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(Budget Travel) -- Even the most sophisticated traveler could be forgiven for thinking that there's little more to Panama than its iconic canal, seaside capital, and snorkeler-packed Bocas del Toro islands. The Los Santos region of Panama has spectacular rolling farmlands and blissfully empty beaches. But there's a more secret and equally spectacular side to the country about a five-hour drive west from Panama City: the Pacific coast region of Los Santos. Here, rolling farmlands and stands of mahogany and cocobolo trees hug an azure coastline, luring surfers, nature buffs, and, increasingly, travelers and second-home owners from all over. Although roadside real-estate billboards suggest a far more developed future, Los Santos has managed to stay blessedly free of resorts. In their place are a handful of low-key -- and far more affordable -- boutique hotels. The most stylish is the seven-room Villa Camilla, just outside the fishing village of Pedasí. The red-tiled hideaway, located on an 800-acre parcel of the Azuero Peninsula, started out as a private escape for French interior designer Gilles St.-Gilles and his wife, Camilla. "The area reminded us of Tuscany," says St.-Gilles, who landscaped the estate with fragrant jasmine, plumeria, and hibiscus. In 2005, the couple opened their place as a hotel, and last fall they added 20 new seaside duplex lofts. As stylish as they are family-friendly, the setups come with full-size kitchens, extra guest beds, and mosaic-tile flooring. An in-house stable is ready for shoreline horseback rides, and you can sign up for snorkeling trips to nearby Isla Cañas, a palm-fringed refuge where thousands of leatherback turtles converge to build nests. Farther inland, the center of Pedasí has a cow-town vibe: Picture low-slung cottages painted bright green and yellow, and ranchers wearing handmade Panama hats. Yellow is also the color of choice at the new Casita Margarita. This five-room B&B comes with locally crafted cocobolo furniture and a wraparound veranda overlooking Pedasí's main street. Perhaps best of all, it's within walking distance of local hangout Mano Surf Community, a pro shop that does double duty as a café and juice bar, and El Gringo Dusek, a no-frills, alfresco cantina run by retired U.S. Navy officer Joseph Dusek, which serves the best barbecue ribs in Los Santos. Of course, beyond the culinary surf and turf, the region's big draw is its blissfully empty beaches: Some of Panama's most scenic -- Los Destiladeros, Modroño, and the black-sand Playa Venao with its eight-foot breaks -- are short drives from Pedasí. Closer to home, Pedasí's El Arenal is a good launchpad for day trips to Iguana Island. (Fishermen stationed by the pier rent their motorboats, captain included, for about $50 round trip.) The hotel-free and nearly visitor-free isle is named for its resident black and green iguanas. Sign up for an Iguana Island Foundation snorkeling and hiking tour; you might just get a good look at some hatchlings. While it may be hard to top that sight, 77-year-old Dalila Vera de Quintero knows how to command equal wows. Her lemon-yellow bakery in a bungalow, Dulceria Yely, is famous across Panama for its home-style sweets, like almond queques (pound cakes) and creamy chicheme, a shake blended from sweetened milk, fresh corn, and crushed vanilla beans. She also stashes a cake or two in the kitchen for favorite customers, such as former Panamanian president and Pedasí native Mireya Moscoso. Swoon loudly enough and Quintero may just reward you with a thick presidential slice. If you go ... LODGING . Villa Camilla Los Destiladeros, 011-507/232-0171, , from $250 . Casita Margarita, Calle Central, 011-507/995-2898, from $99 . FOOD . Mano Surf Community, Calle Estudiante and Calle Bolivar . El Gringo Dusek, Av. Central, 011-507/995-2869, entrées from $5 . Dulceria Yely, Calle Ofelia Reluz, 011-507/995-2205, from 3¢ . ACTIVITIES . Iguana Island Foundation, 011-507/236-8117, full-day tour $90 . Get the best travel deals and tips emailed to you FREE - CLICK HERE! Copyright © 2009 Newsweek Budget Travel, Inc., all rights reserved. Note: This story was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

The Pacific coast region of Los Santos is about five hours from Panama City . The region's big draw is its blissfully empty beaches . The town of Pedasí's is a good launchpad for day trips to Iguana Island .

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ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) -- If a state held a yard sale of government entities to bring in some much-needed cash, this might be what it would look like. Two Minnesota lawmakers have proposed selling the capital's airport to alleviate the state's budget deficit. Two Minnesota lawmakers are asking the state's legislature to consider a proposal that would sell to private firms the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, along with other state property and programs, in an effort to bring in roughly $6 billion or more. Coincidence or not, that's about the same size as the state's estimated budget deficit. State Sen. Geoff Michel and state Rep. Laura Brod -- two Republicans from Minneapolis suburbs -- say they don't want to go about solving the budget crisis in a traditional way. "The discussion is often 'do you tax more, [or] do you spend less?'" Brod says. "But it seems to me that there is a third option out there, and that's reforming how government operates." They also say their proposal is a way to spark debate over whether government should be in control of certain entities in the first place. "Government doesn't always have to do it," Michel says. Running the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport (MSP) is a prime example of something the government could do without, they say. "The airport is a significant asset," Brod adds. "Why is the state running the airport, which provides restaurants and shops and the functions and the operations that a private business probably would do very well? "So what we're looking at is just ... raising the real question of 'what should government be doing?'" Watch the lawmakers discuss their proposal » . Michel and Brod also cite a recent survey by J.D. Power and Associates that put the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport at the bottom of a list of 19 "large airports" in terms of customer satisfaction. But they say their intention is not to "indict" anyone -- merely to "shine a little light on what is a new idea for Minnesota," according to Brod. While privately owned and operated airports are much more common overseas, Michel and Brod could offer only one example of a similar notion in the United States: Chicago's plan to privatize Midway airport. That plan, however, has yet to be finalized by the Federal Aviation Administration. Michel says their proposal might mimic the Midway deal in that it could be a leasing of the entire airport and its operations for a term of 99 years. Midway sold for $2.5 billion, and Michel estimates that, given how much more use MSP sees, Minnesota might be able to bring in $5 billion with its airport. Even though a final draft of a proposed bill is still days away from even being introduced, one lawmaker from across the aisle is already promising to make it an uphill battle. State Sen. Steve Murphy, a Democrat and chair of the transportation committee, says the plan is a "horrible idea" and a "gimmick." "You have to do what you have to do to get by [in] these economic times, and it's not having a fire sale on government," Murphy says. "It's sitting down with a sharp pencil and cutting out programs that have run their useful life. It's cutting back on maybe Sen. Michel's per diem, things like that." The bill would have to get through Murphy's committee before it could make it to the floor of the legislature, and Murphy says his panel "would not go for this." Despite the J.D. Power survey touted by Brod and Michel, Murphy calls the airport "one of the best-run operations in the world." "This is ... government that works," Murphy adds. "So now we want to sell it? For what reason?" In response, Brod calls Murphy's comments mere "scare tactics." And Michel adds: "There's nothing more predictable than a politician defending the status quo. And the days of status quo in Minnesota -- and, I think, the world -- are over." Adeel Lari, a research fellow at the Center for Transportation Studies in the Hubert Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, specializes in innovative financing in state and local policy-making. He says privatization can work, but given the economy, now may not be the best time to consider selling anything, let alone an airport that could be worth billions of dollars. "Everything is in turmoil," Lari says. "Even if it was the right thing to do, there's no market for it." Lari says the ideal philosophy -- "buy low and sell high" -- would be next to impossible to realize in today's situation. He says the state's holdings would almost certainly go for a less-than-desirable price. Lari also worries the state may not see enough profit in the long run. "Selling infrastructure is one-time money you're getting," Lari says. "If you're selling the infrastructure [as opposed to just the internal operations] then basically you're losing out on everything." The issue of whether the average customer -- the air traveler, in this instance -- would be protected has also come up. Jerry Zhao, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota who focuses on state and local public finance, says privatizing has mixed results and may not be the best option, especially when it's only considered "as the last resort of the desperate." "Some recent cases of [public-private partnerships] of transportation facilities have led to widely spread concerns on whether the public interest is protected in these concessions," Zhao says. "Some services tend to be reserved for the public sector because of their 'public good' nature that won't be factored into consideration by profit-oriented businesses. "Without careful research, a desperate rush into selling or leasing public facilities may lose value on public assets, lose long-term interests of the public in the exchange of short-term budget benefits, and lose democratic control." Michel and Brod say the airport is only the tip of the iceberg. Their bill will also include the sale of the Minnesota State Lottery. Brod says that in this case, it's more of a fundamental question of ethics. "Is gambling something that the state ought to be doing anyway?" Brod asks rhetorically. The lottery would bring in between $500 million and $1 billion, they guess. It would be a different scenario, however, in that, since lottery proceeds come back to the state, Michel says they would include a provision to have the state keep that money. If not, he admits, they wouldn't be able to garner lawmaker support. It doesn't end there. The lawmakers say they're looking at everything the state owns as possible items to be auctioned off, including roads, parks, prisons, rest stops -- even the naming rights to public transit systems. Once drafted, the bill would have to pass through any relevant committees depending on what state entities end up in the final version. Only once it moves through could it be brought to the floor of the legislature. "Our job now is to educate our fellow colleagues," Michel says.

Minnesota lawmakers propose selling airport and other government holdings . State, like many others, is struggling with budget woes . Opposing lawmaker calls idea of selling government entities a "gimmick" Financial experts say now might not be a good time to get a good return on sales .

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(CNN) -- Jenna and Barbara Bush know a lot about growing up in the White House. The Bush twins told Sasha and Malia Obama to "remember who your dad really is." The twin daughters of former President Bush were 7 when their grandfather, former President George H.W. Bush, was inaugurated, and 20 when their father became president. Like their dad, who left a note for President Barack Obama, Jenna and Barbara Bush wrote Tuesday to Obama's daughters about what to expect in the weeks and months ahead. "We also first saw the White House through the innocent, optimistic eyes of children," the twins wrote in an open letter published in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal. Growing up in the White House » . The twins reminisce in the letter about important events and historic moments they were able to be part of in a presidential family. But the Bushes also tried to prepare Sasha and Malia for some sobering truths. "Although it's an honor and full of so many extraordinary opportunities, it isn't always easy being a member of the club you are about to join," they said. "Our dad, like yours, is a man of great integrity and love; a man who always put us first. We still see him now as we did when we were 7: as our loving daddy." But as their father was increasingly criticized in the media and mocked by late night comedians, the twins said they learned a lesson. "He is our father, not the sketch in a paper or part of a skit on TV," they wrote. "Many people will think they know him, but they have no idea how he felt the day you were born, the pride he felt on your first day of school, or how much you both love being his daughters. So here is our most important piece of advice: Remember who your dad really is." It helps, wrote the Bushes, to surround yourself with loyal friends. The rest of the letter was more lighthearted, with the twins sharing some of their favorite memories of living in the White House, including playing house and hide-and-seek in what many children would consider to be the ultimate playground. "When we played house, we sat behind the East Sitting Room's massive curtains as the light poured in illuminating her yellow walls," the girls said. "Our 7-year-old imaginations soared as we played in the enormous, beautiful rooms; our dreams, our games, as romantic as her surroundings. At night, the house sang us quiet songs through the chimneys as we fell asleep." They also told the Obama girls to embrace any opportunity they had: "When your dad throws out the first pitch for the Yankees, go to the game." "In fact, go to anything and everything you possibly can: the Kennedy Center for theater, state dinners, Christmas parties (the White House staff party is our favorite!), museum openings, arrival ceremonies, and walks around the monuments." "Just go," they wrote. The twins also reminded Sasha and Malia to be themselves -- kids -- saying even if they travel over holidays like Halloween, the girls should dress up and trick-or-treat down a plane aisle. "Slide down the banister of the solarium, go to T-ball games, have swimming parties, and play Sardines on the White House lawn," the Bush girls said. "Have fun and enjoy your childhood in such a magical place to live and play." Jenna and Barbara Bush told the girls to cherish the pet that their father so publicly promised them. "Sometimes you'll need the quiet comfort that only animals can provide," they said. "Four years goes by so fast," they wrote. "So absorb it all, enjoy it all!"

Bush twins tell new first kids not to let sketches, skits of dad get to them . Jenna, Barbara Bush tell them to embrace every opportunity . Twins talk of playing house, hide-and-seek in historic White House . Girls say to slide down solarium banister, trick-or-treat on plane if away from home .

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(CNN) -- Chris Rock is best known for two things: being funny and being crass. "If you're the president you only have two jobs: peace and money," Chris Rock said. "This is what people come to see. I'm just doing my show," the comedian said with a laugh. He's also known for his political commentary, but there's one person he's having a lot of trouble making fun of -- president-elect Barack Obama. This is apparent in his new DVD "Kill the Messenger," which combines three shows from his international tour: New York; London, England; and Johannesburg, South Africa. "It was a tour nobody wanted to do... because the general perception is that comedy doesn't translate," Rock said. But thanks to the Internet, the world is a lot smaller than it was even 10 years ago. And people are digging the same jokes, he said, including ones about John McCain and Sarah Palin. As the DVD readies for release on January 20, CNN talked with Rock about his lack of Obama jokes, Inauguration Day and why racism will never die. The following is an edited version of that interview: . CNN: I watched the special last night, and I noticed that you did a lot of jokes about John McCain -- his age, his war hero story -- but not so many about Barack Obama. Is it harder to make fun of Obama? Chris Rock: He's just one of those guys, you know, like Will Smith. There's no Will Smith jokes. There's no Brad Pitt jokes. You know, what are you going to say? "Ooh, you used to have sex with Jennifer Anniston. Now you have sex with Angelina Jolie. You're such a loser." What do you say? "Ooh, your movies are big. You make $20 million." There's nothing to say about Brad Pitt. CNN: Why is Obama like that? Rock: It's like "Ooh, you're young and virile and you've got a beautiful wife and kids. You're the first African-American president." You know, what do you say? CNN: As time goes on do you think it will get easier? Rock: Of course, as time goes on. At some point he's going to -- there's always slip-ups. No one can survive that level of scrutiny without occasionally making it easy for a comedian. CNN: Let's talk about the inauguration. Are you going? Rock: No, I have to go to Sundance [Film Festival]. I've got a movie premiering at Sundance. So I have to go to the whitest place in America -- Utah. CNN: What's it going to be like for you on Inauguration Day? Rock: It'll be a cool day. It's weird. I've never watched an inauguration. I've never watched anyone get sworn in. You know, it's like Election Day and then you look up and somebody else is the president two months later. It was never like, "I can't wait till tomorrow. Oh my god! They're going to swear in Jimmy Carter!" CNN: Are you going to watch this one, though? Rock: I'll put it this way -- like any business is going to be getting done while this guy is getting sworn in. Like I'm going to be in a meeting. Everything is going to stop for however long it takes. Hope they get to it -- hope it's not like I gotta listen to three different versions of "The Star-Spangled Banner" or something. I hope it's not like Rosa Parks' funeral, where everybody f***ing speaks. CNN: What are you hoping Barack Obama does for this country? What do you think is his most important task? Rock: You know, if you're the president you only have two jobs: peace and money. That's it. I mean, it's like, what did Clinton do? We were at peace and we had a budget surplus. That's it. That's the gig. The closer you get us to those two goals, you know, that's pretty much the gig. Is that too much to ask for? CNN: At one point in your act, you said, "Racism will never die. It will only multiply." Why do you believe that? Rock: Well, it's never going to die. Maybe it won't multiply. Is racism going to end? No. It's not even race. People are always going to, you know, find something wrong with people who are not the exact same as them. That's just what it is. Black, white, short, tall, religions, whatever. People are bad, man. CNN: How was it different playing for an audience in Africa? Rock: You know it's weird -- it really wasn't that different. I mean, that's why I love this special. People are the same wherever you go. And if they weren't, they wouldn't laugh at the same s**t. If they were so different they wouldn't know what I was talking about. CNN: Stand-up comics I've talked to in the past say they like their shows to appear spontaneous. But your new DVD stitches together three shows, illustrating to the audience how scripted comedy can be. Why did you decide on that format? Rock: You know, I don't believe in that "come up with stuff on the spot." I mean, honestly, that's why I think comedy, stand-up comedy, always plays such a back seat to music. Like, would you go see a singer if you thought he just came up with the songs? They wouldn't give out Grammys for songs that they just came up with. You're going to go see someone at Radio City or Madison Square Garden, I think you'd like to know that they have an act before you spend $75. So yeah, when you say "came up with it right there," that's really cute when you paid $8 to get in and two-drink minimum. When the ticket's $75, that's a whole other mindset.

Comedian Chris Rock to release "Kill the Messenger" DVD January 20 . There are no Barack Obama jokes, Rock says, just like there are no Brad Pitt jokes . Rock: Playing for international crowds not that different than playing in U.S. "Stand-up comedy always plays such a back seat to music," Rock says .

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LONGBOAT KEY, Florida (CNN) -- Like any sun-drenched beach paradise, Longboat Key offers water sports, biking and tennis, but the best way to enjoy the island may be by doing nothing at all. Low season on Longboat Key, Florida, generally starts in May and runs until late fall. This thin sliver of land off Sarasota on Florida's west coast is home to 8,000 people year-round, but come winter, the population swells dramatically. Thousands of visitors from colder climates flock to LBK -- its shorthand moniker -- from January to April to enjoy its balmy temperatures and the sparkling turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Off season, however, the only crowds are the sea gulls grooming their feathers on the warm white sand, and Longboat Key feels like the closest thing to having a private beach. On a recent late-September visit, the temperatures hovered in the mid-80s, palm trees swayed gently in the wind, hibiscus flowers bloomed and the sun's rays were on par with their intensity in July. The only signs of fall were the pumpkins on display at the local grocery store, along with regular fare, like mango Key lime pie. See photos of Longboat Key's beaches, birds and sunsets » . Tell people you are heading to Longboat Key, and many will think it's part of the Florida Keys off the southern tip of the state, but LBK is about 200 miles to the north-northwest of -- and in some ways worlds away from -- Key West and its neighbors. Nightlife on the island is likely to mean a moonlit walk on the beach rather than a drink at the bar, and the odds are good the locals will sport gray hair. Elegant setting . Buffered by Sarasota Bay on one side and facing the Gulf of Mexico on the other, the Key is sheltered from the tourist hustle and bustle of mainland Florida. At less than 11 miles in length and no more than a mile across in its widest places, LBK also feels like a secluded community with an elegant flavor of its own. The surroundings are lush, upscale and serene. A trip down Gulf of Mexico Drive, the island's main artery, reveals golf courses, condominiums and homes ranging from newly constructed mansions to older, one-story houses. The traffic is light, life moves at a slower pace and the mood is relaxed. "You won't find mini-malls, towering billboards, or glaring neon signs," the local Chamber of Commerce promises. Nonhuman island visitors also contribute to the mellow atmosphere. Dolphins regularly swim just offshore. Great egrets and great blue herons fish along the beach, while pelicans dive into the water in search of a meal. Birds of all sizes regularly patrol the palm-lined parking lot of the local supermarket looking for scraps of food from the lunch crowd. Wingless creatures also pop up in unexpected places. Visitors walking into one establishment are greeted by a stern voice exclaiming, "Bear, no!" Bear, it turns out, is a curious 5-month old Chesapeake Bay retriever who insists on checking out all the customers entering the store despite his owner's orders to stay put. Lodging and shopping . There are few hotels on Longboat Key, but rental homes and condos abound, so it's best to make lodging arrangements in advance, especially for visitors who plan to stay a while. Low season generally starts in May and runs until November. Tourists yearning to make the island a permanent home should bring along a big wallet. The average sale price for a condominium was more than $1 million last year, and it topped $1.5 million for a single-family home, according to the local Chamber of Commerce. Spenders on a smaller scale can get their fix in neighboring St. Armands Key and its unique shopping circle lined with boutiques and restaurants. (The official motto urges visitors to "get out of the box, get into the circle.") Shoppers can find anything from jewelry to knock-out shoes to sea shells of all shapes and sizes. Depending on your budget and appetite, a lunch break can range from a latte to a smoked salmon and brie grilled cheese. St. Armands Circle is a great place to people watch, but it's good to know the tranquil beach back on Longboat Key is just a short drive away. Shopping can be exhausting when sunny, lazy days in a blissful place are filled with doing nothing at all.

Thousands of visitors from colder climates flock to Longboat Key in winter . Off season, the island feels like the closest thing to having a private beach . Longboat Key is less than 11 miles in length and no more than a mile wide . Neighboring St. Armands Key offers a shopping circle of boutiques and restaurants .

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MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- Mexican authorities arrested Vicente Carrillo Leyva, a leader of the Carrillo Fuentes drug cartel, officials announced Thursday. Vicente Carrillo Leyva is escorted by police at a news conference in Mexico City on Thursday. Carrillo Leyva was arrested as he exercised in a park in a residential area of Mexico City, where he had been living under the alias Alejandro Peralta Alvarez, officials said. The federal attorney general's office told reporters he was tracked through his wife, who did not change her name. Carrillo Leyva "is considered one of the heirs to the criminal organization known as the Juarez Cartel, after the death of his father, Amado Carrillo Fuentes," said Assistant Prosecutor Maricela Morales. His father died in July 1997 while undergoing plastic surgery to alter his appearance in an effort to avoid capture. Amado Carrillo was known as "El Senor de los Cielos," the "Lord of the Skies," because of the fleet of jetliners he used to transport cocaine from Colombia to Mexico. Carrillo Leyva, 32, was presented at the news conference, surrounded by black-clad, hooded law-enforcement officials. He wore dark-frame glasses and a white jogging suit with double black stripes on the sleeves. His dark hair was long and shaggy. Last month, federal officials offered a reward of up to $2.16 million (30 million pesos) for information leading to his arrest. The same reward has been offered for his uncle, cartel leader Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, also known as "El Viceroy" and "El General," who remains at-large. Rewards of $2 million apiece have been offered for 22 other leading cartel suspects. Wednesday's arrest was the fourth detention of a top drug cartel leader in recent weeks. Last week, officials announced the arrest of Hector Huerta Rios, also known as "La Burra" or "El Junior," a top lieutenant of the Beltran Leyva cartel. He was arrested in the city of San Pedro Garza Garcia in Nuevo Leon state, along Mexico's border with the United States. The previous week, Mexican authorities announced the arrest of Sigifredo Najera Talamantes, a drug-trafficking suspect accused of attacking a U.S. consulate and killing Mexican soldiers. Talamantes, also known as "El Canicon," also is suspected in attacks on a television station in Monterrey in Nuevo Leon, the state-run Notimex agency said. That same week, the Mexican military also arrested the son of a top drug cartel lieutenant. Authorities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border blame drug cartels for a surge in violence in the region. Despite the violence, Mexican officials say the country is generally safe and that tourist areas such as Cancun and Acapulco are heavily patrolled. Watch Leyva get escorted by law enforcement officials » . Officials from Acapulco city hall, the Guerrero state government and the Mexico attorney general went so far as to sign a statement in early March assuring students wanting to go there on spring break that efforts had been taken to ensure their safety. In a speech in mid-March, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said 93 percent of the 6,500 deaths attributed to organized crime in 2008 occurred among the criminals. Most of the rest were law enforcement authorities, officials have said. Few civilians are killed, the president said. In that same speech, Calderon ridiculed those who say Mexico is unsafe. "It is absolutely false, absurd, that anyone indicate that Mexico does not have control over one single part of its national territory," he said. "I challenge anyone who says that to tell me what part of the country they want to go to and I will take that person there." Analysts point out that most of the violence is occurring along the U.S. border, particularly in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua and Tijuana. Drug cartel violence is also found on Mexico's western coast. "The situation in Ciudad Juarez is of special concern," the U.S. State Department said in a February 20 travel alert. "Mexican authorities report that more than 1,800 people have been killed in the city since January 2008. Additionally, this city of 1.6 million people experienced more than 17,000 car thefts and 1,650 carjackings in 2008." The State Department advisory tells U.S. citizens how best to remain safe. "While millions of U.S. citizens safely visit Mexico each year (including thousands who cross the land border every day for study, tourism or business), violence in the country has increased recently. It is imperative that travelers understand the risks of travel to Mexico, how best to avoid dangerous situations, and whom to contact if one becomes a crime victim. Common-sense precautions such as visiting only legitimate business and tourist areas during daylight hours, and avoiding areas where prostitution and drug dealing might occur, can help ensure that travel to Mexico is safe and enjoyable." CNN's Mario Gonzalez contributed to this story.

Vicente Carrillo Leyva, 32, arrested in Mexico City, officials say . He was living under fake name; was found through his wife, who used her own name . This is the fourth arrest of major drug cartel suspect in recent weeks . Authorities in U.S. and Mexico blame drug cartels for surge in violence near border .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Prince Harry, the red-headed younger son of Britain's Prince Charles and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, is back in the headlines after a British tabloid posted a home video of him using an offensive term to describe an Army colleague. Prince Harry's behavior landed him on the front pages of British newspapers. Some of those who have watched him closely through the years see a pattern which they blame on royal destiny rather than racism or ignorance. The video, much of it apparently shot by the prince himself in 2006, led to predictable howls of condemnation, not least from the sensation-seeking newspaper that published it. News of the World posted the video on its Web site under the headline "Prince Harry video nasty that will spark outrage." Harry, who is third in line to the throne, immediately issued an apology through a spokesman for referring to a soldier from Pakistan as "our little Paki friend." Watch video which has sparked controversy » . The word "Paki" is considered deeply offensive by many in Britain -- comparable to the "n-word" in the United States, said Harry biographer Mark Saunders. "That word is just unacceptable," Saunders said. It was not the first time Harry had been forced to apologize for offending people. In 2005, the News of the World's sister paper The Sun obtained and published a photograph of him wearing a Nazi uniform at a party, prompting an apology and a promise that he had learned his lesson. Penny Junor, who has written several books on Britain's royal family, says she suspects Harry may get himself into embarrassing situations more often than his older brother William at least partly because Harry does not expect to become king. "Fundamentally it probably has a great deal to do with being number two," said Junor, the author of "The Firm: The Troubled Life of the House of Windsor." "He's a spare, not an heir." She said: "The older ones are very much groomed for the task at hand. Those in charge sometimes miss a trick with the younger members" of the family, she said. Harry's father, Prince Charles, may want to avoid trying to rein his son in too much, Junor theorized. "I'm sure that Charles thinks it's putting an impossible burden on him to really nail Harry down to the floor when his future is uncertain," she said. "Their lives are very restricted in many ways. It's a burden being the Prince of Wales, number two in line, number three in line. There is a tendency to try and relieve the burden from the children by not jumping down their throats every time they do something stupid." In this generation, Harry has been much more likely than William to be the one doing "something stupid," she admitted. William was criticized last year for landing an Army helicopter in a field belonging to his girlfriend's parents, but the incident did not cause the same uproar as Harry's two gaffes. Harry may have engaged in more outrageous behavior than his older brother simply because of his personality, Junor added. "He's much more frivolous than William, more an impetuous party animal," she said, also describing him as "not the brightest brain in Britain." "The older child, because he knows there is a seriousness to the position he was born to, knows from day one what is expected of him," she said. "The younger one has all of the frustrations of that without knowing (if) he will inherit the throne." Saunders, the author of "Prince Harry: The Biography," has observed the same pattern. "Even when (Harry) was a young boy he was a maverick," said Saunders. "Harry used to play with the photographers, whereas you would never get that with William." "William formed a bond with his father," based in part on the throne the two men expect to inherit -- which Harry likely never will, Saunders said. "There's a job that only William, his father and the queen can share." Not expecting to become king may have freed Harry, Saunders speculated. "This started a long time ago. (Harry) said 'I am me, and I am going to be me.' With Harry there have been several moments, gross errors. He has made missteps," Saunders said. "You could argue that there are simply the mistakes of a young man growing up -- but William could never afford to make those kind of mistakes." It is a pattern that has been repeating, to an extent, in the royal family for generations. Prince Andrew, one of Prince Charles' younger brothers, has something of a reputation as a playboy, while the queen's late younger sister, Princess Margaret, bucked convention in her own day, seeking to marry a divorced man. The British newspaper, The Guardian summed up the piquancy of being a younger sibling of the sovereign in Margaret's obituary in 2002, noting she had been second in line to the throne throughout her teens, but was 11th by the time she died. "They have all the pressures of being a member of the family," Junor said, "without the reward of being the top person."

Royal watchers see a pattern in Prince Harry's errant behavior . Latest furor over offensive remark made about Pakistani military colleague . Authors say second son syndrome may be to blame . Prince has had to apologize for offensive behavior before .

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(CNN) -- Around 200 new species of frogs have been found in Madagascar, one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. A study has found nearly 200 new species of frogs in Madagascar. A study identified between 129 and 221 new species of frogs on the island. The Spanish Scientific Research Council (CSIC), who carried out the study, believe the find could practically double the number of amphibians known in the world if the results are extrapolated at a global scale. The study, published in the journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA," suggests that the number of amphibian species in Madagascar has been significantly underestimated. "The diversity of species in Madagascar is far from being known and there is still a lot of scientific research to be done. Our data suggest that the number of new species of amphibians not only has been underestimated but it is spatially widespread, even in well studied areas," said Professor David R. Vieites, CSIC researcher to the press at the Spanish National Natural Sciences Museum in Madrid. "For example, two of the most visited and studied national parks, Ranomafana and Mantadía/Analamazaotra, harbor 31 and 10 new species respectively." Dr. Frank Glaw, curator of herpetology at the Zoologische Staatssammlung from Munich was part of the research team: "During the past 15 years, we discovered and described over 100 new frog species from Madagascar, which led us to believe that our species inventory is almost complete. But as our new surveys show, there are many more species than we suspected," he said in a press statement. The paper suggests that the total biodiversity on the island could be much higher in other species as well, so the actual destruction of natural habitats may be affecting more animals than previously thought. This has important consequences for conservation planning, as the rate of destruction of rainforests in Madagascar has been one of the highest in the planet, with more than 80 percent of the historic surface of rainforest already lost, according to the study's authors. Almost a quarter of the new species discovered have not been found yet in protected areas, but the unstable political situation in Madagascar has also been cited as hampering conservation efforts. "Although a lot of reserves and national parks have been created in Madagascar during the last decade, the actual situation of politic instability is allowing the cut of the forest within national parks, generating a lot of uncertainty about the future of the planned network of protected areas", said Vieites. Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world and one of the most biodiverse areas globally, with a high degree of endemic species. "To get an idea of its biodiversity --while in the Iberian Peninsula [there] are about 30 species of amphibians and in Germany about 20, in a single locality in Madagascar we can find around 100 species of frogs," said Vieites. Dr. Miguel Vences, professor at the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany, who was also part of the study team, and believes that a century of new species discovery is just beginning: "People think that we know which plant and animal species live on this planet. But the majority of life forms on Earth is still awaiting scientific recognition."

Nearly 200 new species of amphibians found on biodiversity hotspot of Madagascar . Study found many outside of the island's conservation areas . Political instability in the country makes conservation efforts extra difficult .

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PHOENIX, Arizona (CNN) -- "Always you have to run for your life," says Boo Htoo, who grew up in a refugee camp in Thailand just across the border from Myanmar. Boo Htoo and his family lived at the Maela Refugee Camp before being resettled in Phoenix, Arizona. Ethnic minorities still flee the repressive military regime in Myanmar, formerly Burma. Some 111,000 Myanmar refugees live in nine camps in Thailand, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Htoo, now 29, recalls making the long trek with his parents to cross the border when he was about 5. "[It's] a very long way," he says. "We don't have a car, a plane. We don't have a bicycle to ride. My parents just take what they can carry, and then we started walking across the jungle, sleeping in the jungle." Htoo and his family are now resettled in Phoenix, Arizona. Thanks to Carolyn Manning and her Welcome to America Project, they got a warm welcome to the big city, complete with furnishings and household items for their first apartment and toys for his two young children. "That day that I have a lot of American friends in my apartment," recalls Htoo, "this is the day that I feel very happy." For Htoo, it was a remarkable transition from "a really hard life in the refugee camp." "They have a wire fence around the camp; they put soldiers around the fence," Htoo says. "You are not allowed to go outside to work. You don't have a chance to go to university even if you are willing to go. I cannot express the feeling of how difficult it is." Watch Htoo tell his story » . According to the International Rescue Committee, about 2.7 million refugees have been resettled in the United States since 1975, and 52,000 of those have been relocated to Arizona. Through her Welcome to America Project, Manning helps legal refugees being resettled to Phoenix by the United Nations. Since 2001, she and volunteers have provided furniture, clothing and support to more than 550 refugee families. Nominate your Hero at CNN.com/Heroes . The first family Manning welcomed came to her attention in a local newspaper. Manning's brother-in-law Terence had died in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York. The family in the newspaper was from Afghanistan and had lost a relative to the Taliban. Manning immediately saw a parallel. "Knowing that Terence was killed innocently and then seeing the Afghan family who had someone killed in their family, I started to make a connection between myself and that family," Manning recalls. "We lost a family member, too. The difference was we had a safe place that we lived -- and they had to flee their country." At a time when many Americans were putting up walls and shunning foreigners, Manning reached out to them. She and her family took up a collection of furniture for them -- and The Welcome to America Project was born. "They've been invited here," says Manning. "Everybody has a right to find a place where they belong. I want the refugees to feel that this is their home." The families assisted by The Welcome to America Project typically have languished in refugee camps for 10-12 years, says Manning, and come from countries including Iraq, Myanmar, Liberia, Somalia, Sudan, Nigeria and Bhutan -- places where they were often persecuted because of their race, religion or political views. "There are a number of different things they have to learn how to do when they first arrive," Manning says. "They've never seen buildings built like ours. They've lived in huts literally made out of bamboo, with leaves on top. There's a lot of transition for them." Watch Manning describe the refugees' strikingly different backgrounds » . Over the last seven years, Manning says, she's learned a lot from the refugees and finds herself looking at American customs from a new perspective. "We brought a toaster into a family from Africa and they didn't know what it was," recalls Manning. "The woman was very dutiful in watching [when] we tried to show them how to toast bread. But then through a translator her response was, 'Why would you want to ruin bread?'" Manning says the refugees are resourceful and eager to start a new life, developing strong ties to their new communities, making active contributions, working hard and paying taxes. "It's not an 'us and them,'" she says. "We're all part of one humanity. And we're trying to do what's right, and what is fair." Watch The Welcome to America Project in action » . As word continues to spread -- the project is currently bigger than ever, says Manning -- The Welcome to America Project is nearing its 600th family donation. Manning says she isn't surprised the project has taken off. "That's how Terrance's life was," she says. "Every time he had an idea it was big and bold. He was a very, very generous person. I guess that's the legacy we're passing on with the project." Want to get involved? Check out The Welcome to America Project and see how to help.

Welcome to America Project helps refugees being resettled in Phoenix, Arizona . Carolyn Manning founded the group after relative died in September 11 attacks . Myanmar refugee Boo Htoo among 550-plus families the project has helped . Nominate your Hero at CNN.com/Heroes .

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BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- The operator of a trolley that rear-ended another trolley should have been able to see the other vehicle was stopped 480 feet ahead, a federal investigator said Monday. Passengers walk past firefighters at a Green Line station in Boston after the trolley collision Friday evening. The trolley driver has told investigators he was text messaging during Friday night's collision, which injured 20 people. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which previously had banned operators from using cell phones and other portable devices, now has told employees to leave the devices at home while on duty, National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman said Monday. Hersman also noted investigators have determined that the operator may have missed some crucial indications of a stopped trolley ahead on the tracks. Watch new transit rule on cell phones » . "There were several signals -- two green signals, a yellow signal and a red signal -- coming out of the station, and the point of collision occurred 80 feet past that red signal," Hersman said. "We did a site-distance test, and we know that the operator had the ability to see the trolley stopped in front of him 480 feet in advance of the collision." Boston officials said over the weekend that the trolley operator was using his cell phone. Numerous media outlets, including CNN's Boston affiliates, have identified the driver as 24-year-old Aiden Quinn. "The operator of the striking train was interviewed at the hospital by two detectives," said MBTA general manager Daniel Grabauskas. "He admitted that he was texting at the time of the accident." The operator told detectives that, when he looked up, "it was too late as he applied the brake and the train struck the other trolley," Grabauskas said. He described himself as "outraged." "We have reinforced for a number of years that the use of cell phones or any other kinds of electronic devices while operating a train or a bus is absolutely prohibited," Grabauskas said. Though the investigation is ongoing, he said, the two-year employee will be fired if his version of events is confirmed. None of the injuries was considered life-threatening, the MBTA said. The collision happened at 7:18 p.m. ET Friday as the Green Line trains were traveling between the Park Street and Government Center stations in downtown Boston. Both trains were traveling westbound when one train rear-ended the second, an MBTA official said. A train operator also was text messaging last year in a California train crash that killed 25 people. CNN's Rob Frehse and Gary Bender contributed to this report.

Federal investigator says Boston trolley crashed 80 feet past a red light . Trolley driver told investigators he was texting during wreck that injured 20 people . Drivers already banned from using phones; authority now says keep them at home .

