7 p.m. ET. The family walked up the steps of the memorial on a chilly night in Washington and then visited the museum at the site. On the way out, they stopped at the edge of the reflecting pool. The parents were seen pointing in the distance to the Capitol and the Washington Monument. The Obamas spent about a half-hour at the memorial before returning to the Hay-Adams Hotel, where they are staying. Watch the family at the memorial » . Obama will be the first president to use the Lincoln Bible for his inauguration since Lincoln used it in 1861. Inauguration organizers have said Obama's inaugural theme, "A New Birth of Freedom," was inspired by Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Learn more about the Lincoln Memorial » . The president-elect also plans a train trip from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Washington three days before the inauguration, following the final leg of the train route taken by Lincoln.

Obamas made unannounced stop at memorial on Saturday . They spent a half-hour at the site before returning to hotel . Barack Obama will use Lincoln's Bible at his inauguration this month .

a0c8e891686757ebf11356bf3a134347f34c0960

DENVER, Colorado (CNN) -- Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner told the Democratic National Convention that the most important race facing the country is the "race for the future ... and it won't be won with a president who is stuck in the past." "This election ... is about the future vs. the past," former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner said Tuesday. "We need a president who understands the world today, the future we seek and the change we need. We need Barack Obama as the next president of the United States." Warner was delivering the keynote speech at the convention, the slot that Obama himself filled four years ago. He accused President Bush of a failure of leadership at a critical moment in the nation's history. "Folks always ask me, what's my biggest criticism of President Bush? I'm sure you all have your own. Here's mine: It's not just the policy differences. It's the fact that this president never tapped into our greatest resources: the character and resolve of the American people. He never really asked us to step up." John McCain, he said, offered only "a plan that would explode the deficit and leave that to our kids. No real strategy to invest in our infrastructure. And he would continue spending $10 billion a month in Iraq. I don't know about you, but that's just not right. That's four more years that we just can't afford." Watch Warner say McCain is "more of the same" » . But much of his speech was devoted to the kind of bipartisan rhetoric Obama has espoused on the campaign trail. "I know we're at the Democratic Convention, but if an idea works, it really doesn't matter whether it's got a 'D' or an 'R' next to it. Because this election isn't about liberal vs. conservative. It's not about left vs. right. It's about the future vs. the past. "That's why we must elect Barack Obama as our next president," Warner said. "Because the race for the future will be won when old partisanship gives way to new ideas. When we put solutions over stalemates and when hope replaces fear."

Mark Warner says America needs leader who understands "the future we seek" Bush never asked Americans to step up, Warner says . Much of Warner's address focused on bipartisan rhetoric .

acba5782880c1a6842a3425d06e7d20025add0d9

DENVER, Colorado (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton introduced herself as a "proud supporter of Barack Obama" at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday as she called on her party to rally behind her former rival. Sen. Hillary Clinton, with daughter Chelsea, receives a standing ovation from the Democratic delegates. "Whether you voted for me, or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose. We are on the same team, and none of us can sit on the sidelines. This is a fight for the future. And it's a fight we must win together," she said. Leading up to her address, there was a lot of speculation about what she would say and whether she would make a strong enough call for unity. But she made a very strident case for Obama's candidacy. "No way. No how. No McCain. Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our president," Clinton said. Her speech, which was the last of the night, followed a line up of other Democrats who used their time at the podium to attack President Bush's record and McCain's policies. Appearing strong and energized, Clinton thanked her voters for supporting her historic campaign as a female candidate and reached out to those wary of Obama by telling them they weren't in this for her, but for her cause. That cause, she said, is the same thing that Obama and the rest of the Democratic Party are fighting for. Watch Clinton's entire speech » . Many analysts said the speech would end speculation that Clinton has not fully embraced Obama as her party's candidate. Clinton mentioned Obama by name more than twice as many times as she mentioned the party as a whole. Analysts weigh in on the night's speakers » . "I thought she was a class act," said political analyst David Gergen, who worked in the Clinton administration. "I think it could well be said that nothing has so become her campaign as the way she has ended it here tonight." Clinton also praised Obama's newly tapped vice presidential candidate, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware. The former first lady called Biden "pragmatic, tough and wise." Watch Clinton talk about the Obama-Biden team » . Clinton was met with a standing ovation from an enthusiastic audience. Only a few pockets of the standing-room only convention center weren't on their feet cheering for her. Observers said she had the biggest reception of the evening. As soon as the speech ended, the McCain campaign issued a statement implying that Clinton did nothing to dispel her previous criticism of Obama. "Sen. Clinton ran her presidential campaign making clear that Barack Obama is not prepared to lead as commander-in-chief. Nowhere tonight did she alter that assessment," McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said. "Nowhere tonight did she say that Barack Obama is ready to lead. Millions of Hillary Clinton supporters and millions of Americans remain concerned about whether Barack Obama is ready to be president." The McCain campaign has stepped up its effort to woo disaffected Clinton supporters, running ads highlighting Clinton's criticism of Obama during the primaries. Obama called Clinton after the speech and thanked her for her support and said she could not have done a better job. Earlier, former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner appealed across party lines in his keynote address. Obama has been campaigning hard to win Virginia, which hasn't voted for a Democratic president since President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Watch Warner make his case for Obama » . According to CNN's electoral map, the state is a toss-up going into the general election. In order for Obama to take the state's 13 electoral votes, he would need to win over some of Virginia's independent and Republican voters. Instead of tearing into the current administration, Warner talked about ideas -- highlighting science and technology. "I know we're at the Democratic convention, but if an idea works, it really doesn't matter if it has an 'R' or 'D' next to it," Warner said. "Because this election isn't about liberal versus conservative. It's not about left versus right. It's about the future versus the past." His words echoed Obama's own keynote speech of four years ago when the then little known senator from Illinois spoke of what united rather than divided Americans. In 2004, before John Kerry was nominated for president, Obama said to delegates: "There is not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America -- there's the United States of America." Republican strategist Alex Castellanos said Warner's address could do for him what Obama's address did four years ago. Watch Warner's entire speech » . "It's a very powerful speech. He's going to come out of this convention the way Barack Obama came out of the last convention -- as the rock star, as the next guy," he said. "It was an important speech because if this election is about experience and strength, McCain wins. But if this election's about the past versus the future, Republicans have a much tougher job." Warner's most blunt criticism of President Bush was that he has kept the country from living up to its potential. Tuesday's other speakers played up Obama's message of change and tore into McCain, saying he would only bring about more of the same. Pennsylvania Sen. Robert Casey Jr. at one point feigned shock at the idea that the Republican Party was asking for four more years in the White House, promising the party of President Bush and McCain "not four more years, but four more months." In response, the delegates jumped to their feet shouting, "Four more months! Four more months!" Audience members also waved signs that said "McCain more of the same."

NEW: Hillary Clinton: The time is now for Democrats to unite . NEW: Barack Obama calls Clinton and thanks her for her support . Speakers at Democratic convention tie McCain to Bush policies . Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner appeals across party lines in keynote address .

ccbe0bfe4609f6a9a58b3ee06ed230871916f877

(CNN) -- The biggest challenge was finding an Edward. Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart play Edward and Bella in "Twilight." "The most perfect guy in the world," "Twilight" director Catherine Hardwicke said, ticking off the characteristics of "Twilight's" vampire hero. "Cannot be Leo [DiCaprio]; cannot be Brad Pitt. They don't fit in high school anymore. And there are a lot of cute guys, but do they really look like they've lived for 108 years?" Probably not, but with a fan base as large as "Twilight's," Hardwicke had to search for one. And if the thousands of screaming girls who show up at autograph signings are any measure, she found him in Robert Pattinson. The actor, best known for playing Cedric Diggory in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," has faced mob scenes wherever he's appeared. Fans in Dallas waited overnight in the rain for a chance to see him; an event in San Francisco was delayed because of the crush. Pattinson is still surprised by the reaction. Though things started quietly during filming, by the time production was wrapping, "there were like 200 people turning up to the set every day," he said. "And now, if we were trying to shoot it now, it would be absolutely impossible to do anything. Because where ever there's a 'Twilight,' anything mentioned about 'Twilight,' thousands of people turn up." "Twilight's" many fans -- most of whom will get their first feature-length glimpse of Edward when the film opens with midnight showings Friday -- can't wait for the witching hour. They also haven't been afraid of letting Kristen Stewart, who plays Bella Swan in the film based on Stephenie Meyer's series of books, know about their feelings for "Twilight" -- and Edward. Some have been downright disdainful, Stewart told CNN at the Los Angeles interviews for the film. "Very communicative looks," Stewart said. "Like, 'I'm just letting you know with this look that you're nothing special. ... I'm here for Edward, and I hope you don't ruin the movie.' It's really crazy." Stewart doesn't let it bother her, though. She's been focused on portraying Bella, a clumsy, awkward 17-year-old who moves into a small town that she finds quite boring. Boring, that is, until she meets and falls in love with Edward(Pattinson). Watch Pattinson greet a line of screaming fans » . The vampires created by Meyer are different from those of the past. They dress fashionably, have good taste in art and music, and are very much human. "They are the main characters," Stewart said. "They are the people that you sympathize with. They're not just the villains in the movie." Edward is one of the Cullen family of vampires, a clan that has stopped drinking human blood. "He made his world smaller and smaller so he never killed anybody," Pattinson said of his character. "And he didn't care about anyone else. Imagine, never having an emotion ... and then suddenly this girl comes into your life. As well as breaking down all your self-discipline, which you've had for 80 years, she also makes you feel everything again." Edward and Bella must overcome obstacles worthy of "Romeo and Juliet" in their relationship. (Besides the differences in her background with Edward, Bella is also stalked by a vampire with fewer scruples than the Cullen boy.) But it's that sexual tension that makes the whole vampire culture so undeniably delicious, Hardwicke said. "The idea of this incredibly seductive creature wanting to bite your neck," she said. "And if he does, on one level it could be pleasurable. If he goes too far, you could die. That kind of razor's edge, that sexual tension, is incredibly seductive." That doesn't mean the film is all lovey-dovey. Hardwicke and the movie's stunt coordinator spent hours trying to figure out how to keep the fight scenes true to Meyer's books. Meyer's vampires can't be killed with stakes or holy water; they have to be ripped limb from limb. And then what's left has to be burned. "How do you fight when you're trying to pull somebody's arms off or twist their head off?" Hardwicke asked. "That makes for a different kind of fight." Romance, seduction and violence are all well and good, elements that have fulfilled audience desires for decades. But it's the vampires that give those characteristics an extra edge, whether it's in Bram Stoker's "Dracula," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" or "Twilight." iReport.com: Are you planning to see 'Twilight'? "A vampire itself is just such a great template for making a mysterious character," Pattinson said. "They can only come out at night. They have a dark secret, which by vampire law they're not allowed to tell anybody. And the only people who find out, die." "Twilight" is based on the first of Meyer's now four-book series. So will the movie "Twilight" follow in the footsteps of another book series with a huge audience, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter tales? Hardwicke said she doesn't know. "Stephenie went a little wild [in the sequel] and wrote all these visual effects and werewolves and Italy and everything," she said. "So the next book is going to be a lot more expensive [to make]. But if this one makes enough, then we'll get to do it." CNN's Jack Hannah contributed to this story.

"Twilight" is eagerly awaited movie based on Stephenie Meyer's book . Film concerns romance between a vampire and a high school girl . Co-star Kristen Stewart says fans possessive of Robert Pattinson, who plays Edward .

493f1995614acbc9e8cd9959fb0f158940e365ae

DENVER, Colorado (CNN) -- It was classic Clinton. It was Sen. Hillary Clinton's big night but before her speech even began, former President Bill Clinton reached out in his box and firmly embraced a young African-American man. Clinton gripped the young man tightly; to millions watching on television, it was clear he could feel Mervyn Jones Jr.'s pain. As he sat down for his wife's headlining address, Bill Clinton's silent embrace of the 25-year-old son of recently deceased Ohio Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones resonated loudly. Rep. Tubbs Jones, of course, was a solid and loyal Clinton supporter, standing by the Clintons even when many other black leaders were shifting their support to Barack Obama. Then, in her speech, Sen. Clinton herself took a moment to mention Tubbs Jones and her son. "Steadfast in her beliefs, a fighter of uncommon grace, she was an inspiration to me and to us all," Clinton said. "Our heart goes out to Stephanie's son, Mervyn Jr." The public moment of recognition was the result of years of friendship. " I remember the first time President Clinton ran for office [in 1992]," Jones Jr. told CNN. "He came to Cleveland. I must have been 8 years old. "My mother got the chance to meet him. ... They have been best of friends ever since," he said. And, perhaps, it was also a reminder that if you stand by the Clintons, the Clintons will stand by you. Tubbs Jones endorsed Hillary Clinton for president in April 2007 but with Sen. Barack Obama's success during the primaries, many African-American superdelegates came under pressure to back Obama instead. Tubbs Jones, however, held steadfast even as others in her position switched their allegiance. "I'm going to be with her until she says, 'Stephanie, I'm no longer in this fight. You're free to do something else,'" Tubbs Jones told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in March. "In politics, all you have is your word," she added. She passed that same sense of commitment on to her son. "If you give somebody your word, you're going to go ahead and do it," Jones Jr. said the day after Hillary Clinton's address to the Democratic National Convention. "Otherwise, it's not worth anything." "The same goes in politics," he added. "If you don't have your word, you don't really have anything to stand on in politics. So, that's one thing I did learn [from my mother] at a very early age." When Sen. Clinton asked Jones Jr. to sit with her husband during what was perhaps her most important speech to date, he agreed. "She always said that if you don't stick by somebody in the bad times, you never know how good the good times are going to be," Jones Jr. said, explaining his mother's view of loyalty. Tubbs Jones, 58, died suddenly a week ago of a brain aneurysm. She was in her fifth term in the House of Representatives and was the first African-American woman to represent Ohio in the House. What would Tubbs Jones have thought of Sen. Clinton's call Tuesday for Democrats to unify behind Obama? "She would've been standing up, hooting and hollering saying, 'Wow. That's exactly what we needed. Way to be a team player,'" Jones Jr. said. In what some political analysts were calling the first speech of her second campaign for president, Hillary Clinton did her part on stage. And, in the box, her husband held on tightly to the son of an old friend ­and sent a message of his own that may resonate as an important moment in the long-term resurrection of the Clinton brand in American politics.

Bill Clinton's silent embrace of Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones' son resonated loudly . Tubbs Jones, 58, died suddenly a week ago of a brain aneurysm . The public moment of recognition was the result of years of friendship .

a453a783cd7f423053b7e56dc5e81fdeec92c468

(CNN) -- Radical Islamist fighters seized control of the seat of Somalia's U.N.-backed transitional government Monday, raiding the parliament building and demanding that several lawmakers publicly surrender, according to a journalist who witnessed the spectacle. Members of the Somali Transitional Federal Parliament are meeting in the neighboring country of Djibouti. Al-Shabab fighters took over the parliament building and the presidential palace in Baidoa, in the southwestern part of the country, a day after the Ethiopian troops who had backed up the transitional government left the country. The insurgents captured five members of parliament and paraded them through the city streets, with hundreds of residents looking on, the reporter said. The five were released after publicly surrendering. The situation left Somali lawmakers stranded in the neighboring country of Djibouti, where they often convene and where talks on forming a new government are under way. "We have nowhere to return to," Parliament Speaker Aden Mohamed Nur told fellow lawmakers there. Somalia's U.N.-backed transitional government took office after Ethiopian troops invaded the country at its request in December 2006. The Ethiopian invasion ousted the Islamic Courts Union, an Islamist movement that had claimed control of the capital Mogadishu earlier that year. Ethiopia's invasion had the blessing of the United States, which accused the Islamic Courts Union of harboring fugitives from al Qaeda. But various Islamist groups -- including the hard-line Al-Shabab, which the United States has designated a terror organization -- rejected the presence of Ethiopian forces and mounted an insurgent campaign against the Ethiopians and the transitional government. Ethiopia announced on Sunday that all its forces have left Somalia. Last week, as Ethiopian troops began pulling out of the Somali capital, forces from different Islamist groups -- including Al-Shabab -- took control of bases the Ethiopians abandoned around Mogadishu. The transitional government maintained very little control outside of Baidoa, even with the support of the Ethiopian forces. It has also been wracked by an internal power struggle between Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein and President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, who resigned in December. In Washington, the State Department said U.S. officials are working to independently confirm the reports from Baidoa. But State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said members of one of the major Islamic factions, which signed a peace agreement in October in Djibouti, are already joining the transitional government. Duguid said the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, another offshoot of the ICU, will choose up to 200 new members of the transitional parliament. Another 75 members will be drawn from other opposition groups, and the expanded parliament is expected to elect a new president soon. "We remain deeply concerned about the ongoing violence in southern Somalia, which continues to claim innocent lives," Duguid said. "Lasting peace and stability in Somalia can only be established through the reconciliation process underway through the Djibouti Agreement and rejection of extremism." With Monday's takeover of Baidoa, the transitional government only has control of the presidential palace in the Somali capital of Mogadishu and the road to the airport in the capital city, which it holds with the help of African Union forces. CNN's Ben Brumfield and journalists Mohamed Amiin Adow and Omar Faruk Osman contributed to this report.

Islamist fighters seize control of Baidoa, Somalia . Baidoa is headquarters of Somalia's U.N.-backed government . Town's seizure leaves country's lawmakers stranded in nation of Djibouti .

a999aa661a4990e6d8423cfdf474e344aaffdc5a

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Pfizer is near a deal to buy rival drugmaker Wyeth for $68 billion, according to news reports late Sunday citing people familiar with the deal. Pfizer's world headquarters is in New York. A deal was imminent and likely to be announced Monday, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported. "It is our policy not to comment on rumor or speculation," said Michael Lampe, a Wyeth representative. Pfizer was not immediately available for comment. Pfizer, the world's leading drugmaker in terms of sales, has been in talks to buy Wyeth. Pfizer's stock slipped 1 percent on the news Friday, while Wyeth gained about 8 percent. On January 13 Pfizer said it was cutting up to 8 percent of its R&D staff, about 800 jobs. Spokesman Raymond Kerins said that was to "raise productivity." But analysts say Pfizer is clearly trying to beef up its drug pipeline through an acquisition, adding that the company seems to have given up on its own R&D staff coming up with a blockbuster to replace Lipitor. This cholesterol-cutting drug peaked in 2006 with nearly $13 billion in annual sales but will lose its patent protection in 2011, when generic versions will become available. Les Funtleyder, pharma analyst for Miller Tabak, said Pfizer is "not feeling that they're getting the efficiency out of their R&D unit." He said Pfizer would probably rather do a deal with Wyeth over other competitors, because there is less overlap in the companies' pipelines. Funtleyder said Pfizer already has a diabetes franchise, which would overlap with Eli Lilly & Co. and Bristol-Myers Squibb, both of which also focus on diabetes treatments. Pfizer probably has its eyes on Wyeth's Alzheimer's drug pipeline, he said. But he cautions that a merger won't be a success unless Wyeth's pipeline is successful, which remains to be seen, he said. "If Wyeth comes out with an Alzheimer's drug that works, then the deal works," he said. Pfizer is probably also focused on Wyeth's blockbuster children's vaccine Prevnar, as well as its experimental biotech drugs, said Michael Krensavage of Krensavage Asset Management. Sales of Prevnar, which combats meningitis and blood infections, jumped 12 percent in the first nine months of 2008 compared with the same period the prior year, to $2.1 billion. If a deal does go through, Funtleyder warns, Wyeth staffers should brace for layoffs. "I can say with pretty good confidence that this is going to lead to some head count reduction," he said.

"It is our policy not to comment on rumor or speculation," Wyeth rep says . Pfizer was not immediately available for comment . Pfizer said this month it was cutting up to 8 percent, or 800 jobs, of its R&D staff .

2d9c2a3027f19656315cacbdd44cf4341fb86502

(CNN) -- Evangelical pastor Ted Haggard says he contemplated suicide after his relationship with a male escort was revealed in 2006, resulting in his being fired from the influential megachurch that he founded two decades ago. Rev. Ted Haggard tells Oprah Winfrey he still struggles with homosexual urges but says he is not gay. Haggard told talk show host Oprah Winfrey on Wednesday that the scandal forced him to work through his "issues" with homosexuality. "I was dying. I had settled in my mind exactly how I was going to commit suicide," Haggard told Winfrey. "I was preparing, and in my life, Jesus came to me and he said, 'Now, now I can save you.' " The interview also addressed the latest scandal involving the embattled pastor. In a statement from Haggard that Winfrey read at the end of the program, Haggard denied having "physical contact" with a second man whose allegations of an inappropriate relationship with Haggard surfaced recently. Watch Haggard's accuser speak out » . Haggard, who appeared in the prerecorded interview segment with his wife and two of his three children, said he continues to struggle with homosexual urges but insisted he is not gay. Haggard continues to have "sexual thoughts about men, but they're not compulsive any more, and I do have temptations, but they're not compulsive," he told Winfrey. He said one therapist described him as a "heterosexual with homosexual attachments," and he admitted to struggling with homosexual urges all his life. "I do believe I don't fit into the normal boxes," Haggard said. "I do think there are complexities associated with some people's sexuality, but it just wasn't as simple as I wanted it to be, because I was so deeply in love with my life." But, he added, "I had this other thing going on inside of me too." Haggard founded the Colorado-based New Life Church in his basement in 1984 and oversaw its growth to a megachurch with some 15,000 members. After the scandal, he was fired from the church in 2006 and also resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals -- a group that says it represents millions of people in 45,000 evangelical church congregations nationwide. His fall followed allegations from male escort Mike Jones about a sex-for-money relationship that involved drugs. "When it first started to happen, I lied about it because I was so ashamed, and it was the first time that that dark area of my life that I had worked so hard to keep secret and fight against was coming to the surface," he told Winfrey. "I thank God, though, that in this process, I am where I am now and that accusation and the scandal had a lot to do with that," he said. The interview aired as Haggard tries to combat the latest allegations. A senior pastor at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, said Monday that the church agreed to pay the second man -- a 20-year-old church volunteer -- in exchange for his pledge not to talk publicly about the relationship with Haggard. After the taped segment, Winfrey read a statement from Haggard about those new allegations. "Even though there was never any physical contact, I have regretted my irresponsible behavior," Haggard said, referring to allegations from a man he identified as Grant. "I apologized to Grant, my family and the church two years ago. I now ask him again for his forgiveness as well as the people of the church," Haggard said. In the past three weeks, the man told New Life Senior Pastor Brady Boyd that he was considering going public with his story because Haggard was portraying himself as a victim in an upcoming HBO documentary called "The Trial of Ted Haggard," which is scheduled to air Thursday.

Haggard: "I had settled in my mind exactly how I was going to commit suicide" Haggard founded New Life Church, was fired after male prostitute scandal . Haggard says he still has homosexual temptations, but they are not compulsive . Haggard denies physical contact, apologizes to man involved in new allegations .

7686d7a002412b57a5a2124c7ae7f352ebb504cb

(CNN) -- Longtime character actor Pat Hingle, a veteran of early television dramas, Westerns and four "Batman" films, has died at age 84, his family announced Sunday. Pat Hingle was a familiar face to moviegoers and TV watchers for his many roles. Hingle died Saturday evening at his home in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, after a two-year battle with the blood disorder myelodysplasia, his cousin, Lynn Heritage, told CNN. "He was awake one moment, and in the next breath, he was gone," Heritage said. Hingle began his acting career in the 1950s, appearing in numerous television theater shows. His first movie role was an uncredited appearance in 1954's "On the Waterfront," which won eight Academy Awards; he played the by-the-book judge opposite Clint Eastwood's vengeful marshal in 1968's "Hang 'Em High," and appeared as Sally Field's father in 1979's "Norma Rae." In 1989, he appeared as Gotham City's Commissioner Gordon in Tim Burton's "Batman," carrying on the role through three sequels. His last film role was in "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," released in 2006. He also guest-starred in countless TV series, including a memorable turn as a character named Col. Daniel Webster Tucker in a 1980 "M*A*S*H" episode. In the episode, called "April Fools," Hingle's Tucker antagonized the unit's surgeons -- with surprising consequences. Hingle's other TV series included "Hawaii Five-O," "The Streets of San Francisco," "Hart to Hart," "St. Elsewhere," "Magnum, P.I." and "Cheers." Hingle is survived by his wife of nearly 30 years, Julia, and their five children.

