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CLAXTON, Georgia (CNN) -- Chrysler LLC's decision last week to close nearly 800 dealerships may just be business, but for the people who work and trade in those showrooms and service bays, it's personal. Claxton Chrysler Dodge Jeep is at the literal and figurative heart of Claxton, Georgia. "They're not terminating a building or a franchise, they're terminating people that need jobs. And it's not right. It's just not right," said Daniel Womack, owner of Claxton Chrysler Dodge Jeep in tiny Claxton, Georgia. Womack received a hand-delivered letter from Chrysler on Thursday. "When I got to 'We regret ...' I stopped," Womack said. The bankrupt automaker was terminating its agreement with Claxton, the only Chrysler dealer within 25 miles, and a profitable one at that. "It was like standing out in the road and having a bus run over the top of us," he said. The agreement ends June 9, but the effect is already being felt. All of the dealer's major lending banks called and said they would no longer work with Claxton, general manager Doug Shontz said. Watch the owner's heart break for his employees » . "Since the thing happened, we haven't had a soul in here for service," he said. "We haven't turned one wrench. We have nothing for next week. When they brought that list out, that was the kiss of death." The dealership, its employees and their customers are intertwined like dashboard wires. "There's only 11 of us here, but we're family," said Shontz, who just started there in December. "We all know each other, we see each other every day. I spend more time with this group here than I do with my own family." Townsfolk tend to wander in off the street, just to shoot the breeze over a cup of coffee. Take Gary Sapp, for example. The military veteran, wounded in Vietnam, stopped in Saturday, as he does just about every day, to say hello and maybe talk about cars a little bit. He said he might come back Monday and make a deal, just as he's done there three times in the past 10 years. But it's not really about the cars and pickup trucks. "These are good folks here," Sapp said. Claxton, a town of about 2,300 hard by the Canoochee River about 50 miles west of Savannah in southern Georgia, is famous for its namesake fruitcakes, which are sold with pride at Mrs. Rogers' Restaurant and seemingly half the other businesses in town. On East Main Street, a whitewashed brick building still bears an S&H Green Stamps sign and Stella's Phase III serves up $6.95 mountains of soul food, which you can top off with a slice of fluffy sweet potato pie for $1.25. A couple of blocks away, across from the Krispy Chic, a jolly white-haired man sells baseball-sized tomatoes and boiled peanuts out of the back of a pickup under a rainbow-colored umbrella. At opposite ends of Duval Street are a prison surrounded by high fences topped with coils of razor wire and the new elementary school with its gleaming blue metal roof. At the center of it all, literally and figuratively, is Claxton Chrysler Dodge, sporting colorful helium-filled balloons and blue paint bleached pale by the scorching Southern sun. "We've been on this corner for 40 years," Shontz said inside his small office, looking out toward Duval Street. "We could stand out there and have 50 or 60 people wave at us before the day is out that know us -- 'Hey man! How y'all doin'? Hang in there!' " In a small town, everybody knows you and knows what you're up to, Shontz said. "Everybody goes by here. I don't care who you are, everybody goes by here at least once a day," he said. And people in Claxton know whom they can count on for help with their causes and events and fundraisers. Over the years, Claxton Chrysler has sponsored Little League baseball and Pee Wee football, supported beauty pageants and donated to local charities, Shontz said. "We've bought more chicken dinners, and junk, and stuff ... rodeos ... parades ... there's always something," Womack said with a chuckle. "Everything's a big deal here." "I've never seen so many 'Misses,' " Shontz added as they both laughed the kind of laugh you hear toward the end of the third day at the funeral home. Chrysler LLC doesn't understand its market, said loyal customer Jerry Akins, 64, who has bought three vehicles from Claxton Chrysler. "How the hell they gon' sell to those people in small towns?" he said. "They're a different breed. They're not gonna go no damn hundred miles to buy a car." Akins' loyalty extends to his sons, both of whom have bought cars from Claxton Chrysler. But that's not unusual around here. Salesman Paul Michel said he's sold 11 vehicles to one family since December 2005. "That's that generational thing I was talking about," Shontz said. Watch what happened to Michigan's oldest Dodge dealer » . Womack intends to stay in business as a used car dealer after the agreement with Chrysler ends June 9, but it will be a very different operation. With no warranty work, the service and parts departments will be closed, Shontz said. "I just hired a new parts guy three weeks ago," he said. "He left a great job to come here. And now I told him I'm probably going to have to let him go. Great guy, real smart, knows Chrysler like the back of his hand. And I feel bad that I've put him in that kind of predicament." Almost as an afterthought, Shontz mentioned that he'll probably lose his own job, as will 800 of his counterparts across the corporation. "There's going to be a lot of me's out there looking for work. General managers will be a dime a dozen." The change will have a ripple effect on other businesses, Shontz said. The dealer's subcontractors who handle body work, upholstery, dings, glass, used tires, scrap metal and signs all are losing a significant customer, he said. "It's just a cryin' damn shame, is what it is," he said.

Axed Chrysler dealership holds central place in tiny Georgia crossroads . Generations of families have purchased vehicles from Claxton Chrysler Dodge . Folks walk in off the street just to shoot the breeze over a cup of coffee . Dealer has supported youth sports, festivals, parades, charities, other businesses .