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(CNN) -- Mexican President Felipe Calderon announced the resignations Tuesday of three high-level government officials, most notably Communications and Transport Secretary Luis Tellez Kuenzler. The government of Mexican President Felipe Calderon, seen here in January, is facing elections in July. Abraham Gonzalez, a key official for the powerful ministry that oversees Mexico's government, also resigned. So did Sergio Vela Martinez, president of the National Council for Culture and the Arts. No official reasons were given for any of the resignations, which analysts said did not appear to be related. But at least two of the resignations did not come as a surprise. Tellez, who stepped down from a Cabinet-level post, had been involved for weeks in a controversy over taped comments revealed last month by CNN journalist Carmen Aristegui. In the taped conversation, Tellez said former Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari had stolen government money. Salinas has not been formally accused of any crime. Tellez received an anonymous threat in late February from an apparent political enemy telling him to resign or more damaging audiotapes would be released to the media. He refused and turned the matter over to authorities. Ana Maria Salazar Slack, a political analyst who is host of a daily radio show in Mexico City, called it "an almost soap opera-ish scandal" that left Calderon little choice but to force Tellez to resign. "Although Calderon wanted to keep him in office, it made it very difficult to keep him there," she said. Calderon moved Tellez to a post as a presidential aide dealing with economic matters. Other observers also were not surprised by the move. "That was waiting to happen," said Andrew Selee, director of the Mexico Institute at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center. "But evidently the president values his counsel and has kept him in a high-profile position in the presidency from which he'll continue to have influence." Robert Pastor, the Latin America national security adviser for President Jimmy Carter in the 1970s, praised Tellez but said political considerations prevailed. "He's a very competent fellow," Pastor said. "One of the most competent people I've known in Mexico. But this tape in particular was very embarrassing." In a televised news conference after Calderon announced the changes, Tellez expressed his "gratitude for this opportunity that few Mexicans obtain." Replacing Tellez will be Juan Molinar Horcasitas, the head of the Mexican Institute for Social Security. Molinar belongs to the same party as Calderon, the National Action Party [PAN], while Tellez belongs to the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party [PRI]. That played a role, Slack said. "The president is sending a signal to his party that he's going to support people from his own party," Slack said. "Beyond the political scandals of the tapes, there's a decision for the president to appoint people very close to the party." Gonzalez's departure was not a surprise either, since he is running for a congressional seat in July and Mexican law requires him to resign. Analysts spoke highly of Gonzalez's replacement, Geronimo Gutierrez Fernandez. He had been the top person in the foreign ministry for Latin and North America. "Gutierrez moving in is outstanding," the Mexico Institute's Selee said, calling him "one of the smartest people ... I've met" and "an impressive guy." Consuelo Saizar Guerrero takes over as head of the National Council for Culture and the Arts, replacing Vela, whose reasons for resigning were not disclosed. Saizar previously served as head of the Economic Culture Fund, the government's book-publishing enterprise. The arts and culture post will play a significant role in 2010, when Mexico celebrates 100 years of its social revolution and 200 years of its declaration of independence, radio analyst Slack said. As for the timing of resignations from three key posts, Slack linked it to Mexico's election calendar. "In order to understand these changes," she said, "you have to understand there are midterm elections in July. So if there are going to be any changes, they have to take place right now." Meanwhile, Peter Hakim, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue, said the changes do not portend a political shift. "This doesn't sound like any major direction in change for Calderon," Hakim said.

Analyst says timing of resignations linked to Mexican midterm elections in July . Communications and transport secretary resigns amid controversy over comments . Key official for ministry that oversees Mexico's government leaves .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Thousands of mourners and well-wishers gathered Saturday at a church east of London for the funeral of controversial reality TV star Jade Goody. Jade Goody's coffin is carried into church for the funeral service in Essex Saturday. The 27-year-old lost a public battle with cervical cancer last month, prompting sympathy and headlines around the world. As Goody's white coffin was carried into the church at Buckhurst Hill, Essex, east of London, a gospel choir began singing "Amazing Grace." Pallbearers included her husband Jack Tweed, whom she married in February. Send your tributes to Jade Goody. Inside the church the congregation heard Tweed read a poem as well as watching a multimedia tribute to Goody's life. View image gallery of Jade Goody's funeral » . Outside thousands of well-wishers gathered in the spring sunshine to watch the funeral service on large TV screens, breaking into spontaneous applause throughout the service. TV pictures showed one young girl with "R.I.P. Jade" drawn on her cheek. Read blog from her funeral . Addressing the congregation Max Clifford, Goody's publicist, said: "She achieved in seven months what doctors, politicians and medical experts can only dream of achieving. Her legacy is a wonderful one. Because of Jade Goody, lots of women have had their lives saved." Watch family and fans pay their last respects » . After the service congregation member Peter Holmes, 28, from St. Albans, north of London, told CNN: "The service was lovely. The funeral was just what Jade was all about. She was a fun-loving person who always lit up a room with a funny comment." Flowers thrown by well-wishers covered the front of the vintage hearse carrying Goody's coffin as it arrived at the church. Crowds earlier applauded as the cortege slowly made its way through Bermondsey, south London, where Goody grew up amid deprivation and drug abuse. At one point the procession stopped to release a white dove. Wreaths included one in the shape of a pink heart, another that resembled a blue handbag and another shaped like a camera -- reflecting Goody's love of the limelight. After the funeral friends and family left for a private burial. Goody had burst into the spotlight in the British version of "Big Brother" in 2002 but attracted global notoriety five years later when she made racist comments -- for which she later apologized -- to Indian actress Shilpa Shetty. Well-wisher Vicky Scott, a security consultant from Bedfordshire, central England, waiting outside the church before the service, told CNN: "She had very much to live for and she had achieved so much. She had a tough life and she gave us so much. "I think she was an inspiration to many women, the way she brought cervical cancer to many women's minds." Clifford said in comments reported by the Press Association that Goody's mother Jackiey Budden was "distraught" and Tweed was "heartbroken." Goody's two sons, Bobby, 5, and Freddie, 4, did not attend the service and are believed to have gone to Australia with their father, TV host Jeff Brazier, according to media reports. Medical officials have reported a big rise in the number of screenings for cervical cancer after Goody's diagnosis was announced live on India's version of "Big Brother" last August, a phenomenon some have dubbed the "Jade Goody effect." Images of her shrinking frame and bald head dominated the pages of British media after she announced she had just weeks to live. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown had previously praised Goody's work in raising awareness of cervical cancer. "In many years to come, there will be an awful lot of women who've got an awful lot to thank Jade Goody for," he said. 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. With Clifford's help, she organized her wedding to boyfriend 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. CNN's Peter Wilkinson contributed to this report.

Funeral service of reality TV star Jade Goody takes place east of London . Earlier well-wishers threw flowers, applaud funeral procession as it passes . Procession, including Goody's white coffin, traveled from southeast London . Goody died last month aged 27 after losing her battle with cervical cancer .

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(CNN) -- Cheryl Bradshaw shivered under a big brown coat as she made her way through a line of people waiting along an icy road in Wilmington, Ohio. She was among about 5,000 residents who accepted food from the nonprofit Feed the Children. The nonprofit Feed the Children delivers boxes of food and other items to families Thursday in Wilmington, Ohio. "A lot of this people in this town ... it's day to day, dollar to dollar," Bradshaw said of the town of about 12,000 between Cincinnati and Columbus. Wilmington is still reeling from news that delivery giant DHL would close its hub there. About 3,000 of the 8,000 people who faced layoffs lived in or around Wilmington. One in three families in Wilmington had someone employed at DHL, according to an economic task force created by Mayor David Raizk. A crowd gathered Thursday as 12 loaded semitrailers cautiously parked on slippery roads. Each family got two boxes. One had 25 pounds of canned food and vegetables. Another contained 10 pounds of personal care items. Watch as townspeople describe tough times » . Bradshaw said she appreciated the help. She got laid off in December from ABX Air, a Wilmington-based air cargo services company that worked with DHL. "We are raising two grandkids, and we only have one income, so it's a big, big blessing," she said. Tony Sellars, the nonprofit's director of communications, said, "This is the largest distribution we have had in such a small town." Sellars said the organization is monitoring layoff conditions in various cities and identifying critical locations where it can be of assistance. "We have been around since 1979, and this is unprecedented in terms of need," Sellars said. "In Wilmington, the residents are proud and confused; they are resilient and trying to solve their problems on their own, but they don't know where to turn." Feed the Children distributed the food and other items in conjunction with partners that include Avon Products and the local Sugartree Ministry Center. Larry Jones, founder and president of Feed the Children, urged communities to reach out to one another. "If we are going to solve the problem, it's not going to be the government; it's going to be churches and charities and colleges, literally everyone working together," Jones said. "We are not the total answer, but we are part of the answer, and hopefully when people see us doing what we are doing, they will join in to help." Ohio is facing one of the highest jobless rates in the country -- 7.8 percent in December. The nation's unemployment rate is 7.6 percent. DHL's decision to close its hub in Wilmington has had a ripple effect. Sharon Testa, 48, who owns the Mediterranean Restaurant in downtown, has lived in Wilmington for 20 years. "Our business opened two years ago because we had a lot of international people coming in to work for DHL or companies affiliated with them," Testa said. "Everyone is concerned. We don't want our city to shrivel up; people who still have jobs are trying to come in to keep the business running." Helen Keech, 50, who works at the Arby's near where DHL was located, said that the restaurant used to open early for the DHL employees. She said there were many businesses in that building, including ABX and DHL, and now that there are less employees, things will change. "It's gonna be a ghost town I can tell you that," Keech said. CNN's Amy Sahba contributed to this report.

Closing of delivery giant DHL leaves Ohio town of Wilmington reeling . About 5,000 in town of 12,000 accept food from nonprofit Feed the Children . Official: "This is the largest distribution we have had in such a small town" Resident says she fears loss of jobs will turn Wilmington into a "ghost town"

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(AOL Autos) -- Buying a used car may seem like a simple topic. Used car sales company CARMAX had an influx of trucks and SUVs after gas prices skyrocketed. But when you begin slicing and dicing the various possibilities among approximately 3.3 million vehicles that are for sale at any given time, interesting insights into consumer preferences begin to emerge. For Krista Glotzbach, director of marketing at Vast.com, the San Francisco, California-based aggregator of data (which provides used vehicle search data for AOL Autos), the various permutations are nearly endless. But users shouldn't worry because, with the help of search filters, vehicle fashion statements (what color do you want) and budgetary considerations (what price range do you want) easily come to the surface for faster used car searching. Because Vast.com has a variety of sources for its data, including Web "crawls" (an automated Internet search for used vehicle information), the data is, by definition, revealing in its own right. AOL Autos: Safest cars . But industry player CARFAX, which makes its vehicle history reports available to the public, provides a different kind of insight. AOL Autos: Used luxury cars . As Larry Gamache, director of communications, pointed out, used car sales dominate the automotive industry. With that volume comes its share of fraud, notably in the marketing of vehicles damaged by flood. And even if a vehicle doesn't look bad, what you can't see can hurt. "The problem with flood-damaged cars is that they're rotting from the inside out," Gamache said. It's also a potentially big safety issue. "Air bags that have been submerged do not function properly," Gamache noted. "They either don't deploy or could deploy at speed." But not all used cars have skeletons in their closets. Actually, most of the vehicles sold in the U.S. are used. AOL Autos: Most popular crossovers . Here are a few water cooler tidbits that might make you say "hmm": . 1. Three out of four automotive transactions in the U.S. involve previously owned vehicles. 2. The average vehicle will likely have three owners in its lifetime. 3. Industry experts believe one of every 25 air bags that have been deployed have not been properly replaced. They're also the most stolen item from a vehicle (having surpassed radios). AOL Autos: Best resale value cars . 4. About half the cars that are flood damaged end up back on the road. As far as Hurricane Katrina is concerned, estimates are that about 200,000 vehicles were dried out and resold. 5. The most frequently searched price range for a used vehicle is under $5,000. 6. Consumers lose as much as $4 billion a year due to odometer fraud, with the average rollback being 15,000 miles. AOL Autos: Best hybrid cars . 7. There are more used Silverado pickup trucks for sale than any other model (nearly 120,000 throughout the U.S.) 8. Texas has more used vehicles than any other state (more than 220,000); Houston alone has more than 32,000 on the market at any given time. 9. Chevrolet tops the list of most-available brands in the U.S. (with about 450,000 available), followed by Ford (425,000). There are "only" about 280,000 Toyotas on the market at any given time. 10. Silver is the most available color in the used vehicle market -- more than 447,000 vehicles, followed by black (429,000), white (409,000), and red (321,000). Blue (309,000) and gray (277,000) are also aplenty. The color you're least likely to find? Pink, with just 249 used vehicles listed. 11. Age does appear to matter, at least when it comes to a used vehicle. Nearly half those listed at any one time (about 1.5 million) are model years 2007-2008. 12. Automatic transmissions outnumber manual 10 to 1 in the market for used vehicles. 13. Six cylinder vehicles are the most popular on the used car market, accounting for nearly a third of the total available (and roughly the combined total of both four cylinder and eight cylinder powered vehicles). The least likely number of engine cylinders? The 23 vehicles that were listed as being equipped with a 16-cylinder motor, among them a 2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur (just $122,000) and a 1938 Cadillac ($195,000). 14. Nearly half the used vehicles on the market come with air conditioning. Clearly, the marketing and sale of used vehicles is a big business. Like any other transaction, it's "buyer beware" and "buyer aware." Thankfully, well-known and respected sites (such as AOL Autos Used Cars) and sources such as CARFAX for checking a vehicle's history can help lower the risk to consumers. Sources: VAST.com (vehicles available as of July 21, 2008), CARFAX, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Three out of four transactions in the U.S. involve used vehicles . Average vehicle will likely have three owners in its lifetime . Pink is the least available color on the market, with just 249 used vehicles listed . Texas has more used vehicles than any other state .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Attorney General Eric Holder was decidedly noncommittal Thursday as he was buffeted on Capitol Hill by alternating demands to release -- or not -- more secret documents related to alleged torture, and to prosecute -- or not -- Bush administration officials who wrote and approved those documents. Attorney General Eric Holder testifies before a U.S. House subcommittee on Thursday. Holder was scheduled to appear before a House committee to discuss the Justice Department budget, but lawmakers threw away the script and overwhelmed him with pointed questions about the memos and accountability for the interrogation policies. The toughest exchanges were with the top Republican in the session, Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia. Wolf insisted Holder provide still-secret documents which former Vice President Dick Cheney says detail valuable intelligence gained from the use of the harsh techniques against captured suspected terrorists. "You have an obligation to release the rest of the memos," Wolf demanded. But Holder said he had no knowledge of documents that might contain the information to which Cheney referred. "I'm not familiar with those memos. I frankly have not seen them. I don't know that they exist," Holder said. When Holder said he doesn't control all of the documents, Wolf complained Holder was trying to duck responsibility "just because the documents might be in a different building." "It is certainly the intention of this administration not to play hide and seek, or not to release certain things," Holder replied. "It is not our intention to try to advance a political agenda or to try to hide things from the American people," he said. As Republican lawmakers complained about the administration's release of four documents last week that had authorized waterboarding and other controversial methods, Democrats praised the release. Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wisconsin, said torture is illegal and those responsible for its use have to be held personally accountable. Representatives of liberal organizations including MoveOn.org, Democrats.com and the American Civil Liberties Union were in the hearing room seeking to cajole Holder and other administration officials to appoint a special prosecutor to press charges against Bush administration officials. "The Justice Department is obligated to appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate these crimes," said Mandy Simon of the ACLU. She said representatives of the groups had provided to Assistant Attorney General Lee Loftus a disk containing the signatures of about 260,000 individuals demanding the outside prosecutor be appointed. Holder was not asked whether he would seek an outside counsel, but indicated he was waiting for more information from pending reports. He said a key report on the actions of Bush Justice Department officials involved in drafting the controversial legal guidance would be completed "soon" and he hopes to make it public.

On Capitol Hill, Republicans criticize initial release of four interrogation memos . They say memos referenced by Dick Cheney should be released for complete picture . Liberal groups demand special prosecutor to press charges against Bush officials . Attorney general remains noncommittal on additional releases or any prosecutions .

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- An actor who played a wannabe mobster in "The Sopranos" was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for a botched burglary that left an off-duty New York police officer dead. Lillo Brancato Jr. appeared on "The Sopranos" and played alongside Robert De Niro in "A Bronx Tale." The Bronx County District Attorneys Office had sought the maximum of 15 years for Lillo Brancato Jr., who was convicted last month of attempted burglary stemming from a fatal encounter with police officer Daniel Enchautegui. Before the sentencing, Enchautegui's sister addressed the court to deliver a victim impact statement. Enchautegui, 28, was shot in the chest when he interrupted an alleged break-in at a neighbor's home in the Bronx but managed to shoot both suspects multiple times before dying. Brancato was cleared in Enchautegui's death, but his accomplice, Steven Armento, 51, was convicted in the shooting and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. During the trial, lawyers for Brancato argued that there was not a break-in. Brancato testified that he knew the owner of the home, a Vietnam veteran who had given him permission to enter the house and take painkillers or other pills whenever he wanted. Brancato testified that he and Armento, 51, were drinking at a strip club when they decided to go hunt for valium. He admitted breaking a window at the home but said it was strictly because he was going through intense heroin withdrawal that night and was trying to wake up his friend to get drugs. Brancato appeared on six episodes of the hit HBO series "The Sopranos" in 2000. As a teen, he starred alongside actor Robert De Niro in "A Bronx Tale."

Prosecutors sought 15 years for Lillo Brancato Jr. for attempted burglary . Last month, Brancato was cleared in officer's death during alleged home invasion . Actor said homeowner allowed him to enter home to get drugs when needed . Brancato played a wannabe mobster on "The Sopranos"

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Editor's note: Alvin F. Poussaint, MD, is professor of psychiatry at Judge Baker Children's Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, and co-author with Bill Cosby of "Come On People: On the Path From Victims to Victors," 2007. Dr. Alvin Poussaint says while we salute King and Obama, there's more work to be done. BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Today, one day before the inauguration of the first African-American president, the Martin Luther King Jr. observance hailing civil rights gains will be combined with jubilation over Barack Obama's historic achievement. The festivities this year portend a new direction for the King holiday. On Monday, we salute King-and-Obama. And on Tuesday, we salute Obama-and-King, as the Rev. Joseph Lowery, co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with King, gives the benediction after Obama's swearing-in. The events juxtapose two African-American icons in the march toward racial equality. Traditional tributes to King are likely to be overshadowed by Obama's game-changing win; his success, despite racial barriers, mistakenly leads many Americans to believe that King's rallying cries may be outdated. For example, at most celebrations, the "I Have a Dream" speech is highlighted. With the election of Obama, many are saying that we have fulfilled King's dream. So will the "dream" speech be appreciated only as a powerful historical moment rather than a vision for the future? I hope not. But other perspectives may change as well. In stirring oratory, King said he had a dream that one day his four children would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. But now, since Obama's accomplishment, scores of people -- including African Americans -- feel we have reached that goal, despite obvious remnants of racial discrimination. In fact, some conservatives are using Obama's success to argue against the need for affirmative action. Similarly, King's oft-quoted words: "I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you ..." will resonate in a different way because of Obama's startling election. I have heard many reports from black people themselves that the president-elect has taken us symbolically to that elusive Promised Land. While Obama's win may have taken the edge off some of King's inspirational rhetoric, it should not lead to complacency in the fight for social justice. There is still much work to be done. Obama's election does not solve the many problems facing the African-American community. We will continue to face disparities in health care, including an infant mortality rate twice as high as whites, and 20 percent of blacks still lack basic health insurance, according to government statistics.. High rates of crime and violence, with homicide as the leading cause of death for young black men, demoralizes black neighborhoods. In many communities, the high school dropout rate exceeds 50 percent. That dropout rate for many is a ticket to prison, where blacks make up nearly 40 percent of inmates, according to the Justice Department. Racial profiling has not ended, and there continue to be horrific incidents of police brutality against blacks. This compounds family stress at a time when federal government data shows 70 percent of black children are born to single mothers and African-American unemployment is twice the rate of whites. These challenges were there before the dramatic economic downturn of recent months; they will get worse if there are no interventions. Obama is doing his share by reinvigorating King's primary theme of helping others by urging Americans' commitment to the King Day of Service, established by Congress in 1994. His emphasis on volunteering is an appropriate extension of King's ultimate mission. People cannot simply have high expectations about what Obama can do for them but must also work as individuals and communities to support his programs to help pull the United States out of its economic and social crises. This January, the link established between the civil rights achievements of King's dream and Obama's triumph will be etched in our minds. That is not a bad thing. It gives us an opportunity to broaden the celebrations on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The King holiday would be enhanced by recognizing other modern civil rights icons as well. Luminaries such as Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, John Lewis, Andrew Young, Fannie Lou Hamer, Stokely Carmichael, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., Dorothy Height, Bob Moses and a host of others should not be allowed to fade into the background. Without diminishing the extraordinary legacy of MLK, other leaders who have contributed to the emancipation of black Americans should be remembered. Obama's watershed moment brings a new spirit to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance. Eventually, I hope due credit will be given to all those fighters whose shoulders Obama stood on to secure the ultimate prize: the presidency of the United States. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dr. Alvin Poussaint.

Alvin Poussaint says this year's Martin Luther King Jr. Day is special . He says it's a prelude to inauguration of first African-American president . Poussaint: It's a mistake to think Obama's election means King's dream is done . He says we still have a long way to go to ensure all races have equal opportunity .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is set to deliver the Republican response to President Obama's upcoming joint address to Congress, a high-profile slot the party often gives to one of its rising stars. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, 37, will give GOP response to President Obama's address to Congress this month. "Gov. Jindal embodies what I have long said: The Republican Party must not be simply the party of 'opposition,' but the party of better solutions," House Minority Leader John Boehner said in a Wednesday statement. Jindal, a former congressman in his first term as Louisiana's governor, was widely believed to be on Republican presidential nominee John McCain's short list for vice president, and he often served as a campaign surrogate on the Arizona senator's behalf. The 37-year-old son of Indian immigrants also was given a prime-time speaking slot at the GOP convention last September, though he ultimately decided not to attend the four-day event as Hurricane Gustav headed for landfall in his state. An Ivy League grad and Rhodes Scholar, and his state's first nonwhite governor, Jindal has long been on the GOP's radar screen as a potential future leader and likely presidential candidate. And as the GOP is launching full-scale efforts to appeal to nonwhite voters, Jindal has become one of the party's most high-profile minorities. "His stewardship of the state of Louisiana, dedication to reforming government and commitment to bringing forth new and innovative ideas make him a leader not just within the Republican Party, but in our nation as a whole," Boehner also said of Jindal on Wednesday. Jindal, who became governor two years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged Louisiana, has drawn praise for spearheading the ongoing recovery efforts. "When you look at major statewide offices Republicans have won over the past three years, there is one, Louisiana," said Alex Castellanos, a CNN contributor and Republican strategist. "In a state where we lost confidence in government, perhaps more than any other state, he restored it and cut taxes." Though he is often mentioned as a likely contender for the 2012 Republican presidential race, Jindal has said his current focus is on winning reelection in 2011. Jindal also said late last year that even if he were considering running for president, now is the time to support the sitting president. "It doesn't matter whether you're Republican, Democrat or independent, it doesn't matter whether you voted for him or not, President-elect Barack Obama is our president," he said. The White House announced on Tuesday that Obama will deliver the annual State of the Union address to both houses of Congress on February 24. In 2008, Democrats tapped Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius -- then considered to be a possible vice presidential candidate -- to give the rebuttal speech to former President Bush's final State of the Union address. Other Democrats who delivered responses to Bush's State of the Unions include Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, and former Washington Gov. Gary Locke, the nation's first Chinese-American governor. The last Republican to deliver a response to a State of the Union address was Maine Sen. Susan Collins in 2000.

Jindal embodies image as "party of better solutions," House Minority leader says . The Ivy League grad and Rhodes Scholar is viewed as a likely presidential candidate . The first-term governor has drawn praise for spearheading Katrina recovery efforts . President Obama will deliver The State of the Union address on February 24 .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- It was a night for neon pink bow ties and words like "disaster" and "monstrosity." It was not the night, however, to be Paris Hilton, Mike Myers or Uwe Boll. Paula Einstein, Rebecca Marcotte and Kelie McIver do a parody of "Dancing Queen" to open the show. The 29th Annual Golden Raspberry Awards honored the worst film achievements of the year in a small theater in Hollywood on February 21. The night opened with a parody of the "Mamma Mia" song, "Dancing Queen," and ended with "Love Guru" being named worst picture. "It wasn't just the economy that tanked, so did the qualities of the movies being offered," Razzie founder John Wilson told CNN several weeks before the show. "I would suggest putting away all sharp [instruments] before putting the DVDs in your machine." Paris Hilton and Mike Myers came out on top -- or bottom -- for the awards. Hilton earned both the worst actress and worst supporting actress awards for her roles in "Hottie & the Nottie" and "Repo: The Genetic Opera." She was also awarded worst screen couple for her on-screen time with her co-stars Christine Lakin and Joel David Moore. Razzie host Gretchen Enders said that "Hottie & the Nottie" was "a vanity production in the worst sense... Hilton, who served as executive producer, has no one to blame but herself." Hilton's film had a budget of $2 million but only earned about $27,000 at the box office. "Under Obama's new plan, they wouldn't even have to pay taxes," Wilson deadpanned. Myers added worst actor to the "Love Guru" worst picture and worst screenplay Razzies. To save anyone else from having to watch it, Wilson shredded a DVD copy of the film on stage. Parody films "Disaster Movie" and "Meet the Spartans," each nominated in five categories, came away empty-handed. However, that doesn't mean the Razzie foundation thinks they were worthwhile. "When you invest the kind of money that a mainstream, big-budget star film requires, you want some insurance that your investment is going to come back to you. So... you're going to do what worked before," Wilson said. "Financially that may make sense, but in terms of the audience's enjoyment, surprise or appreciation of what you're doing, it doesn't work." Enter "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," this year's winner of the worst prequel, remake, rip-off or sequel award. "A fourth installment of a beloved franchise, but this one found itself loved by almost no one," hosts Katsy Chappell and Josh Thoemke said. The approximately 740 voting members of the Raspberry Foundation also found Pierce Brosnan's singing voice sorely lacking. His role in "Mama Mia" earned him the worst supporting actor award. "An actor who could not sing, should not sing and arguably did not sing, in a role he should not have accepted," Razzie hosts Chip Dornell and Kelie McIver said about the former James Bond. But perhaps the biggest "winner" of the night was Uwe Boll. Recipient of the worst director award, the foundation also recognized his lifetime work with the worst career achievement award. Boll is the "worst living director on Earth," Wilson told CNN. Boll had a sense of humor about his Razzie success. He sent in a video rejection speech from a fake set of Darfur, Sudan, saying the Razzies had ruined his life and he would never be back. The Razzie team is already predicting next year's nominees. A few to watch out for: "Hannah Montana," "Friday the 13th" and "Bride Wars," -- the last of which has already grossed more than $50 million. "It's kind of like watching a train wreck, isn't it?" Wilson said.

Razzies honor worst film achievements of the past year . Mike Myers, Paris Hilton each won three Razzies . "Indiana Jones" won worst prequel, remake, rip-off or sequel award .

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(CNN) -- Software giant Microsoft is offering a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of hackers behind a powerful computer virus that could lead to millions of PCs being hijacked. Experts say a single infected laptop could expose an entire network to the worm. Experts have so far been baffled by the true purpose of the Conficker or Downadup virus, but have described its spread as one of the most serious infections ever seen. The worm exploits a bug in Microsoft Windows to infect mainly corporate networks, then -- although it has yet to cause any harm -- it opens a link back to its point of origin, meaning it can receive further orders to wreak havoc. Microsoft has issued a patch to fix the bug, however if a single machine is infected in a large network, it will spread unchecked -- often reinfecting machines that have been disinfected. The threat from the virus prompted Microsoft in collaboration with other technology industry names to this week announce a $250,000 reward for information to track down those behind Conficker. "As part of Microsoft's ongoing security efforts, we constantly look for ways to use a diverse set of tools and develop methodologies to protect our customers," said George Stathakopoulos, of Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing Group. Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at anti-virus firm F-Secure says the true scope of the virus is not known, but in the past 24 hours his company monitored Conficker signals from two million Internet protocol addresses. "That's a lot," he told CNN. "And one IP address here does not mean one infected computer, it means at least one infected computer. "Many of those IP addresses are obviously company proxies or firewalls, hiding hundreds of more infections behind it. Unfortunately this also makes it impossible to estimate the total count of infected systems. "So it's still big. Very big." Microsoft has previously paid out similar rewards to informants who helped identify the creator of Sasser, another notorious worm let loose in 2004. The perpetrator was tracked to Germany, where he was sentenced a year later.

Software giant Microsoft offers $250,000 bounty to catch Conficker author . Industry analysts say is one of the most serious infections they have ever seen . The worm exploits a bug in Microsoft's ubiquitous Windows software . Virus could allow its creators to hijack entire networks .

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JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Heavy rains smashed through a dam near Indonesia's capital Friday, unleashing a torrent of water that plowed into hundreds of homes and killed at least 52 people in what some survivors described as a suburban "tsunami." Members of a search and rescue team look for bodies around upended trees and vehicles near Jakarta Friday. Sleeping residents were taken by surprise by the powerful flash flood as it crashed through Jakarta's crowded Cirendeu suburb, in the early hours of the morning. Rescue crews suspended their search for survivors overnight Friday evening, the National Disaster Coordination Agency said. The agency put the death toll at 52 with 17 missing. It said 33 people were injured and 1,490 left homeless. The Indonesian Health Ministry put the death toll higher at 58 people. After the deluge, drenched, injured and shivering survivors took refuge on the rooftops of their homes as rescuers in rubber boats struggled to reach them. Social affairs spokesman official Mardjito, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said relief efforts were being hampered by debris from the dam. "We're still trying to get into the houses, but the problem is, mud is getting in our way," he said. Pictures from the scene showed the pulverized ruins of wooden buildings emerging as brown muddied waters subside. Watch scenes of the flood devastation » . Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, currently on the campaign trail ahead of elections later this year, said he had ordered senior ministers to visit the scene of the disaster. "On behalf of the government, I express my condolences to the families of the dead victims and may their souls be accepted by God almighty," he said, according to the official Antara news agency. The rain obliterated a 255-meter-long section of the dam at around 4 am local time, releasing a wall of water from the 20-hectare lake that some survivors said reminded them of the tsunami that hit Indonesia in 2004. "They said they had heard loud rumbling sounds like during a powerful earthquake. They later found out that the sounds came from the water rushing out from the dam's lake," Antara said. Survivors told stories of dead relatives and harrowing brushes with death as they struggled to escape rising waters. Dewi Masitoh, a 40-year-old housewife, told the AFP news agency that she escaped with her husband and two daughters after they saw rising water reach the door of their stilt house. "We were on the second floor but my daughter went back downstairs when the window broke and water gushed in. My husband jumped in and pulled her out of the water by her neck. "I punched a hole through the roof and we all climbed up through," she said, showing cuts and scratches on her arms." Floods from heavy rains are an annual occurrence around Jakarta, a low lying city on the northern coast of Java island, where poor infrastructure often results in polluted canals and rivers spilling their banks and spilling into thousands of homes. In 2007, 38 people were killed and 430,000 forced from their homes when storm waters three meters deep in some places swamped 75 percent of the capital, which is home to about 9 million people. With poor sanitation and a hot and humid climate, the risk of water-borne diseases is usually a major concern following floods in the city, where mosquito-transmitted malaria is also a threat. CNN's Andy Saputra contributed to this report.

Death at now at least 52 from dam burst in Jakarta . Survivors say rumbling of waters rushing from dam sounded like earthquake . Rescuers are having difficulties reaching people because of mud .

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan has arrested a suspected al Qaeda militant who intelligence officials say is tied to the London subway bombings in 2005, authorities there said Thursday. The double-decker bus damaged by a bomb in central London on July 7, 2005. Zabih al-Taifi was arrested in a village near Peshawar on Wednesday as part of ongoing security operations in the area, police and intelligence officials told CNN. Six others, both Afghans and Pakistanis, were also arrested. The Metropolitan Police Service in London, also known as Scotland Yard, issued a statement refusing to comment on the arrest. "Speculation around this reported arrest with alleged links to an ongoing terrorist trial is unhelpful and may be prejudicial to current criminal proceedings," it said. The London blasts killed 52 people and wounded at least 900 others when bombs went off on three subway trains and a bus on July 7, 2005. Security analysts say the village where al-Taifi was arrested in the North West Frontier Province has been the site of recent clashes between Pakistani security forces and militants. CNN's Zein Basravi contributed to this report.

Officials say arrested al Qaeda militant has ties to 2005 London subway bombings . 52 killed, 900 wounded from bombs on 3 subway trains and a bus on July 7, 2005 . Zabih al-Taifi arrested in village near Peshawar in ongoing security operations .

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(CNN) -- Comedian and TV host Stephen Colbert has warned NASA to name a new wing of the international space station after him or he would "seize power as space's evil tyrant overlord." Stephen Colbert threatened NASA that he might become "space's evil tyrant overlord." A NASA spokesman said the U.S. space agency is aware of Colbert's threat, issued Monday night on Comedy Central's "Colbert Report," but no decision will be made on the node's name until next week. Colbert topped NASA's online poll soliciting names for the wing, with 230,539 of the more than 1.1 million votes cast, according to NASA spokesman John Yembrick. The runner-up was Serenity, which Colbert said is not an appropriate name. "That's not a space station," Colbert said. "That's an adult diaper." Serenity was the name of a spaceship in the television series "Firefly," which spawned a 2005 movie. The contest rules spelled out that NASA reserves the right to "ultimately select a name in accordance with the best interests of the agency. ... Such name may not necessarily be one which is on the list of voted-on candidate names." NASA's hedging prompted a Pennsylvania congressman to urge the agency to name the node after the comedian. "The people have spoken, and Stephen Colbert won it fair and square, even if his campaign was a bit over the top," Rep. Chaka Fattah said. Fattah sits on the congressional committee that oversees NASA's funding. "NASA, I urge you to heed Congressman Fattah's call for democracy in orbit," Colbert said. "Either name that node after me, or I, too, will reject democracy and seize power as space's evil tyrant overlord." NASA's Yembrick said he watched Colbert's show Monday, but he would not directly respond to his "evil tyrant overlord" threat. "We think it's great that he and his audience are taking an interest," Yembrick said. Several media outlets have reported that NASA is working on a compromise in which it would slap the droll Colbert's name on a piece of "mission essential" equipment in the new wing: the toilet. Colbert's loyal fans, lovingly called the Colbert Nation, have in the past bombarded polls to have things named after their idol. Thanks to them, the comedian out-polled every other name in a bridge-naming contest in Hungary. The country's government later said it cannot name the bridge after him because he does not speak Hungarian and is not deceased. Colbert also tried to get himself on Democratic and Republican primary ballots in his home state of South Carolina in 2007. The Democratic Party's executive council voted against his inclusion, and he did not qualify for the Republican primary because he missed the deadline. But ice-cream maker Ben and Jerry named a flavor in honor of him, Colbert's AmeriCone Dream. And Virgin America named one of its planes Air Colbert.

TV host's name topped poll seeking new name for space station wing . NASA says no decision will be made until next week . Pennsylvania lawmaker has thrown backing behind Colbert . Some media outlets say NASA may put Colbert's name on toilet .

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(CNN) -- President Obama's address to Congress was full of lofty promises to make unprecedented investments in government programs, even as he aims to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term. President Obama on Tuesday outlined an ambitious agenda to help revive the economy. But it takes more than a proposal to bring about real change. Will Obama be able to meet his goals? CNN political analyst David Gergen says the answer will be "one of the greatest political dramas of our time." White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says the budget Obama sends to Capitol Hill Thursday will help show how the president plans to tackle his ambitious agenda. Here's a look at some of Obama's goals, and what experts are saying about them. Economy . Promise: "To ensure that a crisis of this magnitude never happens again, I ask Congress to move quickly on legislation that will finally reform our outdated regulatory system." Promise: "I held a fiscal summit where I pledged to cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term in office." Promise: "My administration has also begun to go line by line through the federal budget in order to eliminate wasteful and ineffective programs. As you can imagine, this is a process that will take some time, but we have already identified $2 trillion in savings over the next decade." Analysis: Democratic strategist Lisa Caputo said so far, Obama is taking the right steps to revive the economy, but the country needs to see his plans put into action. He's already passed a massive stimulus bill, and he has a housing bill and a banking regulatory reform bill in the works. "He's doing all the right things. Hopefully he'll come forth with a balanced budget. ... He's saying all of the right things. He's got to do them," she said. Republican strategist and CNN contributor Ed Rollins pointed out that what Obama did was put forth proposals, not an action plan. "This was a speech about aspirations. There was not a strategy or the details. They may come later, but it's an overly ambitious program, and if he can accomplish just the financial part of it, he'll move the country forward," he said. The success of Obama's budget goals will fall heavily on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Rollins said. "Can she control her members? The last two years the Congress has controlled the spending, it's been a Democrat Congress. It's still a Democrat Congress and will be for the foreseeable future. There's a lot of pet projects these people want, there's a lot of entitlements that people aren't willing to cut," he said. Larry Winget, a personal finance expert, said he agrees with everything that Obama said needs to be done, but said he doesn't agree that the country can borrow or spend its way out of debt. "If you came to me and said, 'I'm in a financial crisis, I've screwed up everything based on all of my bad decisions, what should I do?' the last thing in the world I would tell you is to go borrow more money or go try to spend something that -- money you don't have on something you don't need," he said. Winget said instead, the country should work its way out of debt. "The practical thing would be to put more money in the hands of people, which would always go back to, we need to give bigger ... tax cuts," he said. Education . Promise: "By 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. That is a goal we can meet." Promise: "It will be the goal of this administration to ensure that every child has access to a complete and competitive education, from the day they are born to the day they begin a career. That is a promise we have to make to the children of America." Analysis: Rollins pointed out that this is the first time the federal government is taking a such a major role in education. "We have $59 billion in this year's education budget. We added another $100 billion to build schools and do those things. That's never been the role of the federal government. So it's a whole new way to go, and obviously if it works, it may benefit the country," he said. CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley said Obama's proposals are just the start of a new direction. "It is the beginning of shaping the country differently when it comes to a lot of these programs. And the different shape, again, is a more liberal shape of the country, than really the conservative country it has been since Ronald Reagan," she said. Energy . Promise: "We will invest $15 billion a year to develop technologies like wind power and solar power, advanced biofuels, clean coal, and more efficient cars and trucks built right here in America." Promise: "Thanks to our recovery plan, we will double this nation's supply of renewable energy in the next three years." Watch Obama say, 'It begins with energy' » . Analysis: Lakshman Achuthan, managing director of the Economic Cycle Research Institute, said Obama laid out a "tall order" of what needs to be done, and tried to show how everything is connected. "So he showed, here's the short term, which is stimulus, banking, housing. Here's the longer term: If we want to own the century, we have to deal with energy, education, health, for example, and connecting those things," he said. "And one of the critical things is that it's not clear -- you know, the stimulus is great, we passed it, but it doesn't work unless the banks lend. The banks won't lend unless the housing sector stabilizes. So, it's -- this is much tougher than chewing gum and walking at the same time," he said. Health care . Promise: "[The recovery plan] makes the largest investment ever in preventive care, because that's one of the best ways to keep our people healthy and our costs under control." Promise: "To preserve our long-term fiscal health, we must also address the growing cost in Medicare and Social Security. Comprehensive health care reform is the best way to strengthen Medicare for years to come, and we must also begin a conversation on how to do the same for Social Security, while creating tax-free universal savings accounts for all Americans." Watch Obama explain his plans for health care reform » . Analysis: Larry Elder, a libertarian commentator, thought that Obama gave a "great political speech" but Elder questioned the president's economics. "I just wish he was a limited-government, personal-responsibility, hard-core-fiscal-responsibility Republican, which, of course, he isn't. Look, he's got a faith in government that I don't share," he said. "Whenever I hear somebody talk about investing in health care, investing in education, investing in energy, I put my hand on my wallet and I say, 'These guys are not good stewards of your money the way you are of your own money.' " Pamela Gentry, a senior political analyst with BET, said Obama's big promises will keep people watching because they play to the drama of this presidency. Health care, she said, will be the issue to watch. "Health care has got to be one of the toughest ones. I mean, Medicare is the second largest budget after defense. So, if he can pull this off, it would be remarkable," she said. Gibbs said Wednesday that the president is well aware of the difficulty of reforming health care. "But he understands the only way to do that is bring together the stakeholders on both sides of the aisle, business and labor, doctors, providers. That process will begin next week here to discuss health care reform," he said. But, Gibbs said, the president doesn't plan on setting any "artificial deadlines" to pass health care reform. Military . Promise: "To relieve the strain on our forces, my budget increases the number of our soldiers and Marines. And to keep our sacred trust with those who serve, we will raise their pay and give our veterans the expanded health care and benefits that they have earned." Analysis: Patricia Murphy, editor of Citizen Jane Politics, said she thought Obama's speech was strong, but she didn't follow Obama's math. Watch: How to cut defense spending » . "The problem in this speech, I think, is his promise to cut the deficit in half and layering on program after program after program, saying we'll pull the troops out of Iraq, but we'll increase the size of the military. Those numbers don't add up," she said. CNN contributor Roland Martin on Tuesday compared Obama to rapper Kanye West. Martin: Obama's ambitious agenda is a good thing . All of the president's promises -- fixing health care, fixing the economy, halving the deficit, boosting funds to troops, curing cancer, achieving energy independence and solving Pakistan's problems, to name a few -- are just the markers in terms of his presidency, Martin said. "Sort of when like Kanye West had his new album, and he said, 'I want to make it as bad as Stevie Wonder's [Songs in the Key of Life].' ... He said, 'If it doesn't get to that, it's still a great album.' "[Obama] is a guy who is saying, a president who's saying, 'Look, I want to raise the stakes.' And, so, isn't it amazing that we're sitting here, saying, 'Wow, an ambitious president'? Well, shouldn't we have an ambitious president? Shouldn't we have a president saying, 'We can do more'?"