Pat Hingle appeared in many TV series, movies . Hingle played Commissioner Gordon in '90s "Batman" films . Hingle also had roles in "M*A*S*H," "St. Elsewhere," "Cheers"

15ca63cf7178906ddff9eb804f7cbf94efd9292f

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- Sri Lankan soldiers have seized a key rebel stronghold after launching a surprise attack early Sunday morning, the head of Sri Lanka's army announced. Sri Lankan army chief Sarath Fonseka says a key Tamil town has been taken in a national TV broadcast Sunday. Troops crossed a lagoon and entered the town of Mullaittivu before encountering heavy resistance from Tamil fighters, according to the government-run news agency. "Our troops fought their way through a 40 km (25 mile) thick jungle track," Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka said in a televised address on Sunday. "This is the long awaited victory and I am happy to say that our heroic forces today captured the Mullaittivu town after 12 years," the Sri Lanka Army chief said. There is no confirmation from the rebels that the strategic garrison has been overtaken. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) -- commonly known as the Tamil Tigers -- have fought for an independent homeland for the country's ethnic Tamil minority since 1983. The civil war has left more than 70,000 people dead. The rebels gained control over Mullaittivu in 1996 and established a military garrison there, according to the government. In recent days, the military has made significant progress in its campaign to recapture rebel strongholds. Earlier this month, troops regained control of the northern town of Elephant Pass, the point at which mainland Sri Lanka links to the northern Jaffna peninsula. It had been in rebel hands for more than nine years. The re-capture enabled the government to use a highway linking the mainland to the peninsula to move troops and supplies. Previously, it was done by air and sea. "The area that the LTTE has dominated has shrank phenomenally," Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India, C.R Jayasinghe, told CNN. "They lost... about 90 percent of what they had." Despite major government gains, critics point to ongoing civilian casualties resultant from the conflict. "This is an important strategic success for the army, but literally tens of thousands of people, children, are in the line of fire," United Nations spokesman James Elder said in a phone conversation Sunday. "Some Sri Lankan U.N. staff are trapped there," he added. "Convoys are going to the area, delivering emergency supplies, but these are not sufficient for the number of people in need." Sri Lankan authorities are barring journalists and humanitarian aid workers from areas where heavy fighting is taking place. Amnesty International spokesman Shuransu Mishra estimated that "over a quarter of a million of the population, mostly Tamils, are trapped between the two sides." The organization says greater access and protection for aid workers and journalists are needed as news agencies struggle to report an accurate picture of the conflict. "The Sri Lankan authorities are doing little to ensure the safety of the country's media, or to prosecute those responsible for murdering or attacking them," Amnesty International spokeswoman Yolanda Foster said in a written statement on Friday. "They (Sri Lankan authorities) are also directly responsible for subjecting journalists to harassment and interrogation," she said. At least 14 journalists have been killed since the start of 2006, according to the statement. Others have been driven from the country by death threats, or in fear of detention and torture by government authorities, it said.

Rebels gained control over Mullaittivu in 1996, established a military garrison there . Military making significant progress to recapture rebel strongholds . Earlier this month troops regained control of key northern town of Elephant Pass . Tamils want independent homeland, war since 1983 has left more than 65,000 dead .

b10d9f8cc0f8350f4fde5e81aa9d3edefea20d8d

(CNN) -- When John Lennon remarked in 1966 that the Beatles were then "more popular than Jesus" his comments prompted outrage in the United States. But this weekend the Vatican's newspaper paid tribute to the band on the 40th anniversary of the release of the "White Album" in an article interpreted by some as a papal pardon for Lennon. John Lennon appears with wife Yoko Ono in 1968, two years after he made his "more popular than Jesus" comments. CNN's Alessio Vinci spoke to Steve Turner, author "The Gospel According To The Beatles," about the controversy that helped to end the Beatles' touring career. Q: Was Lennon surprised by the storm his comment generated? A: I think John Lennon was surprised because it had been said in a casual way to a journalist who was a personal friend of his and he had no idea it would cause that sort of controversy. When it did happen he was actually quite frightened because they were about to go off on tour and there were these threats to their lives and a clairvoyant made some predictions that their plane would crash. It was really quite frightening and they wanted to cancel the tour but they knew they couldn't. They were under obligation to the tour promoters. And when he made his apology in Chicago, (the band's) press officer told me that John was actually in tears before he went in to make the apology. Q: Was his apology sincere? Watch as Vatican pardons Lennon » . A: His apology was very carefully worded. He never said "I didn't mean that;" he kind of said, "if it was taken that way, that's not what I meant," but he never actually retracted it. The reason it happened that way, in America particularly, is that people thought the Beatles were getting too big, too proud and it was a way of putting them down and I think people grabbed that opportunity. Q: Did they care at all what the Vatican newspaper had to say at the time? A: I don't know that the Beatles had any particular concern about what the Vatican said. I know the Vatican did say something at the time. But by that time, everybody was pitching in with their opinion, and it just kind of gathered pace. Q: If he were alive, what would he say about his "rehabilitation?" A: It's very hard to say what John Lennon would say now if he knew that the pope had forgiven him or the Catholic Church had forgiven him because on the one hand he wrote to an American evangelist called Oral Roberts and said he had been very sorry. But in a book he said he was very glad that it had happened because it effectively ended the Beatles. Because that tour was so bad that it became the last tour the Beatles ever did. So he thought, "Thank you Jesus for causing this to happen -- because you gave me a solo career." Q: How spiritual were the Beatles? A: The Beatles started out as atheists and agnostics and I think as everybody knows they became more interested in spiritual things. They went out to India in 1968 and I think in a way the Beatles became a spiritual force themselves. And I think that John actually saw that. He saw Christianity and rock 'n' roll as competitors. Only three years later, after 1966, you had the Woodstock festival and you get rock music almost performing a religious function. So I think in a way he was aware of what was happening. The Beatles were almost becoming a religion and exerting a spiritual force over people.

Author: John Lennon never meant "more popular than Jesus" comment to offend . Lennon never actually retracted the controversial remark . Vatican newspaper paid tribute to the Beatles on 40th anniversary of "White Album" Beatles author says band were a "spiritual force" themselves .

dbfccb9f0f6de53af9b2fd0f0f984d0fb5ca3efc

(CNN) -- A man walks into a thrift store. A New Zealand man finds confidential U.S. military files on a used MP3 player he bought at a thrift store for $9. It sounds like the opening line to a bad joke. And this case was a bad joke -- for the Pentagon. Chris Ogle of New Zealand was in Oklahoma about a year ago when he bought a used MP3 player from a thrift store for $9. A few weeks ago, he plugged it into his computer to download a song, and he instead discovered confidential U.S. military files. "The more I look at it, the more I see, and the less I think I should be," Ogle said with a nervous laugh in an interview with TVNZ. The files included the home addresses, Social Security numbers and cell phone numbers of U.S. soldiers. The player also included what appeared to be mission briefings and lists of equipment deployed to hot spots in Afghanistan and Iraq. Most of the information appears to date to 2005. The New Zealand journalist who first reported the story was able to contact at least one of the soldiers by dialing a phone number found in the files. He hung up once she explained why she was calling. Watch how man discovered secret military files » . Pentagon officials told CNN that they are aware of the MP3 player, but can't talk about it until investigators confirm that the information came from the U.S. Department of Defense. "The government isn't doing a good job of protecting the information that it collects," said Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington. Despite government efforts to protect sensitive information, this is a growing problem, privacy experts say. Two years ago, the Department of Veterans Affairs lost track of a laptop with the personal information of millions of soldiers. And computer hard drives with classified military information have been found for sale at street markets in Afghanistan. "When you can identify American personnel, when you have their names, their home address, their cell phone numbers, you put people in a dangerous position," Rotenberg said. In this case, the personal information for several hundred soldiers landed in friendly hands. Ogle told CNN the MP3 player is being kept in a safe place and he will happily turn it over to U.S. military officials if they ask for it.

New Zealander finds confidential U.S. military files on a used MP3 player . Man bought player for $9 a year ago at an Oklahoma thrift store . Owner says he'll happily hand over the player to the U.S. military if he is asked .

f6a0aebb193a6bcf3894d0dbd2b7a06a73325e8e

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- A suspect in police custody calls himself a "stewmaker" for a Mexican drug lord, saying he disposed of about 300 bodies by dissolving them in acid. Santiago Meza Lopez has asked for forgiveness from the families of those he says he targeted. Santiago Meza Lopez was arrested Thursday in Ensenada, Baja California, but it took police 24 hours to identify him. He says he works for drug lord Teodoro Garcia Simental, also known as "el Teo," a powerful drug trafficker. Meza, who is shown handcuffed and flanked by guards in video released by the government, calls himself "Teo's stewmaker" and says he was paid $600 a week for his macabre duties. The victims, he said, were men who owed Garcia something or had betrayed him. A native of Guamuchil, Sinaloa, Meza was arrested along with three other people, including a minor female who said she was contracted for a social event. Other people sought by police were in the area at the time but were able to escape, officials said. Now, Meza is asking for forgiveness. "To the families, please forgive me," he said in the video. Mexican police have not specifically said whether they believe that all elements of Meza's story are credible. He has told police where he buried some of the bodies. Now authorities, along with citizens groups and the families of the disappeared, are searching for them. They hope Meza could have information about the location of their friends and relatives. Authorities say Garcia formed part of the Arellano Felix cartel but is currently said by intelligence sources to be operating with the Sinaloa cartel. Officials say seven brothers and four sisters of the Arellano-Felix family inherited the Tijuana, Mexico-based drug cartel from Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo in 1989, after his arrest for drug trafficking. Today, the notorious cartel is split into two factions that have engaged in brutal fighting that has accounted for nearly all the violence in Tijuana, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. More than 400 people were killed last year in drug-related violence. Eduardo Arellano-Felix, who police said was the last remaining brother to have an active role in the cartel, was arrested in October. CNN's Carolina Sanchez and CNN en Espanol's Krupskaia Alis in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Suspect says he worked for powerful Mexican drug trafficker . He says he got $600 a week to deal with those who owed drug lord . Police have not said whether they find man's story credible . Families hope he could have information on their missing loved ones .

5dbf33ee3441e17e641288fa7476525d5072e7be

(CNN) -- As Apple enthusiasts speculate over why pancreatic cancer survivor Steve Jobs won't appear at Macworld Conference & Expo this year, the CEO asks them to think differently about his health. Apple CEO Steve Jobs delivered keynote addresses in September 2008, left, and in October 2005, right. Addressing the "Apple Community" in a statement, Jobs said his doctors think they have found the reason behind his weight loss: "a hormone imbalance that has been 'robbing' me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis." But doctors unaffiliated with Jobs' care say this "hormone imbalance" could be a symptom of a slew of underlying conditions, including cancer or diabetes. However, any diagnosis based on this description and Jobs' cancer history is purely speculative, experts say. Based on Jobs' history of gastrointestinal problems, it's possible his gastrointestinal system either isn't absorbing proteins or is losing proteins, said Dr. Kenneth Burman, director of Endocrinology at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, who is not involved in caring for Jobs. "I suspect he's referring to his gastrointestinal system and some of the hormones related to that, rather than more classic endocrine hormones," which are associated with the thyroid, adrenal or pituitary glands, Burman said. While abnormalities related to those hormones may also lead to weight loss, they are not necessarily associated with pancreatic disease, he said. There is not enough information available to say how severe a gastrointestinal hormonal problem would be, he said. Others speculate the hormonal issue could relate to his cancer. Dr. Jeffrey Mechanick, clinical professor at Mount Sinai Medical Center, said a tumor in the pancreas would typically create an overproduction of hormones. Glucagon, a hormone produced in the pancreas, would lead to weight loss if produced in excess. "In a patient whom a few years ago had pancreatic cancer, then progressive weight loss, then develops complications from the weight loss, it would be logical to associate his symptoms now with the previous cancer," he said. But the weight loss is not necessarily cancer-related, and Jobs' statement suggests that it's not, said Dr. Andrew Lowy, chief of the division of surgical oncology at the University of California, San Diego's Moores Cancer Center. Plenty of hormonal conditions, as well as diabetes related to cancer treatment, could be the reason, he said. Jobs, who co-founded Apple Inc., first learned he had pancreatic cancer in October 2003. He had been getting abdominal scans because of a history of intestinal problems, and a tumor appeared on one of them, Fortune reported last year. The growth was an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor, a rare form of pancreatic cancer that is operable, Fortune reported. While Jobs initially wanted to treat the tumor with a special diet and alternative therapies, he finally underwent a Whipple procedure, a painful but relatively safe operation, in July 2004, Fortune reported. If Jobs had a recurrence of this tumor, and it was a functional neuroendocrine tumor, which produces problem-causing hormones, that would be one speculative explanation, Lowy said. But not enough information is available to say whether the tumor was the functional kind, he said. "Is it possible that a cancer recurrence would result in weight loss? Of course. He's saying that's not what he has, and so, I have to take him at his word. None of us know the truth except his doctors," Lowy said. Rumors about Jobs' declining health have been circulating for months, as his weight visibly dropped from one public appearance to the next. While Jobs' keynote address at the Macworld Conference & Expo is usually the highlight of the Apple fan gathering, Apple announced in December Jobs would not appear this year and the company would no longer participate in the event after 2009. CNN's Danielle Dellorto contributed to this report.

Doctors: Jobs' "hormone imbalance" could refer to several health conditions . Cancer recurrence could explain weight loss . Hormonal imbalance related to thyroid, pituitary or adrenal glands also possible . Jobs will not appear at Macworld this year .

f6c987116c7b4f5c0ed3173184dc38732b022321

(CNN) -- Gas prices dropped nearly 33 cents in the past two weeks, dipping below $2 for the first time since March 2005, a national survey said Sunday. This station in Rio Vista, California, had gas prices below $2 on November 19. The average price of self-serve, unleaded gasoline on Friday in the United States was $1.97, said Trilby Lundberg, publisher of the Lundberg Survey. The last time the price was below $2 was on March 4, 2005, she said. The all-time high average was $4.11, set on July 11, according to Lundberg, and prices have been dropping ever since. "The rate of decline has slowed somewhat, but it is still dramatic at 33 cents in two weeks," she said. Diesel prices averaged $2.93 on Friday, slumping under $3 for the first time since September 2007, she said. Lundberg attributed the price reductions to a drop in crude oil prices and demand, and also because of low refining margins. Watch thrilled customers enjoy cheaper gas » . "Crude oil remains [the] main driver," for the decline, she said, noting that crude oil futures settled on Friday below $50. Demand is always low in November, she said, but the weakening economy is reducing it further. However, Lundberg said that if crude oil prices do not fall further, "then the end of this [gasoline] price crash is either here or near." The Lundberg Survey is based on responses from more than 5,000 service stations nationwide. On Friday, drivers in St. Louis, Missouri, paid the least at the pump -- $1.61 -- while drivers in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Anchorage, Alaska, paid the most, at $2.81. Here are average prices in other cities: . • Detroit, Michigan -- $1.76 . • Houston, Texas -- $1.78 . • Atlanta, Georgia -- $1.88 . • Boston, Massachusetts -- $2.01 . • Chicago, Illinois -- $2.10 . • Washington -- $2.19 . • Los Angeles, California -- $2.22 .

Average price in U.S. is below $2 for first time since March 2005, survey says . All-time high average -- $4.11 -- was set four months ago . Average price dropped 33 cents in the past two weeks . Survey: Diesel prices are under $3 for the first time since September 2007 .

11eeffa6f033febd785c26476aa21afe7f72fb55

(CNN) -- Why are some people amazingly successful -- and other people with the same intelligence or abilities just part of the crowd? Malcolm Gladwell tries to find out why some people are successful in his new book, "Outliers." Malcolm Gladwell, the New Yorker writer who's made a living dissecting questions such as how small trends become major movements ("The Tipping Point") and the value of snap judgments ("Blink"), was curious about that subject, and -- typically -- set out to find some answers. The result is his new book "Outliers" (Little, Brown), which finds parallels between the Beatles, Bill Gates and Canadian hockey players -- as well as reasons why planes operated by members of particular cultures have a greater likelihood of crashing. John Roberts of CNN's "American Morning" spoke to Gladwell on Friday. The following is an edited version of that interview. CNN: We always think that it's the smartest people that become the most successful. You postulate in this new book [that] it's not always intelligence that leads to success. You say "it's not the brightest who succeed, it's rather a gift. Outliers are those given opportunities who have the strength and presence of mind to seize them." But there are also some commonalities with these outliers. Malcolm Gladwell: Yes. I'm really interested in things like the effects of generation. So what does it mean? I have a chapter that looks at some of the most powerful people in Silicon Valley. And almost all of them are born in 1955: Steve Jobs at Apple, Bill Gates at Microsoft, Bill Joy -- who is one of those famous programmers -- a bunch of guys at Sun Microsystems. The argument there is that they were 21 when the computer revolution hit, and that's how old you want to be when you're confronted with a new revolution. That's the kind of pattern that you see, over and over again, when you look at the lives of very successful people. That it's not just their own abilities, it's being in the right place at the right time, it's coming from a certain kind of culture, it's having certain built-in advantages. CNN: There were also some happy accidents along the way. For example, if Bill Gates hadn't been put into a private school, which actually had a computer -- one of the first schools to ever have a computer -- perhaps he may not have become the mogul that he was. Gladwell: Yes, he has this incredible childhood. ... I talked to him, and he was going through the extraordinary one-in-a-million lucky breaks that characterized his childhood. He got to start programming on a computer in 1968 as a 13-year-old when nobody was programming. So he was way ahead of the crowd by the time he starts Microsoft. CNN: You and I both lived in Canada, developed a love for Canadian hockey, and you found by looking at Canadian hockey teams that there's a certain commonality between all of the best players, at least in the junior hockey league system, which I imagine translates to the pros as well. Gladwell: Oh, absolutely. An extraordinary number of hockey players who are professionals are born in January, February and March. And that's because the cutoff date for age-class hockey is January 1st. So when they go to ... recruit kids for all-star teams when they're 8 or 9 years old, they think they're choosing the most talented ones, but actually they're choosing the biggest ones. Because if you're born in January and you're 8, you're a lot taller, more mature and taller and bigger and stronger than someone born in December. CNN: Because development is much faster there -- . Gladwell: At that age, and so that advantage you get as an 8-year-old, you get plucked out and given proper coaching and more games and more practice -- and by the time you're 18, you actually are better. CNN: Another fascinating finding is that you are more likely to be in a plane crash if the pilot comes from a particular country. What's that all about? Gladwell: Yes. That's a fascinating thing. The single most important variable in determining whether a plane crashes is not the plane, it's not the maintenance, it's not the weather, it's the culture the pilot comes from. Planes are flown safely when the pilot and co-pilot are in open and honest communication. And in cultures where it is difficult for a junior person to speak openly to a superior, you have lots of plane crashes. CNN: And you said the Avianca crash here in [New York's] Oyster Bay ... is a very clear example of that. Gladwell: Where the co-pilot was so intimidated by air traffic control, he could not tell them they were running out of fuel, and they crashed. They just go around and crashed. CNN: Some of the ideas of this book were criticized by The New York Times, which said the book "is glib, poorly reasoned, thoroughly unconvincing. Much of what Mr. Gladwell has to say about superstars is little more than common sense: that talent alone is not enough to assure success, that opportunity, hard work, timing and luck play important roles as well." What do you say about that? Gladwell: I don't think -- I start from a very common-sense premise, but it takes you in all kinds of interesting areas. I wouldn't say that you know the stuff about pilots, the stuff about hockey players being born in January, it doesn't sound like common sense to me. So you know, I think what's interesting about this book is I take a series of ideas which we all know, and then I say, look, it's more complicated and more interesting and more fascinating than we would have ever imagined. CNN: Anything we can do to try to employ some of these techniques? Gladwell: Well, the end of the book talks about what we should be doing as a country. It's less about what we can do. When we understand that success is so much a part of the world of which we're a part, we move away from this idea that's about self-help and we move towards this idea that it's time for us to be providing opportunities to a group.

Malcolm Gladwell's new book, "Outliers," studies reasons for success . Successful people aren't just smart; they've had timing, contacts in their favor . Book also touches on role of culture in creating (or blocking) success .

2c1d74ce2f2124fc397bb03c21a1adf23c50a404

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Miami police issued a plea for information Saturday after at least one person with an assault rifle opened fire on a crowd of people on a streetcorner Friday night, killing two teens and wounding seven other people. Evidence markers dot the Miami street where nine people were gunned down with an AK-47 Friday night. "We need the community to come together, someone come forward and give us a tip," Miami Police Officer Kenia Alfonso told CNN. "There are a lot of people in that area. Someone must have seen something, someone must know who could've done this horrific crime." Alfonso said two teens, ages 16 and 18, died in the attack, which broke up a game of craps in front of a grocery store about 9:50 p.m. Friday in the city's Liberty City neighborhood. Five of the shooting victims were still in the hospital Saturday night, according to CNN affiliate WSVN. Others told WSVN that a masked man with an AK-47 burst onto the scene and ordered everyone to the ground. "Boy came round the corner; he was like, 'Get down,' and he just started shooting," 16-year-old victim Andrew Jackson told WSVN. Watch as resident describes scene as "war zone" » . Six of the nine shot were current or former Northwestern Senior High School students, Alfonso said. "It was like a war zone," resident Joan Rutherford told WSVN. "I witnessed this guy laying there with his face, looked like it was completely tore off. His eyes was all I could see, and he had a grip on some money and gasping and trying to lift his head up to say something." Police Chief John Timoney said that at least one man with an AK-47 "discharged numerous rounds, then ran around the corner. There were some more rounds discharged there from an AK-47 and another weapon." One of those wounded was in critical condition Saturday and undergoing surgery, Timoney said. "We are convinced that because of the amount of people out here last night that there is somebody that knows the individuals or individual involved, and we need them to come forward," Timoney said, according to WSVN. "These are weapons of war, and they don't belong on the streets of Miami or any other street in America," Mayor Manuel Diaz said. Watch Miami residents call for stricter laws » . Alfonso said police did not know the motive for the shooting and had no suspects. CNN's Patty Lane contributed to this report.

NEW: Teen tells WSVN that masked gunman ordered victims to ground, opened fire . "Someone must know who could've done this horrific crime," officer says . Six victims are students, graduates of Northwestern Senior High School . Crowd of people standing at streetcorner was fired upon Friday night, police say .

2f0e64b4a983b4d6063c541bbe99743b8224e144

(CNN) -- As Gov. Rod Blagojevich's impeachment trial proceedings got under way Monday, the embattled Illinois governor hit the media circuit, answering questions about Oprah, foul language and why he isn't resigning. Gov. Blagojevich appeared on CNN's Larry King Live Monday night. Blagojevich appeared Monday on ABC's "Good Morning America" and "The View," and gave his first live prime-time interview on CNN's "Larry King Live." "I'm not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing," Blagojevich, who is accused of trying to sell President Obama's former Senate seat, told King. "I'm entitled to a presumption of innocence." Blagojevich also further explained comments that he channeled major political figures who overcame adversity as he was being arrested. "I've been criticized for this, but I'm not comparing myself to Dr. King or Nelson Mandela or Mahatma Gandhi, but I tried to reach in to history and imagine some inspiring figures that would have gone through something like I was going through for sustenance and inspiration." Blagojevich also said that he looks forward to the day when he can tell his story in full, rather than people judging him by snippets of conversation released to the media. Watch Blagojevich tell Larry King he's done nothing wrong » . The governor said he is the victim of political enemies who want to raise taxes in Illinois. "Snippets of conversations out of full context is unfair," Blagojevich told CNN. "If the full context, all of the tapes are heard, you hear the story of someone trying to make decisions and maneuver for the best intentions of the people of Illinois." However, Blagojevich said he has not listened to the tapes in their entirety. He addressed the news that his lead attorney, Ed Jenson, is leaving his defense team. "Look, I think lawyers like that want you to simply say nothing, and I'm champing at the bit, dying to show my innocence." Blagojevich said his legal fees will be paid through campaign funds. Blagojevich did say he looked forward to calling witnesses -- including White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel; Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois; and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid -- who had conversations with him about who should replace Barack Obama as the junior senator from Illinois. Blagojevich maintained the goal of the conversations was to get the best senator for the people of Illinois. "There was a lot of exchanging of ideas, asking questions, exploring options -- including Oprah Winfrey -- but never, not ever did I have any intention of violating any criminal law," Blagojevich said. "Never was this about selling any Senate seat for any kind of personal gain." On both of his ABC appearances and on CNN, Blagojevich explained why talk-show host Oprah Winfrey was a contender to fill Barack Obama's former Senate seat. "I was trying to think outside of the box. The idea came to me from a friend who suggested Oprah -- it wasn't my idea," Blagojevich told CNN. "I threw it around in conversation with senior staff and political advisers, who were all involved in this whole adventure we're on. "And among the things we talked about was the, you know, the unlikelihood she would be interested in it, because she has a bully pulpit that's worldwide and more influence that U.S. senators combined -- all 100 of them." Winfrey said that she had no idea she was under consideration. She said she found out from best friend Gayle King, who called to tell her on Monday morning. Watch Oprah's reaction » . Winfrey said she was "amused by the whole thing" but would have turned down the proposal had it been made. Blagojevich also said he was worried about how to present the offer to Winfrey without it looking like a gimmick. The governor said the talks never got to that point "partly because I was interrupted on December 9." Blagojevich and his chief of staff were arrested then on federal corruption charges, including allegations that the governor tried to trade or sell the Senate seat that became vacant after Obama was elected president. Blagojevich ended up picking former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to replace Obama. iReport.com: Share your questions for Blagojevich . The governor's impeachment trial began Monday in the Illinois Senate. The Illinois House of Representatives impeached him earlier this month. Blagojevich has denied any wrongdoing. A 76-page criminal complaint against Blagojevich includes snippets of intercepted phone calls involving the governor's alleged efforts to benefit from the Senate vacancy. Those conversations are laced with expletives. Asked on "Larry King Live" about his foul mouth, Blagojevich said, "Had I known someone was listening, I wouldn't have used language like that. For those who might have been offended, I apologize. Again, I didn't know you were listening." He also defended his wife, Patti, saying he takes responsibility for any recordings of her using foul language because he may have rubbed off on her. "I was raised in a big city in a tough neighborhood, and when you're a kid growing up in a neighborhood like that, you would never say words like that in front of your mother. But when you're out there at the schoolyard ... it's just sort of the thing you do," he said. "Unfortunately, you try to get rid of some of those habits; you may have left the neighborhood, but part of that neighborhood never left you." In each of his media appearances Monday, Blagojevich maintained his innocence. He said the impeachment proceedings are unfair because he is unable to call witnesses. The governor said he is the victim of political enemies who want to raise taxes in Illinois. Asked by "The View's" Barbara Walters why he doesn't step down for the sake of his state and his dignity, Blagojevich said resigning would be "the worst thing I could do." "I'm an innocent man who has not done anything wrong. And when you're wrongfully accused and you're not given the chance to properly defend yourself ... for me to resign would be to admit that I did something wrong, which I did not do." Blagojevich said resigning also would be a way for him to "disgrace" his children. iReport: Your questions for the governor . "So I'm going to fight to the finish because there's a bigger principle here and it's this: Can a legislature take out a governor elected by the people two times without giving that governor a chance to confront witnesses, bring witnesses in and prove his innocence? That's what they are doing in Illinois, and that's why I'm here in New York -- because this is much bigger than me or Illinois."

