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CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio (CNN) -- Camryn Jakeb Wilson was bathed in TV lights the day he was born, celebrated on the local news as Summit County's 2008 New Year's baby after his arrival at 12:33 a.m. January 1. Camryn Jakeb Wilson was the first baby born this year in Summit County, Ohio, arriving at 12:33 a.m. January 1. Just 12 weeks later, he was bathed in warm water minutes after he quietly died in his mother's arms, the victim of shaken baby syndrome. Camryn's 9-year-old sister, Tabatha, asked why he needed a bath now. "We have to get him ready to go to Jesus," a nurse softly replied. Tabatha took up a sponge to help. Camryn's father, Craig R. Wilson, 28, of Cuyahoga Falls, is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on murder and other charges August 20. Police say he confessed to shaking and squeezing the infant after arguing with his wife, Crystal Wilson. But he has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and faces trial in September. "There are no excuses for this to happen to any baby," said Crystal Wilson, 26. "This is murder. He had no reason to die. He died because he cried." An innocent infant's violent death has destroyed a family. Watch the family celebrate Camryn's birth » . "It really is a tragedy," said Craig Wilson's defense attorney, Jonathan T. Sinn. "I mean, not only did Crystal and Craig lose a son, but Crystal lost a husband, and Craig's parents lost a son and a grandson. ... One day this was a happy, perfect family, and the next day it's been devastated." The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome estimates that as many as 1,400 babies annually are injured or killed by shaking. According to the center, 70 percent to 79 percent of people convicted of killing or hurting babies are men. The average age of perpetrators is 24, and 82 percent are either the parent of the victim or the live-in boyfriend of the mother. Watch CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta explain shaken baby syndrome » . Craig Wilson and Crystal Twiddy, both recovering alcoholics, met about four years ago in a softball league popular with Alcoholics Anonymous members. The couple beamed in engagement photos shot in a garden setting before they were married in September. It was the first marriage for both. See photos of the family » . Craig, the machinist son of the Cuyahoga Falls High School wrestling coach and a former Mat Cats wrestler himself, became a father figure to Tabatha, Crystal's daughter from a previous relationship. The newlyweds also became frequent caretakers to 1-year-old Corrine, a daughter Craig had with another woman. Family members said the couple's only source of conflict was Craig's interaction with Corrine's mother. On March 12, the topic sparked a heated quarrel, according to a police report and family accounts. The couple hurled their wedding rings, along with profane insults, at each other. Crystal left with Tabatha to attend one of her regular AA meetings, leaving baby Camryn in the care of his father. "Maybe they both could have used a meeting that night," Sinn observed. When Crystal and Tabatha got home from the meeting March 12, Crystal immediately noticed that Camryn didn't look right in his baby swing. He was gasping for air but couldn't be wakened. After briefly speaking with an on-call doctor at Akron Children's Hospital, she scooped him up and rushed him there. Camryn was critically injured, with bleeding inside his head and in the backs of his eyes, and several broken ribs -- some of which, according to the autopsy, turned out to be older injuries. Medical personnel at the hospital determined that the combination of injuries could only mean abuse. When rib fractures are seen in a 10-week-old infant, "it's beating up," said Dr. Nicolas Krawiecki, a pediatric neurologist and faculty member at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. He is not involved in the Wilson case. Watch a doctor describe typical symptoms » . Craig Wilson was summoned to the hospital, where police questioned both parents separately. Early on March 13, the 5-foot-7-inch, 190-pound father was arrested after admitting that he had shaken and squeezed his baby out of frustration and anger toward his wife resulting from the argument over Corrine's mother, according to the police investigators' report. The bleeding inside Camryn's head was catastrophic. The two sides of his brain were "like two telephone poles with the lines between them cut," a family member said a doctor told them. Camryn was blind and incapable of feeling someone touching him, he could not breathe on his own, and if he lived, he would never be aware of his surroundings or even be capable of thinking, family members said. Learn about shaken baby syndrome » . After almost two weeks of waiting for a miracle that would never come, Crystal Wilson decided to withdraw life support. She gave friends and family -- including everyone on Craig's side -- time to gather to say goodbye to the tiny boy with the big, sightless eyes. Various relatives took turns holding him as he gradually slipped away. "They pulled together; they prayed together; they took baby Camryn off life support together," said Sinn, the Wilson family's longtime lawyer. "And that was a wonderful thing, that they were able to pull together like that despite Craig being alleged to have done these things." Camryn's father was not among them as he remained in jail. Sheriff's deputies took Craig Wilson to the funeral home for a brief private viewing of the infant's body the night before the funeral. But the family unity would not last. Buried with Camryn were multiple relationships that could not survive the grief, recrimination and legal machinations that have followed his death. Watch how Camryn's death has ruined relationships » . Crystal Wilson intends to divorce her husband of 11 months and is at odds with her in-laws. "My anger is kicked in full load," she wrote on her private MySpace page. "I don't care what Craig's family members think. He did this to my son. May he get what he deserves! Maybe people should talk more about Camryn than Craig. Craig's name has no worth to even be mentioned." Through their attorney, Wilson and his family declined to comment to CNN. Sinn said the autopsy on Camryn raises questions about whether Craig Wilson or someone else might have injured the infant on previous occasions. The autopsy report, obtained by CNN, found Camryn had multiple rib fractures, including several that apparently were incurred on one or more previous occasions. "The question becomes: If that autopsy is accurate, if this child has been severely injured to the point that his ribs were fractured on prior occasions, multiple occasions, how come no one knew that?" Sinn said. If Camryn's caregivers didn't pick up on his earlier rib fractures, neither did medical personnel trained to look for signs of child abuse. Camryn had been to Children's Hospital several times during his short life -- including earlier on the day he was fatally injured -- for well-baby checks and immunizations. No doctor or nurse ever noted broken ribs or signs of unusual pain in the infant, family members said. Watch how to avoid hurting a baby » . Cuyahoga Falls police have said there are no suspects besides Craig Wilson, and Summit County Children Services removes children immediately from a home investigators consider dangerous. Crystal Wilson's other child, 9-year-old Tabatha, is still at home with her mother. Sinn conceded that his client belatedly admitted to police having squeezed Camryn on previous occasions. "He only made the confession after the detectives involved started talking about other possibilities of how this child could have been injured, what other folks in the household could have injured him. Then Craig quickly took responsibility," Sinn said. Sinn said his client would accept "today" an offer to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter, saying Craig Wilson had no intention to kill Camryn that night, making a murder charge inappropriate. But prosecutors say there will be no deal. "No matter what happens, Craig is going to very likely spend the majority of his adult life in prison," Sinn conceded. "We are talking massive numbers here." John Saros, executive director of Summit County Children Services, said crime within a family can bring long-lasting hardship, especially when a family member goes to prison. "If that's the breadwinner or the main breadwinner, then you've got some serious financial problems right off the bat," he said. Crystal and Tabatha can attest to that. They can no longer afford to live in the charming little house they once shared with Craig on a peaceful Cuyahoga Falls street. Watch how bad things happen in good families » . "I lost my job because of this, because I couldn't work enough hours. Now I have to move into a smaller place," Crystal said. "It's horrible. It's a whole life change." And the consequences in such circumstances extend beyond the immediate family, Saros said. "It will be the basis for divorces; it'll be the basis for the kind of family conflict that then brings into play maternal and paternal grandparents and the extended family on both sides, and we end up with a lot of conflict," said Saros, who has been in the family services field for 40 years. Crystal Wilson's mother -- Camryn's grandmother, Laura Twiddy -- is angry at Craig but is trying to keep perspective. "I can't have HATE eat me up and beat me down. I can't live like that," she wrote on her MySpace page. "I will have to one day forgive him so that I might find peace." Peace of a sort can be found near the back of Stow Cemetery, where birds chirp in the trees above a freshly carved marker bearing a photograph of a big-eyed baby boy. The plot where Camryn now lies beneath that stone was donated to Crystal Wilson by a kind relative: Janet Wilson, Camryn's great-grandmother. On his father's side.

2008 New Year's baby of Summit County, Ohio, shaken to death . Father confessed to police, but attorney fighting murder charge . Autopsy on 12-week-old infant indicates earlier injuries . Tragedy destroys family, ruins relationships .

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(CNN) -- Altovise Davis, the widow of entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., has died. She was 65. Altovise Davis, in a 2008 photo, married Sammy Davis Jr. in 1970. Davis died Saturday at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, said her publicist, Amy Malone. She had been admitted two days earlier after suffering a stroke. Davis, a dancer and actress from Brooklyn, New York, met Sammy Davis Jr. on the set of the musical "Golden Boy" in London in 1967. The couple married three years later. It was Sammy Davis Jr.'s third marriage. The couple remained together until he died of throat cancer in 1990. The couple had an adopted son. Funeral services will be held in Burbank, California, with the date and time to be announced later. Sammy Davis Jr., himself a musician, was famous for being part of the Rat Pack, which included Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. CNN's Janet DiGiacomo contributed to this report.

Altovise Davis, 65, died Saturday at a Los Angeles hospital, her publicist says . She had been admitted two days earlier after suffering a stroke . Davis, a dancer and actress, married Sammy Davis Jr. in 1970 .

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(OPRAH.com) -- The recession has millions of consumers spending less, saving more and paying off debt. The fact that we are adjusting to the reality of this economy is good news, to be sure. There are items in any budget that can be scaled back easily. Financial expert Jean Chatzky warns there are items you should not cut out of your budget. But there's some spending areas where you shouldn't budge. Retirement planning . The Pension Rights Center counted about 20 corporations in December that announced changes to their 401(k) plans. Many others have discontinued or downsized their traditional pension plans. If your company is still offering matching dollars, you should keep kicking in money to grab them. "To get that free money from your employer is so important for the long-term growth of your retirement nest egg. Especially now, with the down market, when you're dollar-cost averaging in at lower prices, that free money has more value in the long run," said Derek Kennedy, a financial planner in Cincinnati. If your company has cut back, it still pays to contribute. Also consider an Individual Retirement Account. You can get your money out any time and, after five years, use it without penalty for a first-time home purchase. Insurance . Don't cut your homeowners insurance thinking that because home values have dropped you don't need as much coverage. What you're paying for is the amount it would cost to rebuild your home and replace your belongings. If you need to save, boost your policy's deductible. Raising it to $1,000 from $500 could shave 25 percent off the cost. Exercise . Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota just completed a study that found that people who go to the gym at least eight times a month have significantly lower health costs than those who don't. You can get those same benefits by going for a brisk walk, running or riding a bike or by spending less than the cost of a monthly gym membership on a pair of dumbbells. Healthcare . Some cuts are fine -- generic drugs instead of name brand, for instance. But skipping doctor visits is a bad idea, and so is canceling your insurance. "I've seen so many people go through horrendous financial nightmares and even bankruptcy because they don't have health insurance. This is just not one you want to mess with," said Jonni McCoy, author of "Miserly Moms: Living Well on Less in a Tough Economy." Charity . Giving to others can make you feel better about yourself and your situation. If money is tight, donate items you no longer use, give canned goods, shop at thrift stores that benefit a charity or share some of your time. Oprah.com: Five steps to secure your financial future . By Jean Chatzky and Arielle McGowen, Oprah.com exclusive, March 2009 . Subscribe to O, The Oprah Magazine for up to 75% off the newsstand price. That's like getting 18 issues FREE. Subscribe now! TM & © 2009 Harpo Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Financial expert Jean Chatzky: Don't cut house insurance coverage . Continue contributions to 401(k) if your company is matching . Study finds exercise significantly cuts health care costs . Giving money, goods or time to charities can make you feel good .

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(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 .

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(CNN) -- Two children and one adult were killed Friday after a man with a painted face launched a knife attack at a children's daycare center in Belgium. Police look at a hearse parked in front of the childcare centre in Dendermonde where the attack took place. Officials said two adults and 10 children, some of whom were in a critical condition, were being treated in hospital following the attack in Dendermonde, 25 kilometers (16 miles) northwest of Brussels. "The guy just went crazy," local official Theo Janssens said, according to Agence France-Presse news agency. He was arrested an hour and a half afterwards, according to the Interior Ministry. Reports said he was trying to make his escape on a bicycle. The attacker entered the day care center in Dendermonde, about 16 miles northwest of Brussels, around 10 a.m. (4 a.m. ET) and began stabbing children and staff, the ministry said. Local journalist Bart Bekaert told CNN that the attacker's face was painted black and white. Hear Bekaert describe the attack » . "Witnesses say he looked calm. There was no security and he just walked straight in," he added. AFP reported that the man was not known to staff at the nursery. "You don't expect such acts happening in a daycare center," Dendermonde deputy prosecutor Jan Kerkhofs told CNN. "It is not like a prison so there are no bars on the doors or security systems."

2 children, 1 adult killed in knife attack at creche, Belgian Interior Ministry says . Three others reported seriously injured in attack in town of Dendermonde . Attacker "had painted face," local journalist tells CNN .

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JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel's attorney general will indict former President Moshe Katsav on charges of rape and sexual assault of a number of his employees, the country's justice ministry said Sunday. Israel's ex-President Moshe Katsav will face rape and sexual assault charges, Israel's Justice Ministry said. Katsav will also be charged with obstruction of justice, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz said in a statement. Katsav had agreed in 2007 to plead guilty to lesser charges and pay a fine in order to avoid jail time, but pulled out of the deal when it came time to enter his plea. The plea bargain caused a public storm in Israel, mainly because it did not include charges of rape, contrary to what had been suggested by Mazuz in a draft indictment. Watch more on the expected indictment » . Katsav, of the center-right Likud Party, was president of Israel from 2000 to 2007. He was minister of tourism before that. The charges stem from allegations made against him in both jobs. He resigned the presidency in June 2007 over the sexual assault allegations. CNN's Shira Medding contributed to this report.

Justice Ministry: Moshe Katsav will be indicted on rape, sexual assault charges . Katsav to face obstruction of justice charge, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz says . Katsav, of the center-right Likud Party, was president from 2000 to 2007 .

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(CNN) -- Extra-time goals by Darren O'Dea and Aiden McGeady gave Celtic a 2-0 victory over Glasgow rivals Rangers in the Scottish League Cup final at Hampden Park. Darren O'Dea (left) peels away after scoring the opening goal in Celtic's 2-0 victory over Rangers. After 90 tense minutes had failed to produce a goal, the game moved in to extra-time and just a minute after the restart O'Dea, who had not scored since Celtic beat Livingston in February 2007, leapt to head a Shunsuke Nakamura free-kick past goalkeeper Allan McGregor. Then, In the third minute of added time at the end of the match, Rangers defender Kirk Broadfoot was red-carded for denying McGeady a clear goalscoring opportunity and the Ireland international scored from the resulting penalty. There was little between the two sides in normal time but Celtic's superior fitness paid off, giving them a psychological boost in their bid for a fourth Scottish Premier League title in succession -- a race in which Celtic lead Rangers by three points. The victory was Celtic's first major final victory over their arch-enemies for 20 years -- and ensured Rangers, who are also through to the semifinals of the Scottish FA Cup -- cannot now lift the domestic treble.

Celtic defeat rivals Rangers 2-0 to win Scottish League Cup final at Hampden . Extra-time goals by Darren O'Dea and Aiden McGeady secure cup for Celtic . The result will give Celtic a boost as they battle with Rangers for Scottish title .

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TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iranian conservatives have said they captured most of the 82 parliamentary seats up for grabs in Friday's runoff election. An Iranian girl drops her mother's ballot for the parliamentary runoff election. Conservatives took about 80 percent of the parliamentary seats, official Mohammad Forouzandeh told the country's semi-official FARS news agency. "The final results are not in yet, but so far, the fundamentalists have 53 seats, Reformists have 12 and the rest went to Independent candidates with fundamentalist tendencies," he said. FARS also published the names of the 11 winners of the Tehran constituency. Ten were conservatives and one was a reformist. Iran's official news agency, IRNA, reported that election results from 47 out of 54 had been finalized, and that the final count would be ready Saturday night. IRNA said voter participation in the second round was 8 percent higher than the second round of the previous election. Last month's first round, in which 204 parliamentary races were settled, was a decisive victory for the hard-line conservatives. The reformists suffered a setback before the March election, when 70 percent of their candidates were disqualified. Iran's conservative Guardian Council screened candidates and disqualified about 1,700 it deemed unsuitable. They were predominantly reformists. The Guardian Council is an unelected body of six high clerics appointed by supreme religious leaders and six lawyers nominated by the head of the judiciary branch. Iran is scheduled to hold its presidential election in the spring of 2009. Ahmadinejad has not announced whether he will run for a second term. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Shirzad Bozorgmehr contributed to this report.

Iranian conservatives say they captured most seats in parliamentary election . Earlier contests seen as victory for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad . Reformists suffered setback when 70 percent of their candidates were disqualified .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A top congressional Republican on Sunday criticized President Barack Obama's expected decision to reverse the Bush administration's limits on embryonic stem-cell research, calling it a distraction from the country's economic slump. U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor also says the policy reversal could lead to embryo harvesting, which "shouldn't be done." "Why are we going and distracting ourselves from the economy? This is job No. 1. Let's focus on what needs to be done," Rep. Eric Cantor, the Republican whip in the House of Representatives, told CNN's "State of the Union." Obama's move, scheduled for Monday morning, is part of a broader effort to separate science and politics and "restore scientific integrity in governmental decision-making," White House domestic policy adviser Melody Barnes said Sunday. The Bush administration's 2001 policy bars federal funding for research on embryonic stem cells beyond the cell lines that existed at the time. Cantor, R-Virginia, has been among the leaders of GOP opposition to Obama's economic policies. In a conference call with reporters, Barnes said funding research is also part of the administration's plan to boost the plunging U.S. economy. "Advances with regard to science and technology help advance our overall national goals around economic growth and job creation," she said, adding, "I think anytime you make an effort to try and separate these pieces of the puzzle, you're missing the entire picture." Because stem cells have the potential to turn into any organ or tissue cell in the body, research advocates say they could yield cures to debilitating conditions such as diabetes, Parkinson's disease and spinal injuries. But because work on embryonic stem cells involves the destruction of human embryos, many conservatives supported the limits former President George Bush imposed by executive order in 2001. "Frankly, federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research can bring on embryo harvesting, perhaps even human cloning that occurs," Cantor said. "We don't want that. That shouldn't be done. That's wrong." The Bush policy limited federal funding to work on 60 existing stem-cell lines, but only 21 of those have proven useful to researchers. Congress voted to roll back those limits in 2006 and 2007, but Bush vetoed the legislation both times, leading to Democratic charges that he had put politics over science. Dr. Harold Varmus, president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and co-chairman of Obama's science advisory council, said Sunday that Obama will "endorse the notion that public policy must be guided by sound, scientific advice." Obama's order will direct the National Institutes of Health to develop revised guidelines on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research within 120 days, said Varmus, who joined Barnes in the conference call with reporters. "The president is, in effect, allowing federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research to the extent that it's permitted by law -- that is, work with stem cells themselves, not the derivation of stem cells," he said. Supporters of the ban said researchers could still obtain private funding or explore alternatives such as adult stem cells. Opponents said the research could be carried out using embryos left over in fertility clinics, which otherwise would be discarded. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, told reporters that reversing the Bush ban would "once again say to the rest of the world that we will be the beacon for cures and for hope." She credited her support for federal funding in part for her 2006 election. "I think it's a great moment, and I'm proud of [Obama] for reversing that executive order," McCaskill said. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, said the Bush policy imposed ethical limits on science. "My basic tenet here is I don't think we should create life to enhance life and to do research and so forth," Shelby said. "I know that people argue there are other ways. I think we should continue our biomedical research everywhere we can, but we should have some ethics about it." CNN's Elaine Quijano contributed to this report.

NEW: White House adviser: Move part of effort to separate politics, science . Bush-era policy on embryonic stem cell research to be reversed, officials say . President's expected decision on stem cells distracting from economy, Cantor says . Rep. Cantor, R-Virginia, also says policy reversal could lead to embryo harvesting .

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KARACHI, Pakistan (CNN) -- Police in Pakistan arrested lawyers holding a public protest to demand that the government immediately restore judges the previous president had ousted, Karachi's police chief told CNN Thursday. Lawyers shout slogans Thursday in Karachi on the eve of a march to Islamabad. Among those detained were Muira Malik, former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association and leader of the Karachi lawyers movement, and retired high court justice Rasheed Razvi, police Chief Wasim Ahmed said. The lawyers were arrested under an order that outlaws public gatherings. The police chief also said authorities had credible information that there was a terror threat against the march and he had warned the lawyers before they started that it would be a public danger. Up to 500 lawyers in the Karachi group planned to join thousands of other demonstrators heading to the capital, Islamabad, as part of a four-day "Long March." The demonstrators plan a massive sit-in at the parliament building Monday. "Our movement is a peaceful movement," organizer Razvi, president of the Sindh High Court Bar Association, said before his arrest. "When we protested the last time, there were hundreds of thousands of people and not one grass was broken, not one leaf was broken." The demonstrators began walking from the gates of the Sindh High Court, heading to a dozen buses that waited to ferry them to their next stop: the city of Hyderabad. "The rule of baton and bullets cannot last," the protesters chanted. They want President Asif Ali Zardari to live up to a promise to reinstate judges sacked by then-President Pervez Musharraf. Among the dismissed judges was the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. After sweeping into power in parliamentary elections last year, Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party promised to reinstate the judges within 30 days of taking office. The deadline came and went. The government responded to the recent intensification of protests by banning political demonstrations in two of the country's biggest provinces -- Punjab and Sindh. It also detained several hundred activists Wednesday. But the protesters said they will not be deterred. Their movement now, they said, isn't so much about reinstating Chaudhry as it is about restoring the office of the chief justice. "We will start the long march from the province as we have promised the nation," Razvi said. The country's largest opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), is backing the lawyers -- but for reasons of its own. Party head Nawaz Sharif accuses Zardari of being behind a February Supreme Court decision that bars Sharif from holding public office. The court also stripped Sharif's brother, Shahbaz, of his post as chief minister of Punjab -- the Sharif party's power center. Supporters of PML-N have responded by holding massive rallies, some of which have turned violent in recent days. CNN's Thomas Evans and Zein Basravi contributed to this report .

NEW: Lawyers arrested at start of 'Long March' protest to the capital, Islamabad . Protesters heading to Islamabad to take their case to parliament . They want judges removed by previous president be restored to office . President Zardari's party had vowed to reinstate judges after winning election .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Spain remain top of the world rankings for the ninth straight month, according to newly released standings by FIFA, the world game's governing body. European champions Spain are ranked No.1 by FIFA in their world rankings. The European champions have not lost a game since going down 1-0 in a friendly to Romania in Cadiz in November 2006. They top their 2010 World Cup qualifying group, with four wins from four games, and have only conceded one goal in their last 10 internationals. No team can compete with that record and Spain are placed at No.1 for that reason. Their rankings are based on team performances over the last four years, with more recent results and more significant matches being more heavily weighted to help reflect the current competitive state of a team. Yet fans all over the world have long questioned how much can be read into the rankings. After the 2008 African Cup of Nations, US-based football columnist Ives Galarcep wrote: "Don't try making any sense of these rankings. After all, Egypt, which just won the African Cup of Nations for a second straight time, is ranked 29th, fourth best among African teams." Do you think FIFA's rankings count for much? Let us know in the Sound Off box below. For example, France, who reached the World Cup final in 2006 are down in 12th, while England, who failed to even qualify for Euro 2008, are ninth. Furthermore, Les Bleus were at their lowest-ever standing in the rankings in April 1998, when they were down in 25th. Three months later, they lifted the World Cup. From 2001-06, Mexico were anchored in the top 10, at one point as high as fourth, which left many European fans wondering how that was possible. They were ahead of many a supposed European powerhouse, such as Portugal. Not only did the Iberian country reach the final of Euro 2004, they also made the semi-finals of the World Cup in Germany two years later. Mexico were even in the same group as Portugal at the World Cup and finished five points behind them in second place. In the round of 16 Mexico fell to skilful but flawed Argentina side. Surely the yardstick is the planet's biggest tournament? There is luck involved, of course, as it's knockout football, but the best teams overall tend to go through. FIFA's suggestion that Mexico were once the fourth-best team in the world does not seem to add up. And to suggest that throughout this period they were better than Portugal does not ring true -- not when performances on the pitch indicate otherwise. Other ranking systems, compiled by football statisticians, have been founded as an alternative to FIFA's, which began in 1993. Criticism that calculating rankings over an eight-year period was unrepresentative of a team's recent performances led to FIFA revamping their system after the last World Cup. "The increasingly high profile of the world ranking has also brought a certain amount of criticism that its calculation formula is too complicated. It was therefore decided in 2005 to revise the ranking in order to simplify the way in which it is calculated," according to FIFA.com. Before that there were even more glaring anomalies than today: Norway were twice ranked second in the table in the 1990s and the United States were fourth two months before the World Cup in 2006. At the tournament, the Americans went home early after picking up one point and two goals in their three group games, which made a mockery of such a high placing. As of March 2009, Brazil and Argentina are the only non-European teams in the top 10, Cameroon (16) are the highest African nation, the United States are 17th, while Australia are the top Asian nation at 32. But regardless of your opinions of the rankings, they are here to stay. And Spain deserve respect for becoming only the sixth team after Germany, Brazil, Italy, France and Argentina to top them.

Spain remain top of FIFA's world rankings for the ninth month in a row . FIFA revamped their ranking system to make it more representative in 2006 . Football fans are still unsure about how accurate the rankings are .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Football fans are set to benefit from the recession as clubs slash season ticket prices to keep supporters coming back. Some Premier League fans will save on season tickets after five clubs cut prices. Price cuts have been announced at five English Premier League clubs. Manchester City, Sunderland, Everton, Portsmouth and Newcastle United have cut prices, while five further clubs announced price freezes on their season tickets. Bolton dropped their season ticket prices last season. Manchester City have taken an average of seven percent off their prices, while at Everton the cheapest adult season ticket will now be £399 ($550). At Sunderland under-16 season passes will be just £1($1.39) per home match for the 19 matches (£19 [$26] total) when purchased with an adult pass. The move comes amid a slight decline in Premiership football crowds this season. The average attendance at Premier League matches is down about 800 per match compared to the 2007/2008 season -- however, on average the stadiums are still at almost 92 percent capacity. Outside the United Kingdom, fans also stand to benefit from lower ticket prices. In the U.S. Major League Soccer side Kansas City Wizards recently announced they would drop ticket prices for the coming season. Wizards president Robb Heinemann was quoted in the Kansas City Star saying; "We understand these are tough economic times." Other countries in Europe have maintained lower prices in recent years, with single tickets available for about 10 Euros in club games in Italy and Germany. Tickets in Australia's A-League tended to be cheaper yet, while South America and Africa/Middle East remained the cheapest. In England's League One and League Two competitions crowds had dropped more significantly. Dan Johnson of the Premier League told CNN the clubs cutting ticket prices were simply responding to the financial climate. "Given the economic situation, there will be pressure on fans' ability to spend and the clubs have acted accordingly. "It's a very real way that they can help at this time," Johnson said. Johnson said the drop in crowds this season was not significant and may be made up towards the end of the season when attendances are traditionally higher. Sport business expert Professor Simon Chadwick, founder of the Center for the International Business of Sport (CIBS) at Coventry University, told CNN recessions could have a strong impact on football crowds. "In previous recessions there is evidence to suggest that as unemployment rises, the attendance at football matches decreases," he said. However, Chadwick said English football fans shouldn't hope for significant price reductions. "Some Premier League clubs are running at nearly 100% capacity and there's excess demand ...so in the short-to-medium term they should be able to continue at premium prices," Chadwick said.

Football fans to benefit as club teams lower season ticket prices . Five English Premier League teams have dropped prices for season passes . Dan Johnson of the Premier League says the move is due to recession . A U.S. Major League Soccer team has also announced a price drop .

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(CNN) -- Rioting has flared near Belfast on Saturday after the arrests of three men in the killings of two soldiers in Northern Ireland last week, police said. Two people in masks prepare to throw petrol bombs Saturday in Lurgan, Northern Ireland. Petrol bombs have been hurled at police in Lurgan, a town in County Armagh, 20 miles west of Belfast, police in Northern Ireland said. There are gangs of youths on the streets, authorities said, but there have been no arrests or injuries. Police announced the arrests on Saturday and said the three men have been taken to the police service's Serious Crime Suite in County Antrim. One of them, a dissident republican named Colin Duffy, is from Lurgan. They are the first arrests in connection with the March 7 shootings, which were the first fatal attack on British troops in the province for more than 12 years. The two British soldiers were shot dead at a base in Massereene, in Antrim, as they were preparing to ship out for duty in Afghanistan. The soldiers, Cengiz "Pat" Azimkar, 21, and Mark Quinsey, 23, had already packed their bags and changed into desert uniforms, authorities said. Two masked gunmen with automatic rifles shot them as the soldiers picked up a pizza delivery at the barracks, authorities said. Two other soldiers and the two pizza delivery men were seriously wounded. The shooting has sparked fears of a return to the sectarian violence that Northern Ireland suffered until the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, a period known as The Troubles. A militant splinter group, the Real IRA, reportedly claimed it had carried out the attack on the soldiers. Two days after the soldiers were killed, a police officer was killed in a shooting southwest of Belfast. Constable Stephen Carroll was one of four officers who were responding to call in Craigavon when his vehicle came under fire and he was killed. Three people have been arrested in connection with the police officer's death. The Continuity IRA, a republican splinter group that does not accept the Good Friday Agreement, said it had killed Carroll, Britain's Press Association reported. Politicians from across the political spectrum have condemned the killings, with Sinn Fein deputy leader Martin McGuinness calling the killers "traitors to the island of Ireland." Sinn Fein is a predominantly Catholic party that wants Northern Ireland to leave the United Kingdom and become part of the Republic of Ireland. The party is widely thought to be linked to the Irish Republican Army. Danny Kennedy, deputy leader of the loyalist Ulster Unionist Party, which wants Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom, also condemned the attack as "wicked and murderous."

NEW: Petrol bombs hurled at police after arrests in connection with soldiers' killings . Three arrested over slayings of two soldiers in Northern Ireland last week . Three men also being held in Monday's killing of police officer . Two republican groups have reportedly claimed responsibility for the killings .

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(CNN) -- The average cost of medical care for a premature or low birth-weight baby for its first year of life is about $49,000, according to a new report from the March of Dimes Foundation. Babies born after the 37th week of pregnancy are less costly to the health care system than premature babies. By contrast, a newborn without complications costs $4,551 for care in its first year of life, the report said. Newborns with other kinds of complications, such as congenital defects, have medical expenses of $10,273 on average in the first year. The foundation wants to show employers the importance of good maternity care, maternity coverage, and prevention of prematurity, said Jennifer Howse, president of the March of Dimes, a nonprofit for pregnancy and baby health. "It's in the best interest of the bottom line for the employer, and of course it's certainly in the best interest for the baby, the employee, and ultimately the community in which the business is located," she said. Although most of these costs go straight to the health care plans, even out-of-pocket expenses are far greater for premature babies than for children delivered at a normal time. The average out-of-pocket expense for a premature or low-birth-weight baby in the first year was $1,987. For uncomplicated births, it is $654, and a baby with other kinds of complications averages $953 in out of pocket expenses. But it's important to note that these are average costs for premature babies born at different times -- a baby born closer to 40 weeks will most likely cost much less than a baby born at 26 weeks, said William Sexson, neonatologist at Emory University and prematurity prevention chair for the March of Dimes for the state of Georgia. Sexson was not involved in the new report. The problem of prematurity . By definition, a premature baby is born before the 37th week of pregnancy. About 12 percent of all pregnancies in the United States result in premature birth, according to the National Institutes of Health. A low-birth-weight baby weighs less than 2,500 grams, or 5.5 pounds. Prematurity may contribute to problems such as cerebral palsy, vision problems, learning disabilities, and developmental delays, experts say. The rate of premature babies in the United States has increased 36 percent since the early 1980s, the March of Dimes said. One reason for the abundance of premature births may be the increasing number of elective early deliveries, said Sexson. There is a lack of transparency about both patients' and obstetricians' decisions to, for example, have a Caesarean section close to term -- technically premature. The March of Dimes recommends every elective delivery before 39 weeks be reviewed. "There is a real concern that many of those deliveries are a lot more elective than they ought to be," Sexson said. Uncomplicated Caesarean deliveries cost over 40 percent more than uncomplicated vaginal deliveries, the new report said. These deliveries also resulted in longer inpatient stays, outpatient visits, and more prescriptions filled. Most of the costs get covered by a health plan -- out-of-pocket expenses were similar for normal Caesarian deliveries, uncomplicated vaginal deliveries, and complicated births. Preventing premature births . Prenatal care is essential in helping mothers carry their babies to term, experts say. The vitamin folate is especially important for mothers-to-be because it has been shown to prevent congenital abnormalities, said Janet Larson, chief of neonatology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Premature babies cost the United States at least $26 billion each year, according to the Institute of Medicine. Women who have a shortened cervix, or have certain infections, such as bacterial vaginosis and trichomoniasis, are at higher risk for having a premature baby, according to the NIH. A history of giving birth to premature babies is also a risk factor, said Dr. Charles Macri, obstetrician-gynecologist at the The George Washington University Hospital in Washington. A woman in this situation may take progesterone therapy between weeks 16 and 36 to decrease the likelihood of a premature delivery. A pregnant woman should always tell her doctor if she has had any kind of cervical surgery, which may also contribute to premature births, he said. Women who carry multiples babies at once, even twins, are also at higher risk of giving birth prematurely, he said. Not all premature births can be prevented, however. Some babies are "destined to be born early," Macri said. About 50 percent of pregnancies that result in premature births are completely normal until labor, Sexson said. Costs for premature and low-birth-weight babies are also higher in terms of combined medical costs for the mother and child -- $64,713, compared with $15,047 for uncomplicated births, the March of Dimes report said. Even in tough economic times, experts agree that pregnant women should not cut back on health care. "Investing in health care costs -- that's the best investment a family can make," Howse said.

By definition, a premature baby is born before the 37th week of pregnancy . Premature babies cost the U.S. at least $26 billion each year . There are risk factors, but not all premature births can be prevented . In tough economic times, pregnant women should not cut back on health care .