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PARIS, France (CNN) -- Opposition lawmakers Tuesday ridiculed President Nicolas Sarkozy for taking France back into NATO's military command after more than 40 years, but were unable to stop the move when it came to a vote. French troops on patrol with the Afghan army as part of the NATO mission in Afghanistan. The National Assembly voted in favor of Sarkozy's plan, 329-238. Socialist Laurent Fabius, a former prime minister, told Prime Minister Francois Fillon: "You tell us this would mean more independence and more influence. It would probably mean less independence and less influence." The move did not technically require parliamentary approval, but the president's party scheduled the debate to give opponents a chance to voice their opinions -- and to show a majority backed it. Asking the National Assembly to vote on the issue also showed how sensitive the matter is in France. France was a founding member of the NATO alliance in 1949 but it left the military structure in 1966 amid friction with the United States. "To cooperate is to lose your independence," French President Charles de Gaulle said at the time. For the next 43 years, even though France selectively participated in NATO military operations, de Gaulle's principle remained the governing cornerstone of French foreign policy. If Paris took orders from NATO military commanders, it was reasoned, the nation would no longer have complete control of its destiny. Sarkozy, however, believes the opposite -- that cooperation in NATO is a guarantee of French independence. Rejoining NATO's military command, he argued, will give France a seat at the table for decision-making. From its earliest years, the organization's trans-Atlantic ties were strained because U.S. analysts warned that if the European allies failed to increase their contributions to the alliance, they risked losing the support of the United States, according to NATO. Meanwhile, the European nations felt the United States was trying to dominate the organization, according to NATO. De Gaulle's 1966 decision meant no French forces could be under permanent allied command and that France would have no participation in defense planning. In 1995, France rejoined NATO's military committee, which advises NATO's political authorities on military policy and strategy and provides guidance on military matters to NATO's strategic commanders. While France was still not a part of the military command, it contributed troops and funding to NATO activities, including actions in Kosovo and Afghanistan. Half of all French troops outside the country are assigned to NATO military operations. Opponents of Sarkozy's move -- who include some members of his party -- believe de Gaulle, not Sarkozy, had it right. They started a last-minute petition drive to stop his march back into NATO. "With this decision, France will return as a subordinate country and will lose its ability to represent another image in the world," said Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, a member of the French National Assembly. The president's allies calculate Sarkozy's move will strengthen Europe's hand on defense issues. "There will be more European weight in the way decisions will be made," said Louis Giscard d'Estaing, a member of the National Assembly's U.S. Friendship Committee. "Therefore, the balance of power between the USA and Europe will be re-established within this French move." CNN's Sunaina Karkarey and Jim Bittermann contributed to this report .

French National Assembly backs president's plan to rejoin NATO . President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan is politically sensitive . France was a founding member of NATO but left in 1966 . President Charles de Gaulle said in 1966 membership meant losing independence .

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MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- The driver of a truck that collided with a bus in northeast Mexico, killing 12 people including 11 passengers from the United States and Canada, was intoxicated, a Mexican official said Tuesday. Emergency workers wheel a crash victim on a gurney after Monday's bus crash in Mexico. The tractor-trailer's 21-year-old driver was among those hospitalized after Monday's crash near Monterrey, Mexico, said Segismundo Doguin Martinez, a police official in the Mexican state of Coahuila. The driver of the bus was among those killed, and 15 bus passengers were injured. The Senda Express bus, operated by Grupo Senda, had been traveling from McAllen, Texas, carrying tourists to Zacatecas in central Mexico. Eight of those who died were from the United States, three were from Canada and one, the bus driver, was from Mexico, Doguin said. Watch rescuers work at scene of deadly crash » . The survivors, most of them in grave condition, were taken to the Christus Muguerza Hospital and the Clinica La Concepcion, the Mexican official said. "They are in a delicate state but out of danger," Doguin said. El Milenio newspaper reported on its Web site that eight of the injured are from the United States, four are from Canada and three from Mexico. Seven of the injured Americans are from Texas and one is from Iowa, the newspaper said. El Norte newspaper's Web site and El Porvenir said the dead and injured included tourists. Among those killed in the crash was 73-year-old Ronald Christy, said his daughter, Pam Fordyce. Christy's wife, Margaret Christy, was in critical condition in a Mexican hospital, Fordyce said. "He was doing exactly what he loved -- traveling," Fordyce, of Altoona, Iowa, told CNN by telephone Tuesday. "He was right where he would want to be, on a bus." She said the couple wintered in Texas and lived in West Liberty, Iowa, in the summer. The U.S. consulate called her at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday to tell her that her father had been killed, Fordyce said, and then followed up with an e-mail with photographs of the crash. "I didn't even know he was on a bus," she said. "I guess I could believe [the consulate] when I talked to my brother" who knew the couple was traveling, she said. "Until then you don't want to believe anything." Doguin, the Mexican official, said the accident occurred when a truck driver went off the road and then overcorrected and swerved into oncoming traffic, hitting the bus. Video of the scene from CNN affiliate TV Azteca 13 showed the left side of the bus sheared off and the semi's cab completely flattened. Rescue efforts took five hours, TV Azteca 13 reported. The U.S. consulate in Monterrey will not release the names of the dead or injured until all family members have been notified, said consulate spokesman Todd Huizinga. "On Monday evening, staff from the consulate in Monterrey went to the Christus Muguerza Hospital to offer assistance to some of the injured who were brought there after the crash," Huizinga said. "The consulate expects to have more detail in the coming hours." The truck driver was injured and is being held by authorities at a hospital, Doguin said. The Web site for Grupo Senda says the company started in Linares, Mexico, more than 75 years ago. It provides bus service to 15 Mexican states and the Texas Valley, the site says. Elizabeth Suarez, director of the McAllen Central Bus Station, where the bus trip originated, issued a statement saying, "We are very saddened by the news this morning. We offer our condolences to the families. The city of McAllen is the landlord of the bus terminal facility in McAllen. Grupo Senda is our tenant." CNN's Melanie Whitley, Taylor Gandossy, Tess Eastment and Monica Trevino contributed to this report from Atlanta, Georgia.