NEW: Governor says taking "snippets of conversations out of full context is unfair" Blagojevich says he channeled MLK, Gandhi, Mandela during arrest . Governor says he considered Oprah Winfrey to fill Barack Obama's Senate seat . Blagojevich says resigning would be "worst thing I could do"

93fc92e03ed9e456a776150ab247c688a2c21e5e

(CNN) -- A U.N. official said Monday that the global economic crisis is hurting efforts to clear land mines in Afghanistan, one of the world's most heavily mined countries. An Afghan soldier inspects a land mine in Herat, western Afghanistan. Haider Reza, program director of the U.N. Mine Action Center for Afghanistan, said more than 82,000 anti-personnel mines were cleared in Afghanistan last year. But he said the $500 million needed to meet the goal of clearing all mines by 2013 is under threat. "We are at a very critical point, and this country and people cannot afford to see a devastating situation where not much money will come," Reza said, in remarks included in a U.N. news release. More than 4 million people live in "mine-contaminated" areas in Afghanistan, the U.N. says. The clearance of explosives is considered of key importance for the country's development. The anti-personnel mines and 900 anti-tank mines cleared this past year constitute more than 20 percent of mines cleared from the country since 1989, the United Nations said. The Ottawa Convention on land mines specifies that Afghanistan must be completely cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance by 2013. The Afghanistan Compact, the partnership between the Afghan government and the international community, is calling for "70 percent of explosive-infested land to be cleared by 2011." "If the resources flow into the program, we have the technical capacity and we can do the job," said Reza, who is reaching out to new donors, such as Persian Gulf nations. "God forbid that the security situation throughout the country, especially in areas where we have to do the job, deteriorates to the extent that would not allow our de-miners to do their job. Otherwise, I am very confident we will make it," he said.

$500M needed to meet the goal of clearing all mines by 2013, official says . U.N.: 82,000 anti-personnel mines were cleared in Afghanistan last year . More than 4 million people live in "mine-contaminated" areas in Afghanistan . U.N. official: "If the resources flow into the program, we can do the job"

c882759effb2f675aeec5a172f9fe5aafd3ab665

(CNN) -- In the shadows of Mount Redoubt, Alaskans are calmly waiting for the volcano to erupt -- an event that could occur at any time. Alaska's Mount Redoubt volcano spews ash and steam during an eruption in 1989. "The level of seismic activity" has "increased markedly" in recent days at the 10,197-foot peak located about 100 miles southwest of Anchorage, the state's most populous city, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory. "We don't have a crystal ball," said Peter Cervelli, a research geophysicist with the observatory, which is aggressively monitoring the volcano. But "we expect based on the past behavior of this volcano that this activity is going to culminate in an eruption." The activity has consisted "of a combination of discrete, relatively small earthquakes and periods of more continuous volcanic tremor," Cervelli said. Scientists raised the alert status Sunday to a "watch" level, the second-highest, based on seismic activity detected January 23. PopSci.com: Predicting eruptions . The "watch" status means the "volcano is exhibiting heightened or escalating unrest with increased potential of eruption, time frame uncertain, or eruption is under way but poses limited hazards," according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Maureen Burke, 29, a coffee shop manager in Anchorage, said she remembers the last eruption and isn't too worried this time. PopSci.com: Prehistoric explosions wiped out ocean life -- and created petroleum . She said living in Alaska and being close to nature, residents just laugh such events off, dealing with them as they come. Falling ash is a potential problem. The best way to protect yourself from the harmful showers of ash is to wear a mask, Missy Moore, 33, said. As an administrator and supervisor of Starbright Early Learning Center in Anchorage, Moore said, "it's really not anything to worry about just yet." PopSci.com: Google Earth environment guide . If Mount Redoubt covers nearby cities with ash, Moore said the school will adhere to the public school district's guidelines. "If the [public] school district closes schools, our school closes too. The city of Anchorage advises citizens to stay indoors," Moore said. "The ash can get into your engines and mess up your car." Shana Medcoff, 17, a barista in Kenai, about 50 miles from the volcano, said residents are encouraged to buy air filters for their cars. PopSci.com: Spying on a hostile landscape . Mount Redoubt last erupted nearly 20 years ago, in December 1989, and that lasted until April 1990. Geologists think there could be an eruption "similar to or smaller than the one that occurred in 1989-90." Learn more about Redoubt and its history » . That eruption spread ash in Kenai and Anchorage, where it disrupted air traffic operations. Cervelli said the ash plumes caused engine failure on a jet. "It's not the closest volcano to Anchorage," Cervelli said, but "it has the potential to disrupt air traffic at Anchorage." The 1989-90 volcano also spurred volcanic mudflows, or lahars, that flowed east down the Drift River. The ash fall was seen as far away as Fairbanks and the Yukon Territory border. The observatory has set up a Web camera near the summit of the volcano and another within Cook Inlet. It plans to do continuous visual surveillance, measure gas output and analyze satellite and weather-radar data.

NEW: Scientists raise alert level to "watch," the second highest state of alert . The 10,200-foot Mount Redoubt is about 100 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska . Volcano last erupted in December 1989 . Eruption could spawn huge mudflows, disrupt flights with ash .

fdc7ad27e2cff3f2ec0cbc3b665e0e461ac0a614

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Lorna Irungu sits on a hospital bed looking extremely frail. She has lupus and her kidneys continue to fail. Lorna Irungu, 35, had to travel from Kenya to India to receive her third kidney transplant. "At some point I just wanted it to be over," said Irungu, 35. "I was just tired. I was really, really tired of the fighting, of the struggling, of being sick." But Irungu did decide to fight, with the help of a very giving family. Three times she has needed a kidney transplant, and three times her family members insisted on donating. First her father donated, then her sister, and then her brother. Irungu says what she couldn't find was a doctor who would do the tricky third transplant in her own country of Kenya. When she checked in neighboring countries, the cost was impossibly high. Irungu, who's single and has no children, has no insurance. So the former television host was paying for the surgery and medicines out of her own pocket. "When we looked at the price of getting things done in South Africa. I'm like, 'We're never gonna get there.' It's $45,000. Where do I even begin?" The cost of a kidney transplant in the United States can be $25,000 to $150,000, also out of Irungu's price range. Watch more on Lorna Irungu's odyssey » . So she began looking elsewhere, sending out e-mails and making phone calls to hospitals in other countries. Doctors at Fortis Hospital in New Delhi, India, were the only ones who responded to her somewhat complicated case. Dr. Vijay Kher, the hospital's director of nephrology, first talked to Irungu by phone. "When she called me from Kenya, she was very sick," Kher said. "She had uncontrolled blood pressures, and she was having fever. She had been in ICU for about three weeks." But Irungu made it to India. Once her condition was stabilized, doctors performed the third transplant, which is a rare operation in India. Of the 1,500 kidney transplants performed at Fortis Hospital, doctors remember having done only two in which the patient was having a third transplant. Doctors had to remove one of the previously transplanted kidneys to make room for the new kidney, Kher said. Doctors said it was unnecessary to remove the three other kidneys because they were not causing harm and they didn't want to subject her to more surgery than was necessary. Even with the complications that can arise during a third transplant, the cost of it and the weeklong hospital stay in India came to about $8,000. It's a fraction of the price she was quoted elsewhere, as is the cost of the post-transplant medication. "This last surgery, I keep saying, has been remarkable." Irungu said. "I haven't felt as good post transplant as I did this time around." After three months in India, Irungu is leaving with four kidneys inside her. Irungu says for now the newly transplanted kidney seems to be working great. "From my experience, the cost here and the quality of care is worth it," Irungu said. "It's worth it because instead of you sitting wherever you are, thinking, 'This is the end for me,' or just getting depressed or getting into this struggle, (you can) just pack up and go."

Woman travels from Kenya to India for a tricky third kidney transplant . Lorna Irungu suffers from lupus and already has received two previous transplants . One kidney was removed during the surgery to make room for the new kidney . Irungu now has four kidneys, but only one works properly .

13ed274815b0b2372bc00176f974f24c9d713a1e

(CNN) -- A bus carrying Chinese tourists overturned Friday near Hoover Dam, killing at least seven people and injuring at least nine, an Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman said. Authorities work on the crash scene Friday on U.S. 93 in White Hills, Arizona, near Hoover Dam. The accident happened at 4 p.m. on U.S. 93 at mile marker 27, about 27 miles south of Hoover Dam, said Lt. James Warriner. The dead lay in body bags on the roadway near the bus, which was on its side across both lanes and onto the shoulder of the highway. Initial reports from the scene indicated rescuers had difficulty communicating with the passengers, all of them Chinese nationals. Five of the injured were taken to Kingman Regional Medical Center, where one was in critical condition and four were in serious condition, said Ryan Kennedy, executive director of operations. Rick Plummer, a spokesman for University Medical Center in Las Vegas, said the hospital received five victims by helicopter, one who died, two in critical condition and two in serious condition. Watch authorities work the crash scene » . The north-south highway at the crash scene in White Hills, Arizona, was shut in both directions. Officials said the bus was heading from Las Vegas to Arizona. Hoover Dam is near the border of the two states. View a map of the crash site » . Among the injured was a motorcyclist who was hurt avoiding the bus, said National Park Service spokesman Andrew Munoz.

Bus passengers were Chinese nationals, officials say . The dead lay in body bags on the roadway near the overturned bus . Tour bus overturns on U.S. Route 93, heading from Las Vegas to Arizona . Hospital says as many as 15 victims being flown to Las Vegas .

ae8e756e2e91fbbbf0d720cc17db980e812a5c70

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Police on the picturesque island of Jersey in the English Channel detained a 68-year-old man Tuesday as part of their investigation into alleged abuses at a long-closed government-run children's home. A woman walks past the Haut de la Garenne children's home. Spokeswoman Louise Nibbs said the man was helping authorities with their inquiries into "a number of historic rapes and indecent assaults." But, Nibbs added, the man's detention was not "directly related" to the Haut de la Garenne children's home. Rather, he is part of a wider inquiry into abuses that authorities are investigating, she said. "We can now also confirm that the alleged offenses in question took place in the 1960s and 1970s," she said. "We are not able to say at this time where the offenses took place." Nibbs did not release the man's name or disclose any other details. The man has not been charged with a crime, Nibbs said. Jersey is a British crown dependency, located 14 miles off the coast of Normandy near France. In January, police arrested another man -- a former warden who was charged with three counts of indecent assault on underage girls in the late 60s and early 70s. The man, 76-year-old Gordon Wateridge, has not entered a plea yet, Nibbs said. The announcement in January that fragments of a child's skull had been discovered under a stairwell in the building has sparked more than 160 allegations of child abuse there dating back to the 1960s, authorities say. The building opened in 1867 and housed up to 60 children at any one time. It underwent several renovations and closed in 1986 only to reopen as a youth hostel in 2004. Possible clues to the abuse alleged to have occurred inside include writing found on a wall that "refers to somebody being bad," Jersey Deputy Police Chief Lenny Harper said in February. "We have no idea at the moment who put it there or, indeed, how long it's been there." Police said much of what they found, including shackles, matches accounts given by witnesses. Several former residents allege they suffered physical and sexual abuse in a storeroom. Police suspect there could be four bricked-up chambers underground. Several alleged victims have talked about abuse occurring in a large concrete trough in the basement, which was originally the first floor of the building. In February, authorities said they had compiled "well over 40" suspects who are alive, and a number of others who are dead. The investigation has taken officials to Australia, Thailand, Germany and the British mainland. Some of those who have reported abuse have taken their complaints to the news media. "There was one occasion, in the sick bay, where I was made to fondle another boy -- if you didn't, you were threatened you wouldn't come out alive," said Carl Denning, who said he was taken to the home at the age of 5 and said one of his friends committed suicide after being raped there. "You'd go to bed at night, sleeping, and all of a sudden your arms would be held down and the next thing you know you're getting raped," recalled Peter Hannaford, who spent the first 12 years of his life there. "You were subject to constant abuse. ... It was every night, and you were scared to go to bed." Stuart Syvret, a local politician, told CNN the building had long been known "as a place where young boys were punished severely, where they suffered." He alleged a "long-established culture of covering up alleged abuses" -- a claim the local government denies. The investigation began in 2006, when police were alerted to the possibility that pedophiles had worked at the institution. That led to the discovery of the skull fragment. The institution housed wards of the state -- primarily neglected and abandoned children. A remand wing housed children who had been convicted of crimes. The allegations mar the carefully cultivated image the island's elite have tried to project. Jersey's beaches have made it a big tourist destination, and its offshore banks have made it a tax haven and a playground for the rich. Eleven miles long and 9 miles wide, the island is populated by about 80,000 mostly white, affluent residents. Heavily influenced by the French, the largely autonomous island has its own legal system and its own currency. London manages only its defense and foreign policy matters. E-mail to a friend .

Jersey police say 68-year-old man arrested in children's home abuse probe . Man being questioned about a number of alleged rapes . More than a 100 people claim they were abused at Haut de la Garenne home .

64daf6045022229b25f520dd6b65c113c0683445

(CNN) -- President Obama's economic stimulus plan cleared its first hurdle, but it was hardly the bipartisan victory he hoped for -- not a single House Republican broke ranks to support it. The stimulus bill now moves to the Senate, where GOP members want less spending and more tax cuts. In fact, 11 Democrats also voted against the $819 billion package. But a win is a win, and so the White House strategy is to take the long view: Maybe the Senate will take out more of the controversial pork projects and tweak the tax cuts to win over more Republicans. The full Senate will vote on its version next week. Should the Senate and House pass different versions, the two bills would have to be conferenced together. Then both chambers would have to vote on the new conference version in the coming weeks. Watch what's next for the stimulus » . "I do think it is so important that we slow this bill down in order to do it right," said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas. Senate GOP sources report that there is a "real split" in the GOP caucus about the best way to proceed in the wake of Wednesday's vote in the House. The sources say Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, wants a "smaller, narrower" bill. Another group of Republicans including Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is working to craft a larger package that would include more infrastructure spending. Generally, the sources say, the party is looking for more concessions from the White House on spending. The Senate has already made some changes in its version of the bill, which is approaching $900 billion. The Senate Finance Committee added about $70 billion to fix the Alternative Minimum Tax, which was intended to place a tax on the wealthy but now hits many middle class families. The Senate bill adds more direct money for seniors, with a plan to send $300 checks to social security recipients and disabled veterans. Smaller changes in the Senate version include $108 million to extend worker retraining programs and a provision to block any taxes on the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits. Aides say housing relief is also going to be a big issue for some Republican senators. The main concerns are similar to those of their House counterparts. They want more tax cuts and less spending. "We look forward to offering amendments to improve this critical legislation and move it back to the package President Obama originally proposed -- 40 percent tax relief, no wasteful spending and a bipartisan approach," McConnell said. Obama has made it clear that he's not willing to budge on some of the big ticket items, like how the tax cuts are structured. The version passed in the House is two-thirds spending and one-third tax cuts. Much of the $550 billion in spending is divided among these areas: $142 billion for education, $111 billion for health care, $90 billion for infrastructure, $72 billion for aid and benefits, $54 billion for energy, $16 billion for science and technology and $13 billion for housing. Those opposed to the bill say it includes too much wasteful spending, pointing to things like $335 million in funding for education on sexually transmitted diseases and $650 million for digital TV coupons. Watch why some say there's too much pork » . A growing number of Republicans and Democrats say measures such as those don't create jobs. The Democratic rationale is that healthier Americans will be more productive. And on the millions for digital television coupons, the hope is that money will go to new call centers explaining how the technology works. "There's something in there for literally every interest. It's a pent-up wish list of spending programs that many around here have wanted to implement for a really long time," said Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota. Congressional leaders did drop some of the controversial provisions, like one that provided $200 million worth of contraceptives to low-income families. Obama personally called some House Democratic leaders to urge them to remove the family planning provision in hopes of winning bipartisan support. The White House is hoping that some Republicans will come on board in the Senate, where there already has been a little more compromise and a greater sense of bipartisanship. Some House Republicans have left the door open to being more receptive to changes made on the Senate side, and then perhaps voting yes if they get those changes when the final bill comes up for a vote. David Gergen, a senior political analyst for CNN, said that while there will be disagreements, some version will likely pass in the coming weeks. "I think both sides are approaching this with some qualms, but they also feel -- especially the Democrats feel -- they have no choice. The economy is in urgent need to be addressed with a stimulus package," he said. "We have got a very popular president. They're going to support him and go forward. And this package is going to pass. A version of this package is going to pass here in the next two or three weeks." The president hopes to have the plan passed by Congress and on his desk for signing by mid-February. CNN's Jim Acosta, Lisa Desjardins, Gloria Borger, Ed Henry, Kristi Keck and Brianna Keilar contributed to this report.

Stimulus bill passed in the House with no support from Republicans . GOP senators want more tax cuts, less spending . President Obama has made a push for bipartisan support . Obama made it clear that he's not willing to budge on some big ticket items .

740fa15109249c602b6abe61cf03b5bc5f2ebcd6

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Voting in Iraqi provincial elections ended peacefully Saturday evening, and the mood was festive in some places, unlike the violence, intimidation and apathy that marked the balloting in 2005. An Iraqi casts his vote Saturday in Ramadi. Preliminary results are expected in a week. "There is a new norm of politics. ... It is truly a proud moment," Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh told CNN. "The distance that we have come is truly inspiring." Faraj al-Haidari, who chairs the Independent High Electoral Commission of Iraq, and Staffan de Mistura, special U.N. representative for Iraq, issued statements saying the election went smoothly. "Hundreds of thousands of IHEC staff worked dutifully according to procedures," said Mistura, who also said he was pleased at the number of women who turned out to vote. Preliminary results from the electoral commission are expected within five days, de Mistura said. Final numbers are due at the end of February. "Some security incidents were reported during the day, but we didn't have any confirmation on serious security incidents that might effect the total electoral process," al-Haidari said. President Obama congratulated the Iraqis on the elections. "Millions of Iraqi citizens from every ethnic and religious group went peacefully to the polls across the country to choose new provincial councils," Obama said in a statement released by the White House. "It is important that the councils get seated, select new governors and begin work on behalf of the Iraqi people who elected them." He said the United States "is proud to have provided technical assistance, along with the United Nations and other international organizations, to Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission, which performed professionally under difficult circumstances." CNN's Arwa Damon, who toured polling stations with UN observers, said she noticed an increased sense of awareness and optimism among voters, who felt that their participation would have an impact on their lives and country. Watch Iraqis head to polls » . Political analysts said this election could correct some of the political imbalances that resulted from the 2005 election. Saturday's voting also was seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. "We are trying to build a new system of government in the heart of the Islamic Middle East," Saleh said. The last provincial elections were in January 2005, after the ousting of Saddam Hussein, and most Sunnis did not vote. "This time, happening four years after the first elections, means that this process is on track to building a functioning democracy," Saleh said. "I think the election results will point to the real political map of Iraq. "The overwhelming majority of the people of Iraq are having a stake in this process, are buying into this democratic process." He added that politics "is no longer defined by violence" and is now transcending "sectarian and ethnic dimensions." Voting was extended by one hour, partly because a curfew had been lifted, allowing more Iraqis to go to the polls, said Judge Qassim al-Aboudi, a member of the Electoral Commission. He described turnout as "good." Those elected will have regional power over the essentials Iraqis have been desperate for: basic services and jobs, Damon reported. She said there was a sense of jubilation in Anbar province, the Sunni heartland west of Baghdad. The sprawling desert area was dominated largely by al Qaeda in January 2005, when the first provincial elections after the fall of Hussein were held. In 2005, fearing retribution from the terrorist group, only about 2 percent of eligible voters cast ballots. In Najaf, the Shiite center south of Baghdad, voters also were eager to let their voices be heard, Damon said. Watch Arwa Damon on the importance of these elections » . At a polling station in Baghdad, 80-year-old Ibrahim Saleh, a retired lawyer, said this election "is completely different from previous elections." When asked how, he replied, "because it is open for all the society components to express their opinion freely." Asked what she expects from her candidate, a woman in Diyala, northeast of Baghdad, said, "we hope stability and security and employment." Observers believe that the provincial vote will be a gauge of the country's political direction and a guide to how to the parliamentary elections will turn out this year. The results should spell out the status of the Sunni "awakening" movement and the popularity of the Shiite factions, such as those backing al-Maliki, cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. There were tough security measures in place throughout the country, including security rings around polling centers and vigorous searches of voters. Nevertheless, three mortars exploded near a polling station in central Tikrit, about 100 miles north of Baghdad, Saturday morning, an official with the Interior Ministry said. There were no casualties. Police also detained four people wearing Iraqi police uniforms who they said had thrown stun grenades at voters outside a polling center in Tikrit, Saddam's hometown. Al-Maliki cast his ballot in Baghdad's Al-Rasheed Hotel, in the highly protected and fortified International Zone. He told reporters at the polling station that the election is evidence that Iraqi people live under a high level of safety. In Anbar province, Iraqi police and army troops lined the streets of downtown Ramadi. One of the police officers said he was proud to be working on election day. ""Let the people see us standing here," he said. Police vehicles blasted music outside, creating a festive atmosphere. One man brought his 7-year-old brother with him to the polling center. "I want him to learn about democracy," the man said. CNN's Ingrid Formanek and Arwa Damon contributed to this report.

NEW: President Obama praises election, says he's "proud" of collaborative efforts . Preliminary results of provincial elections expected within five days . Polls close after one-hour extension; no serious violence reported . "There is a new norm of politics," deputy prime minister says .

3e7cbc630e7c7d92fa567b121c2f80a26c558d96

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Ready for your Super Bowl party? Sure, you have drinks, hot wings, maybe even a favorite jersey. But do you have an M-16, a Kevlar helmet and body armor? Pittsburgh Steelers fan Sheresa Coleman will watch the Super Bowl from the USS Mahan in the Gulf of Aden. Not everybody is watching the game from the comfort of the family den. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops will be deployed in remote war zones, on lonely oceans and at overseas bases -- all far away from an NBC affiliate. So the military is going out of its way to make sure that many soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors can watch Super Bowl XLIII live. "Super Bowl day has really become a holiday, military-wise, over the last couple years," said Petty Officer 1st Class Grant Shannon. Shannon is from a town about an hour north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but is on board the USS Mahan, a destroyer deployed to stop pirates working off the coast of Somalia. When they finish their duties, sailors like Shannon can head to the ship's mess to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Arizona Cardinals. The same is true for soldiers, Marines and airmen in combat zones. "We can broadcast to every forward operating base in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Andreas Friedrich, the deputy director of Armed Forces Radio and Television Services, which has been sending the Super Bowl to troops overseas since the first Super Bowl, broadcasting it live since 1981. Watch how troops will be able to watch big game » . All told, about 1 million American military personnel and civilians overseas will be able to watch the big game. Some of those watching will be benefiting from the same technology that makes Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle missions possible. A global broadcast system will beam the game to ships and submarines far out in the Pacific Ocean. GBS is how pilots in the United States can watch and fly an unmanned vehicle over a battlefield halfway around the world, and then feed what they see to the battlefield commanders on the ground below. Raytheon, the company that runs the system, will use one of its video channels to feed the game to several U.S. Navy submarines and ships in the Pacific. Tens of thousands of sailors will be able to see the game via GBS, which first broadcast a Super Bowl in 2003, according to Guy DuBois of Raytheon. "It's a pretty amazing feeling, when you get to do that, to watch it on the ship and knowing that everybody else is back home having a good time, just like we will be," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Wright, a Cardinals fan from Arizona. Wright is on board the USS San Antonio, an amphibious transport dock that is part of the anti-piracy task force. A Steelers fan on board the USS Mahan agrees. "It would be nice to be home and watch the game in my hometown," said Seaman Sheresa Coleman of Pittsburgh. "But it's a great honor to support and defend the Constitution of the United States." One thing Wright and the other overseas Super Bowl viewers will miss is the legendary Super Bowl commercials. Friedrich said the Armed Forces Radio and Television Services would have had to pay high fees for the rights to broadcast the Super Bowl commercials to an international audience. Instead, the multimillion-dollar ads that some people consider the best part of the game will be pre-empted in favor of Department of Defense-produced ads and public service messages. Still, even without seeing football-playing Clydesdales or movie-shilling monsters, those in uniform appreciate being part of America's unofficial midwinter holiday. "We have lots of sailors and Marines on board who have followed the season," said Cmdr. Eric Cash, the commander of the USS San Antonio. "Any time we can enjoy some traditional American sports like the Super Bowl, it's always a great time for us, a good mental break and also a good time for people to get together and socialize." Just like home. But you have to wonder -- does the ship's galley have nachos or pigs in a blanket?