President Obama promises to halve deficit by 2013 . Experts support Obama's proposals, but want details on the action plan . Obama sets high goals for economy, energy, education, health care . CNN contributor Roland Martin likens Obama to Kanye West .

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(CNN) -- Forty-four people were killed during an attack on a wedding party in Turkey's southeastern Mardin province Monday. A child lies wounded on a stretcher following the attack by gunmen on the wedding party. The casualties, which included the bride and groom, were slain while many of them were praying, authorities said. Three others were injured and eight people were detained in the attack sparked by a feud between families, said Besir Atalay, Interior Minister of Turkey. There were 17 women and six children among the dead, said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "It is inhuman beyond words to open fire on people including a one-year old child who were having a wedding, living a happy moment, praying," Erdogan said. "The fact that the eight suspects and the victims who died have the same surname increases cruelty of this murder." The assailants attacked the party in the small village of Bilge with bombs and automatic weapons, according to the Cihan news agency. With only 32 households in the village there were too many victims to fit into the local morgue, authorities said. Some of the victims had the same last name, Celebi, as the suspects who were detained, Atalay added. The bride, Sevgi Celebi, and groom, Habip Ari, both died in the attack, Anatolian Agency, Turkey's semi-official news agency, reported. The chief and the former chief of the village were among those killed in the attack, the agency added. Police have blocked access to the village while they conduct their investigation. Mardin Mayor Besir Ayanoglu told Turkish television network NTV that the incident was not terror related. CNN's Ivan Watson and Yesmin Comert contributed to this report.

Turkish PM: 17 women and six children among the dead . Bombs, automatic weapons used in attack, Cihan news agency reports . Three people critically wounded, says office of province's governor . Attack happens at wedding party in Turkey's southeastern Mardin province .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Opponents of controversial plans to use hybrid human-animal embryos for research spoke out Tuesday, calling the practice unnecessary, unnatural, and reprehensible a day after British lawmakers voted to allow it. Advocates of hybrid cells say animal eggs from which a nucleus has been removed are simply "empty shells." The British parliament debated the issue Monday as part of its discussion of the Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill, which will update legislation on reproduction and embryos. "Crossing the species barrier in this way is deeply, deeply reprehensible, undesirable," said Josephine Quintavalle, a bioethicist who founded Comment on Reproductive Ethics (CORE). The research involves emptying an animal egg and filling it with human cells. The resulting embryo is allowed to develop for 14 days -- during which time scientists harvest the stem cells -- before being destroyed. Scientists hope working with those stem cells will lead to treatments for serious conditions like motor neuron disease, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's, and they say using hybrids overcomes the shortage of human embryos. "The use of animal eggs will provide a valuable resource to embryo research scientists," argued Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo. Lawmakers were allowed to vote according to conscience and the legislation passed comfortably, though not without opposition. "If an embryo could talk, perhaps it would echo what Mary Shelley did say in 'Frankenstein': 'I, the miserable and the abandoned, an abortion to be spurned out and kicked and trampled on,'" Conservative Party lawmaker Edward Leigh told parliament. Supporters of the research dispute the numerous "Frankenstein" references and say it does not create monsters. Stephen Minger, director of the stem cell biology lab at King's College in London, said the practice begins with the removal of an animal egg's nucleus, which contains all of the chromosomes, thereby stripping the egg of its "species identity." "It's an empty shell," Minger said. "By putting a human cell -- not just a nucleus, but in our case an intact human cell -- into the egg, you confer a human genetic identity onto that." The approved bill creates a legal framework for the scientific research on hybrid embryos. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown feels so strongly about the benefits of the research that he wrote a column Sunday in The Observer newspaper calling it an "inherently moral endeavor," but ethics groups and others disagree. "I think we all know that we don't reproduce with animals," Quintavalle said. "Humans do not reproduce with animals. Whether it's done in the laboratory or not doesn't make it right." Quintavalle urged the government and the scientific community to wait until a new method of research emerges which does not mix animal and human genetic material. Human Genetics Alert, a secular independent watchdog, said it found defects among existing hybrid embryos which raise doubts about whether mixed embryos can produce useful stem cells. "I'm very, very unimpressed with the scientific case for doing that," said David King, a former molecular biologist who now heads the HGA. "The science is so weak and the ethical concerns are so significant, I think you have to weigh that." The scientific arguments in favor of the research have been "overhyped," King said, and offer no hope of a cure for those suffering with genetic disorders. "Very little, I think, will come out of it and I think hopes are being raised that will be cruelly disappointed," King said. The Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill was drawn up in 1990, when science and government were unaware that current hybrid-embryo developments were possible, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health told CNN. The original bill did allow the mixing of human and animal eggs, but only for the purpose of testing the fertility of human sperm, said the spokeswoman, who declined to be named in line with policy. The practice was known as the "hamster test" because hamster eggs were used. The revised bill now allows hybrid embryos for further research but specifies they may not be placed in a woman or an animal, the spokeswoman said. Also, those using the embryos must prove that the use is for research, and that use of an embryo is necessary, she said. Creating hybrid embryos is not the only way to develop useful stem cells, said Minger. A new method called pluripotency, developed in December, allows scientists to turn adult cells into something resembling an embryonic stem cell, he said. Pluripotency, however, requires extensive genetic manipulation of the cells and yields few that are of use to research, Minger said. "We will pursue that (research) but it's just too early to know which is the best approach," Minger said. "Most rational scientists would say we need to proceed down as many tracks as possible because we just have no idea what's going to lead to the best benefit." CNN's Phil Black contributed to this report.

UK lawmakers approve bill allowing use of hybrid embryos in stem cell research . Opponents describe controversial technique as "deeply, deeply reprehensible" Advocates say use of animal embryos helps overcome shortage of human embryos . Scientists say stem cells have potential to cure conditions such as Parkinson's .

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A yellow taxi sits idle at Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, leaving its Somali immigrant driver visibly frustrated. Abdullah Hagi, a cabdriver in Atlanta, Georgia, has had to cut back on expenses as the economy has declined. "I've been here two hours, and you're my first customer," Abdullahi Hagi, formerly of Mogadishu, said as he tightened his grip on the leather-bound steering wheel. "When the economy is bad, people don't ride cabs." Often considered a bellwether for consumer spending, cabdrivers and the tough times they now face could mean worse times for relatives living in places like Somalia, where war and famine have made remittances from emigres like Hagi more important. Amid a financial crunch that has many of Hagi's customers feeling the pinch, fewer fares and mounting bills have not stopped him from sending a big chunk of his paycheck home to his family. Despite a bit more empty space in his hand-stitched wallet, Hagi said he has worked out a solution to keep his family fed back home. He is pooling his paycheck with fellow cabdrivers. Watch how cabbie gets by with less » . An informal lending system has emerged in major U.S. cities, akin to an old-world style of community banking that is fending off starvation in places like Somalia. In Atlanta, cabdrivers lend to each other based on need, depending whose family is in more dire straits. "I could never borrow from any bank," Hagi admits. "You take loans, not from institutions but from friends." However, Hagi is still struggling to make ends meet. "Should I pay the student loan or should I pay for my starving relatives?" he asked. "That's the kind of choice you've got to make every day." "Lately, it's been getting harder and harder to accumulate enough to survive and also send back home," he added, shifting his weight in the cab's cracked leather seats. "You try to cut corners in your lifestyle to be able to send money to your people because they're always in much worse condition -- always on the brink of collapse or starvation." Hagi and his family are not alone. Figures from the United Nations put nearly half of Somalia's population in need of humanitarian assistance, according to a report released in September. One in six Somali children under the age of 5 are acutely malnourished, the report found, and food is getting more costly. The price of sorghum, used for grain and found on the dinner plates of most Somali households, soared 600 percent since last year, according to a separate U.N. report. Civil war and drought have made food both scarce and a source of political power. Pitched battles between an Islamic insurgency and Ethiopian-backed transitional government forces have left thousands dead and rendered what many have called a "failed state" now teetering on the brink of its worst humanitarian crisis in over a decade, according to a World Food Program report. The United Nations says "all information indicates that the key factors driving this humanitarian crisis will continue to worsen over the coming months." That crisis, coinciding with a financial one that clobbered Wall Street and sent U.S. automakers begging for bailouts, may leave cabdrivers like Hagi facing the perfect storm. "You cut your groceries. You cut even the clothes you buy the kids. You cut everything," he said. "Whatever you can think of." There may not be much more to cut. For now, cabdrivers like Hagi are turning to each other to keep food on the family table back home.

U.S. economic woes take toll on Somali cabdrivers . Many Somali families depend on remittances to make ends meet . More cabdrivers start to lend to each other based on need . Nearly half of Somalia's population in need of humanitarian aid, according to U.N.

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NEWARK, New Jersey (CNN) -- The most "far-flung and exotic fugitive investigation ever conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service" ended early Sunday with convicted child molester Alan Horowitz in custody on U.S. soil. Alan Horowitz was convicted in 1991 on 34 counts of child molestation. Officers from the U.S. Marshals service arrested the 60-year-old at Newark Liberty International Airport after a 15-hour flight from New Delhi, India. The ordained Orthodox rabbi and former child psychologist was arrested on May 22 at a seaside resort in Mahabalipuram, India, according to parole officer Robert Georgia. An agent from the Diplomatic Security Service escorted him aboard the Continental Airlines flight, authorities said. He is being held at a correctional facility in New Jersey and will appear before an extradition judge on July 16th before being taken to New York to face a parole violation charge there. He also faces a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Watch Horowitz in custody at Newark airport » . A number of Internet tipsters in India were responsible for alerting the Marshal's service to Horowitz's whereabouts, said U.S. Marshal Gary Mattison, who was assigned to track down Horowitz last year. Horowitz served 13 years of a 10-20 year sentence for child molestation and was released on parole in 2004, authorities said. In June 2006, he fled the country shortly after meeting with his parole officer, setting off the manhunt that involved the Indian police, agents from the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service, and U.S. Marshals, U.S. Marshals told CNN. Horowitz's 1991 conviction was on 34 counts of child molestation in Schenectady, New York. A dual citizen of the United States and Israel, Horowitz has also been convicted of "perverted sexual practices" in Maryland, where he was found guilty of abusing one of his patients, federal marshals said. During the 1980s, while he was living in Israel, he was the subject of a police investigation into charges he was sexually abusing his second wife's children, according to the U.S. Marshal service. He also faced another sexual misconduct investigation while living in North Carolina, authorities say. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Katia Porzecanski contributed to this report.

Horowitz is an ordained Orthodox rabbi and a former child psychologist . He was escorted aboard the U.S.-bound flight by a U.S. agent, authorities say . Horowitz was subject of investigations in U.S., Israel; had multiple convictions .

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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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LONDON, England -- A severe rabies epidemic has claimed the lives of at least 83 children within three months in Angola's capital, Luanda, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. Luanda, which has a large population of stray dogs, also has some of the world's worst slums. Describing the situation as "very worrying," WHO rabies expert Francois Meslin told CNN: "This is a huge number and could be the tip of the iceberg." A doctor working at the country's biggest referral hospital Hospital Pediatrico David Bernardino said staff were unable to save any of the children as rabies vaccines had run out. Some of the children were also brought into the hospital too late to be saved, Luis Bernardino, head of the hospital told UN humanitarian organization IRIN. He warned that the number of deaths could be much higher. "The children were brought to our hospital and are the only ones we know of, so the number could be higher," Bernardino told IRIN. "It is a sad moment for us," he added. "I think it was probably that no one was prepared for such a high case load." The number of cases has now started declining, however, said Bernardino. According to Meslin, this could be because the current infected pack of dogs has died. Meslin told CNN that the Angolan government needed to embark on a dog rabies control program urgently to prevent further outbreaks. Angola's capital, where most of the population live in slums, has a large number of stray dogs who are said to have caused the epidemic. "We have had some sporadic cases in other provincial capitals in the country; we think the virus was brought into Luanda and then spread through the dogs -- Angolans love dogs," Bernardino said. "When the first 10 deaths were reported in December 2008 we alerted the authorities, but we do not have veterinary services in the city, no kennels [to keep and observe the animals] and vaccinate them," he added. Another problem contributing to the crisis is that vaccines are too expensive for the average family. "One dose of vaccine costs about $10 and five of those have to be administered, which makes the total cost of treatment $50 which is more than a month's salary for families in most developing countries," Meslin added. In 2008 the WHO wrote that rabies, a disease transmitted from animals with infected saliva to humans, is present on nearly every continent of the world but more that 95 per cent of human deaths occur in Asia and Africa. It can be prevented by vaccination, either prior to exposure or as part of post-exposure treatment. But once symptoms of the disease develop, rabies is fatal. According to the WHO, rabies can affect the lungs, stomach and central nervous systems. In the critical stage, a victim slips into a coma and death, usually due to breathing failure. More than 55,000 people die of rabies each year, the WHO wrote, with 30 to 60 per cent of the victims of dog bites being children under the age of 15.

A severe rabies epidemic has killed at least 83 children in 3 months in Angola . Francois Meslin, rabies expert at the WHO says this is cause for serious concern . Once symptoms develop, rabies is always fatal, according to the WHO .

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Editor's note: Dr. Anthony S. Fauci is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci: Progress has been made in the fight against HIV/AIDS, but "our work is just beginning." (CNN) -- When we commemorated the first World AIDS Day on December 1, 1988, we had little to celebrate. The number of reported AIDS cases in the United States was nearing 80,000 and rising rapidly. Untold thousands more in this country were living with the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. Globally, AIDS cases already had been reported from more than 135 countries. An AIDS tsunami clearly was looming, but we had few defenses at our disposal. For those of us caring for people with AIDS, it was a dark time. We had just one anti-HIV medicine in our pharmacies, AZT, a drug that the virus rapidly defeated by mutating and developing resistance. Lacking other medicines to slow the relentless replication of HIV and its destruction of a person's immune system, we did our best to help our patients by managing to the extent possible their AIDS-related infections and complications. But the life span of most of the patients was measured in months. Two decades later, much has changed. An unprecedented research effort has led to more than two dozen anti-HIV drugs, more than for all other viral diseases combined. Taken in proper combinations, these medications have dramatically improved the prognosis for people living with HIV by increasing their life span by at least a decade and providing the possibility of a normal life span with continued therapy. Scientifically proven prevention approaches -- education and outreach to at-risk populations, voluntary HIV testing and counseling, condom distribution, prevention of HIV transmission from mother to baby, harm reduction approaches for drug abusers, mass-media campaigns and the screening of donated blood -- have been deployed with great success in the United States and many other countries. Innovative programs such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as well as the efforts of nongovernment organizations, have reached millions of people in low- and mid-income countries worldwide with HIV-related services, at a scale unimaginable a few years ago. And gradually -- but too slowly -- we have begun addressing AIDS-related stigma in this country and abroad. Much has been accomplished in the fight against HIV/AIDS from scientific, medical and public health standpoints. However, now is no time to rest on our accomplishments or our laurels. The statistics of the HIV/AIDS pandemic tell us that much more needs to be done. Around the world, a staggering 2.7 million people were infected in 2007 alone. Globally, 33 million people are living with HIV infection, most of them in the developing world. In the United States, more than 1 million people are living with HIV. And 56,000 more people are infected each year in the U.S., driving HIV prevalence rates in some of our communities to levels that rival those seen in sub-Saharan Africa. Gay and bisexual men, and African-Americans in general, are disproportionately affected. The true ground zero of the HIV epidemic in the United States is in those communities. What is the way forward? First, even in the face of a world economic crisis, the global community must scale up the delivery of proven HIV therapies and prevention services. In low- and middle-income countries, less than one-third of people in need of anti-HIV therapy are receiving it, and only one in five people at risk of HIV infection have access to prevention services. All around the world, access to HIV services -- and medical care in general -- remains a challenge in many poor communities. The global community must sustain our commitment to investing resources for medicines, clinics, as well as training and salaries for doctors, nurses and community health care workers to provide care for HIV/AIDS and other diseases in the settings where they occur. Here in the United States, more than one-fifth of people living with HIV are unaware of their infection and not receiving appropriate care for their own health or the prevention services that would help them avoid transmitting the virus to others. A frequent scenario is that people learn of their infection status only when they have advanced symptoms of HIV disease, when their health may by irreparably damaged. Now is the time for the medical community and policymakers to embrace U.S. guidelines for all Americans aged 13-64 to be voluntarily tested in routine medical care. Barriers to implementation of HIV testing guidelines, such as state, local or agency regulations that conflict with the recommendations, variability in payment coverage for the test, and concerns about the stigma and discrimination that may accompany an HIV diagnosis, must be addressed. Meanwhile, we also must continue to invest in the next generation of treatment and prevention modalities. Encouragingly, new means of preventing HIV infection are emerging from well-designed and well-implemented clinical research trials. One exciting concept is pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP, giving preventive doses of anti-HIV drugs to individuals who are at an increased risk of HIV infection. This still-experimental strategy is based on the concept that if HIV replication can be inhibited immediately following exposure to the virus, permanent infection might be thwarted. Multiple clinical studies of PrEP are under way in the United States and in populations around the world. Ongoing research to develop microbicidal gels or creams to be applied before sex offer the hope of people being able to protect themselves from HIV infection in situations where saying no to sex or insisting on condom use is not an option. Finally, a preventive HIV vaccine remains the greatest hope for halting the relentless spread of HIV/AIDS. We must solve the mystery of how to prompt the human body to produce a protective immune response against HIV, which natural infection with the virus seems unable to do. Historically, it has taken decades to find effective vaccines to combat most infectious diseases. Researchers usually experienced numerous setbacks and disappointments before reaching success, yet they persevered. Finding a safe and effective HIV vaccine demands an equally intense resolve. On this World AIDS Day, we should be proud of the many scientific advances that have been made in the fight against HIV/AIDS. But it is hardly a time for self-congratulation. Rather, we must understand that our work is just beginning. Developing HIV interventions and delivering them to the people who need them will require scientific and public health vision, and dedication from all sectors of society, in good times and bad. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dr. Anthony S. Fauci.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci: Access to HIV services, medical care a challenge in poor areas . Fauci: Preventive HIV vaccine is best hope for halting spread of HIV/AIDS . Medications improved prognosis for people living with HIV by increasing life spans . Prevention approaches, education, testing, counseling, condoms deployed .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- The polite hush that descends on the crowd seconds before service is nowhere to be heard when it comes to the issue of equal prize money in women's tennis. Australian Open champion Serena Williams pocketed $1.3 million for the tournament, the same as male winner Rafael Nadal. It may be two years since Wimbledon and the French Open joined the other major tournaments in offering women the same cash prize as men, but for some tennis fans the issue is far from resolved. "Admit it sisters," screamed one recent headline on Australian Web site AdelaideNow, "this is not equal." The author went on: "Political correctness, sexual equality and feminism all prevent many commentators from stating the bleeding obvious ... no sports watcher in their right minds could honestly say female tennis players, or golfers for that matter, deserve as much money as their male counterparts." The writer -- a woman -- went on to lambaste the world's best female tennis players, describing world number one Serena Williams' defeat of Dinara Safina in the Australian Open final as "embarrassing, pitiful and pathetic." "Her humiliation of Dinara Safina was a terrible advertisement for a sport that has apparently disappeared up its own backside." Rather than provoking a tirade of abuse, many readers agreed with the author, outspoken Australian journalist and sports commentator, Rebecca Wilson. "Right on the money. Women's tennis is boring. Typical game. "Ugh. Grunt. Ugh. Grunt. Ugh. Grunt. Out. Love-Fifteen," one said. Another added: "It's about time someone said what everyone was thinking." More chimed in: "Everyone agrees, few will say it" and "totally agree. Women's tennis is pathetic." A couple of dissenters in the crowd urged Wilson to turn her attentions elsewhere: "The usual tripe that Wilson dishes up week after week," and "please go away and let someone with something important to say use your space." What do you think? Do women deserve equal prize money in tennis? Sound Off below. Billie Jean King has heard it all before. The former world number one has spent a good part of the last forty years campaigning for equal prize money, and equal status, for women. The decision by the All England Tennis and Croquet Club in February 2007, and then the French Open one day later, to award equal prize money to women marked the end of a fight that started in 1968, the first year of Open tennis. "When Rod Laver won Wimbledon, he got £2,000. And when I won Wimbledon in the same year, 1968, I got £750," she told CNN in an interview filmed for this month's edition of "Revealed." "I knew then that was going to be one of our next battles that we would have to fight over the years," she added. King hoped to put the matter to rest in 1973 when she took on self-proclaimed male chauvinist Bobby Riggs in now famous match known as "The Battle of the Sexes." Riggs, a former men's number one, claimed the women's game was so poor that even he, as a 55-year-old retiree from the sport, could beat the top female players. King accepted the challenge and thrashed Riggs 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in front of a television audience of millions. Those who argue for lower pay for women's tennis say they play fewer sets and attract a smaller television audience so they should receive less money. Campaigners for equal pay say that it's not an issue of time on the court, but an matter of fair and equal treatment . As current world number six Venus Williams once argued in an open letter published in The Times, "we enjoy huge and equal celebrity and are paid for the value we deliver to broadcasters and spectators, not the amount of time we spend on the stage." What do you think? Should the top female tennis players be taking home the same prize money as men? Sound Off below. Revealed: Venus Williams airs on CNNI at on the dates and times below: . ALL TIMES GMT Wednesday, February 18: 0930, 1830 Saturday, February 21: 0830, 1900 Sunday, February 22: 0530, 1830 Monday, February 23: 0400 .

Issue of equal prize money for women's tennis continues to ignite debate . Journalist describes Serena Williams' defeat of Safina as "pitiful and pathetic" Wimbledon and the French Open introduced equal prize pots in 2007 . What do you think? Should female tennis players earn as much as men?

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The family of a retired FBI agent who was reported missing in Iran two years ago said Monday that they remain hopeful for his return. Photos from Robert Levinson's family show him in 2006, left, and as he might look today. Monday marks the second anniversary of the disappearance of Robert Levinson, a father of seven children and grandfather of two. "After two years of constantly praying for his return, we continue to anxiously await word of his whereabouts," said Christine Levinson, the missing man's wife, in a statement. "Two years [have passed] since our seven children and I last heard his voice, saw his warm, loving smile, and since we last hugged him hello or kissed him goodbye," she said. Tuesday will be Levinson's 61st birthday. Levinson disappeared during a business trip to Iran's Kish Island in 2007. Iranian authorities have said repeatedly that they do not know what might have happened to him, but the claim is widely doubted in the United States. "Since that day our family has been living a nightmare," Christine Levinson said. "This has brought so much darkness to our lives." Christine Levinson released a computer-enhanced photograph showing what the family thinks Bob Levinson may look like today. The State Department has consistently denied Levinson was working for the U.S. government and has unsuccessfully pressed Tehran for information about his whereabouts. "We reiterate our commitment to determining Mr. Levinson's welfare and whereabouts, and reuniting him with his family," acting State Department spokesman Robert Wood said in a statement on Sunday. Congressional reaction in Levinson's home state of Florida has been more pointed. "On several diplomatic occasions when Bob Levinson's name has been brought up to Iranian officials, the standard answer is, 'We don't know anything about that.' But the next thing out of the Iranian officials' mouths are to discuss the matter of the Iranians held by the Americans in Irbil, Iraq," Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, told reporters last month. "You can draw your own conclusions," he said. U.S. troops arrested five Iranians accused of being members of an elite Iranian military unit during a January 2007 raid in the Iraqi city of Irbil. The Iranians were accused of supporting Shiite militias in Iraq, but Iran said they were diplomats and accused the United States of violating international law by raiding a consulate. Nelson and Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Florida, have said they plan to introduce legislation in their respective chambers calling on Iran to cooperate with the United States and come up with information about Levinson. Levinson had been working as a private investigator in Dubai. He was last heard from on March 8, 2007, when he checked into a Kish Island hotel and then checked out to return to the United States the following day. Wexler has said Levinson never arrived at the airport for his flight home. In December 2007, Levinson's wife and other relatives traveled to Iran and met with officials. Christine Levinson has said the Iranian government was polite and guaranteed her family's security on their trip, but provided no details regarding her husband's whereabouts. "In the past two years, our family's grief has grown to despair," Christine Levinson said. The State Department is asking anyone with information about the case to contact the department or the Levinson family via their Web site, www.helpboblevinson.com. CNN'S Jill Dougherty contributed to this report.

Robert Levinson's family "constantly praying for his return," wife says . Levinson disappeared two years ago during trip to Iranian island . Iranians say they have no knowledge of missing man's whereabouts . Iranian claim is widely doubted in the United States .

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- The chairman of India's UB Group, which includes Bangalore-based Kingfisher Airlines and United Breweries, made the winning $1.8 million bid on a number of Mahatma Gandhi's personal items on auction. Mahatma Gandhi was known for his peaceful opposition to tyranny, which led to India's independence. Vijay Mallya was expected to return the items to the Indian government, according to CNN-IBN, CNN's sister station in India. Controversy surrounded the sale Thursday of Gandhi's items -- among them his metal-rimmed glasses, pocket watch, sandals, bowl and plate -- prompting the seller, James Otis, to ask that the items be withdrawn from the auction. India voiced strong objections to the auction. Its Ministry of External Affairs said the bidding would "commercialize and thereby demean the memory of the Father of the Nation and everything that he stood for in his life, beliefs and actions." On Tuesday, a New Delhi court issued an injunction to stop the sale. Watch the auction stoke high interest » . But the Antiquorum auction house in Manhattan went ahead with the auction as scheduled. The Indian government had rejected an offer from Otis, who had asked the Indian government to expand its spending on the poor in exchange for the items. India's government already spends a large amount of money on the country's disadvantaged sectors, India's culture minister Ambika Soni told reporters Thursday. Still, the government had hoped Otis would not allow the public to bid on the items. Soni, the culture minister, said that India's government exercised several options to stop the auction at the Antiquorum in New York. Gandhi, who waged a long struggle against British rule in India, was assassinated in New Delhi by a Hindu fanatic on January 30, 1948. He is still widely revered for his insistence on non-violent protest to achieve political and social progress. Many Indians believe selling Gandhi's items for profit is outrageous. "I feel very sad about it because Gandhi himself never believed in private possessions," said Varsha Das, director of India's National Gandhi Museum, using a term of endearment for Gandhi. "He gave away everything. He did not even have a home to live in." CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.

Mallya expected to return items to Indian government, CNN-IBN reports . India's Ministry of External Affairs: Bidding would "commercialize" Gandhi's memory . Controversy prompted seller James Otis to ask that items be withdrawn from auction .

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(CNN) -- Authorities who seized $8,500 and assorted jewelry from a Tennessee man after a traffic stop in east Texas have agreed to return the property after his case drew attention from CNN. Police in the small East Texas town of Tenaha are accused of unjustly taking valuables from motorists. Roderick Daniels said police in Tenaha, Texas, took the money in October 2007 after they stopped him for doing 37 mph in a 35-mph zone. He said police threatened him with money-laundering charges and promised not to prosecute if he signed over the cash, which Daniels said was to buy a new car. Daniels and other motorists who have been stopped by Tenaha police are part of a lawsuit seeking to end what plaintiff's lawyer David Guillory calls a systematic fleecing of drivers passing through the town of about 1,000. On Friday, after Shelby County District Attorney Lynda Russell refused repeated requests to discuss cases like Daniels' with CNN, her office filed papers dropping its claim on his property. "I just feel blessed," Daniels said. "I am happy everything is going good right now. ... I just want to celebrate." Texas law allows police to confiscate drug money and other personal property they think is used in the commission of a crime. If no charges are filed or the person is acquitted, the property has to be returned. Russell issued a statement through her attorneys denying impropriety, and George Bowers, Tenaha's longtime mayor, says his police follow the law. But Guillory, who brought the lawsuit challenging the seizures, called cases like Daniels' "a shakedown" and "a piracy operation." Guillory said authorities in Tenaha, about 180 miles east of Dallas, seized $3 million from 2006 to 2008. In about 150 cases, virtually all involving African-American or Latino motorists, the seizures were improper, he said. All defendants in the lawsuit deny wrongdoing. In a written statement, Russell's attorneys said the prosecutor "has used and continues to use prosecutorial discretion ... and is in compliance with Texas law, the Texas constitution and the United States Constitution." But the attention paid to Tenaha has led to an effort by Texas lawmakers to tighten the state's forfeiture laws.

Tenaha, Texas, police confiscated money in 2007 after traffic stop . Roderick Daniels was stopped for driving 37 mph in a 35-mph zone . He and others who had property taken have filed lawsuit . Town's officials say they have done nothing wrong .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Veterans groups are warning President Barack Obama against going ahead with a possible administration move to charge veterans' private health care for service-related injuries. Veterans groups say it's "wholly unacceptable" to charge their private insurance for service injuries. In a letter sent by 11 of the most prominent veterans organizations, the groups warned that the idea "is wholly unacceptable and a total abrogation of our government's moral and legal responsibility to the men and women who have sacrificed so much." CNN obtained a copy of the letter sent to the White House last Friday by groups including The American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Read the letter (PDF) A White House spokesman would neither confirm nor deny the option is being considered. "The details of specific proposals will be transmitted with the full submission in April. The president has made it clear that meeting the needs of veterans is one of his priorities, and as a result has requested an 11 percent increase in discretionary funding for 2010, and the administration is actively working with the veterans community to ensure we get the details of this budget right," said White House spokesman Nick Shapiro. In the letter, the groups said they have been told by sources on Capitol Hill and at the VA that the idea under consideration would allow the Department of Veterans Affairs to bill health insurance for a treatment of a disability or injury that was a result of military service. The argument for the proposal is that it frees up money for the VA by charging the private insurers, allowing the VA to spend on more services, said Joe Violante, legislative director for Disabled American Veterans, who opposes the idea. While there could be savings, Violante warned it also could lead to an increase in premiums for veterans with private coverage. ""We cannot and would not agree to any proposal that would expand this concept any further," the heads of the 11 groups wrote in the letter. "While we understand the fiscal difficulties this country faces right now, placing the burden of those fiscal problems on the men and women who have already sacrificed a great deal for this country is unconscionable." Currently, veterans' private insurance is only charged when they receive health care from the VA for medical issues that are not related to service injuries, like getting the flu. Charging for service-related injuries would violate "a sacred trust," said Veterans of Foreign Wars spokesman Joe Davis. Davis said the move would risk private health care for veterans and their families by potentially maxing out benefits paying for costly war injury treatments. It could also make it harder for veterans to get private insurance if the companies decide to reject them for pre-existing conditions, rather than be billed for service-connected injuries, Davis said. "This seems like bad politics and bad policy," said IAVA Policy Director Vanessa Williamson, noting that every veterans group opposes it and warns it will adversely affect veterans. "I don't see this as a tenable option."

Possible change in billing angers veterans groups . White House would neither confirm nor deny the option is being considered . Argument for the proposal would be to free up more money for VA . Spokesman: Charging for service-related injuries would violate "a sacred trust"

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- The future of Manchester United's on-loan Argentina striker Carlos Tevez is causing quite a stir at the champion English club. Should they sign him? The future of Carlos Tevez at Manchester United is uncertain. Facing the question of whether to sign Tevez on a permanent basis, Manchester United fans appear to be saying "yes," while the player has talked of leaving. The Argentina international, fondly nick-named "El Apache" by his supporters, is in his second season at Old Trafford, where he has scored 34 goals in 97 appearances. Do you think United should sign Tevez permanently? Tell us what you think and why in the Sound Off box below. The 25-year-old scored another vital goal for United to help them beat Wigan and all but seal their successful defense of the English Premier League. And though Ferguson remains defiant that Tevez is still his player at present who is to say what will happen in the future. Manchester United fans have certainly let their manager know what they think. Following the Argentine's goal chants of "sign him up" were heard from the travelling faithful. Discussion groups have also been set up on the Manchester United page of social networking site Facebook, with the United faithful declaring their support for the striker. Among the comments were: "We need Tevez. He always influences the game while he is on the pitch." While another wrote: "It would truly be a mistake if Fergie lets Tevez go". Would it be a mistake if Tevez went? Tell us what you think below.

Carlos Tevez' loan deal at Manchester United ends at the close of the season . Tevez says he has not been offered contract and does not feel 'wanted' Tevez is a favorite of many United fans who hope to see him signed .

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(CNN) -- Nazi war crimes suspect John Demjanjuk was deported to Germany on Monday evening after he was removed from his Cleveland, Ohio-area home in the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers earlier in the day. German officials claim John Demjanjuk was an accessory to 29,000 murders in a Nazi death camp. An ambulance transported him to an airstrip at the Cleveland airport. The plane carrying Demjanjuk departed at 7:13 p.m. Demjanjuk, 89, is wanted by German authorities for his alleged involvement during World War II in killings at Sobibor, a Nazi death camp in Poland. His deportation closed a chapter in one of the longest-running pursuits of an alleged Holocaust perpetrator in history. It also sets the stage for what likely will prove to be an extraordinary German war crimes trial. The Supreme Court last Thursday denied a stay of deportation for Demjanjuk. Justice John Paul Stevens without comment refused to intervene in the planned transfer from the United States. Federal courts have all rejected his appeals, and the order from Stevens cleared the way for the Justice Department to move ahead with the deportation. Demjanjuk's lawyers had asked the high court to consider their claims that he is too ill and frail to be sent overseas. They also raised human rights and other legal issues in their last-minute appeal. A German court last Wednesday had also ruled against a request for a stay. Officials in Berlin have issued an arrest warrant charging Demjanjuk with being an accessory to the murder of about 29,000 civilians at Sobibor in 1943. The native Ukrainian has long claimed he was a prisoner of war, not a death camp guard. Immigration officers previously entered Demjanjuk's Cleveland-area home April 14, and carried him out in his wheelchair to a waiting van. He was held for a few hours and then returned to his residence after a federal appeals court ruled temporarily in his favor. Demjanjuk had appealed unsuccessfully to the Supreme Court last year. He was once accused by the United States and Israel of being a notoriously brutal S.S. guard at the Treblinka camp known as "Ivan the Terrible." After appeals, that allegation was eventually dropped by both countries, but later other allegations were made against him. CNN's Terry Frieden and Bill Mears contributed to this report .