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UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Russia and China vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution Friday that would have imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe's longtime president, Robert Mugabe, and 11 senior members of his government. Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe meets this week with Arthur Mutambara, an opposition leader. According to a draft of the resolution, the measure would have instituted a travel ban on Mugabe and others in his government, frozen many of their assets and imposed an international arms embargo on the regime. The measure received nine votes -- the minimum for it to pass. However, two of the five negative votes were from Russia and China, who as permanent members of the Security Council have veto power. One Security Council member abstained. The resolution was pushed by the United States after Mugabe ignored the Security Council's appeal to postpone the June 27 presidential runoff election. The vote initially was intended to be a runoff between Mugabe and opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai. But Tsvangirai withdrew days before, saying Mugabe's supporters had orchestrated a campaign of beatings, intimidation and murders against his supporters. With their votes, ambassadors for China and Russia said they wanted to give the rival political parties a chance to resolve the election matter on their own terms without undue interference from the Security Council. Representatives from Mugabe's party, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), have been meeting in Pretoria, South Africa, with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change this week. Tsvangirai said Wednesday the talks, which are being mediated by South African President Thabo Mbeki, are focusing on "how to move forward." Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya said his nation believes the international community should allow the talks in South Africa on the Zimbabwe situation a chance to progress before imposing sanctions. Wang said the adoption of the resolution would "unavoidably interfere with the negotiation process and lead to the further deterioration of the situation." "Many countries, including China, repeatedly called upon the Security Council to respect the position of the African countries on this question and give more time," Wang said. "China has always maintained the best approach to solve a problem is negotiation and dialogue," Wang said. "To use or threaten to use sanctions lightly is not conducive to solving the problem." Wang's comments echoed those of Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who said the Security Council would have overstepped its responsibilities had it approved the resolution. "Recently, in the positions of a number of council member states, we have seen an ever-more-obvious attempt to take the council beyond its chartered prerogatives and beyond maintaining international peace and security," Churkin said. "We believe such practices to be illegitimate and dangerous, leading to a realignment of the entire U.N. system." Churkin also noted that, had the resolution been approved, council members would have ignored appeals from the African Union to let the South African talks take place. He also accused the council of missing an opportunity to coordinate a response that would have "promoted the success of the political dialogue" in Zimbabwe. Speaking before the vote, Zimbabwean Ambassador Boniface Chidyausiku said his nation has been a victim of "incessant meddling" from the international community. Chidyausiku blamed sanctions already imposed on Zimbabwe for its underperforming economy and the suffering of its people. South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo also urged the Security Council to give the South African talks a chance to bring about a resolution. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the United States was disappointed at the veto. "China and Russia have stood with Mugabe against the people of Zimbabwe ... for reasons that we think are not borne out by the facts on the ground," he said. "The U-turn on the Russian position is particularly surprising and disturbing," he said, noting that a few days ago, the Russian Federation was supportive of a statement adopted at the Group of Eight meeting in Japan expressing "grave concern" about the situation in Zimbabwe. "The Russian performance here today raises questions about its reliability as a G-8 partner," Khalilzad said. The draft resolution expressed "deep concern at the gross irregularities" during the presidential election, saying violence and intimidation before the runoff prevented "free and fair elections," creating "an environment that did not permit international election observers to operate freely before the June 27 vote." The United Kingdom, which has been highly critical of Mugabe, was a chief supporter of the United States push for sanctions. France also supported the resolution. "The Security Council has failed to shoulder its responsibility to do what it can to prevent a national tragedy deepening and spreading its effects across southern Africa," British Ambassador John Sawers said after the vote. Watch the British Ambassador to the U.N. speaks about the failed resolution » . Sawers also questioned Mbeki's efficacy as a mediator in Zimbabwe's affairs. "We have to be realistic. Those efforts have so far come to naught. The only one who has benefited to date is Mr. Mugabe," he said. After the vote, Chidyausiku thanked the council for heeding his call. "Today we have seen reason," he said. "I want to express our gratitude to the people in the Security Council who managed to see reason and refused to be intimidated or cowed into following the national interests of the U.S. and UK." The Zimbabwean people, he said, are "committed to resolve their differences." CNN's Richard Roth and Terence Burke contributed to this report.

China, Russia veto resolution that would have meant sanctions for Mugabe regime . United States pushed for measure after Mugabe refused to postpone runoff elections . Sanctions would have meant travel bans, frozen assets for Mugabe and others . Proposed sanctions also would have imposed an international arms embargo .

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ST. POELTEN, Austria (CNN) -- A verdict in the case of Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man accused of keeping his daughter in a cellar for decades and fathering her seven children, could come as early as Thursday, a court official told reporters Monday. Josef Fritzl expects to spend the rest of his life in prison, his attorney has said. As his trial began behind closed doors Monday Fritzl pleaded guilty to incest and other charges, but denied charges of murder and enslavement -- the most serious charges against him. He pleaded "Partly guilty" to multiple charges of rape, but did not elaborate. "Partly guilty" is a plea option in Austrian courts. Franz Cutka, a spokesman for the Landesgericht St. Poelten court, said the "partly guilty" plea might mean that Fritzl contends he is not guilty of all the individual rape charges or that the violence used was not as severe as rape. Cutka was not in court for the plea and does not speak for the defendant. Fritzl's attorney was not immediately available to explain what he meant. Fritzl arrived at the courthouse in St. Poelten covering his face with a blue binder to shield himself from reporters, television cameras and photographers and escorted by a phalanx of police officers. Watch Fritzl arrive in court » . Fritzl faces six charges at a closed-door trial in St. Poelten, 45 miles (70 km) east of Amstetten, where Fritzl lived. Cameras were removed from the court . The trial is scheduled to last five days, but his attorney Rudolph Mayer said it could be shorter. Fritzl was charged in November with incest and the repeated rape of his daughter, Elisabeth, over a 24-year period. But he was also charged with the murder of one of the children he fathered with her, an infant who died soon after birth. State Prosecutor Gerhard Sedlacek said Michael Fritzl died from lack of medical care. In an opening statement, prosecuting attorney Christiane Burkheiser handed damp-smelling items from the cellar where Elisabeth and her children had lived to jurors to give them an idea of the conditions in which they were allegedly locked up. In all, Fritzl is charged with: murder, involvement in slave trade (slavery), rape, incest, assault and deprivation of liberty, Sedlacek's office said. He could face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of murder. Mayer said Sunday that Fritzl expected to spend the rest of his life in prison. "This man obviously led a double life for 24 years. He had a wife and had seven kids with her. And then he had another family with his daughter, fathered another seven children with her," said Franz Polzer, a police officer in Amstetten, the town where Fritzl lived, at the time of his arrest. The case first came to light in April 2008 when Elisabeth's daughter, Kerstin, became seriously ill with convulsions. Elisabeth persuaded her father to allow Kerstin, then 19, to be taken to a hospital for treatment. Hospital staff became suspicious of the case and alerted police, who discovered the family members in the cellar. Fritzl confessed to police that he raped his daughter, kept her and their children in captivity and burned the body of the dead infant in an oven in the house. Elisabeth told police the infant was one of twins who died a few days after birth. When Elisabeth gained her freedom, she told police her father began sexually abusing her at age 11. On August 8, 1984, she told police, her father enticed her into the basement, where he drugged her, put her in handcuffs and locked her in a room. Fritzl explained Elisabeth's disappearance in 1984 by saying the girl, who was then 18, had run away from home. He backed up the story with letters he forced Elisabeth to write. Elisabeth Fritzl and all but three of her children lived in the specially designed cellar beneath her father's home in Amstetten, Austria, west of Vienna. The other three children lived upstairs with Fritzl and his wife; Fritzl had left them on his own doorstep, pretending the missing Elisabeth had dropped them off. Under Austrian law, if Fritzl is convicted on several offenses, he will be given the sentence linked to the worst crime. The charges he faces are: . • Murder: The infant who died in 1996 died from a lack of medical care, the state prosecutor said. The charge carries a sentence of life in prison. • Involvement in slave trade: From 1984 until 2008, prosecutors allege, Fritzl held his daughter, Elisabeth, captive in a dungeon, abused her sexually and treated her as if she were his personal property -- in a situation similar to slavery. If he is convicted, the sentence could range from 10 to 20 years in prison. • Rape: Between August 30, 1984, and June 30, 1989, Fritzl "regularly sexually abused Elisabeth," according to the prosecutor. The sentence could be from five to 15 years in prison. • Incest: Parallel to the rape charge. It carries a sentence of up to one year. • Withdrawal of liberty: Three of the children Fritzl had with Elisabeth were illegally held captive in a dungeon with no daylight or fresh air, according to prosecutors. That charge carries a sentence of one to 10 years. • Assault: Between August 28, 1984, and April 26, 2006, Fritzl repeatedly threatened Elisabeth and their three children with gas and booby traps as warnings in case they tried to escape, authorities allege. The sentence would range from six months to five years. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen and Melissa Gray contributed to this report.

Friztl pleads guilty to imprisonment, incest denies murder, enslavement . Fritzl answers "partly guilty" when asked his response to rape charge . Austrian accused of keeping daughter in cellar for decades, fathering her 7 children . Verdict could come as early as Thursday, court official says .

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(CNN) -- Anna Nicole Smith's longtime partner and attorney Howard K. Stern and two doctors were charged Thursday with conspiring to furnish drugs before her death in 2007, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Anna Nicole Smith's boyfriend Howard K. Stern was among those charged Thursday. Smith, 39, was pronounced dead February 8 after being found unconscious in her hotel room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Hollywood, Florida. The former Playboy playmate and reality TV star died from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. At the time of her death several prescription medications -- both in Smith's name and that of her partner and lawyer, Stern -- were found in the room. Officials said prescription and over-the-counter drugs were found in Smith's system, including three antidepressants or antianxiety drugs. Also found in toxicology testing was human growth hormone and chloral hydrate, a sleep medication, officials said. Stern, 40, and doctors Sandeep Kapoor, 40, and Khristine Eroshevich, 61, were each charged with eight felonies, including conspiring to furnish controlled substances, unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance and obtaining fraudulent prescriptions between June 2004 and January 2007 -- only weeks before the playmate's death. Kapoor and Eroshevich were each also charged with obtaining a prescription for opiates by "fraud, deceit or misrepresentation." Each were also charged with one count of obtaining a prescription for opiates by giving a false name or address, according to the DA's office. All three were charged with one count of "prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict." Smith was buried in the Bahamas March 2 next to the grave of her son, Daniel, who died in September, shortly after the birth of her daughter, Dannielynn.

Howard K. Stern, Sandeep Kapoor, Khristine Eroshevich charged with eight felonies . The three are accused of conspiring to furnish drugs before her death . Former Playboy playmate died from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs . All three charged with giving "a controlled substance to an addict"

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(CNN) -- Hamburg have moved up to fourth place in the Bundesliga, only behind Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg on goal difference, after a comfortable 2-0 home victory over Energie Cottbus on Sunday. Ivica Olic celebrates his opening goal for Hamburg as they remain in touch near the top of the Bundesliga. Croatian striker headed Hamburg into a 32nd-minute lead while a free-kick from winger Piotr Trochowski seven minutes later secured the points for the home side. The result lifts Hamburg above Hoffenheim onto 45 points, with leaders Hertha Berlin remaining top of the table on 49 points following their 1-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday. Sunday's other match saw Werder Bremen pick up their first league win of 2009 with a 4-0 victory over Stuttgart, the first defeat in 10 matches for new Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel. Sweden striker Markus Rosenberg struck twice for the home side who lie 10th in the table, while Stuttgart remain sixth, 10 points behind leaders Hertha Berlin.

Hamburg remain in Bundesliga title hunt following 2-0 win over Energie Cottbus . The win lifts Hamburg into fourth in the table, four points behind leaders Hertha . Stuttgart suffer first defeat under Markus Babbel, losing 4-0 at Werder Bremen .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A crowd of about 10,000 came to Dodger Stadium on Saturday, but they weren't there for a baseball game. Job seeker Eric Clardy, right, shakes hands with recruiter Raul Mendez from L.A. County Probation Department. While the Dodgers were in Arizona for spring training, more than 80 employers set up employment booths in the parking lot just beyond the center field fence. To those who turned out, finding a job would be a home run. Participating companies included Coca-Cola, Lowe's and Union Bank. And government agencies including the FBI, the Social Security Administration and the Army Corps of Engineers were there, too. All had one thing in common: They were hiring. And that was music to the ears of 30-year-old Eric Clardy. It has been a rough couple of years for Clardy. He was laid off from his job as a loan processor when the real estate market started to tank. Then, after finding work as a project manager for a plumbing company, layoffs struck again. "It's kind of like, get the job now so you can pay your bills, then start towards the career that you really want," he said. Clardy said his goal is to make contact with at least 10 potential employers a day via phone, letters and the Internet. Being unemployed is hard work, too. Watch how Clardy goes about trying to find a job » . "It was a scramble," Clardy said. "I was selling insurance, doing temp jobs, going to job fairs." The city of Los Angeles and the California Employment Development Department organized Saturday's event, which they said drew about 10,000 people. Earlier this month, a two-day job fair to fill some 500 part-time jobs at the stadium during baseball season drew about 7,000 applicants. California's unemployment rate is 10.1 percent, a full 2 percentage points higher than the national rate. The state's Employment Development office estimates that nearly a half-million state residents have lost their jobs in the past year. "We are not seeing as many job opportunities as we saw a year ago," said Gloria Bratton Moore, who runs the state-funded Work Source job center in Los Angeles. Nonetheless, she said, "There are jobs available." But at Dodger Stadium, it was clear that competition for those available jobs is stiff. Applicants were often stacked four and five people deep in front of employer tables, and there was little chance for most of the 10,000 job seekers to make much of an impression. But organizers worked hard to pump up any flagging spirits. "Yes we can. Yes we can," Los Angeles School Board member Monica Garcia chanted over a loudspeaker. State lawmaker Kevin deLeon told the crowd that they are among the nation's hardest-hit in this economic downturn, but he exhorted them to not give up. "We will get out of this economic funk," he said. "We will recover soon. We've got to have hope." Garcia and deLeon's comments echoed the campaign slogans of President Obama, who recently won approval of a nearly $800 billion economic stimulus package. Recruiters from the government agencies present at the job fair said that money will start creating jobs within the next few months. The Army Corps of Engineers told applicants that it is hiring for a wide variety of positions, including those for engineers, heavy-equipment operators and environmental field workers. The Commerce Department is adding more than 1 million jobs in preparation of the 2010 census, and other federal agencies are hiring as well. All of that was good news to Clardy, who left resumes and filled out applications at a number of the 80 booths cluttering the stadium's parking lot. But he remained realistic about this day's activities leading directly to a job. "It seemed like a couple of years ago, the job fair was really your first interview," he said. "Now it doesn't seem like that. Some companies are not even taking resumes at the job fairs anymore."

Eighty employers set up booths in parking lot of Dodger Stadium . Thousands vie for time with representatives from companies, government agencies . California's unemployment rate of 10.2 percent is higher than nation's . Head of state-funded job center in Los Angeles: "There are jobs available"

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(CNN) -- Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden called Israel's recent offensive in Gaza a "holocaust," according to a purported message from him posted on an Islamist Web site. Osama bin Laden, in an undated photo, apparently taped a message calling Israel's Gaza offensive a holocaust. "The holocaust of Gaza in the midst of this long siege is an important and historic event and an articulate tragedy which affirms the need for detachment of the Muslims from the hypocrites. It is not right that our condition after what happened in Gaza be like our condition prior to it," the message said. Al Qaeda says it wants to liberate the mosque from Israeli control. The message -- an audiotape played over a still image -- is called "Practical Steps to Liberate Palestine" and it is dated March 2009, according to terrorism analyst Laura Mansfield. The more than 33 minutes-long tape includes English subtitles, and English and Arabic transcripts were released by As Sahab, al Qaeda's media production center, Mansfield said. The authenticity of the tape could not be verified. The message says it's "clear" some Arab leaders have "conspired" with what it calls the "Zionist-crusader alliance" against the Palestinians in Gaza. "They are the ones that America describes as the moderate leaders in our world," the message says. The speaker urged Muslims to help insurgents "liberate" Iraq. "For those honest in their desire to deliver al-Aqsa mosque, they should back the Mujahideen in Iraq with everything they need in order to liberate Mesopotamia," the message said, alluding to the Jerusalem mosque regarded as the third holiest place in Islam. "And with that they will have defeated the Zionists' biggest ally," referring to the United States. Then, the fighters should move on to Jordan to "liberate all of Palestine from the sea to the river" from Israel. When talking about Palestine, the speaker is referring to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River that includes the Jewish state of Israel and the Palestinian lands of the West Bank and Gaza. In his last purported audio message in January, bin Laden called for a jihad, or holy war, to stop Israel's military campaign in Gaza.

NEW: Message condemns Arab leaders who "conspire" with Israel . NEW: Speaker on Al-Jazeera urges liberation "from the sea to the river" Arabic-language news network doesn't reveal source of recording . Israeli offensive killed 1,300 Palestinians; 13 Israelis also died .

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(CNN) -- Inter Milan kept their seven-point lead at the top of Serie A with a 2-0 win over Fiorentina in the San Siro in Sunday's late match in Italy. Ibrahimovic powers home a 30-meter free-kick in stoppage time at the San Siro. Inter showed no signs of their Champions League disappointment at Manchester United as Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck in each half. Ibrahimovic scored the opener after 11 minutes but Inter had to survive some nervous moments against a committed away side before he sealed victory in stoppage time with a thumping free-kick. Title rivals Juventus had won 4-1 at Bologna on Saturday evening to put the pressure on Jose Mourinho's men. Inter's arch-rivals AC Milan also enjoyed an important win on Sunday with a 5-1 thrashing of Siena to stay third. Veteran striker Filippo Inzaghi scored twice, including his 300th career goal in the away victory. David Beckham, who shrugged off an injury to play, set up Inzaghi for his first goal and the side's second. Andrea Pirlo scored the opener from the penalty spot, while Alexander Pato also netted twice, as Milan proved too strong for their opponents -- for whom Massimo Maccarone was on target. Roma lost further ground in the race for the fourth Champions League place as they were held to a 2-2 draw at Sampdoria. Julio Baptista gave the visitors a seventh-minute lead but Giampaolo Pazzini headed home an equalizer before the same player put the home side ahead after a mistake from goalkeeper Doni. But Baptista leveled from the spot after Marco Padalino was penalized for fouling Max Tonetto -- the player who missed the decisive spot-kick in the midweek Champions League defeat by Arsenal.

Inter Milan defeat Fiorentina 2-0 to re-open seven point lead in Serie A table . Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores twice for the leaders at the San Siro . Filippo Inzaghi reaches 300 career goals to help AC Milan hammer Siena 5-1 .

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(CNN) -- Top Democratic lawmakers called Tuesday for high taxes on the controversial AIG bonuses, as new details emerged on who got those bonuses. Congress is looking at ways to deal with the outrage surrounding AIG's controversial bonuses. "My colleagues and I are sending a letter to [AIG CEO Edward] Liddy informing him that he can go right ahead and tell the employees that are scheduled to get bonuses that they should voluntarily return them," Sen. Charles Schumer said on the Senate floor. "Because if they don't, we plan to tax virtually all of [the money] ... so it is returned to its rightful owners, the taxpayers." Schumer's comments came the same day New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo confirmed in a letter to Congress that AIG paid 73 employees bonuses of more than $1 million each. Cuomo also wrote that 11 of the employees no longer work for the company. The largest bonus paid was $6.4 million; seven other people also received more than $4 million each. "Until we obtain the names of these individuals, it is impossible to determine when and why they left the firm and how it is that they received these payments," Cuomo wrote to a congressional committee. AIG has been under fire for awarding seven-figure bonuses to employees while being kept afloat by more than $170 billion from the U.S. government's financial bailout. The company insists the payouts are needed to keep talented executives on the payroll, but public anger over the moves has prompted Congress and the Obama administration to seek some ways to reclaim the money. Watch Sen. Schumer vow to recoup the bonuses » . Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced on the Senate floor Tuesday that the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee will pursue a legislative fix in such a way that the "recipients of those bonuses will not be able to keep all their money -- and that's an understatement." Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Montana, will propose a special tax within the next 24 hours, Reid said. "I don't think those bonuses should be paid," Baucus said Tuesday. The special-tax idea was first floated Monday by Sen. Chris Dodd, chairman of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. "We have a right to tax," the Connecticut Democrat told CNN. "You could write a tax provision that's narrowly crafted only to the people receiving bonuses." Watch why Americans have a right to be angry » . At an unrelated hearing Tuesday at which IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman was testifying, Baucus asked the nation's top tax official, "What's the highest excise tax we can impose that's sustainable in court?" Shulman did not respond directly, but Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, chimed in to suggest the tax could be as high as "90 percent." President Obama on Monday expressed dismay and anger over the bonuses to executives at AIG. "This is a corporation that finds itself in financial distress due to recklessness and greed," Obama told politicians and reporters in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, where he and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner were unveiling a package to aid the nation's small businesses. Obama said he will attempt to block bonuses for AIG, payments he described as an "outrage." See a snapshot of facts, attitudes and analysis on the recession » . "Under these circumstances, it's hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165 million in extra pay. I mean, how do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?" Obama was referring to the bonuses paid to traders in AIG's financial products division, the tiny group of people who crafted complicated deals that contributed to the shaking of the world's economic foundations. Watch Obama say he's outraged by bonuses » . The president said he has asked Geithner to "pursue every single legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole." Obama said he would work with Congress to change the laws so that such a situation cannot happen again. The president spared Liddy from criticism, saying he got the job "after the contracts that led to these bonuses were agreed to last year." But he said the impropriety of the bonuses goes beyond economics. "It's about our fundamental values," he said. iReport.com: Sound off on AIG . Under pressure from the Treasury, AIG scaled back the bonus plans and pledged to reduce 2009 bonuses -- or "retention payments" -- by at least 30 percent. That has done little to temper outrage over the initial plan, however. In the House, Democrats are trying to shame AIG executives into forgoing the bonuses. They're also investigating possible legal avenues Congress can take to force the company to return money used for bonuses, a House Democratic leadership aide and a House Financial Services Committee aide said Monday. The committee is trying to determine whether Congress can force AIG to renegotiate the bonuses, which the company says it is legally required to give employees under contracts negotiated before the company received its first infusion of bailout dollars in September, according to the committee aide. Who's insured by AIG? » . Both aides said it is unclear what authority Congress might have to force AIG to take back the bonuses. Liddy will face intense questioning about the bonuses when he testifies Wednesday before the House Financial Services subcommittee on capital markets. CNN's Ted Barrett, Dana Bash and Elaine Quijano contributed to this report.

NEW: Sen. Schumer: We'll enact a new law that will "tax bonuses at a very high rate" AIG paid 73 people bonuses of $1 million or more each, New York AG reports . Senate majority leader says Senate Finance Committee looking into bonuses . Sen. Chris Dodd suggests tax provision crafted toward recipients of bonuses .

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(CNN) -- Like the neighbors of a new kid who just moved into the big fancy house down the block, many Latin American leaders are curious about President Obama. Latin America expert Otto Reich says the summit is an "opportunity, but also a risk for U.S. policy." The heads of 34 nations will get a chance to see him up close next month at the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago. What he says will be closely watched. "The spotlight will be entirely on Barack Obama," said Peter Hakim, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue. Hakim will be one of three people who will on Wednesday address the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the summit. Otto Reich, who served Presidents Reagan and both Bushes in a number of high-level Latin American posts, also will speak. Thomas F. "Mack" McLarty, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, will be the third person. Reich has some advice for Obama: Be careful. "The summit is an opportunity, but also a risk for U.S. policy," Reich said. "Not all the neighbors there are good. Why do we recognize this reality when we lock our doors at night but don't recognize it in our foreign policy?" Reich said the United States must differentiate between its friends, primarily Colombia and Mexico, which are under attack from drug traffickers and organized crime, and hostile countries, particularly Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua. Cuba, which was expelled from the Organization of American States, is not allowed to attend the summit. "Obama can't look at this group of people and think he's among a group of friends," Reich said. "Let's not look at this as a community of 34 countries. They are very different people." Hakim said Obama must ask Latin American leaders to share the burden. "He shouldn't simply say what the United States is going to do," Hakim said. "He should say what he expects Latin America to do." Hakim pointed out several areas Obama needs to address. First, he said, "He must make clear he's trying to fix the U.S. economy." He said Obama also will have to deal with the one nation that won't be there -- Cuba. The United States broke diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961 and imposed an economic embargo in 1962. President Bush increased some restrictions in the past eight years. Obama has signaled that he's ready to start relaxing some of the prohibitions. "This is the issue of greatest symbolic importance," Hakim said. "It will be seen as a test of real U.S. readiness to change in the hemisphere. What he says about Cuba will make headlines." But Reich warns that the United States should extract some conditions from Cuba before making any allowances. "There's a way it can be done to advance the conditions of the people in Cuba," he said. "I don't approve of the unilateral way it's being done. The embargo is a negotiating tool. We should not negotiate with ourselves, and that's what we're doing." Hakim also said Obama must address "the pandemic of criminal violence" destroying many parts of Latin America. U.S. aid is focused primarily on Mexico and Colombia. "Is the United States going to go beyond Mexico and Colombia?" he asked. "Is the United States ready to rethink it's drug strategy, which has done so little?" A new approach to the drug war has received increased support and attention recently. The former presidents of Mexico, Colombia and Brazil called last month for the decriminalization of marijuana for personal use and a change in tactics on the war on drugs. Ex-presidents Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico, Cesar Gaviria of Colombia and Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil made their announcement at a meeting in Brazil of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy. "The problem is that current policies are based on prejudices and fears and not on results," Gaviria said at a news conference in which the commission's recommendations were presented. The 17-member panel worked on the report for a year. Gaviria said the time is right to start a debate on the subject, particularly with the pragmatic openings provided by Obama's election. The Fifth Summit of the Americas will be held in Port of Spain April 17-19. The periodic meetings bring together the 34 democratically elected heads of state and governments in the Western Hemisphere to discuss regional issues. The first summit was held in Miami, Florida, in December 1994. The most recent took place in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in November 2005.

Obama goes to Fifth Summit of the Americas next month . Three analysts are speaking to Congress this week about summit . One says Obama should recognize he's not surrounded by friends . Another says he should address issue of Cuba, which will not be at summit .

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(CNN) -- The women's draw at the Indian Wells Masters event has been thrown wide open after second seed Jelena Jankovic and third-seeded Elena Dementieva were both beaten on Saturday. Pavlyuchenkova celebrates her victory over Jelena Jankovic in the Indian Wells Masters. Serb Jankovic, who ended 2008 as number one in the world but has now dropped to third in the rankings, slumped 6-4 6-4 to Russian 17-year-old Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Meanwhile, Russian Dementieva ran out of steam in the final set to go down 7-6 2-6 6-1 to Czech qualifier Petra Cetkovska -- ensuring only 17 of the 32 seeded women failed to make it out of the second round. Fifth seed Ana Ivanovic, the defending champion defeated Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus 6-4 6-3 and now joins top-seeded Russian Dinara Safina as the tournament favorite. Also through is seventh-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska, who fought back from dropping the opening set to beat Australian Samantha Stosur 3-6 6-3 7-5.

Jelena Jankovic and Elena Dementieva both crash out of Indian Wells Masters . Second-seeded Serb Jankovic beaten by Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova . Russian Dementieva goes down 7-6 2-6 6-1 to Czech qualifier Petra Cetkovska .

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(CNN) -- North Korea fully reopened its border to South Koreans on Tuesday, without explaining its reversal, the South's Unification Ministry said. Cross-border gates between North and South Korea were closed on March 9. The communist nation shut its border on March 9, calling 12-day U.S.-South Korean military exercises a threat to its safety. But on Tuesday, North Korea normalized visits by South Korean workers and cargo trucks to an industrial complex jointly run with the South, Yonhap said. "The North Korean side sent us a letter of approval this morning," the news agency quoted Unification Ministry official Lee Jong-joo as saying. The letter did not explain the North's reversal, Lee told Yonhap. Two batches of workers, totaling 287 people, crossed the border into North Korea on Tuesday, according to the Unification Ministry. More than 300 were scheduled to return at the end of the workday. North Korea had partly opened its border Monday, allowing nearly 300 South Koreans to return home. Many of the South Koreans work at the industrial complex in the North Korean border town of Kaesong. The border closing was part of a recent series of aggressive moves by North Korea, which included cutting the last remaining communications channel between North and South; saying that the North could not guarantee the safety of South Korean passenger jets in its airspace during the annual joint military exercises; and threatening to retaliate if a "satellite" launch from its northeastern coast was intercepted, saying interference would "mean a war." U.S. and South Korean officials have said that North Korea appears to be preparing to test-fire its long-range missile, the Taepodong-2, under the guise of launching a satellite into space. The missile is thought to have an intended range of about 4,200 miles (6,700 kilometers) that, if true, could give it the capability of striking Alaska or Hawaii.

NEW: North Korea fully reopens its border to South Koreans without explanation . Pyongyang closed border March 9 because of U.S.-S. Korea military exercises . Border partly opened Monday, allowing 300 South Koreans allowed to go home . Stranded S. Koreans mostly work at joint industrial complex in border town Kaesong .

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(CNN) -- NASA won't have to maneuver the international space station to dodge a piece of debris from a Soviet-era satellite spinning around Earth, the space agency announced Monday. NASA says debris won't threaten the international space station, seen here from Endeavour in November 2008. Mission controllers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston warned earlier that a piece of the Kosmos 1275 was to pass about 1/2 mile from the space station early Tuesday morning. But after further study, NASA determined no evasive action would be needed, said Paul Dye, flight director for the space shuttle Discovery, which is en route to the station. "The latest tracking information showed it is outside of our area of concern, so the station is going to be right where we expected it to be," Dye told reporters at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Discovery lifted off from Florida on Sunday for a scheduled docking at 5:13 p.m. ET Tuesday. The spacecraft is not threatened by the debris, said LeRoy Cain, the shuttle program's deputy manager. The dimensions of the satellite debris were not known Monday. The object was expected to pass "on the fringes" of the 2 km-by-25 km-by-25 km (1.25 mile-by-15 mile-by-15 mile) safety zone controllers monitor, Dye said. "It's a very low probability of hit -- less than one in 100,000," he said. The space shuttle Discovery is currently headed toward the station for a scheduled docking Tuesday, but the spacecraft is not threatened by the debris, said LeRoy Cain, the shuttle program's deputy manager. Last week, a piece of debris forced the space station's current crew -- astronauts Mike Fincke and Sandy Magnus, and cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov -- to take shelter in its escape capsule, a rare close call for the orbiting platform, NASA said. That object, a chunk of metal from a satellite rocket motor used on an earlier space mission, was about 5 inches across, and moving at nearly 20,000 mph. It passed within 3 miles of the station early Thursday afternoon and was detected too late for the station to maneuver out of the way, controllers said. iReport.com: See, share your photos of launches and space . Cain called the prospect of two close passes in less than a week a "random" occurrence, but said controllers have frequently had to maneuver around pieces of orbital junk. "It's part of the business," he said. "It comes with the territory, and we'll continue to do whatever's necessary to avoid debris." CNN's John Zarrella contributed to this report.

Avoidance maneuver not necessary to avoid satellite debris . The exact size of the Soviet-era debris is unknown, scientists say . Space station crew earlier was forced to take shelter because of other debris .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Supreme Court's only black justice was the target of a racially motivated threat by an Ohio man who has been indicted in Cleveland, Justice Department officials announced Wednesday. Racially motivated threats were made against Justice Clarence Thomas, according to a federal indictment. An eight-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury charges David Tuason of Pepper Pike, Ohio, with making multiple threats against Justice Clarence Thomas and with threatening to blow up the Supreme Court building. Tuason had made the threats in e-mails and mailed letters to the Supreme Court, as well as to Thomas personally, according to a source close to the case. Tuason "engaged in an elaborate scheme of sending racially motivated threatening communications ... intended to threaten and intimidate with bodily injury African-American males known to affiliate with white females," said U.S. Attorney Frank Filiuzzi Wednesday in Cleveland. "The indictment alleges that an associate justice of the Supreme Court, athletes, and entertainers received threatening communications," Filiuzzi said. Thomas's wife is white. "The indictment also alleges that at times, children of mixed racial parents were also targeted," the prosecutor said. The indictment says that "Tuason, at times, threatened to blow up the facility or building in which the targeted victim was located." If Tuason is found guilty, he faces up to 10 years in prison for the count targeting Thomas and five years imprisonment for each of the other counts. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Bill Mears contributed to this report.

Justice Clarence Thomas received racially motivated threats, indictment says . David Tuason also threatened to blow up Supreme Court building, indictment says . Indictment: Tuason threatened black males known to affiliate with white females . Children of mixed-race parents also received threats .

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Radio host Don Imus has prostate cancer. Radio shock jock Don Imus has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The shock jock made the announcement on his radio show Monday morning. Imus learned of the Stage 2 prostate cancer diagnosis last Wednesday, said Laurie Cantillo, program director for WABC-AM of New York. A bone scan indicated that the cancer has not spread, she said, and doctors believe it is fully treatable. Stage 2 prostate cancer means the cancer can be felt on exam but has not spread beyond the prostate gland. Imus, 68, said he's been on an organic diet for the past 10 years, avoiding meat and fish and eating mostly fruits and vegetables. "It wasn't great, but I was surprised," Imus said after learning the results of a biopsy that was performed last Monday. He added that he plans to go to San Francisco, California, for a second opinion. Imus said he's spoken with Sen. John Kerry and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani about his diagnosis. Kerry and Giuliani are both prostate cancer survivors. Imus exuded confidence while discussing his situation. "They are predicting they can treat it. They can cure it." Imus returned to the radio in December of 2007, months after his inflammatory remarks caused the cancellation of his morning radio show on the CBS radio network. His four-hour program is syndicated nationally by the Citadel Broadcasting Corp. Known for decades for his outspoken comments and off-color humor, Imus sparked a public outcry with his comments in April 2007 about the Rutgers University women's basketball team. The controversy eventually led to the cancellation of his show by CBS Radio. He called the Scarlet Knights "tough girls" and "nappy-headed 'hos" during a national broadcast a day after the team lost the NCAA championship to the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers. He later apologized.

NEW: Imus says he was "surprised" by biopsy results, will seek a second opinion . Radio shock jock announces the diagnosis on his show Monday morning . Bone scan indicates the cancer has not spread, his program director says . Doctors believe it is fully treatable, she says .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- A man walks around the side of a building, footsteps falling in time to the heartbeat of a driving pop soundtrack, pulls out a pistol and guns down another man. Tony Servillo as arch-manipulator and seven time Italian Prime Minister, Guilio Andreotti, in Paolo Sorrentino's "Il Divo." A montage of grisly murders follows, all with the same infectious pop song pounding in the background. It's edge-of-the-seat stuff and it's only the opening sequence of gifted Italian director Paolo Sorrentino's biopic of Italian politician Giulio Andreotti, "Il Divo." Sorrentino's film chronicles the career of probably the most important and controversial politico in Italy's recent history. But, more than that, it pins Andreotti to the specimen board and dissects his character without mercy. The film caught the eye of the judges at Cannes Film Festival last year where it picked up the Jury Prize. Predictably, Andreotti didn't react well to the film. "He was very angry," recalls Sorrentino. Now 91 years-old, Andreotti has been Prime Minister of Italy seven times. His Christian Democrat Party was the leading force in Italian politics as a one-party system for four decades. The rules of the game were shattered in the early 1990s by "Tangentopoli" or Bribesville -- a corruption scandal that laid bare some of the government's unsavory practices, ruining careers and resulting in the suicides of some leading politicians. Andreotti himself was implicated in illegal activities, including connections to the Mafia, but was finally acquitted of all charges. Today, he is a senator for life. Something of the man's influence in all spheres of Italian public life becomes clear when Sorrentino -- who says he is not a political director, "only in this case" -- explains how hard he found it to fund the film. "In Italy nobody wanted to finance the film because everybody was scared," Sorrentino told CNN. "He has been a very powerful man for many years." Sorrentino managed eventually to secure funding from a private source. "It is not easy for Italian companies to put money in this project, so we did it with the private money of very courageous individuals," he said. Sorrentino picks up the Andreotti story at the beginning of the 1990s, just prior to his implication in the scandal, as he is about to assume power for the seventh time. A good deal of "Il Divo's" success lies in a stunning portrayal of Andreotti by Naples-born actor Toni Servillo, who is a veteran of three of Sorrentino's other films including 2006's "The Consequences of Love." Servillo's Andreotti is a stiff, impassive tortoise of a man. With a hunched back, skinny sloping shoulders and strange drooping ears, Andreotti appears physically frail. He is beset by headaches -- indeed, the opening scene of the film shows him with a head full of acupuncture needles trying to get rid of one -- a taste of the mix of drama and humor that informs the rest of the film. But where the body is weak the will is strong and in Andreotti's wit and cunning intelligence -- "I know I'm an average man, but looking around I don't see any giants" -- there is a sense of a man who can and will do anything to stay in power. "I have always wanted to make a film about Andreotti," says Sorrentino. "He is so psychologically complex that everyone has been intrigued by him over the years. "It's a political film but at the same time a film about a complex character from a psychological point of view." For a long time, though, Sorrentino was convinced that the vast amounts of literature written about the man could never be distilled into a structure that would work on film -- "It made my head spin," he remembers. While Sorrentino almost had too much material to mine while researching Andreotti's public life, it was impossible to get access to details of his home life. Sorrentino had to go on instinct and imagine life behind the scenes for the great man. Something that made aspects of Andreotti's response to the film very puzzling. "He told everything was false, a lie, about his public life and at the same time he said the film was very precise about his private life," recalls Sorrentino. "But all the public things in the film are documented. It's on record that the events took place. "The trials, the letters, the diary of Aldo Moro, the Prime Minister who was kidnapped by the Red Brigade and held in captivity for 55 days. (Andreotti was Prime Minister at the time and decided not to negotiate with the terrorists and they killed him.) "And about the private life I invented everything." One of the most surprising things about the 39-year-old director's film is the soundtrack. Full of rock, pop, electronica -- "Nux Vomica" by The Veils an indie band from New Zealand and "Toop Toop" by French electro artists Cassius -- mixed in with classical music like Vivaldi and Sibelius. It's incongruous but it delivers a hefty emotional punch. "The idea was to make a rock opera about a man very far from rock," says Sorrentino. "I didn't want to do a traditional biopic."