NEW: Tractor-trailer driver, 21, was intoxicated, official says . 18-wheeler swerved into oncoming traffic, official says; side of bus sheared off . Death toll at 12: Eight from U.S., three from Canada, and bus driver, from Mexico . Victim's daughter in Iowa says consulate called at 1:30 a.m. with word of crash .

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(CNN) -- Two photographs of Madonna set to appear in a Christie's auction next month will probably sell for at least $10,000 each, according to estimates posted on the company's Web site. Christie's will auction a nude photo of Madonna (partially shown above) taken by Lee Friedlander. One, a full-frontal nude black-and-white photograph of the singer, was taken in 1979 by celebrated American photographer Lee Friedlander for a series of nudes he was working on, said Milena Sales, a spokeswoman for the auction house. Madonna was about 20 when the photograph, one of several, was taken. A handful from the shoot appeared in Playboy magazine in 1985, Sales said. Christie's put price estimates for the photograph at $10,000 to $15,000. The second photograph of Madonna was taken in the 1980s by Helmut Newton. In the Newton photograph, which is in color, Madonna is wearing a short dress and black stockings with garters. The circumstances behind the photo shoot were not immediately clear. The auction will take place in New York on February 12.

Christie's to auction Madonna photos . One is full-frontal nude shot taken by Lee Friedlander . Nude photo expected to sell for $10,000 to $15,000 .

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(CNN) -- Contrary to a report in a British newspaper, Michael Jackson does not have skin cancer, says Randy Phillips, president and CEO of AEG Live, the promoter of the King of Pop's upcoming concerts at London's 02 Arena. Michael Jackson gestures to the crowd at the March announcement for his series of London concerts. "He's as healthy as he can be -- no health problems whatsoever," the executive told CNN. Phillips said he asked Jackson point-blank about the skin cancer rumor yesterday, and the entertainer just brushed it off and laughed. "He's used to rumors like this. He's been famous ever since he was 5. He doesn't read the newspapers or watch news reports," Phillips explained. He also had an answer for an item in the British tabloid The Sun that said Jackson had been "making regular trips to a dermatologist in Beverly Hills wearing a mask and surgical cap." "Michael is very close friends with his dermatologist. It's as simple as that," said Phillips. According to Phillips, the 50-year-old pop star had passed a stringent physical exam before he and AEG inked their deal for Jackson to headline a 50-show residency at 02 beginning July 8. "And he'll have to take another before the shows start," he offered. Phillips also told CNN a tour with sister Janet Jackson and other performing members of the Jackson family was "never in the works, at least from Michael Jackson's side." He added, "Never say never, but right now, he's focusing on his own show. It's not about his family." "He's working out every day with his choreographers and his dancers. He's in better shape at 50 than I was at 30," Phillips laughed. Phillips took the opportunity to knock down a couple of other rumors. "For now, he has no plans for his kids to be in the show. And there are no elephants. No elephants in the show, and he's not dying of cancer." Phillips said the London shows were the first step in a multi-phase package with Jackson that he called "more than a 360-degree deal." He said there are also plans for recorded music and movies, including a 3-D live concert film and a 3-D movie based on Jackson's 1983 "Thriller" music video. Phillips didn't rule out a tour or a concert residency in another city, stating it would most likely start in Europe, then roll out to Asia, North America and South America.