Ambulance takes war crimes suspect from his home to Cleveland, Ohio, airport . John Demjanjuk, 89, wanted for alleged involvement in war crimes . U.S. Supreme Court denied stay of deportation . Lawyers argued he is too ill and frail to be sent overseas .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama signed an executive order Monday repealing a Bush-era policy that limited federal tax dollars for embryonic stem cell research. President Obama signs the executive order on stem cell policy Monday at the White House. Obama's move overturns an order signed by President Bush in 2001 that barred the National Institutes of Health from funding research on embryonic stem cells beyond using 60 cell lines that existed at that time. Obama also signed a presidential memorandum establishing greater independence for federal science policies and programs. "In recent years, when it comes to stem cell research, rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values," Obama said at the White House. "In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent. As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering. I believe we have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research -- and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly." Watch as Obama announces he's lifting the funding ban » . The president pledged to develop "strict guidelines" to ensure that such research "never opens the door to the use of cloning for human reproduction." Such a possibility, he maintained, is "dangerous, profoundly wrong and has no place in our society or any society." Obama's order directs the NIH to develop revised guidelines on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research within 120 days, according to Dr. Harold Varmus, president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and co-chairman of Obama's science advisory council. "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," Varmus said in a conference call with reporters Sunday. While conceding that "the full promise of stem cell research remains unknown" and "should not be overstated," Obama nevertheless expressed hope that the order will help spur faster progress in the search for cures to afflictions such as Parkinson's disease, cancer and spinal cord injuries. See a map of nations that have taken a lead in using human embryos in stem cell research » . Researchers highly value embryonic stem cells because of their potential to turn into any organ or tissue cell in the body. Stem cells have this ability for a short time. A few days before the embryo would implant in the uterus, it starts to develop into specific cells that will turn into skin or eyes or other parts of a developing fetus. Watch a doctor explain why embryotic stem cells are so important » . When the embryo is 4 or 5 days old, scientists extract the stem cells and put them in a petri dish. With the removal of these stem cells -- of which there may be about 30 -- the embryo is destroyed. Twenty-one of the 60 stem cell lines authorized for research under the Bush policy have proven useful to researchers. Bush twice vetoed legislation -- in July 2006 and June 2007 -- that would have expanded federally funded embryonic stem cell research. At the time, Bush maintained that scientific advances allowed researchers to conduct groundbreaking research without destroying human embryos. Conservative leaders echoed Bush's rationale in their criticism of Obama's decision. "Advancements in science and research have moved faster than the debates among politicians in Washington, D.C., and breakthroughs announced in recent years confirm the full potential of stem cell research can be realized without the destruction of living human embryos," House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Sunday. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, said the Bush policy imposed proper 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 Sunday. "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." The issue of whether to lift the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research has, however, exposed a clear rift between the more moderate and conservative factions of the GOP. In February, a group of six moderate GOP congressmen sent a letter to Obama urging him to lift the funding ban. Former first lady Nancy Reagan also issued a statement Monday thanking Obama for lifting the ban. "These new rules will now make it possible for scientists to move forward," Reagan said. "Countless people, suffering from many different diseases, stand to benefit from the answers stem cell research can provide. We owe it to ourselves and to our children to do everything in our power to find cures for these diseases." President Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease after leaving office -- an affliction that many scientists say eventually may be cured with the help of embryonic stem cell research. Obama's presidential memorandum, however, may turn out to have a broader impact than his executive order. The memorandum is expected to create a clear change of tone from the Bush administration on a broad range of scientific issues. Bush's critics argued the former president allowed political factors improperly to influence funding decisions for science initiatives as well as to skew official government findings on issues such as global warming. Watch a GOP congressman say Obama is 'behind the times' » . Obama's memorandum directs the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy "to develop a strategy for restoring scientific integrity to government decision-making." In a thinly veiled criticism of his predecessor, Obama reiterated a promise to base "public policies on the soundest science" as well as to "appoint scientific advisers based on their credentials and experience, not their politics or ideology."

NEW: Former first lady Nancy Reagan thanks President Obama for lifting funding ban . Obama: "We have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research" Bush-era policy on embryonic stem cell research reversed . Advocates: Move could boost medical progress; critics object to embryo destruction .

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(CNN) -- Al Qaeda ended days of speculation Sunday by confirming that one of its chemical weapons experts was killed last week along with three other "heroes," according to a statement posted on a radical Islamist Web site. Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar was among four "heroes" killed last week, an al Qaeda statement says. The statement, dated July 30, provided no details on how or when the al Qaeda operatives were killed. It was signed by al Qaeda's top leader in Afghanistan, Mustafa Abu al-Yazid. A senior Pakistani official said last week it was a "near certainty" that weapons expert Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar died in a U.S. airstrike Monday in Pakistan's tribal region. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that if reports of the strike were true, the U.S. violated Pakistani sovereignty. Umar, who is also known as Sheikh Abu Khabab al-Masri, was on the U.S. State Department's list of 37 wanted terrorists, and the U.S. had offered $5 million for information leading to his death or arrest. "Although Abu Khabab is gone, he left behind him a generation who will seek revenge and punishment with God's help," the al Qaeda statement said. "And while the 'expert' is gone, he left behind experts who were taught and trained under his hands throughout the years." Umar was killed along with Abu Mohammed Ibrahim Bin Abi al-Faraj al-Masri, Abd al-Wahab al-Masri, and Abu Islam al-Masri, the statement said. Umar, a 55-year-old Egyptian, ran a chemical-and-explosives training camp for terrorists in Derunta, Afghanistan, before the fall of the Taliban, U.S. officials said. "Since 1999, he has distributed training manuals that contain instructions for making chemical and biological weapons," according to the U.S. Rewards for Justice program. "Some of these training manuals were recovered by U.S. forces in Afghanistan." Rewards for Justice said Umar was believed to be in Pakistan, continuing to train al Qaeda terrorists and other extremists. He was reportedly near the site of a U.S. airstrike more than two years ago in the Pakistani mountain village of Damadola. The strike targeted a dinner gathering believed to include terrorists. Initial reports that Umar died in the January 2006 strike later proved erroneous.

Statement provides few details, is signed by al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan . Statement: Weapons expert "left behind him a generation who will seek revenge" Pakistani PM said if U.S. conducted airstrike, it violated Pakistani sovereignty . Reports that al Qaeda weapons expert was killed in 2006 proved erroneous .

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LONDON, England (UK) -- Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown has apologized on behalf of parliamentarians of all parties for a series of revelations about their expenses claims, revelations which have seriously damaged the authority of government and parliament. UK PM Gordon Brown, pictured here in north-east England Monday, apologized Monday on behalf of all lawmakers. Brown's words have been echoed by David Cameron, the leader of the opposition Conservatives and currently the favorite to win the next general election by a large margin. Cameron acknowledges all MPs must say sorry and that the whole system must be changed. The scandal has come to light because The Daily Telegraph newspaper obtained copies of all the receipts for MPs expenses, which were due to be published in two months time under Freedom of Information legislation. The newspaper has been devoting several pages every day to the details of how the system has been milked, with MPs claiming that expenditure on bath plugs and lawn mowers, silk cushions and television sets, potted plants and dog food, was "wholly and necessarily incurred for the purpose of performing their parliamentary duties." Do you think politicians in your country are paid enough? In Britain, as in many other countries, parliamentarians are compensated for the expense of living both in the parts of the country they represent and in the capital where parliament meets. There is help too with travel costs and staffing their offices. But the so-called "additional costs allowance," designed to help them with the additional costs of a second home has, by common consent, been particularly abused. This is not an "expenses scandal" about a couple of notepads and pens taken home from the office stationery cupboard for the kids' school project; or the annual phone call to an aged aunt in Australia, made on an office line rather than from home -- although doubtless politicians will have been doing that too. Watch more on the expenses row » . We are talking about the deliberate exploitation of a poorly-policed system by a large number of parliamentarians, who appear to many of their constituents to have come close to enriching themselves corruptly at public expense. There is particular horror at the practice which has emerged of so-called "flipping." MPs have, in a number of cases, designated one residence as their second home for the purpose of the allowance. Having drawn heavily on public funds for redecorating, refurbishing and refurnishing it, they have then switched and named a different house or flat -- only to do the same with that. In some cases they have sold these properties on for a significant profit. I spent more than 30 years at Westminster as a political correspondent. Much of my time off duty was spent explaining to skeptical neighbors, barbers and taxi drivers that MPs did a much better job than outsiders thought. I knew and respected MPs whom I saw imperil their health or their marriages or their bank balances by working extremely hard on behalf of their constituents. I argued constantly that we underpaid our politicians. Now, when I hear them call each other "honorable members" I am constantly reminded of Ralph Waldo Emerson's dictum: "The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted the spoons." The truth is that the good ones are still underpaid. They could earn far more outside the House of Commons. But the poor ones are overpaid -- and sadly there is no way of differentiating between the two categories. It was never the right time, certainly in the eyes of the media, for MPs to have a decent pay rise; and they never had the guts to stand up and argue their case. So parliamentarians instead built themselves, while nobody was watching, a generous and poorly policed expenses system which allowed them to make up the difference between what they got and what they thought they should be paid. What they seem unable to grasp, even now, is that in picking taxpayers' pockets by subterfuge they have all but destroyed parliament's moral authority. Cynically, they have led us all into a "help yourself to what you can get" mockery of public service which may take a generation or more to repair, if indeed it can be repaired. And remember that they did their damnedest along the way to make sure that we, the public, should not find out what they were doing. Led by the Speaker of the House, the man who presides over debates and should be the beacon of Commons probity (and who along with his wife has claimed £4,000 - about $6,000 - on taxis for shopping trips), the Commons Commission spent £150,000 (approx. $225,000) of public funds going to the High Court to try to prevent public disclosure of how MPs have been spending taxpayers' money. A horrified public, combing through the details of the Telegraph's revelations, is asking how MPs could ever have justified their "flipping." At a time of economic stringency for others, they are asking why MPs, who benefit any way from subsidized canteens, should be allowed to charge £400 (approx. $600) a month for their food on top of their salary. How can it be part of the necessary expenses in carrying out MPs' duties, they ask, to charge for children's buggies and the eradication of moles from their country lawns? Just how many have been paying inflated "rents" to close relatives; or claiming the "additional costs allowance" for second homes they do not actually inhabit on more than token occasions? Why should it be legal for ministers who live in "grace and favor" apartments (where they are allowed to live for free) to claim additional costs allowances for properties they are meanwhile renting out? The MPs are meeting all these complaints by saying that nothing they have done was outside the rules. But these were rules that they themselves set up as the nation's legislators. And only now are they beginning to realize the wider damage that they have done . By creating the expenses system they did, which is only now becoming transparent, they insulated themselves from the problems faced by ordinary people. British MPs expenses, unlike those of the rest of the population, are not taxable. They have also, as the cannier ones now admit, destroyed any moral authority they might have had in criticizing and curbing the greed of bankers and others who have brought us to near ruin and wrecked the pensions of half the nation. (The pensions of MPs are provided at the taxpayers' expense -- with inflation proofing, of course.) With the expenses binge having infected all the mainstream parties, there is another potential ramification too, which is likely to show up in next month's elections for the European Parliament. Traditionally British electors, without the election of their national government at issue, tend to treat these as an opportunity for a protest vote, to punish politicians who have incurred their wrath. As a result we may see significant advance for the parties of the far right, the United Kingdom Independence Party and the British National Party. The expenses excesses of many of the 646 Westminster parliamentary MPs could give those groups a new legitimacy -- and their biggest advance yet.

UK lawmakers have been accused of over-milking the system for claiming expenses . Newspaper revelations have sparked anger at a time of economic uncertainty . MPs say that nothing they have done was outside the rules, which they set up . UK PM Gordon Brown has apologized on behalf of parliamentarians of all parties .

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- At least 33 people were killed and 20 wounded in a suicide car bombing targeting a national reconciliation conference in Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official told CNN. Abu Ghraib attack victim in Yarmouk Hospital in Baghdad, Amjad Hameed . The attack -- which occurred outside the municipal building of Abu Ghraib in western Baghdad -- also wounded 46 others, the official said. The attacker was targeting the latest effort by the government to foster national reconciliation between religious and ethnic groups. Sunni Arab and Shiite tribal leaders were attending the meeting, backed by the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government. Another Interior Ministry official told CNN the attack occurred when people gathered outside as the conference in the building ended. Al-Baghdadiya TV said two of its journalists were killed in the explosion. An Iraqi journalists' group confirmed those deaths and said a number of journalists were also wounded. Along with meeting attendees and journalists, Iraqi soldiers were among the casualties. No one has claimed responsibility for the strike, but in the past, such gatherings have been targeted by al Qaeda in Iraq, the anti-American Sunni Arab militant group. Staffan de Mistura, special representative of the U.N. secretary-general for Iraq, deplored the attack and passed along condolences to grieving families. He said the bombing targeted the tribal leaders after their meeting, and called the strike a "horrible crime that is designed to sabotage reconciliatory efforts by the Iraqi people, who, I am confident, will continue on the road of dialogue." The blast follows another huge attack on Sunday, when a man wearing an explosives-laden vest drove a motorcycle rigged with bombs into a group of police recruits in eastern Baghdad. That attack killed 30 people and wounded 61 others. Most of the victims of Sunday's strike were police officers and recruits who had gathered outside a police academy on Palestine Street. The same academy was targeted on December 1 in a double bombing that killed 16 and wounded 46. The violence came after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Saturday rallied sheikhs of the nation's tribes to participate in Iraq's government. It was the latest official effort to further reconciliation among Sunnis, Shiites and tribes of different sects and bring some former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party into the political fold. After the invasion, the U.S.-led coalition decided to purge Iraqi institutions of Baathists, most of whom were Sunni Arabs. Al-Maliki, who is Shiite, has been criticized in the past by minority groups for not fairly representing Iraqi's ethnic groups. CNN's Yousif Bassil and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

33 killed in suicide bombing at reconciliation conference in Baghdad . Tuesday's attack came as tribal leaders were attending conference . Bombing came 3 days after Iraqi PM urged nation's sheikhs to join government .

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- With space shuttle Atlantis on its way to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope, that leaves one shuttle, Endeavour, at the ready on the other launch pad here. Space shuttle Endeavour, in background, sits poised to launch in case Atlantis, in foreground, meets trouble. And that's where everybody at NASA wants it to stay. "We have high confidence that we're just having that thing over on pad B to make it look nice," said mission flight director Tony Ceccaci. Endeavour is far more than a postcard picture -- it's on standby in case something goes seriously wrong with the Atlantis mission. For example, NASA has estimated there's a 1-in-221 chance the shuttle could be struck and crippled by orbiting space debris. If such an incident were to thrust the seven Atlantis astronauts into danger, Endeavour would blast off within days in a last-ditch attempt to save them. Endeavour Cmdr. Christopher Ferguson believes his crew is up to the task. "I feel as confident about our ability to pull this off, if need be, as I would any other mission," he said. The idea of a standby rescue spacecraft grew out of the 2003 Columbia disaster, in which that shuttle disintegrated over Texas during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. But until now, there's been no need. All the previous missions since Columbia have gone to the International Space Station. The crew of a damaged shuttle could take refuge there for months if need be until another shuttle was readied to retrieve them. But Atlantis is going to Hubble, whose orbit isn't anywhere near the space station. If their spacecraft malfunctioned, the seven-member Atlantis crew would have to survive aboard -- probably for days -- until they could be rescued. "In this case it's a much shorter fuse," Ferguson said. "Consumables like food and oxygen would run out quickly. So the reason we've gotten this crew trained and spooled up and ready to go on literally a moment's notice is because they [Atlantis's crew] have no place comfortable to go stay for a long period of time." But the rescue would be no cakewalk. Endeavour would need to pull up underneath Atlantis and hook on to the other shuttle using its robotic arm. Over the course of two days, the seven Atlantis astronauts would spacewalk over to Endeavour by holding on to a tether line strung between the two spaceships. Atlantis mission specialist John Grunsfeld would go first -- and, actually, twice. Grunsfeld would spacewalk to Endeavour, grab an extra EMU (extravehicular mobility unit) spacesuit and take it back to Atlantis. He would then return to Endeavour with one of the Atlantis astronauts not trained in spacewalking. With the Atlantis crew safely aboard, Endeavour would pull away and begin preparing to head home. Atlantis Cmdr. Scott Altman said that knowing Ferguson and the other three members of the Endeavour crew are ready in case of an emergency gives him peace of mind. "Even in the worst-possible imaginable case, we can stay up there and last until somebody comes up and gets us," Altman said. "So it feels like we have all our bases covered." So what would happen to Atlantis? Ferguson said mission leaders would prepare the crippled shuttle for what they call a "disposal burn" -- a safe, remotely controlled landing of Atlantis. "If it comes to it, we certainly don't want a space shuttle coming in over a populated area," he said. "So we want to control the burn so it does end up in the ocean." In all, eleven astronauts would be stuffed into Endeavour. A space shuttle has never carried that many. The four Endeavour crew members would hang out in the flight deck, while the seven Atlantis astronauts would squeeze into the mid-deck area. The journey back to Earth would be uncomfortable. But Ceccaci, the flight director, says that wouldn't matter as long as everyone was safe. "Wrap me in bubble wrap and get me home safely, I wouldn't care," he said. "I wouldn't care how cramped it is."

The shuttle Endeavour and its crew are standing by in case of a emergency in space . Endeavour would blast off to rescue the crew of shuttle Atlantis . Atlantis blasted off Monday to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope . A rescue mission would involve two tricky days of spacewalks between shuttles .

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Editor's note: CNN Contributor Bob Greene is a best-selling author whose book "When We Get to Surf City: A Journey Through America in Pursuit of Rock and Roll, Friendship, and Dreams" will be published in a new paperback edition this week. Bob Greene says he and his family didn't expect to be able to enjoy this Mother's Day. (CNN) -- This is the Mother's Day we thought was going to be empty. Last summer, my brother, my sister and I got the news like a sucker-punch to the stomach: Our mother's health, which had not been good for some time, had taken a sudden turn for the worse. A very compassionate hospice evaluator came to her home and said that, although one could never be absolutely certain, the end was quite near. "It may be two days. It may be two weeks." Those were the words. We tried to process them. She would be gone from us by the fall. Except ... "Debby just picked me up a book from the library, and I'm a few chapters into it," my mother said to me on the phone the other day. She got better. "Better" does not mean great; she walks with some difficulty now, she is fragile in ways she once was strong, but on this Mother's Day that we all expected to be such a desolate one for us, she's here. On that morning the woman from hospice first came to visit, our mother was in her bed in the same room where our father, 10 years ago, had slowly died. Toward the end, he had not been able to get out of his bed, and we foresaw the same awful drama unfolding in the same way in the same bedroom. It was going to be even more wrenching to witness this time around. But somehow, from somewhere inside herself, she decided: "Not yet." I don't say that glibly; I know that most men and women, in the months of their dying, do not have a choice about whether they will regain a semblance of their health. There comes a point when there is little to do but give in as gracefully as possible. Our mother didn't. And while my brother and sister and I cherish the extra time we have been given with her, the most moving thing is to quietly behold how fiercely she is cherishing the extra time she has been given with the world -- the extra time she has been given with life itself. That book from the library my sister brought her, it is one of many she has read since last summer. It's as if she realized that, if the prediction had been right -- if she had left us within two days or two weeks -- she never would have known the pleasure of reading another book. She has loved reading all her life; now she is reading new books with a sense of gratitude that we can literally feel. She got to watch one more presidential campaign. She has always taken her responsibility as a citizen with utter seriousness. She thought, last summer, that she would never know who the next president would be. But as, little by little, she got better during the fall, I can guarantee you that not even Wolf Blitzer or John King followed the day-to-day fluctuations of the campaign with more devotion than she did. She used to joke with our father that their trips together to the polling place were ultimately a waste of time: He was on one end of the political spectrum, she was on the other, and, as she put it, "Our votes always canceled each other's out." She was born during the Woodrow Wilson administration -- and in November, against all odds, she got to cast a ballot for president one more time. Whenever my brother flies to central Ohio to visit her, he goes not straight from the airport to her house; he makes a stop. He picks up some pizzas at Rubino's on East Main Street in Bexley, and he has them in his hands as he walks through her front door. She hasn't tasted her last Rubino's pizza, not yet -- she thought she had, and each slice is a reminder of the good things that life still holds for her. She enjoys the television series "Brothers and Sisters"; each Sunday evening, as she tells us that she is preparing to watch it, we know that it is seemingly small things like that, things that once felt mundane to her -- an hour with a favorite program -- that she relishes anew. Over the holidays, I bought her the complete DVD series of "The Sopranos." She is an admirer of great acting, and she was enthralled by the talent of James Gandolfini during the original run of the show; she has watched the entire arc of "The Sopranos" again, from the first episode to the last, and she did it in a hurry. You never know how much time you are given. It might not be the worst way for any of us to live, even those of us who are much younger than she is; it might not be a bad idea for us to live as if someone has told us, "It may be two days. It may be two weeks." Imagining those words is a pretty good reminder that we should savor every hour we are given. My brother, my sister and I don't fool ourselves; just as warm days in March are sometimes followed by snow and ice, we realize that our mother's return to vibrancy may turn out to be a false spring. Yet even if it is a brief illusion, it is a springtime that brings tears of thanks to our eyes. In October, she will turn 90, if she, and we, are lucky. But that's the wrong way to put it. If we are lucky? We are. This is the Mother's Day we didn't think we'd have. And I think she knows exactly what is in our hearts. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bob Greene.

Bob Greene: This Mother's Day is one my family didn't expect to enjoy . He says his mother has survived and made good use of precious time . Greene: We should all live as if we have only a few weeks more of life .

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A U.S. soldier fired on his fellow troops at a counseling center at a base outside Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, U.S. officials said, killing five people in the worst such attack of the six-year-old Iraq war. U.S. Army troops get a safety briefing before departing Camp Liberty, Iraq, in December 2008. The shooting occurred at 2 p.m. at a stress clinic at Camp Liberty, near Baghdad International Airport, two senior defense officials said. Though initial reports indicated the attacker was killed in the incident, the U.S. command in Baghdad said late Monday a suspect in the killings was in custody. Neither the suspect nor any of the victims had been identified, but a defense official with access to the latest reports on the incident told CNN that the suspect had been a patient at the treatment center. "Any time we lose one of our own, it affects us all," Col. John Robinson, a U.S. military spokesman, said in a written statement. President Obama said that he was "shocked and deeply saddened" by the "horrible tragedy." "My heart goes out to the families and friends of all the service members involved," he said in a written statement. "I will press to ensure that we fully understand what led to this tragedy, and that we are doing everything we can to ensure that our men and women in uniform are protected." The president said he discussed the issue in a meeting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday afternoon. And Gates expressed his own "horror and deep regret" at a press briefing. Watch the defense secretary talk about the incident » . "If the preliminary reports are confirmed, such a tragic loss of life at the hands of our own forces is a cause for great and urgent concern," Gates said. "And I can assure you that it will get this department's highest priority attention." Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, added the incident shows a need to "redouble" efforts regarding troop stress levels. Camp Liberty is tightly guarded, and U.S. troops are required to clear their weapons of ammunition while on the base. The only service members who have loaded weapons are those guarding high-ranking officers and military police. Monday's attack marks the sixth incident in which a service member was killed by a fellow service member since the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. Camp Liberty is part of the Camp Victory Complex, one of the largest U.S. military bases in Iraq. It lies just northeast of Baghdad International Airport and is also near the massive al-Faw palace of executed former dictator Saddam Hussein. Once known as Camp Victory North, the base was renamed Camp Liberty in September 2004, or Camp Al-Tahreer in Arabic, according to GlobalSecurity.org, a Web site that provides background on military and security issues. Like other American facilities in Iraq, Camp Liberty provides a host of amenities for the thousands of U.S. troops who call it home during their combat tours. The base resembles a giant trailer park, dotted with air-conditioned two- or three-person units that house thousands of service members. It boasts several dining facilities catered by a private company, fully equipped gymnasiums, recreation centers and a post exchange that rivals Wal-Mart. In recent years, a number of fast food restaurants such as Burger King and Pizza Hut have opened, as well as private stores and a bazaar that sells local wares. The military set up several chapels, and each unit operates stress-relief clinics -- such as the one at which the shootings occurred Monday -- where troops can request counseling. CNN's Cal Perry, Chris Lawrence and Mike Mount contributed to this report.

Defense official: Suspect had been a patient at the treatment center . President Obama to discuss incident with defense secretary . Attack is the deadliest on soldiers by a fellow soldier during Operation Iraqi Freedom . Five killed and three others wounded in incident .

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Iran has condemned the kidnapping of one of its diplomats in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, calling it an "act of terrorism," an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said. Pakistani policemen inspect a bullet-riddled car of a kidnapped Iranian diplomat on Thursday. "Pakistan should do its best to protect foreign diplomats and their residential places," the spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said, according to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency. At least four gunmen abducted Heshmatollah Attarzadeh near his home in Peshawar as he headed to work at the Iranian consulate, according to Pakistani police and Iranian diplomatic officials. His bodyguard, a Pakistani police officer, was shot and killed when the two men tried to resist, a Peshawar police official said. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also "strongly condemned" the attack, and informed Iran that the government "will take all necessary measures for his safe and early recovery." Attarzadeh is a commercial attache for the Iranian consulate in Peshawar. It is the second attack targeting a foreign worker in Peshawar in two days. An American aid worker was shot and killed outside the Iranian consulate in Peshawar on Wednesday. Stephen Vance worked for a non-profit foundation funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development that helped find jobs for people in Pakistan's tribal regions, according to a statement from his employer, the Cooperative Housing Foundation International. "Stephen had fully immersed himself in the community in which he worked," the statement said. "He dressed traditionally and even sent his children to local schools." Vance, 52, a native of California, is survived by his wife and five children -- all of whom lived with him in Peshawar -- CHF International official Bill Holbrook told CNN. The attacks come less than three months after gunmen opened fire on a vehicle carrying the senior U.S. diplomat in Peshawar, Lynne Tracy. She escaped unharmed. Peshawar is the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, an area rife with Islamic extremists and the site of recent clashes between security forces and militants. In late June, Pakistan's military launched an offensive in the province -- the biggest push against extremists in the tribal region since the civilian government took power in March. Islamic militants vowed to retaliate. Since then, militants have launched several deadly attacks. Pakistan's new government has tried to negotiate a deal with militants as part of its efforts to bypass military might and achieve peace through talks.

Diplomat was kidnapped and his bodyguard killed in Peshawar, northwest Pakistan . Authorities believe he was kidnapped while traveling from his home to consulate . On Wednesday, gunmen shot and killed an American aid worker in Peshawar .

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GARUT, Indonesia (CNN) -- The people of Indonesia's Java Island still follow wedding traditions passed down centuries ago by their ancestors. Cucu and his bride, Yati Supriyatna, plant two saplings during their wedding ceremony. Family members gather for an all-day ceremony that begins with the groom bringing a gift to the bride's house. On a hot and sticky morning in a village near Garut, 26-year-old Cucu carries a sapling to give to his bride. The young tree is not exactly a unique gift; it's part of a government initiative to bring back the Garut province's devastated forests. Newly married couples must plant 10 trees under the program. If they divorce, they must plant 50 others. Cucu and his bride, Yati Supriyatna -- both dressed in all white -- headed to a mosque in the foothills of West Java's mountains, where they carefully planted two saplings, a symbolic gesture. The young couple met in school three years ago and began dating last year. Watch as Indonesia tackles deforestation » . "We're just meant to be," said 18-year-old Yati, giggling in her white flower-adorned veil. They will plant the other saplings -- eucalyptus, avocado and mahogany -- at the sleepy village about an hour outside Garut where they plan to settle, for now. Indonesia's landscape has been devastated by massive deforestation. Though not a heavily industrialized nation, Indonesia is behind China and the United States as the world's third largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions. That is largely the result of the removal of its trees, which cut down the absorption of carbon dioxide. While Garut province is not the country's worst offender, a Garut forestry official said he can no longer ignore the damage. "Most people here work in agriculture which is of course highly dependent on the fertility of the soil," said Eddy Muharam of Garut's forestry department. "The fertility is decreasing now because of deforestation and intensive use of soil." Forestry officials have identified "critical land" in Garut, which has been overfarmed and needs to be reforested. The overfarming leads to erosion, which can cause major flooding. Environmental officials estimate that 50 million trees are needed in Garut alone to reverse the harm done by overfarming. Indonesia's government does not have the funds to pay for such an initiative. So they hope the trend of planting saplings will catch on among other newlyweds in Indonesia. "It's sacred and a once in a lifetime moment, so we thought that it would be a good time to encourage people's participation," Muharam said. CNN's Andy Saputra contributed to this report.

Newlyweds in Indonesia plant trees under program to replenish forests . Couples plant 10 trees; if they divorce, they must plant 50 others . Indonesia's landscape has been devastated by massive deforestation .

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- So, what's harder, steering a space shuttle or out-machoing Tom Cruise on the set of "Top Gun"? Scott Altman is commander of the current space shuttle mission to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. Scott Altman laughs when he answers the question. "Flying a space shuttle is a little more challenging than what we did in the movie, although the flying was a lot of fun," said Altman, who knows more than a little about both. The retired Navy F-14 fighter pilot is the commander of the current space shuttle Atlantis mission to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. He also doubled for the actors, including Cruise, during the Southern California shoot of the 1986 hit movie. Then a young pilot, Altman had just gotten back from a 7½-month tour onboard an aircraft carrier when he got the "Top Gun" call from his commanding officer. "The skipper of our squadron picked four guys he thought he could trust to have this kind of carte blanche to break the rules a little bit," Altman said. That included a scene in which a brazen Navy pilot buzzes the base's control tower. That would never happen in real life, Altman said. The movie features Cruise as a young naval aviator, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, selected to attend fighter-pilot training school at the then-Miramar Naval Station north of San Diego. To prepare for the film, Cruise flew in the backseat of an F-14 several times, including once with Altman. "The actors were all pretty easy to get along with. Tom Cruise, for example, was very motivated," recalled Altman, who is making his fourth trip into space this week. "He enjoyed flying. He listened to what we told him and became a pilot himself after that." Altman is not one to brag about his flying in "Top Gun." The U.S. space agency, NASA, doesn't mention his film heroics, either. But Altman is in one of the movie's most memorable scenes. While flying upside down, inverted, Altman gives an obscene gesture to the pilot of an enemy plane. "They said go ahead and gesture at the other airplane," said Altman, 49, with a smile. "So when you're looking at the scene where he's communicating with the Russian, or the bad-guy pilots in the movie, that would be my finger." But the flying scenes with the actors didn't all work out as director Tony Scott had hoped. "The director had to pay $7,600 an hour to rent an airplane," Altman recalled. "But after a week of spending that much money on the airplanes, he decided he couldn't use the footage. The actors all looked a little green, he said." Altman and the other pilots earned $23 a day for their trouble. But his biggest disappointment was not getting to see the film as soon as it was released. He and the other pilots were invited to a preview screening, but a commanding officer would not let them go. And by the time the movie hit theaters, Altman was busy. He was overseas, on another seven-month tour of duty.

Ex-fighter pilot Scott Altman is commander of space shuttle Atlantis mission . As a young pilot, Altman was a stunt double in the 1986 hit movie "Top Gun" Altman worked with several actors on the film, including star Tom Cruise . Altman on Cruise: "He enjoyed flying. He listened to what we told him"

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(CNN Student News) -- May 11, 2009 . Quick Guide . Russia Victory Day - Discover how an anniversary is connected to a show of Russia's military might. Charging for Content? - Debate whether there's a future in charging readers to view news content online. Final Visit - Depart the Earth's surface for a maintenance mission needed in outer space. Transcript . THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: It's Monday, I'm Carl Azuz, and this is CNN Student News! Thank you for joining us. We're gonna start things off with a quick check of some headlines. First Up: Headlines . AZUZ: Fierce battles are still raging in northwestern Pakistan, where the country's military is waging an assault against Taliban forces. Officials say as many as 200 members of the militant group were killed in a single day over the weekend. CNN can't confirm that information, because journalists aren't allowed in the region. The United Nations is concerned about this impact on civilians. Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis are leaving the area to try and get away from the violence. And in California, firefighters are getting some help from the weather as they battle that blaze in Santa Barbara. Authorities say low winds and increased humidity are helping to keep the flames under control. The fire, which had destroyed or damaged about 80 homes, was at least 55 percent contained by Sunday. Russia Victory Day . AZUZ: And Russia is celebrating the end of World War II with its 64th annual Victory Day. The occasion, which took place on Saturday, marks the date in 1945 when Nazi Germany officially surrendered to the former USSR, which Russia was part of at the time. As Matthew Chance shows us, the weekend ceremony gave Russia an opportunity to show off its military might. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the biggest show of force in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Columns of tanks and missile launchers thundered over the cobblestones of Red Square in the center of Moscow for these Victory Day celebrations, marking the defeat of Nazi Germany but also reflecting the Kremlin's efforts to revive Russia's armed forces and global power. Well, opening the parade, Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev told spectators that Russia's military is ready to respond to any aggression, and he referred obliquely to the country's brief war with the neighboring former Soviet republic of Georgia last year. DMITRY MEDVEDEV, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (TRANSLATED): Now more than ever, it is clear a safe world is possible only where international law is strictly abided by. And that is why our country has initiated a new treaty on European security. Security based on safe arms control and reasonable sufficiency of military construction for the broadest cooperation of states and the exclusively peaceful settlement of conflicts. And we will firmly pursue the execution of these principles. CHANCE: About 9,000 troops took part in a display of military equipment which, for the first time, included state-of-the-art S400 air defense missiles, which the United States and others is concerned may be sold to Iran. Russia also rolled out its new Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missiles, a stock reminder that this fast country remains a formidable nuclear power. Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow. (END VIDEO CLIP) ID Me . ERIK NIVISON, CNN STUDENT NEWS: See if you can I.D. Me! I first appeared in the United States in the late 1600s. I'm a printed item that's usually published daily or weekly. I've been a major source of news for millions of people around the world. I'm the newspaper, the answer to that old joke, "What's black and white and read all over?" Charging for Content? AZUZ: Except newspapers aren't being read as much these days. In fact, at least 120 of them have closed in the U.S. since January of 2008. One reason: Readers are getting their news for free online at sites like CNN.com. But a major media tycoon who just happens to own some newspapers, says the days of free, online content could be coming to an end. Jim Boulden covers the unfolding issue. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rupert Murdoch has floated the idea that some of his general newspapers, like the New York Post, the London Times or The Sun, could follow the model of his Wall St. Journal and charge readers for online content. But with content free for so long, will people pay? WOMAN ON THE STREET #1: No, probably not. You can find almost all the same information somewhere. WOMAN ON THE STREET #2: No. I would look somewhere else. BOULDEN: Though Mr. Murdoch will be happy to hear this man would pay for his London Times online. MAN ON THE STREET #1: Just because it's quicker and easier to get it online when you are at home. BOULDEN: Still, some don't even bother to view the free stuff. WOMAN ON THE STREET #3: Newspaper. MAN ON THE STREET #2: Actual physical newspapers. BOULDEN: Many news sites, like the New York Times, ask users to register for free. That information can tell potential advertisers who uses the site and for how long. The New York Times.com does charge those who don't get the physical paper for a little bit of premium content. Others, like Reuters, hold back a lot. TOM GLOCER, CEO, THOMSON REUTERS: The high grade, the high octane stuff we really reserve for our professional customers. So, they've always paid on a subscription basis and we never make that content free, because it's vital for people to their jobs. BOULDEN: The Financial Times also charges for anyone wanting to go beyond the basics. It currently has 110,000 paid subscribers. Managing director Rob Grimshaw wants to enhance its charging model. ROB GRIMSHAW, FT.COM: I am very, very interested in exploring some of the possibilities around micro payments, either for individual articles or for access to the site for a shorter period of time. And I think we ought to have a pricing model which actually suits how each individual user wants to access the site. BOULDEN: The FT points out that it can count on subscriptions and focus on increasing those with advertising eroding, something sites that don't charge can't fall back on. That is why Murdoch's News Corp. empire is keen to see if people will pay to play. (END VIDEO CLIP) Shoutout . TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Time for the Shoutout! When did the Hubble Space Telescope send its first pictures back to Earth? Was it in: A) 1980, B) 1985, C) 1990 or D) 1995? You've got three seconds -- GO! Hubble has been taking pictures since 1990, although initial problems caused its first images to be fuzzy. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout! Final Visit . AZUZ: Despite some early setbacks, the Hubble Telescope has revolutionized the field of astronomy. Earth's atmosphere, look up and you'll see it, makes it difficult for astronomers on the ground to get a complete view of things in outer space. But from its orbit outside the atmosphere, Hubble has a perfect spot. NASA is getting ready to upgrade the telescope. John Zarrella explains how they plan to do it. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For nearly twenty years, the Hubble Space Telescope has been sending back breathtaking images of galaxies and stars and planets. It has transformed how astronomers and cosmologists view the universe and our place in it. JOHN GRUNSFELD, SHUTTLE ATLANTIS MISSION SPECIALIST: Where do planetary systems, where do stars come from? Hubble has been a tool to answer these fundamental questions that get right at the heart of who we are. ZARRELLA: Now, a team of astronauts will make the fifth and final visit to repair and upgrade Hubble. The objective: extend the telescope's life at least another five years. It won't be easy. The pressure on the shuttle Atlantis crew, immense. SCOTT ALTMAN, SHUTTLE ATLANTIS COMMANDER: We know there's nobody coming after us to do anything we don't get done. This is it. We either get it done or it doesn't happen. ZARRELLA: 350 miles up, Atlantis will chase down and grab hold of the telescope. For five consecutive days during five seven-hour spacewalks, astronauts will perform the ultimate high-wire act. They'll change out gyroscopes and batteries, repair and replace cameras. They'll change circuit boards, remove dozens of screws and delicately cut through aluminum. GRUNSFELD: It's almost as if I'm not doing it. It's kind of a Zen thing, and once we finish the task and I climb back out of the telescope, I'll look around and go, "Wow, we're in space." ZARRELLA: Hubble has been such an incredible watershed of knowledge, the dark days right after its launch in 1990 have largely been forgotten. JEFFREY HOFFMAN, RETIRED SHUTTLE ASTRONAUT: There was a time when Hubble was a laughing stock. You know, the "techno turkey." You know, pictures in editorial cartoons, denounced on the floors of Congress, ridiculed in late night television programs. ZARRELLA: The telescope's primary mirror was flawed, not quite the right shape, off a measly 1/50, the thickness of a sheet of paper, but just enough to blur the images from space. The first servicing mission fixed the problem, saving the Hubble program. Now, 19 years later, the last visit. HOFFMAN: That's been the wonderful thing about the ability to service Hubble, is that we don't just repair it. We leave it a new telescope every time we come back. GRUNSFELD: It's impossible not to give it some human characteristics and feel sadness when we see it floating away. ZARRELLA: If all goes well, scientists expect the new and improved Hubble will soon wow them and us with discoveries perhaps beyond our dreams. John Zarrella, CNN, at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. (END VIDEO CLIP) Before We Go . AZUZ: We're gonna end this show with a bang! Instant replay! One more time! After all that excitement, let's cool off with some soda. That's why you don't shake it up first. Now it might be hard to swallow, but this is actually part of the world's largest physics lesson, with more than 7,000 students taking part in the scientific spectacle. Goodbye . AZUZ: Makes sense, using exploding soda bottles to study fizz-ics. For CNN Student News, I'm Carl Azuz.