Paolo Sorrentino's "Il Divo" chronicles the career of Italian politician Guilio Andreotti . Seven time Prime Minister was implicated in 1990s political corruption scandal . Film is a psychological study of man who has fascinated Italy for years . Sorrentino found it hard to fund the film because people were scared of Andreotti .

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Editor's Note: Tess Malone is a writer for the The GW Hatchet, the leading news source for George Washington University. This article was brought to CNN.com by UWIRE, the leading provider of student-generated content. UWIRE aims to identify and promote the brightest young content creators and deliver their work to a larger audience via professional media partners such as CNN.com. Visit UWIRE.com to learn more. Students start groups on social networking Web sites to discuss the dogs they left at home. (UWIRE) -- For freshman Elise Chen, home is only a phone call away. It's keeping in touch with Sammy, her collie-lab mix, that's the problem. "I can talk to my dog on the phone, but I don't get anything out of it," Chen said. Chen is not the only student who misses her pet, an integral part of many families. According to membership in Facebook groups dedicated to the topic, at least 44,845 others are in the same boat. There are at least six groups dedicated to missing one's pet on the social networking site; the largest, "I love college, but I miss my dog," stands at 31,056 members. The group's wall is full of declarations of love for dogs at home, often accompanied by pictures and funny stories in the photo and discussion board sections. Chen, one of the group's newest members, said she joined when she realized the forum was a literal representation of missing her dog. In some respects, Chen said, she actually misses her dog more than she misses her parents. "My dog never says 'Go to bed,' or 'You have to be in by two,' " she said. "My dog just says, 'I'm happy to see you, even if it's 2:30 in the morning.' " GW's Facebook network has its own group for pet lovers: "I Miss My Dog." Its 89 members frequently post pictures of their "four- and sometimes three-legged friends at home," as the group's description states. The group's active members use it as a way to further express themselves on Facebook and to cope with missing their animals back home. Like Chen, junior Jared Stone said he did not realize how much his dogs were a part of his life until he came to college. "In the past, I had always been at home and always been around my dogs," Stone said. "I was used to having them nearby and petting them while watching TV. So in college, their absence hit me and I found the group on Facebook an accurate representation of how I was feeling." Although a freshman like Chen is still adjusting to college life away from pets, Stone has learned that students must learn to deal with missing their pets. "Friends fill the gap so much, but can only go so far," he said. "I've overcome it, but it's still nothing you can really get over." Many students, including law student and "I Miss My Dog" member Rebecca Rodgers, hope to eventually have dogs of their own, but they know that college is not conducive to pet ownership. "My studio is no place for a dog and definitely not with a crazy law school schedule," Rodgers said. When Rodgers misses her Australian shepherd, Missy, she turns to the popular video-sharing Web site YouTube. "I tend to watch (my) particular breed of dog, Australian shepherds," Rodgers said. "Seeing other people's dogs makes me miss mine a little less." Chen also uses technology to cope, though in a more personal manner. "I video chat with my dog," she said. Although she does not plan on getting a dog on campus any time soon, she jokes about adopting a "hallway dog" for Lafayette, where she lives this year. The Internet and hopes for the future, though good coping aids, can only help those missing their pets to an extent. Rodgers said, "Sometimes I look over my shoulder and expect a dog to follow me around."

College student: I miss my dog more than I miss my parents . Missing a pet while at school is topic for six groups on Facebook . Members post pictures, funny stories about their dogs .

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MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- Mexico has announced plans to raise tariffs on almost 90 U.S. exports, Mexican and U.S. officials confirmed Monday. Mexico's state-run news agency says tariffs are in retaliation for cancellation of a U.S. trucking project. The new trade measures are in retaliation for the cancellation earlier this year of a U.S. commercial trucking project and will target U.S. industrial and agricultural products delivered to Mexico, Mexico's state-run news agency said. Mexico's Economic Secretary Gerardo Ruiz Mateos called the cancellation of the program a breach of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the agency said. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the trucking project was killed in the 2009 omnibus appropriations bill, but President Barack Obama has asked his administration to create a new program. "Congress has opposed the project in the past because of concerns about the process that led to the program's establishment and its operation," Gibbs said. The project allowed a small number of Mexican trucks to enter the United States beyond the normal commercial zones, and allowed some U.S. trucks the same privilege in Mexico. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, warned that the Mexican action would harm American businesses. "Unfortunately, this is a predictable reaction by the Mexican government to a policy that now puts the United States in clear violation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and was inappropriately inserted into the omnibus appropriations bill," McCain said after learning of the Mexican government's plans. McCain said Washington "must take steps to prevent escalation of further protectionist measures -- actions that only serve to harm American business during these tough economic times when these businesses need a worldwide marketplace to prosper." "This is another reason why the president should have vetoed the omnibus spending bill," McCain added. Mexico's intentions to raise tariffs on U.S. goods "is an absurd overreaction to the shutdown of the unsafe cross-border trucking pilot program," Teamsters President Jim Hoffa said. "The right response from Mexico would be to make sure its drivers and trucks are safe enough to use our highways without endangering our drivers," Hoffa said in a statement issued by the union. "The border must stay closed until Mexico holds up its end of the bargain."

Tariffs will target about 90 U.S. industrial, agricultural products delivered to Mexico . Sen. John McCain warns that new measure will harm American businesses . Measures reportedly in retaliation for cancellation of U.S. commercial trucking project . Project allowed some Mexican trucks to enter U.S. beyond normal commercial zones .

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(CNN) -- In an attempt to be frugal amid the economic downturn, Karl Stetson and his family in Seattle, Washington, planned to skip their annual trip to Hawaii. Water rushes toward the shore at Sandy Beach Park in Honolulu, Hawaii. That is until Stetson began noticing airfare and hotel rates plunge this year. Last week, he caved, purchasing plane tickets for less than $450 a person, a sweet deal compared with $600 last year. He booked rooms at Hanalei Colony Resort, among the emerald mountains in Kauai, for 25 percent off, and he was delighted to receive one of the nights free. "We might have done something on the mainland, something more low-key, but the fact that it was inexpensive was a big factor for us to go again," said Stetson, who is taking his wife and two young boys in May. Outdoor enthusiasts, lovebirds and families prudently resisting the urge to visit Hawaii, say aloha to majorly discounted airfares and hotel rates -- many hitting rock-bottom prices -- this year. The bittersweet theory seems to hold true: What is bad for the travel industry has been good for consumers. As Hawaii suffers from its biggest visitor decline since the Great Depression, the state is enticing travelers with discounted deals to offset the toll on its local economy. iReport.com: Toughing out the recession? Airfare to Hawaii from cities in the continental United States has plummeted more than 30 percent in some markets, according to FareCompare.com, an airfare research Web site. Pleasant Holidays, one of the nation's largest privately owned travel companies, is offering vacation packages that include flight and three nights hotel stay in Oahu starting at $299. Online travel giants Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz are all offering sales on Hawaii flights, hotels and activities, and some luxury hotels have rooms for less than $150 a night. "You won't see prices to Hawaii like this again in your lifetime," FareCompare CEO Rick Seaney said. "It might be worth it to take that once-in-a-lifetime trip." For decades, tourists from the United States and abroad have flocked to Hawaii, many captivated by the exotic islands' natural beauty: snow-capped mountains, active volcanoes, breathtaking waterfalls and pristine beaches. Now with the administration of President Obama, who spent part of his childhood in Hawaii, there is a renewed interest for tourists to visit, travel experts say. But travelers have long viewed Hawaii as an expensive destination in comparison with Florida or California. Two adults can expect to spend $673 a day in Honolulu on food and lodging, making Hawaii the most expensive destination in the country, according to the AAA's 2008 Annual Vacation Costs Survey. It is no surprise, then, that in a brutal economy where consumer confidence is low, the islands are having a tough time reeling in visitors, despite discounted prices. The state reported a 12.4 percent decline in visitors, or 72,255 fewer guests, in January compared with the same time last year. The drop, which started last spring, is a reversal of nearly a decade of visitor growth. To make matters worse, visitor spending in Hawaii declined by 13.6 percent in January, and many state officials and experts are worried what that will mean for a state where tourism is the backbone industry. Nationwide, the tourism picture looks bleak, as the number of travelers is expected to fall throughout 2009, according to the Travel Industry Association of America. In the Aloha State, the smaller, more remote islands like Lana'i and Moloka'i are feeling the most pain. They received about a third fewer visitors in January than the year before. "This is a downturn," said Mark B. Dunkerley, who sits on the board of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii and is CEO of Hawaiian Airlines. Dunkerley explained that the decline in visitors may be troubling, but the numbers are still as strong as they were a decade ago. "It's not a catastrophe. The clock has been wound back." Signs of decline for Hawaii began last spring with the shutdown of Aloha and ATA Airlines, which held about a fifth of the market share. By the summer, fuel prices had skyrocketed to $135 a barrel, which drove fares to an unaffordable price point for many travelers. That same year, NCL Corp.'s Norwegian Cruise Lines pulled back stops to Hawaii. Rob Pacheco, the president of Hawaii Forest & Trail, said he noticed about 3,000 fewer customers after some of the cruise ships stopped coming. The company, which gives natural tours of the island, said things "just kind of deteriorated, and it was more difficult to fill seats." Another challenge Hawaii faces in terms of tourism is its remote location on an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. This makes the state's tourism industry highly dependent on airfare prices. iReport.com: Where's your favorite secret hideaway? Traditionally, economical travelers shy away from Hawaii because of the high flight cost, travel experts said. But the airfare prices being offered until June show that prices may be more affordable than most leisure travelers think. A flight from Boston, Massachusetts, on Delta, United or American Airlines is running about $461 round trip, down from $610 at the same time last year, according to FareCompare.com. Travelers from major West Coast cities such as Los Angeles, California, can find flights just under $340, nearly 30 percent off the ticket price from a year ago, the site reported. Adding to the vacation savings are hotels, including lavish resorts, advertising rates about 20 percent lower in the first quarter of 2009 compared with first-quarter 2008, according to online travel companies. Hotels scrambled to offer lower rates when they saw occupancy numbers dive for the first time in years. Hotels say that in addition to the discount on the rooms, there are perks and added value such as upgrades, free nights and dinner coupons, travel experts say. For example, Outrigger Hotels and Resorts, owned by Outrigger Enterprises Group, is offering the third night free for travelers who book a stay in Waikiki this month for $159 a night. A year ago, the lowest the rate at the hotel was nearly $100 more. "You can travel better than you have in the past for the same amount of money," said Ian Jeffries, an Expedia travel expert. "Or you could do the exact same thing as last year and save money." Travelers can also snatch bargains at condos and rental properties. This is particularly true on the islands of Maui and Oahu, where there has been major development in recent years, says Pauline Frommer, creator of the Pauline Frommer Guidebooks. "You can play 'let's make a deal' with these folks," said Frommer, who has been tracking the travel industry for almost 20 years. "They are desperate for people's business." But don't expect the deals to paradise to last forever. Prices will climb during peak summer season and as soon as the economy recovers. Though experts are unsure when recovery will happen, Hawaii's Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism predicts that won't be until 2011. In the meantime, Hawaii tourism groups want to change American and international travelers' impression that a trip there is too expensive. With Japan suffering from its own economic woes, arrivals of Japanese tourists, once a steady revenue stream, have slowed, travel experts said. "The difficulty is the fact that it's not a Hawaii-centered problem," said John Monahan, president of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau. "We have a nationwide and global crisis."

Airfare to Hawaii has plunged more than 30 percent in some markets . Hawaii reported a 12.4 percent decline in visitors in January . "You can play 'let's make a deal' with these folks," said Pauline Frommer . State officials say Hawaii's tourism economy won't improve until 2011 .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As he walks past the tiny, dingy waiting area into an equally cramped garage, Nui Srisook says business at his car repair shop is thriving. Drivers are choosing to keep their old cars longer, and they're turning to repair shops to make it so, observers say. Sales are up 20 percent this month and Srisook spends most nights working late, helping his customers to get extra mileage out of their old cars. "Most of the customers right now we see, they don't really have much extra money to ... buy a new car. So that's why they just do repair," Srisook said. "And now, people are willing to spend more money on maintaining the car, deciding what is broke, anything that needs to be maintained on the car." As more cash-strapped Americans turn to do-it-yourself projects and bargain shopping, car repair shops like Srisook's are feeling the boon. Drivers are choosing to keep their old cars longer, and often they're willing to put in the money to do so, observers say. The Automotive Service Association reports their members' sales were up 16 percent over last year. Watch Kate Bolduan's report on the thriving auto repair industry » . "That indicated that people were coming in and putting the vehicle in the repair facilities' hands and saying, 'Look, I am going to be keeping this car. I want to be sure it runs well. I want to be sure that if there are any safety issues or any maintenance issues that I have overlooked, let's get those taken care of,' " said ASA President Ron Pyle. Pyle said that's a change from the past, when drivers would scrimp on the cost of maintenance and repair. "That was surprising news. We didn't expect that in the midst of the beginnings of the economic woes," Pyle said. "But they are looking at the cost of trying to purchase a new vehicle ... so I think that in relative terms that $1,000 repair to keep a $2,500 car running may be an attractive alternative." The economic slump has cut automakers deeply. Last month, sales of new cars were down more than 40 percent compared with the same time last year, according to sales tracker Autodata. The trend seems to have translated into increased traffic at auto parts stores. "We're doing way more business. The phones are ringing, you know, customers are walking in," said Darryl Wright, owner of D.C. Brake & Bearings Co. "Basically, if it's broke, they fix it." In the past, only savvy auto mechanics knew to shop at Wright's nondescript discount store. Now, he sees more car owners who are looking for a cheaper deal on parts. "[Customers will] find a guy on the street, you know -- Joe Shady Mechanics is what we call them -- to fix it at a deeper discount rate, labor-wise, and they'll send the customer in here to buy the parts on their own," Wright said. "So people are saving money that way too." Srisook said he keeps service prices low to appeal to those bargain shoppers, such as Esther White, a loyal customer. She brought in her daughter's 1996 Oldsmobile for new rotors and brakes, and said her daughter would be driving the car "until it drops dead." "Believe it or not, we were raised to fix things, and to hold on to things as long as we could," White said. "But it goes back to today's economy, and making the right financial decisions."

As more strapped Americans opt to fix their cars, repair shops are doing well . Automotive Service Association: Members' sales grew 16 percent over the last year . D.C. shop owner: "People are willing to spend more" to keep cars well-serviced . Trend seems to have translated into increased traffic at auto parts stores, as well .

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Editor's note: Rachel Motte blogs at www.evangelicaloutpost.com and writes for Wheatstone Academy, a Christian educational program for high school students. She is a graduate of Biola University and the Torrey Honors Institute. Rachel Motte says Rush Limbaugh still can animate conservative popular opinion. (CNN) -- It's no secret that liberals throughout the nation are rejoicing at Rush Limbaugh's supposed status as leader of the Republican Party. I can see why. He's easy to pick on. His rhetoric is extreme, and his personal life has at times been less than picture-perfect. I've heard some pundits refer to Vice President Joe Biden as "the gift that keeps on giving." I imagine the left feels the same way about Limbaugh. Rush was an integral part of my childhood. I must have been 6 or 7 when I started listening in the late 1980s. I remember that my parents and their friends found him refreshing, and I remember that he made them laugh. I memorized his song parodies and even tried to write a few of my own based on the events I heard him talk about. When I was 11, I once spent several hours trying to call his show, redialing after every busy signal, over and over. I never got through. It's probably just as well; I think I had planned to try to talk him into running for president. I no longer think he'd make a good president -- we're all much better off when he sits behind the EIB microphone. Rush taught me a lot about personal responsibility, the value of freedom of speech and the love of country. At 26, I've outgrown many of my childhood habits, but I never outgrew Rush. Have conservatives outgrown him? Is it time to distance ourselves by dismissing him as just "an entertainer," as Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele initially did before apologizing? My friend John Mark Reynolds wrote recently that Rush is "a shallow thinker" who will alienate today's young adults rather than draw them in. He argued that Rush's "insider lingo" and harsh demeanor are problematic at a time when the Republican Party is losing the young adult vote. Is he right? Has Rush Limbaugh outlived his usefulness to the conservative movement? Should we take a cue from the Democrats' glee and relegate El Rushbo to a back room like an aging and unpopular distant relative? Not by a long shot. Rush doesn't need to be removed as leader of the Republican Party, because he's never held that position, much as Democrats would like you to think he has. He's a vitally necessary part of the conservative movement, but he's no one's leader. Don't give him more credit than he deserves, and don't fall prey to the Democrats' carefully planned attempts to inflate his authority. Steele learned the hard way a few days ago that the opposite extreme is also not true -- Rush is not a mere entertainer. One of his most important contributions to the conservative movement has been his ability to energize the base. This is particularly vital now given the recent election results. Someone has to keep the troops from giving up, and like it or not, for now that someone is Rush. It doesn't really matter whether he's a shallow thinker. What does matter is that he knows how to prod people into action. That's all well and good, but is it sustainable? What works for me and for the many other "Rush babies" out there may not work for our younger siblings. Thanks to the Obama campaign, new activists aren't going to be as easily attracted by witty aphorisms and wordplays as previous demographics were. President Obama's impressive rhetorical skills appeared to raise the level of public discourse during the campaign. As far as I can tell he didn't actually say anything new, but so many things sounded new when he said them. I don't think he changed the content of the age-old feud between right and left, but he did change the style, providing a stark contrast to the admittedly strident tones of some on the right. That's going to change the way young people all over will approach the political process; after all, 66 percent of the 29-and-under crowd voted for Obama. Rush's personal influence will decline because of this shift in rhetorical style, but we're not yet at the point where it is unimportant. The current crop of college students may not call themselves "dittoheads," but their mentors and heroes within the movement still do, and that will continue to be significant for a while yet. Do we need leaders who can inspire the next generation of young conservatives? Absolutely. Is Rush the best man for that job? At this point, yes, though that will probably change in the next few years. One thing is likely -- the next big conservative leaders who do resonate well with the age group that favors Obama will cite Rush as a major influence. His work won't end with him. And that's as it should be. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Rachel Motte.

Rachel Motte says she grew up listening to Rush Limbaugh and became a big fan . She says Limbaugh's style still has great appeal to conservatives . Motte: Obama has set a new bar for public discourse, winning over young voters . Limbaugh may not appeal to the young as much, but he's still relevant, Motte says .

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BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- A Thai judge fined dozens of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar who pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of illegal entry after escaping from their own country a month ago -- amid allegations that other Rohingya have been dumped at sea by the Thai army. Male refugees show scars they say were caused by beatings at the hands of the Myanmar navy. The Ranong Provincial Court judge ordered each of the 66 ethnic Muslim refugees to pay 1,000 Thai baht (less than $30). He imposed the fines via a closed-circuit television link to Ranong Provincial Prison, where the refugees will continue to be held until they can pay the court. Twelve additional refugees, all teenagers, were being detained at a police station and are exempt from prosecution. The 78 refugees will be handed over on January 31 to immigration police, who will deport them. It is unclear where they will be sent. The refugees arrived by boat on the Thai shore, and Thai police said many had severe burns from a fire that broke out on board their craft after it left neighboring Myanmar, also known as Burma. Members of Myanmar's Rohingya minority have been fleeing the country for years, saying they are persecuted by its military government. One refugee, who called himself Mohamed, told CNN that their boat had been at sea for a month, and that Myanmar's military had detained and attacked them before setting their boat on fire. The refugees are unwelcome in Thailand, where authorities say about 20,000 have settled illegally. Other boatloads of Rohingya have allegedly been set adrift after being towed out to sea by Thai authorities. A recent CNN investigation found evidence of such activity. Photos obtained by CNN include one that shows the Thai army towing a boatload of some 190 refugees. Watch Dan Rivers' BackStory on the investigation » . CNN also interviewed a refugee who said he was one of the few who had survived after a group of six rickety boats was towed back to sea and abandoned by Thai authorities earlier this month. The Thai government has launched an inquiry. The Thai army has denied the allegations. But after extensive questioning by CNN, one source in the Thai military confirmed that the Thai army was operating a dump-at-sea policy. The source defended it, saying that each boatload of refugees is given sufficient supplies of food and water. That source said Thai villagers had become afraid of the hundreds of Rohingya arriving each month, and they had accused the refugees of stealing their property and threatening them. The Thai government has said that "there is no reasonable ground to believe" that the Rohingya are fleeing Myanmar because of persecution. "Their profile and their seasonal travel further support the picture that they are illegal migrants, and not those requiring international protection," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued Tuesday. One of the refugees who came ashore Tuesday said they will be killed if returned to Myanmar because of their minority status. He said the Rohingya are stateless because they lack bribe money to obtain identification cards in Myanmar. In Tuesday's statement, the Thai government said it deals with all illegal migrants in accordance with its laws and international guidelines. It said "basic humanitarian needs" such as food and water are met among the migrants before they are returned home. Their boats also are fixed, officials said. The Thai government said that "accepting those arriving in an irregular manner would simply encourage new arrivals." The government denied media reports alleging that Thai authorities mistreat the illegal migrants and intentionally damage their boats. CNN's Dan Rivers and Kocha Olarn contributed to this report.

Sixty-six Rohingya refugees from Myanmar fined by Thai court . They will be handed over to immigration police with 12 others . Rohingya refugees are at center of allegations of mistreatment by Thai army . Photos obtained by CNN show army towing boatload of 190 refugees to sea .

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KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Babies lie side by side in warming beds or sprawled on blankets atop crude wooden tables. Many families at Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, seem resigned to the situation. Children with wounds and broken bones are carried in by their parents to wait on stiff plastic chairs. Outside, coughing youngsters squat on the pavement with their anxious families, waiting for care. And everywhere, parents clutch plastic bags containing bring-your-own medicines and supplies. For though they are all awaiting treatment at Afghanistan's only specialist pediatric hospital, the hospital cannot even afford bandages for its patients. The Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital in central Kabul has to run on an operating budget of less than $1,200 a month, said Dr. Noorulhaq Yousufzai, the hospital director. The few supplies that he can buy have to be hoarded for emergencies, and he has to count on parents to buy what's needed to care for their children. "In some cases, there is shortage of the surgical materials, and sometimes we don't have antiseptic to use," Yousufzai said. The United Nations says that more than $15 billion in aid has been sent to Afghanistan since the U.S.-led coalition overthrew the Taliban in late 2001. But still, the hospital cannot afford to help the hundreds of children who stream in every day, desperate for care and cures. The government does pay for salaries and sometimes for fuel, but there is often a shortage of even basic supplies like syringes. Doctors say they have to double up premature babies in incubators. And some of those incubators are compromised. On a recent day, a plastic surgical mask taped onto one machine was the only shield from infection. Watch scenes from inside the hospital » . The parents waiting anxiously beside their sick children seem resigned to the situation in the hospital. One mother, who declined to give her name, said she spent the family's entire weekly income of $8 on an injection that did not help her baby. "This is something that the hospital should be giving us, because we can't afford it," she said. The U.S. Agency for International Development says infant mortality has dropped by 22 percent since the overthrow of the Taliban but acknowledges that the health status for Afghans is among the worst in the world. One in every five Afghan children will die before their 5th birthday, often of a preventable disease, according to the Save the Children aid agency. The toll on the children and parents is clear to any visitor, and the strain hits the hospital staff, too. "When you see a patient is very, very, sick and you cannot help, and they have to provide something for their children and they are not able to provide, it's also a stress for us," Yousufzai said. At the end of 2001, there were hopes that the hospital would be upgraded, but it is still waiting. It needs some acute care of its own, or it will continue to struggle to help the children who arrive at its door pleading for care.

Kabul hospital's operating budget is less than $1,200 a month . Government pays salaries, but even basic supplies are often gone . One in five Afghan children will die before their 5th birthday, group says .

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(CNN) -- Madagascar's military handed over the reins of the island nation to opposition leader Andry Rajoelina on Wednesday, ending a two-month long political crisis -- but apparently creating a constitutional one. Andry Rajoelina is six years too young to be Madagascar's president under its constitution. Rajoelina, a former disc jockey turned mayor of Madagascar's capital, declared himself president of a transitional government and his supporters pledged to hold elections in two years. But Rajoelina, at 34, is six years too young to be president, according to the country's constitution. Also, the constitution says the head of parliament's upper house must call elections within two months if something happens to the president. Madagascar's former president, Marc Ravalomanana, ceded power to his military Tuesday after insisting over the weekend that he would remain in control. Analysts think Ravalomanana had little choice but to step down once he had lost much of the army's support. The African Union had warned that any power transfer aided by the military would amount to a coup d' etat. The Union has since removed any mention of a coup in its official communique and called on the transitional government to "comply scrupulously with the provisions of the constitution of Madagascar on interim arrangements." Monja Roindefo, the opposition-appointed prime minister, vigorously defended the week's developments on the island, located off the southeastern coast of Africa. "Well, we would like to define what is a coup," he told CNN on Wednesday. "A coup is a group of people or persons who takes the power on behalf of sovereignty, on behalf of the people ... when the representative democracy doesn't work anymore." "As you know, as stated, in the African Union charter, the people have the right to defend itself from an oppression or a dictatorship in Africa," he added. Roindefo said the new government will hold elections but has given itself two years to clean up the process. Watch more from iReporters and Twitterers on the crisis » . "How could you make an election immediately?" he said. "We need to reform the electoral commission. ... So the 24 months that we have given ourselves is to prepare all these types of elections in order to build a genuine democratic country." The African Union also asked that all steps be taken to ensure the safety of the former president. The opposition leader had called for Ravalomanana's arrest, accusing him of corruption, financial mismanagement and dictatorship. Ravalomanana was first elected in 2001 and won a second term in 2006. To many Malagasy, he represented a new breed of politician -- a self-made millionaire, a no-nonsense business leader. But Ravalomanana maintained his business empire while in office and it was unclear to many where his business interests ended and his political leadership began. His recent purchase of a $60 million airplane further stoked public discontent. Opposition leader Rajoelina was quick to seize on the sentiments and made fiery appeals to the country's impoverished masses. The country was plunged into political instability in January after thousands of people took to the streets to protest rising food prices and what they perceived as autocratic behavior by Ravalomanana. The protests soon degenerated into rioting and looting, and left about 100 people dead. Watch more on president's resignation » . Soon after, Rajoelina declared that he was in charge of the country. He gave Ravalomanana until early February to step down. The president responded by firing Rajoelina as mayor of the capital, inciting the latter's supporters to once again descend on the streets. More deadly violence followed. Clashes spread to most provincial capitals and other cities across the country, with homes and businesses looted and burned, the U.S. State Department reported. CNN's David McKenzie contributed to this report.

Madagascar military hands power to opposition leader Andry Rajoelina . Under Madagascar constitution, Rajoelina to young to become president . Crisis has plunged poverty-stricken nation into turmoil . Thousands of people took to the streets to protest rising food prices .

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CNN affiliates report on where job seekers are finding work across the country and how those looking for employment are coping with the situation. A census employee poses with the new handheld device field workers will use for the 2010 count. (CNN) -- The nation will take roll call in 2010 and the federal government is giving the states money to hire thousands of census workers. Officials in Colorado say they may hire as many as 8,000 workers for positions that last between 10 weeks and one year. Cathy Illian says the bureau has already hired 800 people in the Denver area. The organization will also post open positions in early April. Some jobs pay as much as $28.75 an hour. Read the story on KMGH . In Idaho, Dave Mulvihill, manager of the state's census bureau, said the organization will hire 1,200 workers. He has plenty of job searchers to choose from. "We've had applications from approximately 7,300 people across the state," he told CNN affiliate KIVI. Read the full report on census jobs . The office is holding off on taking any more applications until fall. The Alabama census bureau is preparing to hire between 1,000 and 1,500 workers. "We need workers so we can get good addresses [to] send the questionnaires out so we can get a good response," state census bureau official Darryl Lee told TV Alabama in Birmingham. Census officials point out that an accurate count of U.S. citizens helps the government figure out how much funding to give each state for federally sponsored programs. Read the ABC 33/40 story . Northeast: Rhode Island strip club holding job fair . Business is so good at the Foxy Lady in Providence, Rhode Island, that owners need to hire 25 to 30 more people. And not just dancers. Club co-owner Tom Tsoumas said he also needs managers, waitresses and other behind-the-scenes workers. Tsoumas said because of the poor economy he is expecting to be shocked by the quality of applicants on Saturday. The state's unemployment rate is 10.3 percent. Read the story at WPRI's Web site . Southeast: Beauty schools see increase in applicants looking for career change . Maria Gonzalez was a receptionist until she was laid off. Now she is training to cut hair. Gonzalez, 34, attends Bradenton Beauty and Barber Academy. "But right now with everything slowing down and being laid off, all the companies, you know, [are] not hiring at this time, so I decided to start coming to school here," she told Bay News 9 in Tampa, Florida. The CNN affiliate reports that The Florida Association of Beauty Professionals says beauty schools throughout the state are seeing a 5-15 percent increase in students. Read Bay News 9 report on beauty schools . Liz Galdamez, director of the school, said her newly enrolled students were more likely to be looking for a career change than people in their 20s. "We're seeing more people in their early 30s and 40s coming into this industry," she said . West: Man shows job hunters how to look for work on Twitter . A man who was laid off from his real estate job a year ago now organizes events that bring job seekers together while teaching them skills to use social networking tools. Edwin Duterte runs Pink Slip Mixers and has put on 10 networking events in Southern California. Recently he held his first such event in Mountain View, California. Perrine Crampton, a program manager who is out of work, was impressed with the willingness of other job seekers to help each other. "With people saying, 'Hey, I found this job; I'm not a good fit. Would you like this position?' she told CNN affiliate KGO. Watch the KGO report on the mixer . "That kind of thing is going on now. That is something I really hold onto, because it shows me that there is good in humanity." Duterte said the Web sites Twitter and LinkedIn are a great way to build an online network of contacts. "If I get other eyes to look for you maybe you'll find a job faster than if you just look for yourself." West: Navy hiring 1,000 civilians . The naval facility in China Lake, California, is hiring people with experience in engineering, physics, chemistry and other sciences. Employees will work with explosives and other weapons systems. "Let's say you're fresh out of college -- the average salary is somewhere around $50,000 a year," division commander Capt. Mark Storch told KABC of Los Angeles. "Very experienced people that might be looking for a job, too, we need them as well, and those jobs would be more like $100,000." Watch the report from KABC . The Navy is also hiring machinists and clerical workers. "We're looking to bring on about a thousand people here," said Scott O'Neil, executive director of the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division. Midwest: Agency ready to loan money to small businesses . The Small Business Administration in Oklahoma is encouraging businesses to apply for loans backed by the federal government. The agency told KWTV in Oklahoma City that more than 40 banks were committed to the loan program. "It'll loosen up the credit crunch," said Fred Munden, lead business development specialist at the Small Business Administration. "I think that the 90 percent guarantee, personally, was a good idea to help small business." Read the KWTV report on how businesses can get money . One bakery owner said it will keep her in business and possibly give her a chance to hire more employees. "It will give us some operating capital," said Cherry Duran of Sweet Cherry's. "Right now, I don't have operating capital. As we get money in, we're spending it."

Census bureaus are hiring hundreds of workers in each state . Strip club in Rhode Island needs more dancers, other workers . California man advising people on using Twitter to get job leads . The Navy needs rocket scientists and other types of workers at one of its centers .

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(CNN) -- Josef Fritzl, the Austrian accused of keeping his daughter in a cellar for decades and fathering her seven children, will plead guilty to rape and incest when his trial opens Monday, Fritzl's lawyer told CNN. Josef Fritzl is expected to plead guilty to rape and incest on Monday, his lawyer tells CNN. However, Fritzl will deny other charge he faces: murder, enslavement and assault, attorney Rudolph Mayer said Sunday. The 73-year-old expects to spend the rest of his life in prison, Mayer added. Fritzl faces six charges in a closed-door trial. The trial is scheduled to last five days, but Mayer said it could be shorter. Fritzl was charged in November with incest and the repeated rape of his daughter, Elisabeth, over a 24-year period. But he was also charged with the murder of one of the children he fathered with her, an infant who died soon after birth. State Prosecutor Gerhard Sedlacek said Michael Fritzl died from lack of medical care. In all, Fritzl is charged with: murder, involvement in slave trade (slavery), rape, incest, assault and deprivation of liberty, Sedlacek's office said. If convicted, he could face life in prison. Austria does not have the death penalty. "This man obviously led a double life for 24 years. He had a wife and had seven kids with her. And then he had another family with his daughter, fathered another seven children with her," said Franz Polzer, a police officer in Amstetten, the town where Fritzl lived, at the time of his arrest. The case first came to light in April 2008 when Elisabeth's daughter, Kerstin, became seriously ill with convulsions. Elisabeth persuaded her father to allow Kerstin, then 19, to be taken to a hospital for treatment. Hospital staff became suspicious of the case and alerted police, who discovered the family members in the cellar. Fritzl confessed to police that he raped his daughter, kept her and their children in captivity and burned the body of the dead infant in an oven in the house. Elisabeth told police the infant was one of twins who died a few days after birth. When Elisabeth gained her freedom, she told police her father began sexually abusing her at age 11. On August 8, 1984, she told police, her father enticed her into the basement, where he drugged her, put her in handcuffs and locked her in a room. Fritzl explained Elisabeth's disappearance in 1984 by saying the girl, who was then 18, had run away from home. He backed up the story with letters he forced Elisabeth to write. Elisabeth Fritzl and all but three of her children lived in the specially designed cellar beneath her father's home in Amstetten, Austria, west of Vienna. The other three children lived upstairs with Fritzl and his wife; Fritzl had left them on his own doorstep, pretending the missing Elisabeth had dropped them off. Under Austrian law, if Fritzl is convicted on several offenses, he will be given the sentence linked to the worst crime. The charges he faces are: . • Murder: The infant who died in 1996 died from a lack of medical care, the state prosecutor said. The charge carries a sentence of life in prison. • Involvement in slave trade: From 1984 until 2008, prosecutors allege, Fritzl held his daughter, Elisabeth, captive in a dungeon, abused her sexually and treated her as if she were his personal property -- in a situation similar to slavery. If he is convicted, the sentence could range from 10 to 20 years in prison. • Rape: Between August 30, 1984, and June 30, 1989, Fritzl "regularly sexually abused Elisabeth," according to the prosecutor. The sentence could be from five to 15 years in prison. • Incest: Parallel to the rape charge. It carries a sentence of up to one year. • Withdrawal of liberty: Three of the children Fritzl had with Elisabeth were illegally held captive in a dungeon with no daylight or fresh air, according to prosecutors. That charge carries a sentence of one to 10 years. • Assault: Between August 28, 1984, and April 26, 2006, Fritzl repeatedly threatened Elisabeth and their three children with gas and booby traps as warnings in case they tried to escape, authorities allege. The sentence would range from six months to five years. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen and Melissa Gray contributed to this report.