U.K. tabloid reported that Michael Jackson has skin cancer . Jackson has "no health problems whatsoever," says concert promoter . Jackson is scheduled to perform 50 shows at London arena starting July 8 .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- It was the hottest ticket in town. Colin Farrell was there. So were Michelle Branch, Josh Groban and Chris Isaak -- the latter accompanied by his manager's dog, Rodney. Yusuf, formerly known as Cat Stevens, believes he can help bridge gaps between cultures. No, we're not talking about a Britney Spears or U2 concert. We're talking about a star-studded, invitation-only club show by Yusuf -- the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens. It was the legendary folk singer's first L.A. show in 33 years, and the audience gave him a heartfelt "welcome back." He played for just over an hour: half a dozen songs from his new album, "Roadsinger," plus a few gems from the '60s and '70s. It was "Peace Train" that elicited a singalong, with the entire room participating in the song's signature hand claps. Branch, who sings backup on Yusuf's new album, admitted to getting teary-eyed. "You don't understand," she said. "I learned how to play guitar with the Cat Stevens songbook!" Watch Yusuf talk about his songbook -- and his life » . The whole evening seemed awash in good vibes. Concertgoers didn't even mind having a security guard electronically wand them on the way in. It was perhaps an extra security measure given some of the lingering controversy surrounding the headliner's conversion to Islam at the height of his popularity in 1977, during which time he changed his name from Cat Stevens to Yusuf Islam. In 2004, he was famously denied entry into the United States after his name appeared on a no-fly list. He maintained that it was a case of mistaken identity with another man named Yousuf Islam. However, there was no mistaking the artist on stage at the El Rey Theater last week. At 60, he may look more like a hip college professor than the dark-haired, sensitive sex symbol he was in the '70s, but the message and the music remained the same. The following is an edited version of his interview with CNN. CNN: For a lot of people, it's not only the music but what the music represents. Hearing the old Cat Stevens songs makes people feel warm and fuzzy, a throwback to a simpler time. Yusuf: That's true, and that's why we gave a sprinkling of those songs. When I want to see Paul McCartney, I'd expect to hear "Eleanor Rigby" -- something from the past -- because there's something about that that we connect with, and a person becomes part of our life. And I am a part of a lot of people's lives, and my words have resounded in a lot of people's philosophies and the way they look at things, and that's great. Somehow, that's one of the reasons I took life and songwriting very seriously. CNN: But you gave it up for a while. Yusuf: At a certain point I said, "I've got more living to do," and I stopped making music, and I started living. CNN: Many people don't think they start living until they HAVE the fame and fortune. But you didn't start living until you gave it up. Yusuf: It's true. I was very normal -- in some sense, a very shy person. I had to become a persona. I had to kind of put it on a little bit, and therefore I retreated a little bit at a certain point in my career because I thought, "I can't do this." So I just became withdrawn, and then people say, "Well, the guy's a bit of a recluse, you know." The fact was, I was just a little bit scared of being out there! And I wanted to be sincere, as well. It wasn't easy to be sincere in the music business. CNN: I think a lot of people were surprised when you converted to Islam in the '70s. People didn't understand it. Even today, I think there are those who still don't understand it. Yusuf: It's true. I used to be prejudiced -- as prejudiced as anyone about Islam. ... And then I was given the opportunity of reading the actual source, the Quran itself, without anybody forcing me or looking over my shoulder and saying, "What do you think?" It was just me in my space. And the more I read the Quran, the more I realized that it was like an incredible matrix of connection with Christianity and Judaism. I mean Jesus, Moses, the religion of Abraham in this book! And I said, "Wow, how come I didn't know this before?" It was kind of like a secret. So that was kind of my discovery, and a lot of people, I don't think, have gone through that process because they've seen Islam as a headline -- and you never learn anything about a headline. Because headlines, you know -- people make things up, to be honest. CNN: In 2004, you were put on a no-fly list and denied entry into the United States. How did you view that? Yusuf: I felt chosen! I felt suddenly, I was given a halo. "This guy stands for peace, and they won't let him in." And so I turned it from a no-fly list to a no-song list, and I wrote a song about it ("Boots and Sand"), and I decided to take it lightly. It was really kind of a joke, in a way, because the person I am and the kind of things they were kind of insinuating by putting me on this list with other people who were very dangerous -- . CNN: You mean you're not dangerous? Yusuf: No! Touch me! (laughs) It was upsetting for a lot more people than myself. And you know, I'm here now (in the United States), so things are kind of working themselves out. But there's a new administration, a new president, and it's a great new day. CNN: Obama seems to be reaching out to people of all faiths around the world. Yusuf: I think a person like Obama has some kind of faith in his special role that he has to perform. And that role -- if not prophetic -- it's a divine role. It's helping humanity and people get together and live together and prosper. That's a big demand on one person, so it cannot happen with him alone. There's going to have to be a lot of changes around the world. But it is happening. CNN: There are people who have said you've been associated with groups funneling money to Hamas. Yusuf: Yup. Yeah. So the biggest thing in my life is ... why do I have to defend being charitable? Oh, because somehow, somewhere, somebody got a bit of that money, and he's on a list, and somebody else is on a list -- God almighty! That has nothing to do with me. I'm just trying to be charitable! I think if everybody followed every penny that they ever gave, they would find some very interesting stories behind what has happened to their money. Possibly a lot of it would have gone to waste in administration, as well as other places. It's unfortunate that people have to associate someone because he's got a different faith -- or because he's a Muslim -- with something bad. CNN: Do you believe that will get better? Yusuf: Oh, yeah. I'm very much an optimist. And I believe in the hereafter, as well. And that's a big thing! CNN: Do you believe that you have a role and that your role is to reach out and touch people through song? Yusuf: Very much. I think I've been given a position and place in this world which is quite unique. The fact that I'm a Westerner by birth and I'm a Muslim at the same time -- and living in this time where there seems to be such a gravitational split in polarities -- there need to be bridges, and I think music is one of the best ways to bridge all those gaps.