About 1 million American military personnel, civilians overseas could catch game . Troops get Department of Defense ads instead of Super Bowl commercials . Global broadcast system will beam game to ships, submarines in the Pacific Ocean . "It's always a great time for us, a good mental break," commander says of game .

625376e35b8473c3d6a182e1fbe5f7d4fbadbc45

(CNN) -- Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has lost his position at the top of football's rich list but David Beckham remains the wealthiest player. Abramovich set a trend with his massive cash injection into Premier League Chelsea. Russian billionaire Abramovich has slipped to third place behind Manchester City's new owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Sheikh Mansour, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, has a fortune of £15 billion ($22.04B), according to the Football Rich List, researched and published by FourFourTwo magazine. Abramovich has also been overtaken by Indian industrialist Lakshmi Mittal, who is the joint owner of second-flight English side Queens Park Rangers with Formula One's Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore. Abramovich has seen his fortune cut by over £3 billion to £7 billion ($10.29B) in the global economic downturn, the magazine estimated. Have wealthy owners benefited English football ? His billions gave Chelsea massive spending power to win two successive Premier League titles under Jose Mourinho and accelerated the trend of foreign ownership in English football. Beckham, currently on loan to AC Milan from Los Angeles Galaxy, has personal assets valued at £125 million ($183.66 million), well ahead of Michael Owen (£40 million -- $58.77m) and Wayne Rooney. England head coach Fabio Capello is 73rd on the list, boosted by his own private art collection, with Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson at number 78. English football had dominated comparable rich lists for several seasons but many financial experts fear the good times may be coming to an end as the global economic crisis bites.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is knocked off the top of football 'rich-list' Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan heads new list . AC Milan's on-loan England midfielder David Beckham remains richest player .

a31d207c5d4a05918ecb21f0521d15e0a4fc6fc2

(CNN) -- World number two Roger Federer stepped up his preparations for the Australian Open with an easy win over Spaniard Carlos Moya in the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne on Wednesday. Federer plays a backhand during his straight sets win over Moya in Melbourne. Federer, who will be looking to tie Pete Sampras with his 14th grand slam, opened with a 6-2 6-3 win in the eight-man invitational tournament. The Swiss has begun the year with successive defeats to world number four Andy Murray in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, but made no mistake against former French Open champion Moya. He needed just 57 minutes to progress at the former home of the Australian Open. "I was a little rusty in the beginning, missed quite a few forehands, but I thought it was a good match overall," he told the Press Association. "There were a few gusts of wind, which makes it not easy to play, but I felt like I was playing OK." Earlier, Federer's compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka also had an easy win over Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6-2 6-2. Federer's next opponent will be Spanish Davis Cup hero Fernando Verdasco, who swept past young Croatian star Marin Cilic 6-2 7-5. Second seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile also went through as he beat Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-4 6-3.

Roger Federer wins his opening match at the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne . The world number two sweeps past Carlo Moya of Spain in straight sets . Fernando Verdasco of Spain and Fernando Gonzalez of Chile also go through .

e6f66988f44501f48314fc63e531288f482cf761

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghanistan is postponing its presidential elections until August 20 due to security and logistical concerns, the country's election commission said Thursday. Afghan President Hamid Karzai's five-year term is coming to an end this year. The balloting was originally scheduled for late May, but the independent election commission laid out several reasons for the delay. Security is a factor, the commission said. It also cited a lack of trained staff, incomplete voter registration and the weather. It is difficult to campaign or distribute ballots during the rough winter months in the rugged landscape. The elections are a critical moment for Afghanistan as President Hamid Karzai's five-year term ends. He was elected in December 2004 in largely peaceful polling. But since then, the Taliban militant movement has regrouped, international troop deaths have increased and there has been an increase in terror attacks, mostly in eastern and southern Afghanistan. Afghanistan has already registered 3 million voters and is holding voter drives to register more. The United States will deploy additional troops in coming months to provide much-needed security in the run-up to the election. The country expects to hold parliamentary elections in 2010. Meanwhile on Wednesday coalition forces fighting in southern Afghanistan killed four militants, the U.S. military said. Coalition soldiers were targeting a Taliban leader in the Zabul province when militants fired on them, according to a military statement. Soldiers returned fire, killing the four militants. Soldiers then searched their compound and confiscated several assault rifles. This operation comes as the U.S. military is contemplating adding three brigades to the war effort in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday that the troop build up could happen by this summer. CNN's Atia Abawi contributed to this report .

Afghan presidential elections come as President Hamid Karzai's five-year term ends . Afghanistan has registered 3 million voters, holding voter drives to register more . U.S. troops will deploy extra troops to provide security in run-up to the election .

d8ba5a7b514c33a52c7bcda87f4f55d83980d009

Editor's note: Campbell Brown anchors CNN's "Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull" at 8 p.m. ET Mondays through Fridays. She delivered this commentary during the "Cutting through the Bull" segment of Monday night's broadcast. Campbell Brown says President Bush can't seem to see the failure of his administration's response to Hurricane Katrina. (CNN) -- Much of President Bush's news conference today was a defense of the many controversial decisions of his presidency, it was also reflective, with the president showing a willingness to admit and talk about the serious mistakes made by this administration. But on one topic in particular, he seemed almost entirely disconnected from what really happened: Hurricane Katrina. As someone who spent many days in New Orleans, Louisiana, after Hurricane Katrina, I was taken aback listening to the president talk about the government's response. President Bush: . "People said, 'Well, the federal response was slow.' Don't tell me the federal response was slow when there was 30,000 people pulled off roofs right after the storm passed. I remember going to see those helicopter drivers, Coast Guard drivers, to thank them for their courageous efforts to rescue people off roofs. Thirty-thousand people were pulled off roofs right after the storm moved through. It's a pretty quick response. Could things have been done better? Absolutely. Absolutely. But when I hear people say, the federal response was slow, then what are they going to say to those chopper drivers, or the 30,000 that got pulled off the roofs?" It is impossible to challenge what so many of us witnessed firsthand -- what the entire country witnessed through television day and night: New Orleans was a city for a time abandoned by the government; where people old and young were left at the New Orleans convention center for days with no water or food. People will disagree over aspects of the Bush legacy, but on the government's handling of Katrina? We were there. Watch Campbell Brown's reaction to President Bush's news conference » . The whole country saw what happened. People stuck on roofs were one part of a massive catastrophe. But there was so much else the government didn't do. To this day that city is fighting for its life. Mr. President, you cannot pat yourself on the back for that one. We will debate the war in Iraq, national security, the economy and the rest of your legacy. Those debates will continue for years to come. But on how you handled Katrina, there is no debate. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Campbell Brown.

Campbell Brown: Bush defended many decisions at Monday news conference . Brown: Bush disconnected from what really happened with Hurricane Katrina . Brown: People will disagree over aspects of the Bush legacy, but not Katrina . Brown: Katrina response was catastrophe that America watched on TV .

d8871f70487edea13f26ac0ca16e29f9ca6f7cd6

(CNN) -- Author John Updike, regarded as one of the greatest and most prolific writers in modern American letters, died Tuesday, his publicist said. He was 76. John Updike won many literary awards. His books, such as "The Witches of Eastwick," were also best-sellers. Updike passed away Tuesday morning after battling lung cancer. He lived in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts. "He was one of our greatest writers, and he will be sorely missed," said Nicholas Latimer, vice president of publicity at Updike's publisher, Alfred A. Knopf. Updike was a rarity among American writers: a much-esteemed, prize-winning author whose books -- including "Rabbit, Run" (1960), "Couples" (1968), "The Witches of Eastwick" (1984) and "Terrorist" (2006) -- were also best-sellers. Updike won the Pulitzer Prize twice: for "Rabbit Is Rich" (1981) and its successor, "Rabbit at Rest" (1991). iReport: Share your tributes to John Updike . The "Rabbit" series, about an angst-ridden car dealer in a town much like Updike's hometown of Shillington, Pennsylvania, spanned four novels, a novella and four decades. In the books -- which also included 1971's "Rabbit Redux" and a 2001 novella, "Rabbit Remembered" -- onetime basketball star Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom negotiates marriage, divorce, wealth and health problems, never quite understanding the larger forces shaping his life. "Rabbit is not a character calculated to inspire affection, but he is an unflinchingly authentic specimen of American manhood, and his boorishness makes his rare moments of vulnerability and empathy that much more heartbreaking," wrote Time's Lev Grossman in naming "Rabbit, Run" to Time's "All-Time 100 Novels" list. Updike was incredibly prolific, penning essays, reviews, short stories, poetry and memoirs. His works frequently appeared in The New Yorker, including a famed 1960 essay about Ted Williams' final game, "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu." "No writer was more important to the soul of The New Yorker than John," said David Remnick, the editor of the magazine, in a statement. "Even though his literary career transcended any magazine -- he was obviously among the very best writers in the world -- he still loved writing for this weekly magazine, loved being part of an enterprise that he joined when he was so young. "We adored him," Remnick continued. "He was, for so long, the spirit of The New Yorker and it is very hard to imagine things without him." The magazine said that Updike had written 862 pieces for it over the years, including 327 book reviews, 170 short stories and 154 poems. He was well-regarded in his adopted home state of Massachusetts. "John Updike's place among America's literary greats is forever secure, as is his special place in every Red Sox fan's heart for his magnificent 'Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu,' " Sen. John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) said in a statement. "We honor his memory and his contributions, and Massachusetts today bids him a sad and wistful adieu of our own." Updike never won a Nobel Prize, but one of his characters, Henry Bech, received one in "Bech at Bay" (1998). His works, particularly given their sexual content, could be as divisive as they were poetic. Many critics accused him of misogyny, and others accused him of using his graceful prose to cover thin subject matter -- and Updike put out his prose by the ream. "It seems to be easier for John Updike to stifle a yawn than to refrain from writing a book," the literary critic James Wood wrote in the London Review of Books in 2001. But his frank discussion of sex also garnered him many readers, the cover of Time magazine (for 1968's "Couples") and a lifetime achievement Bad Sex in Writing award from Great Britain's Literary Review. He was criticized by Norman Mailer, hailed by fellow author (and Updike obsessive) Nicholson Baker in "U and I" and even appeared as an animated version of himself on a "Simpsons" episode as the ghostwriter of a Krusty the Klown book. "[I] was flattered to be asked to be one of the many voices that they worked into the endless saga of Springfield," Updike said, noting that the hardest part of his performance was "producing a chuckle." John Hoyer Updike was born March 18, 1932, in Reading, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Shillington. From an early age he took to reading and writing, and earned a full scholarship to Harvard, where he headed the Harvard Lampoon. Upon graduation, he accepted a one-year fellowship to Oxford University in England. By the time he was 23, he had been offered a position at The New Yorker, which was to become his literary home over the next 50-plus years. Updike's first novel, "The Poorhouse Fair," came out in 1959. The next year, in "Rabbit, Run," he introduced Angstrom, who was to become one of the most famous characters in American fiction. When introduced, Rabbit is a man fleeing his pregnant wife, the songs on the car radio reflecting both the era and his life. Over the course of the "Rabbit" books, the character would routinely infuriate his spouse, mistresses and offspring, try to make things right, and never quite succeed. His attitude didn't help. "Men are all heart and women are all body. I don't know who has the brains. God maybe," the character said in "Rabbit, Run." "Rabbit, Run" was successful, as were Updike's other '60s books, including "The Centaur" (1963), which featured a teacher much like Updike's father, and the short story collection "The Music School" (1966). But it was "Couples" that made Updike a household name. The book, about a group of spouses engaging in the sexual revolution in suburban Massachusetts, became a No. 1 best-seller. Updike's interests ranged widely. He wrote about an African state in "The Coup" (1978). He discussed the relationship between science and religion in "Roger's Version" (1986). He revisited "Hamlet" in "Gertrude and Claudius" (2000). And he created a group of promiscuous witches in "The Witches of Eastwick" (1984), which became a hit movie in 1987 starring Jack Nicholson as the devil. Though Updike's work routinely sold well, he was painfully aware of the decline of what's come to be called "literary fiction." In a 2000 interview with Salon, he lamented its difficulties. "When I was a boy, the best-selling books were often the books that were on your piano teacher's shelf. I mean, Steinbeck, Hemingway, some Faulkner. Faulkner actually had, considering how hard he is to read and how drastic the experiments are, quite a middle-class readership," he said. "But certainly someone like Steinbeck was a best-seller as well as a Nobel Prize-winning author of high intent. You don't feel that now." And yet, Updike himself never lost his zest for the written word, and the pleasure brought by jotting, tuning, refining -- creating -- a new story, even as the years drifted by. "An aging writer has the not insignificant satisfaction of a shelf of books behind him that, as they wait for their ideal readers to discover them, will outlast him for a while," he wrote in AARP The Magazine late last year. "The pleasures, for him, of book-making ... remain, and retain creation's giddy bliss. Among those diminishing neurons there lurks the irrational hope that the last book might be the best." Updike's most recent novel, "The Widows of Eastwick," came out in 2008. A collection of stories, "My Father's Tears and Other Stories," is due out later this year.

John Updike, author of "Rabbit" books and "The Witches of Eastwick," dies . Updike, 76, had been suffering from lung cancer . Pulitzer Prize winner was titan of American letters .

3d6f02e5a73f1248c9274af8358f3ad010c820f0

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The trial of an Iraqi journalist charged with throwing his shoes at U.S. President George Bush has been postponed, Iraq's Council of Ministers and one of the journalist's lawyers said Tuesday. Amman protesters support Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist held for throwing his shoes at President Bush. Muntadhir Al-Zaidi was due to go on trial Wednesday, but the Criminal Court postponed it pending an appeal filed by his lawyers with the Federal Court of Appeal, a spokesman for the Supreme Judicial Council, Abdul Sattar Bayrakdar, said. Dhiya al-Saadi, who leads Al-Zaidi's 25-member legal team, confirmed the postponement. Al-Zaidi threw both of his shoes at Bush two weeks ago during a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad. Neither shoe hit the president, and others in the room quickly knocked Al-Zaidi to the ground before security officials arrested him. Many Iraqis hail Al-Zaidi, who faces a prison term if convicted, as a hero. More than 1,000 lawyers have volunteered to defend him, al-Saadi said. The lawyers' appeal asked the Federal Court to change Al-Zaidi's case from assaulting Bush to insulting him. If Al-Zaidi is convicted of the former, he faces a maximum of 15 years in prison, al-Saadi said. The lawyers are trying to persuade the appeals court that Al-Zaidi did not want to harm Bush by throwing the shoes, but simply wanted to insult him. By tradition, throwing a shoe is the most insulting act in the Arab world. Al-Saadi said he met with his client several days ago but was having difficulty meeting with him again. He did not give the reason he was not allowed to see Al-Zaidi but said many lawyers have trouble meeting with detainees in Iraqi or U.S. custody. It will take at least two weeks for the court to set a new date for Al-Zaidi's trial, legal expert Tariz Harab said. CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

Trial of Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at U.S. President Bush delayed . Muntadhir Al-Zaidi faces jail if convicted; trial was due to start Wednesday . Many Iraqis hail the shoe thrower has a hero; mass protests followed his arrest . At least two weeks before new trial date set, legal experts say .

aa905ece59d1c439708984809017ac1ae6a03848

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Lynne Lucas is taking herself off the meat market. Monique Brown is sick of having to look cute all the time. And Scott Hayes is searching for his inner child. Imari Havard, co-founder of PlayDate, dances with some participants on the dance floor. It's Saturday night at PlayDate in Atlanta, Georgia, where 400 adults have gathered to play games, drink and socialize. "It's not your usual bar scene where I look good, you look good, I'm scared to talk to you," Hayes says as he scans a giant Jenga tower for the right block to pull. "You'll talk to anyone when you're playing games, because you're trying to beat them." Next to Hayes, Brown watches a rambunctious game of Pictionary while a twosome fights it out with Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots nearby. Across the room, Lucas joins her friends in a game of Trouble. And on the dance floor, Imari Havard is hula-hooping with some ladies. Havard is the co-founder of Timeless Entertainment Concepts, host of PlayDate, with Ryan Hill and Ronald Gaither. Timeless' mission is clear: provide a fun alternative to the typical nightlife scene for an entrance fee of just $10 per person. In other words, if you're looking for love in all the wrong places, try a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos. Tell us how your and your sweetheart first met . PlayDate began in Atlanta in 2005 and has slowly expanded from a monthly crowd of 80 to 500 twice a month in nine cities across the nation. The three men hope to start affiliates in another 20 markets this year. "It's a pretty simple word-of-mouth advertising," Havard says of how they've made PlayDate so popular. "The No. 1 question asked on a Monday morning, is 'How was your weekend?' The number two most popular question is 'What did you do?' Well, we've built our entire program around answering those questions." While Gaither takes care of the legal and administrative aspects, Hill and Havard attend events and deal with affiliates. The two opposites complement each other. Tonight, Hill wears a red polo shirt and jeans. Havard wears a stingy fedora and a pin-stripe suit jacket. Hill uses the words "overhead," "clientele" and "venue negotiation" regularly in conversation. Havard is more likely to shout phrases like "Patricia's in the house, y'all!" And while Havard is swiveling his hula-hooping hips, Hill blends into the background. "Someone has to have a respectful corporate face," Hill says as he laughs at Havard's antics. See photos from the event » . Meanwhile, Alisha Wheeler has on her game face. A man she just met is teaching her to play Scrabble, and it's not as easy as it looks. Wheeler found out about PlayDate on the Internet and decided to check it out. "To be able to play games again and not be an adult for one night, it's kind of fun," she says. "It's not the typical, uneasy having to go up to someone you don't know, because everyone has on these silly nametags, and [the games] are like an icebreaker." Todd Jones agrees. A PlayDate veteran, Jones has been coming to the events since they started three years ago. He's even attended launches in other cities and says the atmosphere is the same everywhere. "When you go to a club, people will stand around. They're very defensive," Jones says. "But here, you really have to intermingle." Gesturing to the six women he's playing Uno with, Jones says he doesn't come to PlayDate looking to hook up. "I just come here really to have a good time. If something happens after that, then, fine." Havard says that's the basis of his company, Timeless, which also offers Paint By Numbers and Call Me UP. Paint By Numbers lets people socialize while painting a 100-square-foot mural. Call Me UP is a new interactive take on a stand-up comedy club. "You go to a nightclub, a lot of times, that scene is the same," Havard says. "It's too loud; it's too dark; it's too smoky. A lot of people have on their nightclub personas, so you don't get to know real people. What we've found with PlayDate is, it lets people let their guard down and be themselves. It's romantic, in a sense, because you begin to connect like you did when you were younger." Back on the dance floor, Havard narrates a game of musical chairs. As the music stops, a woman and man fight for the last chair. "Girl, you've got a nice booty, but it ain't in the seat," Havard shouts into the microphone. "Everybody say byyyyyeee!" As the crowd shouts a farewell, Hill looks at his watch, shrugs proudly and smiles. "It's not every day you can answer 'what do you do for a living?' with 'I have fun, and I make sure other people have fun, too,' " he says. "I mean, where else in the world would you see 30- and 40-year-olds playing musical chairs at midnight?"

PlayDate offers fun alternative to nightlife scene with board games, video games . Timeless Entertainment Concepts runs PlayDate, Paint By Numbers . PlayDate offers hula-hoops, musical chairs, Scrabble, Jenga, Pictionary . To "not be an adult for one night" is kind of fun, participant says .

5bd35a2e89c44679e2a720f3984293e31e340172

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps has acknowledged he engaged in "regrettable" behavior and "demonstrated bad judgment," after a British newspaper published a photograph of the swimmer smoking from a bong. Sports attorney Ryan Smith thinks Michael Phelps should speak to public about his opposition to drug use. Ryan Smith, a sports attorney and BET talk show host, on Monday spoke to John Roberts on CNN's "American Morning" about how the incident could affect Phelps' career. John Roberts: What was your reaction to news of this picture of Michael Phelps surfacing? Ryan Smith: The thing with Michael Phelps is, he's not only been an outspoken athlete against drugs so he's done a lot of testing, he's been supportive of WADA, which is the World Anti-Doping Agency. But he's really a guy of high character. So you look at this, and my first thought was, "What about his endorsement deals? What's going to happen in those?" A lot of endorsement deals have clauses that say that you can't do bad actions like this, not only crimes, but just things that you do bad in public could result in the termination of your contract. So he could lose a lot of money on this. Roberts: Now he never really admitted to smoking marijuana. ... The United States Olympic Committee isn't going to sanction him, it looks like, but did call his actions disappointing. But to the greater issue that you were talking about, in terms of his endorsement deals, do you think anybody is going to say, well, this is the straw that broke the camel's back with this guy? He had one incident back in 2004. But are you going to dump Michael Phelps because of this picture? Smith: It could happen, and the reason why is because a lot of these companies that are sponsoring him really are focused on kids and how actions of their athletes affect children. So that can be a big problem. The other thing is, unlike an athlete that plays sports every year in the public spotlight, the Olympics for swimmers comes only every four years. So he doesn't have that chance to rehabilitate his image immediately like a lot of other athletes, a basketball player or a football player would. So companies might say, you know what, let's not work with Michael Phelps right now, because he doesn't really have a chance to redeem himself. A picture says a thousand words, and how can he fight that? Roberts: How could you turn this around? If you were his attorney, if you were advising him what would you do? Smith: The first thing I would suggest is a drug test. And I know that that's not required. And I also know that he's not really going to have a problem with swimming in 2012. But I would just show that hey, I'm clean, I'm doing great. The next thing I would do is go out there in the public and talk about the troubles with working with drugs and really show the public that you are not about drug use, you are not about doing bad things in public. You are only about supporting the rules of WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency, and supporting their drug testing program. So you can show that, hey, this is a minor incident, not a big deal. And really what it's all about is remaining clean. Roberts: If you were to lay a bet, would you say anybody drops him? Smith: I would say he'll have some problems. I don't know if I would say that a big sponsor would drop him, but I would say that a more wholesome-oriented sponsor might.

Michael Phelps could lose a lot of sponsor money, attorney says . Newspaper has published photo of Olympic swimmer using a bong . Attorney Ryan Smith would advise Phelps to get drug test .

799d802bd5058e527271843e3992b67123319191

(CNN) -- Customs officials in Australia have cried fowl after searching a airline traveler -- and allegedly finding two live pigeons stuffed in his tights. Customs officials in Australia allege that a man tried to smuggle pigeons hidden in his tights. The 23-year-old man was stopped at Melbourne International Airport Sunday after arriving on a flight from Dubai, Australia's Customs and Border Protection service said in a statement posted on its Web site. The service alleges that two eggs were found inside a multivitamin container carried by the passenger, who comes from Melbourne. A further search revealed that he was wearing tights -- with a live bird stashed down each leg. Photographs show the birds appear to have been rolled in newspaper and polythene with only their heads showing. The images indicate that one bird was attached to each of the alleged smuggler's lower legs. Customs officials also claim that plant seeds were found in the man's moneybelt and undeclared eggplant in his baggage. "Wildlife smuggling is not only cruel to the animals involved, it poses a severe risk to the Australian environment and the health of the Australian community," said Richard Janeczko, Customs and Border Protection National Manager Investigations. "It is important that people declare all animal and plant materials to Customs and Border Protection when they enter Australia," Janeczko added. The service said that the maximum penalty for wildlife smuggling is 10 years imprisonment and/or a A$110,000 ($70,000) fine.

Customs officers stopped 23-year-old man as he returned from Dubai . Photographs show live birds were rolled in newspaper and polythene . Maximum penalty for wildlife smuggling is 10 years jail and/or $70,000 fine .