Man accused of keeping daughter in a cellar for decades, fathering her 7 children . Josef Fritzl, whose trial starts Monday, will plead guilty, his lawyer tells CNN . Prosecutors: Fritzl raped his daughter over 24 years, said she had run away . Fritzl also accused of killing one of the children he fathered with daughter .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- FIFA will announce its Player of the Year for 2008 at a ceremony in Zurich today, and here is a look at the leading contenders for the award. Favorite: Portugal and Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo is in line for the FIFA award. To see the full list of contenders for the prize and vote for who you think should win, click here. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Portugal) Ronaldo has emerged as favorite for the award after he and his Manchester United club enjoyed a superb season. The Portugal international was a central figure in the club's English Premier League, UEFA Champions League and World Club Championships titles. He scored 42 goals in the season. Critics would say he didn't perform well enough on the international stage, as Portugal exited at the quarter-final stage of Euro 2008, and Ronaldo was disappointing. However, he has already picked up the Ballon d'Or award for Europe's player of the year, and for the previous three years the winner of this has gone on to claim the FIFA prize (Ronaldinho, Fabio Cannavaro and Kaka). Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Argentina) Messi appears to be Ronaldo's main challenger for the prize -- if public opinion matters, anyway. Messi won an Olympic gold medal with Argentina and made a stunning start to the current season with Barcelona. In the Primera Liga his 10 goals early in the season helped open up a significant gap on the side's main rivals, and he has also scored five goals in the UEFA Champions League season. The 21-year-old is often compared to Argentina's legendary Diego Maradona. Fernando Torres (Liverpool, Spain) The Spaniard enjoyed an incredible first season in the Premier League -- scoring 24 league goals for Liverpool -- a new record for a foreign striker in his debut season. After that success he went on to Austria-Switzerland and played an integral part in Spain's Euro 2008 victory, scoring the winning goal in the final. If top-level international performances are the key to this award then Torres should go close. Iker Casillas (Real Madrid, Spain) Casillas was recently awarded the Best Keeper of the World in 2008 title by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics. Casillas played a large part in helping his Real Madrid side to the Spanish La Liga title, put in strong performances in the UEFA Champions League, and was a key part of Spain's Euro 2008-winning team. Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona, Spain) Also part of the Spanish team which won Euro 2008, Xavi claimed the Player of the Tournament award, which would make him a worthy winner of the FIFA Player of the Year. Aside from his stunning performances at Euro, Xavi scored seven goals for Barcelona last season, and was one of their standout players, while this season he has continued his good form and helped Barcelona to the top of La Liga.

FIFA will announce its Player of the Year for 2008 in Zurich Monday evening . Cristiano Ronaldo has been tipped as a favorite to win the award . Lionel Messi, Fernando Torres, Iker Casillas and Xavi are top contenders .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Keri Russell, who stars in the new Adam Sandler comedy "Bedtime Stories," says her own son is a little too young to enjoy a story before bedtime. Keri Russell, here with "Bedtime Stories" co-star Adam Sandler, has a young son. "He's too squiggly and little for that right now. He's a year and a half," Russell tells CNN. She and husband Shane Deary have tried reading to their tot. "We do read [him] books, and he has his favorites, but right now it's very much like 'Read this one, read this one.' And we read the first two pages, then he's like, 'and now this one.' I'm like 'But we haven't gotten to the best part! Let me finish.' It's a lot of that." Russell and Deary named their son River, which she acknowledges is unusual. "It was a name we like, and my husband grew up on Martha's Vineyard. It was a lot of sort of unusual hippie names, so we thought we could get away with it." Other unconventional celebrity baby names include Bronx Mowgli Wentz (son of Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson), Apple Martin (daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin) and Naviyd Ely Raymond (son of singer Usher and Tameka Raymond). Russell offers a reason why some entertainers choose distinctive names for their children: It's the nature of their work. "It's an unusual life. I mean, so there tend to be creative people, and maybe people are more creative with their names, too," she says. "Or [they] feel like they don't have to be so confined to tradition because it's such an untraditional line of work."

Keri Russell stars in new Adam Sandler film "Bedtime Stories" Russell has 1½-year-old child who's "too squiggly" for own stories . Russell's boy is named River; she recognizes name is unusual .

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MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- The Mexican military has arrested the son of a top drug cartel lieutenant, the government said Thursday. Authorities present suspect Vicente Zambada Niebla to the press Thursday in Mexico City. Vicente Zambada Niebla, known as "El Vicentillo," was arrested Wednesday along with five subordinates, Mexico's defense department and attorney general's office said in a joint release. The men were acting suspiciously and had military-grade weapons, officials said. Zambada is the son of Ismael Zambada García, known as "El Mayo." The elder Zambada is a top lieutenant in the Sinaloa cartel, headed by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, officials said. Senior defense official Luis Arturo Oliver Cen and Jose Ricardo Cabrera Gutierrez, a top official with an attorney general's task force on terrorism and security, announced the arrest in Mexico City. Guzman, the alleged cartel leader who escaped from a Mexican prison in 2001, was named in this year's Forbes magazine report on the world's billionaires. He ranked 701. Authorities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border blame Sinaloa and other cartels for a surge in violence in the region. Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora expressed outrage at Forbes for listing a major drug suspect. About 6,500 people died in the drug war in Mexico last year, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said last week. Defense official Oliver said authorities confiscated three rifles, three luxury automobiles, 67,480 pesos ($4,845) and $866 in U.S. currency. A video on the Universal newspaper Web site shows a dark-haired Zambada and other men being led away in handcuffs. Zambada sports long sideburns, beard stubble, a black sports coat and a striped shirt. CNN's Melanie Whitley contributed to this report from Atlanta, Georgia.

Vicente Zambada Niebla and five subordinates arrested, government says . Zambada is son of Ismael Zambada García, lieutenant in Sinaloa drug cartel . Authorities blame Sinaloa and other cartels for a surge in violence in the region .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- A ship laden with toxic substances is due to arrive in northeast England for recycling Sunday, ending an odyssey that has seen it turned away from at least three other countries. The scrapping of the aircraft carrier has been hugely controversial and a major headache for France. The French Navy spent years looking for a site that would decommission the former aircraft carrier Clemenceau, now known simply as the Q790. The ship contains asbestos, which can cause cancer. Greenpeace activists boarded the ship off the coast of Egypt in 2006 to prevent it being sent to India to be scrapped. The environmental campaign group said at the time it contained "high levels of asbestos and other hazardous materials." Two activists climbed the ship's masts and hung banners reading "Absestos carrier: stay out of India." The group declared "victory" a month later when then-President Jacques Chirac of France recalled the ship after the country's Council of State ruled its export could violate European law, Greenpeace said. The ship had earlier been rejected by Turkey and Greece, after the original plan to turn it into an artificial reef was scrapped for environmental reasons, the group said. The British ship recycling company that will scrap it had to apply for special permission from the country's Environment Agency and Health and Safety Executive. But the company, Able Ship Recycling, hailed its arrival in the English city of Hartlepool as a milestone. "The dismantling of the vessel will be the largest ship recycling project ever undertaken in Europe," the company said in a statement. The work will take place at the company's Teesside Environmental Reclamation and Recycling Centre, where it will produce about 200 jobs in the economically depressed region. Able chairman and chief executive Peter Stephenson said the contract was "crucially important... at a time when there are so many economic problems facing the world -- and especially a region such as the north-east of England." "Recycling the Q790 will be the largest project so far handled by any European yard but, with the biggest dry dock in the world, we have the capacity to undertake the recycling of the vessel," he added. Launched in 1957, the Clemenceau was the mainstay of the French naval fleet and sailed over a million nautical miles before being withdrawn from active service after almost four decades at sea, the company said. It will join the other three UK and four U.S. vessels also being recycled at the center, Able said. Greenpeace is not opposing the transfer of the ship to England, but press reports suggest local activists are displeased.

French ship laden with toxic substances is to arrive in UK for recycling . Aircraft carrier had been turned away from at least three other countries . Despite earlier protests, Greenpeace not opposing transfer of ship to England .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Democrats' top investigator in Congress reacted angrily Friday to a report that the former Blackwater USA employee accused of killing an Iraqi vice presidential guard was hired by another U.S. contractor weeks later. Rep. Henry Waxman says the State Department is covering up "an epidemic of corruption" in Iraq. The report comes alongside Rep. Henry Waxman's warning of a "confrontation" with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice over how much Americans should be able to learn about corruption in Iraq. In a sharply worded letter, Waxman demanded Rice turn over a long list of documents related to the contractor, Andrew Moonen. "Serious questions now exist about whether the State Department may have withheld from the U.S. Defense Department facts about this Blackwater contractor's shooting of the Iraqi guard that should have prevented his hiring to work on another contract in support of the Iraq War," wrote Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Moonen is accused of fatally shooting an Iraqi guard and fleeing the scene, according to a Congressional memo describing the investigation report. He was fined, fired and flown home from Iraq, and the company later paid $20,000 in compensation to the victim's family. Moonen returned to the United States within a few days of the incident, his attorney said, but in February he returned to Kuwait working for Combat Support Associates (CSA), a company spokesman said. CNN reported Thursday night that CSA said it was unaware of the December incident when it hired Moonen, because the State Department and Blackwater kept the incident quiet and out of Moonen's personnel records. Waxman wrote it is "hard to reconcile this development" with previous assertions State Department officials have made in recent days. Waxman earlier accused Rice and the State Department of a cover-up of what he called "an epidemic of corruption" in Iraq in general. He branded the State Department's anti-corruption efforts "dysfunctional, under-funded and a low priority." Waxman further blasted the department for trying to keep secret details of corruption in Iraq, especially relating to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. "Corruption is increasing in Iraq, and the State Department can't keep us from knowing that -- can't censor that -- just because it might embarrass or hurt our relationship with [al-]Maliki," Waxman said at the House committee hearing. Watch Waxman ask why negative comments must be said behind closed doors » . Deputy Secretary of State Larry Butler repeatedly refused to answer questions from Waxman about Iraqi corruption but offered full disclosure if his testimony would be kept secret. Asked if he believes the Iraqi government has the political will or the capability to root out corruption, Butler responded, "Mr. Chairman, questions which go to the broad nature of our bilateral relationship with Iraq are best answered in a classified setting." But he was more forthcoming when talking about efforts that al-Maliki has taken to improve matters, commending the prime minister for dispatching Iraqi forces to surround a refinery to ensure oil did not end up on the black market. But Waxman appeared unmoved. "Why can you talk about the positive things and not the negative things?" he asked. "Shouldn't we have the whole picture?" "I'd be very pleased to answer those questions in an appropriate setting," Butler replied. Waxman laughed and asked, "An appropriate setting for positive things is a congressional hearing, but for negative things, it must be behind closed doors?" "As you know, this goes to the very heart of diplomatic relations and national security," Butler said. "It goes to the very heart of propaganda," Waxman said, putting funding for anti-corruption activities through June 15, 2006, at $65 million, "or less than 0.003 percent of the total" spent by the Iraqi Relief and Reconstruction Fund. The State Department said details of anti-corruption efforts must be secret to protect investigators and Iraqi allies. In a letter to Rice last week, Waxman called the department's position "ludicrous." Fellow Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth of Kentucky agreed. "It's pretty clear that the administration just wants to muzzle any comments that reflect negatively on the [al-]Maliki government," he said. Earlier, the former head of the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity, Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, told the hearing that al-Maliki had protected family members from corruption investigations, citing Salam al-Maliki, Iraq's former transportation minister and the prime minister's cousin. Al-Radhi resigned last month and fled Iraq after he and his family were attacked and 31 of his anti-corruption employees were killed. He said corruption has affected "virtually every agency and ministry, including some of the most powerful officials in Iraq." "Corruption has stopped possible advances by the government on the political level, on economic reconstruction, on basic services, amenities and infrastructure and on the rule of law," he told the committee, estimating the total lost to corruption at $18 billion. In Baghdad, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh acknowledged his country is plagued with a "high level" of corruption, but he said officials are trying to rein in the problem. U.S. Comptroller General David Walker, head of the Government Accountability Office, said there appeared to be no U.S. plan for countering the corruption. He urged Congress to consider conditioning future appropriations on such a plan "so we can achieve some results rather than have just more efforts." Waxman questioned whether Iraq's government was "too corrupt to succeed." If so, he added, "We need to ask if we could, in good conscience, continue to ... prop up his regime." E-mail to a friend . CNN's Bob Constantini contributed to this report.

NEW: Rep. Henry Waxman demands documents on Iraq contractor . Waxman accuses State Department of covering up "an epidemic of corruption" State Department says it will provide information if it is kept classified . Ex-Iraqi official estimates the total lost to corruption at $18 billion .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Natasha Richardson, the Tony Award-winning stage actress and member of the famed Redgrave acting clan, died Wednesday from injuries suffered in a ski accident. She was 45. Comedian Joan Rivers says actress Natasha Richardson had "such a family." On Wednesday night's "Larry King Live," comedian Joan Rivers remembered Richardson for her marriage to actor Liam Neeson and used her sharp wit to recall her own skiing experience. The following transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity: . Larry King: You knew Natasha Richardson. What was your reaction? Joan Rivers: Oh, [it] shouldn't have happened. We were more acquaintances than friends. But we spent one amazing day on a boat with my whole family and she and Liam and the boys. And they were such a family. King: What was the occasion? Rivers: We were all in the Caribbean, and we all kind of knew each other from dinner parties and so forth. And we met at the airport, and we said, "Oh, let's get together, with the kids." And it was one of those wonderful days. We laughed and talked and had lunch, and the kids were jumping off the boat and we were drinking wine. She was just amazing and darling. King: Have you seen her work on Broadway? Rivers: I've seen her work. I love actresses who go back and forth. I always have such great respect for someone who goes to Broadway and then film and goes back again. I saw her in "The Philadelphia Story" years ago in London when she won an award. She was very young in a musical version of that. King: What was your read on them as a couple that day? Rivers: Totally happy, totally devoted to each other. That's what kills me. I mean [it] just shouldn't have happened. ... And they made such a good-looking couple, too. He doted on what she said, she doted on -- it was just perfect. King: How did you learn of this yesterday? Rivers: One of our mutual friends called me and said, do you know about -- I just saw them recently in the thing that Prince Charles gave in England, and a mutual friend said, did you heard about what happened to Natasha? I said, what are you talking about? And he said, she's brain-dead. Watch King talk to celebrities about Richardson » . King: So you knew yesterday? Rivers: I knew yesterday. And I knew yesterday that she was brain-dead. And I was told, which is, again, so dear, that they kept her alive purposely to bring her back to New York, so that the boys could say goodbye to her before -- . King: Really? Rivers: Yes. King: That's both beautiful and sad. Rivers: Look at this, it gets me crazy. It's sad. King: Do you ski? Rivers: I had a terrible fall about 12 years ago. And I lay there in the snow and I said to myself, "If I get up, I'm not coming back and I got up." King: You're like, "Goodbye." Rivers: Goodbye. And I swear to you, I laid on the ground and I go, "If everything works, that's it. That's it." King: You've heard the doctor. What do you make of this? There must have been something previously. It was a slight fall? Rivers: You don't know; you hit your head wrong. You walk out of your house and it's over. We all know that, especially at this age. You understand that it's over, it's gone. It's just not that [Richardson's] age, not with a good marriage, not with two young boys. It shouldn't be. King: John Kennedy said life isn't fair. Rivers: It isn't. It isn't. And anyone who doesn't get up in the morning and say, "How lucky I am," is an idiot.

Joan Rivers says Natasha Richardson and her family sailed in Caribbean together . Stage actress and husband Liam Neeson were "totally devoted," Rivers recalls . Rivers says life can be taken in a flash: "You walk out of your house and it's over"

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- California corrections officials released an updated prison photograph of Charles Manson on Wednesday, showing the balding and graying 74-year-old, complete with his iconic forehead swastika. A new photo of Charles Manson shows his graying beard and his legendary swastika tattooed into his forehead. The picture was taken as part of a regular update of inmate images at the California State Prison in Corcoran, about 150 miles northwest of Los Angeles, where Manson is serving a life term. The release of the picture comes ahead of the 40th anniversary of the "Manson family" killings in August 1969. Manson and four others -- Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, Charles "Tex" Watson and Leslie Van Houten -- were convicted of murder and other charges in connection with a two-night rampage that left pregnant actress Sharon Tate and seven others dead. Van Houten, who was 19 at the time of the killings, was convicted in the murders of Leno LaBianca, a wealthy grocery store owner, and his wife, Rosemary. Van Houten was accused of stabbing Rosemary LaBianca 14 to 16 times in the back. Van Houten was also convicted of conspiracy in Tate's death and four others at the actress' Beverly Hills home. Tate was 8½ months pregnant, and the baby also died in the attack. Manson, Atkins and Krenwinkel were convicted for those murders. All members of the "Manson family" have been up for parole multiple times over the past four decades, but it has never been granted. Atkins, who has been declared terminally ill, was denied a compassionate release from prison in July 2008. Atkins has told police she was one of the people who stabbed Tate and scrawled the word "pig" in blood on the door of the home the actress shared with director Roman Polanski. In May 2008, authorities dug for bodies at the Inyo County, California, ranch where Manson and his followers once lived, after police learned that testing had indicated human remains might be buried there. According to authorities, nothing was found.

Prison officials release updated photo of convicted murderer Charles Manson . Photo shows Manson with receding hairline, gray hair and forehead swastika . Manson, four others were convicted in series of murders over two-day period in 1969 .

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(CNN) -- Actress Natasha Richardson died of injuries caused by blunt impact to the head, the New York City Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Thursday. Natasha Richardson fell on a beginners' ski slope in Canada. The death was ruled an accident, the office said. Paramedics dispatched to help Richardson minutes after she fell on a Canadian ski slope Monday were turned away and did not have a chance to check her injury, the ambulance service director told a Toronto, Canada, newspaper. Richardson -- a film star, Tony-winning stage actress and member of the famed Redgrave acting family -- died two days later in a New York hospital from a head injury suffered at a Quebec resort about 80 miles northwest of Montreal. Yves Coderre, operations director for Ambulances Radisson, told Toronto's The Globe and Mail newspaper on Wednesday that his company sent an ambulance to the slopes at Mont Tremblant Ski Resort after a call from the ski patrol. "They never saw the patient," Coderre said. "So they turned around." Watch how brain injuries can be hidden » . Coderre did not say who sent the ambulance away. Efforts by CNN to reach Coderre have been unsuccessful. A resort spokeswoman said a statement was being prepared in response to the latest report. An earlier statement from the resort said a paramedic from its ski patrol "arrived on the scene within minutes" after Richardson, 45, fell during a lesson on a beginners' trail. The ski patrol paramedic "did not find any visible sign of injury," it said. "As standard protocol, the ski patrol insisted Ms. Richardson be transported to the base of the hill in a rescue toboggan," it said. "Once at the base of the hill, Ms. Richardson was advised by staff to consider seeking additional medical attention which was declined." The resort's statement said Richardson, accompanied by her instructor, returned to her hotel but about an hour after the fall was "not feeling good," the statement said. Another ambulance was later called to the hotel, where paramedics found her conscious, but she "wasn't in good shape," Coderre said. Richardson was taken to a local hospital before being transferred to Hopital du Sacre-Coeur in Montreal. From there she was transferred to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. She and her husband, actor Liam Neeson, have two children, Michael and Daniel. Her family issued a short statement Wednesday night acknowledging her death. "Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha. They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time." Richardson is a member of acting royalty. Her grandfather, Sir Michael Redgrave, was a famed British actor. Her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, is an Oscar-winning actress, and her father, late director Tony Richardson, helmed such films as "Look Back in Anger," "The Entertainer" and the Oscar-winning "Tom Jones." Watch a review of her career » . Richardson's uncle Corin Redgrave, aunt Lynn Redgrave and sister Joely Richardson are also noted performers. Natasha Richardson won a Tony for her performance as Sally Bowles in the 1998 revival of "Cabaret" and earned raves for her Blanche DuBois in a 2005 production of "A Streetcar Named Desire." She was scheduled to perform in a revival of Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" this year, after a January benefit performance of the show. Broadway dimmed its lights Thursday evening in tribute to Richardson.

NEW: Medical examiner rules Natasha Richardson's death an accident . Ambulance crew was turned away, company official tells newspaper . Richardson died two days after falling on ski slope . Richardson initially showed no sign of injury, resort statement says .

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MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- More than 1,000 people rallied Sunday in support of Israel in front of the Israeli Embassy in the Spanish capital. Spaniards protest Sunday in support of Israel's military action in Gaza. The rally came a week after a demonstration across town in support of Palestinians in Gaza and sharply critical of Israel's attacks. Sunday's pro-Israeli demonstration featured the sounding of air raid sirens -- like those heard in southern Israel to warn of incoming Hamas rockets from Gaza -- and a speech by a Madrid official from the ruling Socialist Party, observers said. Last week's pro-Gaza, anti-Israeli demonstration included two national leaders of the Socialists, prompting a rare statement from the Israeli Embassy criticizing their participation. But the Socialist government and the Israeli Embassy appeared to have mended fences during the week, issuing conciliatory statements. Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos visited the Mideast last week, with stops in Syria, Egypt and Israel, where he was received by top officials. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was in Egypt Sunday, attending the meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh organized by Egypt and France. The pro-Israeli demonstration on Sunday cut traffic on a broad boulevard in front of the Israeli Embassy. Israeli and Spanish flags were waved and one protest banner charged that "Hamas equals terror." Spain has earmarked 6.5 million euros ($8.5 million) in humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Pro-Israel crowd rallies in front of Israeli Embassy in Madrid . Demo follows pro-Palestian gathering last weekend attended by ruling lawmakers . Spain has earmarked euros 6.5M ($8.5M) in humanitarian aid to Gaza .

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(CNN) -- Six years ago Thursday, then-President George W. Bush appeared on television screens across America and somberly addressed the nation. An Iraqi crowd pulls down a statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad in April 2003. "My fellow citizens," he began his four-minute speech, "at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people, and to defend the world from grave danger." Six years later, the conflict in Iraq drags on -- with war-fatigued Americans shoving the military operation to the deep recesses of their psyches as they grapple with an economic crisis at home. Only 10 percent of voters questioned in exit polls during the November presidential elections picked the war as their top issue. Sixty-two percent said the economy was. "This is already one of the longest wars in American history. There's nothing new in Iraq," said Steven Roberts, a professor of media studies at the George Washington University. "We've read the stories of instability in the government a hundred times. Every single possible story has been told, and so there is enormous fatigue about Iraq." Against that backdrop, the United States has accomplished much of what it set out to do when it invaded Iraq on March 19, 2003. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was deposed, captured, tried and hanged for a brutal and deadly crackdown against his opponents during his regime. The rate of U.S. troop deaths has slowed. A surge of 30,000 additional troops in 2007 is credited for security gains the country has made. iReport.com: Share your salute to troops . And a fledgling democracy is taking hold, as President Obama announced that all U.S troops will be withdrawn by the end of 2011. But America has had to pay a steep price -- literally and figuratively -- to achieve its aims, analysts say. Taking into account operations for fiscal 2010, the conflict has racked up an $800 billion price tag since it began, the Congressional Budget Office said. By Wednesday, 4,261 Americans had been killed in the war, according to CNN's tally. The Iraqi casualty count, while harder to ascertain because of the lack of formal record-keeping, has reached at least 128,000, by CNN's tally. And leaked images of prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison and America's programs of detention and torture have tarred the United States' image internationally. "From the first step until now, they destroyed our country," said Sheikh Moffaq Qaraghuli, a Baghdad resident. "Smashed. Not destroyed. Smashed." As the battles rage on, researchers are still trying to gauge the damage the war has done to troops. "I still have the nightmares and wake up and find myself downstairs and I don't know how I got there," said Chris Tucker, who did three tours of duty in Iraq. "Faces. Kids' faces. People that you have engaged or you have had contact with. ... You see your colleagues blown up. Things like that." "I thought we would get there quick and handle our business and we'd be out," he said. "At least that's what we were told anyway." Tucker received a medical discharge from the army last year and is now a police officer in Savannah, Georgia. Many in Iraq also are trying to move on, amid the constant fear of suicide attacks in their ruined cities. The Shahbander cafe, one of Baghdad's oldest, is a favorite haunt of the city's intellectuals. Inside, photographs of five young men hang on the wall. Watch Shahbander Cafe patrons talk about the war » . All were sons of the cafe owner, Mohammed al-Khishali -- killed in a car bombing that ripped apart the cafe in 2007. A month later, al-Khishali lost his grief-stricken wife. For almost two years, he could not bear to reopen the cafe, he said. "I remember the tragedies every day," he said, as his eyes welled with tears. "But then I decided to take a hard decision to reopen this cafe for the sake of my people, my culture." Many of the customers who gather there are critical of the U.S. invasion but are equally concerned about a potential withdrawal. "Iran has ambitions toward Iraq," said Amer Naji, a cafe regular and a former Iraqi diplomat. "With the Americans, they are afraid to do something aggressive against Iraq. But ... when you withdraw, that will be very dangerous." Iraq and Iran fought a war in the 1980s that spanned eight years and killed at least a half-million people, by some estimates. The U.S. and Iraqi governments think Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard has been training militias and providing weapons, such as roadside bombs, to insurgents operating in Iraq. So, though many Iraqis agree that 2009 is better than 2008, they worry about 2011 when the United States pulls out. "We are hopeless," Qaraghuli said. "We are hopeless." CNN's Nic Robertson, John King, Ed Hornick and Saeed Ahmed contributed to this report.

U.S.-led invasion of Iraq began on March 19, 2003 . Six years later, fledgling democracy taking hold, security situation improving . But U.S. lost more than 4,000 troops; at least 128,000 Iraqis have died . Polls show many Americans more focused on economy than lingering Iraq war .

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(CNN) -- Havana has a thriving cultural scene and is the setting for world-class ballet and film festivals. But it's also a city of music, sunshine and rum, and Havana knows how to throw a damn fine party. Here are some of the city's biggest and best annual events. Dancers parade along the Malecon for the Havana Carnival. May Day (May 1) Hundreds of thousands of cheering people march through Havana to celebrate International Workers' Day. This quintessentially Cuban event offers a fascinating insight into a country where politics is woven into every aspect of daily life. Marching Cubans carry placards past images of communist heroes like Marx and Lenin in Plaza de la Revolucion square. The fact that the whole occasion is carefully stage managed by party officials adds to its uniquely Cuban air. Havana Carnival (August) One fiesta just isn't enough for a city like Havana, so the Cuban capital has two annual carnivals. There's the smaller event in February, which is well worth checking out, but to experience the real deal you're better off waiting until summer. Crowds pack the Malecon in the final two weeks of July and the first two weeks of August to hear some of the island's finest musicians performing al fresco. The final weekend sees a colossal parade make its way from Habana Vieja to the Malecon in a swirling mass of conga lines, skimpy outfits, music and dancing -- accompanied by lashings of rum. Look out too for the "Munecones", huge satirical figures of various famous faces, accompanied by the "faroleros", dancers who twirl brightly colored standards as they parade along the Malecon. See Carlos Acosta's Havana » . The International Havana Ballet Festival ( October/November, every other year) This festival brings together international stars and prestigious companies from around the world, as well as showcasing the renowned National Ballet of Cuba, which has produced the likes of Alicia Alonso and Carlos Acosta. The festival has showcased more than 200 world premieres and performances range from classics like Swan Lake to challenging modern pieces. One of the highlights of the festival is the choice of venues, ranging from the faded grandeur of the Gran Teatro de La Habana, the city's opera house, to open-air performances in Old Havana, where the subtly-lit facades of colonial palaces provide a wonderfully romantic backdrop. What do you think are Havana's seasonal highlights? Let us know below. Havana Jazz Festival (Winter) Cuban music has played a huge role in the development of jazz, with musicians like Chano Pozo exporting Cuban rhythms to the U.S. to create the fusion known as Latin Jazz. Cuban jazz maestro and five-time Grammy winner Chucho Valdes organizes the festival and is a regular performer, along with a host of international names. Past events have featured the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach and the present-day lack of U.S. stars is more than made up for by an impressive contingent of Latin American talent. There are performances at The Hotel Rivera, Casa de la Cultura Plaza, Teatro Nacional de Cuba, Teatro Amadeo Roldán and various smoky clubs. Although the jazz festival is usually held in December, the 2009 event took place in February, so if you're planning a visit be sure to check the dates well in advance. The Festival of New Latin American Cinema (December) This 10-day festival is one of the biggest events in Latin American film, which is currently producing some of the finest cinema in the world. Movie buffs from all over the island flock to see an impressive selection of movies, ranging from Spanish-language blockbusters to obscure art flicks. Even if your Spanish isn't good enough to fully understand the films being shown, the festival still offers the chance for a bit of celeb spotting. Past attendees have included the likes of Robert de Niro, Robert Redford, Jack Nicholson, Steven Spielberg and Pedro Almodovar.

Hundreds of thousands march through Havana on International Workers' Day . Crowds pack the Malecon seafront promenade for the Havana Carnival . The International Ballet Festival attracts world-famous dance stars to the city . Legendary jazz maestro Chucho Valdes brings jazz to the Cuban capital .

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(CNN) -- Tens of thousands of people packed a soccer stadium in Cameroon Thursday, including President Paul Biya and his wife, for the first large-scale mass of Pope Benedict XVI's first visit to Africa. Tens of thousands of people gathered at a football stadium in Cameroon to see the pope. Africa is the last continent that Benedict had left to visit, and one he could not avoid, said David Gibson, a biographer of the pope. "He knows he has to do this. He knows Africa is the future of the (Roman Catholic) Church, as it is for all of Christianity," said Gibson. Christianity, like Islam, is on the rise in Africa and Latin America, even as the northern hemisphere tends to become more secular." One in five of the world's Christians lives in Africa -- up from less than one in fifty in 1900, said Brian Grim, an editor of the World Religion Database. So Benedict is making the visit although travel "is not his cup of tea," Gibson said. "John Paul II loved the travel and loved the different cultures. Benedict is a European through and through." Watch the pope at the soccer stadium » . But Benedict understands that travel has become an essential part of a pope's duties, said Gibson, the author of "The Rule of Benedict: Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World." Benedict drew cheers at the mass at the 40,000-seat Amadou Ahidjo Stadium when he told worshippers that God had not forgotten orphans, poor and abused children, and those "forced to join paramilitary forces," Cameroon TV reported. He did not mention condoms, a subject which sparked controversy when he reiterated the Vatican's opposition to artificial birth control Monday while flying to Cameroon. Sub-Saharan Africa has been hit harder by AIDS and HIV than any other region of the world, according to the United Nations and World Health Organization. There has been fierce debate between those who advocate the use of condoms to help stop the spread of the epidemic and those who oppose it. The pope's mention of birth control may have been an effort to draw attention to the trip, which "is not getting much of a bounce in the Western media," Gibson speculated. "They are savvy enough to know that if the pope mentions condoms, it is going to be a headline," he said of the pontiff's advisers. The issue did not come up by chance, he pointed out. "These were pre-selected questions for which they had prepared answers," he said. The pope also Thursday met local Muslim leaders in Cameroon, a west African country which is just over one-quarter Roman Catholic and just under one-quarter Muslim. Both religions are expanding rapidly in Africa, said Grim, a senior research fellow in religion and world affairs at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Less than one in ten people in sub-Saharan Africa was Christian in 1900. Today nearly six in ten are, he said. The region was about 14 percent Muslim at the beginning of the 20th century, he said, and about 30 percent Muslim now. Benedict outraged Muslim leaders around the world in 2006 by quoting the 15th-century Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus when he said, "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." He repeatedly apologized for the citation, which he said did not reflect his own views. "It was a painful lesson but clearly the pope learned something from that," Gibson said. The pope's meeting Muslim leaders in person can help relations between the Church and Islam, the analyst added. Face-to-face encounters make "the pope a human figure. That's what these trips are really about -- to see that the pope is not the boogeyman, he is someone who is kind and wise and wants to discuss issues. "It's so easy to see caricatures, so for the pope simply to show up can be an enormously positive development," Gibson said. Gibson said this week's visit may be Benedict's only trip to Africa. "Knowing that the pope is older, he cannot travel as much -- he does not like to travel -- makes these trips more poignant. He may never come back to Africa again."

Tens of thousands of people pack soccer stadium in Cameroon for pope's mass . Pope tells followers that God has not forgotten orphans, poor and abused . He did not mention condoms after sparking controversy earlier in the week .

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Four people were killed early Saturday after a fire broke out at a state-run group home for mentally disabled residents in upstate New York, the governor's office said. A fire killed four people at a state-run group home for the mentally disabled in Wells, New York. The fire started at about 5:30 a.m. at the facility in Wells, New York, about 70 miles north of the state capital of Albany, where nine residents lived, and two staffers were on duty at the time of the fire. Two victims died at the site of the fire and two died during hospitalization, according to a statement from New York Gov. David Paterson's office. Two other residents were taken to area hospitals, including one taken from the scene by helicopter, said Marissa Shorenstein, a spokeswoman for the governor's office. The cause of the fire is under investigation, Shorenstein said.

Two died at site of fire, two died at hospital, Gov. David Paterson's office says . Fire started around 5:30 a.m. in home for mentally disabled 70 miles from Albany . The cause of the fire is under investigation .

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(CNN) -- What's happening in Madagascar? Supporters of opposition leader Andry Rajoelina attend a rally in Antananarivo on Monday. Marc Ravalomanana resigned as Madagascar's president after weeks of bitter and deadly political clashes. The military handed power to Andry Rajoelina, the 34-year-old former mayor of Antananarivo. Rajoelina and Ravalomanana have been engaged in a bitter power struggle since the beginning of the year. Despite vowing that he would never give up power without an election or referendum, Ravalomanana fled his presidential palace. The army later stormed the abandoned palace as a show of support for Rajoelina. Analysts believe that Ravalomanana had little choice but to step down once he lost the army's support. The power grab ended a chaotic few days in the island nation. Though Rajoelina's supporters say he is now in charge, the dust has not yet settled. Is this a Coup, as the African Union has suggested, or is this a popular expression of the people? Why did this happen? Trouble has been brewing in Madagascar since January, when Ravalomanana sacked Rajoelina from his post in the capital. Rajoelina, a former DJ and media entrepreneur, tapped into rising frustration in the country over high food prices and service delivery to rally support against the president. He set up a parallel government and led massive street protests against his rival. Over 100 people were killed in the protests, culminating in a demonstration outside the presidential palace in February when a further 23 were killed. Reports suggest most were killed by the security forces. While Rajoelina has tapped into popular discontent, Madagascar watchers say that to call this a popular revolution over simplifies the takeover. "I think at first Ravalomanana was quite popular with the people but he treated the political elite with disdain," said historian Stephen Ellis. This made him enemies within the country. Ravalomanana v. Rajoelina -- are they that different? Ravalomanana made his fortune in business and has interests in several media outlets. He came to the fore politically in 1999 when he was appointed mayor of Antananarivo. Rajoelina gained prominence as a DJ and also has interests in several media businesses. He too gained political traction by becoming the mayor of Antananarivo. Both men gained popular support by reaching out to the masses as a leader for the youth of Madagascar. Ravalomanana was first elected president in 2001 and won a second term in 2006. To many Malagasy he represented a new breed of politician-a self-made millionaire, a no-nonsense business leader. But Ravalomanana maintained his business empire while in office and it was unclear to many where his business interests ended and his political leadership began. Rajoelina tapped into the very same strategies of slick marketing and a youthful appeal that Ravalomanana had depended on. Some feel he is just a younger version of the former president. Will the international community recognize the new government? It is unlikely that key members of the international community will rush to support Rajoelina's push into power. "All of the parties to this conflict need to exercise restraint and resume dialogue," said Robert Wood, U.S. State Dept. Spokesman, "I also want to make clear that any extra constitutional resolution will result in a cut-off of U.S. assistance." Prior to the takeover, the African Union warned that any power transfer aided by the military would amount to a coup d' état. The AU has since diluted its rhetoric-removing any mention of a coup in its official communiqué on the takeover and calling for the protagonists to "comply scrupulously with the provisions of the Constitution of Madagascar on interim arrangements." The crisis in Madagascar is a test for the African Union. Despite purporting to be champion of democracy, recent power grabs in Mauritania and Guinea and the botched elections in Kenya and Zimbabwe, have tested the continental groups claims. Why should you care about Madagascar? Madagascar isn't just a cartoon movie. It is the fourth largest island on the planet with a population of around 20 million, a rich cultural history and breathtaking natural diversity. In the relative stability of the last 8 years, the country's tourism sector has boomed, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars. However most ordinary Malagasy have not seen any trickle down from the tourism industry. The country remains one of the poorest in the world.