Discover how an anniversary is connected to a show of Russia's military might . Debate whether there's a future in charging readers to view news content online . Depart the Earth's surface for a maintenance mission needed in outer space .

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(CNN) -- For the first 45 of her 50 years of living, Bonnie Neighbour used to wake up feeling sorry to be alive. Bonnie Neighbour has struggled with mental health issues for almost all of her 50 years. "Even when I wasn't actually depressed, I would open my eyes in the morning and wonder if there wasn't something else; I would have preferred an alternative to being alive," she says. She recalls being depressed as a young child. In her late teens, she started having mood problems that eventually escalated into clinical depression. "At some point, I was suicidal. I would suffer cycles of depression and mania," Neighbour said. "I wouldn't sleep for days, and the less sleep I would get, the more revved up I'd become, and then I would make irrational decisions and act out. Then I'd alternate with serious depressive episodes. "At one time, for nine months, I wasn't even able to leave the house [because of depression]." At age 30, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Neighbour's story isn't uncommon. "Action Steps for Improving Women's Mental Health," a new report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health (OWH), explores the role gender plays in the diagnosis, course and treatment of mental illness. It calls for specific actions to counteract the inadequacies in this field. According to the report, women are nearly twice as likely as men to suffer from major depression. They are three times as likely to attempt suicide, and they experience anxiety disorders two to three times more often than men. Chart: Gender and mental health » . While these statistics are not new, their importance is generally underplayed, says Wanda Jones, Dr.P.H., health scientist and director of the OWH. She notes that whereas past reports have focused on bringing mental health to the forefront of concern -- such as the 1999 publication "Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General" -- few have focused primarily on the specific mental illness issues specific to women, hence the need for such a publication. Among the actions recommended by the new report are the needs to underscore the essential importance of women's mental health to overall well-being, improve how primary care doctors and mental health professionals interface with each other, develop a greater understanding in the role of gender in mental illness, recognize the role of trauma and violence against women and its subsequent impact on mental illness and address cultural biases that serve as barriers to treatment for many women. Reasons for the gender disparities in mental health are still unclear, according to Jones. Part of the difference is based on biology. Female hormones, thyroid disease and brain biochemistry have all been cited as possible reasons. Genetics also play a part, as family history has proven that mental illness repeats itself across multiple generations. Socio-cultural reasons also contribute to the difference. Jones stresses that the "one-size-fits-all" approach to diagnosing and treating mental illness is not an effective approach and that acknowledging the gender differential is key to adequately and appropriately treating women. The new report also underscores the relative young age at which mental illness often sets in for both males and females. Half of all mental illnesses occur before age 14, and three-fourths occur by the age of 24, according to the publication. Among the more common mental illnesses seen among young women: eating disorders, which can start in advance of puberty and yet last a lifetime. Jones emphasizes the dire need for early detection and treatment of mental illnesses in young women. "When these young people grow into adults, they're more likely to end up in the criminal justice system, homeless on the streets, poor performers in school and ultimately bounced into a system that's incapable of helping them with their needs," she explains. Another point Jones stresses is about the negative stigma around women's mental health issues. "We have to accept that mental illness is not a sign of weakness; it's not a choice. But it is treatable, and our own innate resilience protects us and plays a critical role in combating mental illness, especially depression and anxiety," she says. Despite the relief Neighbour initially felt after finally being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she recalls that instead of getting better, she started to get worse. The mood-stabilizing medications she was prescribed were so sedating that she slept 16 hours a day, which led her deeper into her depression. "The doctor said, 'This is how things are, and it will only get worse,' and that's what I started to believe. It became a self-fulfilling prophecy," she says. There is a common thread to Neighbour's experience and that of other women suffering from mental illness: societal beliefs often pressure women into accepting their mental illness as "just how things are," citing hormones and traditional views of women as the emotional, weaker sex as reasons to simply accept their current situation. According to Jones, it's a barrier that keeps women from seeking treatment for an otherwise largely treatable disease. Despite numerous barriers to access and adequate mental health treatment for women, recent developments in female-specific care provide a new area of hope. Over the last decade, researchers have begun to develop trauma-informed care services, which focus on the high prevalence of trauma -- such as childhood sexual abuse, relationship violence and coerced sex -- that women are more likely to have experienced compared to men. The HHS reports that 40 percent of women report a history of sexual violence, compared to only 10 percent of men. In some mental health treatment programs, recognizing these underlying factors and treating women accordingly has led to dramatically improved outcomes. In 2005, Neighbour discovered the concept of mental health recovery, which is focused on identifying triggers and symptoms that would cause her behavior to get worse, and responding with actions that she recognized helped her calm herself. She learned that there were other tools beyond medications that could help treat her mania and depression. "I went from focusing everything on 'being' my illness, to focusing on finding fulfillment." After holding 30 jobs in 15 years, Neighbour now holds a steady full-time job and serves as a volunteer to help others in their own recovery from mental illness. She describes her healing as an ongoing process and critical to it is a network of peers who have had similar life experiences. "Now I wake up, and I ask how can I go out and change things? I just get excited when I wake up every morning," she says.

HHS's Office on Women's Health releases new report on women's mental health . Women suffer from major depression, anxiety disorders at higher rate than men . Half of all mental illnesses occur before age 14 in both men and women . Need for early detection and destigmatization of mental illnesses, researcher says .

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(CNN) -- The body of a University of Georgia professor accused of killing three people was found Saturday buried in woods near Athens, Georgia, authorities said. George Zinkhan, a professor at the University of Georgia, disappeared after the slayings of his wife and two others. George Zinkhan, 57, is suspected of fatally shooting his wife and two other people last month outside a community theater in Athens, which is home to the University of Georgia. Cadaver dogs discovered the body with two guns in a wooded area of northwest Clarke County, about a mile from where Zinkhan's red Jeep Liberty was found last week, Athens-Clarke Police Chief Joseph Lumpkin said. Athens-Clarke County police confirmed the identity of the body, citing results from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The guns are like those authorities believe were used in the shootings, Lumpkin said. The body was found "beneath the earth," Lumpkin said, without any clothes. "A person who's not accustomed to the woods would never have found the body," he said. Significant "efforts" were undertaken to conceal the body's location, Jim Fullington of the GBI said. Authorities say Zinkhan fatally shot Marie Bruce, 47, Zinkhan's wife and a prominent Athens attorney, Tom Tanner, 40, and Ben Teague, 63, on April 25. The victims all were associated with the Town and Gown Players, a theater group that was holding a reunion picnic at the time of the shootings. Zinkhan arrived while the Town and Gown event was under way and got into a disagreement with his wife, police said. Police believe he went to his car -- where the couple's children apparently were waiting -- and returned with two handguns. In addition to the three deaths, two other people were wounded, police said. After the shooting, Zinkhan left with his children -- ages 8 and 10 -- in the car, police said. He drove to a neighbor's home in nearby Bogart, Georgia, where he lived, and left the children with the neighbor. Authorities put out bulletins across the nation for Zinkhan after the shootings and revealed that he had purchased a May 2 ticket in March to the Netherlands, where he owns a house. The day of the flight passed without any sign of Zinkhan. He had been an endowed marketing professor at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business. The university fired Zinkhan the day after the shootings. CNN's Marylynn Ryan contributed to this report.

NEW: Efforts made to conceal body found unclothed with guns, police say . Cadaver dogs searching for George Zinkhan found body buried in woods, police say . Body was a little more than a mile from professor's Jeep . University of Georgia professor was suspected of killing his wife, 2 other people .

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(CNN) -- The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has confirmed that Richard Gasquet has been provisionally suspended after the French star admitted testing positive for cocaine at the Miami Masters tournament in March. Gasquet is left to contemplate a possible two-year ban from tennis. A spokesman for the ITF Anti-Doping Programme told CNN Gasquet's ban from competition has been put in place in accordance with rules revised by the 2009 WADA Code. "Players may now be served with a provisional suspension if their A sample tests positive for a non-specified substance (eg a hormone or steroid). Richard Gasquet has consequently received a provisional suspension according to the rules of the programme." The spokesman added: "In accordance with the programme's confidentiality provisions, the ITF will not release any further details until an independent anti-doping tribunal has issued its decision, which will be in due course." The former world number seven issued a statement to news agencies on Sunday after the French sports paper L'Equipe had revealed in a report on its Web site the failed doping tests. Gasquet, who has slipped to 23rd in the rankings, faces a two-year ban from tennis, but is hoping for leniency. "The test of the B sample submitted at the end of March 2009, confirmed the positive result of the A sample taken on the same day," he said. "I want to prove my innocence and will explain myself at an appropriate time," he added. If Gasquet exercises his right to a hearing, an independent anti-doping tribunal will be held, ordinarily within 60 days of the player's request. The tribunal will determine whether an offense has been committed, and if so, what penalty will be issued. Earlier Sunday, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) admitted they would be "very surprised" if the reports proved to be true. The FFT added in a statement released to Press Association that it "would be very sad for Richard Gasquet himself, for tennis in general, for French tennis in particular, whose image would be dented" if the positive test was officially confirmed. Gasquet, a teenage prodigy, has failed to match his early promise but did reach the semifinals of Wimbledon in 2007. Only this week the 22-year-old was confirmed as one of the star attractions at the pre-Wimbledon tournament at Eastbourne, but now faces a battle to clear his name. In ATP tennis action on Sunday, Novak Djokovic continued his fine form on clay with victory in his home tournament in Belgrade. The Serbian top seed beat Lukasz Kubot of Poland 6-3 7-6 in the Serbia Open final. It was Djokovic's fourth successive appearance in an tour final. The BMW Open title in Munich went to Czech Tomas Berdych who edged out Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-4 4-6 7-6.

Richard Gasquet tests positive for cocaine at ATP Miami Masters in March . French star Gasquet says he will battle to clear his name but faces two-year ban . Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych clinch Tour wins in pre-French Open events .

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(Entertainment Weekly) -- J.J. Abrams' franchise reboot boldly went where no Star Trek movie has gone before, grossing a stellar $72.5 million from Friday through Sunday, according to early estimates by Hollywood.com Box Office. In the film, Spock (Zachary Quinto, left) and Kirk get off on the wrong foot. That's the second-best opening of 2009 (after X-Men Origins: Wolverine's $85.1 million last weekend), and it includes a whopping $8.2 million earned in IMAX showings, a new one-weekend record for the large format (beating The Dark Knight's $6.3 million). What's more, if you add in the $4 million that the movie starring Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto earned in late-Thursday showings, Star Trek has banked an impressive $76.5 million so far -- well ahead of most expectations. This result is highly logical. Considering all the hype and buzz and strong reviews that Star Trek has garnered, it's no surprise that this film's opening sum is by far the biggest of any Star Trek movie: Of the 10 previous flicks in the franchise, 1996's Star Trek: First Contact bowed best, with (only) $30.7 million over three days. Moreover, a look at the movie's CinemaScore report card reveals some potentially good news. While it drew an expected crowd mostly comprised of older males, Star Trek's solid-A grade shows that word of mouth could be strong enough to bring in fans outside of the franchise's usual demographic (i.e. people who weren't alive in the 1980s...and women) as the weeks go on. Unless said folks are too distracted by Angels & Demons, Night at the Museum 2, and all the other big flicks on tap, of course. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (No. 2) was next with $27 million on a 68 percent decline. Fanboy-driven films always fall hard, but this drop is particularly hefty. Nevertheless, Hugh Jackman's franchise flick has already banked $129.6 million in 10 days. Fellow holdovers Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (No. 3 with $10.5 million), Obsessed (No. 4 with $6.6 million), and 17 Again (No. 5 with $4.4 million) rounded out the top five. And the comedy Next Day Air failed to take off, grossing just $4 million at No. 6. And in limited release, neither Rudo y Cursi nor Little Ashes made much of a mark, as each averaged well under $7,000 per theater. Overall, the box office was up nearly 22 percent from the same frame a year ago (when the infamous Speed Racer hit a bump in the road). And, really, what could be a better Mother's Day gift than that? Love ya, Mom! Have a great day! CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . Copyright 2009 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved.

J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" grosses $72.5 million from Friday through Sunday . "Wolverine" fell hard with only $27 million, showing a 68 percent decline . The box office was up nearly 22 percent from the same frame a year ago . Check out which movies made this week's top 10 list .

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(CNN) -- Werder Bremen continued their continued their domination of SV Hamburg with a 2-0 win which dents their northern neighbors' hopes of Champions League football next season. A dejected Paolo Guerrero and Ivica Olic walk off after Hamburg's defeat. The defeat leaves Martin Jol's men sixth in the Bundesliga, five points behind leaders Wolfsburg with only three games remaining and four adrift of third-placed Hertha Berlin. It was the second meeting of the two teams in four days, with Werder winning a thrilling second leg 3-2 to go through to the UEFA Cup final on Thursday on away goals. Werder also put Hamburg out of the German Cup and their win came after a pair of goals by Hugo Almeira. In Sunday's other match, Borussia Moenchengladbach boosted their Bundesliga survival hopes with a 1-0 win at home to Schalke 04. Substitute Roberto Colautti scored in the last minute to spare the blushes of teammate Marko Marin, who had seen a penalty saved by Manuel Neuer in the first half. The win lifted Borussia out of the relegation zone into 15th place, but it is still tight with Arminia Bielefeld and Energie Cottbus only below them on goal difference. Schalke, who will have current Wolfsburg boss Felix Magath in charge next season, were suffering a second straight defeat to stay seventh. Wolfsburg were beaten 4-1 by Stuttgart on Saturday to throw open the title race with champions Bayern Munich joining them on 60 points with Hertha one point back and Stuttgart on 58.

Werder Bremen beat SV Hamburg 2-0 with Hugo Almeira scoring twice . Hamburg stay in sixth as defeat wrecks Bundesliga title chances . Borussia Moenchengladbach beat Schalke 1-0 to boost survival hopes .

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ATHENS, Georgia (CNN) -- A wanted University of Georgia professor killed himself with a single gunshot to the head after he dug his own grave and covered it with brush, police said Tuesday. George Zinkhan, a professor at the University of Georgia, disappeared after the slayings of his wife and two others. The manhunt for George Zinkhan ended Saturday when cadaver dogs discovered his body in Georgia's Clarke County, about a mile from where his red Jeep Liberty was found more than a week earlier, police said. "Zinkhan's body was found in a small dugout area in the ground, covered with leaves and debris, and it was apparent that he took significant steps to try to conceal his body from being located," a statement from Athens police said. Law enforcement officials determined that Zinkhan, 57, committed suicide after killing his wife, Marie Bruce, 47, Thomas Tanner, 40, and Ben Teague, 63, outside a theater in Athens on April 25. Another University of Georgia professor, Barbara Carroll, believes that she was also targeted by Zinkhan but escaped because she was at a movie theater the day of the slayings. In an e-mail obtained by CNN, Carroll had warned her colleagues at the university's Terry College of Business that Zinkhan, a marketing professor, was "dangerous." The e-mail was sent after the shootings but before Zinkhan's body was found. Carroll could not be reached Tuesday, but in her e-mail she said that law enforcement officials surrounded her house early on the morning of May 1 after authorities found MapQuest directions to her house, printed on April 24, in Zinkhan's Jeep. She said she was advised to go into hiding. "I do not believe Zinkhan had a map to my house for any reason other than he planned to kill me as well on April 25," Carroll wrote. "This also suggests premeditation for the three murders he did commit. By the grace of God, I was at the movies all Saturday afternoon after being at school in my office (like a sitting duck) all that morning." All three of Zinkhan's victims were associated with the Town and Gown Players theater group, which was holding a reunion picnic at the time of the shootings. Police did not give any motive for the slayings but said in a statement that Zinkhan and his wife were having marital problems. Zinkhan targeted Tanner and shot him first, the statement added. Authorities said Zinkhan arrived while the Town and Gown event was under way and got into a disagreement with Bruce. Police believe that he left, went to his car -- where the couple's children apparently were waiting -- and returned with two handguns. In addition to the three deaths, two people were wounded, police said. After the shootings, Zinkhan, a marketing professor at the Terry College of Business, drove to his hometown of Bogart, Georgia, and left his children -- ages 8 and 10 -- with a neighbor. Authorities put out bulletins across the nation for Zinkhan after the shootings and revealed that he had purchased an airline ticket in March for a May 2 flight to the Netherlands, where he owned a house. But Zinkhan never showed up at the airport.

NEW: Co-worker says she was also targeted . Authorities say University of Georgia professor dug his own grave . Cadaver dogs searching for George Zinkhan found body in woods, police say . Zinkhan suspected of killing his wife, two other people .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The son of actor Michael Landon was found dead in his West Hollywood, California, home Monday afternoon, according to investigators. There was "no indication of foul play" in the death of Mark Landon, 60, according to the report from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Mark Landon was the son of Dodie Frasier, who married Michael Landon in 1956. The actor adopted the child and his younger brother. Mark Landon had a few acting credits, playing small roles in three movies, according to the Internet Movie Database. He played a cab driver in "Us," a film his father directed and starred in just before his death from cancer in 1991. Michael Landon was once one of Hollywood's biggest TV stars. He is best known for his 14 years as "Little Joe" Cartwright in TV's long-running "Bonanza," and later as Charles Ingalls in nine seasons of "Little House on the Prairie." CNN's Jack Hannah contributed to this report.

"Bonanza" star's son Mark Landon found dead in West Hollywood home . Officials say no indication of foul play in 60-year-old's death . Mark Landon had a few acting credits, playing small roles in three movies .

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(CNN) -- Four minor boys are facing felony assault charges after a 13-year-old boy accused them of sexually assaulting him in the locker room of a Tampa, Florida, middle school, authorities said Friday. The alleged victim told school officials he was assaulted with a broomstick and hockey stick at Walker Middle School, in southern Tampa, on April 30, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said. Linda Cobbe with Hillsborough County Schools said police were contacted Wednesday afternoon after the boy reported the incident. The four teenagers, 14 and 15 years old, were arrested at school Wednesday and charged with sexual assault and false imprisonment, the sheriff's office said. The victim said two boys held him down on the ground while the other two sexually assaulted him, the sheriff's office said. The alleged victim had been "continually picked on and harassed by the suspects" before the incident, the sheriff's office said in a news release. All four suspects have been suspended from school, Cobbe said. On Thursday, the school's principal, Kathleen Hoffman, contacted students' parents through a recorded message, telling them the four would not be allowed to return to school "unless their legal issues are resolved." Cobbe said the 13-year-old is back in classes at the school. CNN's John Couwels contributed to this report.

Boy, 13, says he was sexually assaulted at middle school . 4 teens, age 14 and 15, face felony charges in Tampa, Florida . All four suspects have been suspended from school .

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(CNN) -- Treasure hunter Christian Hanisch told CNN Thursday that the hunt for Nazi Gold and possibly the legendary Amber Room will end Friday after the two men leading the expedition had a disagreement. Treasure hunters began drilling again Tuesday to try to locate the lost Nazi gold. Heinz-Peter Haustein, the other treasure hunter, told Germany's Bild newspaper that geophysicists will now re-evaluate the situation and that digging may resume in two weeks. CNN has so far not been able to reach Haustein for confirmation. "Haustein told me to get out of here immediately," an angry Hanisch told CNN in a telephone interview. He said Haustein, who is also the mayor of the village Deutschneudorf, where the digging is taking place, told him he wanted to make the expedition more credible by calling in the scientists. See photos from hunt for lost Nazi gold » . "It can't get any more credible than now," said Hanisch, whose measurements had allegedly pinpointed the treasure. He said the drilling taking place at the site never focused on the exact coordinates he had provided. "They just always dug around there, but never at the exact location where I wanted them to dig," he said. The two treasure hunters had said geological surveying had revealed an underground cave holding large amounts of precious metal. They said it could be a holding area dug by the Nazis who used it to stash valuables in World War II. Haustein said he also believes the legendary Amber Room, an interior made of gold and amber that the Nazis had looted from a palace in St. Petersburg, after Adolf Hitler's forces invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, was also hidden somewhere in the mountains around Deutschneudorf -- and that finding a stash of gold could give clues as to the whereabouts of the Amber Room. Now Hanisch says he never believed in the Amber Room theory. "I never talked about finding the Amber Room anywhere here, that was all Haustein's idea," he said. Hanisch said that his father was one of the soldiers who helped transport gold and other valuables to the area around Deutschneudorf near the end of the Second World War and that when he died he left behind coordinates allegedly leading to a cave holding gold and other valuables. Haustein has been paying for the excavation. Watch hunt for Nazi gold at German mountain » . Earlier this week, Haustein said digging at the site was stopped more than a week ago amid safety concerns, as German authorities and the treasure hunters feared that the shaft dug so far might collapse, and that the alleged cave may be rigged with explosives or poisonous booby traps. Deutschneudorf is in Germany's Ore Mountains, and the mountain where the treasure hunters were looking was a copper mine until the 19th century. Though the mine was shut down in 1882, geologists have found evidence that soldiers from Hitler's Wehrmacht -- the German armed forces -- had been there: machine guns, parts of uniforms and explosives that are on display at the town's museum. E-mail to a friend .

Digging in search of lost Nazi gold to be called off, one treasure hunter says . Second hunter tells Bild it may resume in two weeks . The dig is in the mountains around Deutschneudorf, Germany . Treasure hunters hope to find valuables looted from Russia during World War II .

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Fareed Zakaria is a foreign affairs analyst who hosts "Fareed Zakaria GPS" on CNN at 1 and 5 p.m. ET Sundays. Zakaria says granting autonomy to groups generally produces peace and stability. (CNN) -- The Dalai Lama says the key to stopping violence around the world is to stop "destructive emotion." In an interview to air Sunday on CNN's "GPS," he tells Fareed Zakaria that he doesn't think even Osama bin Laden wished for violence when he was a child but that it grew of out hatred and frustration. The Dalai Lama also addressed relations between Tibet and China in the interview, which Zakaria discussed with CNN. CNN: Why is Tibet such a hot-button issue for China? Fareed Zakaria: China sees the issue as a separatist movement, as President Lincoln did when the South wanted to secede from the Union. They feel their territorial integrity is being threatened. And Tibetans see their culture, language and religion as being slowly but surely extinguished by the Chinese. CNN: So who's right? Zakaria: Well, that depends on who you ask. You need to look at the history to get a complete picture. It all goes back to Genghis Khan, who captured Tibet in 1207. He united Tibet » with China under the Mongol empire. The Chinese have claimed an unbroken line of sovereignty over Tibet ever since. The Tibetans, however, reject that claim, saying they have been an independent kingdom for many periods during that time, some centuries long. That was the situation until 1912, when Tibet declared itself an independent republic. China never recognized it, nor did the U.N. or any major Western power. CNN: Well, that seems to indicate that China has a point. Does it? Zakaria: It's not so simple, because although China never recognized an independent Tibet, neither did it exercise any control of Tibet. That is, until 1950, when Chairman Mao sent the Red Army in to liberate -- as the Chinese saw it -- the Tibetan people from the feudal serfdom they were living under. However, the Tibetans saw the act as an invasion, and in 1959, the political and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, the Dalai Lama, fled to India, where he set up a government in exile. CNN: So we've been with the current situation since 1959. Why hasn't there been any resolution? Zakaria: Well, the Chinese are hoping to wait it out. By letting the issue drag on, they are hoping more and more ethnic Han Chinese move into the region and slowly let the Tibetan freedom movement die out. CNN: Will it work? Zakaria:That could happen -- and has worked with other regions. But, it could also work the other way. The Chinese sometimes use force, as they did last year against the Tibetan monks, which causes a huge backlash in Tibet and outside. This has resulted in some Tibetans becoming more strident in their calls for independence and aggressive in their demands. However, the Dalai Lama has repeatedly said that he does not seek independence, only cultural autonomy, and urged his followers to engage in no violent protests whatsoever. If there were ever a leader of a separatist group whom one could negotiate with, he's it. And once the 72-year-old Dalai Lama passes from the scene, Beijing might have to deal with a far more unpredictable and radical Tibetan movement. CNN: Do you think granting what the Dalai Lama is asking for makes sense? Zakaria: If you look at other cases, such as in Turkey and India, granting autonomy to groups that press for it has in the end produced a more stable and peaceful national climate. But that is a lesson the Chinese government will have to learn for itself; it is unlikely to take instruction from outsiders. CNN: What ultimately causes this age-old mistrust between the Chinese and the Dalai Lama? What's the stumbling block that keeps them from finding resolution? Zakaria: The Chinese government has always believed that when the Dalai Lama speaks of "autonomy," what he really means is independence, a sovereign nation for Tibet. I asked the Dalai Lama about this, and he denied it vehemently. He insists that Tibetans would truly be content to live within the Chinese system, as citizens of its government, as long as they are allowed to preserve their culture and practice their religion. It is difficult to see how this gap -- the difference in perception between the two sides -- can be bridged. E-mail me gps@cnn.com to let me know your thoughts.

Zakaria: Tibetans see culture, language, religion as being extinguished by China . "You need to look at the history to get a complete picture," he says . In 1912, Tibet declared itself independent, but China never recognized it as such . Dalai Lama does not seek Tibetan independence, just cultural autonomy .

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(CNN) -- In the Land of the Rising Sun, the fiscal year is setting in a sea of red. Mount Fuji glows red in the sunset, much like the year-end results of Japanese manufacturers. Electronics makers Hitachi and NEC Corp., and carmaker Nissan all ended the year with a loss. Japan's largest electronics maker, Hitachi lost $8 billion in the fiscal year ending March 31, with consolidated revenues down 11 percent from last year. It was the largest loss ever recorded by a Japanese manufacturer, according to Shinko Research Institute. NEC Corporation lost $3 billion in the past fiscal year, down nearly 11.5 percent from last year. Meanwhile, Nissan lost $2.3 billion for the year . Declines in the automobile, semiconductor and industrial equipment industries especially hurt Hitachi, as well as write-downs of securities due to the sharp declines in global stock exchanges. Watch more about Japanese stock values » . Hitachi said it will cut unprofitable business lines, reduce staff and eliminate factories in Japan and overseas, but gave no specifics. Japanese firms have been hit hard by the credit crisis, which has driven up the value of the yen -- driving up the export cost of products to markets like the US, where consumers are spending less on durable goods such as automobiles and electronic products.

Hitachi's annual loss of $8 billion biggest ever for Japanese manufacturer . NEC Corp. loses $3 billion; Nissan $2.3 billion . Japanese manufacturers hurt by strong yen, soft overseas sales .

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(CNN) -- When Kellogg's dumped its endorsement of Michael Phelps after a photograph surfaced of the Olympic gold medalist using a bong, the company was stuck with thousands of boxes of cereal featuring the swimmer's image. Kellogg's ended its Michael Phelps endorsement, so it sent two tons of cereal with his face on it to a food bank. No problem. The company, based in Battle Creek, Michigan, made short order of the already-printed and filled boxes, donating two tons of cereal to the San Francisco Food Bank late last month. With food banks across the country reporting shortages of food, the donation was a welcome one, said the food bank's director of development, Christopher Wiley. It took only two weeks for about 3,000 boxes to move through warehouse. "Thousands of families benefited from the donation" Wiley said. "It was a surprise to us. We were lacking a lot of cereal. It is a great product many low-income families really need." "The real story for us was not the box but what's inside the box. The food is so valuable for the community. It's making good from bad," Wiley said. The food bank has seen a 6 percent increase in its customer base since the beginning of the year, he said. Phelps, 23, won a record eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. He admitted "regrettable behavior" after a British newspaper published the controversial photograph in early February. The tabloid News of the World showed Phelps using the bong during what it said was a November party at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. A bong is a device commonly used to smoke marijuana. The Phelps box attracted considerable attention to the food bank. Administrators received several calls from people wanting to get the box as a novelty item. But, said Wiley, all the cereal went to food bank customers. Kellogg's was the only one of Phelps sponsors to drop the athlete, although U.S.A. Swimming, the nation's governing body for competitive swimming, suspended him for three months, withdrew financial support and barred him from competition during the period of his "reprimand." CNN's Jackie Castillo and Mayra Cuevas contributed to this report.

Kellogg's donated two tons of cereal to the San Francisco Food Bank . Company dumped the cereal boxes with Michael Phelps' face after bong incident . Food bank director: Helpful donation is "making good from bad" More than 3,000 boxes of cereal went to help those who were hungry .

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(CNN) -- Freed Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi thanked friends and family Tuesday for their support during her ordeal in an Iranian prison, and said she plans to spend the next few days relaxing. Roxana Saberi smiles ouside her home in Tehran, Iran, on Tuesday. "I am, of course, very happy to be free and to be with my parents again," a smiling Saberi, 32, told reporters. Saberi, who was dressed in a black tunic and a blue headscarf, said she was only now learning of a global support campaign on her behalf. "I want to thank all the people all over the world, who, whether they knew me or not, helped me and my family during this period," she said. "I don't have any specific plans for the moment. I just want to be with my parents and my friends and to relax." Reza Saberi, her father, said they plan to leave Iran soon. Saberi was convicted last month on espionage charges in a one-day trial that was closed to the public. She was sentenced to eight years in prison after being accused of spying for the United States. A judge changed Saberi's sentence during an appeal hearing Monday. The court agreed with her lawyers that, because Iran is not at war with the United States, Saberi cannot be punished for cooperating with agents of a hostile nation, according to Saberi's spokesman, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi. Her sentence was changed to a two-year jail term, suspended for five years, Iran's state-run news agency IRNA reported. Saberi was detained in January after initially being accused of buying a bottle of wine and working as a journalist without proper accreditation, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, an advocacy group. She was soon charged with espionage. Saberi went on a hunger strike while imprisoned, but her father said she has since put on some weight.

Father of Roxana Saberi says they plan to leave Iran soon . Saberi, 33, was convicted last month on espionage charges . Her sentence was changed to a two-year jail term, suspended for five years . She has lived in Iran since 2003, reporting for international news organizations .

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(CNN) -- Police in San Bernardino, California, released pictures of two suspects in the abduction of a 3-year-old boy who was taken at gunpoint from his home last weekend. Authorities say these men purchased tape from a store and used it 3-year-old Briant Rodriguez's abduction. Briant Rodriguez has been missing since May 3, when two Hispanic males armed with handguns burst into the home, tied him up, along with his mother and four siblings. They ransacked the home before leaving with Briant, a small amount of cash and some personal property, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Public Information Officer Cindy Beavers said. A motive for the abduction is still unclear, and the authorities have not received a demand for ransom, Beavers said. Investigators traced samples of the tape used to tie up the family to a home improvement store where they believe the suspects purchased the tape the Friday before the abduction. The unidentified store's surveillance camera captured two men who matched the description of the kidnappers given by Briant's mother, purchasing tape believed to have been used in the abduction, Beavers said. The home improvement store's exterior surveillance cameras also caught a green Ford Bronco believed to have been used in the abduction, Beavers said. The same car was later seen driving past a convenience store near Briant's home about three minutes after his mother called police on Sunday to report the abduction, Beavers said. Authorities distributed screen grabs of the footage on Friday showing the suspects and the vehicle in an effort to draw more tips, which have been coming in steadily since an Amber Alert was issued earlier this week. "You've got two men that resemble the description given by Briant's mother, they're buying tape that matches the tape used to tie them up, then they leave the store in this green Bronco and then on Sunday, just a few minutes before the emergency call for help, the same vehicle is seen leaving the victims' neighborhood," she said. "Detectives put these two incidents together, and they're confident that these are the suspects and that was the vehicle used," she said. Both suspected kidnappers are Hispanic males -- one 5-feet, 5 inches tall, between the ages of 18 and 20 with a thin build, unknown hair and eye color, last seen wearing a black baseball hat, blue jeans and green T-shirt. The other is 5-foot-10, around age 24 with a thin build, black boots, a black shirt and a bandanna. Neighboring law enforcement agencies are on alert, and the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Border Patrol are assisting in the investigation. The FBI and the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department have both put up $25,000 rewards for Briant's return. The FBI has also established a Facebook page with the latest information in the case. "We became involved in the beginning and that's customary in kidnapping cases because of the potential for cases to go out of state or out of the country," FBI Spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said. Despite early speculation that the abduction was related to Mexican cartel violence, both spokeswomen said they were unaware of specific evidence suggesting the family had ties to the drug trade. "We've seen an escalation nationwide in south-of-the-border-related kidnappings, whether it be drug cartels exacting revenge or carrying out violence in exchange for drug debts, or in another type of scenario, Americans who do business in Mexico being targeted for ransom," Eimiller said. "Of course that's being looked at as a scenario here, but we have no conclusive evidence suggesting that's the case just yet." Briant is described in the Amber Alert as a Hispanic male who was last seen wearing a yellow shirt with blue sleeves and blue-striped shorts with two different colors of blue. The boy's hair is longer than shoulder length.

Tape used in abduction leads police to store where suspects seen purchasing item . Police: Surveillance footage also captures green Ford Bronco used in kidnapping . Briant Rodriguez, 3, was abducted at gunpoint in armed robbery last weekend . For tips in case call the FBI: 1-866-346-7632 .

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(CNN) -- As President Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon talk tough about cracking down on the deadly drug war, the United States is changing tactics in the battle against illegal narcotics at home. Legalizing marijuana is off the table, the White House says. The man Obama picked to be the new "drug czar," Gil Kerlikowske, has made it clear that the United States is going to do a better job of treating addicts to try to reduce the demand for narcotics. Kerlikowske, 59, is a military veteran with 36 years of law enforcement experience. The drug czar oversees an agency that sets the country's drug-control strategy. The White House and Congress want to see more drug courts, and increased funding for the program 250 percent in the spending bill signed in March. It's a campaign pledge that the Obama administration thinks will give nonviolent offenders "a chance to serve their sentence, where appropriate, in the type of drug rehabilitation programs that have proven to work better than a prison term in changing bad behavior," according to the White House Web site. Judge Paul Gluchowski, who works with the Prince William County Juvenile Drug Court in Virginia, dismissed the notion that a drug treatment program is the easy way out. Watch what it's like inside the drug court » . If anyone thinks that, he said he'd tell them they should "come and talk to some of the participants. A lot of them probably wish they never agreed to undergo drug court. And a lot of them have given up because it's too hard." Those who slip up in drug court can be forced to wear ankle-monitoring bracelets or put into juvenile detention. "If they don't give up, then when it comes time for graduation and you see the shine on their face, when you know that they have accomplished something, and they know that. That's what it's all about," Gluchowski said. Vice President Joe Biden stressed the importance of drug courts and prisoner re-entry programs when he announced Kerlikowske's position in March, saying they "can serve as the light at the end of the tunnel, of a very long, long dark tunnel, for those who are stuck in the cycle of drug addiction and incarceration." Kerlikowske said he was committed to tackling the nation's drug problem, but noted that it would take a "coordinated and multifaceted effort." "The success of our efforts to reduce the flow of drugs is largely dependent on our ability to reduce demand for them," Kerlikowske said, calling the nation's drug problem one of "human suffering." "It requires prosecutors and law enforcement, courts, treatment providers and prevention programs to exchange information and to work together. And our priority should be a seamless, comprehensive approach," he said. In meeting with Calderon on Thursday, Obama tried to show Mexico's president that he is committed to ending a crisis that hits so close to home. Obama vowed to beef up security along the border and to work to slow the flow of guns and drugs. He said the United States shares responsibility for the drug problem, saying "a demand for these drugs in the United States is what is helping to keep these cartels in business." But he also tried to limit expectations that there could be any sort of quick fix. "Now, are we going to eliminate all drug flows? Are we going to eliminate all guns coming over the border? That's not a realistic objective," he said. "What is a realistic objective is to reduce it so significantly, so drastically that it becomes once again a localized criminal problem, as opposed to a major structural problem that threatens stability in communities along those borders." The White House has listened to those who say legalizing marijuana will pull the rug from under the violent cartels in Mexico and boost the U.S. economy, but that option is not on the table. Asked Thursday if that is something realistic, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano quickly responded, "No, it is not." Sixty percent of drug criminals sent to prison re-offend, compared to 17 percent of graduates of drug court, according to the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. Drug policy experts like those numbers, but say the nation needs more treatment options. "For individuals who don't have the resources, don't have public health insurance, can't afford it themselves, the single best way that they can access treatment is to get arrested," said Ryan King, a policy analyst with the Sentencing Project. "And that's wrong. What we need to do is make sure for every American that is abusing drugs and wants to stop, that they have the resources made available to them, regardless of whether they can afford them." CNN's Jim Acosta and Kristi Keck contributed to this report.

Drug court supporters say program is more effective than jail time . Biden stresses the importance of drug courts in announcing new drug czar . Obama vows crackdown on drug war but says stopping all drug flow is unrealistic . Legalizing marijuana is not an option, White House says .

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(CNN) -- At least 10 people were killed, and an unknown number remained missing Wednesday, after a boat authorities believe was used for human smuggling capsized off the coast of Florida. The Coast Guard said it rescued 26 people from a capsized boat off the coast of Florida. Almost all of the victims are believed to be from Haiti and the Bahamas, according to the U.S. Coast Guard -- which said a dangerous number of people was packed onto a small pleasure cruiser. The Coast Guard said it rescued 26 people from the boat, and searchers didn't know how many more people had been on the boat. "You don't put 26 people on a small boat. It was way overloaded, completely unsafe," said Capt. Jim Fitton, the Coast Guard's sector commander in Miami, Florida. "With smugglers, you have the potential for this because smugglers aren't interested in people's welfare. They're interested in making money." The boat capsized about 15 miles east of Boynton Beach, Florida, some time around 2 a.m. Wednesday, the Coast Guard said. The agency was notified more than nine hours later by someone who saw the boat. There were women and children on the boat, Fitton said. A pregnant woman was taken to a hospital, while most of the victims remained onboard a Coast Guard cutter that was being used in the continuing rescue efforts, he said. Only eight of the people rescued by Wednesday afternoon were wearing life jackets. The Rev. Luke Harrigan, a Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, pastor to members of the Haitian community who is working with the Coast Guard, said he is contacting family members of the victims who were killed. "Most of them now didn't even know they were coming to the United States," he said. "Sometimes the person organizing the trip doesn't even tell them where they are going." He said it's not uncommon for smugglers to charge people from the impoverished island nation as much as $4,000 for passage into the United States. Coast Guard rescuers were continuing to search the area of the crash Wednesday evening.