Yusuf, formerly Cat Stevens, has new album: "Roadsinger" After big success in '70s, he converted to Islam, shut down career for a time . "I'm very much an optimist," Yusuf says .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- With outrage mounting over AIG's $165 million in bonuses to executives, the president's chief economic adviser offered a new line of defense for the White House in an exclusive interview with CNN. Larry Summers said an AIG meltdown was too risky for the economy to push too hard on executive bonuses. Larry Summers suggested that if Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner had pushed the insurance giant too hard on the bonuses, AIG could have collapsed just like Lehman Brothers and sparked an even bigger crisis. "Secretary Geithner has used all the legal authorities that are open to him to contain and limit the payment of bonuses," said Summers, chairman of the National Economic Council. "What he did not do, and what would have been irresponsible to do, as outrageous as these payments are, would have been to put at risk the stability of the financial system. "To have courted the kind of disaster that followed the decision to let Lehman Brothers simply collapse might have felt good briefly, but it would have touched the lives of a huge number of Americans who would have unnecessarily become unemployed or seen destruction of their lifetime savings." The collapse of the 158-year-old investment bank in September turned the U.S. crisis, based on the subprime loan debacle, into a global one, leading to credit freezes and plummeting markets nearly everywhere. Summers said Geithner was notified about the AIG bonuses last week. The secretary tried to stop them, Summers said, but ran up against a legal contract. "Secretary Geithner courageously has gone after these bonuses and will continue to go after these bonuses in a very aggressive way, but we can't suspend the rule of law and we can't put the whole economy at risk," said Summers. Asked whether AIG could get more bailout funds down the road, Summers suggested the door is open to more taxpayer money, despite the bonus controversy. Watch senators' plan to retrieve money » . "It is wrong to govern out of anger," said Summers. "We have to recognize what we are angry about, do something about it. That's why we are focused on a new resolution regime as part of a sweeping overhaul of the financial system. " ... But we can't let anger stop us from taking the steps that are necessary to maintain the stability of the financial system, keep credit flowing." Watch tempers rise over bonuses » . Summers said President Obama's entire economic team is working hard to mitigate the problems caused by bank failures, bailouts and credit freezes and boost the country's economy. "There's one lesson of the history of financial crisis that no one can argue with, and that is that they all end, and this one will, too," he said. "And if we are able to maintain the right policies, we'll bring forward the day when it ends, and -- probably even more important -- we'll have a sounder stronger economic expansion at the end of it." The former treasury secretary is not quite as bullish about a turnaround, however, as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who predicted the recession may be over by the end of 2009. Asked about Bernanke's prediction, Summers said he was upbeat about some aspects of the economy -- such as a 22 percent spike in housing starts and recent upticks in the stock market -- but said he was cautious about making any grand pronouncements. Summers told CNN that while he's confident of a turnaround, "just what day the turn will come isn't something that I would dare to forecast." "Something that the president has made clear to us is his approach and the approach he wants us to take is a recognition that we don't panic when there's a bad number, bad day on the markets, and we don't become euphoric when there's a good day in the markets, or a good number," Summers said. Asked specifically about Bernanke's prediction on CBS' "60 Minutes" about the recession ending this year and 2010 potentially being a year of recovery, Summers demurred. "We always are at pains to recognize when we talk to the president that economic forecasting is the most imperfect of sciences," said Summers. "Many people would say it wasn't a science at all. We stress the uncertainties in this situation."

Larry Summers is President Obama's chief economic adviser . He says contracts legally tied hands of Treasury secretary to deal with AIG bonuses . Summers: Pushing AIG too hard could have led to Lehman Brothers-style collapse . "We can't put the whole economy at risk" because we're angry, he cautions .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Rudolpho Marquez, Richard Reyes and Cesar Cruz make for a most unlikely car pool. They are all former gang rivals who have spent hard time in prison. But they've put the past behind them for common goals: jobs and their families. Rudolpho Marquez, Richard Reyes and Cesar Cruz are ex-gang members working together now. "It's a lesson in that you don't have to kill your neighbors," said Reyes, who spent the last decade in and out of prison for an array of drug offenses. "It don't matter where you come from, what background you come from. We are all humans, and we should learn to live together." Marquez chimed in, "We treat each other like normal human beings now. We get along great. We socialize." The three men are part of a solar-installation program paid for by Homeboy Industries, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization that works with former gang members and others who have spent time in prison to put them to work. Watch Homeboy help ex-gang members » . The latest project is aimed at green jobs, offering former gang members and parolees a chance to break ground in alternative energy programs while the issue is being pushed by President Obama and the nation's lawmakers. Homeboy is the brainchild of the Rev. Gregory Boyle, known simply as Father Greg by everyone here. Boyle first started a small program in 1988 to offer alternatives to gang violence in one of Los Angeles' toughest neighborhoods. "I started burying young kids who were killed in our community," he told CNN. "I buried my first in 1988 and just buried my 165th two months ago. So we as a community started to say, 'We have to do something.' " Over the last two decades, Homeboy has reached out to the 1,100 gangs in metro LA, helping provide a second chance to those who want it. The organization provides much-needed job training, hires ex-gang members for transitional jobs and helps give other free programs to people who otherwise struggle in the outside world. Boyle said it's a simple philosophy: Offer gang members hope through gainful employment, and they'll want to "leave behind all of their gang past." "This population really can't afford to just go to school. They are not living at home with their parents. They have no one there, really," he said. Reyes calls the Catholic priest a saint. "If there were more people like him, there'd be less people like me," he said. In Reyes' case, he missed the births of his daughters -- Valerie, 9, and Vanessa, 7 -- because he was behind bars. "I feel I wasted my life," he said. "I thought being a father was making babies, but being a father is taking an interest in your kids." Since his release from prison in May 2008, he has graduated at the top his class in the Homeboy-sponsored solar program. He is now working on a $2.5 million project for Lite Solar to install 1,500 solar panels on an apartment building. As he watched his daughters play on a recent afternoon, he said, "It feels good knowing you can provide for them." On Tuesday, Reyes got another reward: He welcomed his first son into the world. His wife, Susana Reyes, said the Homeboy program completely changed her husband. "Before, it was all about his gang," she said. "Now, I know he loves his daughters." Albert Ortega, now 34, spent seven years in prison, beginning when he was just 19. He was hired by Homeboy and is now the coordinator of the solar program. "This program totally changed my life," he said. A father of three children, Ortega said he kept making poor choices to make quick money. After his most recent release from prison, he said he approached Boyle to help him clean up his life. "I was willing to try anything," Ortega said. "I just didn't want to go back to prison, and I didn't want to disappoint my daughters." That's a sentiment echoed by the car pool trio. "Seeing everybody I grew up with going to jail. I didn't want to live that life," said Cruz. Added Reyes, "If you want to change your life around, anything is possible." CNN's Traci Tamura and Gregg Canes contributed to this report.