68009d839eeb0d71f5ba12a308c15ddf858a1e6e

(CNN) -- Questions continued to swirl Thursday over the president's decision to withdraw a pardon for a New York developer involved in a Long Island mortgage fraud scheme. President Bush withdrew the pardon of Isaac Toussie after a firestorm of criticism. Isaac Toussie, 36, was convicted in 2001 of mail fraud and of making false statements to the Department of Housing and Urban Development that stemmed from the mortgage scheme. The White House initially announced the pardon Tuesday afternoon, immediately setting off a firestorm of criticism from angry homeowners and investors, as well as government watchdog organizations quick to note Toussie's ties to prominent Republican officeholders. Among the questions now being asked are: . • Why didn't the White House conduct a more thorough investigation of Toussie's background? • Why did White House Counsel Fred Fielding circumvent the typical pardon application process by directly considering Toussie's clemency request instead of leaving it to the Justice Department? • Did Toussie get special treatment because of his political connections? Watch why Bush withdrew the pardon » . Toussie and his father, also a developer, are defendants in a lawsuit filed in New York federal court on behalf of more than 400 minority home purchasers who allege a conspiracy involving racial steering, racketeering and fraud related to homes the Toussies built on Staten Island, attorney Peter Seidman told CNN. Seidman, a partner in a law firm representing the plaintiffs, said he was "very pleased" with President Bush's order for a review of the pardon. "It [the pardon] was a bitter pill for the home purchasers to swallow," he said. The Toussies had previously been accused of conspiring with lenders and others to build and sell substandard homes -- a charge they denied. According to a senior administration official, the White House learned new information about Toussie's case Tuesday night -- hours after the pardon was announced. Specifically, the White House learned, according to the official, "additional information about the nature of fraud [Toussie] carried out." The White House also learned that Toussie's father had made numerous contributions to leading GOP politicians. In 2008, Toussie's father donated almost $40,000 to Arizona Sen. John McCain, Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith and Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor. White House press secretary Dana Perino issued a statement Wednesday saying that "based on information that has subsequently come to light," Bush had told the Justice Department's pardon attorney not to act on the pardon extended to Toussie. Instead, Perino said, "The president believes that the pardon attorney should have an opportunity to review this case before a decision on clemency is made." While almost all pardon requests go through the Justice Department, the Constitution allows the president to grant a pardon or commutation to any individual for any reason. Perino said Toussie's pardon was withdrawn before it reached the final stage of the process. The president's request never made it to the pardon attorney, who actually executes the pardon requests. Bradford Berenson, Toussie's lawyer, issued a statement saying Toussie "remains confident" that the pardon attorney will find in his favor. Toussie was sentenced in September 2003 to a five-month prison sentence in the Long Island case, as well as three years of supervised release. Seidman told CNN that the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the Toussies allege that the quality of construction in homes they bought on Staten Island was inferior to that in the model homes upon which they had based their decision to buy. They also allege that their applications were coded by race, a violation of civil rights laws, and that they were steered away from racially integrated neighborhoods to segregated neighborhoods, he said. "I'm baffled that Toussie was selected as a candidate for a pardon in the first place," Seidman said. "So I don't know what I would say about the re-examination, other than why in the first place they thought he was worthy." The Toussies deny the allegations in the lawsuit. An administration official noted it is rare for a pardon to be reversed. Bush's 189 pardons and nine commutations are far fewer than those granted by Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan in either of their two-term administrations. Bush's planned pardon of Toussie was one of 19 presidential pardons announced earlier this week. CNN's Kevin Bohn, Elaine Quijano and Alan Silverleib contributed to this report.

Isaac Toussie was involved in mortgage scheme in New York . Answers wanted about how thorough of an investigation there was before his pardon . Questions remain about whether pardon was due in part to political connections . White House learned Toussie's father made contributions to top GOP politicians .

2d219b6cf528e73c406bdcd6e90db9ced720df6f

(CNN) -- A woman who has been in a vegetative state for nearly 17 years was transferred to a private clinic Tuesday where she is expected to die -- ending what has been a lengthy and controversial legal fight. A portrait of Eluana Englaro taken in July 2008 in Italy. Englaro has been in a vegetative state for nearly 17 years. Eluana Englaro suffered irreversible brain damage in a car crash in 1992, when she was 20 years old. For years, her father has fought to have her feeding tube removed, saying it would be a dignified end to his daughter's life. Beppino Englaro says that before the crash, his daughter visited a friend who was in a coma and told him she didn't want the same thing to happen to her should she ever be in the same state. Euthanasia is illegal in Italy, but patients have the right to refuse treatment. It is on that basis that Englaro argued his daughter should be allowed to die, because she had expressed the wish not to be kept alive while in a coma -- indirectly refusing treatment, he said. "We knew Eluana well, and we always thought of her as a champion of freedom," her father said in October. "She had clear ideas about her life and for her, life was about freedom -- not an obligation to live." A series of legal battles finally ended in November, when Italy's highest court, the Court of Cassation, upheld a lower court ruling allowing Englaro to suspend his daughter's treatment. But although Englaro had cleared the last legal hurdle, the court's decision sparked a new fight to find a hospital or clinic that would take out Eluana's feeding tube. Several clinics initially came forward to say they could do it, but the Italian health minister then issued a decree to remind them of their duty of care. Under pressure to adhere to his decree, the clinics backed off. Finally, a private clinic in the northeastern Italian city of Udine agreed to assist in Eluana's case. Monday night, Eluana was transferred from the church-run hospital in Lecco, north of Milan, where she had been kept alive to the Udine clinic. A handful of protesters tried to block the ambulance carrying Eluana from leaving the clinic, one of them holding a banner reading, "Only thieves and assassins act at night." The case has been a controversial one in Italy, a heavily Catholic country where the Vatican has great influence. Last Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI told pilgrims that "euthanasia is a false solution to suffering." Tuesday morning, a top Vatican official was quoted in the Italian media saying, "Stop the killer hands." The Udine clinic says the removal of Eluana's tube will begin in about three days, and the process of allowing her to die will take about 20 days. Clinic officials gave police an outline of the specific steps they are going to take with Eluana during that time. The outline adheres to the Cassation Court's ruling, which required certain steps and conditions once Eluana's feeding tube is removed. Among the steps and conditions was a rule that no video or photography may be taken and that only certain people may enter the patient's room.

Eluana Englaro has been in a coma for 17 years after a car crash . Englaro was transferred to a private clinic Tuesday where she is expected to die . Her father has fought for years to have her feeding tube removed .

058568ee39ad194f5161a08a88ebcc8ee5223c41

BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- German investigators Thursday acknowledged "credible information" indicating that one of the world's most wanted Nazi war criminals died almost 20 years ago in Egypt. The former the hotel in Cairo where Heim spent his final days. The announcement from the Baden-Wuerttemberg State Criminal Investigations Office came a day after German public broadcaster ZDF reported similar findings about Aribert Heim, wanted since 1962. ZDF said research it conducted with the New York Times showed that Heim died in Cairo in 1992 of intestinal cancer. Witness accounts and documents, including a passport, prove that Heim lived under the false name of Tarek Farid Hussein, ZDF said. CNN spoke to Heim's son, Ruediger Heim, who said his father fled Germany to Egypt via France, Spain and Morocco. Ruediger Heim told CNN he visited his father in Cairo several times, including in the final weeks of his life when the terminal cancer was discovered. The German investigators said they were was checking the new information. "This information has not yet been verified due to time constraints," the office said in a statement. But German authorities said they already had hints that Heim was living and working in Egypt. The office said it received information in 1965 and 1967 indicating Heim was working in the country, but Egyptian authorities at the time, acting on a German request, did not find any conclusive evidence. "Our main goal now is, in cooperation with the Egyptian authorities, (to) identify the remains of Aribert Heim," the office said. The chief Nazi hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Efraim Zuroff, said the news about Heim's death, if true, is deeply disappointing. "I personally feel a tremendous sense of disappointment that he escaped justice," Zuroff told CNN. But he emphasized that he had not seen the evidence that Heim was dead. "There is no body and no grave, so we can't do a DNA test," he said, adding that "there are people who have a vested interest in convincing us that he is no longer alive." He said he expects to see the documentary evidence of Heim's death on Thursday. Heim would be 94 years old if he were still alive. Zuroff described Heim as "the most wanted Nazi war criminal," and said the Simon Wiesenthal Center was about to raise the reward for information about him from €315,000 ($405,000) to €1 million ($1.3 million) when it heard the reports of his death. During World War II Heim was a doctor at the Mauthausen concentration camp, where he was known to inmates as "Dr. Death" for performing often-fatal experiments on prisoners. After the war, he was initially cleared of wrongdoing, but in 1962 German authorities issued an arrest warrant for him. CNN Berlin Bureau Chief Frederik Pleitgen contributed to this report .

German broadcaster reports Nazi hiding in Egypt died in 1992 . Aribert Heim known to inmates as "Dr. Death" performed experiments on prisoners . ZDF reports he lived lived in Cairo as Tarek Farid Hussein; died of cancer . Nazi hunter groups says it expects to see documentary evidence Thursday .

2ca9f740485581f77409191fc97b1f1681e3cf66

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Barack Obama claimed the second major legislative victory of his young administration Wednesday, signing a bill to provide federally funded health care to an estimated 4 million children. President Obama says the SCHIP bill is a downpayment on his "commitment to cover every single American." The final version of the new law, which expands the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by roughly $35 billion over the next five years, passed a sharply polarized House of Representatives earlier in the day, with almost every Democrat voting in favor of the expansion and most Republicans opposing it. With the bill, Obama said at a White House ceremony, "We fulfill one of the highest responsibilities that we have -- to ensure the health and well-being of our nation's children." The president said the bill was a downpayment on his "commitment to cover every single American." The SCHIP expansion is Obama's second major legislative win in less than a week. The first was Thursday's approval of the Lilly Ledbetter Pay Equity Act, which makes it easier to sue employers for wage-based discrimination. Learn more about the SCHIP program » . The expansion is also a sign of the strength of Washington's new Democratic majority. Former President George W. Bush vetoed two similar health care bills in 2007, arguing that the legislation would encourage families to leave the private insurance market for the federally funded, state-run program. Before the bill's passage, SCHIP covered almost 7 million children whose parents earn too much to qualify for Medicaid -- the federal health insurance program for the poor -- but who can't afford private insurance. The new law boosts total SCHIP funding to approximately $60 billion. The expanded program will be financed with a 62-cent-per-pack increase in the federal tax on cigarettes. "This is a day worthy of celebration. There can be no greater cause ... than protecting the well-being of our nation's children," New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone, the legislation's primary House author, said shortly before the bill's final passage on a 290-135 vote. Passing the health program's expansion is "morally the right thing to do by our children," said freshman Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Virginia. "At a time when the cost of health care is crushing America's families ... this is an important lifeline." Opponents of the legislation argued that, among other things, it will allow undocumented immigrants to illegally access taxpayer-financed health care, and is insufficiently funded. "This will go out of control just like all the other [entitlement] programs have, and our children will pay," Rep. Jack Linder, R-Georgia, warned during the House debate Wednesday. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, ripped the bill as a "foundation stone for socialized medicine in the United States," arguing that raising the income limit for SCHIP eligibility will serve as the basis for a massive expansion of government-run health care. The Senate passed the expansion Friday in a 66-32 vote. All those voting against the bill were Republicans, though nine Republicans voted in favor of the measure.

NEW: President Obama signs State Children's Health Insurance Program into law . House approves the bill in vote that falls largely along party lines . SCHIP passed the Senate last week . SCHIP makes additional 4 million kids eligible for federally funded health insurance .

642ef9066835ec36bc2bca620b4cee571fe8d1ff

(CNN) -- Sri Lanka's president declared Wednesday that the country's Tamil insurgents are on the verge of total defeat, saying their demise has helped unite the island nation on the 61st anniversary of its independence. Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa . "We are today a nation that has defeated a powerful enemy that stood before us," Mahinda Rajapaksa said in his independence day speech. "Our entire nation is now united in the shade of the national flag." But in other parts of his speech, Rajapaksa indicated that the fight against the Tamil Tiger rebels was not over. "I am confident that in a few days we will decisively defeat the terrorist force that many repeatedly kept saying was invincible," he said. In another part of the speech, he said, government forces over the past two and a half years have "been able ... to almost completely defeat" the rebel forces. Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa rejected calls Wednesday for a negotiated end to the fighting. He said there would be no political solution, the online edition of The Island reported. Some in the international community have suggested negotiations to give the rebels an opportunity to surrender. That idea is ridiculous, an angry Rajapaksa told The Island, emphasizing that nothing short of unconditional surrender of arms and cadres could end the offensive on the Vanni front. Government troops and Tamil rebels are locked in a battle for the remaining rebel strongholds in the north of Sri Lanka, where the the country's ethnic Tamil minority has been fighting for an independent homeland since 1983. Watch a report on risks facing journalists in Sri Lanka » . Humanitarian groups say as many as 250,000 unprotected civilians are trapped in the area where the fighting is taking place, and the onslaught has intensified as government forces have closed in on the rebels. Aid agencies have asked for increased access to the region, calling conditions in northern Sri Lanka a nightmarish situation. The fighting has forced the closure of Pudukkudiyiruppu hospital in the Vanni region, the last functioning medical facility in the conflict zone.

Government troops, rebels battling for remaining rebel strongholds in north . Aid groups say as many as 250,000 civilians are trapped in the area . Last functioning medical facility in the conflict zone has closed . Ethnic Tamil minority fighting for an independent homeland since 1983 .

b8b5ea3238e180f7726f12c821a4b4aad9f1495d

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Days after thick snow brought London to a standstill, the traditional drizzle has returned and it is business as usual in the bustling British capital. The snowmen who populated London during the heaviest snowfall in 18 years are looking worse for wear. The pavement might be slippery with ice but the resumption of the bus and rail services means that you'll at least be able to move around the city. All airports in the south are operating normally -- albeit with some delays -- so there's no excuse to stay away. With that in mind, CNN Business Traveller has compiled a guide for visitors to the city. It is still wise to bring an umbrella, but this week you may want to throw in a couple of ski poles. Time zone: London is currently on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), five hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time and eight hours behind Hong Kong. From the airport: Non-stop train services link Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted aiports with central London. The Heathrow Express takes 15 minutes to Paddington Station and costs from $24 (£16.50) for a single journey. The London Underground costs only $6 (£4) but takes an hour. A breakfast meeting: Visitors with a healthy budget and appetite might want to start the day at the Grand Café in The Wolseley (160 Piccadilly, W1J) where you where you can buy a traditional fry-up or "The English" for just shy of $20 (£13.50). A budget option with no less of a London flavor can be found at the The Cock Tavern (East Poultry Avenue, EC1A) in the heart of Smithfield Market. Meat has been traded there for 800 years and early in the morning you can still see butchers plying their trade in bloodied coats. For dinner: Impress with a table at one of London's most famous restaurants, Le Gavroche (43 Upper Brook Street, W1K) or Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's (Brook Street, W1K) . For a cheaper option try a traditional pie and mash shop, the once staple of working class East London life. One of the oldest is M Manze (87 Tower Bridge Road, SE1) that sells jellied eels as well as pie and mash amid the traditional decor of tiled walls, wooden benches and white marble table-tops. For a drink: Two of the oldest London pubs include Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (145 Fleet Street, EC4A) in the City of London and The Prospect of Whitby (57 Wapping Wall, E1W) a short walk along the Thames from Canary Wharf. For one of the best hotel bars try the Lanesborough (Hyde Park Corner, SW1X) and One Aldwych (1 Aldwych, WC2B). High-flyers can also take in the view over a drink at Vertigo 42, the champagne bar atop Tower 42 (25 Old Broad Street, EC2N). Tipping: Expect to tip around 10 percent in restaurants and cabs, but no tips are expected in bars. On a fine afternoon (they do exist): Visit St James's Park to seek out its pelicans and to catch a view of Buckingham Palace from the bridge on the lake. Then walk via Westminster Abbey to Waterloo Bridge for spectacular views of The Palace of Westminster, Somerset House and Victoria Embankment. Finish with a ride on the London Eye. Staying dry: Improve your swing at one of London's indoor golf centers. Urban Golf (Soho and Smithfield) features eight simulators, two putting greens, a bar and lounge and coaching. Shelter can also be found in some of London's iconic department stores. Harrods and Harvey Nichols are both in Knightsbridge. Opening hours: Most shops and businesses are open from 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Larger stores in central London stay open till 7 p.m or 8 p.m. and later on Thursdays. What to avoid: The crowds of tourists in Leicester Square, the Trocadero and the ubiquitous Scottish Steakhouses in London's West End. Transport: Be warned: a single-stop tube journey in central London costs $8 (£4). To save money buy an Oyster card, which can be used on London's underground (£1.60 per single-stop journey), buses, trams and some overland rail services. Black cabs can be hailed anywhere. Fares are high but the pay-off is that all drivers must pass the "Knowledge" -- an in-depth exam on navigating around London -- which means they really do know where they are going. Don't miss in February: In 2009 the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (Richmond, TW9) is celebrating its 250th anniversary with a "Tropical Extravaganza" of exotic plants in one of its conservatories. The Natural History Museum (Cromwell Road, SW7) is commemorating the bicentenary of Charles Darwin's birth and 150th year of the publication of On the Origin of Species with a major exhibition. A number of star-studded plays have also just opened in London's theatreland. Imelda Staunton, star of Harry Potter, is in Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr Sloane (Trafalgar Studios until April 11). James McAvoy is in Richard Greenberg's Three Days of Rain (Apollo Theatre until May 2). What to pack: February is a particularly bleak and cold month in Britain so pack an umbrella and warm clothes. For a handy keepsake of the city, buy an umbrella on arrival from James Smith & Sons (53 New Oxford Street, WC1A). The shop has hardly changed since it opened in 1830 and offers an impressive range of umbrellas and essential gentlemen's accessories. Oh, and don't forget to pack thermals and some decent footwear. What are your tips for London visitors? Sound Off below .

London buses, trains, airports operating after heaviest snowfall in 18 years . CNN's Business Traveller offers advice for business travellers in London . Indulge in a traditional pie and mash, stay dry by playing indoor golf, shopping . If you're planning on using the underground system, buy an Oyster card .

13532f045a97e894b1f31e22283ae5ebd8874873

(CNN) -- Yahoo! announced Monday that the search is on for the Internet giant's next CEO. Jerry Yang, Yahoo! co-founder, speaks at an electronics show in Las Vegas in January. The new CEO will replace Yahoo! co-founder, Jerry Yang, who assumed the position in June 2007 and has since come under fire for failing to turn around the company. Yang will step down when a replacement is selected. Just two weeks ago at the Web 2.0 Summit, Yang was asked if he was the right guy to lead the battered portal. Yang dodged the question by defending his passion for the company he co-founded 13 years ago. "I didn't make the decision of being the CEO lightly," he said. "I wanted to make a change at Yahoo! that I believe I can make ... That's a dream that I felt I could achieve by being CEO and that's still the dream today." Now, Yang plans to return to his former role as "Chief Yahoo" and will still have a seat on the board, Yahoo! said. During his short tenure, Yahoo! has had two major rounds of layoffs and has seen its search market share shrink significantly while a series of reorganizations led to the departure of senior executives. Wall Street and shareholders criticized Yang for falling short of reaching an agreement to sell the company to Microsoft. Yang also was taken to task when Google pulled out of a controversial ad agreement earlier this month that would have boosted Yahoo's revenues by hundreds of millions of dollars. Yahoo! said the search for a new CEO will encompass both internal and external candidates. "Over the past year and a half, despite extraordinary challenges and distractions, Jerry Yang has led the repositioning of Yahoo! on an open platform model as well as the improved alignment of costs and revenues," said Chairman Roy Bostock. "Jerry and the Board have had an ongoing dialogue about succession timing, and we all agree that now is the right time to make the transition to a new CEO who can take the company to the next level."

Jerry Yang plans to resume his former role as "Chief Yahoo" The Yahoo! co-founder will still have a seat on the board . Yang criticized for not reaching deal to sell Yahoo! to Microsoft . Yang took over as CEO in June 2007 .

97188a264a3a3da9a4fc95f8aae9243038a2be1e

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The worst snowstorm to hit Britain in 18 years forced the cancellation of more than 650 flights at London's Heathrow airport Monday and shut down the city's bus network, partially paralyzing the British capital. A group of men push a giant snowball across Kensington Gardens, west London Monday. Heathrow, one of the busiest transport hubs in the world, closed both its runways for more than two hours Monday morning and operated with just one for the rest of the morning, according to BAA, the company which runs it. London City airport is also closed, while the British capital's other two airports, Stansted and Gatwick, were operating with severe delays, BAA said. British Airways canceled all flights out of Heathrow until 5 p.m. except for Edinburgh and Lisbon routes. Send your iReport videos, stories . One of the city's largest cab companies was in such high demand it stopped taking cash and credit card bookings, serving only customers with accounts, it said. Dial-a-Cab, which has a fleet of over 2,500 vehicles, served mainly blue-chip companies trying to get employees into work, said Keith Cain a Control Room manager for the company. Customers waited up to an hour and a half for a cab early in the morning, he said. See gallery of UK under snow » . Jochen Jaeger, 36, found himself stranded at Heathrow, unable to fly home to Zurich or to get back into the apartment he rented in London. "I will stay here at the airport," he told CNN. "There is no other option. I may have to spend the night here." American businessman Ken Plunkett, 60, from St. Paul, Minnesota, was trying to fly out from Heathrow Airport but found himself caught in the weather chaos. "I know England does not have the infrastructure to remove snow like we do in Minnesota," he said. Watch passenger stranded by snow » . Jenny Leslie, a shop worker at Heathrow's Terminal 2, said it was so quiet at the airport "you can hear a pin drop." Southampton Airport, southwest of London, was also closed for several hours Monday morning, but re-opened by 1200 GMT. But many people in the city were delighted by the unusual weather. "Londoners of all ages are childishly happy to be making snowmen and having snowball fights. Bankers of all ages are throwing snowballs in the middle of the residential streets," Monica Majumdar told CNN in an iReport. She lived in New York before moving to London four years ago, and was surprised by how little snow it took to bring the British capital to a standstill. "I have seen snow like this. But somehow, it's more beautiful here. It's partly due to the fact that even Londoners are amazed by the snow -- so there is a general air of surrealism," she said via e-mail. " I do feel like I'm in a Christmas snowglobe, with all the iconic London monuments blanketed by the powdered snow." London's famous red buses were pulled off the roads on Sunday night as the snow got deeper. It was the first time "in living memory" that all city bus service had been suspended, including when London was being bombed during World War II, a spokesman for the city's transit agency, Transport for London, said. "Bus services were suspended throughout London last night on the grounds of passenger safety due to the unsafe road conditions resulting in a large number of traffic incidents across London," the agency said in a statement Monday morning. Watch London grind to a halt » . About six million people ride London buses each day, said the spokesman, who asked not to be named. Some bus service had been restored by lunchtime on Monday. London Mayor Boris Johnson suspended the £8 ($11.30) daily congestion charge drivers normally pay to enter central London, the city transport authority said. Some bus service had been restored by lunchtime on Monday. The city's subway system was also experiencing severe delays, leaving normally bustling central London something of a ghost town. On a regular weekday, London's transit system handles more than three million passenger journeys. The Federation of Small Businesses estimated that at least one in five workers nationwide -- about 6.4 million employees -- failed to make it into work Monday morning. But the figure was estimated to be far higher -- around two in five -- in London and southeast England, which is home to around a fifth of all British businesses. Monday's disruptions are likely to cost businesses £1.2 billion ($1.7 billion), FSB spokesman Stephen Alambritis told CNN. Britain's national weather service, the Met Office, issued severe weather warnings for all of England and much of Scotland and Wales for both Monday and Tuesday. It reported 20cm of snow in Balham, south London, and 15cm at Canary Wharf in east London. The last time such widespread snowfall affected Britain was in February 1991, the Met Office said. Watch iReport on snowy Stonehenge. The snow meant a break from school for the region's children as classes gave way to snowball fights. In the southern English seaside resort of Brighton there was a carnival atmosphere as dozens of people who were unable to get to work threw snowballs and built snowmen on the beach. Mother-of-three Fiona Robbins, 45, added: "Everyone is very excited to be able to show their children proper snow for the first time." Tuesday's forecast is expected to bring some relief, with the snow expected to stop and temperatures to rise above freezing. Two climbers were found dead Monday morning on Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales, after being reported missing Sunday night, North Wales Police said. It was not clear if their deaths were related to the storm. CNN Business Assignment Editor Alysen Miller, Laura Perez Maestro, Simon Hooper and Olivia Feld in London contributed to this report.

UK business spokesman: Disruptions would likely cost $1.7 billion . Meteorologists said snow is worst in southeastern England in 18 years . Major international airports including Heathrow, Gatwick badly affected . UK weather service issues severe weather warnings for Monday, Tuesday .

f99fb23e7031d50818dfb62c398b4363250f0213

(CNN) -- A fire on the back porch of a home in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, was the town's 18th arson fire of the year, authorities determined Wednesday morning. The latest in a string of arson fires was quickly extinguished on a back porch of this Coatesville house. John Hageman from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said the small fire broke out about 9:45 p.m. Tuesday in the eastern Pennsylvania town. Four other fires were deliberately set Saturday in neighboring communities in surrounding Chester County, according to the ATF. They were ignited on the front and side porches of homes, officials said. None of the homes was completely lost, Hageman said. The Coatesville arsons have received national attention. At least 30 fires have been deliberately set in Coatesville in 2008 and 2009. Of those, more than half have occurred in the past four weeks. The string of arson fires has rattled residents, who have demanded action from City Hall and fire officials. A county task force is investigating the arsons and looking into other fires near Coatesville, which is about 40 miles west of Philadelphia. Fire swept through 15 homes in the town during the weekend of January 24 and 25, authorities said. Coatesville has a population of about 11,000.