Coast Guard rescues 26; searchers unsure how many others missing . Almost all of the victims are believed to be from Haiti and the Bahamas . Boat capsized about 15 miles east of Boynton Beach, Florida .

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NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Hundreds of Indian army troops were using helicopters and boats Wednesday to deliver supplies and rescue villagers stranded by the worst flooding in decades, after the Kosi River breached an embankment in Nepal to the north. The death toll in the hard-to-reach Bihar state in northeastern India has been difficult to determine. Bihar emergency management official K.K. Agarwal confirmed 10 deaths to CNN on Wednesday, but the news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) reported 55. Phone lines and electricity are out in the flooded areas. In the Supaul district city of Birpur, Mohd Rauffudin's hopes were fading. He told IBN -- a CNN partner station in India -- that while he was trying to stay afloat, he lost contact with his wife and children, as well as his nine brothers and his parents. "I wish the help had reached (us) on time. That way at least my children could have been safe," he said. A woman who called herself Ruby told IBN her baby has been sick for four days, she can't reach medical help and she has lost track of her family. "My child is so ill. I cannot do a thing about it. I wonder what I did wrong that my child must suffer," the mother said. The flooding began when the river burst through an embankment in Nepal more than a week ago, swallowing villages and destroying about 225,000 homes, officials and UNICEF India said. Water flowed so forcefully from the breach that the river changed course, making a new channel about 75 miles (120km) east of its river bed, flooding areas unaccustomed to water that high. Watch survivors find safety on roofs » . Agarwal said the disaster affected about 2 million people and 725 villages in Bihar, India's poorest state. Ninety-five relief shelters had been set up, 44 health-care camps and 22 shelters for animals, he said. Army spokesman Lt. Col. A. K. Mathur said 400 troops were involved in rescue operations, and the military had dispatched at least 20 rescue boats. Three army helicopters were dropping thousands of food packets, he said. PTI reported earlier in the day that bad weather had prevented Indian air force choppers from conducting relief drops in the worst-hit districts of Bihar: Supaul, Saharsa, Araria and Madhepura. Officials told CNN it was the worst flooding in Bihar in 80 years. Watch more on people stranded » . The Kosi is known to Indians as the "River of Sorrow" because of its flooding during the monsoon season, which lasts from June to September. The river flows into the Hindu-revered Ganges River. Video has shown residents huddled atop low-rise buildings, standing in waist-high water in the streets and trying to escape in boats. The flooding has submerged roads and railway tracks, and cut off electricity.

Indian army troops use helicopters, boats to deliver supplies, rescue villagers . NEW: Survivor says he lost wife, children, parents, nine brothers . India says more than 2 million affected, 225,000 homes destroyed by flooding . Ninety-five relief shelters and 44 health-care camps set up .

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MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- A Spanish court convicted four men Tuesday but acquitted 10 others of charges that they helped four suspects from the Madrid train bombings to flee. The rush-hour train bombings killed 191 people and wounded 1,800 others. The National Court convicted Kamal Ahbar, 31, of Algeria, and Samir Tahtah, 32, of Morocco, of belonging to an Islamic terrorist group, and sentenced them to nine years in prison, according to a 136-page court ruling. The court also convicted Mohamed El Idrissi, 32, of Morocco, of collaborating with a terrorist group and sentenced him to five years. Tarek Hamed Hamu, 30, a Spaniard from Spain's enclave of Ceuta on Morocco's north coast, was convicted of document forgery and sentenced to two years. But 10 other men, from Morocco, Algeria or Spain's Ceuta, were acquitted. Most were arrested in June 2005, a year after the Madrid commuter train bombings in March 2004 that killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,800. In June 2005, police closed in on a rundown locale, the court said, in a Barcelona suburb, on suspicion it was a hive for Islamic terrorist recruitment, indoctrination and logistical support to move men to Iraq to fight against western forces there, including as suicide bombers. Prosecutors said the group helped four train bombing suspects flee. But one was later caught and convicted in Morocco; another was thought to have died in Iraq, while a third was among seven key train bomb suspects who blew themselves up in Madrid suburb as police closed in on their hideout a month after the train bombings.

Four men convicted of helping Madrid bombing suspects flee . Ten others acquitted by Spain's National Court . March 11, 2004, attacks killed 191 people and wounded 1,800 .

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(CNN) -- The days of being cut off from the Internet while you're on a plane are quickly disappearing. An American Airlines passenger uses Wi-Fi to access the Internet during a flight. A number of domestic airlines have recently begun offering Wi-Fi Internet access aboard planes, and other airlines say they are working toward making it happen. "This is the year" for Wi-Fi on planes, said Jack Blumenstein, president and CEO of Aircell, whose Gogo® Inflight Internet service provides access on Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, AirTran and Virgin America flights, and will begin testing on United flights later this year. Gogo is installed on more than 200 commercial planes, and Blumenstein said he expected 1,200 aircraft to have Gogo capability by the end of 2009. For now, Wi-Fi on domestic carriers' planes is limited to flights within North America. Gogo, which operates by transmitting signals from ground-level towers, functions across the United States and up to about 300 miles offshore. The company's access will cover the entire continent within a year or two, Blumenstein said. Row 44, which uses satellite technology to provide connectivity to Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines, already covers much of North America and will roll out trans-Atlantic and European service in the third quarter of this year, said the company's CEO, John Guidon. Neither company would release the exact cost of turning airplanes into Wi-Fi hot spots. But Blumenstein said Aircell managed to equip a plane for "substantially" less than $100,000. Row 44, which bills itself as the "industrial-strength solution" to airplane connectivity, costs hundreds of thousands of dollars per plane, Guidon said. Another company, LiveTV, is a subsidiary of JetBlue that provides free e-mail and messaging aboard flights but doesn't offer open Web surfing. LiveTV, which uses air-to-ground technology, provides the service on select JetBlue flights and also is working with Frontier Airlines on offering Internet access aboard its planes. The Wi-Fi venture has the potential to be "very profitable," said Harlan Platt, an airline industry expert and professor of finance at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. "Normally, air carriers rush to purchase capital equipment that raises their cost but doesn't raise their revenue. ... This is actually a revenue-producing tactic. And it's a good one because it's providing value to the passenger and it's creating incremental revenues for the airline," Platt said. Aircell, which shares its revenue from Gogo with the airlines, charges $9.95 for flights under three hours, $12.95 for flights longer than three hours and $7.95 to use a Wi-Fi capable handheld device for any flight length. Passengers can begin using the service once the plane reaches 10,000 feet. If the plane remains in flight for longer than three hours as part of a delay, passengers do not pay the higher fee, Blumenstein said. Platt believes that business model will evolve to entice more passengers to use it. The size of those fees could result in "a whole segment of the market that they're not going to capture," said Platt. The airlines will maximize their profits by convincing more passengers to use the system with a lower price, he said. Platt predicted Aircell and the airlines would create a second tier of service, which would be less expensive but with fewer capabilities. He compared the strategy to airlines' price-reducing tactics to avoid empty seats on planes. As Aircell and Row 44's services expand, LiveTV is monitoring passengers' usage to gauge how to move ahead with its own business model, said Mike Moeller, vice president of sales and marketing for the company. "Yes, broadband is coming. We're sitting there asking, 'Who pays? Is it the airlines or the customers? And what will they pay? What is the right technology? ... When does all of this happen?' We're in weird economic times," Moeller said. As for the possibility of passengers offending their seat-mates by surfing for inappropriate content, Blumenstein said nine months of Wi-Fi availability on American yielded no such incidents. Still, airlines including American, Delta and United have requested screening for potentially offensive content, he said. On the other hand, Alaska Airlines, which uses Row 44, does not plan on using the company's content-blocking capabilities. Instead, flight attendants will follow standard protocol for objectionable material -- they'll ask passengers to stow it away, said Bobbie Egan, an airline spokeswoman. Here is what major U.S. airlines offer, and what is coming up: .

Many domestic airlines have begun offering Wi-Fi Internet access aboard planes . Provider Aircell expects to have 1,200 planes equipped by the end of this year . Another company, Row 44, says it will have trans-Atlantic Wi-Fi in the third quarter .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai discussed his sometimes-turbulent relationship with the United States on Friday as more details emerged about U.S. airstrikes in his country that killed dozens of people this week. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his government does not tolerate corruption. Karzai reflected on the past seven years of his leadership of Afghanistan and characterized his relationship with the United States as having "serious bumps along the way, especially in the conduct of the war on terror." The theme he emphasized Friday was the problem of Afghan civilian casualties caused by American airstrikes. Karzai said he has raised the issue repeatedly since 2007. "We have complained bitterly about civilian casualties," he said. "We needed to get Washington's attention." The issue of civilian deaths has been at the foreground of Karzai's trip to Washington, where he's meeting with President Obama and other top officials. Afghan officials say that more than 100 civilians were killed in a U.S. airstrike Wednesday in Farah province, on the western border with Iran. If that death toll is confirmed, it will be the single deadliest incident involving Afghan civilians since the American-led invasion of the country in 2001 to oust the Taliban from power. A senior U.S. military official said Friday that 30 to 50 people were killed in the strikes, most of them insurgents. But the rest were civilians, including women and children. The U.S. military thinks some civilians were killed when they were caught up in the ground fighting and others in the airstrikes. The Taliban held some civilians against their will in the buildings that were attacked, according to the official. Karzai said senior Obama administration officials immediately and personally apologized to him about the incident when he met with them this week. Watch Karzai discuss U.S. airstrikes that allegedly killed civilians » . At the White House on Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari that she "deeply regretted" the death of Afghan civilians and pledged that the United States "will work very hard with your governments and with your leaders to avoid the loss of innocent civilian lives." In response to recent suggestions by U.S. military officials that the civilian deaths in Farah province might have been staged by the Taliban, Karzai said that an Afghan government team was investigating the incident and that "there was no doubt that the casualties were caused by bombings... and the use of air power." As the president grapples with the latest incident, he's also dealing with criticism of his administration by American officials for its perceived tolerance of corruption. An independent assessment by the non-governmental organization Transparency International rated Afghanistan as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Karzai said his government does not tolerate corruption. "That is not right! That is not right!" he said firmly. The president pointed out that Afghan courts had recently convicted 600 people on corruption charges or on counts of major drug dealing. Karzai used the issue of corruption to segue into a critique of the way in which aid has been disbursed to Afghanistan. He asserted that of the $32 billion the international community had given his country since 2001, only $6 billion -- or 20 percent -- has been funneled through the Afghan government. The other $26 billion has been spent by the donor countries themselves, and Karzai implied that the Afghan government should not be held accountable for how those funds have been spent. Support for Karzai's critique came last year in a study by the leading British charity Oxfam that concluded that a large portion of the money the international community has given to Afghanistan does not end up in the country itself. The report estimated that 40 percent of the money spent is returned to donor countries, such as the United States, in the form of consultants' salaries and corporate profits. Turning to the election, to be held August 20, the Afghan president said that if he wins another five-year term, he will put a special emphasis on building dams and bringing electricity to the Afghan people. The U.S. government assesses that less than 10 percent of Afghans have access to electric power. Karzai is likely to win the vote in a landslide, given his advantages of incumbency, relative popularity and the few plausible opposition candidates. Karzai emphasized also the importance in the coming years of what he described as the "peace process" with the Taliban. He characterized it as being at "the heart" of what his government hopes to achieve and said he is "glad that the Obama administration is backing this." The Afghan president said Saudi Arabia, one of the few governments to recognize the Taliban when they were in power, is "very important" in this process because of its leadership of the Islamic world. CNN's Nic Robertson reported that in September, representatives of the Afghan government and former Taliban officials met in Mecca for preliminary discussions about peace in a meeting hosted by Saudi King Abdullah. But peace with the Taliban may be a long time coming. Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar has in the past several months announced at every opportunity that he has no interest in a deal with the Afghan government. And one of Mullah Omar's deputies announced last month on a Taliban Web site that the militants would launch "strong and robust" operations in Afghanistan to counter the additional 21,000 American soldiers who are deploying to the country this year.

Afghan president says airstrikes have strained dealings with Washington . Latest incident is said to have killed 100 civilians Wednesday . Karzai critical of how aid money is distributed to his nation . He emphasizes importance of "peace process" with Taliban .

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MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russia expressed interest in using Cuban airfields during patrol missions of its strategic bombers, Russia's Interfax news agency reported . "There are four or five airfields in Cuba with 4,000-meter-long runways, which absolutely suit us," Maj. Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev told Interfax. Zhikharev, who is the chief of staff of the Russian Air Force's long-range aviation, said, "If the two chiefs of state display such a political will, we are ready to fly there." Zhikharev also told Interfax that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has offered a military airfield on La Orchila island as a temporary base for Russian strategic bombers. "If a relevant political decision is made, this is possible," he said, according to Interfax. Zhikharev said he visited La Orchila in 2008 and can confirm that with minor reconstruction, the airfield owned by a local naval base can accept fully-loaded Russian strategic bombers.

"We are ready to fly there," Russian Air Force official says . Cuba has four or five fields that suit Russia, military official says . Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez also has offered a military airfield .

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(CNN) -- Husbands are allowed to slap their wives if they spend lavishly, a Saudi judge said recently during a seminar on domestic violence, Saudi media reported Sunday. It is OK to slap Saudi women who spend too much, a judge has told an audience. Arab News, a Saudi English-language daily newspaper based in Riyadh, reported that Judge Hamad Al-Razine said that "if a person gives SR 1,200 [$320] to his wife and she spends 900 riyals [$240] to purchase an abaya [the black cover that women in Saudi Arabia must wear] from a brand shop and if her husband slaps her on the face as a reaction to her action, she deserves that punishment." Women in the audience immediately and loudly protested Al-Razine's statement, and were shocked to learn the remarks came from a judge, the newspaper reported. Arab News reported that Al-Razine made his remark as he was attempting to explain why incidents of domestic violence had increased in Saudi Arabia. He said that women and men shared responsibility, but added that "nobody puts even a fraction of blame" on women, the newspaper said. Al-Razine "also pointed out that women's indecent behavior and use of offensive words against their husbands were some of the reasons for domestic violence in the country," it added. Domestic violence, which used to be a taboo subject in the conservative kingdom, has become a hot topic in recent years. Groups like the National Family Safety Program have campaigned to educate the public about the problem and help prevent domestic abuse. Saudi women's rights activist Wajeha Al-Huwaider told CNN that Saudi women routinely face such attitudes. "This is how men in Saudi Arabia see women," she said in a telephone interview from the Saudi city of Dahran. "It's not something they read in a book or learned from a friend. They've been raised to see women this way, that they're less than a person." Al-Huwaider added that "I'm not surprised to see a judge or a religious man saying that - they've been raised in the same culture - a culture that tells them it's ok to raise your hand to a woman that this works." Another Saudi judge, in the city of Onaiza, was the source of a separate recent controversy: he twice denied a request from the mother of an 8-year-old girl that the girl be granted a divorce from her 47-year-old husband. Last month, after human-groups condemned the union, the girl was granted the divorce.

Husbands allowed to slap their wives if they spend lavishly, Saudi judge says . Women in the audience immediately and loudly protested his speech . Newspaper reports judge was trying to explain increase in domestic violence .

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NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The fifth and final phase of India's marathon general election to choose a federal government ended Wednesday. Indians voters hold up their voter ID cards at a polling station in northern India. Home to about 714 million voters, India is now due to hold a single-day vote count Saturday for 543 seats in the lower house of its parliament. India's election commission spokesman Rajesh Malhotra told CNN that a 62 percent voter turnout was recorded in the last phase of polling Wednesday. Voting in the month-long exercise was spread across 28 states and seven federal territories. Stock markets closed 138.4 points down -- as voting drew to a close Wednesday -- apparently over fears of political uncertainty ahead. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress party, which came to power in 2004 as head of a communist-backed coalition, is seeking re-election. The party mainly faces opposition from an alliance led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Watch more about one village refusing to vote » . Over the years, regional parties have emerged as key players in government formation in India, creating a situation in which federal power is now shared by a coalition of groups. Last year, Singh's Congress party lost the support of the communists, who opposed India's civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with the United States. The party was able to survive primarily with the backing of a powerful regional party.

Voting in the month-long exercise was spread across 28 states . India is scheduled to hold the vote count on Saturday . Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress party seeking re-election .

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- A Taliban spokesman issued a series of threats and ultimatums against Pakistani officials Wednesday as the country's military continued its offensive against the militant group in the Swat Valley. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan has courted local and international media in jovial telephone conversations. Speaking on the telephone with CNN, Muslim Khan announced that all national and provincial parliament members from the Malakand Division, the northwestern region where the Swat Valley is located, must resign within three days. "Otherwise, we will arrest all their families," Khan threatened, "and we will destroy all their buildings." The Taliban spokesman issued a separate directive aimed at prompting a public show of support for the militants from Pakistan's Islamist political parties. "All these parties must help the Taliban," Khan said. "They must give a press conference to show the people that we need sharia [Islamic law] in the Malakand Division." Members of the Islamist party Jamaat-i-Islami have spoken out against the military's offensive in the Swat Valley, but they have stopped short of announcing support for the Taliban. Watch more about the victims of the war » . Throughout the fighting over the past three weeks, the gray-bearded Khan has been the public face of the Taliban, enthusiastically courting local and international media in jovial telephone conversations. In an earlier phone interview with CNN, he described how he had spent four years living in the United States, working as a painter in the Boston, Massachusetts, area. On Wednesday, Khan denied reports from many refugees emerging from the Swat Valley that Taliban militants had carried out a campaign of violence and intimidation in the region for the past two years. Several terrified Swat residents, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal from the Taliban, described how insurgents kidnapped and killed their critics, beheaded government informers and blew up girls' schools. Khan denied the accusations. "We are killing the people which are only no good for society, like thieves and people who are making problem for the poor people, like people who are working for army," he said. "We are only killing these people." On Tuesday, the Pakistani army announced that it had dropped special forces soldiers by helicopter into the Peochar area of Swat, which is thought to be the headquarters for the region's Taliban's leader, Maulana Fazliullah. Local media report that the Taliban have training camps in Peochar. Khan confirmed that Pakistani troops had attacked Peochar, which he described as a "place for mujaheddin," or holy warriors. The Taliban spokesman said militants and soldiers have been fighting in the mountains around Peochar since Tuesday, and that the clashes continue. He said two Taliban fighters had been killed so far in the battle, along with five Pakistani troops. Meanwhile Wednesday, Taliban militants attacked NATO supply terminals, torching at least 10 supply trucks in northern Pakistan, local officials said. About 70 Taliban fighters attacked the facility in Peshawar, police said. A gunfight ensued between the insurgents and police. No casualties were reported. Peshawar is the capital of the North West Frontier Province, which intelligence officials say is rife with Islamic extremists and has been the site of recent clashes between Pakistani security forces and militants. Because Afghanistan is landlocked, many supplies for NATO-led troops fighting Islamic militants there must be trucked in from Pakistan. Convoys carrying food and military supplies have regularly come under attack in the area. Journalist Janullah Hashimzada contributed to this report.

Taliban spokesman threaten Pakistan's ruling political class . Muslim Khan says leaders from Swat Valley must resign within three days . Meanwhile artillery and helicopters pound Taliban targets in Swat Valley . Taliban attack NATO supply terminals, torch at least 10 supply trucks .

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- His was one of the first photos of a missing child to appear on a milk carton. Almost 30 years later, Etan Patz is still missing. Etan Patz, 6, disappeared while walking to a school bus stop. It was the first time he'd gone alone. Etan was 6 when he disappeared on May 25, 1979, the Friday before Memorial Day. He was on his way to school in what is now the upscale Soho neighborhood of New York. It was the first time he'd walked to the bus stop by himself. It was just a few blocks away. Etan, like any 6-year-old, argued that all of his friends walked to the bus stop alone, and his parents relented. His mother, Julie Patz, learned that Etan hadn't been in classes when he failed to return home. She called the school at 3:30 p.m., then called the homes of all his friends. When no one had seen Etan, she called police and filed a missing person's report. By evening more than 100 police officers and searchers had gathered with bloodhounds. The search continued for weeks, but no clues to Etan's whereabouts were found. Watch an update on the case » . The boy's disappearance was one of the key events that inspired the missing children's movement, which raised awareness of child abductions and led to new ways to search for missing children. Etan's case was the first of the milk carton campaigns of the mid-1980s. "In our minds there were only two possibilities," said Stan Patz, the boy's father. "Either Etan was taken by a stranger and killed or he was taken by a very sad woman desperate for a child of her own, and we hoped that such a woman would at least take care of him and keep him safe." Patz lived with this hope until 1982, when he learned of Jose Antonio Ramos' arrest and the surprising connection between him and a former babysitter of Etan's. Ramos was a drifter who in 1979 lived in Alphabet City, a neighborhood not far from Soho. In 1982 he was arrested after boys in a neighborhood in the Bronx complained that he had stolen their book bags while trying to coax them into a drainpipe under a bridge, where he lived, said the Patzes and federal prosecutor Stuart GraBois, who spent years investigating the case. When police found Ramos in his drainpipe home, they found he had many photographs of small blond boys. They noticed that they looked a lot like Etan Patz, according to author Lisa R Cohen's book about the case, "After Etan: The Missing Child Case that Held America Captive." Bronx police questioned Ramos, and he denied having anything to do with Etan's disappearance. But he did tell police that his girlfriend used to baby-sit for the boy, GraBois said. Prosecutors in the Bronx and Manhattan pursued this lead, but concluded they did not have enough evidence to connect Ramos to Etan's disappearance, GraBois and a spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said. Ramos was released when the parents of the Bronx boys chose not to press charges against him, according to published reports. He left town and disappeared for six years -- until GraBois reviewed Etan's case. GraBois said he focused on Ramos as the prime suspect. GraBois said he learned in 1988 that Ramos had been arrested and convicted of child molestation and was serving time in a Pennsylvania prison. GraBois said he brought Ramos to New York for questioning and surprised him with the question: "How many times did you have sex with Etan Patz?" Ramos told GraBois that he'd taken a little boy to an apartment he had on the lower East Side on the same day that Etan went missing. "He was 90 percent sure it was the same he'd seen in the news that was missing," GraBois said. According to GraBois, Ramos claimed he released the boy and brought him to a subway station so the boy could go visit his aunt in Washington Heights. "Etan did not have an aunt in Washington Heights," GraBois said. When questioned further, Ramos refused to say anything more and asked for a lawyer, according to GraBois. Ramos is serving a 10- to 20-year prison sentence in Pennsylvania. He is scheduled to be released in November 2012, GraBois said. GraBois said he had Ramos transferred to a federal prison, and planted informants as his cell mates. He wouldn't go into detail about what Ramos might have told them, but said he's convinced he's eyeing the right suspect. GraBois turned over his evidence to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, but prosecutors have not brought charges. They say that without a body, they don't have enough evidence. Etan's case is still considered by the NYPD to be a cold case. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Etan Patz or that leads to the arrest and conviction of the individual responsible for his disappearance is asked to call the FBI/NYPD Etan Patz hotline: 212-384-2200.

Boy, 6, begged his parents to let him walk to school bus stop for first time . He never showed up at school in Manhattan's Soho neighborhood . Etan Patz disappeared on May 25, 1979 . Know something? Call the FBI/NYPD Etan Patz hotline: 212-384-2200 .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Margie Brandquist wears a framed photo of her sister, who died in a plane crash three months ago. Flowers are left at a makeshift memorial near the site of a plane crash in Clarence Center, New York, in February. Her sister, Mary Pettys, 51, was engaged to be married when her Continental Connection Flight 3407 went down in icy conditions near Buffalo, New York. The flight, operated by regional carrier Colgan Air, plunged into a house in Clarence Center, killing all 49 people on board and one man in the house. Brandquist is one of several of the victims' family members attending this week's National Transportation Safety Board hearing on Capitol Hill. Brandquist wants to know why the pilot, who failed several flight tests before joining the airline, never received hands-on training with the emergency equipment that was activated before the crash. "We put our lives in the hands of people that we assume that the [Federal Aviation Administration] and the airlines are properly training," she told CNN's Randi Kaye. The safety board resumed its three-day hearing Wednesday. Watch hearing consider whether crash could have been avoided » . At Tuesday's hearing, Colgan Air acknowledged that Capt. Marvin Renslow never trained on the "stick pusher" emergency system in a flight simulator. But in a written statement, the carrier said that both Renslow and First Officer Rebecca Shaw had received other specific training about how to handle situations like those that preceded the crash. It said that the company provides FAA-approved ground training and that "Captain Renslow and First Officer Shaw had thorough initial and recurrent training" on how to handle a stall. "Captain Renslow and First Officer Shaw did know what to do, had repeatedly demonstrated they knew what to do, but did not do it," the statement said. "We cannot speculate on why they did not use their training in dealing with the situation they faced." Anne Marie Russo, whose daughter Madeline died in the crash, watched Tuesday's televised hearing at a hotel in Newark, New Jersey, with other families who lost loved ones on the flight. "This should not have happened," she said. "These 50 people should be enjoying their life right now." She said she believes that cost-cutting measures by airlines may have been a factor in the crash. "Maybe the training has to be more safer, more satisfactory for the public," she said. "This is tragedy that happened to these 49, 50 people, it could happen to any one of us." Dan Marzolf, who also lost a loved one in the crash, said the hearing was very technical, but he hopes "to get to some conclusions." "I really do hope good will come from these meetings," he told CNN's affiliate in Buffalo, WGRZ. On Tuesday, the safety board investigators released a transcript of the cockpit voice recording from moments before the crash. The last sounds heard were Shaw saying, "We're" and then screaming at 10:16 p.m. Seconds earlier, Renslow said, "Jesus Christ" as a sound "similar to stick shaker," an emergency warning system, was heard, the transcript said. Renslow said, "We're down," and a thump was heard. About five minutes before the crash, Shaw had shared with Renslow her fear of flying in icy conditions. "I don't want to have to experience that and make those kinds of calls. You know, I'd've freaked out. I'd've had like seen this much ice and thought, 'oh, my gosh, we were going to crash,' " Shaw told Renslow. The safety board's preliminary investigation determined that there was some ice accumulation on the Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 aircraft but that "icing had a minimal impact on the stall speed of the airplane." At Tuesday's hearing, Colgan Air said Renslow, though not training physically on the "stick pusher," received more training on it than the law requires. "In the ground school portion, it is covered," said Paul Pryor, head of Colgan Air's pilot training program. Such training is not required by the Federal Aviation Administration. "That's a significant problem," veteran pilot Douglas Moss said. Moss, an expert in stall recovery, believes that flight simulator practice with a stick pusher should be mandatory for aspiring pilots. "It's similar to picking up and throwing a ground ball in baseball. You can study it academically all you want to, but you really need to develop the proficiency, the skill, the muscle memory required to do that," Moss said. Since the accident, Colgan has added demonstrations of the technique on its flight simulator . "This is one of a number of additions that Colgan has made to its training and safety programs in the wake of the accident," the statement said. Renslow had failed five pilot tests, known as check rides, three of which occurred before he joined the airline, Colgan Air said. Renslow had revealed only one of those failures to the airline, according to Colgan. Wally Warner, a Bombardier test pilot who testified Tuesday, said he believes that the pilot could have overcome the stall that caused the crash. "Obviously, the initial reaction to the stall warning was incorrect, and that set the course of action for what followed," Warner said. CNN's Allan Chernoff contributed to this report.

NEW: Airline says officers "did know what to do ... but did not do it" Families of victims of February crash near Buffalo, New York, watch hearing . Safety board hears that pilot got no simulator training on one safety device . FAA doesn't require such training; airline says pilot had classroom training .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- The last survivor of the Titanic, 97-year-old Millvina Dean, is auctioning off her remaining mementos of the doomed ship to pay nursing home bills. Millvina Dean, 97, is trying to raise money so she can stay in the nursing home she prefers. The auction, which is expected to raise up to $50,000 for her, is set to take place Saturday near her home in England. It is the second auction in less than a year for Dean, who was a 9-week-old when the ship sank on its maiden voyage in 1912. Among the items going under the hammer at Henry Aldridge & Son is a canvas bag that might have been used to lift the infant Dean from a lifeboat to a rescue ship, said Alan Aldridge of the auction house. "Historical documents say she was lifted from the lifeboat onto Carpathia, the rescue ship, in a mail sack," Aldridge said. After her rescue, Dean, her mother and her brother returned to England with a canvas sack, among other possessions. "There is speculation that this would have been the bag. It's a leather and canvas bag. You would easily get a child or infant in it," Aldridge said, though he added that research by the Smithsonian, the British Postal Museum and the Liverpool Maritime Museum showed no proof that Dean had been taken off the lifeboat in that particular bag. Given that the auctioneer cannot prove Dean was rescued in the bag, "we expect it to fetch £3,000 ($4,480). If it was the bag she was rescued in, it would be £30,000 to £40,000, ($44,800 to $60,000), but we can't prove it. It depends on what people are prepared to believe." Aldridge said he was eager to raise as much for Dean as possible. "She's in a residential nursing home. She's 97 years of age. She's paying £3,000 a month in nursing home fees," he said -- the amount he hopes her canvas bag will sell for. "As she said, £3,000 a month is £36,000 a year, which is a lot of money," he said. "When she runs out of money, the state will pay fees for her, but while she can pay her fees, she decides where she gets her care. When the state pays, they decide." Dean's previous sale, in October, raised just over £30,000, Aldridge said. "It's made a lot of people aware of her plight; a lot of people have sent her funds," he said. Dean never married and had no children. "There are cousins, but there is no one directly to support her," Aldridge said. "The property she lived in [before she moved to the nursing home] was not hers. She's just an ordinary little old lady. "If she's lucky, she'll get another four or five years; she's quite a fit lady," he said. Dean was not available to speak to CNN herself because of a throat infection, Aldridge said. The auction will include 17 items from her collection, most of them memorabilia related to the Titanic and signed by her but not from the ship itself. The auction, in Devizes, southwest England, will also include a collection of letters from the estate of Titanic survivor Barbara Dainton-West, estimated to fetch £40,000 to £60,000 ($60,000 to $90,000). The letters include descriptions of her family's trip to board the Titanic and the immediate aftermath of the sinking. Dainton-West, who was 10 months old when the ship went down, died in October 2007, the auctioneer said.

97-year-old was 9 weeks old when Titanic sank in 1912 . Saturday's auction is expected to raise up to $50,000 for her . Letters from estate of another survivor will also be on the block .

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(CNN) -- Three years ago, the film based on Dan Brown's novel "The Da Vinci Code" was the focus of protest and controversy, with a Vatican archbishop calling for a boycott and Catholics at many levels refuting plot points. From left, actors Tom Hanks, Ayelet Zurer and Ewan McGregor join director Ron Howard at the film's premier. But when it comes to the new film based on a Brown novel, "Angels & Demons," star Tom Hanks says talk of controversy is much ado about nothing. "Everybody is looking for some scandal whether a scandal exists or not," Hanks said of the film. "I think a kind of natural reaction is now that somehow because it's the second Robert Langdon mystery that there is some degree of controversy over it. And there is really not." The movie ventures into similar waters as its predecessor, "The Da Vinci Code," with Hanks reprising the role of Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbology expert, and conspiracy theories galore. It also reunites the Academy Award-winning actor with director Ron Howard, who helmed "Da Vinci," and teams Hanks with actor Ewan McGregor and Israeli actress Ayelet Zurer. While "The Da Vinci Code" centered on the complex investigation of a murder in the Louvre and the theory that a marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene produced descendants, the new film features a murder at the Vatican and a secret and powerful society known as the "Illuminati." McGregor, known for his role as a young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the "Star Wars" films, said that while "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels & Demons" are inextricably linked, the latter can stand on its own. "If I thought [Angels & Demons] was pinned to 'The Da Vinci Code' in some way then it would've been a lesser script to read and it wasn't," McGregor said. "It's a standalone movie ... it's not relevant whether you've seen 'Da Vinci Code' or not." Both films, like the Brown novels they're based on, have been met with criticism for their melding of history and storytelling. "I have a strong objection to the genre of mixing fact with fiction," said Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League. "You've got [Dan] Brown, [Ron] Howard and [Tom] Hanks in the movie all alleging that the Illuminati was this secret society which was brutalized by the Catholic Church in the 1600s." "It's all a lie," Donohue said. "[The Illuminati] never even existed until May 1, 1776, but they have to pitch it back into the 1600s so they can trot out their favorite victim, Galileo. What happens is you get the audience thinking 'Well, maybe it's not all true, but probably some of it is true.' " Ted Baehr, founder of Movieguide and the Christian Film & Television Commission, first issued an advisory alert about the film in April and reiterated it days before the movie's May 15 release. "Now that we've previewed 'Angels & Demons,' Movieguide has decided to keep in effect our caution alert," Baehr said. "Faith is often denied throughout the movie." Director Howard wrote in the The Huffington Post that he believes Donohue is on a mission "to paint me and the movie I directed, 'Angels & Demons,' as anti-Catholic," a claim Howard emphatically denies. The director told CNN that he attempted to reach out to the Catholic Church regarding the film, but had no success. He also downplayed reports that Rome and the Vatican tried to hinder filming. Hanks said shooting the movie in the ancient city was complicated given the vibrancy of Rome. At one point, Hanks said, make-believe collided with one woman's fairy tale. "We had a lady showing up who was getting married at the Pantheon and she had to get married and we had to get our shot," Hanks said. "She showed up right between shots, when we were moving cameras." Fortunately, both the wedding and the day's filming were able to be completed, Hanks said. McGregor said Howard was to be credited for how well the production came together. Howard's background as an actor undoubtedly helped enhance the actors' performances, McGregor said. "A lot of directors are able to tell you what they're after, but Ron's able to tell you what he's after and help you for how you might play that ... which is kind of total directing," McGregor said. Zurer said she had a blast being the only female lead in the film. Viewers should see the film for what it is, she said, and not focus on the controversy. "It's fun fiction," she said. "It's a fun movie to watch, it's thrilling and that's what I saw in it." CNN's Lisa Respers France contributed to this story.

Tom Hanks stars in "Angels & Demons," a sequel to "The Da Vinci Code" Fellow cast mate Ewan McGregor says latest film is a standalone . Like earlier film, "Angels & Demons" has been attacked for mix of fact and fiction . Catholic League president: "It's all a lie"

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WASECA, Minnesota (CNN) -- When you think of protection from the H1N1 flu virus, you may not think the hog population is what needs protecting. But that's precisely the concern among pork producers and those who use swine in research studies. Professor Samuel Baidoo wears specially issued gear as he checks on the hogs at the research facility. Forget any worries you may have had about catching the often-called "swine flu" from a pig. University of Minnesota Professor Samuel Baidoo, a swine nutrition and management expert at one of the school's swine research facilities, says it's actually the other way around. "If we are sick and we come in here, we can easily transfer [diseases], especially flu, to these pigs," Baidoo says. Baidoo took CNN on a tour of the university's research facility to demonstrate the precautions in place year-round to make sure its pig population remains safe. For starters, anyone who wants to visit the facility has to shower and put on specially issued overalls and boots and that rule applies to reporters and even the hog farmers themselves. "They will shower to go and see their own pigs," Baidoo says. This university's swine research barn is typical of most large-production hog facilities, Baidoo says, stressing that it's so secure "flies cannot even come in here." "Flu can be transferred by flies, by birds. There's no way a bird can get into this building. So these pigs are very, very safe," he explains. "We are more a risk to them than they to us." So let's say a pig does happen to come down with a disease, specifically with H1N1. Then what happens? Baidoo says the first sign that something is wrong is usually lack of appetite. "They go off feed, so we know there's something not right." If it does turn out to be a flu virus, Baidoo says, the treatment is very similar to what humans undergo. "We put them on medication and within three days it's over. Just like when we get [the] flu -- we go to the doctor and then they prescribe medication and we get well." Baidoo points out that since H1N1 is a respiratory illness, the actual carcass of the pig -- the pork we eat -- is still harmless. Still, Baidoo says he understands the initial knee-jerk reaction. After all, "swine flu" was what everyone called it at first -- before health organizations began referring to it as H1N1. "I also see the concern of consumers. When there is this situation everybody tends to connect the two. But there is no connection at all between the flu and pork," he says. "There's no fear in eating pork based on the scare of the flu pandemic." The disease most people in the United States and worldwide have been calling swine flu is actually a combination of human and animal strains. It has not been shown to be transmissible through eating pork. In an already suffering market, the negative news is something the U.S. pork industry says could have been prevented. "This flu is being called something that it isn't, and it's hurting our entire industry," Dave Warner, communications director for the National Pork Producers Council, said last week. "It is not a 'swine' flu, and people need to stop calling it that ... they're ruining people's lives."

Researchers say hog population needs protection from human diseases . Fear over so-called "swine flu" has hit pork industry hard -- and unfairly, many say . Minnesota facility says humans must wear special suits to keep hogs disease-free . "No connection at all between the flu and pork," researcher says .