Madagascar military hands power to opposition leader Andry Rajoelina . Under Madagascar constitution, Rajoelina to young to become president . Crisis has plunged poverty-stricken nation into turmoil . Thousands of people took to the streets to protest rising food prices .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- America faces an economic calamity. Trouble brews in faraway lands. Superman #14, cover art. Artist: Fred Ray. (c) 1941 DC Comics. All rights reserved. Sound familiar? More than 70 years ago, the very first superheroes debuted in the dire times of the Great Depression and the early years of World War II. Their names became legend -- Superman, Batman (or, as he was then known, the Bat-Man), Wonder Woman, Captain America -- and they're still with us today. A new exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles celebrates these icons from the Golden Age of Comic Books. Through a collection of rare original artwork and comics, the exhibit explores how a group of mostly Jewish artists created the costumed heroes who came to symbolize the hopes of a beleaguered nation. "In the 1930s, the American Dream had become a nightmare, and I think comic books and superheroes in particular provided an escapist form of entertainment that allowed the American public to go into a fantasy world where all the ills of the world were righted by these larger-than-life heroes," says Erin Clancy, a curator at the Skirball. Watch a tour of the exhibit » . Guest curator Jerry Robinson not only organized the exhibit, he's a part of it. The comic book pioneer created Batman's arch-enemy, The Joker, and named the caped crusader's sidekick Robin. (Success has many fathers, of course: Bob Kane, credited with creating Batman, has long disputed elements of Robinson's creation stories.) "We were just emerging from the Depression," Robinson recalls. "Superman started in 1938. Batman started in 1939. So, we were just recovering." Robinson says the villains changed with the times. "The first villains in the comic books were hijackers, embezzlers, bank robbers. It was the era of Pretty Boy Floyd and so forth. Once the war came along, we felt a need for more patriotic heroes to fight Hitler. "In fact," he adds, "Hitler banned American comics, at least Superman and superheroes. He said they were Jewish. Little did he know that the creators were actually Jewish. ... Hitler banned American comics, except one: Mickey Mouse, which was his favorite." One of the highlights of the collection is Robinson's original sketch for The Joker. "My first thought was that a villain who had a sense of humor would be different and memorable," he says. "So, I'm thinking of a name for a villain that has a sense of humor. I thought of 'The Joker' as a name, and as soon as I thought that, I associate it with the playing card, as my family had a tradition of champion playing; my brother was a contract champion bridge player. There were always cards around the house. "So I searched, and luckily it had the typical image of the joker, which came out of a tradition in Europe. This was an important element. Throughout history, we had court jesters, clowns, and so this was an iconic image that was also very useful." In our own times, the public is turning to costumed heroes again in record numbers. Movies based on comic books are box office leaders; comic books themselves remain a strong and growing industry. "I think the comic book superhero came out of a context in which the political, social and economic realties were a little tough," Clancy says, "and we can certainly relate to those realities now in our own day. I think the resurgence of popularity of superheroes can be attributed to that." Last year, audiences made "The Dark Knight" the second-highest grossing film of all time. The late Heath Ledger, who won a best supporting actor Oscar for his performance as The Joker in that film, spoke with Robinson before he died. "I was flattered to hear from him that he based the whole concept of The Joker's persona and rationale on our first concept of The Joker," Robinson says. With the box office success of "The Dark Knight" and "Iron Man" -- plus comic book-inspired films like "The First Avenger: Captain America," "The Avengers" and "Thor" in development -- it looks like superheroes will continue to inspire. "I think heroes are back," Robinson says. "I think you can almost chart it. The times are not so good -- we're looking for heroes." All images and characters copyright DC Comics. DC Comics, like CNN, is a unit of Time Warner.

Superman, Batman, others born during Great Depression, early World War II years . New exhibit shows "golden age" of superhero characters . Artist Jerry Robinson, who created The Joker: "We're looking for heroes"

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Samuel Welsh's chances of landing a job before this economic downturn were already slim. Samuel Welsh, laid off since 2006, has found solace in his faith. "You got to keep God in your heart," he said. Now, as a disabled worker, the 29-year-old is competing with thousands of nondisabled job seekers going for jobs once allocated for the disabled population. Welsh was laid off from his job as an executive assistant in 2006. "I did mortgages, refinances and purchase deals. I was dismissed from that job and after that I was sent over to the Bobby Dodd Institute to do my vocational rehab counseling," he said. The Bobby Dodd Institute in Atlanta provides job training and rehabilitation for people with disabilities. Meg Godfrey, an employment specialist with BDI, has been handling Welsh's case. "He came to us originally looking for a position in administrative clerical type work. We have lowered his goals to greeting and ticket-taking, but those are the first jobs that go in this type of economy," she said. As part of her job, Godfrey seeks potential employers who will allocate some of their positions for people with disabilities, but as unemployment has soared, competition has gotten fierce. "Usually, we can get three to five jobs a month. Lately it's been one or no jobs each month. There are some employers I have talked to about hiring our clients. It's in a restaurant-type business and they have people coming in and putting applications that have previously worked at Morgan Stanley," she said. For Welsh, the competition and the wait have proven too long. He recently started a home cake-making business using cooking skills he learned from his grandmother when he was growing up in Alabama. He gets orders from local clients and delivers the cakes with the aid of public transit for the disabled. He gets about three orders a week, at an average price of $15 per cake. Welsh said he evaluated his skills and abilities before starting his business. "I know that I can bake cakes. I know that people like cakes; people like to eat a little something sweet, " he said. He added that he has not lost hope about finding a job. Wayne McMillan, CEO of BDI, says job numbers for people with disabilities show little hope. "It's terrible to be without a job in this country. It's tragic to have a disability and be without a job. We are having people come through the programs that we are not being able to place. Last year we placed 171 folks; during the month of December zero; January two. This is a real crisis for us," McMillan said. For the first time, the Department of Labor in February released a report tracking unemployment rates among disabled job seekers. The survey found a 14 percent unemployment rate among disabled workers -- almost double that of the nondisabled population. And only 21 percent of the available working disabled population is employed, compared with the 65 percent of nondisabled workers. "It is not at the top of most people's minds," said Megan Rutter Branch, director of communication for BDI. "They are seeing family members go off and have the dignity of work, and earn a paycheck, and the only expectation that is had of them is to sit at home, watch TV and stay out of trouble." She emphasized that disabled workers have one of the highest retention rates in the industry, 82 percent to 87 percent, according to BDI figures. "Our folks wouldn't want to leave. They had to overcome all these hurdles to get a job." According to the U.S. Census, people with disabilities comprise the largest minority group, approximately 20 percent of the population. Robin L. Shaffert, senior director of corporate social responsibility with the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), says it is critical for this group to be included in economic recovery plans. "It is very important for our society that we are using all the productive force of our society. It is important that we are also looking at people with disabilities and make sure we are looking for solutions for them as well," Shaffert said. AAPD research shows that President Obama's economic stimulus package has allocated funds to help people with disabilities, such as increased Medicaid help, vocational rehabilitation, help with independent living and specialized education. Until that help comes, Welsh, who suffers from spina bifida, says he is holding onto his faith. "You got to keep God in your heart. As long as you got him in your side everything will go smoothly," he said.

Institute that places disabled employees says employers all but stopped calling . Labor statistics show 14 percent unemployment rate among disabled workers . Stimulus package allocates funds to aid disabled, but immediate help needed .

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(CNN) -- A commuter airliner that crashed Thursday in upstate New York, killing 50 people, underwent violent pitching and rolling seconds before impact, with passengers experiencing twice the normal force of gravity, a federal investigator said Sunday. Only a few pieces of the Continental Connection Dash 8 turboprop were recognizable after the crash. The plane's final 800-foot fall took five seconds, Steve Chealander of the National Transportation Safety Board said. The aircraft crashed into a home in Clarence Center, New York, near Buffalo, on Thursday night, killing all 49 people aboard. A 61-year-old man in the house died also, but his wife and daughter survived. Final motions of the aircraft were so drastic that the plane's autopilot automatically disengaged and warnings sounded, Chealander said, citing information from the plane's flight data and cockpit voice recorders. Also, a "stick-shaker" device, which noisily vibrates an airplane's controls to warn the pilot of imminent stall, kicked in, he said. The flight crew of Continental Connection Flight 3407, operated by Colgan Air, discussed "significant" ice buildup on the aircraft's windshield and wings before the crash, and icing has become a focus as a possible cause. Follow the plane's path » . Chealander said the plane's de-icing system was turned on 11 minutes after the flight left Newark, New Jersey, for Buffalo, and remained on for the entire flight. He said the pilots were told before departure from Newark that there was "light to moderate icing" in the Buffalo area but that no other pilots had reported problems with their landings at the Buffalo airport. "It was really not a bad-weather day, and they chose to launch [from Newark]," Chealander said of the pilot and the first officer. The plane was on autopilot during its approach to the Buffalo airport, Chealander said. As to questions about whether the autopilot should have been turned off, Chealander said using it even in bad weather situations "is normal." Watch Chealander discuss autopilot options » . "You're encouraged to use the autopilot to help you with the workloads of these high intense weather situations that we fly into all the time," he said. He said the NTSB in the past has recommended to the Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees civil aviation including commercial airlines, that in severe icing conditions, "it might be best to disconnect autopilot so that the pilot might have a better feel" for the aircraft's conditions. However, severe icing is "not what we saw here," Chealander said, adding that the FAA has no such disengagement rule in effect. "To say that they should not have been flying on autopilot is not correct," Chealander said. The pilots' recorded remarks about "significant" icing did not indicate "severe" icing, he said. The NTSB has said problems for the 74-seat Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 occurred when the pilots lowered the landing gear and tried to set the wing flaps to slow the aircraft for landing. Offering more details, Chealander said Sunday that the plane's nose pitched up 31 degrees, then down 45 degrees. The aircraft rolled left 46 degrees then right 105 degrees, or past the 90-degree vertical point, he said. Inside the cabin, he said, conditions went from lower than normal gravitational force to twice the normal force as the plane rocked through the sky. iReport.com: Send your photos, videos from the scene . Chealander said the NTSB's investigation of the crash site indicated that the two propellers on the turboprop aircraft were in place when the crash occurred. "The airplane hadn't lost anything prior to impact. It came down intact," he said. Meanwhile, local authorities working to recover remains of the victims said Sunday that a federal team of more than 40 people using some $2.8 million worth of scientific equipment would begin on Monday to help establish positive identification of the victims. But because of the intensity of the crash and a subsequent fire, "whether we can identify everybody or not remains to be seen," Erie County Health Commission Anthony Billittier said. Authorities had recovered 15 bodies as of Saturday night, but Billittier announced Sunday that numbers of recovered bodies will no longer be released "out of respect for the families."

NTSB: People aboard experienced twice the normal gravitational force before crash . Plane rolled past the vertical point before it crashed into home, NTSB official says . Thursday's crash in upstate New York killed all 49 aboard plane, one in house . Plane's de-icing system was turned on 11 minutes after takeoff, NTSB says .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Britain's coldest winter in almost two decades bared its teeth again Friday, with more snow trapping hundreds of motorists in their cars. Britain is suffering its coldest winter in almost two decades, with heavy snow falls causing havoc. Police, the army and civilian rescue teams rushed to help people trapped overnight south of Exeter, Devon, where 200 cars and dozens of trucks were snow-bound, the British Press Association reported. "Wherever they're gonna go, they're gonna get stuck," said PC Carter of Chudleigh Police, just outside Exeter. "Everything's ground to a halt." Rescuers needed 4x4s to reach the trapped motorists. Some drivers abandoned their cars along the road overnight, trudging to nearby hotels to wait for the snow to pass. Watch the snow stall motorists » . "You couldn't drive because it was coming onto your windscreen so thick and fast that it was just impossible to see," one woman staying warm at a hotel told CNN affiliate ITN. "You couldn't see the car in front and your tires were starting to skid, and it was really scary." One man was stuck in his truck. "I think I've been fairly lucky -- I managed to do most of what I've got to do, but this has got gradually worse," he told ITN from the cab of his truck. "It's got gradually worse and worse and worse until I got here. I've been here for 2 1/2 hours." Devon and Cornwall Police urged people to avoid the area altogether and avoid travel whenever possible. The snow, which has continued to fall across Britain following Monday's huge dump that brought the country to a virtual standstill, forced more airport closures Friday. Watch an iReporter talk about being snowed in » . Luton, about 50 kilometers north of London, cancelled all flights until at least midday, while Bristol said it was closing until mid-morning. However, London's major airports -- Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick -- were all open for business as normal. Britain's Met Office issued another severe weather warning, saying snow would be heavy at times with up to 10 cm over high ground. It said the snow was likely to lead to further travel delays and warned the icy conditions would continue into the weekend.

Hundreds of British motorists trapped by fresh snow are rescued . Met Office issues another severe weather warning . Britain is suffering its coldest winter in nearly two decades .

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KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Two coalition U.S. soldiers were killed along with three Afghans, including a police official, while trying to disable a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan Sunday, the U.S. military said. Afghan police destroy poppy fields in Helmand province. The explosion was under investigation, the military said. The soldiers were part of a convoy of coalition troops accompanying Gulab Mangal, the governor of Helmand province, to a village where he intended to talk to residents about alternatives to opium farming. The convoy came upon two bombs stacked on top of each other, said local journalist Abdul Tawab Qureshi. When the soldiers tried to disable the bombs, the second one went off, added Qureshi, saying the blast killed the police chief of the province's Nad Ali district, Mohammed Nader; a police officer; and a translator. Over the years, opium and heroin -- both derivatives of the poppy -- have served as a major source of revenue for the insurgency, most notably the Taliban movement that once ruled Afghanistan. Though southern Afghanistan still provides about two-thirds of the world's opium and heroin, poppy cultivation has dropped by 20 percent -- to the lowest level since 2006. CNN's Atia Abawi contributed to this report.

NEW: Five people, including 2 U.S. soldiers, killed by roadside bomb . Soldiers tried to disable bombs when one exploded, journalist says . Soldiers were part of a convoy accompanying governor of Helmand province .

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PARIS, France (CNN) -- France bears responsibility for deporting Jews to their deaths in concentration camps during World War II, the country's highest court ruled Monday. Jews and foreigners are rounded up in Paris in May 1941. But, the Council of State said, "measures taken since the end of the Second World War have compensated for the damage." Northern France was directly occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II while the south of the country was ruled by the Vichy government that collaborated with Adolf Hitler. France's role in the deportation of its Jews was a taboo subject for decades after the war. The trial of Maurice Papon, a civil servant in the collaborationist Vichy government, for deporting Jews, forced the country to confront its role in the Holocaust. Papon was convicted in 1998 by a French court for complicity in crimes against humanity for his role in the deportation of 1,590 Jews from the city of Bordeaux. Most of the deportees later perished at the concentration camp at Auschwitz in modern day Poland. Papon died in February 2007, aged 96, after serving part of his term and then being freed on health grounds. There were approximately 350,000 Jews in France at the time of the country's defeat by Germany in 1940. At least half of those were refugees who had already fled Germany or countries already under Nazi occupation, according to the Web site of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. At least 77,000 Jews were deported to their deaths from French transit camps between 1942 and the end of German occupation in December 1944. Of these, around a third were French citizens and more than 8,000 were children under 13.

Court: France bears responsibility for sending Jews to WWII concentration camps . Court rules measures taken since end of war have compensated for damage . France's role in deportation of its Jews taboo for decades after war . At least 77,000 Jews deported from France during Nazi occupation .

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PARIS, France (CNN) -- A gunman holed up across the street from a French nursery school opened fire Friday on mothers and nannies entering the building to pick up children for lunch, slightly injuring eight adults, police said. French police at the Lyon nursery school Friday. Two of the injured were taken to a hospital. No children were harmed, said officials from the Ecole Maternelle, located in Lyon in southeastern France. Police said the shooter, who remained at large, used an air rifle. The school was closed and a security cordon set up around it and other schools in the district, police said. In an interview with the French radio network RTL, Lyon Mayor Thierre Philip expressed doubt that the school was the gunman's real target. "It was pedestrians, especially mothers or nannies who came to pick up the children, who were hurt," he said. CNN's Sujatha Samy contributed to this report.

Eight injured by gunman who opens fire at nursery school in Lyon, France . Police said the shooter used an air rifle and was not captured . Security cordon set up around area schools . Mayor says he thinks pedestrians rather than the school were gunman's target .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Barack Obama reached out to Iran on Friday -- the start of the Iranian New Year -- in a video message offering "the promise of a new beginning" that is "grounded in mutual respect." Obama's message to Iran echoes his inaugural speech, where he said "we seek a new way forward." The message is a dramatic shift in tone from that of the Bush administration, which included Iran, along with North Korea and Iraq, in an "axis of evil." It also echoes Obama's inaugural speech, in which he said to the Muslim world, "we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect." In Friday's video, Obama said: "The United States wants the Islamic Republic of Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations. You have that right, but it comes with real responsibilities. And that place cannot be reached through terror or arms, but rather through peaceful actions that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization." There was no immediate response from Tehran to Obama's message, but Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last month that his country would welcome talks with the United States "in a fair atmosphere with mutual respect." The United States, several European nations and Israel suspect that Tehran has been trying to acquire the capacity to build nuclear weapons, but Iran says its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes. Last month, the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security released a report saying that Iran has reached "nuclear weapons breakout capability" -- it has enough uranium to make a nuclear bomb. The report was based on an analysis of data from the International Atomic Energy Agency. However, an IAEA official who asked not to be named cautioned against drawing such dramatic conclusions from the data, saying Iran's stock of low-enriched uranium would have to be turned into highly enriched uranium to be weapons-grade material. That hasn't been done, the official said. The United States has had tortuous relations with Tehran since the Islamic revolution in 1979, but the Obama message speaks of "new beginnings" with the promise of a new year. "We have serious differences that have grown over time. My administration is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us, and to pursuing constructive ties among the United States, Iran and the international community," the president said. "This process will not be advanced by threats. We seek, instead, engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect."

Video message coincides with the start of the Iranian New Year . The U.S. has had tortuous relations with Tehran since 1979 . There was no immediate response from Tehran .

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(CNN) -- A young blogger arrested in Iran for allegedly insulting supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an Internet posting has died in prison, his attorney said Friday. The blogger had been jailed for allegedly insulting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an internet posting. Attorney Mohammad Ali Dadkhah said Omid Mir Sayafi, reported to be in his 20s, died in Evin prison, which is located in Tehran and known for its wing that holds political prisoners. Dadkhah said a fellow inmate, Dr. Hessam Firouzi, called him Wednesday night with the news -- and said he believed Sayafi would have lived if he received proper medical care. Dadkhah said Firouzi, an imprisoned human-rights activist, said that he carried a semi-conscious Sayafi to a prison doctor but that he didn't receive the care he needed. "It was Dr. Firouzi's opinion that if he would've received proper medical attention, he would not have died," Dadkhah said. He said Sayafi was buried on Thursday and that his calls to the prison asking for an explanation have not been returned. Dadkhah said Sayafi "sounded OK" at about 2 p.m. on Wednesday when he last spoke to him by telephone. He said the blogger asked for a book about Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, which begins Friday. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, which advocates for activists in the country, quoted Firouzi on its Web site as saying Sayafi suffered from depression and had taken extra doses of medication on Wednesday. The group blamed Iran's government for unsafe conditions in its prisons. "Iranian leaders have relegated the administration of the prison system to a group of incompetent and cruel officials who are showing their utter disregard for human life," said Hadi Ghaemi, spokesman for the campaign. "If the authorities do not move quickly to hold negligent officials responsible, they are reinforcing impunity and the lack of accountability." Sayafi was first arrested in April, then released for 41 days before being arrested again. He was sentenced to 2½ years in prison for comments on a blog that his lawyer argued was intended only for a few friends to read.

Omid Mir Sayafi, reported to be in his 20s, dies in Evin prison . Sayafi was a blogger who allegedly insulted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei . Lawyer says semi-conscious Sayafi was taken to doctor but didn't get proper care . Rights group reports prison doctor said blogger had taken extra medicine doses .

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(CNN) -- "Battlestar Galactica," the TV series that has held up a mirror to post-9/11 politics and paranoia for the past four seasons, comes to an end Friday. "Battlestar Galactica" drew consistent praise from the critics, but never attracted huge audiences. The show's legions of fans may be in mourning, but executive producer David Eick finds the looming finale bittersweet. "It's a combination of deep sadness and a little bit of relief," he told CNN by phone from Los Angeles. Eick and his producing partner Ronald D. Moore revived -- or, as they like to say, "reimagined" -- a campy late-1970s space opera about a ragtag group of survivors from an attack that wiped out most of humanity, making it a gritty, tense, and morally ambiguous drama. Echoes of the traumas that shaped contemporary America are inescapable, from a shot in opening credits that looks like Manhattan before the attacks of September 11, 2001, to questions about curtailing civil liberties in wartime. Eick says the show is a reflection of its times. The show "went into development very shortly after the attacks -- December of 2001. Not only were we post-9/11, but the wounds were so extremely fresh, there was still a great deal of shock," he said. Some of the imagery and themes of the show derived directly from the attacks, he said, such as a "wall of grief" where people place pictures of dead comrades. The show's central conflict has a religious dimension: The show's villains, the mechanical yet human-looking Cylons, believe in one god; the humans believe in many. "The antagonists are motivated by a belief that they are operating with the blessing, the permission of an all-powerful god. To the extent that religion and spiritual beliefs were chief motivations for the antagonists, that had resonance with al Qaeda," Eick said. But, he said, the writers fought to keep the show from becoming morally simplistic. "Sci-fi has always been a safe haven because we're not talking about al Qaeda, we're talking about the Cylons," he said. "We went to great lengths to try to see things from the opponents' point of view, to make the audience ask if they are rooting for the right side," he said. In fact, the Cylons become increasingly complicated characters as the series goes on, ultimately warring among themselves -- as do the humans. "The intention of 'Battlestar Galactica' was to present flawed heroes, who fought among themselves as much as the enemy," Eick said. "We are drawn to heroes who succeed in spite of themselves." "Growing discontent with the [Bush] administration allowed us to deepen many of those flaws in those characters," he said, even as he denied the show was designed to reflect the headlines. "Rarely do I recall saying: 'Let's do Abu Ghraib,' " said Eick, referring to the notorious prison in Iraq. The series does include an interrogation episode with a clear reference to waterboarding. The show drew consistent praise from the critics, but never attracted huge audiences from its home on the Sci-Fi channel, a cable network. Nielsen figures suggest the miniseries that launched the show drew about 4 million viewers, but audiences dipped to about half that in the third season before rebounding slightly as the fourth and final season began last year. Eick said he did not watch the original "Battlestar Galactica" series, which ran from 1978 to 1980 -- another gloomy era in America. But he knew he did not want his protagonist to be like the hero of that show, even if they shared the same name. "In the original incarnation, the main character of Adama was the picture of perfection, a military genius and a family man and a diplomat and a great orator, and and and... We were in an age where it didn't seem plausible that one person could have all the answers," he said. "The world didn't need another moralizing space opera," he said, drawing a specific contrast with the much more successful "Star Trek" franchise, or, as he called it "escapist 'Star Trek'-ian action-adventure." "The virtue of 'Star Trek' is that is does present a problem -- a moral crisis that its main characters ultimately solve or answer in a way that is intended to be a model for the audience," Eick said. "They come away feeling better about themselves." That has never been "Battlestar Galactica's" intention, he said. "To the show's good fortune, the audience was in need of a vehicle for its angst and its paranoia," said Eick, who said that as a viewer, he "was much more seduced" by darker stories that "felt like a reflection of reality." The walls of his home, he said, are adorned with posters from just such dark films: "Jaws," "Taxi Driver," "The Exorcist," "Lenny" and "Manhattan." (He also likes the lighter fare of "The Blues Brothers." ) "For some people, there's something very cathartic about watching nihilistic drama," he said. "There is a relief associated with it. "We often hear that what audiences want in troubled times is escapism and comfort food. I think it's the opposite. They want a way to feel their reality reflected back at them."

Show featured group of survivors from an attack that wiped out most of humanity . It went into development shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks . Executive producer: Some of the themes of the show derived directly from the attacks . Original "Battlestar Galactica" series ran from 1978 to 1980 .

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Bidding failed to meet expectations Saturday on a uniquely complete skeleton of a Jurassic-era dryosaurus -- a long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur -- so it was no-sale for the centerpiece at an auction of rare skeletons, fossils and other prehistoric memorabilia. Fossils including dinosaur skeletons are on display at the I.M. Chait Gallery on Saturday. Auctioneers at the I.M. Chait Gallery had hoped the 150-million-year-old, 9-foot-long dryosaurus would sell for as much as $500,000, but the bidding did not add up. Two museums are said to still be interested in acquiring the skeleton, being sold by Western Paleontological Laboratories out of Utah. An 18,000-year-old, 7-foot-tall and 15-foot-long skeleton of a teenage woolly mammoth from Siberia took the auction's top price, fetching close to $60,000. A completely opalized green, blue, yellow and red ammonite fossil measuring 2½ feet in diameter went for close to $50,000. Both were bought by private collections. "The woolly is so special because it wasn't fully grown and can therefore fit in someone's living room," says Josh Chait, director of operations at the gallery. "A collector's dream." Watch collectors stroll among fossils » . The ammonite, an extinct marine animal, turned to opal as part of the fossilizing process. Ammonite fossils have been found in ancient seabeds in Alberta, Canada.

Auctioneers had hoped remains of dryosaurus would fetch half a million dollars . Bids didn't measure up, so 9-foot skeleton from Jurassic Period remains unsold . Fossil of a teenage woolly mammoth sold for close to $60,000 at auction . Huge opalized fossil of an extinct sea creature went for almost $50,000 .

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NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Pirates on a seized Saudi-owned oil supertanker are delaying release of the ship despite receiving a ransom because of a fatal drowning accident that killed four of their colleagues, a journalist who spoke with one of the pirates told CNN. A small aircraft is observed by the U.S. Navy flying over the Sirius Star during a seeming ransom payment Friday. The pirates had been expected to release the Sirius Star, which they've held since November 15, after a ransom payment was parachuted onto the ship. The journalist told CNN that the pirate who spoke said four pirates drowned after a skiff carrying leaving the Sirius Star capsized due to rough seas. Sea charts showed that waves in the area were reaching 5 to 7 feet at the time. There were five pirates in the skiff and one survived, the journalist said. The bodies of the other four were recovered, he said, adding that this will delay the exit of the pirates still remaining on board the ship and thus affect the ship's release after payment of the ransom. The tanker was carrying two million barrels of crude oil worth about $100 million when pirates hijacked it off the coast of Somalia. Pirates seized the Sirius Star more than 450 nautical miles off the African coast in one of their most audacious hijackings to date. The pirates told another journalist that they received $3 million in ransom money, but lost part of it when the skiff capsized. The remaining ransom money is still aboard the ship with the rest of the pirates. The U.S. Navy took photographs and observed as an apparent ransom payment was parachuted aboard the tanker. The pirates aboard the supertanker have equipment to check for counterfeit bills, authorities said. "While the potential release of the Sirius Star is undoubtedly excellent news, we must not forget that nearly 300 other merchant mariners (on other ships) are still being held captive," said Commodore Tim Lowe, deputy Combined Maritime Forces commander. Hijackings off East Africa are a cause of growing international concern, spurring a number of international navies to patrol the pirate-wracked Gulf of Aden. See how pirate attacks peaked in 2008 » . Dozens of ships have been attacked in the gulf by pirates based in a largely lawless Somalia in recent months. See a map of the region » . The area involved, off the coast of Somalia and Kenya as well as the Gulf of Aden, equals more than 1.1 million square miles. That is roughly four times the size of Texas, or the size of the Mediterranean and Red Seas combined.

Pirates counting ransom money aboard hijacked Saudi supertanker . Witness tells local journalist that ship, crew to be released in next 24 hours . Tanker was carrying two million barrels of crude oil worth about $100 million . U.S. Navy took photos of apparent ransom payment being dropped onto ship .

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(CNN) -- A British man convicted of having sex on a Dubai beach was re-arrested as he prepared to board a flight back to the UK, according to media reports. File image of one of the co-accused -- Vince Acors -- arriving at court in Dubai in September. Vince Acors, 34, from London, was due to fly to Heathrow Monday following his deportation from the Gulf state. But he was detained at Dubai Airport and returned to jail as his flight confirmation was allegedly "not in order," the British Press Association said. Acors and fellow Briton Michelle Palmer, 36, were initially given three-month jail terms for unmarried sex and public indecency, but these were suspended on appeal. Acors had been due to return last Friday but a hold-up in the deportation process meant he was unable to board a UK-bound plane and spent the weekend in jail, PA said. His lawyer Andrew Crossley said: "The return of Vince Acors has been delayed yet again and he will not be returning to the UK. The situation is close to becoming farcical and Vince is severely disappointed. "After having booked and confirmed his return flight on three separate occasions through the course of the day Vince was re-arrested at Dubai Airport, as his flight confirmation was allegedly not in order. He has been returned to jail, his precise return is now unknown." Palmer and Acors were arrested on a public beach shortly after midnight on July 5. Police charged them with illicit relations, public indecency, and public intoxication. A court found them guilty in October and fined them 1,000 dirhams ($367) for the charge of public indecency. Both denied they had intercourse. And during the trial, Mattar argued that the public prosecutor failed to produce corroborative evidence against his clients on the first two charges, though he said both tested positive for liquor. The United Arab Emirates, where Dubai is located, is home to thousands of expatriates and is among the most moderate Gulf states. Still, the oil-rich kingdom adheres to certain Islamic rules.

Michelle Palmer and Vincent Acors, faced three-month sentence . The pair were arrested at a Dubai beach shortly after midnight on July 5 . They were charged with with illicit relations, public indecency, public intoxication . Although a relatively moderate Gulf state, Dubai adheres to certain Islamic rules .

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PARIS, France (CNN) -- France bears responsibility for deporting Jews to their deaths in concentration camps during World War II, the country's highest court ruled Monday. Jews and foreigners are rounded up in Paris in May 1941. But, the Council of State said, "measures taken since the end of the Second World War have compensated for the damage." Northern France was directly occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II while the south of the country was ruled by the Vichy government that collaborated with Adolf Hitler. France's role in the deportation of its Jews was a taboo subject for decades after the war. The trial of Maurice Papon, a civil servant in the collaborationist Vichy government, for deporting Jews, forced the country to confront its role in the Holocaust. Papon was convicted in 1998 by a French court for complicity in crimes against humanity for his role in the deportation of 1,590 Jews from the city of Bordeaux. Most of the deportees later perished at the concentration camp at Auschwitz in modern day Poland. Papon died in February 2007, aged 96, after serving part of his term and then being freed on health grounds. There were approximately 350,000 Jews in France at the time of the country's defeat by Germany in 1940. At least half of those were refugees who had already fled Germany or countries already under Nazi occupation, according to the Web site of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. At least 77,000 Jews were deported to their deaths from French transit camps between 1942 and the end of German occupation in December 1944. Of these, around a third were French citizens and more than 8,000 were children under 13.

Court: France bears responsibility for sending Jews to WWII concentration camps . Court rules measures taken since end of war have compensated for damage . France's role in deportation of its Jews taboo for decades after war . At least 77,000 Jews deported from France during Nazi occupation .

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(CNN) -- Children were among the victims of a plane crash that killed as many as 17 people Sunday in Butte, Montana, according to authorities in Oroville, California, where the aircraft stopped for fuel. Martha Guidoni said this photo was taken after she and her husband saw the plane "nosedive" in Butte, Montana. The single-engine plane stopped at the Oroville airport at about 11 a.m. PT, refueled and departed about half an hour later, Police Chief Kirk Trostle said. "There were some adults and children on board," he told reporters Sunday evening, adding the passengers got out briefly to stretch while the pilot refueled the plane. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mike Fergus said based on preliminary reports, 17 people died in the crash. The Pilatus PC-12 was headed to Bozeman, Montana, but rerouted to Butte instead and crashed 500 feet short of the runway at Butte's Bert Mooney Airport, Fergus said. The flight plan originated in Redlands, California, according to flight-tracking site FBOweb.com. Stops were made in Vacaville, California, then Oroville, before the plane headed for Montana. Preliminary information indicates the pilot did not declare an emergency aboard the plane before the crash, Fergus said. The National Transportation Safety Board is sending an investigation team to the scene, Kristi Dunks, an aerosafety investigator with the agency, told reporters in Butte on Sunday evening. Dunks said the plane crashed at the Holy Cross Cemetery, located just south of the airport's Runway 3. She said there were no survivors, though she wouldn't confirm the number of people on board the plane. No one on the ground was injured, Sheriff John Walsh said. Eric Teitelman, Oroville's director of community development and public works, said the small airport has no control tower but because it has a "wide-open runway" and a self-service fuel system, it is a frequent stop for private aircraft. Teitelman said at least one person -- an aircraft owner doing servicing work -- was at the airport Sunday when the Pilatus stopped for refueling. The aircraft owner "met the pilot, saw the children running around," Teitelman said. The plane, manufactured in 2001, was registered to Eagle Cap Leasing in Enterprise, Oregon, according to the FAA. Martha Guidoni told CNN she and her husband witnessed the plane crash. She photographed one of the first images of the scene, which showed the cemetery in the foreground of a huge blaze. See a map of Butte, Montana » . "We were just taking a ride, and all of a sudden, we watched this plane just take a nosedive," she told CNN. "We drove into the cemetery to see if there was any way my husband could help someone, and we were too late. There was nothing to help." Her husband, Steve Guidoni, who went to the scene of the crash, said the plane "went into the ground" and caught a tree on fire. Watch footage from scene and hear witness recount what he saw » . "I looked ... to see if I could see anybody I could pull out or anything, but there wasn't anything there, I couldn't see anything," he told CNN. "Some luggage [was] strewn around. ... [There were] some plane parts."

Children among those killed in crash in Butte, Montana, authorities say . Witness says she watched plane "just take a nosedive" Single-engine aircraft crashed about 500 feet short of runway, FAA says . FAA: Plane left California; originally supposed to land in Bozeman, Montana .