Back porch fire is ruled an arson in Coatesville, Pennsylvania . The town, population 11,000, has had 18 arsons so far this year . At least 30 fires were deliberately set in the town in 2008 and 2009 . Fire swept through 15 Coatesville homes the weekend of January 24-25 .

655b07004407ec282b84176a595c015b64a1f3a6

MEXICO CITY (CNN) -- Mexican President Felipe Calderon outlined a series of economic recovery measures Wednesday, including freezing gasoline prices for the rest of the year and lowering natural gas prices by 10 percent. Mexican President Felipe Calderon announces his economic recovery proposals on Wednesday. Calderon also announced an ambitious agenda to help rebuild the nation's highways, bridges and other public-use facilities. The National Infrastructure Program, as he called it, will spend 570 billion pesos ($42 billion). Petroleos Mexicanos, the nationally owned oil industry, will receive an additional 17 billion pesos ($1.2 billion). Calderon made his wide-ranging announcement in a nationally televised speech attended by his wife, Cabinet members, governors and other public and private officials. He said Mexico is in better shape this year to fight off recession than it was in previous instances. The recovery plan will address five areas: employment aid, family finances, competitiveness, infrastructure, and actions toward public spending that is more transparent and efficient. In all, Calderon promised to spend billions of pesos to help Mexicans weather the global financial storm. For example, Calderon pledged 2.6 billion pesos ($193 million) to improve a Social Security program for unemployed Mexicans, increasing from two months to six months the time they will receive medical and maternity coverage. Other programs he announced also carried hefty price tags. The government will spend 2.2 billion pesos ($163 million) to help Mexicans who are unemployed or underemployed, Calderon said. The recovery measure includes financing to help poor families buy more energy-efficient electrical appliances. The government will set aside 750 million pesos ($55 million) to pay 50 percent of the costs of replacing old appliances. To help businesses, the federal government will make at least 20 percent of its purchases from small- and medium-size companies, Calderon said. The government also will establish a 5 billion peso ($372 million) fund to start a "Made in Mexico" program for businesses to sell supplies to the national petroleum industry.

Mexico leader says gasoline prices will be frozen for rest of year . Also planned is ambitious program to rebuild nation's infrastructure . Billions of pesos will be spent to help Mexicans weather financial storm . Plan also calls for steps to aid small- and medium-size companies .

deb1b2f9b06a105185435f58e2677de3f670b053

(CNN) -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were created to help individuals realize the American dream of home ownership, but they now find their survival at risk in the U.S. mortgage crisis. Steps to shore up FannieMae and Freddie Mac could eventually stabilize home prices. Friday's closure of California-based IndyMac bank by federal regulators on Friday sparked investor panic that sent shares of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on a wild ride and fueled speculation of a government rescue. On Sunday, the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve announced steps to make funds available to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac if necessary. IndyMac, which reopened Monday under federal supervision, was once one of the nation's largest home lenders. Thanks in part to the nation's mortgage crisis, it lost hundreds of millions of dollars this year and last, and concerns about the bank led customers to withdraw $1.3 billion in the last two weeks, prompting the government takeover. Below, CNN's Ali Velshi and Gerri Willis answer questions about Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and IndyMac and how you may be affected. Q: What are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and what do they do? A: Originally chartered by Congress, both were converted into private companies with shares traded on Wall Street. Neither company directly loans money to prospective home buyers. Instead, they buy mortgages from banks and other lenders on the secondary market, thus freeing up more funds to home lenders. They resell bundled loans as mortgage-backed securities. Read more about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac » . Combined, the two companies own or guarantee almost half of the home loans in the United States, or $5.3 trillion of mortgage debt. Q: How did they get their names? A: Fannie Mae was created in 1938, during the Great Depression. The nickname comes from the acronym FNMA, which stands for Federal National Mortgage Association. Freddie Mac was chartered by Congress as a private corporation in 1970 to end Fannie Mae's monopoly over the secondary mortgage market. The name Freddie Mac spawns from the acronym FHLMC, or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. Q: What's the connection between the IndyMac takeover and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? A: Nothing, except both crises stem from the same problem: a drop in home prices and the inability of mortgage-holders to make their payments, thereby leaving banks (whether it was IndyMac, an actual lender, or Fannie/Freddie, the secondary banks that had bought mortgages) holding the bag. Q: Will the government's actions change the value of my home? A: Steps the federal government is taking to shore up Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae is ultimately a positive for the housing industry. Although it won't happen overnight, housing prices could be stabilized by the move. The reason? These two institutions are critical to the smooth functioning of the mortgage underwriting industry. Q: Is my money safe in the bank? A: Up to certain limits, money is safe in banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The FDIC guarantees traditional bank accounts up to $100,000 and individual retirement accounts up to $250,000. Money beyond those limits isn't guaranteed if a bank fails. In the case of IndyMac, the FDIC says it will cover 50 percent of uninsured balances there. But as a practical matter, consumers shouldn't count on that. Bottom line: Owning accounts with amounts that exceed the FDIC limits is like driving without a seat belt. Watch: Is your bank safe? » . Q: How are the government's moves to help Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac going to affect mortgages, loans and the federal budget deficit? A: Shoring up Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae is good news for consumer lending lending generally because it boosts confidence in the mortgage markets. If you already have a loan, it's won't have immediate consequences. We don't yet know if it will be successful and how much the two entities might take advantage of the federal governments offer to lend them money. For that reason, it's difficult to say what the impact might be on the federal budget deficit. Suffice it to say, however, that the buck always seems to stop with the American taxpayer.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac own or guarantee almost half of U.S. home loans . Government announces steps to shore up mortgage giants if necessary . Steps could stabilize home prices .

af9906a58acb1933a0fe149498260576045f38f8

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie has asked Thailand to permit greater freedom for thousands of refugees stuck in camps after fleeing neighboring Myanmar, according to a U.N. statement released Friday. Angellina Jolie and Brad Pitt visited refugees in northern Thailand on Wednesday. Jolie and actor Brad Pitt traveled to a refugee camp in northern Thailand on Wednesday in effort to draw international attention to what the U.N. has called "restricted" movement of roughly 111,000 refugees housed in nine camps along the Thai-Myanmar border, the statement said. Jolie has spent several years as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. She said her passion for helping refugees, whom she calls "the most vulnerable people in the world," was sparked in 2001 during visits to Cambodia." The U.N. estimates more than 5,000 people have fled to northern Thailand's Mae Hong Son province between 2006 and 2007. A recent CNN investigation found evidence of the Thai army towing an apparent boatload of 190 Rohingya refugees -- a Muslim minority group from Myanmar -- out to sea, prompting Thai authorities to launch an investigation. CNN's Dan Rivers and Kocha Olarn contributed to this report.

Angelina Jolie calls on Thai leaders to grant more freedom to refugees . Thousands of refugees are stuck in camps after fleeing Myanmar . Jolie is currently goodwill ambassador for U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees .

d4f0f67b36d2d3d13d64005e179932dec52669f7

CNN -- Years ago, a frustrated boy with a violent temper attacked his own mother with a hammer (his older brother restrained him). He stabbed a schoolmate over a dispute about which radio station to listen to; the knife blade luckily hit a belt buckle. Carson wants to continue educational efforts and find ways to reform the health care system when he retires. That brash teen today is a world-renowned neurosurgeon and the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children's Center. Dr. Benjamin S. Carson made medical history in 1987 by performing the first successful surgery that separated twins conjoined at the back of the head. He also became known for his expertise in pediatric brain tumors and methods of controlling seizures. In 2008, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, this country's highest civilian honor. Having come up from the streets of Detroit, Michigan, to receiving an award at the White House, Carson, 56, works to spread his gospel of education and hard work to motivate others. He and his wife, Candy, started a scholarship foundation to help children with strong academics and humanitarian qualities to pay for college. "I have at least 100,000 letters from kids and adults from around the world ... telling me how it changed their lives," Carson said. Their tales of transformations and redemption inspire him to keep talking about educational empowerment and overcoming adversity, he said. An obstacle is a hurdle, and "you jump over it," Carson said. "Every time you see a hurdle, you jump over it, and it strengthens you for the next one. And if that's the case, you lead a victorious life, because whatever comes before you, you know you're going to get around it." Carson was raised in Detroit, majored in psychology at Yale University and attended medical school at the University of Michigan, where he studied neurosurgery. Carson's life has been told through plays, books and movies, including a TNT made-for-TV movie called "Gifted Hands," which airs Saturday. (TNT is part of Turner Broadcasting, which also owns CNN.) The biopic stars Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr. as Carson. "I think he's an angel, a gift from God," Gooding said. "He has touched a lot of people's lives." Carson holds more than 50 honorary doctorates and hundreds of other awards. He's fortunate, he acknowledges, but this doctor does not believe in luck. "I always say you make your own luck by being prepared," he said. His mom pushed him hard. Sonya Carson "would not accept the victim mentality. She wouldn't let us accept the victim mentality. No excuses. She didn't make excuses, and she didn't accept excuses," Carson said. She turned off the TV, sent Carson and his brother to the library and made them write weekly book reports. Meanwhile, she worked several jobs to support her two sons. She is now 80 and lives with Carson in Baltimore, Maryland. When Carson was young, he was influenced by stories about Booker T. Washington, a former slave who taught himself to read and later advised presidents, and the biblical character Joseph, who persevered though his brothers sold him into slavery. "Those kinds of stories had an impact on me and helped me to believe it's not where you started, it's where you end that counts. And you have a whole lot to do with that," he said. "Everybody has problems. They just come in different forms. If that problem for you becomes a containing fence, then you become a victim. Once you think you're a victim, you are one, and you're not going anywhere." In the same way, Carson's biography has resonated with people like 22-year-old Douglas Nivens II of Baltimore, Maryland. Nivens' mother was killed when he was 4 years old, and his father was imprisoned for her murder. His aunt raised him, and he endured relentless teasing for his interest in academics while attending public schools in Baltimore City. During middle school, Nivens picked up Carson's autobiography, "Gifted Hands," and immediately identified with it. "It was a relief to see someone grew up in the city and didn't have a luxurious life but overcame it all," he said. "I love stories about underdogs, those who overcome adversity and do something." When he was in middle school, Nivens won two $1,000 scholarships from the Carson Scholars Fund, which helps children with strong academics pay for college. "When it came to times of doubt during high school, when I talked to my adviser, they would say, 'You got this award. Not everyone gets it. You're not dumb. You have the tools to be successful in life,' " Nivens said. "That's what really helped me in terms of self-esteem and management in high school." He graduated with honors from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in May. "I probably should not be where I am," said Nivens, a budget analyst for the U.S. Social Security Administration. "I went to Baltimore public schools. My father's in jail; my mother is dead. Statistically, I should not be here. I should be on parole somewhere or even dead. I never looked at it that way. I made it through." Carson said he's heartened by stories pf people who've been inspired by his biography. "My message is that the person who has the most to do with what happens to you is you," Carson said. "Not somebody else, and not the environment. If you have a normal brain, you're capable of incredible things."

Doctor overcame troubled youth to head pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins . Carson won Medal of Freedom and shares his biography to motivate others . Surgeon's biography inspired Baltimore, Maryland, teen that anything is possible .

2bec0803b7a8d6dfc514a988724c15031a96def1

(CNN) -- Actress Ashley Judd says a wolf management program backed by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is "incredibly savage ... it's not right, it's not appropriate, it makes no sense on any level." Ashley Judd is criticizing the aerial hunting of wolves, a program supported by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Appearing on CNN's "Larry King Live," Judd repeated her criticism of a program that allows hunters firing from aircraft to shoot wolves to thin the numbers of the animals. Judd recently appeared in a video for the Washington-based Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, which also opposes the Palin-backed aerial hunting program. Referring to the former Republican vice presidential candidate by name in the video, Judd says that Palin is "championing the slaughter of wildlife." "When Sarah Palin came on the national scene last summer, few knew that she promotes the brutal aerial killing of wolves," Judd says in the video, adding, "It is time to stop Sarah Palin and stop this senseless savagery." Palin responded on Tuesday, releasing a statement calling Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund an "extreme fringe group," and saying, "It is reprehensible and hypocritical that the Defenders of Wildlife would use Alaska and my administration as a fundraising tool to deceive Americans into parting with their hard-earned money." Watch why Judd, Palin are trading barbs » . Judd said Alaska's program is a "distortion" of wildlife hunting under normal circumstances, and that the program attracts "urban hunters, trophy hunters from out of state." Palin did not appear on "Larry King Live," but Rod Arno, executive director of the Alaska Outdoor Council, told King by telephone that only Alaska residents can participate in the aerial wolf-hunting program, and then they must obtain a state permit. The purpose of the program is to facilitate control of Alaska's wolf population, which preys on moose and caribou, Arno said. "The only criticism is from people who aren't up here participating in a predator-prey scheme," he said. Judd was accompanied by Rodger Schlickeisen, CEO of the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, and he said "hundreds" of scientists have criticized the aerial hunting program. Schlickeisen suggested that Palin's government allow television crews to videotape the hunting process "and you could put this out for all the people in American to see and she (Palin) could proudly stand up for it."

Ashley Judd criticizes Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for supporting aerial wolf hunting . In video, Judd says Palin is "championing the slaughter of wildlife" Supporters say hunting program is used to control Alaska's wolf population .

8c55b69bd82f39eadba5a08429f6ffe79933823f

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- A recently retired Mexican army general whose bullet-riddled body was found Tuesday near Cancun had taken over as the area's top antidrug official less than 24 hours earlier, officials said. A soldier guards the forensics office where the body of a slain former general was taken in Cancun, Mexico. Retired Gen. Mauro Enrique Tello Quiñonez, his aide and a driver were tortured before being killed, said Quintana Roo state prosecutor Bello Melchor Rodriguez y Carrillo. He said there was no doubt Tello and the others were victims of organized crime. "The general was the most mistreated," Rodriguez said at a Tuesday night news conference monitored by El Universal newspaper. "He had burns on his skin and bones in his hands and wrists were broken." An autopsy revealed Tello also suffered broken knees and was shot 11 times, Mexico City's Excelsior newspaper said. Tello had just been appointed a special drug-fighting consultant for Gregorio Sanchez Martinez, the mayor of the Benito Juarez municipality, which includes the city of Cancun. Tello, who retired from the army in January at the mandatory age of 63, had moved to the resort area three weeks ago. The three victims were found inside a white Toyota pickup truck outside of Cancun on the road to Merida. The truck belongs to the Benito Juarez municipality, Excelsior said, citing Luis Raymundo Canche, an assistant prosecutor for Quintana Roo state. The three men were abducted Monday night, possibly in Cancun, tortured and then later shot to death, El Universal said, citing prosecutor Rodriguez. The bodies were found with their hands bound, the newspaper said. The killings happened around 4 a.m., the prosecutor said. The other two victims were identified as Lt. Julio Cesar Roman Zuniga, who was Tello's aide and the chief bodyguard for Mayor Martínez, and civilian driver Juan Ramirez Sanchez. Tello is the second high-ranking army officer to be killed in the area in the past few years. Lt. Col. Wilfrido Flores Saucedo and his aide were gunned down on a Cancun street in 2006. That crime remains unsolved. The killings come as Mexico grapples with the highest violent-death rates in its history -- around 5,400 slayings in 2008, more than double the 2,477 reported in 2007, according to Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich has characterized the battle among drug cartels and with government authorities as a "civil war." On Tuesday, 12 men were gunned down in Chihuahua state in northern Mexico, Excelsior reported Wednesday. Eight other people were shot and killed in Chihuahua last weekend. More than 200 people have been killed this year in Ciudad Juarez, the largest city in Chihuahua and considered the most violent town in Mexico, El Tiempo newspaper said, citing local authorities. Last year, according to the National Commission on Human Rights, there were 1,900 organized crime killings in the state of Chihuahua. About 1,600 of those slayings occurred in Ciudad Juarez.

NEW: Retired general tortured before being killed, prosecutor says . NEW: Retired Gen. Mauro Enrique Tello Quiñonez shot 11 times, paper reports . NEW: Former general, 63, moved to Cancun area just weeks ago .

8bc2356d06dd7900fc4f04bf2fae6001394421c8

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Pledging to take "the air out of golden parachutes," President Obama announced Wednesday that executives of companies receiving federal bailout money will have their pay capped at $500,000 under a revised financial compensation plan. $500,000 will be the limit on executive salaries at companies receiving tax dollars, President Obama says. Last year's "shameful" handout of $18 billion in Wall Street bonuses "is exactly the kind of disregard for the costs and consequences of their actions that brought about this crisis: a culture of narrow self-interest and short-term gain at the expense of everything else," Obama said to reporters at the White House. "For top executives to award themselves these kinds of compensation packages in the midst of this economic crisis isn't just bad taste -- it's a bad strategy -- and I will not tolerate it. We're going to be demanding some restraint in exchange for federal aid -- so that when firms seek new federal dollars, we won't find them up to the same old tricks," the president added. Under Obama's plan, companies that want to pay their executives more than $500,000 will have to do so through stocks that cannot be sold until the companies pay back the money they borrow from the government. The rules will be implemented by the Treasury Department and do not need to be approved by Congress. The restrictions will most affect large companies that receive "exceptional assistance," such as Citigroup. The struggling banking giant has taken about $45 billion from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program. The new rules also will mandate that shareholders of banks have a greater say about the salaries paid to company heads. The measures will put in place greater transparency for costs such as holiday parties and office renovations. Obama also pledged further reforms in the future, promising that the administration will "examine the ways in which the means and manner of executive compensation have contributed to a reckless culture and quarter-by-quarter mentality that in turn have wrought havoc in our financial system." Watch Obama talk about limiting executive salaries » . "We're going to be taking a look at broader reforms so that executives are compensated for sound risk management and rewarded for growth measured over years, not just days or weeks," Obama said. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux contributed to this report.

NEW: Pay for executives at companies that take bailout money capped at $500,000 . NEW: Obama pledges further rules on compensation . Compensation over $500,000 will have to be in stocks with sales limit . The plan will affect companies getting "exceptional assistance," like Citigroup .

ea52e75c7fa8f5912902dea6c8a38092e3ce3944

(CNN) -- Intensifying violence, food shortages and widespread drought are driving an increasing number of Somalis to seek asylum in Yemen, the United Nations' refugee agency said Tuesday. A man brandishes a knife while others carry old notes during a demonstration against record-high inflation. More than 15,000 refugees have arrived in the Yemeni port city of Aden since January, compared with 7,166 people in the first four months of 2007, according to a spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Many of those seeking asylum brave treacherous boat trips across the Gulf of Aden. Consequently, the number of boats landing in Aden has jumped from 60 to 361 since January while the number of fatalities has remained constant, according to UNHCR. The agency attributed the surge to strife in Somalia, where riots continued in the capital city of Mogadishu for the second day Tuesday. According to news reports, Somali soldiers killed at least two people Monday during the protests over rising food prices. Watch protesters take to the streets » . Somali refugees pay as much as $150 to cross the Gulf of Aden in search of asylum. Because of its proximity to the war-torn country, Yemen is a common destination for Somalis fleeing economic hardship, famine and war. Yemen is also an attractive location because Somalis receive automatic refugee status in the fellow Muslim country. New smuggling routes across the Red Sea have also led to increased numbers of refugees in Yemen, according to the UNHCR. Refugees often die before reaching Yemen because of dangerous sea conditions and overcrowded vessels. Others die at the hands of their smugglers, who order the passengers to jump overboard when the Yemeni coast guard approaches the vessel. Yemen's coast guard stepped up patrols of its coastline this year in an attempt to deter smugglers, according to the UNHCR, which operates shelters and reception centers for refugees in Yemen. The coast guard has also seized boats and given them Somali fishermen affected by the 2004 tsunami.

Agency attributes surging number of refugees in Yemen to unrest in Somalia . More than 15,000 refugees have come to port city of Aden since January . New routes across the Red Sea to Yemen also contributing to increase .

8800857db476b92864b111c5f0dbf9d55a0c81d4

(CNN) -- Launch of the space shuttle Discovery has been delayed at least a week, NASA has announced. Discovery moves atop the crawler transporter in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on January 14. The shuttle will now lift off no earlier than February 19 because of concern over a valve in the main engine. A decision on the launch date will be made February 12, after more analysis and testing of the part. NASA said Tuesday night: "The valve is one of three that channels gaseous hydrogen from the engines to the external fuel tank. One of these valves in shuttle Endeavour was found to be damaged after its mission in November. As a precaution, Discovery's valves were removed, inspected and reinstalled." This will be the shuttle's 28th mission to the international space station. The mission will deliver the final set of solar arrays needed to complete the station's complement of electricity-generating solar panels. They will help support the station's expanded crew of six in 2009. "More crew means that we'll have to run more life support equipment, more crew support equipment -- toilet facilities, water processing equipment and all of that stuff," Kwatsi Alibaruho, the lead space station flight director for the mission, said on NASA's Web site. "We'll have to run more of all of that, so we need additional power." The expanded capacity will mean more hands to perform science experiments. The mission also will include four spacewalks.

Discovery will lift off no earlier than February 19, NASA says . Space agency concerned about a valve in the main engine . This will be the shuttle's 28th mission to the international space station . The mission will deliver the final set of solar arrays for the station .

7a8cf8e961ba14050c96df4aa2090efcb7ae761a

(CNN) -- An Ohio sheriff had harsh words for ice fishermen who had to be rescued Saturday after high winds and rising temperatures caused an ice floe to break away and strand about 150 of them on Lake Erie. People were stuck when an 8-mile-long chunk of Lake Erie ice broke away near Toledo, Ohio. The incident, in which one person was pronounced dead after being transported to the hospital, came after the National Weather Service issued a warning that ice floes could break away from the main ice area in the western section of the lake. At least some of those rescued were fishermen. "This just cost the taxpayers a ton of money," Ottawa County, Ohio, Sheriff Bob Bratton said. "We lost a life out there today. ... I'm sorry a man lost his life out there today. These people should have known better." Bratton said those rescued should never have been on Lake Erie in the first place because weather conditions made it risky, and "if there was a section in the code about common sense, we would have had 150 arrests out there today." Watch sheriff express frustration » . A spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard said the person who died fell in the water when the ice floe broke away from land. View ice safety tips » . "We have rescued more than 150 people, and unfortunately there were two people in the water," Chief Petty Officer Robert Lanier said. "One of the people was recovered and brought to shore," but the other man was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital. "This was wrong. These people endangered the life of volunteer firemen, [and] the United States Coast Guard," Bratton said, estimating the cost of the sheriff's office response at $25,000. "I'm sure that's going to climb." Bratton told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that the fishermen displayed poor judgment in building a makeshift bridge to get from one section of the ice to the other. "I have no problem with people ice fishing, but these idiots should realize that when you see open water, you should not build a bridge and cross it," he said. "It's a shame you can't arrest people for stupidity." Among the hundreds of people who went fishing Saturday were Gary and David Vaughn of Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania. They told the Plain Dealer that they set up a shanty about 7 a.m. and didn't come back out until 11 a.m., when they saw a crowd gathered at the edge of the ice. It was then that they knew they were in trouble. "When we were over there waiting to be rescued, we feared the ice would just break up under us," Gary Vaughn, 47, told the newspaper. "I feared for my life." The sheriff told the Toledo Blade that the people who went out on the ice did not take proper precautions. "Where is the common sense when they know the ice is broken?" Bratton said. "The experienced fishermen, I guarantee, are not out there," he told the newspaper. "They're not reading the weather. If the ice is broke, you don't build a little bridge to get from here to there." "Ice fishing and recreation on the ice is a culture in the Great Lakes. It's something we've become used to," Lanier said. iReport.com: Were you there? Share your photos, story . The sheriff said there were a host of factors that the fishermen should have been aware of, which caused them to risk their lives unnecessarily. "The weather changed; the temperature went up; the wind was coming out of the south. These are all things that are indicators [that an ice floe break could occur]." Asked whether there are signs or other notification systems to discourage fishermen from going out on the ice under risky conditions, Bratton said there are only Web sites fishermen can check. "We will go back and look at that," he said. "We can't develop the attitude, 'Go out on the ice. If you get caught, we'll be there to get you. We'll bring you in.' You've got to have common sense." Watch lake officials describe rescue efforts » . Unprecedented numbers of fishermen have taken to the ice this winter because thicker ice allowed them to go farther out onto the lake, according to the Plain Dealer. But Saturday's unseasonably high temperatures apparently melted chunks of the ice. The ice floe, 8 miles long, was created when a large piece of ice broke off from land near Locust Point, Ohio, east of Toledo, Lanier said earlier. View a map of the area » . Numerous helicopters participated in the rescue, Lanier said, including those from the Canadian Coast Guard, the U.S. Coast Guard, Ohio State University and Monroe County. State hovercraft were on the scene as well, and airboats were sent, he said. Those rescued were brought to a staging area at a park, Lanier said.

NEW: Frustrated sheriff asks, "Where is the common sense?" One person dead, 150 people rescued after ice floe breaks away . National Weather Service warned that floes could separate .