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MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- An internationally known Catholic priest who was shown in photographs last week embracing a bathing-suit-clad woman on a Florida beach has admitted they had a two-year affair. The Rev. Alberto Cutie was removed from his duties after pictures showed him bare-chested with a woman. The Rev. Alberto Cutie -- sometimes called "Father Oprah" because of the advice he gave on Spanish-language media -- said Monday on CBS' "Early Show" that he is in love with the woman and is considering his options: Whether to break up with her or leave the priesthood and marry her. The woman, who has not been publicly identified, wants to get married, Cutie said. The priest was removed from his duties last week at St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church in Miami Beach, Florida, and on the Radio Paz and Radio Peace networks. "I take full responsibility for what I did, and I know it's wrong," he said Monday. The photos of the Cuban-American priest, also known as "Padre Alberto," appeared on the cover of last week's TV Notas magazine and on eight inside pages. The cover says in Spanish: "Good God! Padre Alberto. First photos of a priest 'in flagrante' with his lover." Other media outlets throughout Latin America, including the official Notimex news agency in Mexico, picked up the story, and it became an Internet sensation. Cutie has millions of followers in the Spanish-speaking world. In a message posted on the Miami, Florida, archdiocese Web page last week, Archbishop John C. Favalora apologized to parishioners and radio listeners for what he called a "scandal." "Father Cutie made a promise of celibacy and all priests are expected to fulfill that promise with the help of God," Favalora said. "Father Cutie's actions cannot be condoned despite the good works he has done as a priest." Cutie expressed his regret in an online statement last week and again Monday on the CBS program. "I deeply apologize to the Catholic community and especially to my bishop and to my brother priests who are faithful and who are committed to celibacy," Cutie said. The priest said he believes in celibacy but thinks it should be optional. He said he had never had a sexual relationship with anyone other than the woman since leaving the seminary 15 years ago. Watch Father Cutie question the celibacy requirement » . "I don't support the breaking of the celibacy promise," Cutie said. "I understand fully that this is wrong. "I don't want to be the anti-celibacy priest. I think that's unfortunate," he said. "I think it's a debate that's going on in our society, and now I've become kind of a poster boy for it. But I don't want to be that. I believe that celibacy is good, and that it's a good commitment to God. This is something I've struggled with. And something that I never expected to become a public debate." He also talked about the woman, saying they have been friends for a long time and the attraction was there from early on, but it was not acted on until a couple of years ago. They have "both struggled" with the relationship, he said. "She's also a woman of faith," Cutie said. "She's also somebody who cares about the priesthood, who cares about these things. So it hasn't been easy. And those who have helped me through this process know it hasn't been easy. Obviously, you know, through the photos, it looked like a frivolous thing on the beach, you know, and that's not what it is. It's something deeper than that." Cutie was the first Catholic priest to host a daily talk show on a major secular television network, his information on the LinkedIn online professional network says. In addition to his TV and radio appearances, he has written newspaper advice columns and a self-help book, "Real Life, Real Love." Before being removed, he was president and general director of Pax Catholic Communications, home of Radio Paz and Radio Peace in Miami.

Catholic priest was removed from duties in Miami archdiocese . The Rev. Alberto Cutie says he is in love with the woman, considering his options . He and the woman "both struggled" with the relationship, he said.

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Chester French is giving its music away. Chester French, Max Drummey, left, and D.A. Wallach are earning buzz as a band to watch. Go to the duo's Web site and you can scoop up an entirely free "athletic-themed" album. The idea is that you'll be so impressed by the free stuff, you'll feel inspired to buy the band's official debut album, "Love The Future" (Star Trak/Interscope), which came out last month. "We're doing something that's never been done by a band before," says lead singer D.A. Wallach. "It's great because when you put out free music, people can spread it around as much as they want. And right now as we're just trying to expose ourselves to more people. Every new supporter helps." The band has even come up with a fancy name for its fans: "VIP Concierge Service." So who are these two clever, skinny dudes who jokingly claim to "put in a lot of burn at the gym"? Wallach and Max Drummey met at Harvard, but found music to be more interesting than their studies. Fortunately for them, sought-after producer Pharrell Williams liked what he heard and signed the group to his label. So far things seems to be working out for Chester French (named for sculptor Daniel Chester French, though the group is sick of explaining). They won a place on Rolling Stone's "Artists to Watch" list in 2008. HBO's "Entourage" showed some love for their catchy single "She Loves Everybody." Watch Chester French get punched by a pretty girl » . And then there's the transportation situation. "Right now we're on the first tour bus we've ever had," says Wallach. "We were driving around in a van for the past year and a half and it's a real luxury now to be able to sleep while we're driving." The band spoke to CNN about the challenges of navigating a rapidly changing industry, getting punched by a pretty girl in a music video and why the Beach Boys have nothing on them. CNN: How does it feel to be called the next big thing? D.A. Wallach: You know what, we actually haven't been called that in those words too often. But if we did, that would be very flattering. CNN: Things get a bit violent in the music video for your song "She Loves Everybody." Who's idea was it to have you both get beaten up by an angry girl? Wallach: It was the director's. We worked with Paul Hunter on the video and it was our first music video. ... He had the concept that love hurts. So this girl was going to take it out on us and we were going to be all about it and still smiling and enjoying it. CNN: So it was a lot of fun? Wallach: Yeah it was great. It was painless. Actually we both got hit accidentally by her. I mean most of the hits were kind of staged punches. But we both got hit once each, and it was fun. CNN: You're both Harvard graduates. Does that make you the smartest dudes in pop music? Wallach: Probably not. We were kind of nerds in high school. And the hardest part about Harvard is getting in, people say. After that you take it at your own pace. And at different times we were more or less engaged there, but we met some other really intelligent, thoughtful people. Max Drummey: And there's definitely a lot of stupid people at Harvard. CNN: Tell me how you both met. Wallach: We met in the dining hall our freshman year and we started the band with three of our classmates. It was just a funny hobby at first and it wasn't until sophomore year that we really got serious about it and said, "OK, let's actually try and make this a possibility as a career." CNN: And didn't you record most of your new album on campus? Wallach: Yeah, there was a recording studio in the basement of one of the dorms at Harvard and we were both recording engineers there. So we recorded lots for other people as well. And in our free time we were working on the record we just released, "Love the Future." CNN: Is it true that there was a bit of a bidding war between Jermaine Dupri and Pharrell Williams (over the record deal)? Wallach: No. ... There were several people all at once who were interested in working with us and it was a little awkward because they're all friends with each other. And since we've been working with Pharrell we've stayed cool with everyone. ... We couldn't have gone wrong. CNN: Why do you think there's been all this interest from hip-hop producers? Drummey: We're the hottest rappers out. Wallach: I'm from Milwaukee, he's from Boston. They're both very diverse cities and we grew up with friends and all different kinds of music around us. So the records we make are inspired by a lot of different places. And certainly having grown up in the '90s, hip-hop is a part of the soundtrack for us and so it's very natural for us to have learned things from Dr. Dre or Pharrell and people like that. CNN: A lot of people compare your sound to the Beach Boys. How do you feel about that comparison? Drummey: I mean we're definitely better. And we came first too. So it's sort of a ridiculous comparison. CNN: Don't you play the theremin? Drummey: Yeah. Not well. Wallach: There are only a couple of people who play it at a virtuoso level. You'd have to really have something off to put the time in as a theremin artist. CNN: What has been the most surprising aspect of the music business so far? Wallach: I think the biggest surprise has been that people don't really know a hundred percent what they're doing. Everyone is trying to figure out how the music business is going to look in 10 years. And as a new artist there's not a blueprint. I figured you'd get signed and you're instantly on billboards. And the reality of it is that we find ourselves in a situation where all we can focus on is building our audience one person at a time. And it's just a brick-and-mortar, nose-to-the-grindstone process. CNN: What musicians do you admire as being fellow brainiacs? Wallach: Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails I think is really brilliant, not just on a musical level. Pharrell's been incredibly helpful and his advice is always really apt. Jay-Z. Really, when you're in the thick of it, anybody who's built a real career has something figured out. Or they got really lucky.

Chester French a duo of two Harvard grads . Band praised for Beach Boys-like sound, highlighted on "Entourage" Despite pedigree, "probably not" smartest folks in pop music, says one member .

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BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- A 22-year-old medical student suspected of killing a woman he may have met through a Craigslist online ad was arraigned Tuesday and will be held without bail. Medical student Philip Markoff, 22, appears in court Tuesday in Boston, Massachusetts. Philip Markoff, a second-year student at Boston University's School of Medicine, listened intently but did not speak during the hearing in Boston Municipal Court. Dressed in a blue-striped shirt and slacks, Markoff was handcuffed and wearing leg irons. His attorney, John Salsberg, told reporters after the hearing that Markoff is "not guilty of the charges. He has his family's support. I have not received any document or report or piece of evidence other than what I heard in the courtroom. All I have at the moment are words -- no proof of anything." A woman identifying herself as Markoff's fiancee also maintained his innocence in an e-mail sent to ABC News. Megan McAllister said Markoff "is the wrong man" and "was set up." "Unfortunately, you were given wrong information as was the public," McAllister wrote. "All I have to say to you is Philip is a beautiful person inside and out and could not hurt a fly!" She accused Boston police of "trying to make big bucks by selling this false story to the TV stations. What else is new??" Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley told reporters, "This was a brutal, vicious crime -- savage. And it shows that Philip Markoff is a man who's willing to take advantage of women -- to hurt them, to beat them, to rob them." A procedural not-guilty plea was entered on Markoff's behalf, Conley said. A Boston University spokeswoman said the school suspended Markoff, who has no criminal record, when it learned of the charges on Monday. Markoff is charged with killing 26-year-old Julissa Brisman of New York on April 14 at Boston's Copley Marriott Hotel. Evidence from the scene suggests that Brisman "put up a fight," prosecutor Jennifer Hickman said during the hearing Tuesday. Police said Brisman, a model, advertised as a masseuse on Craigslist, a popular online classifieds service. She sustained blunt head trauma, Hickman said, and was shot three times at close range. One of those bullets passed through her heart, killing her, she said. Markoff is also charged in connection with the robbery four days earlier of a woman at a Westin Hotel. In that case, the woman made arrangements to meet a man through Craigslist for a massage at the hotel, but was held at gunpoint and bound, Hickman said. She was robbed of $800 and personal items, and left tied to a door handle with duct tape over her mouth, Hickman said in court Tuesday. Police said earlier the Westin victim was 29. She was not identified. Authorities believe the motive in Brisman's death was robbery, Conley told reporters, and she was killed during a struggle. In executing a search warrant at Markoff's home, police found a firearm, along with restraints and duct tape, he said. Watch police say assailant has perused Craigslist ads » . Surveillance videos from the hotel where Brisman was murdered showed a tall, clean-cut young blond man in a black windbreaker leaving the property, according to Boston police, who sought public assistance identifying the man. Police traced the Internet communications with Brisman to an e-mail account opened the day before her death, Conley said. Using Internet provider information, they found the computer was at Markoff's residence in Quincy, Massachusetts, he said. Authorities put the home under surveillance, Conley said, and "the case just begins to build from there." "This poor woman, Julissa Brisman, no matter what choices she made or decisions she made in life, she is a human being who's entitled to dignity and respect," Conley said. There may be more victims that authorities are unaware of, he said, adding that the prosecutor's goal is to hold Markoff accountable, not to pursue women who may be advertising on Craigslist. "If you have been a victim like these victims have, please come forward," he said. Markoff is "bearing up," according to attorney Salsberg. "It's obviously a difficult time for anybody in these circumstances with the charges that have been brought against him. ... He's pleaded not guilty. He is not guilty," said Salsberg. McAllister, in her e-mail to ABC, wrote, "Philip is an intelligent man who is just trying to live his life, so if you could leave us alone we would greatly appreciate it. We expect to marry in August and share a wonderful, meaningful life together." The couple's wedding Web site had been taken down or was unavailable as of Tuesday afternoon. Authorities in Boston are working with police in Warwick, Rhode Island, on what could be a related case. On April 16 at a Holiday Inn Express in Warwick, a man tied up and demanded money from a 26-year-old dancer who had posted a Craigslist advertisement, Warwick Police Chief Col. Stephen McCartney said. The robbery was interrupted when the woman's husband entered the room. After pointing his gun at the husband, the suspect fled, McCartney said. He said no conclusions could be made yet, but allowed that the incident "may be related to similar crimes occurring in the Boston area." Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster told CNN the company is "horrified and deeply saddened that our community services have been associated in any way whatsoever with a crime of violence." He promised that Craigslist will evaluate the incident to see if additional measures could be introduced to protect users. CNN's Mary Snow and Jason Kessler contributed to this report.

Not-guilty plea entered in Philip Markoff's behalf in woman's slaying in Boston . Prosecutors say semiautomatic firearm found in search of student's home . CEO says Craigslist looking for ways to make site safer in wake of killing . E-mail from suspect's fiancee says police have "wrong man"

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Tino Schaedler is an architect-turned-digital design artist whose groundbreaking work has been seen in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." Tino Schaedler, Jean-Lucien Gay and Michael J. Brown talk about design, virtuality and the future . Schaedler's next film project is "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," a fantasy epic starring Jake Gyllenhaal and due in 2010. In 2007 he joined with Michael J. Brown and Jean-Lucien Gay to found NAU, a cross-disciplinary design collective positioned between architecture and film. CNN talked to Schaedler and his NAU colleagues, as well as collaborator Ken Leung, a graphic designer. CNN: You have said that graphic design is very powerful. Can you explain why? TS: I think graphic design, for us, is very important as it helps to break down very complex information into digestible, easy-to-understand buttons or whatever. In the world we're living in, we're flooded with information and need someone to almost kind of channel it and create signs that we can read. That's why I think graphic design becomes more important, the more complex our world becomes. CNN: Can you explain the work that NAU does? TS: NAU is a company that I founded with Michael and Jean-Lucien, friends from the architect firm I worked at. I guess we all wanted to collaborate, and me being interested in drifting back from the world of architecture to the world of film, I guess Michael and Jean-Lucien had something to offer. They usually take over the architectural side of things and I can be more free and visionary. I push them further with the kind of ideas I come up with and at the same time they make my ideas real. JLG: The idea was really to create a label, a structure that could cope with all the different locations that we're working from. It's also about the idea of remote collaboration. CNN: How important is it for you to collaborate with people? TS: For me, working with Ken has been like adding a whole new layer to the 3D worlds that I'm designing. I always liked the combination of high-end 3D graphics and subtle 2D graphics. I think for me, collaboration is also about creating situations that we'll both profit from. Also there are new tools we use that are a combination of Skype, video conferencing and Photoshop which allow you to do a video conference, which allow me to use a sketchpad that the other person can see. We can sketch correspondingly with each other and create something although we are not sitting in the same office. KL: Working with Tino, I've seen my work transformed into 3D. My background is print and magazines, so in this sense, things come alive, they move, it makes it real. CNN: How does architecture tie in with digital or 3D design? TS: You need two images and through the images you can interpolate the architectural spatial design which creates a 3D model... that technique also comes into film because it is photogrammetry, (a way of measuring 2D or 3D objects from photo-grammes or photographs as well as electronic imagery.) CNN: Didn't the makers of "The Matrix" use similar technology? TS: They basically just have the actress [Carrie-Ann Moss] up in the air and they take a photograph each at the same time so that's why she's in that movement... the camera moves around her but she doesn't move because its all different shots so you stretch the whole experience in two or three seconds. We're doing something similar on [the film] "Prince of Persia" that I've just finished. We record some action with five cameras... from these five images they recreate the actors as 3D objects and then project according to which angle. It's fascinating what kind of technology is out there. CNN: Can you define the relationship between working as architects and still working on a project like the Cocoon? MB: For us, it's less about the physical infrastructure that you are creating and more about the spaces and the experiences that you have there. In that sense I see a development of designers who are working across many media. CNN: Let's talk more about the Cocoon. What is it? TS: I actually had the idea for the Cocoon when I was walking down Oxford Street on a Saturday afternoon. We know how manic it can be when everyone is shopping. I thought it would be brilliant to have something like a telephone booth that could help me disappear from the madness and allow me to relax or walk through the Amazon or let me sleep under a starry sky or whatever. You also have to see it like a retreat, it's to chill out. MB: I think the important elements for us were to be able to ask, "Can I communicate with this piece through physical actions that are not so much tied to moving my fingers across the keyboard, but are much more about how I walk down the street, how I wave to people." How can I break down the barrier which is typically this sort of 2D screen between me and this digital world? CNN: Will we end up wired to computers and never see each other? KL: It's very different from gaming in the 80s. Then, you'd go to a computer game parlor and sit in a car for example. This is kind of taking it one step further, you're a bit more enclosed and the graphics are a lot better. I wouldn't be so daunted going into it. TS: For me, the true potential evolves more once the virtual information is completely freed from any medium that displays it. That's actually not far from the Cocoon because the next big step is the interface - if I can interact with something that's in front of me, I'm also using my body and that's also what the Cocoon is establishing. I see virtuality, once it's fully unfolded, as contributing to the slowing process that puts us back in tune with ourselves. CNN: What appeals to you most about the Cocoon project? KL: It's almost like being in your own virtual world. You see people with their iPods. They want to be in their own worlds, this is taking it one step further. But the good thing is you're using your whole body and almost becoming part of it. TS: I think [the Cocoon] frees virtuality from the computer. I've been dealing with this concept for probably ten years, because it was a big theme in architecture in the 90s. Everyone was afraid that architecture would disappear and be completely replaced by virtuality. I think it's got such amazing potential to make the world so much more exciting. When we think about our childhoods or watching "Star Trek" - seeing people being beamed - there's so much cool stuff and ideas... the future is now. CNN: Is the world ready for it? TS: I think it always takes some time to invent something, then for people to adapt it. I think with technology accelerating we also accelerate in the way that we adapt it so I think it's always no problem to get used to that and to enjoy it as well. CNN: What role do you see the Cocoon playing in the real world? TS: While working on the project, I read an article which talked about how in the future we would be much more limited in the way that we can physically travel. It will be a luxury to have a car or travel across countries and continents. It also mentioned that virtuality and Internet communication will be much more enhanced and will be even more importance. I think with the Cocoon and the technology that we propose in there, to travel to places, to work remotely, to have enhanced communication for remote shopping, will be even more important. Michael: For us the Cocoon is, I hope, the first step in trying to bring people a little bit more freedom from how they work and how they communicate. CNN: Do you think we're getting better at it? KL: I do. Personally, I loved the modernism of the 60s and 70s; everything was boiled down and focused on central points. Now we've got so many tricks with computers that we tend to go overboard, but I think the ideas are lacking and that people need to focus on the ideas first. I think we kind of share the same visual sensibility as well. Tino will send back a brief and I will send three options and we'll narrow it down from there. We work together quite well. CNN: Is it weird being together? TS: You know something like this always evolves. You start a project with certain expectations and I've had other collaborations that don't work that well and some where there's kind of a chemistry where things kind of create a synergy and something evolves that you would not be able to do yourself. CNN: Ken, where do you see the future of entertainment from your perspective, from print and magazines as entertainment, what's the future? KL: Well I think there is a future in magazines, I think people still want to have time and space from all the rush of the world. To me, when I'm on a plane, I'm happy because I'm not going to be interrupted by anyone and that's kind of the same with the Cocoon. I think its kind of getting away from reality; it's just the need to get your thoughts together.

Tino Schaedler, colleagues talk about NAU, a remote collaboration project . They discuss the concept of virtual reality, 3D design and the Internet . Cocoon project is about being entertained in our own virtual world .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A source close to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi now confirms that Pelosi was told in February 2003 by her intelligence aide, Michael Sheehy, that waterboarding was actually used on CIA detainee Abu Zubaydah. Source says Nancy Pelosi didn't object about waterboard usage because she wasn't personally briefed about it. This appears to contradict Pelosi's account that she was never told waterboarding actually happened, only that the administration was considering using it. Sheehy attended a briefing in which waterboarding was discussed in February 2003, with Rep. Jane Harman, D-California, who took over Pelosi's spot as the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. This source says Pelosi didn't object when she learned that waterboarding was being used because she had not been personally briefed about it -- only her aide had been told. The source said Pelosi supported a letter that Harman sent to the administration at the time raising concerns. The source asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of matters discussed in classified intelligence briefings. Pelosi admits attending one briefing in September 2002, but at a news conference last month, she was adamant that she did not know waterboarding was used. "At that or any other briefing, and that was the only briefing that I was briefed on in that regard, we were not -- I repeat, we were not -- told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation methods were used, " Pelosi said on April 23. Some Republicans have called for Pelosi to testify at congressional hearings. The number two House Democrat -- Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland -- said Tuesday, "I think the facts need to get out" regarding what members of Congress had been told about harsh interrogations. But when asked whether Pelosi testifying would be appropriate, Hoyer did not directly answer the question, saying, "The issue is what was done. If you don't have the facts pounded on the table, they (Republicans) are pounding on the table, or they are pounding on Speaker Pelosi. Take your pick. But they are doing so as a distraction, as a distraction from what was done in this case."

Source says Nancy Pelosi was told by intelligence officer of waterboarding . The source also said because she wasn't personally briefed, Pelosi didn't object . She did support letter voicing concern about waterboarding, source says . Pelosi has been previously adamant she didn't know waterboarding was used .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Jay Leno plans "something really unusual and different" when he hands over "The Tonight Show" to Conan O'Brien on May 29, 17 years after Johnny Carson left the hosting duties to him. Jay Leno begins "The Jay Leno Show" in September. His last "Tonight Show" is May 29. But don't expect an emotional final show, since Leno and most of his staff are just moving across the NBC lot to produce a nightly prime time show debuting in September. The traditional desk, chair and guest sofa probably won't follow Leno to his 10 p.m. show, but many of his favorite comedy elements will, Leno said. Making people laugh before they go to bed is still the mission. "To me, 10 o'clock is like the new 11:30," Leno said. "I hear more and more people, even young people, say 'I can't stay up past 11. I car pool, I gotta get up at 6.' " "The Jay Leno Show" will be competing against scripted dramas, not other comedians telling jokes, which Leno said should give him the edge over the long haul. "When I was a kid, there was comedy all over TV, and it was fun to watch, whether it was Carol Burnett or any of the sitcoms," he said. "You'd have a whole night of comedy, and now everything is very serious and it's all murder." The new show will have famous guests, but they will not drive the ratings, Leno said. "It's all about the joke material," he said. He will "try to keep it moving" with a longer monologue with dozens of jokes, he said. The last half-hour will be filled with comedy, he said. "You look right in the camera, you directly talk to people as low-tech as possible, a little humor before people go to bed," he said. NBC's decision to put a talk-variety show on at 10 o'clock raised some complaints from affiliate station owners, worried the ratings wouldn't be strong enough to build an audience for their 11 o'clock local newscasts. The network's Boston affiliate briefly threatened to move its news to 10, pre-empting Leno. Leno, who grew up in Boston, said he understood the economics behind the concern. "Although my job previous to this was to give a good lead-in to Conan, the job giving a good lead-in to the 11 o'clock news is really, really important," he said. "That's really where our local affiliates make their money, is on the 11 o'clock news." He doesn't expect to beat the dramas the first week out, but he noted those shows produce only about 22 new episodes a year. "During those repeat weeks and whatever, we'll be live, fresh, original shows," Leno said. The last week of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" will include a lot of looking back and "best of" segments, "because that's easier than writing new stuff," Leno said. His guests Monday through Thursday include Mel Gibson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wanda Sykes, Billy Crystal and Prince. Conan O'Brien will be on the final show, along with singer James Taylor. Taylor's songs were the last thing Leno heard on the radio when he left Boston in the late 1970s to start his career, so he wanted to have him as his last musical guest, he said. Leno hinted the last show would have some surprises. "I have something really unusual and different planned," he said, "Something really out of left field that we're going to end on." Pressed for more hints, Leno said it was "something really personal, something that has to do with show and staff." "I think it will make people smile," he said. Leno can smile as he moves on, having left the legendary show -- which has had only four hosts in 54 years -- as the top show for the past 16 years. " 'The Tonight Show' is sort of the America's Cup of television, and you don't want to be the guy to screw it up," he said. If he fails in the new show, he will be all right, he said. "If it didn't work out, then oh well, at least I have this."

Jay Leno begins the prime-time "Jay Leno Show" in September . Comedian's last "Tonight Show" is May 29; expect surprises, he says . He believes audiences will welcome a 10 p.m. comedy-variety show .

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(CNN) -- Donald Trump will let Miss California USA Carrie Prejean keep her title despite controversy over seminude photos and charges by state pageant officials that she had abandoned her duties to devote time to opposition to same-sex marriage. Miss California USA Carrie Prejean caused controversy with remarks she made at the Miss USA pageant. Trump, no apprentice at turning a negative into positive publicity, brought several weeks of controversy to a conclusion at his New York headquarters Tuesday with winners all around. Trump said his Miss USA pageant stays "so relevant," unlike the rival Miss America pageant seen only on a small cable channel. Prejean gained a national following that could help her post-pageant career. Watch Prejean defend herself » . The Miss California USA organization has a beauty queen better known than the woman who won the Miss USA title -- Kristen Dalton of North Carolina. Celebrity bloggers, such as Perez Hilton, whose question to Prejean ignited the firestorm, gained a higher profile and more readers for their Web sites. And groups both for and against same-sex marriage gained energy for their fundraising and publicity campaigns. Prejean stepped into the limelight unexpectedly just over three weeks ago when she declared her opposition to same-sex marriage in response to a question asked during the national pageant by Hilton, a pageant judge. Watch Hilton get dismissive » . Prejean finished as first runner-up, but it was not clear if her answer cost her the crown. "He [Hilton] gave her very low marks," Trump said. "It certainly didn't help." Hilton, who is openly gay and a strong supporter of same-sex marriage, later posted a video rant online in which he called Prejean "a dumb bitch." This caught the national mainstream media's attention, and Hilton was invited to appear on TV shows to talk about it. Prejean -- with pageant approval -- also talked publicly about her same-sex marriage opposition. But when she appeared at a news conference for the National Organization for Marriage, a same-sex marriage opposition group, the controversy intensified. Lawyers for the Miss USA group demanded that NOM stop using video clips of the pageant in its TV ads. The controversy boiled to a new level last week when a photo of Prejean, wearing only pink panties but showing mainly a bare back, was published by gossip Web sites. Miss California USA officials -- some of them outspoken advocates of same-sex marriage -- suggested that the seminude photo breached the contract Prejean signed with the pageant. Her title might be taken away, they said. Watch Miss California USA offficials scold Prejean » . These officials also complained they couldn't reach Prejean and she had missed important pageant events. They charged that their beauty queen had been hijacked by anti-same-sex marriage forces. But it was up to Trump, who bought the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants a decade ago, to decide what to do about Carrie Prejean. Trump united her with California pageant co-executive directors Shanna Moakler -- a former Playboy centerfold -- and Keith Lewis in his New York office Tuesday morning for a peacemaking session. It ended with hugs and smiles at Trump's news conference. Watch Trump's announcement » . Those photos of a topless Prejean do not violate the contract she signed when entering the pageant competition, Trump said. "Some were very beautiful," he said. "Some were risque, but again, we're in the 21st century." Trump praised Prejean for giving a "very, very honest answer" to a tough question during the pageant. "It's the same answer that the president of the United States gave," he said. And he said he would not hesitate to invite Hilton back as a pageant judge, despite the firestorm he set off. "He's doing his thing," Trump said. "What's the big deal?" "We want tough questions," he said. "We don't want to be in a position that Miss America is in that they're now on a small cable channel." He noted that NBC recently extended the Miss USA and Miss Universe TV contracts for three years. Prejean said she has forgiven Hilton and the other critical bloggers. "I willingly forgive them before all of you today," she told reporters. She said she was the victim of "hateful attacks, despicable rumors and false allegations" for exercising her freedom of speech, but the situation has given her a new message to carry as a role model to young people. "Think about how much better our society would be if we could just agree to disagree and show respect," she said. As she resumes public appearances as Miss California USA, Prejean said she will not be an activist against same-sex marriage. "I'm going to resume my duties as Miss California, but also stay true to who I am and have my own personal opinions," she said. "We will see how we will balance the two."

Carrie Prejean to keep title despite disputes over photos, duties . Donald Trump, who owns the pageant, made final decision . Seminude photos don't violate contract Prejean signed, Trump says . Prejean initially in news for her response to question about same-sex marriage .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Kyrgyzstan's decision to close a key U.S. military base is "regrettable," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, but it won't affect the U.S. military effort in nearby Afghanistan. Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan serves as a U.S. supply route for troops and supplies into Afghanistan. On Friday, Russia announced it would assist the U.S. in transporting nonmilitary cargo to Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. The United States uses Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan as a route for troops and supplies into Afghanistan. Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced Tuesday that "all due procedures" were being initiated to close the base. "It's regrettable that this is under consideration by the government of Kyrgyzstan, and we hope to have further discussions with them," Clinton told reporters Thursday after a meeting with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. "But we will proceed in a very effective manner no matter what the outcome of the Kyrgyzstan government's deliberations might be." Bakiyev made his announcement at a news conference in Moscow, Russia, following news reports of a multimillion-dollar aid package from Russia to Kyrgyzstan. Lavrov said on Russian television that his country intends to help get vital cargo -- but no weapons or troops -- to NATO troops in Afghanistan. The United States asked to transport the cargo through Russian territory to Afghanistan, Lavrov said. The U.S. military is planning to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan to halt a resurgence of the Taliban. Gen. David Petraeus, who oversees U.S. operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, described Manas as having "an important role in the deployment of these forces" and in refueling aircraft. Senior State Department officials said the State and Defense departments are working with Kyrgyzstan to keep the lease to the base. The officials said the Kyrgyzstan government has not yet responded to an offer to renew the lease. Discussions are being conducted through the U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan and relevant State Department and Pentagon bureaus, the officials said. One official said the United States has almost 18 months to renegotiate the lease before it expires and hopes Kyrgyzstan will reconsider their position. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell called Manas "a hugely important air base." "It provides us with launching point to provide supplies in Afghanistan. We very much appreciate [Kyrgyz] support in using that base, and we hope to continue," he said at a daily news briefing earlier this week. Clinton said the Defense Department "is conducting an examination as to how else we would proceed that will not affect whatever decisions we make." Petraeus was in Kyrgyzstan last month, partly to lobby the government to allow the United States to keep using the base. He said he and Kyrgyz leaders did not discuss at all the possible closure of the base and said local officials told him there was "no foundation" for news reports about the issue. The mountainous former Soviet republic is Central Asia's second poorest country. The United States pays about $63 million a year for use of the base and employs more than 320 Kyrgyz citizens there, Petraeus said. The base has been in operation since December 2001 under U.N. mandate. The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported Tuesday that Russia would offer Kyrgyzstan a $300 million, 40-year loan at an annual interest rate of 0.75 percent, and write off $180 million in Kyrgyz debt. Kyrgyzstan also is home to a Russian military base, at Kant, that officially opened in 2003. Kyrgyz Prime Minister Igor Chudinov told Russian news agency Interfax it was coincidence that talk of the base closure comes at the same time as the loan. "The Russian decision to grant a major loan has nothing to do with the pullout of the U.S. air base from the Kyrgyz territory," Chudinov said. The relationship between the United States and Kyrgyzstan was damaged when a U.S. airman killed a Kyrgyz citizen in December 2006. The airman was transferred out of Kyrgyzstan, and the dead man's family was offered compensation. Petraeus said in January an investigation into the death was being reopened. In announcing the base closure, Bakiyev said he was not satisfied with the inquiry and that his government's "inability to provide security to its citizens" was proving a serious concern. CNN's Maxim Tkachenko contributed to this report.

NEW: Russia says it will help transport U.S. nonmilitary cargo to Afghanistan . United States uses Kyrgyz base as a route for troops and supplies in Afghanistan . Kyrgyz president says procedures had been initiated to close base . Move follows news of a multimillion-dollar aid package from Russia .

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NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Fans of porn star Stormy Daniels are drafting her to run for the U.S. Senate seat in Louisiana now held by Republican Sen. David Vitter. And it's no racy gimmick, they say. Porn star Stormy Daniels, who has no party affiliation, says she's "always up for a good fight." The Draft Stormy Web site says that "2010 presents the Pelican State with the opportunity to start with a clean slate -- to elect a representative that we can be proud of, who will work tirelessly, and who will challenge the status quo. We at the Draft Stormy campaign feel that Baton Rouge native Stormy Daniels is best suited to fulfill these duties." Vitter is famous -- or infamous -- for his link to the "D.C. Madam," the woman who ran a prostitution ring. Elected to the Senate in 2004, he admitted to "a very serious sin in my past" in July 2007 after his phone number turned up in records of an escort service run by the late Deborah Jeane Palfrey, known as the D.C. Madam. Running for re-election, Vitter said his wife has forgiven him and is banking on the same sentiment from his constituents. Will the Draft Stormy move mean stormy weather for Vitter? The senator's office didn't return calls by CNN. But a spokesman for the state GOP said voters "are concerned with real issues that affect their everyday lives and not with political or publicity stunts." The Draft Stormy campaign was started by New Orleans resident and Daniels fan Zack Hudson, who insists it's for real. Daniels, 29, isn't affiliated with a party but is embracing the idea of a possible candidacy. Watch the adult entertainment star talk about a possible run » . She said she's planning a "listening tour" around Louisiana to talk about a range of matters, including the economy -- which along with women in business and protection of children are the three issues listed on her Web site. When told Vitter can be a tough opponent, she said she's "always up for a good fight." "I think anyone that knows me ... is more than aware of that," Daniels said. "Politics can't be any dirtier of a job than the one I am already in." According to a capsule bio on the Draft Stormy Web site, Daniels has been "breaking barriers and shattering glass ceilings her entire life," serving as editor of her high school newspaper and president of her school's 4-H Club and eventually transferring "her determination and talents to the professional level, becoming a featured performer in the adult entertainment industry." Another stride was "signing an exclusive contract with the video production company Wicked Pictures, a company committed to a health and safety first policy, as pertaining to its video performances. Stormy's decision to sign with Wicked highlighted her commitment to sending a positive message to young people of the importance of practicing safe sex," the bio said. Daniels has directed films for the company, won awards for writing, directing and acting, and has appeared in mainstream films such as "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." "Originally, the focus wasn't even about making me as a candidate," Daniels said. "I think it was about bringing attention to the Senate race in general. Then the response was overwhelmingly positive. And I think everyone is just running with it." While her political aspirations may be a light diversion for Louisiana voters, reality will set in if Daniels tangles with Vitter. Clancy DuBos, political director of the New Orleans alternative newspaper Gambit, said Vitter is a brilliant politician with a campaign war chest worth $2 million. If the Daniels campaign is meant to remind voters of Vitter's D.C. Madam link, the move could backfire, DuBos said. "You are going to need someone better than a porn star, or a lap dancer, or a sex worker to nail David Vitter on this," he said. "You need a serious opponent who is himself, or herself, not guilty of something like that to say, 'Let's talk about family values, shall we?' " The Draft Stormy movement said Daniels' "real world experience and special understanding of the economic hardships facing Louisianans and Americans make her uniquely qualified to take on the tough challenges we face. "Our grass-roots movement spans the political spectrum and champions Stormy's philosophy of personal responsibility and the promotion of individual enterprise. We eschew partisanship and labels, instead judging our leaders on their integrity, character and effectiveness." CNN's Sean Callebs contributed to this report.

Stormy Daniels fan insists movement to draft porn star for Senate campaign for real . Republican Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana now holds U.S. Senate seat at issue . Vitter, up for re-election in 2010, is known for his link to the "D.C. Madam" Daniels says she's embracing possible candidacy, planning "listening tour" of state .

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(CNN) -- French parachutist Michel Fournier vowed Tuesday to try again to launch a record-breaking skydive in August, hours after a "freak" accident over Canada aborted his second attempt to do so. Michel Fournier tests his equipment a few days before his attempt to break four world records. "I'm not about to give up," the 64-year-old adventurer said of his shot at setting a world record for the highest jump and fastest, longest free fall by a man riding a balloon. Tuesday's attempt was thwarted when an electrical charge broke the cable connecting the balloon to the gondola, causing it to slip away from his ground crew and rise into the Saskatchewan skies over North Battleford. "The question is, why was it electrically activated?" said Michel Chevalet, a balloon expert working on Fournier's technical team. He suggested that static electricity may have been to blame but that it had been an unforeseen possibility. "Unexpected freak accidents do happen," he said. Watch report on Michel Fournier's failed free-fall quest » . Fournier said the failure came as a blow. "It was like having a hammer over the head," he said. Watch Fournier talk about trying again » . The former paratrooper had hoped his "Big Jump" would start 40 kilometers (25 miles) above the Earth's surface. But his hopes dissipated over the Canadian prairie shortly after 5 a.m. (7 a.m. ET), when the balloon took off before his capsule could be attached. Still clad in his bright yellow pressure suit, a visibly frustrated Fournier waved away cameras after his balloon's abrupt departure. It drifted back to the ground about 40 km away. Fournier says he spent nearly 12.7 million euros ($20 million) on his quest, a risky endeavor that French authorities refused to allow him to attempt over France. Canadian authorities approved the mission over the town of North Battleford, in sparsely populated Saskatchewan. The town's mayor, Julian Sadlowski, said Monday's failure was "a disappointment." "I thought this was going to be the day that we saw history made in the Battlefords," he said. Balloon trouble also doomed Fournier's effort to break the record in 2003. Fournier holds the French record for the highest parachute jump at 12,000 meters (40,000 feet). He says his next chance is in August because that is when the jet stream will next be favorable. The "Big Jump" will collect data that will help astronauts and others survive at high altitudes, he says. Fournier estimated that Tuesday's failed effort cost him and his sponsors about 600,000 euros ($946,000).

NEW: Parachutist Michel Fournier promises to try record jump again . Balloon escapes as French skydiver attempts free fall record . Tuesday's attempt thwarted when an electrical charge broke important cable .