Homeboy Industries started in 1988 to help ease tensions among gangs . A new program funded by Homeboy trains ex-gang members on green jobs . "It's a lesson in that you don't have to kill your neighbors," says Richard Reyes . Ex-gang member says friends all went to jail: "I didn't want to live that life"

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(CNN) -- A 23-year-old woman suffocated her son and then buried his body beneath the sand of a playground, police in Albuquerque, New Mexico, said Thursday. Tiffany Toribio, 23, was arrested and charged with killing her son. Police arrested Tiffany Toribio about 4 a.m., just hours after they said they wanted to speak to her about her missing 3-year-old son, Ty. Family members had contacted authorities, saying her son matched the description of a boy found Friday at an Albuquerque playground. Police Chief Ray Schultz said she confessed to killing the boy soon after being apprehended. "She placed her hand over her son's mouth and nose and suffocated him. She had second thoughts about what she did. She performed CPR on her son, brought him back to life and then decided to go forward with that original act she had started to commit," Schultz said. Watch Schultz describe the alleged killing » . "What makes this story especially sad is, when asked the reason why she took Ty's life, Tiffany said that she did not want him to grow up with no one caring about him, the same way that she had grown up where nobody had cared about her." An emotional Schultz added that Toribio has tried to kill herself since her arrest. She was being held in isolation at a detention facility and kept under observation, he said. He added, "As you can see, this case has been very emotional for everybody in the department." Toribio was charged with first-degree murder and an array of other charges, including abuse of a child under 12 that caused death. The discovery of the body at Alvarado Park on Friday shocked the community, which dubbed the boy "Baby Justice" and "Baby Angel" as they rallied around his case. Police released a composite image of the boy Tuesday, hoping to garner more leads in the case. They weren't able to release a photo of the boy because his body was so disfigured by the sand's heat. Schultz said that after killing her son, Toribio dug a hole under gym equipment at the playground, moved the body and buried him in the shallow grave. "Since that time, she's been walking the streets of the city of Albuquerque," he said. The boy was wearing Arizona brand clothing, size 3T: nylon black running pants with red stripes, a red shirt with a monster truck on it and black, gray and lime green Skechers sneakers. Toribio did not comment Thursday morning after her arrest as she was put in a police car. Schultz said there had been no reports of child abuse filed against Toribio. But he said family members indicated that she did not express the typical love of a mother for her child. "She did not show the normal relationship that you would see with a mother, son," he said. This week, police had gone to residences where she had lived previously, but she wasn't there, Schultz said. Police had gone there after family members expressed concern because "they did not like the way Ty was being treated," the police chief said. CNN's Mallory Simon contributed to this report.

NEW: New Mexico mom, 23, faces charges including murder . NEW: Police say she suffocated son, revived him and then killed him . NEW: Mom told cops "she did not want him to grow up with no one caring about him" The boy was found at playground Friday; case dubbed "Baby Justice"