2c0974e72a563f82d6eb52246930a6eee10a5386

(CNN) -- In an age when many people become celebrities through looks or connections, Jennifer Hudson's rise to fame came the old-fashioned way: through talent, hard work and a close-knit family. Jennifer Hudson is in a new movie, "The Secret Life of Bees," and recently released her first solo album. At a time when the singer is in a new movie, "The Secret Life of Bees," and recently released her first solo album, Hudson is now back in the public eye largely due to a family tragedy. Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, and brother, Jason Hudson, were found shot to death Friday in their Chicago home. The body of the singer's missing 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, was found in an SUV on Monday morning. Julian's stepfather, William Balfour, was detained over the weekend for questioning in connection with the case, a police spokesperson told CNN. He was subsequently transferred to prison on a parole violation charge, the spokesperson said. Balfour's mother has acknowledged that her son has been questioned about the shootings, but said he had nothing to do with the crime. No charges had been filed against anyone in connection with the murders. iReport.com: Reaction to Hudson family tragedy . The tragedy is a sad turn for the 27-year-old actress and singer, who first earned national notice for her performances on "American Idol" in 2004 and won an Oscar for best supporting actress for 2006's "Dreamgirls." Hudson's singing career began in her church choir in the South Side Chicago neighborhood of Englewood when she was a child. She remained devoted to singing all the way through Chicago's Dunbar Vocational High School, where there is now a Jennifer Hudson Room. (She's in good company; Dunbar's alumni include Lou Rawls and two of the Staple Singers.) "People would say it was unusual for such a small girl to have such a big voice," she told Reuters in 2006. "They would say, 'She sounds like she's grown.' " After finishing school, she performed in the musical "Big River" at a Chicago-area dinner theater and took a job on a cruise line. In 2003, she auditioned for "American Idol" in Atlanta, Georgia, and managed to earn her way to the top-rated show with a performance of "Easy to be Hard," the "Hair" ballad popularized by Three Dog Night. "Idol" proved to be an uneven experience for Hudson. After the show narrowed down its 12 finalists, she started slowly, at times almost being voted off, but eventually her song choices -- including Elton John's "Circle of Life" and Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing" -- made her one of the favorites. Sir Elton himself believed she was the "best of the lot." 'Idol' friend speaks out about Hudson case . In the end, Hudson didn't even come close to making "Idol's" final two, being voted off midway in the show's run. However, her performances had established her as a talent to watch, and in May 2005 -- several months after finishing the traditional post-"Idol" group tour -- she was contacted by a casting agency about the part of Effie, the tragic soul of "Dreamgirls." In the musical, which concerns an all-girl trio much like the Supremes, Effie is a weight-challenged musical powerhouse who begins as the group's leader but is dropped as both performer and lover by the group's manager for the more statuesque singer Deena. The role features the musical's showstopping song, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," and won Jennifer Holliday a Tony Award when "Dreamgirls" ran on Broadway. Hudson was unfamiliar with "Dreamgirls" when she auditioned, but she allegedly beat out almost 800 other women for the role -- including her former "Idol" rival, Fantasia Barrino, who had been the third-season winner. The role's high-pitched emotions were a challenge, Hudson told the Chicago Sun-Times in 2006. "I had to find a way into it," she said to the newspaper. "[Director] Bill Condon sent me into 'Diva 101.' He told me I was too nice. So I'd come into the room angry, but tell all the ADs, 'Bill told me to do this. This is Effie and not Jennifer.' I had to learn how to separate myself from the character with that attitude. That was Bill's main concern. Effie had to have that edge." Her performance won her across-the-board raves. Variety compared her turn to Barbra Streisand's award-winning debut in "Funny Girl," among others. It also led to a host of awards, including supporting actress honors from the New York Critics Circle, Golden Globes, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and -- finally -- the Academy Awards. At the Oscar show, Hudson tearfully thanked her grandmother, whom she described as her "biggest inspiration." Julia Kate Hudson, who sang at Pleasant Gift Missionary Baptist Church, where Hudson got her start, died in 1998. Since winning the Oscar, Hudson has been a mainstay of celebrity magazines, which have broadcast news of her engagement to "I Love New York 2" contestant David Otunga, regularly singled her out as an example of a healthy plus-sized body type and held her up as an "Idol" made good. She's continued her movie career with performances in "Sex and the City: The Movie" and "The Secret Life of Bees," both of which came out in 2008. She sang the national anthem at the Democratic National Convention in August at the personal request of Sen. Barack Obama's campaign. According to many reports, Hudson has remained humble amid all the attention. She remains devoted to the church -- "Church is where I'm from. It will always be my favorite place to sing, and that's where I'd like to go back to," Hudson told the Sun-Times -- and uses her against-all-odds biography to inspire others. "I've had a similar journey as Effie," Hudson told the Sun-Times. "Me being a part of 'Idol,' her being part of the group. ... We both go through our journeys, trying to hold on to our dream and achieve our goal. We have hardships, but we prevail at the end."

Jennifer Hudson's rise to fame came the old-fashioned way . Hudson's mother, brother, nephew found dead in Chicago, Illinois . Singer beat out more than 800 other women for role in "Dreamgirls" Hudson's first national recognition came on "American Idol"

3b1ca8e6f5d79ff89cd477b62a832309b7d3028f

(CNN) -- French Prime Minister Francois Fillon unveiled further details Monday of a 26 billion-euro ($33 billion) business stimulus package which his government hopes can stall falling growth and prevent the country joining other major European economies in recession. Up to 1,000 projects will benefit from the package, which was first proposed by President Nicolas Sarkozy in December and approved by French lawmakers last week. Around 20 billion euros of the total amount will be spent over the next 12 months. Businesses will receive 11.4 billion euros while the same amount will be invested in public projects with social housing identified as a priority. The final 4 billion euros will be spent on improving France's transport, energy and postal service infrastructure. The package is expected to stimulate economic growth of around 1.3 percent, Fillon said. France has so far avoided the worst of the recession that has gripped many of its western European neighbors, including Germany and the UK. But unemployment rose by a further 45,000 in December after surging by 64,000 in November, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said Monday, adding that she would be "very surprised" if France experienced positive growth in 2009. Speaking to CNN this weekend at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Lagarde, defended the case for public spending in the face of fears that stimulus packages amounted to storing up unmanageable debts for future generations. "When the house is on fire we don't look at what can be built, Lagarde said. "We need to kick start (the economy) and we need to restore confidence."

French government to spend $33 billion in effort to bolster economy . French PM Fillon hopes package will stimulate 1.3 percent in 2009 . Unemployment rose by 45,000 in December, according to French finance minister .

74cde23c933ad6243bb276efc925d4c9afbabc1a

(CNN) -- Two international journalists, along with their Somali colleague and a driver, were kidnapped Saturday, a journalists' organization in Somalia said. A young fighter mans a gun on the beach of Kismayo. The photographer asked not be identified. Amanda Lindhout, a Canadian journalist, and Nigel Brenan, an Australian photojournalist, had been in the country just three days when militia men snatched them outside the capital city of Mogadishu, the National Union of Somali Journalists said Sunday. The kidnappers also took Abdifatah Mohammed Elmi, a Somalian photojournalist who was acting as the pair's translator, and their driver, the journalists' union said. The four were on their way back after conducting interviews at a refugee camp. Officials do not know if the journalists are being held for ransom and who is behind the abductions. "No formal claim of responsibility was made," the journalists' group said. "As well, there have been no demands." 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 Ethiopian forces. On Friday, fighters from the Islamic group Al Shabab took control of the southern port town of Kismayo after three days of clashes. The fighting left at least 89 people dead, 207 wounded and displaced some 5,500 people, triggering a humanitarian crisis. Ethiopia invaded Somalia in December 2006 to install the transitional government in Mogadishu after a decade and a half of near-anarchy. The invasion had the blessing of the United States, which accused Islamists of harboring fugitives from the al Qaeda terrorist movement. But the Ethiopian troops quickly became embroiled in an insurgency led by the Islamists. And as guerrilla attacks mounted, efforts to replace the Ethiopians with an African Union-led peacekeeping mission faltered. The conflict displaced hundreds of thousands of Somalis, further worsening a humanitarian crisis that dates back to the collapse of the country's last government in 1991. The situation has been exacerbated by drought, continual armed conflicts in central and southern Somalia, and high inflation on food and fuel prices.

Two international journalists and Somali colleague and driver kidnapped . Canandian Amanda Lindhout and Australian Nigel Brenan seized . The group had been conducting interviews at a refugee camp .

18771989f9eb80310173483a9192d5f50598c6a1

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Leading Republicans warned Sunday that the Obama administration's $800 billion-plus economic stimulus effort will lead to what one called a "financial disaster." The country will "pay dearly" if it executes the president's stimulus plans, Sen. Richard Shelby says. "Everybody on the street in America understands that," said Sen. Richard Shelby, the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee. "This is not the right road to go. We'll pay dearly." Shelby, of Alabama, told CNN's "State of the Union" that the package and efforts to shore up the struggling banking system will put the United States on "a road to financial disaster." But Lawrence Summers, the head of the administration's National Economic Council, said Republicans have lost their credibility on the issue. Watch Republicans criticize the stimulus bill » . "Those who presided over the last eight years -- the eight years that brought us to the point where we inherit trillions of dollars of deficit, an economy that's collapsing more rapidly than at any time in the last 50 years -- don't seem to me in a strong position to lecture about the lessons of history," Summers told ABC's "This Week." President Barack Obama, his advisers and the Democratic leaders of Congress argue the roughly $830 billion measure will help pull the U.S. economy out of its current skid. Much of the package involves infrastructure spending, long-term energy projects and aid to cash-strapped state and local governments. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported last week that the measure is likely to create between 1.3 million and 3.9 million jobs by the end of 2010, lowering a projected unemployment rate of 8.7 percent by up to 2.1 percentage points. But the CBO warned the long-term effect of that much government spending over the next decade could "crowd out" private investment, lowering long-term economic growth forecasts by 0.1 percent to 0.3 percent by 2019. In a concession to Republicans, about a third of the bill involves tax cuts. But the measure is expected to have only minimal GOP support when it goes to a scheduled vote early this week. Watch South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford warn of "disastrous consequences » . The version of the bill that passed the House of Representatives had no Republican votes. "We need to spend money on infrastructure and on other programs that will immediately put people to work. But this is not it," said Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, last year's GOP presidential nominee. Senators reached a tentative agreement Friday on a compromise bill largely negotiated by a handful of moderate Republicans whose votes are needed to prevent a filibuster. But McCain told CBS' "Face the Nation" that the package should have been about half the size of the one now before senators, and should be balanced between tax cuts and spending. "We're going to amass the largest debt in the history of this country, by any measurement, and we're going to ask our kids and grandkids to pay for it," he said. The stimulus bill includes about $45 billion in transportation spending, much of which can be spent on projects "that can be implemented immediately," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told CNN. LaHood, a former Republican congressman from Illinois, said he would talk to his former colleagues on Capitol Hill "and do all that I can to persuade them that this bill really will put people to work." He said he invited state transportation chiefs to Washington for a Wednesday meeting on how to create jobs using funding from the stimulus bill. "There aren't going to be any boondoggles. This money will be spent correctly, by the book, with no shortcuts," LaHood said. The administration is also readying a second phase of the financial bailout program launched by the Bush administration last fall. Shelby said Obama and his advisers need to address the staggering problems in the U.S. banking system first. "Until we straighten out our banking system, until there is trust in our banking system, until there's investment there, this economy is going to continue to tank," he said. Shelby also has been critical of other efforts by the federal government to help the struggling economy, including legislation that would have provided a bailout to the auto industry. But Sen. Kent Conrad, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, told CBS the current recession -- which has already produced an unemployment rate of 7.6 percent -- is in danger of a deep downturn "like we saw in the Great Depression." "If there is a failure to give a significant boost to this economy, this crisis will only deepen and become far more serious," said Conrad, D-North Dakota.

Sen. Shelby: Package plus bank bailout will put U.S. on "a road to financial disaster" Shelby: Economy "will continue to tank" unless banking system is addressed first . Crisis will deepen without significant economic boost, Democratic senator tells CBS . Sen. McCain: We need to spend money to create jobs, but not this way .

8545add91629b26a3a93cac3ec399afff81d5fe3

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The humble mobile phone is driving a new revolution which some experts hope could bring fairer elections and democracy to some African states. During the 2006 local government elections in Senegal, Radio Sud used reporters and correspondents with cell phones to call in what they saw. Many African countries have struggled against rigged elections and authoritarian rule since gaining independence last century. However, African observers say the growth of simple communication technologies like cell phones are assisting many states to progress towards open and fair elections in increasingly democratic systems. Senegal is one of a number of African countries to hold successful elections by keeping voting and counting in check through independent communication. Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said many African nations now had a "very open society" and the increasing success of elections owed a lot to the existence of mobile phones. "With communication and cell phones, this is where it is difficult to cheat in elections now. You are announced at the district level and cell phones go wild so by the time you go to the capital, if you have changed the figures, they will know and you will be caught out." According to experts, cellphones are particularly important for Africa due to a lack of some other technologies. Visiting African political expert at Indiana University, Sheldon Gellar, said cellphones were much more accessible than the internet in most parts of Africa, and therefore had greater potential to influence transparency. "Internet provides groups in society with means to communicate, organize and obtain good information which is not controlled by government -- but, only a tiny percentage of African populations have access to internet." Just this month CNN reported dramatic increases in cell phone usage in African nations. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, there are just 10,000 fixed telephones but cellphone subscribers have soared to more than a million in the last five years. Gellar told CNN the key benefit of cell phones was that they allowed independent media, especially radio, to provide accurate coverage of elections and make it more difficult for ruling parties to cheat and get away with it. "During the 2006 local government elections in Senegal, Radio Sud used reporters and correspondents with cell phones to call in what they saw. I remember hearing one reporter describing how a local party boss was illegally taking a ballot box on his truck from the polling station. This was reported live as it was happening." Civilians and independent election observers outside the media have also taken advantage of cell phones to monitor elections. Bob LaGamma, executive director of Council for a Community of Democracies, said the 2007 Nigerian election was another example of technology being used effectively. LaGamma described a technique of "parallel reporting", whereby independent observers spread news of local vote counts and any irregularities. This technique was also used in the Zimbabwe elections this year, which he said caused Robert Mugabe to delay announcement of election results. "Parallel reporting was important in Zimbabwe. It kept them from coming straight out and reporting a false result. "All of this technology is very important and gives a powerful new tool that cuts the ability for cheating," LaGamma said. Gellar said other computing technology, though more sparse, could also have a positive impact towards building democracies. He told CNN computers could be used to ensure parliament has access to national budget information and spending patterns, and in urban and rural communities they could provide citizens with data concerning the functions of the government and offer people an opportunity to contact their elected representative. Despite the positive developments brought by cell phones and other communication technology, there have still been problems with numerous elections in recent years. Leonardo Arriola, Associate Professor at University of California, Berkeley, is wary about the potential of the technologies to make some situations worse. He said there could be both good and bad aspects to it. "The more transparency and the more information that can be circulated outside the hands of government is a good thing ... but the other side of that is that a lot of misinformation can get out that way also," Arriola said. Although there has undoubtedly been positive progress with cell phone technology, most scholars and observers agree that pockets full of mobile handsets will not be enough to build stable democratic states and hold future fair elections. "It doesn't mean anything unless you have all of the means of verifying the results. If you have a ruling authoritarian regime which is determined to cheat, they will do it," LaGamma said. Gellar sees the technology as necessary, but not sufficient for progress. "Africans have been able to organize without technology. Freedom of association -- the right to organize autonomous organizations and function freely -- is more important than access to new technology in fostering democracy. "That said, new technology can be a powerful tool in improving communications between citizens and governments, between civil society organizations and the public. Informed citizens are essential to good functioning of democracies," he said. Gellar said a number of other factors needed to progress before a state could move towards a more democratic model of governance. According to Gellar these changes include: strengthening independent media; growing and ensuring freedom of civil society; decentralizing power, ceding more control to local governments; empowering women; improving judicial systems to ensure independence and power to punish. Gellar said new technology could help achieve those goals to some extent, as communication was the key to overcoming oppression. "Authoritarian regimes want to control and monopolize the flow of information. African authoritarian regimes don't have the power and resources to completely control information disseminated through traditional means -- as oral communications are still the main means of disseminating information," Geller explained. Gellar said the changes being brought about by cell phones and other communication technologies could well play a part in bringing more participatory governments to the continent. "New technology is not a panacea, but it can speed up processes of democratization and should be encouraged," he concluded.

Election processes are being checked with the help of cell phones . Cell phones are more accessible to Africans than the internet and telephones . Technology could help push more countries towards democratic models . Experts agree more than technology will still be required to see change .

0df814d8bb76641e21693a7935845ea628132449

(CNN) -- Key structural changes have been identified in the brain images of some patients with mild cognitive impairment which could help determine who's at greatest risk for developing Alzheimer's disease. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, studied MRI scans of 84 patients with Alzheimer's disease, 175 patients with mild cognitive impairment, or MCI, and 139 images of healthy brains. "Our initial goal was to locate similarities in the patients with Alzheimer's disease to those with MCI, in the hopes of finding a method to predict [MCI patients'] likelihood of developing the disease," said lead study author Linda McEvoy, assistant project scientist at UCSD's department of radiology. Neuroimaging results for the patients with Alzheimer's disease were as expected, according to the study, which was published online in the journal Radiology. Atrophy, which is loss of brain tissue, was visible throughout the brain. The temporal and parietal lobes, which affect cognitive function, saw the most damage. What surprised researchers were the differences in images from the MCI patients. More than 50 percent of the brains in the MCI group showed atrophy similar to the Alzheimer's disease patients. The other half of the MCI patients showed only small amounts of tissue damage. Watch Dr. Gupta explain the findings » . "Although the symptoms for the entire MCI group were primarily memory problems, other parts of the brain were impacted in over half the group," McEvoy said. "And even though these patients [with Alzheimer's-like atrophy] don't have problems with their cognitive function now, their MCI will likely develop to that in the future." Researchers also evaluated the brains of the MCI group one year after initial testing. They found that patients who earlier had mild cognitive impairment plus signs of atrophy were getting worse. Twenty-nine percent of the group had since been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and the others had begun to show signs of more serious cognitive decline. The condition of patients in the MCI group whose scans showed minimal signs of atrophy the previous year remained about the same. "Only 8 percent of this group had developed Alzheimer's disease. The rest of the patients were stable and their symptoms had not increased," McEvoy said. Bill Thies, chief medical and scientific officer for the Alzheimer's Association, underscored the significance of these findings. "What this study really shows is how different people with MCI can be, despite having similar symptoms. We can now use this information to create new treatments," he said. There are several drugs on the market that treat the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, but none that prevent its progression. Clinical trials may be able to use this data to select a better pool of candidates when testing new drugs. "If they use a MCI patient with loss of brain tissue, someone who we now know is progressing fast towards Alzheimer's disease, we'd be able to quickly figure out if drug 'X' is slowing things down or not helping at all," Thies added. In addition, researchers hope that within the next few years patients could regularly be tested by their physicians to determine their risk of developing Alzheimer's. "If nothing else it would be good information for their family members to have early on, to be better prepared for the future." McEvoy said. Over 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease and an estimated three and a half million have mild cognitive impairment.

Key structural changes seen in brain scans of some patients with memory loss . One year later, many patients with brain changes had developed Alzheimer's . Memory-loss patients without these changes were mostly stable one year later . Brain scans could identify who gets Alzheimer's, help with drug testing .

125fa4fa5d93c3237909f033d9466172fdc674fc

CNN Student News -- Welcome to CNN Student News, a daily commercial-free, ten-minute broadcast of the day's news geared for middle- and high-school students. CNN Student News can be found on air and online, and whether you're brand new to the program or a longtime viewer, we've got new things in store for you. CNN Student News anchor Carl Azuz. You've already found our new homepage, CNNStudentNews.com, where you can access the show and free related curriculum materials, including Learning Activities, Discussion Questions, Newsquizzes and One-Sheets. CNN Student News airs on CNN Headline News at 4 a.m. You can record the show from 4:00-4:10 a.m. Eastern time on Headline News. (Check your local listings for channel number). If you'd prefer, you can download CNN Student News to your desktop or iPod. Go to the CNN.com Podcast page and look for the Student News podcast. Once you've signed up for the free subscription, every episode will automatically be downloaded to iTunes. In addition to CNN Student News, each week, CNN offers educators a commercial-free edition of "CNN: Special Investigations Unit," "CNN Specials" or its award-winning documentary program "CNN Presents," along with a corresponding free curriculum guide on CNNStudentNews.com. You can record these CNN Classroom Edition programs from 4:00-5:00 a.m. Eastern time on Mondays on CNN. (A short feature begins at 4:00 a.m. and precedes the program.) And if you want to be the first to know what's coming up on CNN Student News and CNN Classroom Edition programs, you'll want to sign up for our CNN Student News Daily Education Alert. Registration is quick and simple. Just click here to subscribe.

CNN Student News is the day's news for middle- and high-school students . CNN Student News airs daily on CNN Headline News from 4:00-4:10 a.m. EST .

bb793bd352d5f327ca8581d1fae45012b0bcc665

(CNN) -- China has killed 13,000 birds in the country's far northwest to control what it called an epidemic of bird flu, state media reported Tuesday. Since the end of 2003, the H5N1 virus has infected birds in over 60 countries in Africa, Asia and Europe. Five hundred fowl that had died in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region tested positive for the H5N1 virus, according to China's Ministry of Agriculture. In late January, China confirmed its sixth case of bird flu in a human. The ministry said at the time that, although further human bird flu cases were possible throughout China, there wouldn't be a large-scale outbreak, state run news agency Xinhua and CCTV reported. The country also announced it was setting up a nationwide network to test for the H5N1 virus. Following a bird flu outbreak in late January, India culled more than 4,000 birds in the remote northeastern state of Sikkim. Health officials also detected dozens of cases of upper respiratory infection among humans, but none of the patients had any history of handling sick poultry, a government spokesperson said. Sikkim borders Nepal and China. Since the end of 2003, the H5N1 virus has infected many species of birds in more than 60 countries in Africa, Asia and Europe. It has not been found in birds in North or South America or the Caribbean, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Human-to-human transmission of avian flu is rare, but the virus has passed from poultry to humans in some cases. It has killed more than 200 people since 2003. China reported its first human-to-human infection case in 2005. Of the 34 cases confirmed to date in the country, 23 had been fatal, the World Health Organization said in late January.

China kills 13,000 birds in northwest to control what it calls an epidemic of bird flu . 500 fowl that died in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region tested positive for H5N1 . In late January, China confirmed its sixth case of bird flu in a human . The virus has killed more than 200 people since 2003 .

28cad16dcd769677b7e2b21ffe113822efd192a5

(CNN) -- A Phoenix, Arizona, elementary school bus careened out of control for nearly a mile Wednesday evening, causing more than a dozen accidents and sending at least 26 people to the hospital. A Phoenix, Arizona, school bus crossed over several lanes of traffic, crashing into several vehicles on Wednesday. Phoenix police officer James Holmes told CNN the bus struck two cars at an intersection as it approached an overpass on Interstate 10. The bus later crossed into oncoming lanes, causing a chain reaction of collisions. At least two cars overturned, and several passengers in the vehicles had to be cut out of the wreckage, authorities said. Holmes said the bus carrying 45 students came to a stop a mile from the first accident scene. He said panicked children began jumping from the bus and fled into the neighborhood. Watch children describe frenzy of being on out-of-control bus » . Officers had to round up the students and used media reports to ask for help in looking for them. By late Wednesday, police thought they had located everyone. No injuries were reported to any of the children on board. Police were interviewing the driver, trying to determine what caused the accident. CNN affiliate KPNX reports the bus driver lost consciousness before the crash. Twenty-six passengers in the other cars, including several children, were being treated at hospitals. Some of the injuries were serious, but none was thought to be life-threatening.

Out-of-control school bus crashes into dozens of cars in Phoenix, Arizona . Panicked children jumped from bus, fleeing into neighborhood . At least 26 people treated at area hospitals .

a100128fde5ad8cf889c050f5e54c72d700535d9

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- The police chief in Cancún has been relieved of his duties and placed under house arrest while he is investigated in the killing of a retired Mexican general who had been the area's anti-drug chief for less than 24 hours, Mexican media are reporting. A Mexican soldier guards the entrance at a Cancún police station where the military is investigating a murder. Francisco Velasco Delgado was detained by military officials early Monday and flown to Mexico City, where he was placed under 45 days of house arrest, according to the media reports. With Delgado's removal, the military has taken over the Cancún police force, several newspapers reported. Cancún Mayor Gregorio Sanchez Martinez said the move was made "to facilitate all types of investigations into the triple murder that happened last week," the Diario de Yucatan newspaper said. Salvador Rocha Vargas, the secretary for public security for the state of Quintana Roo, will lead the police force. He said he will take all the pertinent measures "to clean up the Cancún police," the Excelsior newspaper reported Tuesday. Retired Gen. Mauro Enrique Tello Quinonez's bullet-riddled body was found a week ago on a road outside Cancún. Authorities said he had been tortured before being shot 11 times. His aide and a driver also were tortured and killed. Quintana Roo state prosecutor Bello Melchor Rodriguez y Carrillo said last week there was no doubt Tello and the others were victims of organized crime. "The general was the most mistreated," Rodriguez y Carrillo said at a news conference. "He had burns on his skin and bones in his hands and wrists were broken." An autopsy revealed he also had broken knees. Tello had been appointed less than 24 hours earlier as a special drug-fighting consultant for Gregorio Sanchez Martinez, the mayor of the Benito Juarez municipality, which includes the city of Cancún. Tello, who retired from the army in January at the mandatory age of 63, had moved to the resort area three weeks ago. Mexico is undergoing an unprecedented wave of violence that some have likened to a civil war. The government is battling drug cartels as the traffickers fight each other for control of the lucrative illicit market. Tello was the second high-ranking army officer to be killed in the area in the past few years. Lt. Col. Wilfrido Flores Saucedo and his aide were gunned down on a Cancún street in 2006. That crime remains unsolved. The latest killings come as Mexico grapples with the highest violent-death rate in its history. Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora reported in December there had been around 5,400 slayings in 2008, more than double the 2,477 tallied in 2007. There already have been more than 400 drug-related killings this year, according to some news accounts.