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Nearly a year after being beaten into a coma, Bryan Steinhauer said Wednesday he does not hate the Serbian basketball player witnesses said brutally assaulted him. Bryan Steinhauer, who was beaten into a coma, is making significant progress in his rehabilitation. "I am not full of hate; hatred kills progress," he said. Appearing alongside his parents and doctors at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital, Steinhauer struggled to speak but his message was clear. "Please don't feel sorry for me," he said. "Tragedy leads to wisdom, and this experience has taught me so much about life." Watch Steinhauer talk about his recovery » . The 22-year-old from Brooklyn was about to graduate and had a job lined up at accounting giant KPMG when he got into an argument last May that nearly cost him his life. According to police, witnesses said Steinhauer and college basketball player Miladin Kovacevic had exchanged harsh words at an upstate New York bar near Binghamton University after Steinhauer danced with the girlfriend of one of Kovacevic's friends. The witnesses said the fight went outside the bar, where several men attacked Steinhauer, with Kovacevic beating him about the head, according to police. Kovacevic is 6-foot-9 and 260 pounds while Steinhauer was 130 pounds. Kovacevic was arrested but jumped bail and fled to Serbia with the help of Serbian consular officials in New York. The case strained relations between the United States and Serbia.Hillary Clinton intervened, first as U.S. senator from New York and later as secretary of state, as did Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, to make sure Kovacevic was prosecuted. Serbia has no extradition treaty with the United States, but Serbian officials arrested Kovacevic last October and are working on prosecuting him with the assistance of the district attorney of Broome County, where the beating took place. In addition, the Serbian government recently paid the Steinhauer family $900,000 in recognition of the misconduct of Serbian government officials and the financial burdens placed upon the Steinhauer family as a result of the beating. Steinhauer awoke from his coma last August, three months after the beating that left him with skull fractures, a severe brain injury and no memory of the attack. He weighed less than 100 pounds, could not speak or walk, and was fed through a tube, doctors said Wednesday. "He had hemorrhages and contusions affecting almost every lobe of his brain," said Dr. Brian Greenwald. Working with specialists and boosted by the support of his family, Steinhauer surprised even his doctors in his quick recovery, they said. He now has outpatient rehabilitation four times a week, goes to a gym, and receives acupuncture treatments. While he can eat on his own now and is making significant progress, Steinhauer continues to undergo intensive therapy. Steinhauer says he doesn't think about Kovacevic because he's not concerned about other people. "I've had a second birth and raising at Mount Sinai," he said. "Live long and prosper."

Witnesses: Bryan Steinhauer was beaten into a coma by college basketball player . A year after attack, victim says he does not hate the man who beat him . Steinhauer says experience has taught him life lessons . Suspect jumped bail, fled to Serbia where he is now being prosecuted .

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(CNN) -- A cancer treatment that comes in a pill is as effective as the standard chemotherapy for lung patients who had previously been treated for their cancer, according to a study released Thursday. The intravenous chemotherapy treatment had more severe side effects than the pill in this study. Results of a large clinical trial were published in the British medical journal The Lancet. The trial was designed to compare Iressa, a daily pill, to Taxotere, an IV-chemotherapy drug that's administered every three weeks. This international study included more than 1,400 patients for whom standard chemotherapy had been ineffective. "Iressa and Taxotere have same survival outcomes," according to Dr. Edward Kim, lead author of the study and assistant professor in M.D. Anderson Cancer Center's Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology in Houston, Texas. The study was paid for by the maker of Iressa, AstraZeneca. Kim says the Food and Drug Administration mandated that the pharmaceutical company conduct this clinical trial. In the study, patients taking Iressa had an average survival of 7.6 months, and 32 percent survived one year, compared with patients getting the chemotherapy drug Taxotere. Their survival was an average of eight months; 34 percent of patients survived one year. Kim says this is the largest study in lung cancer comparing an oral therapy with chemotherapy. Dr. Bruce Johnson, a lung cancer specialist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, who was not involved in this research, says, "this study did what it intended to do in showing equivalency. I can't imagine any clearer evidence." One significant difference between the two drugs is in side effects. Patients taking Iressa mainly experienced skin rashes and/or mild diarrhea. Patients on Taxotere had many more severe side effects, including hair loss, numbness in hands and feet, severe diarrhea, a drop in blood cells and nausea. Given the difference, "the single pill trumps chemotherapy," said Dr. Paul Bunn, who heads the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Research and also was not involved in the clinical trial. Johnson says that 5 to 10 percent of patients taking Taxotere will drop out every three weeks because of side effects. Kim points out that if the two treatments have the same survival benefit but one has fewer side effects and is easier to take, doctors want their patients to have the option for this treatment. Currently, no new lung cancer patients can get Iressa, because doctors are no longer allowed to prescribe it. In 2003, Iressa got fast-track FDA approval as a treatment for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, specifically for patients in whom standard chemotherapy had failed. The approval was based on two small phase II clinical trials that showed Iressa was able to shrink tumors by about 10 percent, which led the FDA to believe that the drug would lead to a "positive effect on survival or benefits." More on Iressa from the FDA . When the FDA gives a drug accelerated approval, it requires that the manufacturer continue testing it to determine whether there's a clinical benefit to the patient. If further studies can't show this type of benefit, the FDA has the power to withdraw that drug from the market. But a year later, results were revealed from a larger, phase III clinical trial that compared Iressa with placebo in patients for whom chemotherapy was ineffective. "Iressa was better but not statistically significant," said Bunn, who also directs the University of Colorado Cancer Center. Given this information and because another lung cancer pill -- Tarceva -- had shown a survival benefit, the FDA decided that " it is not reasonable to start new patients on Iressa." Since 2005, the FDA allows only those already getting Iressa prescribed or those enrolled in clinical trials that were under way at the time to continue taking Iressa. All three lung cancer experts CNN spoke with regularly see patients and have treated them with Iressa or the other available lung cancer drugs. All said they couldn't predict whether the FDA would allow new patients to be treated with Iressa based on this and other recent studies. Kim believes that based on this data, Iressa "is a valid treatment option for patients with pretreated non-small lung cancer." Both Bunn and Johnson say that more choices in treatment will always benefit the patients.

Study compared pill Iressa and IV-chemotherapy drug Taxotere . Patients taking Iressa mainly experienced skin rashes and/or mild diarrhea . Patients on Taxotere had many more severe side effects, including hair loss . Experts: Unknown whether FDA will allow new patients to be treated with Iressa .

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(CNN) -- When pitcher Josh Faiola walks out of the dugout on opening day with the Lake Erie Crushers, he'll already have a large group of fans in the stands -- his new roommates at the Belvedere of Westlake assisted living facility. Pitcher Josh Failoa stands as residents and friends of The Belvedere of Westlake welcome him Tuesday. The 25-year-old, who was drafted in 2006 by the Baltimore Orioles and is trying to work his way to the majors, admits he was caught a little off guard when he was told about his new housing situation. "At first I was like, 'OK, that's a little different,' " he said. "I was taken aback at first." And he was also the butt of a couple jokes from his teammates. "They were saying things like 'So what's the deal? Do you have to go to bed early?' " Faiola said. But then he told them about his room -- a large suite, with his own kitchenette, washer and dryer, furniture and a TV. "Then they changed their tune," he said. "They were like 'That's awesome. Are they any other vacancies?' " Like many of the players in the independent Frontier League who don't rake in the big bucks, Faiola is living with a host family. But his host family is a little different. Most of the players live with families with younger children. But in his case, Faiola is the young one -- about 55 years younger than the rest of his "roommates." Eighty-four-year-old Meda Dennis, who has been living in the center for four years, said Faiola's arrival is the most exciting thing to happen since a good Elvis impersonator showed up. "It's been quite exciting because he's young and new and interesting and we're old," she joked. Faiola made his way to the assisted living center in Westlake, Ohio, near Cleveland, with the help of Cindy Griffiths-Novak. She heard the new local baseball team was looking for host families for the players. But because she has a 3- and 4-year-old at home, she turned to her family's assisted living center as an option for Faiola. Griffiths-Novak went to the residents with the idea and they unanimously voted for Faiola to live there. But his new housing situation is about more than just a place to crash after the game. "It certainly is great for the residents because now we get a lot of energy and youth and excitement," Griffiths-Novak said. It has turned into an exciting time for the residents, who jumped at the chance to decorate the entire facility before the pitcher's arrival. "You should see the decorations," Griffiths-Novak said. "The residents all signed motivational good luck pennants for him, there's a 40-foot banner, we have a whole thing dedicated to Josh. I'm sure he is so embarrassed with all of the baseball cards with their face on it." They've made signs telling him he's in a league of his own, but they've also set their expectations high for him. "Some of the pendants say things like 'Don't get cut, move your butt,' " Griffiths-Novak said. "He's certainly going to be under the microscope! We'll be watching and keeping track of all of his stats." Faiola was awestruck when he walked in and saw all of the decorations. The activity director has been doing craft activities with the residents -- making visors with baseball logos and Crushers necklaces in anticipation of the game. Dennis is looking forward to watching their new ace pitcher hit the mound even though she hasn't seen a baseball game live in a while. "Anything's better than the Indians right now," Dennis joked. "We'll definitely be cheering for him, though, and if he happens to have a bad game, he'll have a lot of shoulders to cry on. But I don't think he'll need them." Norma J. Lane, 85, said even though she's more of a football fan, she's looking forward to following Faiola and baseball more closely. "We are just wishing him well because it's such a great experience for all of us," Lane said. "We're looking forward to having him around." Faiola said he is excited to help bring some fun to the residents, some of whom are already considering him to be like a grandson. "I always loved spending time with my grandparents and one of my great-grandparents was in an assisted living home and I remember how excited she was to see us when we went to visit her," he said. "And they are being so nice to open up this place to me, so hopefully I can bring a little bit of joy." Faiola, who had surgery two years ago and was dropped from the Orioles during spring training, is hoping his stint with the Crushers can help get him picked up by a Major League team. Regardless of what happens, he knows he has the support of his new roommates. "They've all really come out and supported me, they even bring me food and give me snacks," he said. "I couldn't ask for anything better. And with all of them watching so closely, I'll have to keep my game up. They've definitely set a high bar for me."

Because of little pay in independent league, players stay with host families . Pitcher Josh Faiola staying at Belvedere of Westlake facility near Cleveland, Ohio . Faiola says teammates joked first, but he's thrilled to bring energy to residents . Residents decorated facility, will be watching pitcher's every throw .

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Editor's note: CNN affiliates report on where job seekers are finding work across the country and how those looking for employment are coping with the situation. Workers at the Jayco plant in Elkhart County in Indiana put together a travel trailer in February. (CNN) -- Elkhart, Indiana, has suffered through a litany of economic bad news and layoffs. The United States Department of Labor said that in March, the Elkhart metropolitan area had the fifth highest unemployment in the country. Just last year the Monaco Coach Corp. closed down its motor home assembly plants in Elkhart, Nappanee and Wakarusa. But Electric Motors Corp., which builds engines, cars and trucks, is moving into Elkhart County and bringing hundreds of jobs. "Their production working skills will be a little bit different than RV workers, but not that much different. We'll easily be able to train the workers," County Commissioner Mike Yoder told WSJV. Neither the company nor government officials would comment on how many jobs could potentially be created. "It's good to get a small number just to build up and hopefully it'll keep coming," said college student Erika Miller, who is looking for summer work. Read the full report on WSJV . South: Famed New Orleans hotel closed after Katrina hiring hundreds . The Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana, is almost ready to reopen after being shuttered after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005. After undergoing a $145 million renovation, the hotel will be staffed by 400 employees. This past week, more than 5,000 job seekers came to a job fair at the downtown landmark. Some of the people hired will begin in a few weeks, while others will start later. "We are looking to make some additional hires in September and in October when business picks up," Roosevelt employee Melissa Kariker told WDSU. One applicant at the fair had worked previously at the hotel. "I started my career with the Fairmont-Roosevelt," Gregory Smith said. "I worked in the Blue Room for several years." Read the report on WDSU . Midwest: Newspaper giving away space for 'Hire me' ads . The New Herald newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, will publish "Hire me" ads in its Sunday editions and on its Web site. There is no cost for job seekers, but the offer applies only to this Sunday's paper. "It's actually something our publisher suggested that they did back in the '70s at the height of unemployment that he had worked at that time," executive editor Tricia Ambrose told WEWS. The Web site will also post video resumes. Read the report on WEWS . West: Solar panel plant to hire 300 . Schott Solar, which makes photovoltaic solar panels, opened a plant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this week, bringing 350 jobs. Officials with the company told KRQE the number of employees could grow to more than 1,500. A plant manager said the company provides its own funding and has not been hurt much during the recession, KRQE reported. Officials from the California-based company said they chose New Mexico in part because of the amount of sunshine it receives. Watch the full report on KRQE . Around the nation . General Mills will hire 112 people when it builds a distribution center in Social Circle, Georgia, WGCL in Atlanta reports. ... In Richland, Washington, federal stimulus money is being used to pay for environmental cleanup, KREM reports. ... Target and Lowe's stores are scheduled to open in Greenland, New Hampshire, this summer, bringing 400 jobs to the town, WMUR reports.

Eco-friendly vehicle company moving into RV plant in Indiana . Roosevelt Hotel opening in New Orleans after four years in the dark . Newspaper providing free classified ads for job hunters for one Sunday . Plant that makes solar panels opens this week in New Mexico .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The mother of the co-pilot who died in a plane crash near Buffalo, New York, in February, said Thursday that her daughter and the pilot were "being used as a scapegoat." Lynn Morris says she was shocked at how her daughter, the plane's co-pilot, was portrayed in the NTSB hearings. Lynn Morris' daughter, First Officer Rebecca Shaw, was among the 50 people killed in the crash of the plane, operated by Colgan Air. Morris made the comments on the final day of investigative hearings held by the National Transportation Safety Board. "I think I walked out of the hearings in shock, because I truly felt that both she and the captain were being used as a scapegoat," Morris said. Testimony from the hearings, which began Tuesday, revealed that fatigue may have contributed to the failure of Shaw and Colgan Air Capt. Marvin Renslow to save the plane as it approached Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Testimony on Wednesday indicated that crews on a number of airlines could be suffering from lack of sleep. Many crews live far from their base of operations, causing them to come to work already tired from travel, NTSB investigators said. Renslow had nearly a full day off before assuming command of Continental Connection Flight 3407. Yet the NTSB investigation found he slept in the Newark Airport crew lounge -- against Colgan Air regulations. The airline, though, appears not to have been enforcing that rule. "Nobody argues that the human body needs to have its rest, and sometimes it doesn't gel with the schedules of an airline," testified Capt. Rory Kay, executive air safety chairman for the Air Line Pilots Association. Watch hearing address issues of crew fatigue » . NTSB board member Kitty Higgins said the Colgan policy "is that they're not to sleep in the crew room, but it turns out they are sleeping in the crew room." Daniel Morgan, Colgan's vice president for flight safety, said, "People can come in between their flights to take a nap." Asked if napping was considered sleeping, he replied, "That's a definition I'm probably not prepared to answer." A nap of about 10 to 20 minutes can be restorative for most people, Dr. Michael Silber, a co-director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, told the clinic's monthly "Women's HealthSource" publication last year. However, a longer nap can make people feel groggy, Silber said for the publication's October issue. Shaw had three days off before the flight. She commuted through the night from Seattle, Washington, catching rides on connecting Fed Ex flights to get to Newark, New Jersey, where the Colgan flight originated. "It is shocking. It's hard to believe that it is allowed to go on," said Kathy Johnson, whose husband, Kevin, died in the crash. She said Wednesday she was furious that the crew may have been functioning on little sleep. Watch family members question pilot training standards » . The NTSB, which has not issued its report on the February 12 crash, said it scheduled the hearings to gather information. The plane plunged into a house in Clarence Center, New York, killing everyone on board and a man on the ground. The NTSB's preliminary investigation determined there was some ice accumulation on the Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 aircraft, but the "icing had a minimal impact on the stall speed of the airplane." On Thursday, safety board member Deborah Hersman questioned why Renslow and Shaw apparently didn't notice, as they approached the Buffalo airport, that the plane's speed had abruptly dropped from 207 mph to 150 mph (from 180 to 130 knots). She asked R. Key Dismukes, chief scientist for the NASA division that focuses on human-centered design and operations, whether this was a period in every flight that is a time of high workload for the crew, meaning their attention may have been diverted. Dismukes noted that there was a lot going on, including conversations between Renslow and Shaw and communication with a control tower. "That certainly didn't help the workload situation," Dismukes said. "There were a number of concurrent tasks, and this is a vulnerable period. No questions about it." Hersman said she had seen the same failure to note a drastic, quick change in speed in other crashes. She suggested that the crew receive an alert in those cases. "I think an alert that your air speed is deteriorating is kind of like a fire alarm," Hersman said. On Wednesday, it was revealed that Renslow, in his Colgan Air job application, failed to reveal two pilot exam failures. The crew also violated a rule that requires cockpit conversation to be focused on the flight. At Tuesday's hearing, Colgan Air acknowledged that Renslow had never trained on the "stick pusher" emergency system in a flight simulator. The system warns pilots when the plane's speed is too slow. But in a written statement, the carrier said both Renslow and Shaw had received other specific training on how to handle situations like those that preceded the crash. CNN's Allan Chernoff contributed to this report.

NEW: "I think I walked out of the hearings in shock," co-pilot's mother says . Panel is investigating February crash near Buffalo, New York, that killed 50 . Pilot slept in lounge before flight, co-pilot commuted all night, safety board hears . Relative of passenger says she's furious crew may have had little sleep .

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(CNN) -- A Belgian city has decided to go "veggie" for a day in an effort to highlight the environmental and health costs of eating meat. Stock breeding is a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. The city authorities in Ghent, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Brussels, have declared Thursdays "Veggie Day," (Veggiedag) and are asking residents to get involved and opt for vegetarian meals at least one day a week. It says Ghent is the first city in Europe to try such a scheme. According to the city's campaign publicity, eating less meat can help to minimize the ecological footprint of your food because stock breeding has a detrimental impact on the environment. It points to data from the United Nations which says livestock is responsible for generating around 18 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. It is also hoped that Veggie Day will have a positive health impact in the fight against diet-related illnesses such as obesity, cancer and diabetes. On Wednesday organizers provided residents with meat-free recipes and a list of vegetarian restaurants at a "launch party" in the center of the city. Ghent claims to have more vegetarian eateries per inhabitant than Paris, London and Berlin. Demonstrations were also on offer to people looking for green cooking tips.

Thursdays will be declared "Veggie Days" in Ghent . Residents asked to opt for vegetarian meals at least once a week . City says eating less meat is healthy and can minimize ecological footprint .

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MARDAN, Pakistan (CNN) -- Inside a hospital ward in northwest Pakistan, I found myself surrounded by sobs and screams. One scream was so high-pitched that I didn't think it was human. These were the sounds of agony, and they belonged to innocent civilians who were injured in the cross fire of Pakistani troops and the Taliban in the Swat Valley. CNN's Reza Sayah with Shaista, who lost most of her family in an explosion as they fled fighting. Behind each cry at this ward was a story of loss. Doctors told me no one here had lost more than Shaista, an 11-year-old girl who watched as an explosion instantly killed most of her family. Shaista and her family were among hundreds of thousands of people who fled Pakistan's Swat Valley on the day the Pakistani Army launched an all-out offensive against the Taliban. She says she was walking along a road with her family when a mortar shell suddenly fell from the sky. "We were coming," Shaista told me, "then my mother died, my brother died, and my two sisters also died." Watch Reza Sayah's interview with Shaista » . Doctors said the explosion shattered Shaista's foot. Moments later she passed out. The next time she woke up she was in the female orthopedic ward of the GHQ Hospital in Mardan. Doctors said Shaista will recover from her shattered foot, but the trauma of losing a family will last a lifetime. "She kept saying it all happened in front of me," said Salma Shaheen, a nurse. "She said something fell on top of my mother and she got cut in half." It was clear that Shaista had won over the hearts of the doctors and nurses who said that they, in three days, had treated more than 800 civilians injured in the battle zone. Like many hospitals in northwest Pakistan, this one was under equipped. To hold an elderly woman's broken leg together, doctors had made a make shift traction using a brick, a plastic shopping bag and rope. Watch Reza Sayah's report from inside the hospital » . Shaista said her father is missing. Her only guardian is her uncle, Muhammad Sher, who found Shaista after searching area hospitals. "I'm just going to tell her, 'you're my daughter,'" said Muhammad. "I'm going to educate her, teach her the Koran and do what I can for her." Sixty miles away from the hospital, the battle between Pakistani troops and the Taliban raged on. On Wednesday General Athar Abbas, the army's top spokesman, told CNN the troops were making significant progress but the most intense stage of the fighting in the battle zones' most populated areas was still to come -- a near guarantee of more sobs and screams at area hospitals.

CNN's Reza Sayah meets Shaista in a crowded hospital in northwest Pakistan . Shaista's family among hundreds of thousands of people fleeing fighting . Shaista says they were walking on a road when a mortar fell from the sky . The girl's uncle finds her in the hospital; doctors say her shattered foot will recover .

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(CNN) -- By most accounts, the showdown was pretty brutal. Many declared Jon Stewart, right, the victor in his face-to-face with Jim Cramer on "The Daily Show." Many watching Thursday night's "Daily Show" on Comedy Central felt that comedian-turned-media-critic Jon Stewart held bombastic financial guru and CNBC "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer's feet to the fire. And Cramer flinched. Stewart, known for his zany, satirical take on the news, was serious as he took Cramer's network to task for what Stewart viewed as their "cheerleading" of corporations at the heart of the nation's current economic crisis. And despite the title of his financial show, Cramer came off as less mad and more apologetic. Watch Stewart vs. Cramer » . "If it was a prize fight, they would have stopped it," said Howard Kurtz, the "Washington Post" media critic and host of CNN's "Reliable Sources." "I was stunned that Jim Cramer kind of did a rope-a-dope strategy and didn't really defend himself against Jon Stewart's assault." Kurtz is very familiar with the style of both men. He has appeared on "The Daily Show" and is the author of "The Fortune Tellers: Inside Wall Street's Game of Money, Media and Manipulation," in which Cramer is featured. Kurtz said Stewart "made clear at the outset that he wasn't going for laughs" and displayed very much the same passion for holding the media accountable as he did when he appeared on, and denounced, CNN's "Crossfire." Watch the debate on "Reliable Sources" "When I went on [Stewart's] show last year, he was so wound up in ripping the media that he went on for another 10 minutes, knowing full well that we were out of time," Kurtz said. "Stewart, as funny as he can be, is a very trenchant media critic who cares passionately about this stuff, and we saw that Thursday night." iReporter David Seaman of New York said he was surprised at the vigor with which Stewart "attacked Cramer's credibility." Check out David's iReport . The public wants answers as to how the country got into such financial distress, and viewers really want someone to answer for the mess, Seaman said. "People want to see a lot of the financial gurus on a shish kabob, being skewered," Seaman said. "It's really important to hold people accountable, and as we saw last night, Jon Stewart is a bit of a wild card, so if you aren't living up to expectations, he may call you out." David Brancaccio, host and senior editor of "Now on PBS," commended Cramer for his bravery in going on the show, though he said he was surprised that the brilliant founder of TheStreet.com seemed ill-prepared for Stewart's very thoughtful questioning. Brancaccio, the former host of American Public Media's "Marketplace" radio program, echoed the comments of many in that he found the exchange visibly uncomfortable for the usually showman-like Cramer. "You have the comedian as journalist, and you have the financial journalist as clown, in that on his show, Cramer's goofing around and plays the clown," Brancaccio said. "What a role reversal." Brancaccio said Stewart's show has emerged as an important vehicle for media criticism. Thursday night's show marked an important moment in journalism, especially financial reporting, Brancaccio said. "It's really important that tough questions are asked, because when tough questions aren't asked, we end up with Enron," he said. "It's interesting that the tough questions came from Jon Stewart, brilliant comedian that he is." Brancaccio thinks the episode may serve as a cautionary tale for those in the media who don't do their due diligence. White House approves of smackdown . "I don't think any financial journalist wants to be in Cramer's position," Brancaccio said. "I think [journalists] may redouble their efforts to be dispassionate reporters asking the tough questions." Steve Krakauer is associate editor of TVNewser.com, one of the leading blogs about the television news industry, and said comments at his site have been mixed about the show. Although some thought it was one of the best interviews they had ever seen, others found Stewart arrogant and said his outrage might have been a bit staged. Krakauer said the question now is where Cramer -- who has said he plans to make some changes to his show -- goes from here. Krakauer said he doubts that there will be a complete overhaul of "Mad Money." "I can't see things drastically changing," Krakauer said. " 'Mad Money' is one of the most successful shows on CNBC. Despite what has been written about Jim Cramer, the things he's gotten incorrect and the calls he has made, he's still popular and one of the most entertaining for people who are interested in that type of financial news." If anything, Cramer's appearance on "The Daily Show" may have just stoked the flames. Comedy Central's Web site played it up with clips from the show that it called "an historic moment in basic cable." The topic is such a hot one that Kurtz will lead "Reliable Sources" with it Sunday, with journalist Tucker Carlson, radio show host Stephanie Miller and "Baltimore Sun" television critic David Zurawik as guests. "Beyond the entertainment value, and we are not above that, this is a really important moment for holding financial journalists accountable," Kurtz said. "It may have taken Jon Stewart to blow the whistle on some of the hype and shortsightedness at America's top business news channel, but those failings were repeated throughout the business press, which stumbled badly in reporting on what turned into a huge financial meltdown."

Critics and viewers see Stewart as victor after interview with "Mad Money" host . Pair squared off in an uncomfortable debate on "The Daily Show" iReporter: Surprised at how Stewart "attacked Cramer's credibility" Howard Kurtz: "Important moment for holding financial journalists accountable"

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(CNN) -- Three years ago, the film based on Dan Brown's novel "The Da Vinci Code" was the focus of protest and controversy, with a Vatican archbishop calling for a boycott and Catholics at many levels refuting plot points. From left, actors Tom Hanks, Ayelet Zurer and Ewan McGregor join director Ron Howard at the film's premier. But when it comes to the new film based on a Brown novel, "Angels & Demons," star Tom Hanks says talk of controversy is much ado about nothing. "Everybody is looking for some scandal whether a scandal exists or not," Hanks said of the film. "I think a kind of natural reaction is now that somehow because it's the second Robert Langdon mystery that there is some degree of controversy over it. And there is really not." The movie ventures into similar waters as its predecessor, "The Da Vinci Code," with Hanks reprising the role of Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbology expert, and conspiracy theories galore. Watch Hanks talk aboout the controversy » . It also reunites the Academy Award-winning actor with director Ron Howard, who helmed "Da Vinci," and teams Hanks with actor Ewan McGregor and Israeli actress Ayelet Zurer. While "The Da Vinci Code" centered on the complex investigation of a murder in the Louvre and the theory that a marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene produced descendants, the new film features a murder at the Vatican and a secret and powerful society known as the "Illuminati." McGregor, known for his role as a young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the "Star Wars" films, said that while "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels & Demons" are inextricably linked, the latter can stand on its own. "If I thought [Angels & Demons] was pinned to 'The Da Vinci Code' in some way then it would've been a lesser script to read and it wasn't," McGregor said. "It's a standalone movie ... it's not relevant whether you've seen 'Da Vinci Code' or not." Both films, like the Brown novels they're based on, have been met with criticism for their melding of history and storytelling. "I have a strong objection to the genre of mixing fact with fiction," said Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League. "You've got [Dan] Brown, [Ron] Howard and [Tom] Hanks in the movie all alleging that the Illuminati was this secret society which was brutalized by the Catholic Church in the 1600s." "It's all a lie," Donohue said. "[The Illuminati] never even existed until May 1, 1776, but they have to pitch it back into the 1600s so they can trot out their favorite victim, Galileo. What happens is you get the audience thinking 'Well, maybe it's not all true, but probably some of it is true.' " Ted Baehr, founder of Movieguide and the Christian Film & Television Commission, first issued an advisory alert about the film in April and reiterated it days before the movie's May 15 release. "Now that we've previewed 'Angels & Demons,' Movieguide has decided to keep in effect our caution alert," Baehr said. "Faith is often denied throughout the movie." Director Howard wrote in the The Huffington Post that he believes Donohue is on a mission "to paint me and the movie I directed, 'Angels & Demons,' as anti-Catholic," a claim Howard emphatically denies. The director told CNN that he attempted to reach out to the Catholic Church regarding the film, but had no success. He also downplayed reports that Rome and the Vatican tried to hinder filming. Hanks said shooting the movie in the ancient city was complicated given the vibrancy of Rome. At one point, Hanks said, make-believe collided with one woman's fairy tale. "We had a lady showing up who was getting married at the Pantheon and she had to get married and we had to get our shot," Hanks said. "She showed up right between shots, when we were moving cameras." Fortunately, both the wedding and the day's filming were able to be completed, Hanks said. McGregor said Howard was to be credited for how well the production came together. Howard's background as an actor undoubtedly helped enhance the actors' performances, McGregor said. "A lot of directors are able to tell you what they're after, but Ron's able to tell you what he's after and help you for how you might play that ... which is kind of total directing," McGregor said. Zurer said she had a blast being the only female lead in the film. Viewers should see the film for what it is, she said, and not focus on the controversy. "It's fun fiction," she said. "It's a fun movie to watch, it's thrilling and that's what I saw in it." CNN's Lisa Respers France contributed to this story.

Tom Hanks stars in "Angels & Demons," a sequel to "The Da Vinci Code" Fellow cast mate Ewan McGregor says latest film is a standalone . Like earlier film, "Angels & Demons" has been attacked for mix of fact and fiction . Catholic League president: "It's all a lie"

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KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A Taliban suicide bomb squad disguised as regular Afghan army troops stormed a strategic city close to the border with Pakistan Tuesday, prompting a fierce six-hour battle with U.S. troops, local officials and the U.S. military said. A U.S. soldier on patrol in Khost province in February 2009. The insurgents attacked a municipal building in the center of the city of Khost, a U.S. military spokesman said. At least 10 suicide bombers were killed in the attacks, which also left five troops and four civilians dead, Afghan police said. Local police chief Abdul Qayum Baqee Zoi told CNN the attacks, which ended at 4:30 p.m. involved 10 Taliban suicide bombers in Afghan National Army uniforms and explosive vests. Seven detonated and three were shot dead. A U.S. military spokesman said the city -- a hotbed of Taliban activity --remained volatile as reports of running battles, kidnappings and fatalities surfaced. The developments came shortly after the United States announced it was changing its military leadership in Afghanistan, replacing Gen. David McKiernan with Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a former special operations chief. Tuesday's fighting began when U.S. forces responded to a suicide bomber at a government compound in the city and came under heavy attack, the U.S. military spokesman said. Officials in Khost told CNN that insurgents attacked the municipal building, and the police chief there said attackers killed two police officers, two security guards and two civilians in that incident. A Taliban spokesman in Afghanistan earlier told CNN 30 Taliban fighters were involved in the attack, and confirmed they were suicide bombers wearing explosive vests. The U.S. military spokesman said U.S. troops killed several militants but had to fall back. A U.S. quick reaction force from a nearby base was called in, entering the city with U.S. ground forces, he said. The spokesman said additional Taliban suicide bombers then entered government buildings, killing additional Afghans. CNN's Barbara Starr and Tomas Etzler contributed to this report .

Taliban militants attacked a municipal building in the city of Khost . Insurgents said to be fighting battles with U.S. forces and taking hostages . Khost is notorious hotbed of Taliban activity near Pakistan border .

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BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Liu Yan, regarded as China's top classical dancer, was to give the performance of a lifetime: She was to dance a solo at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Liu, in red, performs on the 2008 Beijing Television Chinese New Year Festival Show. She was to perform a dance entitled "Silk Road," a piece intended to convey the rich cultural history of China. But it never happened. Twelve days before she was to take the stage at the Olympics, in an event that China hoped would catapult the nation to international glory, she fell while rehearsing the dance -- leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. "When the music stopped, I made my exit as usual. I was dancing on a thin layer of electrical mat, I was standing on that, and there was a platform powered by a vehicle moving underneath," Liu said from the Beijing 306 Military Hospital. "Right when I stepped on the platform, it moved away quickly ... then, like that, I fell." Watch more on Liu » . "It was extremely painful." Liu, who was knocked unconscious, was later told she would never walk again. Doctors operated on her for six hours, and the hospital where she was being treated was near the Bird's Nest -- the landmark national stadium built for the Games. The stadium can be seen from Liu's hospital room window. "I could not see it, because I was unable to sit up. But then, I could see the fireworks from the rehearsal," Liu said through tears. She did not watch the opening ceremony. "I was afraid to watch it," she said. "I was listening to Lisa Ono (a bossa nova singer) with the volume up to the highest on the stereo that used to be here in the corner. But, I watched it later." Liu began attending the Beijing Dance Academy in 1993. She spent 10 years studying professional dancing, and classical Chinese dance was her major. She repeatedly received the annual Best Student award and went on to win gold awards in the national dancing competition in 2004, the Lotus Dancing competition and the first Asian Youth Art Festival. She also won many top cultural awards in China for dance plays. "When I was young, I was the kind of child who studied dancing very hard. I never gave up. I love dancing very much. When practicing some dancing movements, which other students considered boring, I saw the practice as very interesting," she said. "People thought that I took dancing very seriously because of my love for it, but I think it's very interesting." Apart from the physical pain, Liu said: "The damage on my dancing career is the most painful part for me." "I think this is very sad. But I am injured and it is a fact that cannot be changed. But I believe I will keep dancing or at least doing work related to that, because that is what I love." Liu said she spends most of her time recovering in the hospital, exercising her legs to help develop her muscles. She said she feels much better now but it is still tough. "I often cry. After I got injured, I feel fragile every time I reflect on the past. But I think of it as a process," she said. "I will learn to face the reality rationally. Human hearts are made of flesh; it is not one flat surface. The important thing is how you adjust yourself." She has since started to return to her normal life. "For example, going back home and staying overnight, going out with friends for dinner, even going to see a show, a movie, drink coffee, drink Champagne, going back to classes." Liu does not blame anyone for the accident, saying that in big events, "accidents happen." "I think you should not blame one person, or one particular moment," she said. "I think I will use the word 'unfortunate.' I was very unfortunate to have that accident." She also said she did not know about reports her family and witnesses to the accident were told not to talk about what happened afterward. "That probably happened. I didn't know about it back then and I didn't really care. I was in the middle of an operation that lasted six hours." As for the future, Liu said she might go back to school, to learn more about dance, and get a master's or a doctorate degree. "Healthy dancers practice every day, I will do the same. This is how I am different from other patients -- I believe that I will recover when I do my exercise. I will live with hope."

Liu Yan is paralyzed while rehearsing her solo dance for the Olympics' opening . Doctors say she will not walk again . Liu wins many dance awards; she is considered China's top classical dancer . She believes she will recover and exercises every day .

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Editor's note: The Rev. Robert Barron is Francis Cardinal George Professor of Faith and Culture at Mundelein Seminary and author of several books, including "Eucharist," "Word on Fire: Proclaiming the Power of Christ" and "The Priority of Christ: Toward a Post-Liberal Catholicism." Barron is the director of WordOnFire.org, a global media ministry based in Chicago, Illinois. For another view on this topic, read here. The Rev. Robert Barron says celibacy sets the priest apart as a symbol of the world to come. (CNN) -- The scandal surrounding the Rev. Alberto Cutie has raised questions in the minds of many concerning the Catholic Church's discipline of priestly celibacy. Why does the church continue to defend a practice that seems so unnatural and so unnecessary? There is a very bad argument for celibacy, which has appeared throughout the tradition and which is, even today, defended by some. It goes something like this: Married life is spiritually suspect; priests, as religious leaders, should be spiritual athletes above reproach; therefore, priests shouldn't be married . This approach to the question is, in my judgment, not just stupid but dangerous, for it rests on presumptions that are repugnant to solid Christian doctrine. The biblical teaching on creation implies the essential integrity of the world and everything in it. Genesis tells us that God found each thing he had made good and that he found the ensemble of creatures very good. Catholic theology, at its best, has always been resolutely, anti-dualist -- and this means that matter, the body, marriage and sexual activity are never, in themselves, to be despised. But there is more to the doctrine of creation than an affirmation of the goodness of the world. To say that the finite realm in its entirety is created is to imply that nothing in the universe is God. All aspects of created reality reflect God and bear traces of the divine goodness -- just as every detail of a building gives evidence of the mind of the architect -- but no creature and no collectivity of creatures is divine, just as no part of a structure is the architect. This distinction between God and the world is the ground for the anti-idolatry principle that is reiterated from the beginning to the end of the Bible: Do not turn something less than God into God. Isaiah the prophet put it thus: "As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my thoughts above your thoughts and my ways above your ways, says the Lord." And it is at the heart of the First Commandment: "I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods besides me." The Bible thus holds off all the attempts of human beings to divinize or render ultimate some worldly reality. The doctrine of creation, in a word, involves both a great "yes" and a great "no" to the universe. Now there is a behavioral concomitant to the anti-idolatry principle, and it is called detachment. Detachment is the refusal to make anything less than God the organizing principle or center of one's life. Anthony de Mello looked at it from the other side and said "an attachment is anything in this world -- including your own life -- that you are convinced you cannot live without." Even as we reverence everything that God has made, we must let go of everything that God has made, precisely for the sake of God. This is why, as G.K. Chesterton noted, there is a tension to Christian life. In accord with its affirmation of the world, the Church loves color, pageantry, music and rich decoration (as in the liturgy and papal ceremonials), even as, in accord with its detachment from the world, it loves the poverty of St. Francis and the simplicity of Mother Teresa. The same tension governs its attitude toward sex and family. Again, in Chesterton's language, the Church is "fiercely for having children" (through marriage) even as it remains "fiercely against having them" (in religious celibacy). Everything in this world -- including sex and intimate friendship -- is good, but impermanently so; all finite reality is beautiful, but its beauty, if I can put it in explicitly Catholic terms, is sacramental, not ultimate. In the biblical narratives, when God wanted to make a certain truth vividly known to his people, he would, from time to time, choose a prophet and command him to act out that truth, to embody it concretely. For example, he told Hosea to marry the unfaithful Gomer in order to sacramentalize God's fidelity to wavering Israel. Thus, the truth of the non-ultimacy of sex, family and worldly relationship can and should be proclaimed through words, but it will be believed only when people can see it. This is why, the Church is convinced, God chooses certain people to be celibate. Their mission is to witness to a transcendent form of love, the way that we will love in heaven. In God's realm, we will experience a communion (bodily as well as spiritual) compared to which even the most intense forms of communion here below pale into insignificance, and celibates make this truth viscerally real for us now. Though one can present practical reasons for it, I believe that celibacy only finally makes sense in this eschatological context. For years, the Rev. Andrew Greeley argued -- quite rightly in my view -- that the priest is fascinating and that a large part of the fascination comes from celibacy. The compelling quality of the priest is not a matter of superficial celebrity or charm. It is something much stranger, deeper, more mystical. It is the fascination for another world. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the Rev. Robert Barron.

The Rev. Robert Barron: Why does Church back practice that seems unnecessary? He says he rejects the "marriage is spiritually suspect" defense of celibacy . But celibacy sets the priest apart as a symbol of another world, he says .

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