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(CNN) -- On Monday's night edition of "Larry King Live," guest host Ali Velshi talked with TV cooking host Rachael Ray. Rachael Ray visits "Larry King Live" on Monday night to give tips on stretching a family's food dollar to the max. CNN's chief business correspondent asked Ray how you can make your meal-time dollars stretch in these tough economic times without sacrificing nutrition or taste. The following transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity: . Ali Velshi: How do we keep from packing on the recession pounds? Tonight, help is on the way. Joining me in New York is Rachael Ray, host of "The Rachael Ray Show." ... We're all kind of stressed right now. We're trying to sort of do more with less and certainly eating in a hurry. You've got some great advice on that. Ray: We need to go back to the way our grandparents prepared food. Instead of buying pieces of chicken, buy a whole chicken. You make that on Sunday, take the leftovers, roll that into fajitas, soups, stews, make your own stock. You've got to start thinking in bigger increments. ... Stock up on lean meats and proteins, on veggies that you know your family likes and turn yourself into your own frozen food factory. Every time that chicken breast goes on sale, stock up. Go home, put it in individual storage bags, pound it out nice and thin. It's a quick defrost. Watch Rachael Ray's appearance on "Larry King Live" » . Velshi: All right. So you freeze; I like that. You make yourself into your own frozen food factory. Ray: Even with vegetables. ... You know, if broccoli is on a great price this week, buy a ton of it, go home, blanch it a little bit of salted water, cold shock it, put it in a plastic food storage bag, done. Velshi: What's the better deal: Buying your vegetables canned, buying them fresh? Ray: Buying them at a local food market. You know, whether you're in a big city or a small town, farmers markets are your best bargain. You can buy direct from the small producer. And, you know, it's a great way to not only get organic, but get a great price on it. Velshi: Let's talk about takeout food. Parents are trying to save time and money. In many cases, that leads us to fast food, because it's cheap and fast. ... Ray: The food that we can get most readily and at the best bargain isn't good for us. It's processed. I mean all things in moderation. Everybody can have a burger once in a while. Velshi: What do you recommend to our viewers [for fast food]? Ray: Hey, I love a veggie sub at Subway. You know, I think that there is affordable fast food. If you're on the go, fine. Everybody needs to pick up a salad or a burger once in a while. There are healthy choices there. .... If the kids really love fries, tell them they can have a few as long as they eat the veggies, too. And, there are a lot of great strategies you can take with kids in getting them to eat healthier -- little things like switching to whole wheat macaroni, whole wheat pastas. Velshi: It sounds like it's a lot like dealing with the rest of your financial life -- if there's a little bit of planning ahead of time, you can actually save a lot of money. Ray: Absolutely. I think you've got to go into the store armed with a good attitude ... and with coupons. And another really simple thing: When you go grocery shopping, do not look at the price on the product. Look at the unit price. Right there on the shelf, it will tell you the price per ounce or unit of measurement. And that's how you find your truest bargains. Velshi: Let's talk about planning for shopping. When people are trying to trim their bills, what are the biggest mistakes they make? Ray: They go shopping hungry. They make a lot of impulse buys. They shop too many times during the week. ... Try and make that one master list, really think it out and try and plan one day of the week where you can do a big cook. Velshi: Are you a big leftover fan? Ray: Absolutely. But I don't think they should taste like the first time. You know, I'm all for cooking a big chicken and then making chicken chili, chicken pasta. Velshi: Not having roast chicken for four days? Ray: Exactly. Velshi: How do you make that switch if your kids are addicted to processed and fast food? Ray: Children love good food, and they love being involved. They love feeling like they're helping. If you give children ownership of the meal, if you involve them in the process, they feel like they're problem-solving and it becomes a great self-esteem builder. And for the transition, it can be as simple as taking things that they like, such as macaroni and cheese, and using a whole wheat pasta instead of a plain pasta. Velshi: Do you tell them that you're doing it? Ray: No. I don't think so. Just let them enjoy it. Velshi: What I haven't graduated to is coupons. I get them in the newspaper every week. Is this something we should be looking at now? Ray: This is the perfect time to be using coupons. Whether you're somebody that has [money] or somebody who lives on a very limited budget, it's always fun to get more for your money. Velshi: One of the things in your magazine that I really enjoy is the Supermarket 101 column, just sort of factoids about supermarkets. Ray: Yes. And it gives people neat tips on how to save money when they go shopping. Velshi: Yes. And one of them was about buying in bulk, particularly with nuts. Is that the case for everything? Ray: Everything. When you buy in bulk or you buy a generic name, you have to read the label and make sure that the quality is the same. But, yes, I think it's truly a bargain.

Rachael Ray says we need to go back to way our grandparents prepared food . Plan ahead, make large meals and freeze leftovers for later incarnations, Ray says . Another Ray tip: clip coupons before you head to grocery and buy in bulk . Ray says eat fast food in moderation, pick healthy items such as veggies, salads .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama will address the future of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Thursday morning in a speech at the National Archives. The Guantanamo facility houses terror suspects, and lawmakers don't want them in the U.S. In a speech that is being billed as a major address, Obama is also slated to discuss issues of state secrets, transparency and protecting national security, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said. Former Vice President Dick Cheney, one of the most outspoken critics of Obama's policies, is scheduled to give an opposing argument Thursday morning. Cheney has charged that Obama's national security decisions have left the United States more vulnerable to attack. Obama's address is scheduled for 10 a.m. ET at the National Archives. Cheney will speak before the conservative American Enterprise Institute at 10:45 a.m. Obama is hoping to rally support behind his national security measures after angering some with his decision to resume the Bush administration practice of military tribunals and by reversing course on his decision to release photos of alleged inmate abuse at Guantanamo. On Wednesday, Obama was dealt another blow when the U.S. Senate passed a measure that would prevent detainees at Guantanamo Bay from being transferred to the United States for now. The measure passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in a 90-6 vote. A similar amendment has already passed the House. It was attached to a supplemental war funding bill. Following in the steps of House Democrats, Senate Democrats rejected on Tuesday the administration's request for $80 million to close the Guantanamo facility. They instead asked that President Obama first submit a plan spelling out what the administration will do with the prisoners when it closes the prison. Obama, in one of his first official duties as president, announced that he would close the prison by January 22, 2010. Congressional Democrats, however, are now attempting to avoid an onslaught of criticism from Republicans, who argue it would be reckless to shutter the prison before deciding where to transfer the detainees. FBI Director Robert Mueller told members of Congress earlier Wednesday that he is concerned about the potential dangers that may result from the release of detainees in the United States. In response to a question from Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, Mueller said he is concerned about the potential for fundraising to support terrorist groups and the radicalization of others, as well as the potential for attacks within the country. Mueller also said that while he is not concerned about dangerous terrorists escaping from maximum security federal prisons, he is concerned about the potential of activities being directed from within prison walls, and he cited such actions by dangerous gang members. Attorney General Eric Holder, the president's point man overseeing the Guantanamo plan, sought to downplay the FBI director's concerns and the Senate vote to bar funds. "The concerns that have been expressed by the director and concerns expressed by other people will all be taken into account in formulating the plan that we will ultimately use," Holder told reporters late Wednesday. "We're not going to do anything that's going to put the American people at risk," he said. The attorney general continued to express confidence that the Guantanamo Bay prison camp will be permanently closed by Obama's deadline. iReport.com: Sound off on Obama, Cheney speeches . "We will have conversations with Congress, and I'm confident that as a result of those conversations, the necessary funds will come our way," Holder said. At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs echoed Holder's promise. "The president understands that his most important job is to keep the American people safe and that he is not going to make any decision or any judgment that imperils the safety of the American people." CNN's Terry Frieden and Kristi Keck contributed to this report.