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(CNN) -- The pilot and co-pilot aboard a FedEx cargo plane were killed when the plane burst into flames Monday while landing at Tokyo's Narita airport in Japan, airport and hospital officials said. Smoke rises from a FedEx cargo plane that crash landed on the tarmac of the Narita International Airport, Tokyo. Both crew members were American men, an official at Narita Red Cross Hospital told CNN. Video from the landing showed the plane bouncing at least twice on the runway and veering left as it turned on its side before bursting into flames. The fire destroyed the aircraft, which was identified by FedEx as a McDonnell Douglas MD-11. Japan's Ministry of Transport said it was the first fatal crash at Narita, which opened in 1978. Strong winds may have played a role in the crash, said Masaru Fujisaki, an airport official. FedEx Express Flight 80 took off from Guangzhou, China, and crashed at Narita about 7 a.m. Monday (6 p.m. Sunday ET), said FedEx spokesman Matt Ceniceros. Watch more about the cargo plane accident » . According to observations at the airport, wind gusts were reported to be between 30 to 50 mph around the time if the crash. Japan's Kyodo news agency reported that Narita firefighters had worked through the flaming wreckage to try to rescue two people believed to be the crew. The news agency said the cargo plane was landing on Runway A, the longer of the two runways at Narita, a major international airport. The National Transportation Safety Board in Washington said Sunday night it was sending a team to Japan to assist in the investigation of the crash. CNN's Kyung Lah in Tokyo contributed to this report.

FedEx cargo plane crashes and bursts into flames at Tokyo's Narita airport in Japan . Pilot and co-pilot, both Americans, aboard plane from Guangzhou, China, are killed . Strong winds may have played a role in the crash, says airport official . Video shows plane bouncing on the runway and veering left as it turns on its side .

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What the heck are triglycerides? If you don't know, you have plenty of company. One in every three Americans has high triglyceride levels, which elevate risk of heart disease and early death. The fatty particles found in your blood are important for heart health, but don't get nearly as much attention as, say, cholesterol. Now a new study suggests that there's a good chance that your triglycerides are in the unhealthy zone, whether you know what they are or not. About one-third of American adults have triglyceride levels that are borderline or too high, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report published Monday in Archives of Internal Medicine. "I see it as a major problem that we've completely ignored this problem so far," said Dr. Børge Nordestgaard of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. Nordestgaard has conducted research linking high triglyceride levels to cardiovascular disease and early death, but was not involved in the CDC research. "Everyone in clinical practice seemed to be so focused on LDL, LDL, LDL [bad cholesterol], people tended to forget triglycerides." he said. Being too heavy, getting too little activity, drinking lots of alcohol and eating lots of saturated fat can all add up to higher triglyceride levels because the body stores excess calories as triglycerides. Health.com: Fats to eat, fats to avoid . Triglycerides are a third type of fatty particle found in the blood, along with LDL cholesterol and HDL (also known as good) cholesterol. People taking certain medications or those who have diabetes or a genetic condition can have high triglycerides. Health.com: What cholesterol tests reveal about your heart's health . Nordestgaard said that high triglycerides are as dangerous as high cholesterol levels as a risk marker for heart disease and early death. "There's a really big potential for further prevention of heart disease and strokes by getting more focused on that," he said. Health.com: How stress can trigger heart problems . The problem: Right now, the best way to attack high triglycerides is by losing weight, eating more healthily, and becoming more active-- a tall order for many of us. In the new report, Dr. Earl Ford of the CDC, and his colleagues looked at a nationally representative group of 5,610 people 20 and older. They found that 33.1 percent had triglyceride levels above 150 milligrams per deciliter, while 17.9 percent had levels above 200 milligrams per deciliter, 1.7 percent had levels of 500 milligrams per deciliter or above, and 0.4 percent had levels higher than 1,000 milligrams per deciliter. Triglycerides of 150 to 199 milligrams per deciliter are considered borderline high and anything above 200 milligrams per deciliter is considered too high. Men were more likely than women to have high triglycerides, while whites were at greater risk than African Americans and Mexican Americans. Very high triglyceride levels can cause inflammation of the pancreas. Although there's increasing evidence that elevated triglycerides are associated with cardiovascular disease and early death, no one has yet shown that treating high triglyceride levels reduces cardiovascular disease, according to an editorial by Dr. Warren G. Thompson and Dr. Gerald T. Gau of the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, in Rochester, Minnesota. Lifestyle changes-- exercising, losing weight, swapping healthy fats for unhealthy ones, and the like-- are the treatment of choice right now for people with triglyceride levels between 150 milligrams per deciliter and 500 milligrams per deciliter . According to the National Cholesterol Education Panel, higher-risk people with triglyceride levels falling in this range may also need medication. Beyond lifestyle changes, treatments for high triglycerides include statins, fibrates, niacin, and fish oil. But while fibrates reduce the risk of cardiovascular events like stroke and heart attack, Thompson and Gau note, they don't reduce mortality and actually increase the risk of death from non-heart-related causes; they are only recommended for people with triglycerides above 1,000 milligrams per deciliter. "What we really need scientifically, we need companies to come up with drugs that are more efficient at particularly reducing triglycerides," said Nordestgaard. He usually recommends that people try statins first if lifestyle changes are not enough-- as do Thompson and Gau. Health.com: The therapeutic lifestyle changes (TLC) diet for heart disease . "People with hypertriglyceridemia should talk to their physician about appropriate steps to take to bring their levels of triglycerides down," said Ford. "For people with levels in the 150-500 milligrams per deciliter range, therapeutic lifestyle change is recommended." Enter to win a monthly Room Makeover Giveaway from MyHomeIdeas.com . Copyright Health Magazine 2009 .

Fatty particles called triglycerides are important for heart health . One in every three Americans has high triglyceride levels, according to CDC . High triglyceride levels can cause pancreatic inflammation, heart disease death .

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(CNN) -- Rescue workers have pulled a body from underneath the rubble of a collapsed apartment building in Cologne, Germany, police spokeswoman Astrid Gelss told CNN. The remains of Cologne's archive building following the collapse on Tuesday afternoon. The apartment building collapsed together with two other buildings on March 3. Initially as many as nine people were reported missing, but after seven of them reported to the authorities that they were safe, search and rescue efforts focused on finding the two remaining missing men. Rescue workers found the body at about 2 a.m. Sunday morning (8 p.m. ET Saturday). It has not been identified. The search for the second missing person is still ongoing, Gelss said. It is still not clear what caused the collapse of the building which contained the city's historical archives, bringing down parts of the two nearby structures. CNN's Per Nyberg contributed to this report.

Rescue workers pull body from rubble of collapsed building . One person still missing after building collapsed in Cologne . Authorities haven't yet determined what brought down the structure .

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(CNN) -- Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, facing an international arrest warrant, is paying the price for pandering to the West, al Qaeda's second-in-command said in an audio statement released Tuesday. Ayman al-Zawahiri, seen here in 2007, said Tuesday the Sudanese president pandered to the West. "I am not defending Omar al-Bashir or his regime, nor am I defending what it has done in Darfur and elsewhere," Ayman al-Zawahiri said in the statement released by al Qaeda's production company, as-Sahab Media. But, he said, "the issue isn't one of Darfur and solving its problems; the issue is one of making excuses for more foreign interference in the Muslims' countries in the framework of the contemporary Zionist Crusade." The warrant issued by the International Criminal Court earlier this month accuses al-Bashir of war crimes and crimes against humanity, charges he denies. In response, Sudan ordered 13 international aid groups to leave the country, groups that the United Nations says provide roughly half the assistance delivered in Darfur. "The Bashir regime is reaping what it sowed," al-Zawahiri said. "For many long years, it continued to back down and backtrack in front of American Crusader pressure." He further accused Sudan of expelling members of the mujahedeen who had sought refuge there, particularly Osama bin Laden, and declaring "in an audacious lie that they had left voluntarily, then attempting to beg payment for that from the Saudi regime and the Americans." Al-Zawahiri asked, "Why hasn't the United Nations moved to protect the Palestinians in Gaza from Israeli barbarity and criminality, while it pretends to cry over the suffering of the people of Darfur? Why hasn't the United Nations and the international community intervened to lift the siege from Gaza, while it pretends to cry over the people of Darfur being deprived of relief and aid?" "The Sudanese regime continued to pant for American approval, and it agreed to the division of the Sudan, paved the way for the imminent secession of the south, provided all the information it had on the emigrants and mujahedeen to the American government, and handed over some of them to the regimes of treason and criminality in their countries," al-Zawahiri said. "But despite all that, the senior criminals weren't satisfied with it and continued to besiege it with demands and interference, even going so far as to demand the arrest of its leaders and prominent figures." He said he wants to send a message to Muslims in Sudan, telling them they are being targeted so that Islam can be eliminated from the country. "And in order for Islam to be eliminated from the Sudan, a justification must be found for Western military intervention," he said. The audio message is the fifth released this year by al-Zawahiri and the fourth in English, according to Virginia-based IntelCenter. The center said on its Web site it focuses "on studying terrorist groups and other threat actors ... and disseminating that information in a timely manner to those who can act on it."

Ayman al-Zawahiri says he is not defending Sudanese regime, actions in Darfur . President Omar Hassan al-Bashir accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity . Al-Zawahiri says Sudan expelled Osama bin Laden, other mujahedeen . He further asks why U.N. cares so much about Darfur, so little about Gaza .

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(CNN) -- Every day for decades, it was an essential part of the day for millions of listeners. A voice would boom out over the radio airwaves, announcing, "Hello, Americans, this is Paul Harvey! Stand by for news!" Paul Harvey gave Brent Burns his "big break," giving one of his songs national exposure for the first time. After more than 70 years on the air, Harvey died Saturday at the age of 90. His broadcasts were heard on more than 1,200 radio stations, according to his Web site. iReporters shared their memories of hearing Harvey's program through the generations and told how he affected their lives, and in some cases their careers. When Anna Hiller of Albany, California, heard of Harvey's passing, she was immediately reminded of spending time at her grandparents' home in Baltimore, Maryland, as a child. "His voice was inescapable, ubiquitous and energizing, emerging from the silver radio in the kitchen," she said. She describes Harvey's broadcasts as a "ritual" for her grandparents. "The voice of Paul Harvey would echo throughout the entire first floor, and even though I was too young to follow the stories, I knew my grandmother was listening intently, as was my grandpa from his study." John Hargis Sr. has memories of his mother listening to Harvey every day as well. "I once asked her why we couldn't watch TV when Harvey was on, and she replied that Harvey gave her honest news," he said . Hargis has since lost 70 percent of his hearing and says that Harvey's voice was one of the few he could understand. He lost his mother in 2001, and Harvey's death reminds him of her. iReport.com: Hargis pays tribute to Harvey, his mother . Bev Cummins of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, was captivated as a child by Harvey's skills as a storyteller, as heard on his second daily broadcast, "The Rest of the Story." "He enriched our young lives with his quiet, warm voice that phrased words so well in my mind," she said. "It had all the comfort of a story being read at bedtime." Cummins says that she modeled the way she told bedtime stories to her daughter after Harvey. "The lucky ones among us still have the love of a good Paul Harvey story." For some iReporters, Harvey was not just an important part of their daily lives. He gave one his "big break." Brent Burns of Gulf Shores, Alabama, was at the beginning of his career in the music business, with a few recordings released but nothing hugely successful. Then, Harvey played his song about the 1970s gas crisis, "Cheaper Crude or No More Food." "It bounced me onto the world stage immediately," he said. Burns says he appeared in magazines and television after this first major exposure. "It just goes to show how well-loved and listened-to Paul Harvey was," he said. "He was just a brilliant guy who really had a command of the language." Burns believes that his song might be the only one Harvey ever played. iReport.com: 'Integrity was Paul Harvey's middle name' After entering giant frogs into the famous Calaveras County frog jumping contest in 1990, Andy Koffman of Seattle, Washington, appeared on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" as well as other television programs. "But," he said, "the one thing I will never forget is Paul Harvey's voice talking about me and my giant frogs on the radio." A retired radio host himself, Gerald Dimmitt of Vancouver, Washington, will never forget hosting a dinner where Harvey was the guest speaker. At first, Dimmitt was unsure if he wanted to take the job because of Harvey's then-support of the war in Vietnam. "Due to the fact that he was an icon in the business, I went ahead and did it," he said. Dimmitt and a small group of attendees at the dinner discussed the war with Harvey. Toward the end of the conversation, Harvey told them to listen to one of his broadcasts coming up in a few days. Dimmitt listened to that broadcast, and heard Harvey announce his opposition to escalating the war. iReport.com: Dimmitt remembers his dinner with Harvey . As for Hiller, her grandfather is gone, but her grandmother now lives in Virginia. "I have a hard time not believing that the same radio that carried Paul Harvey's booming voice throughout the house on Gibbons Avenue is set up in Grandma's room in Virginia, and that she will miss him telling her 'Good day,' as he had for over 50 years."

iReporters remember how legendary radio host Paul Harvey affected their lives . John Hargis lost 70% of his hearing, but Harvey's voice was one he recognized . Brent Burns believes that Harvey gave him his "big break" in music . Share your memories of Harvey on iReport.com .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Tim Geithner may be the latest political piñata in Washington these days, but -- policy aside -- there may be another reason he is the one fellow everyone is picking on at Treasury: He's there alone. President Obama's ethics code requires that no lobbyist can work for an agency he may have lobbied. Believe it or not, Geithner is the only confirmed official at his department. Some top nominees, even those who have served in government before, have decided to withdraw. Others are still pending as they go through arduous background checks that one pro-Obama Democrat calls "maddening vetting hell." Sure, this is about extensive scrutiny to make sure no one has a tax problem after Geithner's own embarrassing unpaid tax bill. But the staffing problem is not just at Treasury, and it goes way beyond the time-consuming nature of extensive background checks. It's also about overreaching anti-lobbyist rules. Consider Tom Malinowski. He's the advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, an expert on genocide and torture. But when it came time for a top human rights job at the State Department, he was turned away. Why? "Because he lobbied against torture," says one incredulous administration official. "It's crazy." But the rules are the rules: The ethics code requires that no lobbyist can be hired to work for an agency he may have lobbied. So, just to clarify: Someone like Malinowski who lobbied against torture and is a widely acknowledged expert on international human rights law is, er, blackballed. More to the point, he was shown the door precisely because he tried to influence Congress on an issue that both he and the administration agree, and care deeply about. (Malinowski won't comment.) Only in the Alice-in-Wonderland world of Washington would this make any sense. And it still doesn't. It's just a prime instance of the problems that can arise when great-sounding (theoretical) campaign one-liners rub up against the (real) difficulties of trying to staff a government. In other words, the short-term interest in demonizing all lobbyists has led to some very difficult staffing problems. So, if you're an environmental expert and lobbyist, forget about the Environmental Protection Agency. But you might want to think about some work in the health field. That is, unless someone says you're a lucky exception! They're rare, but William Lynn is one. He's a top defense department appointee who once worked as a lobbyist for Raytheon, a military contractor. The White House says that (a) it hasn't had much trouble staffing the government and (b) is willing to make reasonable exceptions. So far we have only seen a handful. The problem has made it difficult to operate at every department. "A lot of good people just can't go into government," says one administration official. "It's a huge departure from the spirit of what they wanted." Indeed, he adds, here's an unintended consequence: "We're setting up a system where the only people who qualify to work in government are the ones who never actually left government." Oh, great. So instead of getting the best and the brightest from finance and elsewhere, we're recycling some folks from Capitol Hill. Not that they're unqualified, but the administration needs input from multiple sources -- outside of Washington. On top of that, the Treasury has another public relations problem: The appointment of anyone with any tie to a bank that has been bailed out or any institution that is tied to the mortgage mess is a non-starter. No wonder it's hard to find the experts. Yet much of this problem is self-inflicted. The no-lobbyist rule could have been "softened" to exclude nonprofit lobbyists. The administration decided against that, one senior official tells me. "We didn't want to label people as 'good lobbyists' or 'bad lobbyists.' " Besides, he adds, "We think we are flexible." That's not the feeling you get speaking with either those jumping hoops to try to get into government and those who have been turned away. As the administration faces its huge economic crisis, it needs all hands on deck. After all, you can't rebuild public confidence in a government if you don't have one.

Obama's overreaching anti-lobbyist rules interfere with governing, Gloria Borger says . Short-term interest in demonizing all lobbyists leads to staffing problems, she says . "A lot of good people just can't get into government," says one administration official . Administration needs all hands on deck during this financial crisis, Borger says .

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(CNN) -- Dr. J. Stephen Jones had seven vasectomies to perform in a day. Some urologists around the country are reporting increased numbers of patients coming in for vasectomies. The schedule for Jones, a Cleveland, Ohio, urologist, has become more crowded during a recent boom in vasectomies. "My staff came to me and said, what's happening?" said Jones, the chairman of the Department of Regional Urology of Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. "Why are we suddenly having an explosion in guys asking for vasectomies?" They looked at their statistics and realized the uptick started around November as the economic crisis deepened. October went down in the history books as one of Wall Street's worst months. Since then, the Cleveland Clinic has seen a 50 percent increase in vasectomies, an outpatient surgery that is the cheapest form of permanent birth control. Vasectomies are less invasive and cheaper than tubal ligation, which involves blocking, tieing or cutting a woman's fallopian tubes to prevent pregnancy. "It's unlikely that some guy read the Dow Jones numbers that day and said, 'Why don't we have a vasectomy?' " Jones said. "More likely, people have already been considering it and typically a guy and his wife have spoken a year or two about this." Jones was told by patients that they were getting vasectomies because they were losing their jobs and health insurance, or concerned about being out of work soon. "They realize they don't have the financial security long-term with what's going on," Jones said. "Several of them have mentioned, 'We can't afford to have any more children in this economy.' My perception is that it's more of the concept of raising children in an uncertain economic future." Much like Jones, Dr. Marc Goldstein, surgeon-in-chief of male reproductive medicine and surgery at the Cornell Institute for Reproductive Medicine in New York, saw a 48 percent increase in vasectomy consultations compared with the same time last year. "I have never seen anything like this," said Goldstein, a urologist for the last 30 years. "When things started to go south in the stock market, then the vasectomy consults went north." Half of Goldstein's New York patients work in the financial sector. New patients filed into his office in November. "I think the situation of finance and the economy is the major reason," Goldstein said. "Some of them have mentioned that, 'It cost $30,000 a year to put my kids in private school and I can't afford to have another one.' It's never the sole reason, but it's certainly a contributing factor." During the vasectomy, the doctor cuts the two vas deferens, which are the tubes carrying sperm from the testicles to become semen. After the procedure, men can still have sex, but their semen does not contain sperm and therefore they can no longer father children. Doctors can attempt to reverse the procedure, but vasectomy reversals are expensive and only work half the time in restoring sperm flow. Carl Haub, a demographer with the Population Reference Bureau, a private research firm, said the National Center for Health Statistics' data showed that, "During bad economic times, the Depression and the recession in the 1970s, the birth rate did go down." See the chart on fertility rates in the United States from 1917 to 2007 » . "Some folks will postpone having kids," he said. "If you had a vasectomy, you've made a bigger decision that you're never going to have another child." When people stop having children, it implies a loss of confidence in their future employment prospects. "Am I going to have a job in six months or a year from now?" Haub said. "If I'm concerned about that, people are not going to increase their financial obligations... It's naïve to say the economy didn't play a significant role in lowering the birth rate." It's too early to tell whether this recession has crimped the birth rate, Haub said. At this point, most of the evidence of increased vasectomies has been anecdotal from practicing urologists, because there is no national registry for sterilizations. The number of appointment requests spiked 30 percent in January 2009 on the Web site vasectomy.com, which links people with local urologists. But throughout the last few months, appointment requests have been fairly level, said Dr. Ted Benderev, founder of the site. Dr. Lawrence Ross, a professor of urology at the University of Illinois at Chicago and former president of the American Urological Association, said the school's clinics have seen moderate increases in the last six months to a year and that vasectomies are growing popular among lower-income clients. "My guess is that since economic times have worsened, people are concerned about their ability to raise larger families and are opting for more permanent birth control," Ross said. People who are concerned about losing their health insurance are trying to take advantage of the coverage for a procedure they've long considered. "It may have something to do with the economy," said Dr. Bryan Kansas, a urologist. "I can't count on my hands, in the last three months, the number of times someone has said they're about to lose their insurance and ask to squeeze them in." He and his colleagues have seen a similar uptick in their Austin, Texas, practice called The Urology Team. Throughout March Madness, Kansas' office has a special on vasectomies called, "Vas-Madness" to capitalize on their patient's obsession with the college basketball tournament. Patients "would love to have a procedure, go home and sit there when you've got all-day programming, watch basketball," Kansas said. After the less-than-hourlong procedure, patients usually spend a day or two recovering, moving gingerly and icing the soreness. Some men time their vasectomies around the time of major sports events such as the Masters Golf Tournament and the NCAA basketball tournament to keep themselves entertained during recovery. Vasectomies are likely to produce tenderness, discomfort and slight swelling and the patient is usually able to return to usual activities within a week.

Urologists report a higher demand for vasectomies in recent months . In New York, vasectomies increase after stocks tumble in fall 2008 . During recessions, people have fewer children, according to health statistics .

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(CNN) -- If you're looking for love and not having much luck, maybe you could increase your success by getting a bit more passionate -- about helping others. Dave Chung and Kim Benty share a love of volunteer work in New Orleans. When singles write to advice columnists complaining about being lonely, they are often urged to volunteer. Duane Bates, the public relations director for Habitat for Humanity, says it's not unusual for their volunteers to meet on a building site and "end up together." Victor Fasolino was living in New Jersey and his future wife, Lora, was living in Seattle, Washington, when the two met in Hungary in 1996 while volunteering on a Jimmy Carter Work Project for Habitat. "I thought she was an attractive young lady," recalls Victor Fasolino, adding that they were working 10-12 hour days so it wasn't until the project was almost complete that they got to spend much time together. Both were committed volunteers and had signed up for a Habitat fundraising bike ride of 500 miles two weeks after they returned to the United States. They got to know each other while pedaling from Kentucky to Atlanta, Georgia. The two got married one year later atop a house they helped build during another project in Pikesville, Kentucky. Other volunteers had cleaned and scraped a ladder so the bride wouldn't get her wedding gown dirty climbing to the roof. The groom wore a tuxedo, a local minister officiated and a fiddler joined them on the roof to provide the music. This year, Victor, 56, and Lora Fasolino, 46, will again work on former President Carter's 2009 Habitat work project, building houses in five countries: Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and China -- along the Mekong River in southeast Asia. In 2007, Dave Chung and Kim Benty found each other while helping Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans, Louisiana. Chung had been a pro golfer playing mini-tours in California and living half the year in Toronto, Ontario, when he got the urge to drive down to New Orleans to volunteer. "I really liked the place, and the people," says Chung. "The original plan was to come down here for two months and go to a friend's wedding, but I ended up staying." At first the 30-something golfer worked for Habitat for Humanity, learning plumbing and wiring. Then he went to work with Liz McCartney, 2008 CNN Hero of the Year, at the St. Bernard Project. Meanwhile, Kim Benty, 36, an interpreter for the deaf in the western New York town of Batavia, began a series of trips in July 2007 to work with volunteers in the same area. Benty was smitten after meeting Chung on her first trip, but he merely smiled and went back to work. "He was doing a little of everything, a runner, bringing supplies, our construction manager," Benty remembers. "I thought, you know, I am just another volunteer to him." There were several more trips, a few chance meetings -- but no sparks. But something changed when they met yet again in December 2008 at a friend's Christmas party. "We just hit it off that night," Chung says. Chung says he was attracted to her for a million little reasons: "She's attractive, fun to be around and both of us are kind of easygoing." But then it was time for Benty to go back to New York and for Chung to make the long drive to Canada to see his relatives. Chung's New Year's Eve plans fell though, so he asked Benty about coming down. They hung out for a few days and Chung was set to drive by himself back to New Orleans. "She hopped in the car with me, and came down. It really surprised the people who knew her," Chung says, "because she is the kind of person who likes to plan everything." "Ha, it did surprise people," Benty admits. "I am very conservative, a planner, it was out of context for me." They both admit they are at a crossroads of sorts. Psychologist Diana Kirschner, author of the book, "Love in 90 Days," says the couple's relationship could go either way. "I've seen couples come together in some kind of mission or some kind of movement, and they work together really well when they're within the mission. There's a sense of a bond because of their joint commitment to the mission," says Kirschner. "But then when the mission ends, or if it ends, they just look at each other and find they have nothing in common." "However, I've also seen it where couples come together like this and basically decide to stay on the mission the rest of their lives. And they marry and they stay on the mission. Their marriage is all about being together and helping each other fulfill their purpose in this mission," Kirschner says. That's what happened to Carol and John Coonrod, who met in 1985 while working for several weeks in Washington on a book promotion for the The Hunger Project, an organization dedicated to ending hunger and poverty in the world. "The last night when we all went out for a drink, we kind of looked at each other and noticed who we'd been working with all that time -- and we've been together ever since," said Carol Coonrod, 62, adding that her husband, 57, always says, "We're living happily ever after." The couple, who have no children, are both on staff at the organization. "We've had a relationship that was formed within The Hunger Project and that has always been our senior mission, part of a senior commitment," said Carol Coonrod. "And within that we've created a partnership and a marriage." Their shared passion for their work has driven them during their more than two-decade marriage. "As we've gotten older, we've sort of rediscovered the rest of life and we've continued to be partners, not only in work, but also in our leisure and the rest of our life. We're wonderfully compatible and enjoy vacation and nonwork time as much as working together," says the veteran volunteer. The younger volunteer couple is still pondering their relationship. "We're not trying to put pressure on ourselves, we are trying to have a good time," Chung says. But they are certain about one thing. "Our passion is to be down here with the St. Bernard Project," says Benty. "You know, that is how life works," Chung said. "It works in strange ways. Stuff you don't plan on is the stuff you remember."

Couple who met working with Habitat for Humanity gets married atop house . Organization spokesman says it's not unusual for volunteers to "end up together" Passion for ending world hunger brings Carol and John Coonrod together .

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(Mental Floss) -- Almost everyone knows that each state of the Union has its own flag. State flags, however, are just the most visible elements of an elaborate, esoteric system of legalized symbols that characterize and codify our united states. It's time we were all exposed to the bizarre symbology of state identity-politics. Texas' state flower, the bluebonnet, is celebrated in the Texas state song. To begin with, some of the most well-known state symbols allude to lesser-known meanings and histories. I grew up in Wisconsin and only recently learned that the Badger State title originally refers not to Bucky, nor to the savage beast itself, but to lead miners in the 1820s and 30s. These miners moved from prospect to prospect in southwestern Wisconsin, traveling light and often, with little money for luxury. When winter came and conditions worsened, those miners too far from home to migrate would dig themselves sheltering caves in the hills -- like badgers. These temporary dwellings could be abandoned if a prospect proved fruitless, without much regret; and if the lead pickings were good, the lucky miner could fluff up his badger hole or upgrade to a more traditional Euro-American residence. For this practice Wisconsin miners were dubbed "badgers" -- a jibe that was soon appropriated as a proud, statewide nickname. Bucky didn't come along until 1949; the furry, quadruped badger, notoriously vicious when cornered, wasn't declared Wisconsin's state animal until 1957. Other miners migrated south for the winter to the far end of Illinois, much like the region's sucker fish; which earned them the nickname of Suckers, and their state of Illinois its unenviable nickname, The Sucker State. Mental Floss: How 22 colleges got their nicknames . 'Rebel' woodpecker . The state bird of Alabama has another tale behind it. They honor a little woodpecker they call the yellowhammer, which is known outside of Alabama as the northern flicker, the common flicker, or simply The Flicker. (It eats a lot of ants, and is not to be confused with the yellowhammer bunting of Europe and New Zealand.) State birds are chosen for reasons many and varied, some meaningful and others frivolous -- from the pretty songs they sing to their proximity to extinction -- and I believe this is the only bird singled out for its resemblance to Confederate uniforms. The story goes that a clean, trim, flashy bunch of new Confederate recruits one day passed by a weary, bedraggled, dusty pod of veterans, and their fresh uniforms, grey tinged with brilliant yellow, reminded some jokester vet of the woodpecker, so he let out a mocking call: "Yallerhammer, yallerhammer, flicker, flicker!" The jeer stuck, and the recruits were soon labeled the Yellowhammer Company. Later, as these things go, all Alabama troops were known as Yellowhammers, the whole state as the Yellowhammer State, and Confederate veterans developed a habit of wearing yellow feathers in their caps and lapels to dress up for post-war reunions. How entertaining and informative. But the real fun starts when these state symbols more shamelessly approach the ridiculous. Let us consider some of the finest specimens: . Eat and drink to the honor of the state . Most states have at least one form of official food. In Louisiana, the official doughnut is the beignet. (I'm unaware of any other state doughnuts -- and I'm disappointed.) New York's official muffin is made with apples; Minnesota's with blueberries; and none have yet found it fit to honor the vegan bran and raisin muffin, despite whatever strange wonders it works on the abdominal tubing. Vermont is the only state with an official flavor: maple, as in maple syrup -- but because they've designated the "flavor," not the "syrup," we can assume the appointment includes everything from maple-glaze for ham to autumnal maple lattes. Shockingly, Oklahoma has recognized a complete (and daunting) meal: fried okra, squash, cornbread, barbeque pork, biscuits, sausage and gravy, grits, corn, chicken friend steak, black-eyed peas, strawberries, and pecan pies. Mental Floss: 6 food challenges for the super hungry . As for state drinks, Nebraska has Kool-Aid, Indiana has water (hubris!), and Alabama, the standout, has Conecuh Ridge Alabama Fine Whiskey -- a re-creation of some well-regarded illegal moonshine made in the backwoods by a man named Clyde May. Silly, sentimental, and insulting songs . All states have songs, too, except New Jersey. Most states have more than one. There are state ballads, state marches, state waltzes, and so on. Connecticut has a state cantata (a narrative piece intermixed with solos and choruses); Louisiana has a state environmental song ("The Gifts of the Earth"); Massachusetts a polka ("Say Hello to Someone from Massachusetts"); a couple states have lullabies; and Ohio has an official rock song, "Hang On Sloopy." Two state anthems, Maryland's and Iowa's, are set to the familiar tune of "O Tannenbaum!", or "O Christmas Tree!"; but no states have designated official Christmas songs. And despite Texas' tough boy image (their official footwear is the cowboy boot), it's the only state with an official flower song -- in praise of its state flower, the bluebonnet. Many of the traditional states songs are brazenly effusive. Arizona's begins, "I love you, Arizona," and continues, rather romantically, "You're the magic in me." California's is similar, without the magic: "I love you, California, you're the greatest state of all." South Dakotans use the superlative when singing to "The state we love the best." Usually they're just hilarious, but a few of these songs bear some heinously outdated lyrics. With a nod to the old Eternal Feminine, North Carolina praises its women as Queens of the Forest, "So graceful, so constant, yet to gentlest breath trembling." The real trouble comes, though, with old minstrel tunes that portray humble "darkies" praising "old Massa" in song and romanticizing their cotton-picking servitude. Kentucky changed the language for "My Old Kentucky Home" in 1986 to glaze over such indiscretions. But Virginia still seems to have trouble acknowledging its error, and simply demoted its song, "Carry Me Back To Old Virginny," to the status of "state song emeritus." Virginia still seeks an adequate replacement, preferably one that doesn't idealize slavery. Every state for itself . Besides these strange variations on common themes, many states have even more idiosyncratic symbols. Since 1962, the official sport of Maryland has been jousting, and more recently, the state's official "exercise" was declared to be walking. Not even mall-walking or speed-walking -- just "walking." Kentucky doesn't have a "sport," but it does have an official tug-of-war: the Fordsville Tug-of-War Championship. Mississippi has a state toy, the teddy bear; Massachusetts a state bean, the navy bean; and Oklahoma proudly boasts the only state cartoon character, a gust of wind named Gusty that was used to report weather and news, between 1954 and 1989. Mental Floss: State nickname quiz . While many designations seem absurd, most aim to represent some definite aspect of a state's intended "character." Legislators want icons that mean something, that give you a sense of the land and its people -- something like the bolo tie. Arizona named the bolo tie its official neckwear back in 1971. And more recently, in 2007, New Mexico added the same to its list of emblems. Apparently, it was an Arizona silversmith who invented the string-and-buckle necktie when he took off his hatband to avoid losing the precious buckle during a high-wind horse ride, and hung it around his neck. This discovery occurred as late as 1940, but the bolo's become such an icon that it's hard to imagine a Wild West without it. For more mental_floss articles, visit mentalfloss.com . Entire contents of this article copyright, Mental Floss LLC. All rights reserved.

Wisconsin's Badger State comes from miners who dug caves to survive winters . Alabama's state bird is a flashy-looking woodpecker . State drinks: Nebraska -- Kool-Aid, Indiana -- water . Mississippi state toy: the teddy bear; Massachusetts state bean: navy bean .

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ROOSEVELT, New York (CNN) -- When Lisa Brown moved into her rental house on Long Island last summer with her three daughters, she says, it felt like a new beginning. Lisa Brown has to move out of her rental house because it is facing foreclosure . After living in apartments, the spacious house got her attention immediately. "It was bigger than what I had lived in," she says. Brown was also won over by the neighborhood with its tidy homes and good school district. "I wanted to come here, and I wanted to see my kids graduate from this school district." But they hardly had a chance. Instead, fighting back tears, she says, "I have to get out." Brown and her family are being evicted not because of anything they did, but because her landlord defaulted on the mortgage and the house fell into foreclosure. The house was recently sold at auction. The bad news came just seven months after Brown had moved in. A real estate broker came to the door and handed her an eviction notice, telling her she had 30 days to vacate. "I was hysterical, I was like, what do you mean?" Watch Lisa Brown's talk about why she has to move » The broker explained that the landlord no longer owns the property and that the lease was no longer valid. Brown had no idea the house was in foreclosure. As a tenant, she always paid her rent on time, and she assumed the rent was going toward the mortgage. "I didn't see there was a problem," she said. "You know, I'm paying rent, and she's putting it toward her mortgage, I didn't see the problem." Unfortunately, Brown is not the only tenant caught off guard. According to the Center for Housing Policy, nearly 20 percent of all foreclosures are on rental properties, and tenants' rights in such situations are minimal. In most states, when a bank forecloses on a landlord, the tenant has no guarantee of being allowed to stay in the property, and neither the bank nor the landlord has a legal obligation to tell the tenant about the foreclosure. So while the owners know what's going on, renters are usually kept in the dark. New York State Sen. Jeff Klein is aware that renters can run into problems. "In many instances, they're actually paying their rent on time, and the owner of the property who is in foreclosure is pocketing the money," he says. Klein says rental properties are involved in 50 percent of all foreclosures in New York, and he is working on a law to warn renters of foreclosure proceedings ahead of time and to keep them from losing their security deposit and being evicted with nowhere to go. Similar laws are already in place in Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, Maryland, Rhode Island, Michigan and California. "What we're facing here", Klein says, "is sort of the new homeless population unless we do something about it." Brown was astonished to learn that her landlord rented her the house when she knew she was losing it. "She knew that this house was foreclosing on her. She did nothing about it. Nothing, except take my money." Brown was paying $1,900 a month in rent. She had also paid $5,700 for a security deposit and broker fees to secure the house. She says that money is gone. "She will not give me my deposit back. Nothing." CNN tried to reach the owner, who lives upstairs, for comment, but her phone was disconnected, and no one answered the door. The broker who rented her the house and who was paid $1,900 says he did not know the house was in foreclosure. He also says the brokerage fee will not be returned. "It took everything I had to move in," Brown says, "to give my kids a better environment." And now, "I'm left out with nothing." Because eviction papers trump the lease, Brown has no legal right to stay. The bank that foreclosed on the house, and now owns it, offered her $1,000 to get out, but she says she's lost close to $6,000 and has nowhere to go. "If it was me, yeah I could move out and go on my own. But it's my family you're talking about, my children, my three daughters and my pets, that I brought in here thinking that we were going to stay and be happy." Brown is considering suing the owner in small-claims court to get her money back and cover moving expenses. For now, though, she says she will adjust her dreams and find another place for her family to live.

Mortgage meltdown affects renter Lisa Brown after landlord is foreclosed upon . Brown evicted because landlord defaulted on mortgage, house fell into foreclosure. Brown wanted a better life for her three daughters; now she must find a new home . New York state senator working on law to warn renters of foreclosure early .