Mexican media says local chief put under house arrest for 45 days . With Francisco Velasco Delgado's removal, military takes control of police . Mayor: Delgado's detainment to "facilitate all types of investigations" into murder . Retired general killed after being area's anti-drug chief for less than 24 hours .

cd50184d54c3685dd75a8bf13e768f68a3c9f89e

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A sculpture of a giant white horse taller than the Statue of Liberty is set to tower over the countryside as part of an unusual scheme to help revive the fortunes of a depressed region of England. The 50-meter high horse will dominate the landscape around Ebbsfleet. The 50-meter equine artwork was Tuesday announced as the winner of a competition to design a landmark to dominate the skyline of the Ebbsfleet Valley, set to be a new stop on the Eurostar London-to-Paris rail link. Designed by artist Mark Wallinger -- whose previous work has included dressing in a bear suit and wandering around a gallery in Berlin -- the £2 million ($3 million) horse will be one of the largest artworks in the UK. Wallinger's horse -- which echoes ancient white horse symbols carved into hillsides around Britain -- beat a shortlist of designs that included a tower of stacked cubes and giant steel nest. Victoria Pomery, head of the panel that selected the design, described the 33-times normal size horse as "outstanding." "Mark is a superb artist of world renown and his sculpture will become a real landmark for Ebbsfleet Valley and the whole region," she said. It drew a less favorable response from readers of local Web site Kentnews.com, who described it as a "waste of money," an "abomination" and "depressing." One correspondent, Andy Smith, added: "This horse looks extremely silly."

Giant horse announced as winner of competition to design new landmark . Equine artwork is brainchild of conceptual artist Mark Wallinger . Design's selectors describe sculpture as "outstanding," critics say it's "silly"

567a16c58ad968e6f56594039a5092c18d0f3cc6

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday she is "praying" that President Bush has a change of heart and does not veto a bipartisan children's health insurance bill that he has labeled an unwarranted expansion of government-run health insurance. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi applauds after signing the State Children's Health Insurance legislation Friday. "The tide is going a different way than a presidential veto would reflect," Pelosi, a California Democrat, said. "It was with great friendship that I reached out to the president this morning to say that I was still praying that he would have a change of heart and sign this legislation." "I think I have to pray a little harder, but I will not give up," Pelosi said. Pelosi's comments came a day after the Senate voted 67-29 for the measure, which would expand the State Children's Health Insurance program by up to 4 million children. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino on Friday said Bush still intends to veto the bill when it arrives at his desk. Perino also said the disagreement between Congress and the White House was a simple policy difference, not "about who cares about children more than the other." "The president is saying, 'Let's take care of the neediest children first, let's not put scarce federal dollars toward a program that was meant for the poorest children and let it creep up to middle-income families with incomes up to $83,000 a year,' " Perino said. Bush and many Republicans contend that the program's original intent -- to give parents who make too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to buy private insurance coverage for their children -- would be changed under the current bill, prompting parents to wind up dropping private coverage their children already have to get cheaper coverage under the bill. Perino also objected that the rhetoric surrounding the SCHIP bill has become too heated. "I think it is preposterous for people to suggest the president of the United States doesn't care about children, that he wants children to suffer," Perino said. The bill enjoys bipartisan support. Eighteen Republican senators Thursday night joined all the Democrats in voting for expanding the popular program from its current annual budget of $5 billion to $12 billion for the next five years. Four senators -- Republicans John McCain of Arizona and Sam Brownback of Kansas and Democrats Joseph Biden of Delaware and Barack Obama of Illinois -- did not vote. With the current program scheduled to expire Saturday, the White House encouraged Congress to send the president a continuing resolution extending the program. "We should take this time to arrive at a more rational, bipartisan SCHIP reauthorization bill that focuses on children in poor families who don't currently have insurance, rather than raising taxes to cover people who already have private insurance," Perino added. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah was among those Republicans who split from the president. "It's very difficult for me to be against a man I care so much for," he told his colleagues on the Senate floor prior to the vote. "It's unfortunate that the president has chosen to be on what, to me, is clearly the wrong side of this issue." Though 67 votes in the 100-person chamber would suffice to overturn a veto, the House version, which was approved Tuesday, fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto. E-mail to a friend .

House Speaker Pelosi "praying" that president has change of heart on bill . Measure expanding kids' health insurance program passed Senate . Bush objects to measure expanding coverage beyond just poor children . White House says expansion would cover children from middle-class families .

55281d89b0ff20457705de2e364a8ee45f54491e

(CNN) -- Amnesty International has accused Hamas militants in Gaza of kidnapping, killing and torturing fellow Palestinians they accuse of spying for Israel, the organization announced Tuesday. Hamas supporters stand on the rubble of a building hit by an Israeli strike that killed Hamas' interior minister. According to Amnesty International, at least 24 Palestinian men -- most of them civilians -- were shot and killed by Hamas gunmen during the recent Israeli offensive aimed at crippling the Hamas leadership in Gaza. "Scores of others have been shot in the legs, kneecapped or inflicted with other injuries intended to cause permanent disability," the human rights organization said in a news release. Hamas leaders have publicly accused followers of its rival Palestinian political faction, Fatah, of spying for the Israelis during the conflict, and they have said many have been arrested for collaborating with the Jewish state. But they deny ordering any reprisal attacks against suspected spies, instead blaming rogue elements. The Israeli military offensive in Gaza was launched at the end of December and ended three weeks later, when Israeli forces withdrew under the terms of a cease-fire agreement. Amnesty said that the targets of "Hamas' deadly campaign" include prisoners who escaped from Gaza's central prison when Israeli forces bombed it in the initial days of the military conflict. Some prisoners injured in the Israeli bombing were "shot dead in the hospitals where they were receiving treatment," Amnesty said. "The perpetrators of these attacks did not conceal their weapons or keep a low profile, but, on the contrary, behaved in a carefree and confident -- almost ostentatious -- manner," it said. Other targets included former members of Palestinian Authority security forces and supporters of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party. Fatah, which is based in the West Bank, has denied spying on Hamas. Fatah leaders have accused Hamas of rounding up at least 175 of their members in Gaza during the Israeli war and torturing them. The two Palestinian factions have been locked in a power struggle since Hamas won parliamentary elections in January 2006 and wrested Gaza from Fatah in violent clashes the following year. Abbas is a U.S. ally and regularly negotiates with Israel as the Palestinian leader, but he holds little sway in Gaza. Fatah supporters have been accused of helping the Israeli military conduct its campaign in Gaza, which targeted the Hamas leadership. Neighbors of Hamas Interior Minister Said Siam said they suspected Fatah supporters helped Israel pinpoint his location when they bombed his house on January 15. Siam was highest-ranking Hamas member killed in the Israeli offensive. Most of those suspected of spying for Israel have been abducted from their homes and then "dumped -- dead or injured -- in isolated areas," according to Amnesty International. During the Gaza conflict, medical officials at Gaza City's main medical facility, Shifa Hospital, said injuries they witnessed were consistent with people being shot in the kneecaps, elbows, hands or feet. Punishment shootings are a time-tested tactic used worldwide by guerrilla and militia groups, from Che Guevara in Cuba to the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland. They are meant not only to take revenge but also to send a message to others. Two self-described Fatah loyalists were found heavily bandaged at a Gaza City safe house during the recent conflict. One of their colleagues refused to say where or why they were injured, but they denied spying. "They shot him at close range with a pistol," he said of one man. "His bones are shattered. They shot him point-blank in the foot. ... This was done by Hamas people." The other man, he said, was struck on his legs with a metal construction bar. "Four people were beating him," he said. A Hamas security source told CNN the shootings occurred because renegade gunmen took the law into their own hands. Ehad al-Ghossain, Hamas' Interior Ministry spokesman, said there was no official order within Hamas to carry out such shootings. "That's not us," al-Ghossain said. "Maybe some families who had problems in the past just wanted to shoot these people." CNN's Karl Penhaul contributed to this report .

NEW: Some people shot as they lay in hospitals, Amnesty International says . Two dozen Palestinians killed by Hamas, rights group says . Hamas accused the victims of spying for Israel, group says . Hamas blames attacks on rogue elements .

3bb32c633eb5166cb357bd94f6082082b33cb39b

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran's president said Tuesday his country welcomes talks with the United States "in a fair atmosphere with mutual respect." Women in Tehran celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution Tuesday. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made the remarks a day after President Barack Obama said the United States is looking for opportunities for "face to face" dialogue with Iran, even though he has "deep concerns" about Tehran's actions. "Right now, the world is entering the era of dialogue," Ahmadinejad told hundreds of thousands of people in a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution. "The new U.S. administration announced that it's willing to bring about a number of changes and is now taking the course for dialogue. It's quite clear that real change should be fundamental, not just a tactical change, and it is quite clear that the Iranian nation will greet real changes. "The Iranian nation is ready to hold up talks, but talks in a fair atmosphere with mutual respect," Ahmadinejad said. In Washington, Obama was asked about U.S. relations with Iran during his first prime-time news conference on Monday night. Watch news conference in full » . "There's been a lot of mistrust built up over the years, so it's not going to happen overnight," Obama said. He said his administration is reviewing existing U.S. policy toward Iran, which supports groups Washington has branded terrorist organizations, such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and has defied U.N. demands to halt its uranium enrichment program. Despite those concerns, Obama said his administration wants to use "all the resources at the United States' disposal" to resolve those concerns. "My expectation is, in the coming months, we will be looking for openings that can be created where we can start sitting across the table, face-to-face diplomatic overtures, that will allow us to move our policy in a new direction," Obama said. "So there are going to be a set of objectives that we have in these conversations, but I think that there's the possibility at least of a relationship of mutual respect and progress." The United States and Iran have not had diplomatic relations since 1979. During that year, the Shah of Iran was forced to flee the country and the Ayatollah Khomeini took power. Later that year, Iranian students took over and seized hostages at the U.S. Embassy. Relations have been cut since then. U.S. President George W. Bush labeled Iran as a member of the "axis of evil" after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Iran celebrated the 30th anniversary of the revolution Tuesday with crowds chanting "Death to America." Watch the parade in Iran » . Tensions have rippled over issues such as Iran's nuclear program, Israel, and Iraq, and have been aggravated since the outspoken Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005. Western nations believe Iran is intent on building a nuclear weapon. Ahmadinejad has been criticized for his vehemence against and provocative remarks toward Israel and for Iran's support of Hamas militants in Gaza and the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon -- militants groups that Israel has battled. Also, the United States has accused Iran of backing Iraqi insurgents. In recent years, the Iraq conflict has provided an opportunity for Iran and the United States to cooperate since both countries support the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government and Iraqis have urged both countries to put aside their differences in helping Iraq. In 2007, U.S. and Iraqi envoys met several times in Baghdad. Ahmadinejad addressed the conflict in Iraq, saying that 1 million people have been killed and others have been displaced because of the "Bush administration war on Iraq." "To deal with the root cause of insecurity I think that we should go and find the main culprits, including Bush himself and his administration. They must be put on trial," said Ahmadinejad. "The world does not want to see the dark age of Bush being repeated." Addressing the issue of terrorism, Ahmadinejad said Iran has been fighting terror for 30 years and that Iran itself been victimized by terror. "If you want to fight terrorism in practice come and work with the Iranian nation," he said. "If you want to eradicate the root causes of massacres and aggression, let's sit together and see what has been behind the reasons why we have had wars in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East." As usual, he had harsh words for Israel, a state he loathes and a topic that whips up passions among his supporters. "If you want to eradicate crime, let's work together with the Iranian nation and other nations of the world and let's put on trial the Zionist leaders of the Zionist regime," the Iranian leader said. As for nuclear power, Iran has said it wants to harness it for energy and Ahmadinejad indicated Iran is against deploying nuclear weaponry. "If you want to fight proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, then you should join us and help us so that we will show you the right way. Yes we're opposed to nuclear weapons of mass destruction. They're real threats and they must be destroyed. Iran has been a victim of the use of chemical weapons of mass destruction but the only way would be justice and the use of appropriate mechanisms," he said. "If they really want to have real security, then they should be able to work with us and then we will be able to revisit the structure of the Security Council -- and remember the Security Council itself is the root cause of discrimination -- we should change this structure and then have justice." The United States also is concerned about Iran's technological pursuits. Iran successfully launched its first satellite into orbit last week, a step hailed by Iran's president as a "source of pride" for the Islamic republic, according to state-run news outlets. The launch of the satellite Omid -- which means "Hope" in Farsi -- was timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary celebrations of the Islamic revolution in Iran, according to Iranian media reports. U.S. Department of Defense officials confirmed the launch, and the State Department expressed "grave concern." In August, Iran performed a test of a rocket capable of launching a satellite into orbit. Iranian officials declared that mission a success, but U.S. officials disputed that. Senior U.S. officials had expressed concerned about the test of the rocket, saying Iran could use the rocket to deliver warheads. On Monday, Obama said Iran must "send some signals that it wants to act differently, as well, and recognize that, even as it has some rights as a member of the international community, with those rights come responsibilities." "It's important that, even as we engage in this direct diplomacy, we are very clear about certain deep concerns that we have as a country, that Iran understands that we find the funding of terrorist organizations unacceptable, that we're clear about the fact that a nuclear Iran could set off a nuclear arms race in the region that would be profoundly destabilizing." Praising Iran's people history and traditions as "extraordinary, Obama says the nation's actions over many years now have been unhelpful when it comes to promoting peace and prosperity both in the region and around the world." "Their financing of terrorist organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas, the bellicose language that they've used towards Israel, their development of a nuclear weapon or their pursuit of a nuclear weapon, that all those things create the possibility of destabilizing the region and are not only contrary to our interests, but I think are contrary to the interests of international peace."

U.S. seeking opportunities for "face to face" dialogue with Iran, says Obama . Iranian president Ahmadinejad: We welcome Obama comments . U.S. has not had diplomatic ties with Iran for nearly three decades . Ahmadinejad makes speech as Iranians mark 30th anniversary of Islamic revolution.

e202c989567db9ef534edbd3223698fb83f98e98

(CNN) -- One brief window of opportunity when all the elements align themselves. The light, the look - it all comes together. Point and click: Richard takes a lesson from Magnum photographer Raghu Rai in Delhi. And then -- the click. A fleeting magical moment come and gone, then lost forever. But preserved in one picture. This month Richard Quest goes in search of the perfect photo. "Get me Demarchelier!" One of the orders barked by the infamous editor in "The Devil wears Prada." Patrick Demarchelier was indeed worth that special mention in the film. Richard visits this uber fashion and portrait photographer. In New York Demarchelier teaches Richard the techniques involved in composing the perfect picture. The great Henri Cartier Bresson once said: "Photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event." Magnum Photos bequeathed us with a living record of our history. From the Normandy Landings to Tienanmen Square, Magnum's members have captured some of the most iconic images of the photographic age. To find out more about Magnum photos please click here. Richard finds out what it takes to join this elite brotherhood. In New York, he visits Steve McCurry, the man behind National Geographic's "Afghan Girl." Then it's off to Delhi to meet the legendary Raghu Rai . Whatever you do don't photograph wildlife and babies! Richard is off to find out why getting that perfect shot can often be next to impossible. Try getting either to stand still! Quest learns from the masters in both of these --- the acclaimed baby photographer Anne Geddes and, in San Francisco, award-winning wildlife photographer Frans Lanting. You just have to look at our news stands to see what a celebrity-obsessed culture we live in. Every few months a new gossip magazine emerges promising even better and more compromising pictures of celebrities at their best, at their worst, showing us what they're doing and what they definitely should not be doing. We are the voyeurs, and we just can't get enough of them. The paparazzi have spawned this celebrity culture showing celebrities as anything but perfect. In London Darren Lyons, snapper turned celebrity himself, tells us how his business really works. But while we all love to curl up with a good gossip magazine, most of these photos will never be remembered. But there are photos that will endure, like those taken at our weddings. The wedding photographer is one of the honest jobs in the business. We visit a wedding in L.A. and capture a couple's special moments. Finally, Quest is back with Frans Lanting in San Francisco. And this time he is the one taking the photographs. They go to the Ano Nuevo state reserve to photograph a colony of elephant seals. To view more of Frans Lanting's work please click here. Richard shows us his metal as he snaps away. But then it's back to the studio to see if his photographs will indeed seal the deal. E-mail to a friend .

Richard Quest goes in search of the perfect photo . He meets Patrick Demarchelier, Steve McCurry, Frans Lanting and Anne Geddes . Quest puts his new skills to the test by photographing a colony of elephant seals .

e92c4914629728b8c18cf61320cf4a34baa77300

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Police arrested a man near the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday after he drove up to one of the building's barricades with a rifle in his vehicle and told officers that he had a delivery for President Obama, a Senate spokesman said. A man drove to the Capitol with a rifle and said he had a delivery for President Obama, police said. Sgt. Kimberly Schneider identified the man as Alfred Brock, 64, of Winnfield, Louisiana. She said Brock was charged with possession of an unregistered firearm and unregistered ammunition. Brock drove up to the north barricade at the Capitol late Tuesday afternoon, saying he had a delivery for the president, Schneider said. After further questioning, he admitted he had a rifle in his truck. He was arrested and taken to police headquarters for processing, she said. A search of his truck turned up several rounds of ammunition, Schneider said. Police also checked the area around the barricade, but found nothing hazardous. Threats against Obama have led to arrests in previous cases. In one, federal prosecutors concluded that three people arrested with drugs and weapons in a suburban Denver, Colorado, motel posed a "true threat" to Obama during the Democratic National Convention. In the second, a Florida man was charged with threatening bodily harm against the then-candidate in August. He has pleaded not guilty.

NEW: Alfred Brock, 64 drove up to Capitol barricade with a rifle in his vehicle . NEW: Brock charged with possession of an unregistered firearm, ammunition . Police say he told them he had a delivery for President Obama . Man was arrested, transported to Capitol Hill police headquarters for processing .

21a3bf331defe8b1ab9dbadbdf2ca912af11a3f0

(CNN Student News) -- Each month in 2008, CNN Student News will be "Talking Democracy" by introducing an election-year topic on the show and online. From caucuses to conventions and primaries to polls, CNN Student News will be breaking down these election-year concepts for students and teachers. Classes are invited to show what they know about the political process by submitting iReports to CNN Student News. Classes are encouraged to use original video, music, animation and other production elements to demonstrate their knowledge of each political concept. There's a list of political concepts and the months they will air below. The best iReports may appear on CNN Student News. This Web page is your one-stop destination for Talking Democracy educational materials and iReport information. As the year unfolds, additional materials will be added to this site that address the different topics your students will learn about in the Talking Democracy series. Be sure to revisit often! Talking Democracy Topics January: Caucuses and Primaries February: The Right to Vote March: Political Parties April: Campaign Finance May: Polling June and July: The Issues August: Conventions September: Debates October: What's at Stake? November: Electoral College . Learning Activities . • Caucuses and Primaries • The Right to Vote • Political Parties • Campaign Finance • Polling • Political Issues • Conventions • Debates Viewing Guide • Electoral College Reform • Predict Electoral College Votes . One-Sheets • Caucuses and Primaries • The Right to Vote • Political Parties • Campaign Finance • Political Polls • Political Issues • Conventions • Debates • Electoral College . Talking Democracy Questions . Use these questions to test your knowledge of the presidential election process, then check the answers to see how you did. Videos . • Delegates 101 Delegate-hunting can be a mathematical challenge, but CNN's Jill Dougherty says it adds up to American-style democracy. • Right to Vote CNN Student News explores the right to vote, and an iReporting classroom chimes in with reasons to exercise it. • Political Parties 101 Discover some of the differences between the Democratic and Republican parties. • Campaign Finance 101 Check out some of the rules concerning cash for presidential campaigns. • Polling 101 Discover why a random sampling is an important aspect of an opinion poll. • Conventions 101 CNN Student News takes you behind the scenes of the national political conventions. • Debates 101 The candidates face off as CNN Student News provides the background and backdrop for presidential debates. • Electoral College 101 CNN Student News' Carl Azuz gives us the 411 on the Electoral College . Interactives . Why delegates matter in the presidential race Click through this interactive for an explanation of the different types of delegates and how they are chosen in the nomination process for the Democratic and Republican parties. Electoral Map Calculator Use this Electoral College map to examine how the presidential candidates may fare in November's election, based on analysis from the CNN Political Unit. Then call the race yourself! Click on a state, choose a winner, and watch the electoral votes add up. Cable in the Classroom's eLECTIONS campaign simulation Make all the decisions for a virtual run for the U.S. presidency, allocating budget, selecting key issues, choosing where to campaign, and responding to the opponent's moves and other external events. Debate Quiz How much do you know about debate history? These questions will test your knowledge and include video of some memorable moments in presidential debate history. Related Resources . • CNN Election Center 2008 • FEC: 2008 Presidential Caucus and Primary Dates • Project Vote-Smart.org: How Does the Primary Process Work? • CNN Campaign Trail Jargonbuster . iReports . Students can demonstrate their understanding of election-related topics by sending in their own Talking Democracy iReports. Click here for information on how to send in iReports.

"Talking Democracy" breaks down election-year concepts for students and teachers .

d6929993a925b14c8424557fff5249e1dbab9a2c

(CNN) -- Germany striker Miroslav Klose struck just four minutes from time to give Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich a 1-0 win at Karlsruhe -- their first victory in four league games. Klose scored a vital goal for Bayern as they claimed a 1-0 Bundesliga victory at Karlsruhe. Klose converted Massimo Oddo's cross on 86 minutes to give Jurgen Klinsmann's side three league points for the first time this month despite another unimpressive performance. Bayern last picked up three points in a Bundesliga game on September 13 when they hammered Cologne 3-0. Since then the gloss on Jurgen Klinsmann's first season in charge has faded badly after Werder Bremen hammered his side 5-2 at home on September 20 and then slumped to a 1-0 defeat at minnows Hanover the following week. Cries of "Klinsmann out!" were first heard around Munich's Allianz Arena in their previous league game on October 4 when a poor Bochum side were allowed to score two goals in the last 10 minutes to poach a 3-3 draw. Despite their first-half domination in Karlsruhe, Bayern could not break down the home defense and lost striker Luca Toni, the league's top scorer last season, who limped off after 40 minutes to be replaced by Lukas Podolski. And another of Munich top attacking options from last season was substituted on 59 minutes when Klinsmann switched France midfielder Franck Ribery for Germany's Tim Borowski. With Karlsruhe unable to create any chances and Bayern unable to convert theirs, it looked like the game was heading towards a 0-0 draw until Klose struck. But Klinsmann's side will need to do much better against Fiorentina in Tuesday night's Champions League game in Munich. Promoted Hoffenheim went top of the table with a flurry of late goals to seal a 5-2 victory at 10-man Hanover which put them level with Hamburg but leading the table on goal difference. Two goals from Hoffenheim's Vedad Ibisevic led the charge and made the Bosnian and Herzegovina striker the league's top scorer with nine so far this season. However, Hamburg have the chance to recapture top spot when they host Schalke on Sunday. Also on Saturday, Bayer Leverkusen moved up one place to third place thanks to their 2-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt. Striker Patrick Helmes scored his eighth league goal of the season when he converted a penalty after just six minutes and a 61st minute header from Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal sealed the win. Stuttgart drop from third to sixth in the table after losing 2-1 at Hertha Berlin while Wolfsburg picked up their first league win for nearly a month as midfielder Zvjezdan Misimovic netted first-half goals in a 4-1 win over Arminia Bielefeld to put Felix Magath's side fifth in the table. Ten-man Energie Cottbus lost 1-0 at Cologne to stay in the bottom three while Dortmund scored in injury time to seal a 3-3 draw at Werder Bremen.

Miroslav Klose scores only goal to give Bayern Munich a 1-0 win at Karlsruhe . Klose's 86th minute strike is enough to end German champions' win drought . Hoffenheim top of table with flurry of late goals to seal a 5-2 victory at Hanover .

3acc26e31aa5136ecb0ba64c920bccf444ac75a8