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The second most-dreaded question for new parents after "Is your baby sleeping?" (Answer: "Well, yes, for forty-five-minute stretches, but not during the night, and only after I conduct a two-hour-long routine including feeding, swaddling, singing, rocking, and an ancient tribal sleep dance") is "Where does he sleep?" Some say a baby should never sleep in the same bed as you, while others say it's the only way to go. That's because the response is usually just as complicated and the people who ask are often ready to pass judgment on it. At least, that's what more than 6,000 of you told us in our national survey about sleep habits, in which we set out to determine the differences between parents who put their babies down to sleep at night in a crib (for convenience's sake, we're calling them "crib-sleepers") and those who share a family bed with their children (co-sleepers). Here, an illuminating peek into the night lives of new families: . "Now, that's crazy!" When we were creating this survey, we imagined a giant pillow fight, with moms on one side of the bed yelling "Safety!" and a posse on the other shouting "Bonding!" And we did hear those battle cries: Nearly half of all crib-sleepers admitted that they think co-sleepers are "irresponsible" and that parents who share a family bed are "putting their baby's life at risk." Parenting.com: Guide to baby sleep . Another 39 percent think that co-sleeping parents are spoiling their baby. "I know people who still have a three-year-old in bed with them because the kid won't sleep alone. Now, that's crazy!" exclaims Patty Queen, a mom of two in Marion, North Carolina. "Come on, people, you are only making it hard on the kids by keeping them in the bed with you." Another crib proponent, Esther Tune of Henderson, Nevada, considers co-sleeping to be "the easy option." "I never brought my kids into my bed -- even though it would have been easier. I believe they're safer in their own crib." So what about the safety issue? In a 2005 policy statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) warned that bed-sharing was associated with an increase in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and strongly recommended against the practice. "There is no evidence that co-sleeping can be done safely," adds John Kattwinkel, M.D., chairperson of the AAP's Task Force on SIDS. Parenting.com: Baby sleep strategies . No wonder moms who co-sleep are twice as likely to feel judged compared with crib-sleepers. In their defense, co-sleepers cite the work of James McKenna, Ph.D., an anthropologist whose research shows SIDS rates to be lower in countries where co-sleeping is the norm, and the attachment-parenting theories of Babytalk contributing editor William Sears, M.D. (Both experts believe parents can -- and must -- co-sleep safely; see Askdrsears.com for guidelines.) Parenting.com: Why are infants still dying from SIDS? In fact, co-sleepers were just as likely to choose their sleeping arrangement for safety reasons as crib-sleepers. And they also slung some arrows: 40 percent of moms who planned to co-sleep believe that parents who use a crib won't have as close a bond with their babies as they do; another 20 percent feel that crib-sleepers are "selfish" and "only thinking of their own sleep." "Babies grow up more secure when they sleep with their moms for the first year of their lives," contends Phasinee Brown of Kansas City, Kansas. Parenting.com: Learning to sleep solo . Giving up control . The majority of parents agreed, however, that in the quest for rest, one size does not fit all babies. "After having three children," Trenny Suggs of Spring Hill, Tennessee, told us, "I have learned that you have to do whatever is necessary to help your children sleep." And for many of you, that means changing your game plan. According to our results, only 11 percent of moms actually planned to co-sleep with their babies, but a whopping 42 percent ended up doing so once their little bundles arrived (see "Best-Laid Plans" on the previous page). "During my pregnancy, I studied controversial topics, such as co-sleeping, and thought I knew what I would do," shared one reader in California, who swore that she wouldn't co-sleep but now spends every night in bed with her 5-month-old daughter. "But children set their own schedules. I never understood that having a baby means giving up complete control." Parenting.com: Dreaming of sleep . The perfect sleep solution . For all the stress that surrounds getting your baby to sleep, it's helpful to remember -- in a twisted sort of way, we admit -- that 51 percent of you report being tired all the time, regardless of whether your tot snoozes in a crib or in your bed. In other words, there's no right or wrong answer to that frustrating question "Where does your baby sleep?" As Jaclyn Petrin of Princeton, New Jersey, said, "I hope this survey helps parents understand that there is no perfect sleep solution. If there is, please let me know what it is." Sorry, Jaclyn, no such luck. Try a FREE TRIAL issue of Parenting Magazine - CLICK HERE! Copyright 2009 The Parenting Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

AAP: Bed-sharing associated with an increase in sudden infant death syndrome . Study: SIDS rates to be lower in countries where co-sleeping is the norm . Survey: Few moms planned on co-sleeping, but 42 percent ended up doing so . There is no perfect sleep solution .

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(CNN) -- An Indonesian fisherman has been killed by Komodo dragons after he was attacked while trespassing on a remote island in search of fruit, officials said Tuesday. Komodo dragons kill their prey with an extremely toxic bite. Muhamad Anwar, 32, bled to death on his way to hospital after being mauled by the reptiles at Loh Sriaya, in eastern Indonesia's Komodo National Park, the park's general manager Fransiskus Harum told CNN. "The fisherman was inside the park when he went looking for sugar-apples. The area was forbidden for people to enter as there are a lot of wild dragons," Harum said. Other fisherman took Anwar to a clinic on nearby Flores Island, east of Bali, but he was declared dead on arrival, he added. Komodo dragons, the world's heaviest lizards, can grow up to 3 meters (10 feet) in length and have a toxic bite that they use to kill prey such as buffalo, returning to feast when the animal succumbs to the poison. Despite their ungainly appearance, the carnivorous reptiles can run as fast as a dog in short bursts, jump up on their hind legs, and kill animals with a blow of their powerful tails. Attacks on humans are rare, but Monday's incident is the latest in a series in which the monster lizards -- which have forked tongues and fearsome claws --have killed or injured people. Last month a park ranger survived after a Komodo dragon climbed the ladder into his hut and savaged his hand and foot. In 2007 an eight-year-old boy died after being mauled. In June last year, a group of divers who were stranded on an island in the national park -- the dragons' only natural habitat -- had to fend off several attacks from the reptiles before they were rescued. Park rangers also tell the cautionary tale of a Swiss tourist who vanished leaving nothing but a pair of spectacles and a camera after an encounter with the dragons several years ago. An endangered species, Komodo are believed to number less than 4,000 in the wild. Access to their habitat is restricted, but tourists can get permits to see them in the wild within the National Park. All visitors are accompanied by rangers, about 70 of whom are deployed across the park's 60,000 hectares of vegetation and 120,000 hectares of ocean. Despite a threat of poachers, Komodo dragon numbers are believed to have stabilized in recent years, bolstered by successful breeding campaigns in captivity. On Monday, a zoo in Surabaya on the Indonesian island of Java reported the arrival of 32 newborn Komodos after the babies all hatched in the past two weeks, the Jakarta Post reported.

Fisherman was trespassing on island when dragons attacked . Muhamad Anwar died from heavy bleeding on his way to hospital . Komodo dragon attacks on humans are rare .

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(CNN) -- Some 5,000 residents in eastern Pennsylvania were allowed to return to their homes Saturday afternoon, some 12 hours after they were evacuated when a tractor-trailer carrying 33,000 pounds of toxic hydrofluoric acid overturned after the driver tried to avoid a deer, authorities said. Traffic is backed up Saturday after a truck spilled hydrofluoric acid in eastern Pennsylvania. State police identified the driver as Raymond Leblanc, 54, of Harrow, Ontario, Canada. Leblanc, who initially was trapped in the truck, was taken to a hospital where he was treated and released. Police said a passenger in the truck was unhurt. No other injuries were reported. The truck flipped over on its side and slid along northbound State Road 33, which was closed in both directions from Belfast to Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, from the time of the early-morning accident until about 6 p.m. Saturday. Most of the acid in the tank was in the form of pressurized gas, but there also was some water, said Northampton County spokesman John Conklin. State and federal hazardous materials experts stopped the leak by noon. The wreck occurred at 3:30 a.m. near Wind Gap. Conklin said many evacuees -- those living within a mile of the accident site in Plainfield Township -- went to a shelter set up at nearby Pen Argyl High School in Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania. A dispatcher with the Northhampton County Division of Emergency Management said residents were allowed to begin returning to their homes about 3:45 p.m. Saturday. Hydrogen fluoride is a hazardous chemical compound used mainly for industrial purposes such as etching glass, and is extremely corrosive. It also is an ingredient in high-octane gasoline, refrigerants, aluminum and light bulbs. Contact with concentrated solutions can cause severe burns, according to medical authorities. Inhaling the gas causes respiratory irritation, severe eye damage and pulmonary edema.

5,000 evacuees able to go home 12 hours after evacuated because of acid spill . Canadian driver tried to avoid hitting a deer, flipped tractor-trailer . Leak of highly corrosive hydrofluoric acid stopped .

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SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir (CNN) -- Ten people in the disputed territory of Kashmir have been killed in ongoing gunfights between militants and Indian troops, an Indian defense spokesman said Sunday. Indian soldiers stand guard in Srinagar. "So far we have lost an army officer and three troopers, while six militants have been gunned down by the army in past three days," Indian defense spokesman, Lt. Col. J.S. Brar told CNN on Sunday. The fighting started after troops were tipped off about the presence of heavily armed militants in the region. Security forces encircled a forested region to close in on the militants. Militants opened fire at the troops and both sides traded fire. "The operations are being conducted in a densely forested and highly foliaged mountain range," Brar said. The gun battle is the second-longest of the year in Kashmir after the nearly seven-day-long encounter in the mountainous Poonch district of Jammu region in Indian-administered Kashmir in January. The onset of summer and melting of snows in mountain passes often leads to increased influx of militants from across the Line of Control, police said. The Line of Control is the border in Kashmir between the Indian- and Pakistani-controlled region of the disputed province. The other day, India said, Pakistani troops had opened indiscriminate and unprovoked fire at its positions in northern Kashmir along the Line of Control. One trooper was injured. Kashmir has endured a violent separatist campaign for nearly 20 years, and authorities say 43,000 people have been killed. However, various non-governmental organizations and rights groups put the number of dead at twice the official count.

10 dead in Kashmir gunfights between Indian troops, separatist militants . Incident comes after India accuses Pakistani troops of firing on Indian troops . Kashmir has been in throes of separatist campaign for 20 years .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- British reality TV celebrity Jade Goody died early Sunday morning following a public battle with cervical cancer, her publicist has announced. Jade Goody married her fiance Jack Tweed weeks before her death. Goody, 27, died in her sleep at home in Essex, east of London, just before 4 a.m. (midnight Eastern Daylight Time), a spokeswoman for Max Clifford Associates said. Goody's husband, Jack Tweed, who she married last month in a lavish wedding ceremony, was at her bedside when she died, Clifford said. Her mother, Jackiey Budden, who was also at the house, said: "My beautiful daughter is at peace." Goody leaves behind two sons, Bobby, 5, and Freddie, 4, by former boyfriend and TV host Jeff Brazier. "She died knowing that she had touched a lot of hearts and minds across the world," Clifford told CNN by phone from Portugal. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was "deeply saddened" by Goody's death. "Her family can be extremely proud of the work she has done to raise awareness of cervical cancer which will benefit thousands of women across the U.K. Every death from cancer is a tragedy and my thoughts go out to her two sons, husband and family at this time," Brown said in a statement. The British media has reported a rise in the number of screenings for cervical cancer since Goody announced she had the disease, a phenomenon some have dubbed the "Jade Goody effect." Goody's death marks the tragic end to a very modern tale. Images of her shrinking frame and bald head have dominated the pages of British media since she announced she had just weeks to live. However, she has openly courted the attention since bursting into the spotlight courtesy of the British version of "Big Brother" in 2002. At first the former dental nurse was a hate figure for Britain's vociferous tabloid newspapers, who attacked her for being ignorant and stupid. The public, however, warmed to her loud, honest streak. She did not win the series, but was able to parlay her popularity into a series of reality television and business deals. Her face was soon regularly boldly looking out from the cover of gossip magazines and you could buy the fragrance Shh... Jade Goody, fitness DVDs or pick up a copy of her autobiography. In 2007, with her fame starting to dip, she agreed to return for the celebrity edition of "Big Brother," with her mother and then boyfriend, Jack Tweed, joining her in the house. It was to prove an ill-fated decision. Goody was soon accused of making racist comments and bullying her housemate -- the Indian actress Shilpa Shetty. More than 50,000 complaints were received. When she was voted out of the house the show's producers took the unusual step of banning the public from attending her eviction. Goody was tearful and apologetic but British PR guru Clifford summed up the general opinion at the time by saying: "It looks like she has ruined a very lucrative career." Ever resilient, Goody had a Christmas cookbook out at the end of 2007 and in 2008 signed up for India's version of "Big Brother." Two days into the show her cancer diagnosis was revealed on air. She flew home immediately to begin treatment. Last month Goody revealed her cancer was terminal and that she only had weeks to live. With typical bravado she, with Clifford's help, organized her wedding to Tweed, who had only just been released from prison after serving a sentence for assault, selling the exclusive rights to OK! magazine for a reported $970,000. It was also filmed for her reality TV show. Read blog about how media covered wedding . The British government even stepped in to extend Tweed's 7 p.m. curfew, a condition of his release from jail, so the couple could spend their wedding night together. Watch Jade Goody's wedding preparations » . Despite her weakening state Goody continued to open her door to the media, saying she needed to keep selling her story to help secure the future of her sons. In the days leading up to her death there were newspaper stories on a hammer-wielding woman getting into her room, the baptism of her sons, her last view of "sun-kissed" fields and final farewells with family. There was also controversy when OK! published a memorial issue nearly a week before she died. The issue, with a coverline announcing "Jady Goody, 1981-2009," went on sale Tuesday. Clifford said Goody had loved her time in the spotlight. "I think they've (she and the media) exploited each other. Both have benefited. In Jade's own words, she's loved the last 7 years. They've been wonderful. All the people's she's met, all the things she's done." CNN's Glen Scanlon and Per Nyberg contributed to this report.

Jade Goody dies aged 27 after losing her battle with cervical cancer . British PM Gordon Brown says he is "deeply saddened" by Goody's death . British "Big Brother" star fast-tracked plans to get married after cancer spread . Goody said she needed to keep selling her story to raise money for her boys .

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NEW YORK -- For more than 10 years, Mandy Hughes drifted in an out of what she calls the horrible, debilitating pain of Lyme disease. Mandy Hughes says the pain she suffered for more than 10 years was due to Lyme disease . "It literally feels like you got into a severe accident, like you were hit by a Mack truck and you were allowed no medical attention," she says. After being bitten by a tick at 19, Hughes broke out in hives and suffered fever and chills so severe that she had to be hospitalized. She was diagnosed with Lyme disease and was sent home with two weeks' worth of the antibiotic tetracycline. She seemed to be cured. But over the years, the Lyme symptoms flared back -- crippling joint pain, muscle spasms, headaches and facial paralysis. She visited 15 doctors, yet they were unable to arrive at a diagnosis. Several thought she had multiple sclerosis. Others knew she was sick but didn't know why. Lyme had been ruled out. "Maybe it's psychological -- we don't really have an explanation," they told Hughes. "Your tests are coming back fine, Mandy." Watch a report on a 10-year battle with Lyme disease symptoms » . The memory of one doctor's visit stays with her to this day. She went to see him with joint pain so severe, she said, her hands were curled into a palsy-like position. Yet the doctor seemed impatient with her. "You're obviously an attractive woman, and you're just trying to get attention," she recalls him saying. In 2005, Hughes went to see what some patients refer to as a "Lyme-literate" doctor -- one willing to diagnose chronic Lyme disease and prescribe a long-term regimen of intravenous as well as oral antibiotics. Within three months, she began to feel better. After 15 months, she was back on her feet, but had to abruptly halt treatment when her doctor was sued by an insurance company and stopped seeing patients. Learn more about Lyme disease » . Hughes' story is featured in a new documentary called "Under Our Skin," which takes a look at the leaders of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, a national medical group that represents health care professionals who specialize in infectious diseases. The society's purpose, according to its Web site, is to improve health care in areas related to such diseases. In particular, the documentary takes aim at the 14-member panel that wrote the 2006 Lyme disease treatment guidelines. The guidelines question the existence of chronic Lyme disease and claim the post-treatment symptoms of some patients appear to be "more related to the aches and pains of daily living rather than to either Lyme disease or a tickborne coinfection." The guidelines list specific criteria for diagnosing Lyme -- such as an obvious tick bite, a characteristic bull's-eye rash at the site of the bite, facial paralysis and a positive blood test. Yet some Lyme specialists say many patients experiencing symptoms do not see or remember a tick bite. Only 70 to 80 percent get the rash at all, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The longer the disease goes undiagnosed, the harder it is to treat, some doctors say. "The disability associated with Lyme disease is worse than the disability that you might see with someone after a heart attack," said Brian Fallon, director of the Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases Research Center at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. Patient advocates criticize the IDSA for recommending no more than a month's worth of antibiotics to treat Lyme. They say insurance companies use the guidelines to deny payment for long-term antibiotic therapy. But the IDSA says there are inherent risks from such treatment, including localized infection from the IV line and the creation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. One IDSA critic, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, conducted an antitrust investigation of the guideline process, saying the panel ignored or minimized other medical opinions regarding chronic Lyme disease. Blumenthal said the process was tainted by conflict of interest because members of the panel consulted for insurance companies and at least one had a patent for a Lyme disease treatment. Gary Wormser, chief of infectious diseases at New York Medical College and one of the guidelines' authors, denies those allegations, calling them "preposterous." "What we did recommend was not treating with unsafe or prolonged courses of antibiotic therapy," Wormser said. In a settlement with Blumenthal, the IDSA agreed to reassess its 2006 guidelines with the assistance of an outside arbiter. The heart of the debate is whether patients actually have Lyme disease, or simply symptoms that are mistaken for Lyme disease. "The problem is that the majority of patients that carry the diagnosis of chronic Lyme disease actually have the same kinds of symptoms: fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, sometimes brain fog. ... The majority of such patients actually don't have any evidence of ever having had Lyme disease." Wormser said. There's a lot at stake. The CDC reports approximately 20,000 new cases of Lyme disease a year, with the number doubling from 1991 to 2005. Factoring in underreported cases, the CDC says the actual number could be three to 10 times higher. "We have an epidemic of Lyme disease," said Daniel Cameron, president of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, which rejects the IDSA guidelines and says the chronic form of the disease may be prevalent in up to 62 percent of the population in areas where Lyme disease is endemic. Fallon says standard blood tests fail to detect the Lyme infection in 20 to 30 percent of patients. "Most reasonable academic physicians throughout the United States would acknowledge that there's a large number of patients out there who do have chronic, persistent symptoms. The question is, why do they have those symptoms?" he says.

Mandy Hughes says she suffered from Lyme disease effects for more than 10 years . Hughes featured in documentary that questions disease treatment guidelines . There's a debate over whether the disease symptoms are mistaken for the disease .

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(CNN) -- Israeli soldiers routinely and intentionally put children in harm's way during their 22-day offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza, according to a United Nations report made public Monday. On March 6, a Palestinian boy sits on the rubble of a building destroyed during Israel's 22-day Gaza offensive. The report said a working group had documented and verified reports of violations "too numerous to list." For example, on January 15, in a town southwest of Gaza City, Israel Defense Forces soldiers ordered an 11-year-old boy to open Palestinians' packages, presumably so that the soldiers would not be hurt if they turned out to contain explosives, the 43-page report said. They then forced the boy to walk in front of them in the town, it said. When the soldiers came under fire, "the boy remained in front of the group," the report said. It said the boy was later released. Also cited were "credible reports" that accused Hamas, the militant Palestinian group that runs Gaza, of using human shields and placing civilians at risk. But it singled out the Israelis for more sweeping criticism. A spokesman for the Israeli prime minister called the report another example of the "one-sided and unfair" attitude of the U.N. Human Rights Council, which requested it. The report cited two alleged incidents from January 3. In one, it said, after a tank round struck near a house, a father and his two sons -- both younger than 11 -- emerged to look at the damage. "As they exited their home, IDF soldiers shot and killed them (at the entrance to their house), with the daughter witnessing," the report said. In the second, it said, "Israeli soldiers entered a family house in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City. Standing at the doorstep, they asked the male head of the household to come out and shot him dead, without warning, while he was holding his ID, hands raised up in the air, and then started to fire indiscriminately and without warning into the room where the rest of the family was huddled together. "The eldest son was shouting in vain the word 'Children' in Hebrew to warn the soldiers. The shooting did not stop until everyone was lying on the floor. The mother and four of the brothers, aged 2-12 years, had been wounded, one of them, aged 4, fatally." The alleged instances occurred during Operation Cast Lead, which was launched December 27 to halt rocket attacks into southern Israel from Gaza and ended January 17 with a cease-fire. The U.N. report called the response by Israel disproportionate. Of the 1,453 people estimated killed in the conflict, 1,440 were Palestinian, including 431 children and 114 women, the report said. The 13 Israelis killed included three civilians and six soldiers killed by Hamas, and four soldiers killed by friendly fire, it said. The report said the Israeli operation resulted in "a dramatic deterioration of the living conditions of the civilian population." It cited "targeted and indiscriminate" attacks on hospitals and clinics, water and sewage treatment facilities, government buildings, utilities and farming and said the offensive "intensified the already catastrophic humanitarian situation of the Palestinian people." It said Israeli strikes damaged more than 200 schools and left more than 70,000 people homeless. "There are strong and credible reports of war crimes and other violations of international norms," it said, adding that many observers have said war crimes investigations should be undertaken. "The alternative is de facto impunity," it said. It called for the end of Israel's blockade of Gaza and the free passage into the territory of food, medicine, fuel and construction supplies. Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, called the report "another example of the one-sided and unfair attitude of the rapporteur of the Human Rights Council, a council that has been criticized by current and previous secretaries-general for its unbalanced attitudes toward Israel." He added, "The negative fixation on Israel by the council has done a disservice to the issue of human rights internationally as has been attested to by the leading NGO's [nongovernmental organizations] on human rights." Another report issued Monday also was critical of the IDF. The report from Physicians for Human Rights said the Gaza incursion violated IDF's own code of ethics. The report by the medical group, which shared the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, cited instances where it said IDF forces did not evacuate injured civilians for days and prevented Palestinian teams from reaching the wounded, and said some of them died as a result. It said 16 Palestinian medical personnel were killed by IDF fire and 25 were wounded during the IDF operation, and accused the IDF of attacking 34 medical centers in violation of the IDF's own "ethical code for fighting terror." In response, the IDF accused Hamas of having used medical vehicles, facilities and uniforms to conceal its members' activity. "Hamas used ambulances to 'rescue' terror activists from the battlefield and used hospitals and medical facilities as hiding places," the Israelis said in a written statement. "Despite this, throughout the fighting, IDF forces were instructed to avoid firing at ambulances, even if they were being used by armed fighters. They were instructed only to shoot if there was fire towards our forces emanating from the direction of the ambulance." Regarding the reported delays in casualty evacuations, "there existed real difficulties in evacuating the injured, due to the roadblocks, booby-trapped roads and dirt mounds placed by the Hamas as well as the considerable damage to the infrastructure," the statement said. Nevertheless, it said, an IDF investigation is ongoing and its conclusions will be made public once it is complete. But Dr. Dani Filc, PHR-Israel chairman, was skeptical that the investigation would prove useful. "There are considerable doubts that the IDF is the correct institution to investigate suspicions of these violations," he said. "The IDF's repeated promises to the High Court to look into attacks on medical teams and medical centers have gone unfulfilled, and there are suspicions concerning its seriousness and readiness to carry out the matter." The Israeli military did accept criticism Monday on another matter -- the practice of some Israeli soldiers of wearing T-shirts that appear to condone acts of violence against Palestinians. The Israeli daily Haaretz newspaper reported that Israeli soldiers who had finished basic training ordered the shirts, one of which showed a pregnant Arab in the crosshairs of a gun sight with a caption reading "1 Shot 2 Kills." Another showing a small child in a gun's sight was captioned, "The smaller they are, the harder it is." "The examples presented by The Haaretz reporter are not in accordance with IDF values and are simply tasteless," the Israeli military said in a written statement. "This type of humor is unbecoming and should be condemned." Israeli soldiers said last week that Palestinian civilians were killed and Palestinian property intentionally destroyed during Israel's military campaign in Gaza, according to Haaretz. The IDF has said it is investigating the claims, but its top general expressed skepticism Monday. "I don't believe that soldiers serving in the IDF hurt civilians in cold blood, but we shall wait for the results of the investigation," Lt. Gen. Ashkenazi, the chief of staff, said in a speech. "I tell you that this is a moral and ideological army." He blamed Hamas for choosing "to fight in heavily populated areas. "It (was) a complex atmosphere that includes civilians and we took every measure possible to reduce harm of the innocent," he said, according to an IDF statement.

Israel: U.N. Human Rights Council has "one-sided and unfair" attitude . Report says Israeli soldiers intentionally put children in harm's way during offensive . U.N. report also said there was credible evidence Hamas used human shields . Report called the Israeli response to Hamas rocket attacks disproportionate .

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(CNN) -- An 8-year-old American boy is caught in the middle of an ugly custody battle so high profile that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is using her clout to try to bring the boy home. David Goldman's legal battle to gain custody of his son has drawn the attention of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In 2004, David Goldman dropped off his wife, Bruna, and then-4-year-old son, Sean, at the airport for a two-week vacation in Brazil. Shortly after she arrived in her native country, Bruna told David she wanted a divorce and planned to stay in Brazil with their son. Bruna later remarried and got pregnant, but she died while giving birth last summer. Goldman thought he was getting his son back, but a Brazilian family court judge granted custody of Sean to Bruna's new husband. Goldman talked with CNN's Larry King about the international legal battle he is waging to gain custody of his son. King also talked to Helvecio Ribeiro, Bruna Goldman's uncle. The following is an edited version of the interviews. Larry King: What caused the breakup of the marriage? David Goldman: I don't know. Apparently, she decided she wanted to live in Brazil, where she said she had more friends and more family and where she was known. King: Did you feel happily married? Goldman: Yes, I thought we were happily married. King: So this was a call out of the blue? Goldman: I was completely blindsided and crushed. King: What did you do then? Goldman: Well, I (got) a phone call. My mom tracked it down as being Father's Day, about three days after they arrived. The first call was they got there safe, everything was OK. Then, I got a phone call and a very serious voice -- a voice they didn't recognize, really, as being, you know, it was out of her normal tone. Bruna says, "David, we need to talk. You're a great guy. You're a wonderful father, but our love affair is ended, is over. I've decided I want to live in Brazil and you need to come down to Brazil immediately and sign 10 pages of papers with my attorney." There was a list of demands on these papers. One was giving her full custody. Another was to never go to the courts to file any claims of kidnapping or criminal charges. King: Did you get to talk to your son? Goldman: I got to talk to my son. In fact, I got to speak with all of them in the beginning, while they were still trying to get me to go down there and be trapped in this custody battle. At that point, I wasn't the enemy until I didn't meet her demands and I did go to the courts. King: Well, when you went (to Brazil), who did you see? What did you do? Goldman: I went to the courts. I went to every ruling on every court proceeding and with the guise that they would honor the Hague Treaty and return (my) son. And every time, it just got worse and worse. In the first instance, they kept Sean for over a year before they made this ruling. And then they said, 'Well, you know, yes, he was taken unlawfully and he should have been returned, but now he's settled with the mother. These are Brazilian judges who have admitted that he's been held unlawfully and wrongfully. King: How did you hear she died? Goldman: I have friends who, kind of, have an ear to the ground in Brazil, and there were some articles that came out in some local Brazilian newspapers and they did some on the Internet and said she'd passed away. King: Did you try then to get the child back legally? Goldman: Yes. As soon as I was notified, I called both counsel in Brazil and in the U.S., and they said it should be over. You know, we have stacks of court records and all these treaties and it's always been about Bruna and David, Bruna and David. There's no more Bruna. By all matters of law, international and national and Brazilian law, no one has a legal claim of custody but the living, biological parent. Go down to Brazil and bring your son home. King: What happened in court? Goldman: In this past court, we finally got a visitation ruling. But when I went down the first time to bring my son home, we find out that this man doesn't file custody, but he files to remove my name from a Brazilian birth certificate that they had issued for my son, who was born in Red Bank, New Jersey. And with that, they gave him a provisionary guardianship -- a provisionary. King: Obviously, he wanted the boy? Goldman: Obviously. King: When you were (with him? Goldman: Oh, he was -- I just saw him this last February for the first time. King: At eight years old, did he ask you why he's not with you? Goldman: He asked why I haven't come to see him in all this time. And that was very, very painful -- and the anguish on his face when he asked me that question. And I didn't want to tell him that the situation that I'm not allowed -- that they weren't allowing me, they're holding him. So I just told him that I had been there many times with his grandmother, with his grandfather, with his cousins, with family friends to see him, sometimes staying for up to two weeks and the courts -- it was difficult. King: How long did you have with him? Goldman: I saw him for two days a total of about six hours. King: How did you say goodbye? Goldman: It was very, very difficult. I just kept telling him the whole time how much I love him, how much I miss him. King: Did you tell him you were going to try to get him back? Goldman: No. I told him I'm going to always try to be with him. I don't want him to be put in any type of awkward situation or uncomfortable situation. I just told him I love him, I miss him and everyone at home loves him. And he remembers things at home. We spoke English. King: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has raised the Goldman case with the Brazilian government. Anything you'd say to her? Goldman: I'm just -- I'm so grateful and thankful that -- that she's helping me and she knows what's right and sees what's right and she cares about children and parents' rights to be with their own flesh and blood. - - - - - - - - - - - - . King followed the Goldman interview by talking to Helvecio Ribeiro, Bruna Goldman's uncle. King: Why do you think that David should not have his son? Why shouldn't he have his -- it's his son. Ribeiro: That's right. And I don't question the biological right. The fact of the matter is that in order to be a parent, you have to be more than just a DNA donor, Mr. King. Fatherhood is not about making home movies and taking pictures, it's about sacrifice. It's about providing support to your child. It's about being there even when you're not there. And Mr. Goldman, while Bruna was still alive, failed to do so. I'm not sure if you know that, but he hasn't paid one single dime of child support so far. And he has been making allegations all over the place about us not allowing him to visit his child. They are completely untrue. King: Do you question whether David loves his child? Ribeiro: Oh, absolutely. I think that it's really easy to say that you love someone, but you have to act and show that. Mr. Goldman never had any interest on actually going down to Brazil, even to visit. I mean the child is not guilty of his parents' mistakes. I mean divorces happen all the time. And the parents should be responsible and work their way toward finding an agreement in which, you know, both parents are part of the children's lives. And he failed to do that because it was not in his best interests. King: How close is he [Sean's stepfather] with Sean? Ribeiro: Very close. Sean knows exactly that he is not his biological father, but he also calls him Daddy. Sean knows that, you know, Mr. Goldman is his biological father. Even though it was not mentioned during this interview, Sean normally talks to Mr. Goldman or at least used to talk to Mr. Goldman and also her -- his grandmother here in the United States. So he knows exactly the difference. He knows exactly who is who.

David Goldman's wife, Bruna, took son to Brazil, asked for divorce . Bruna later remarried, died while giving birth . Brazilian court awarded custody of Goldman's son to stepfather . U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has asked Brazilian government to return child .

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CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (CNN) -- Nine bodies have been found in a common grave in the desert south of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, according to Chihuahua state prosecutor's spokeswoman Daniela Gonzalez. Police look on as one of the nine bodies found in a common grave near Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, is removed. Investigators have yet to determine the identities of the seven men and two women found in the grave, Gonzalez said. They have not released information on how they were killed or how long they have been there. Juarez, which is across the border from El Paso, Texas, has become one of the major battlegrounds as drug cartels fight both each other and Mexican authorities. The conflict has made violence increasingly common in Juarez, Tijuana and other Mexican border towns. Extreme violence among warring drug cartels and the Mexican government has long plagued Juarez and the state of Chihuahua, but the situation has been getting worse. Last month, the city's chief of police was obliged to quit after threats from organized crime to kill a policeman every day that he remained on the job. Watch as mayor of Juarez talks about who is responsible for slayings » . Earlier this month, the U.S. Consulate in Juarez specifically warned Americans to avoid an area southeast of the city. The discovery of the bodies comes as 5,000 Mexican soldiers are descending this weekend on Juarez in an effort to end the violence that has claimed more than 400 lives so far this year. Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz told CNN he is hopeful Operacion Conjunto Chihuahua (Chihuahua Joint Operation) will be successful. "The reality is that the military presence in the last several weeks has caused the violence to subside," he said. "We were averaging about 10 murders a week; and since February 26, when the troops starting arriving, we have been averaging about one." Enrique Torres, spokesman for the Chihuahua Joint Operation, said by Sunday there will be 7,500 military personnel, 2,300 federal police and 1,600 city police working together to patrol the city and aggressively fight the cartels. "We are launching a full frontal attack" Torres said. "We will also be tackling other types of organized crime -- money laundering and kidnappings." Corruption among the police force has been a major concern to local and international authorities. Torres said the city has been preparing for a year to "clean up the local police." Watch panel discuss escalating drug war » . Already, he said, more than 500 city police officers have been fired because they failed to pass the "trust test." As part of the "clean-up," federal authorities have been requiring officers to take a polygraph test. To prevent corruption among the just arrived soldiers, Torres said they will be frequently rotated. "They will only work in the region one to two months and then they will be sent to other parts of the country." Ferriz, the mayor, said government officials are doing everything in their power to stop the violence; they have brought in consultants from Colombia and adapted programs that have proven successful there, such as a civilian corruption watchdog program. But he explained that a big part of the problem is coming from the north. "The majority of the weapons used for homicides here have been identified as coming from the United States" he said. Ferriz said that during a recent raid, local police confiscated two .50-caliber military-style rifles. Some weeks later they arrested another man bringing in another .50-caliber rifle. "He bought it off the internet in the U.S.," Ferrez said. "It is so easy there for organized crime to get access to these types of weapons. The arms and cash contraband into Mexico from the United States must be stopped." Ferriz siad he plans to travel next week to Washington to meet with U.S. lawmakers about the security situation in and around Juarez.

Nine bodies found are found in a common grave near Ciudad Juarez, Mexico . Bodies of seven men and two women have not been identified, authorities say . City has become major front in drug cartels' wars among selves, with authorities .

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(CNN) -- The power of the Mexican military was on full display Tuesday in Ciudad Juarez, where police reported the third consecutive day without a drug slaying. A federal police officer guards a checkpoint earlier this month in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico . Ten drug-related killings in a single day were common before 9,500 army troops poured into the blood-soaked border town in the past few weeks, said Mauricio Mauricio, a spokesman for the Juarez municipal police. "It's a much more secure city at this moment," he said. "We haven't had murders with the same regularity and frequency as before." But as President Obama's administration announced plans Tuesday to beef up U.S. security along its border with Mexico, there are questions about whether increased military and police efforts in both nations can yield long-term results. Mexico has been spiraling into a deepening pit of violence, with 6,500 people killed in 2008 and the body count continuing apace this year. Most of that violence is occurring along the border, which worries Washington. Mexican President Felipe Calderon and others have said recently that the United States must share responsibility because the demand for drugs and most of the weapons used by drug cartels comes from north of the border. The drug war and security will be a major topic when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Mexico on Wednesday and Thursday. Andrew Selee, director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Mexico Institute, called Obama's pledge on Tuesday to give $700 million in aid to Mexico and assign an additional 360 staff along the border a "substantive commitment" that shows the United States is serious about attacking the problem. "It's an attempt to really put some substance behind the idea of shared responsibility," Selee said. "They finally committed some of the resources they said they would to this." Success will depend on the follow-through, he said. "Now is the hard part," he said. "It's not easy to follow the money trail or stop the weapons or the criminal networks." Others say the Obama plan falls short. Larry Birns, director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, a Washington policy institute, calls it a "militarized strategy" that isn't oriented toward finding solutions based on economic development or social justice programs. "This is a feel-good strategy that is meant to produce the illusion of concrete developments taking place when it's actually just really more of the same," Birns said. "You're talking about a 2,000-mile border, so the odd 16 [agents] here or 12 there is not going to do the trick." On the other hand, Mexico's major military commitment is certainly showing short-term benefits. Before the army arrived in Ciudad Juarez, there had been more than 400 drug killings this year, police spokesman Mauricio said. Since the army arrived, slayings have dropped 95 percent, he said. Peter Hakim, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue policy institute, says Mexico's use of the army in Juarez -- and its evident success -- "shows that Mexico is definitely not a failed state. Nobody is going to challenge the government for control of a certain area." Selee sees it as "increased determination from the Mexican government to establish order." But there are limitations to using the military in Mexico, Birns and Hakim said. "There's bad blood that exists between local communities and the military," said Birns. "The Mexican military has not fought a war for years. It's enemy has always been the local population." Hakim noted the cost in money, and to the daily fabric of life. "That's not a cheap way of keeping law and order," he said. "It does a great deal of harm to civilian institutions. The military is not trained to respect human liberties and individual rights." It's an ambivalence that many Mexicans feel: security versus liberties. Polls consistently show that security is the top concern among a vast majority of Mexicans. And for many Mexican citizens, the drug war can still hit close to home no matter how far away they live from the front lines. Adrian Jesus Garrido Gomez, a 30-year-old bank loan officer with a wife and two young sons, lives in Tabasco state in southern Mexico, far from the violence tearing up Juarez and other border cities. "Tabasco has always been relatively safe," Garrido said by telephone Tuesday. He said a childhood friend worked for 2½ years in a high-paying white-collar job in Reynosa, across the border from McAllen, Texas. When he got married recently, his wife had one request: Let's move back to Tabasco. They did, six months ago. "For them, it (was) very insecure," Garrido said. Reynosa was the site of a four-hour gun battle last month that left five drug traffickers dead and seven police wounded. People worldwide saw video of a television reporter sprawled on a bridge during that fight, trying to file an on-air report over the roar of gunfire. Hakim says Mexican President Calderon's efforts to paint the United States as partially responsible for the violence is lost on some Mexicans. "In the end," Hakim said, "this is Mexico's problem as much as Mexico talks about a shared problem. The costs of not getting control of it will be paid by the Mexicans."

Police in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, reported third straight day without a drug slaying . Questions remain about whether increased security efforts can work long term . Polls consistently show security is top concern among vast majority of Mexicans . Distrust of military has long been part of social fabric of Mexican life .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday defended the Bush administration's economic record, the invasion of Iraq and the treatment of suspected terrorists, warning that reversing its anti-terrorism policies endangers Americans. "We've accomplished nearly everything we set out to do," ex-Vice President Dick Cheney says Sunday about Iraq. In a wide-ranging interview with CNN's "State of the Union," Cheney said the harsh interrogations of suspects and the use of warrantless electronic surveillance were "absolutely essential" to get information to prevent more attacks like the 2001 suicide hijackings that targeted New York and Washington. "President Obama campaigned against it all across the country, and now he is making some choices that, in my mind, will, in fact, raise the risk to the American people of another attack," he said. Critics said the Bush administration's "alternative" interrogation techniques amounted to the torture of prisoners in American custody, while the administration's warrantless surveillance program violated federal laws enacted after the Watergate scandal. Since taking office in January, Obama has announced plans to close the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to halt the military trials of suspected terrorists there, and to make CIA officers follow the Army field manual's rules on interrogations. Cheney said the administration appears to be returning to the pre-2001 model of treating terrorism as a law enforcement issue, rather than a military problem. "When you go back to the law enforcement mode, which I sense is what they're doing, closing Guantanamo and so forth ... they are very much giving up that center of attention and focus that's required, that concept of military threat that is essential if you're going to successfully defend the nation against further attacks," he said. But Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pennsylvania, said the Bush administration's policies undercut "what is actually the source of America's greatness -- our principles." "How can we say that keeping a man in a black hole forever -- perpetually in a black hole -- and saying, 'Let's torture when we decide to,' is what America stands for?" asked Sestak, a former admiral who led the Navy's anti-terrorism efforts. The Bush administration took office at the end of an economic boom and left in the middle of a deep recession, with a budget surplus in 2001 becoming a $1 trillion-plus deficit by 2009. But Cheney said he and Bush had to spend money to deal with the September 11, 2001 attacks, the resulting war in Afghanistan, the disaster of 2005's Hurricane Katrina, and the costly and unpopular war in Iraq, now nearly six years old. "All of these things required us to spend money that we had not originally planned to spend, or weren't originally part of the budget," Cheney said. "Stuff happens. And the administration has to be able to respond to that, and we did." Obama has begun to wind down the war in Iraq, which has cost more than 4,200 American lives and nearly $700 billion in direct costs. But Cheney said the United States has "accomplished nearly everything we set out to do" in Iraq, including establishing a democratic government in the Middle East. Cheney was one of the administration's leading advocates of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, pressing the Bush administration's argument that Iraq was concealing weapons of mass destruction and could provide those weapons to terrorists. None of those weapons were found after the invasion, but Cheney said, "We've eliminated that possibility." In 2005, Cheney said the raging insurgency against U.S. troops was in its "last throes." Nearly two years later, a commitment of more than 30,000 additional American troops and a widespread effort to pay former insurgents to turn against Islamic militants helped quell the worst of the violence. "I don't hear much talk about that, but the fact is, the violence level is down 90 percent," Cheney said. "The number of casualties [among] Iraqis and Americans is significantly diminished. There's been elections, a constitution. They're about to have another presidential election here in the near future. We have succeeded in creating in the heart of the Middle East a democratically governed Iraq, and that is a big deal, and it is, in fact, what we set out to do." But Sestak said the administration was too slow to react to the problems it faced in Iraq and let the conflict overshadow the "whole fabric" of U.S. national security. "The cost of this war is something that I strongly believe has far, far hurt us," he said. "We're going to recover, because we're Americans. But Iraq was just one piece of our security, and this administration failed to realize that." Though considered one of the administration's most influential figures, Cheney said President Bush rebuffed his advice on at least two issues. Watch Cheney tout Bush administration » . He said Bush left former Cheney aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby "sort of hanging in the wind" by refusing to issue Libby a pardon before leaving office. Libby was convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice, and lying to federal agents investigating the leak of a former CIA officer's identity. "I believe firmly that Scooter was unjustly accused and prosecuted and deserved a pardon, and the president disagreed with that," Cheney said. He would disclose no details of his efforts to lobby the president on Libby's behalf, saying they would be "best left to history." And Cheney said he argued against the administration's policy on North Korea, which tested a nuclear weapon in 2006. The Bush administration reached a still-incomplete disarmament deal with the isolated Stalinist state in 2007 and removed it from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism as part of the deal. "I had my say," Cheney told CNN. "I got my chance to voice my views and my objections. I didn't think the North Koreans were going to keep their end of the bargain in terms of what they agreed to, and they didn't." The Obama administration has nominated Christopher Hill, the State Department official who was the top U.S. negotiator with North Korea, to be the U.S. ambassador to Iraq. Cheney said Hill lacks the Middle East experience that his predecessors have, and "I did not support the work that Chris Hill did with respect to North Korea." "I think it's a choice that I wouldn't have made," he said.

NEW: Cheney: Harsh interrogations, warrantless eavesdropping "essential" NEW: Former vice president says Bush rebuffed his advice on two big issues . "An administration has to be able to respond to [crises] and we did," Cheney said . Cheney cites costs of dealing with 9/11 attacks, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq .

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(CNN) -- The United States shares the blame for Mexican drug trafficking and the attendant violence that has killed thousands in the past year alone, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Mexico for a series of meetings on the drug crisis and other issues. "Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade," she said en route to Mexico City, Mexico, according to pool reports. "Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the deaths of police officers, soldiers and civilians. So, yes, I feel very strongly we have a co-responsibility." Clinton will meet with President Felipe Calderon and other Mexican leaders to discuss bilateral strategies for the drug war. But her aides said she will also make an effort to show that the U.S.-Mexican relationship is not restricted to matters related to drug violence. As Clinton arrived in the Mexican capital Wednesday, a day after the United States unveiled its plan to improve security along the southern border, the United States' investment in the drug war emerged as a predominant theme. Watch Clinton acknowledge the U.S. role in Mexico's drug war » . She emphasized that the United States has already appropriated $700 million in aid to Mexico, and Congress wants to see how the administration is applying it before sending more. "We are going to demonstrate that we are spending it in an accountable and effective manner that will assist the Mexicans" in law enforcement and justice, she said. The United States needs to stop the flow of guns, body armor and night-vision goggles to the cartels, Clinton said. "When you go into a gunfight or are trying to round up these bad guys and they have military-style equipment that is much better than yours, you start out at a disadvantage. Since we know the vast majority of that comes from our country, we are going to help stop it from getting there in the first place." Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico's ambassador to the United States, called the Obama administration's willingness to accept co-responsibility "a very encouraging sign." Watch Sarukhan share his thoughts on the U.S. move » . "I think that the fact that the Obama administration is seized with the importance of this issue is a clear indication that they understand that, to defang the drug syndicates in Mexico, we have to eliminate two of their most powerful sources -- bulk cash from the United States into Mexico and illicit weapons." In most instances, local and state police "are outgunned by the drug syndicates," which has necessitated the use of federal forces, he said. The Mexican army arrested a man Mexico calls a top drug cartel chief and four of his bodyguards, the government announced Wednesday. Hector Huerta Rios, also known as "La Burra" or "El Junior," was arrested Tuesday in the city of San Pedro Garza Garcia, outside Monterrey in Nuevo Leon state, a little more than 100 miles from Mexico's border with the United States. The Obama administration announced a crackdown on border violence and on the smuggling of cash and weapons into Mexico on Tuesday, a step that could mark an end to a nasty blame game over where responsibility for the violence lies. Clinton called the fighting "a terrible law-enforcement problem" in U.S. cities along the Mexican border, but said it does not yet pose a major threat to overall U.S. security. "This is more about trying to act proactively," she said in an interview with CNN's Jill Dougherty in Mexico City. "We need to help them, or we'll see the results in our own country. "[Traffickers] are distributing these drugs in our country. They're causing all kinds of criminal activity in our country. It has an effect on us, so we want to prevent it from going any further." Clinton will visit a Mexican police base to show U.S. support for the nation's embattled police force. And she will travel to Monterrey, a thriving industrial town, to meet with students, hold a town-hall meeting with business leaders and visit a clean energy plant. The Defense Department and the director of national intelligence have both warned of the national security threat an unstable Mexico poses to the United States. Congress has seized on the issue, holding eight hearings since coming back into session two months ago. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano testified at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on violence along the U.S.-Mexican border Wednesday. Mexico is the United States' second-largest export market, after Canada, and its third-largest total trade partner. Hundreds of U.S. companies have factories in Mexico, and Mexico is a leading supplier of crude oil to the United States. Clinton noted many Americans have close ties and families in Mexico, adding she honeymooned there. Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder are due to visit Mexico soon, to be followed next month by President Obama, before he attends the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago.

NEW: Clinton says fighting does not pose major threat to U.S. security -- yet . Mexico's U.S. ambassador says willingness to share an "encouraging sign" "Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade," Clinton says in Mexico . U.S. needs to stop flow of guns, body armor, night-vision goggles to cartels, she says .

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MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- He's a TV salesman offering an unbelievable deal -- and police say you don't want to do business with him. Police in Largo, Florida, say "Plasma Pat" is really 60-year-old Joseph Wesley Torma. Dubbing himself "Plasma Pat, the TV Discount Guy," he allegedly took cash from Wal-Mart shoppers, promising to use his employee discount to get them a good deal on a TV set, police said. Then, he called the police to taunt them. Police in Largo, Florida, a city near Tampa on the state's gulf coast, circulated security pictures of "Plasma Pat," and now can put a name to the alliterative nickname. Investigators say their suspect is 60-year-old Joseph Wesley Torma, and they've just released a mug shot from a recent arrest in Polk County, Florida. "He made at least two or three phone calls, and he even talked about surrendering, but he never showed up, obviously," said Lt. Michael Loux of the Largo Police department. Police believe "Plasma Pat" has conned victims in about a dozen different places in Florida. He allegedly befriended people outside Wal-Mart stores, telling his victims that he worked at the store, and that he could use his employee discount to get them a good deal on a major purchase. Then, police said, he took their cash, walked into the store through one door -- and out another, leaving his victims in the parking lot. One victim found himself out $300 while waiting outside for a television. Largo Police say that Torma also called them several times. asking to speak with Det. Brendan Arlington. Each time he called, police say, Torma identified himself as "Plasma Pat," and bragged that he had cheated about 30,000 people who will never file a police report. "Because the victims feel embarrassed, he feels that nobody is going to report the crime," said Lt. Michael Loux. "And I think he's probably right." Police say they believe that Torma has left the area, and may be headed to Texas, but they have not explained why.

Police identify 'Plasma Pat' as Joseph Wesley Torma, age 60 . Man offered to use employee discount for strangers, pocketed their cash, police say . 'Plasma Pat' taunted police, saying he had 30,000 victims .

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EL PASO, Texas (CNN) -- The cell phone rang as Jorge Aguirre walked to a friend's funeral in Juarez, Mexico, last November -- a funeral for a fellow journalist who, Aguirre says, was assassinated for the critical stories he wrote. Mexican federal police recently began patrolling Ciudad Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, Texas. When he answered the phone, Aguirre heard a profanity-laced threat. "They told me I was next," Aguirre told CNN. "I thought they were going to kill me right there." Aguirre immediately gathered up his family and darted across the border into El Paso, Texas. He hasn't returned to Juarez since that day. Aguirre is seeking asylum in the United States, and he's part of a growing trend among Mexican citizens looking to escape the violence and corruption of their homeland. Watch journalists met with death threats » . According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency that falls under the Department of Homeland Security, the number of Mexican nationals requesting asylum in the United States based on "credible fear" has gone up every year since 2003, even as the overall number of "credible fear" asylum cases remains steady. In 2003, the USCIS reported 54 asylum cases from Mexican citizens. In 2008, that number reached 312. But asylum requests based on fear of violence aren't easy cases to make. Last year, the United States approved less than half of those cases. "Whether they're fleeing extortionists or potential kidnappers or they're leaving because of the drug cartels, it tells you there are definitely problems in Mexico right now," said El Paso Mayor John Cook. Those seeking asylum come from every walk of life. There are journalists, entrepreneurs and even law enforcement officials, including three police chiefs. For Raymond Cobos, the sheriff in Luna County, New Mexico, this is the most disturbing revelation. Just across the Mexican border is a dusty, far-flung outpost called Palomas, a speck of a town that's a popular path for drug trafficking and human smuggling. It's also been the site of wild gunbattles between cops and the cartels. The cartels outgunned the police force, and the police chief disappeared and sought asylum in the United States. It's not clear where his case stands or where the police chief is today. "I don't know what I would do. It's pretty hard to fight that type of situation by yourself -- if you're in an environment that you don't know from one day to the next if someone's going to knock on your door and blast your family away," Cobos said. Emilio Gutierrez is another journalist hiding in El Paso. He wrote stories critical of the Mexican government for a small newspaper in the northern Mexico state of Chihuahua, which shares a border with Texas and New Mexico. Watch cops say U.S. teens were cartel hit men » . Last May, Gutierrez says men dressed in Mexican military fatigues raided his home in the middle of the night. He was told they were looking for drugs and weapons. A month later, a friend called, frantically urging him to hide. Gutierrez grabbed his family, drove to El Paso and requested asylum. He spent seven months in a U.S. jail as his case moved through the immigration system. He's recently been allowed to leave the jail while his request is pending. He's now in hiding in El Paso. "The fear never ends," Gutierrez told CNN. "We're scared for our families that are still on the other side, and we're scared for ourselves." Gutierrez and Aguirre offer a chilling perspective on everyday life in areas of Mexico that are consumed with violence and corruption. They describe a situation that has left ordinary citizens unable to trust anyone in positions of authority. "Thousands of families are in danger of being killed," Aguirre said. "They're vulnerable because they can't go to the police for help because that might get them killed."

Number of Mexicans seeking asylum in U.S. on the rise . Journalist says his stories have put him in harm's way: "They told me I was next" Police chief from nearby Palomas, Mexico, has disappeared amid violence .

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(CNN) -- More than 2,000 students in Southern California laid 65 miles of pennies on a speedway track Thursday in an attempt to set a world record and help schools in the area. Mason Gonzalez is ready with pennies. Dodgers tickets were prizes for collecting the most pennies. THINK (Teaching, Helping, Inspiring & Nurturing Kids) Together didn't meet its original goal of laying out 100 miles of pennies at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, but group spokeswoman Nadia Flores said the group is happy with the results. "We raised twice what we were able to lay down," she said. "I think the energy and the vibe from having so many kids and volunteers present made it really fun." Flores said the group ran out of time in its attempt to get all 100 miles laid out, but she added that they're confident they have the record anyway. Guinness World Records, which would certify the record, said Thursday it had not yet received documentation from the group. The current record for pennies laid out is 40 miles. The money -- about $84,500 -- will go to the nonprofit program that provides free after-school care for students at more than 200 elementary and middle schools in at-risk communities in four California counties -- Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino. Flores said the idea for "Miles of Change" came after group members saw students at a school in Kansas make a 40-mile chain of pennies in July 2008 to set the world record. Flores said her group, based in Santa Ana, California, wanted a program that would unite the counties involved -- and set a record. The pennies were collected by 35,000 students in the after-school program and were laid in loops around the two-mile track in Fontana, California. Flores said every penny must be touching the next penny in order to qualify for the Guinness world record. Documentation will include aerial photos, she said. Each student took home tubes to collect the pennies. Students who collected the most got tickets to future Los Angeles Dodgers games, Flores said. The effort also is meant to honor Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday and the 100th anniversary of the introduction of the Lincoln penny.

Southern California students want to break 40-mile world record set in Kansas . $84,500 collected will go to program that provides free after-school care . More than 2,000 kids lay out loops at speedway track . Guinness World Records will verify if record was set .

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(CNN) -- Organs donated by a slain Oakland, California, police officer saved four lives, and his donated tissue will enhance the lives of up to 50 others, the California Transplant Donor Network said Wednesday. Officer John Hege was one of four police officers fatally shot Saturday in Oakland, California. Officer John Hege, 41, was pronounced brain dead on Sunday but was kept on life support pending a decision on organ donation. He was the fourth Oakland officer to die after a gunman fired on police in two weekend incidents. "Officer Hege was registered on the Donate Life California Organ and Tissue Registry, which his family also supports," the donor network said in a news release. "He chose in death as he did in life to help those in need. His organ donations saved the lives of four adult males from California." Hege's liver, kidneys and heart were donated, the network said, and the transplants were successfully completed Tuesday and early Wednesday. In a written statement, Hege's family said, "Our son John never met a stranger." "John's courage and strength was enhanced by his ability to perceive the realities of life," the family said in the statement. "In June 2008, he registered on the Donate Life California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry. We completely and proudly support his decision, and it gives us a great deal of comfort to know that four individuals have received the gift of life because of our selfless and beloved John. "Even in death he gave to the lives of those in our community whom he had always loved and supported." Hege had been with the Oakland police force about 10 years. The man accused of shooting the officers -- Lovelle Mixon, 26, of Oakland -- was fatally shot in a gun battle with SWAT officers in an apartment complex where he was hiding, police said. Authorities said Saturday night that Mixon had an extensive criminal history and was in violation of parole for assault with a deadly weapon. The incidents began about 1 p.m. Saturday in east Oakland, when two motorcycle officers tried to pull over a car for a "fairly routine traffic stop," said Dave Kozicki, deputy police chief. Emergency dispatchers received reports that two officers had been shot and needed help, he said. Those officers were Hege and Sgt. Mark Dunakin, 40, an 18-year veteran of the force. Dunakin died Saturday. Police launched an intense manhunt to track down the gunman. An anonymous caller directed authorities to a building on an adjacent street where the man was believed to be barricaded, acting Police Chief Howard Jordan said. The gunman fired on SWAT officers who entered the apartment, hitting two of them before police shot and killed the man, Jordan said. Those two officers -- Sgt. Ervin Romans, 43, and Sgt. Daniel Sakai, 35 -- died. Police said Romans had been with the department since 1996 and Sakai since 2000. A fifth officer who was grazed by a bullet was treated at a hospital and released, police spokesman Jeff Thomason said Saturday.

John Hege, three other Oakland police officers fatally wounded over weekend . Officer was brain dead Sunday, kept on life support pending organ decision . Hege's organs saved lives of four men, donor network says . Hege's family: Knowing donations helped others "gives us a great deal of comfort"

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(CNN) -- A U.S. Navy submarine and a Navy amphibious ship that collided Friday in the Strait of Hormuz south of Iran have arrived in Bahrain to be assessed for damage, the Navy said. The submarine USS Hartford and amphibious ship USS New Orleans are shown in Navy photos. The submarine USS Hartford and amphibious ship USS New Orleans arrived Saturday in Mina Salman pier to "to further assess and evaluate the damage that resulted from their collision at sea," the service said in a written statement. Fifteen sailors were slightly hurt aboard the Hartford in the collision, which occurred early Friday morning. On Friday, Navy officials in Washington told CNN that there was significant damage to the sail, or tower-like structure on the topside of the submarine. On Saturday, the Navy said there was no damage to the submarine's propulsion unit. No injuries were reported aboard the New Orleans. The ship's fuel tank ruptured, spilling 25,000 gallons of marine diesel fuel in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. Navy said in the Saturday statement. "Aerial searches of the area where the fuel spill occurred were conducted yesterday, and revealed no indication of any remaining fuel on the ocean's surface," the Navy said. "The quick dissipation of the fuel is likely due to the type of fuel, and various environmental factors to include air and water temperatures, winds and seas." When the collision occurred, both vessels were headed to ports in the Persian Gulf to stock up on provisions and allow for some recreation, Navy spokesman Lt. Nate Christensen said Friday. Christensen said there were about 200 sailors in the sub and 1,000 sailors and Marines aboard the ship. The Strait of Hormuz is located between the United Arab Emirates and Iran, linking the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf. It is heavily used by oil tankers. Both vessels are on regularly scheduled deployments to the U.S. Navy Central Command area of responsibility, and conduct Maritime Security Operations.

Vessels in Bahrain "to further assess and evaluate the damage," says Navy . USS Hartford, USS New Orleans collided near Arabian Peninsula . 15 sailors on Hartford slightly injured . Fuel tank on New Orleans ruptured, spilling 25,000 gallons of fuel .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An Air Force F-22A fighter jet crashed Wednesday near Edwards Air Force Base in California, killing the test pilot, the Air Force said. An F-22A fighter jet similar to this one crashed Wednesday during a test mission in California. The single-seater crashed about 10:30 a.m. (1:30 p.m. ET) for unknown reasons, Air Force officials said. Lockheed Martin said the test pilot, David Cooley, 49, of Palmdale, California, joined the company in 2003 and was a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force. The fighter was on a test mission when it crashed about 35 miles northeast of Edwards AFB, where it was stationed, the Air Force said in a news release. At $150 million apiece, the F-22A is the most expensive Air Force fighter. In 2004, an F-22 Raptor crashed on a training mission in the Nevada desert. The pilot ejected and was not hurt, though the jet was destroyed. The plane was designed in the 1980s to provide a stealthy method to enter Soviet air space and strike Soviet bombers if the USSR attempted a nuclear strike. Once the Cold War ended, the Air Force found a new mission for the F-22 as a long-range fighter with a sophisticated stealth design and state-of-the-art equipment that no other plane could rival. However, the rising cost of the plane and numerous design and software problems threatened the program, which was almost eliminated by Congress. In the end, the aircraft survived, and most of the problems were fixed -- except for the price tag, which forced the Air Force to buy fewer aircraft.

NEW: Test pilot David Cooley, 49, of Palmdale, California, dies in crash . F-22A fighter jet crashes 35 miles northeast of Edwards AFB around 10:30 a.m. The one-seater jet was on a test mission when it crashed . At $150 million apiece, the F-22A is the most expensive Air Force fighter .

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FARGO, North Dakota (CNN) -- Forecasters issued flash flood warnings for Bismarck and surrounding areas Wednesday, as volunteers rushed to fill sandbags ahead of expected record floods in the flat state of North Dakota. Explosives are set off in the Missouri River on Wednesday to break up ice jams. Areas of three counties -- Morton, Emmons and Burleigh, which includes the North Dakota capital of Bismarck -- were under a flash flood warning until 12:30 p.m. CT (1:30 p.m. ET), the National Weather Service said. In an effort to alleviate the flooding, demolition crews blew up an ice jam Wednesday evening south of Bismarck, according to CNN affiliate KXMB. Mayor John Warford said that water appeared to be moving more freely in the Missouri River after the explosives were set off, KXMB reported. The plan is make sure water continues flow through the river channel and not spread out over land. Ice jams in rivers have been a major factor in the flooding there. Most of the state, which endured a particularly harsh winter, remained under a flood warning Wednesday, with forecasters predicting possibly record flood levels on several rivers. Snow, which continued to fall Wednesday, complicated preparations, city officials said. "I woke up this morning and looked outside, I guess I thought of the same thing everybody else did. ... [What] came to mind is what a revolting development this is," said Mark Voxland, the mayor of Moorhead, Minnesota, a city just outside of Fargo. Watch flooded fields of snow » . More than 1,000 people were evacuated from an area near Bismarck on Tuesday night as the Missouri River flooded, Rick Robinson of the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services said Wednesday. See a map of the affected area » . Emergency officials said they were particularly concerned about the Red River, which snakes through eastern portions of North and South Dakota and western Minnesota. The river is expected to crest between 39 and 41 feet in Fargo on Friday, according to Cecily Fong of the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services. The record for the Red River at Fargo was set in 1897 at 40.1 feet, according to Pat Slattery of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The threat of flooding prompted authorities to ask for volunteers to fill sandbags either to build temporary dikes or to bolster existing ones. In some areas, even at 3:30 a.m., hundreds of volunteers packed into individual sandbagging centers, an organizer said. See images of flooding, preparation » . "There have been so many volunteers that we had to turn people away," said Ryan McEwan, a supervisor at one volunteer coordinating center. "It is very busy. They are filling sandbags as fast as they can." As of late Tuesday, Fargo residents and out-of-town volunteers had filled more than 1 million sandbags out of the needed 2 million. Fargo Deputy Mayor Tim Mahoney said he hoped that goal would be met by Thursday. Fargo's mayor, Dennis Walaker, said Wednesday that his city was about 95 percent prepared for the flooding, which is expected later in the week. "I went and looked at the dikes this morning, and they're significant, absolutely significant," he said in a briefing Wednesday morning. However, he said, "We have some areas we need to shore up." Just south of Fargo, authorities said they had rescued several people in Oxbow, a town of about 238 people, after a residential dike gave way. In some places, water had reached halfway up residents' basement stairs, and in others, it had reached the main level of homes, Sgt. Gail Wichmann said. CNN's Chris Welch contributed to this report.

NEW: Ice jam in Missouri River blown up, CNN affiliate KXMB reports . Bismarck, surrounding areas threatened; snow complicates preparations . Fargo halfway to 2 million-sandbag goal, which may be met Thursday . South of Fargo, town residents rescued after residential dike gives way .

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(CNN) -- Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano unveiled a $700 million plan on Tuesday to help Mexico fight violent drug cartels, which includes a U.S. crackdown on the flow of weapons and money into Mexico. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says the DHS plan will address demand and border security. The move sets the stage for visits to Mexico by three administration Cabinet members, starting tomorrow with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in an effort to stem drug-related violence and prevent it from spilling into the United States. CNN's Kyra Phillips spoke with Napolitano on Tuesday about the United States' involvement in the Mexican government's war against drug cartels and the United States' stake in the conflict. Kyra Phillips: Well, I want to get right to it because we'll never be able to defeat the drug lords until our own demand for drugs here in the U.S. is curbed. I mean, it is our consumption in the U.S. that fuels the drug lord production. So, what are you going to do to decrease that demand? Janet Napolitano: Well, the whole package we announced today is not only about enforcement and stopping the flow of drugs into the United States and helping Mexico against these very brutal cartels, but it includes money for more drug courts and reduction in demand. So, we look forward to working on the demand side as well as the supply side, but I'll tell you, where the Department of Homeland Security is concerned, it's all about border safety and security and making sure that spillover violence does not erupt in our own country. Phillips: We're talking about more than 200 cities, cities that we'd never think of, like Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and Sioux Falls [South Dakota]. I mean, what about the people right now that are dealing with sexual abuse, murder, house invasions, kidnapping? Napolitano: That's right. What is happening, for those who don't live on the border, is that there are some large drug cartels. They're old. They've been in Mexico for a long time, but they've gotten larger and more powerful. The president of Mexico has said, enough. And he is really going after those cartels. We've been clamping down on the land border, so the cartels simultaneously are fighting each other over ever-diminishing turf and they're fighting the federal government of Mexico. And that's what's caused 6,000 homicides in Mexico -- northern Mexico last year -- 550 of which were law enforcement or public officials who were assassinated by the cartels. But the cartels got so big and powerful because they were bringing tonnage loads of cocaine and other illegal drugs into our country, and their organizations ultimately went to supply those who are using illegal drugs in places like Sheboygan and places -- other places where you wouldn't think of having any connection with these big cartels. Their fingers were everywhere. We want to shut those cartels down. Phillips: Well, there are a lot of leaders here in the United States that say it's been -- we've helped those cartels. We've actually helped fuel the problem. And if you look at [Sen.] Dick Durbin [D-Illinois], chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs, he said the drugs are coming north, and we're sending money and guns south. And as a result, these cartels have gained extraordinary power. And he also added, about 90 percent of guns seized in Mexican raids are traced back to the United States, About 2,000 firearms cross the border into Mexico daily. Napolitano: Well, it's a significant number of the guns used in this wave of violence in northern Mexico absolutely come from the United States. That's why part of our plan is increasing the number of agents who are going to inspect southbound vehicles. That's why we're sending technology to the border that will allow us to scan or do noninvasive X-rays to see whether cars are carrying assault weapons, other kinds of weapons that are now flowing into Mexico to fuel these drug cartels. And to find these huge truckloads, basically, of cash that are garnered in the United States and sent to Mexico. This is a strategy that we are -- have used in certain places. Now we're employing it border wide. Phillips: So, Madam Secretary, let me ask you about the military. For example, we've covered the city of Juarez, Mexico. You know how bad of a place that has been. Brutal murders, sexual abuse against women, people being beheaded, kidnapped. I mean, just ruthless cartel activity. And what did Mexico do? They took 5,000 military troops, 1,200 federal police officers and just about bombarded Juarez. And so, now they've seen a drop in these drug-related killings. It's sort of like what we saw in Iraq, you know, putting in troop surges into certain areas, and you saw a drop in violence. Would you ever consider doing something like that, getting the military involved and saying, OK, we can't take this anymore, we've got to do something drastic or it won't work? Napolitano: Well, obviously, the violence problem in Juarez was of a different quality and kind than anything we've seen in the United States. And it really did demand that kind of response by the federal government in Mexico. We have contingency plans on the United States side. And we're still evaluating a request that we do send some National Guard to some of the border areas. We're still looking at that. But you know, that clampdown in Mexico, in Juarez in particular, was really called for. The homicide situation there was out of control. Phillips: Let's talk about Gil Kerlikowske, the former Seattle [Washington] police chief. [President] Obama has selected him to be the drug czar for all of you. He hasn't been confirmed yet. But what does he know about dealing with cartels who have mastered kidnapping and beheadings and are using grenades and other forms of firepower, quite frankly, that is far greater than a lot of police forces we have in the U.S.? Napolitano: Well, he's a police chief, and police chiefs know a lot about a lot of different things. And as you yourself pointed out, these drug cartels have fingers that reach all over the United States, including into communities like Seattle. So, he'll come into that job, assuming he's confirmed, with a knowledge base, and also a knowledge base about what the use of illegal drugs is doing to people, does to families, does to our neighborhoods, our communities. That's why we need to work on the demand side as well as the supply side through these cartels. Phillips: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, we'll definitely follow your efforts. Appreciate your time. Napolitano: Thank you so much.

Strategy aimed at preventing spillover violence, says chief of Homeland Security . Napolitano says plan includes money for programs to help reduce demand for drugs . Agents will inspect southbound vehicles for weapons entering Mexico, she says . U.S. evaluating whether to send National Guard to border areas in U.S., she says .

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(CNN) -- Nadya Suleman, the Southern California woman who gave birth to octuplets in January, has fired a nonprofit group of nurses charged with helping care for her children, CNN affiliate KTLA has reported. Nadya Suleman, mother of octuplets and six other children, fired a free nursing team, says a CNN affiliate. Suleman accused the nurses, from a group called Angels in Waiting, of spying on her to report her to child-welfare authorities, the affiliate reported Monday. The group was working for free, the affiliate said. Suleman instead will rely on nurses whom she is paying, Suleman's attorney said. She now has four of the octuplets at home, along with her six other children. The other octuplets remain in a hospital, which is discharging them two at a time to ease the adjustment. Suleman -- already a single mother with six young children -- gave birth to the octuplets through in-vitro fertilization, fueling controversy. News of her collecting public assistance for some of her children also outraged many taxpayers. She has not identified the father of the children, but spoke about him in a new video released on RadarOnline.com. Watch Suleman describe donor » . He is a foreign-born man who lives in California and is the father of all 14 of her children, Suleman said. The man was angry when she told him that she was having eight more children, she said. "He was angry at the doctor, like everyone else," Suleman said. "He is a good friend -- a platonic friend. We would not be very compatible. As far as I am concerned, I would never disclose who he is." At one point in the video, a child's voice can be heard asking Suleman the man's name. She did not answer.

Nadya Suleman: Nurses spying on her to report her to child-welfare authorities . She now has four of the octuplets at home, along with her six other children . Suleman instead will rely on nurses whom she is paying .

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ROME, Italy (CNN) -- Melting glaciers in the Alps may prompt Italy and Switzerland to redraw their borders near the Matterhorn, according to parliamentary draft legislation being readied in Rome. Glaciers in the Alps near the Matterhorn are receding, forcing the border to be redrawn. Franco Narducci of Italy's opposition Democratic Party is preparing a bill to redefine the frontier with neighboring Switzerland, his office said Wednesday. Narducci is a member of the foreign affairs panel in Italy's lower Chamber of Deputies. Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has authorized the bill. Switzerland also has cooperated with Italy on the matter. The Italian Military Geographic Institute says climate change is responsible for the Alpine glaciers melting. "This draft law is born out the necessity to revise and verify the frontiers given the changes in climate and atmosphere," Narducci said. "The 1941 convention between Italy and Switzerland established as criteria [for border revisions] the ridge [crest] of the glaciers. Following the withdrawal of the glaciers in the Alps, a new criterion has been proposed so that the new border coincides with the rock." The border change only affects uninhabited mountaintop terrain. The deputy excludes the possibility of any family having to change citizenship. The border between Italy and Switzerland was fixed 1861, when Italy became a nation, but it has been occasionally modified, the Military Geographic Institute said. The border was last modified in the 1970s when the Switzerland-Italy highway was built at the Brogeda crossing. The bill is expected to become law by the end of April, Narducci said. Unlike Switzerland, Italy can change its border only with new laws approved by parliament. Narducci said the same negotiation will be proposed to France and Austria . "Once upon a time, the border line demarcation between two nations was synonymous to war and bloodshed," he said. "Instead , today we proceed with photograms."

Melting glaciers in Alps forcing Italy and Switzerland to redraw their borders . Italian Military Geographic Institute blames climate change for melting . Switzerland cooperating with Italians on potential changes .

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