White House says Obama is not going to make any decision that imperils safety . Senate votes 90-6 on a measure to prevent Gitmo detainees from going to the U.S. A similar amendment has already passed the House . Obama announced that he would close the prison by January 22, 2010 .

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(CNN) -- Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick left a federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, early Wednesday, according to his publicist and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Michael Vick, left, arrives at federal court with attorney Billy Martin in Richmond, Viriginia, in 2007. He will serve the last two months of his 23-month sentence in home confinement in Virginia, his publicist Judy Smith said. He is a native of Newport News, Virginia. Vick, 28, pleaded guilty in August 2007 to a federal charge of bankrolling a dogfighting operation at a home he owned in Virginia. He will return to professional football as soon as September if reinstated by the NFL, according to the sports agent who negotiated Vick's 10-year, $140 million contract with the Falcons. Meanwhile, Vick's attorneys have said he will work at a Newport News construction firm following his release, and he has also agreed to participate in a documentary for $600,000. Last month, a federal bankruptcy judge denied a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan presented by Vick, urging him to offer the court another plan to emerge from bankruptcy. The plan called for Vick to come up with $750,000 to $1 million in cash to be paid to creditors, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank Santoro said, but added he saw no evidence Vick could come up with that much. Santoro suggested Vick's next plan not call for him to keep two houses and three cars, as did the rejected proposal. In testimony, Vick acknowledged committing a "heinous" act and said he should have acted more maturely. He said he has been earning 12 cents an hour as an overnight janitor in prison. His Falcons salary, he said, was between $10 million and $12 million. He acknowledged failing to handle his money well. Watch a panel discuss his release » . Vick plans to work with the Humane Society of the United States on anti-dogfighting campaigns, Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle told CNN on Tuesday. Vick will work on programs aimed at preventing youths from getting involved in dogfighting, and also on programs to assist young people who have already been involved in the blood sport. Pacelle said the Humane Society was approached by Vick's representatives. He said he has traveled to Kansas twice to meet with the former quarterback, and during the second visit, the two discussed how Vick could use his sway over youths to discourage them from involvement in dogfighting, as well as help those who were apprehended in connection with it. Watch more about Vick's dogs » . Details have not yet been hammered out, Pacelle said, but will be in the next couple of days. iReport.com: Does Vick deserve a second chance? More attention has been paid to dogfighting as a result of Vick's case, Pacelle said. The Humane Society, which offers rewards for tips involving dogfighting, has recently paid out $40,000 in five different cases, he said.

Prisons official says ex-Atlanta Falcons quarterback left facility early Wednesday . He'll serve last two months of sentence in home confinement, most likely in Virginia . Vick's attorneys have said he'll work at construction firm; Vick has OK'd documentary . Vick, 28, pleaded guilty in 2007 to bankrolling a dogfighting operation in Virginia .

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Editor's note: CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com. Although this is a challenging market for new grads, remember: Attitude can be the key to your success. Nate Torvik has mixed feelings about his upcoming graduation from Purdue University. While there's relief that classes are over, exams have been taken and term papers turned in, what lies ahead is an extremely challenging and competitive job market. "I feel like the wind has been taken out of my sails," says Torvik, who received a bachelor's degree in mass communication. "There is so much pride and happiness that comes with graduation, but as soon as I step off that stage at graduation, I become another statistic of the current miserable economy." Torvik is one of thousands of soon-to-be college graduates thinking about relocating for work this spring. While choosing the best place to settle down can be a daunting decision, the current economic climate has raised the stakes. "I have been looking just about everywhere throughout the Midwest for a job because I do not want to be too far away from my family, but things are looking more bleak everywhere I turn," Torvik says. For now, he's working in retail and hopes it might open other doors to a job as an account executive at a marketing or advertising firm. Allison Lackey is one of the lucky ones ... for now. She is graduating with a communications degree from Millikin University and starts a ten-month stint as a traveling field consultant for Delta Delta Delta women's fraternity. After that, she hopes to find a position as a marketing or PR specialist for a nonprofit organization. "In a way, I am grateful to be searching for a job in this tough economy," Lackey says. "It has forced me to become comfortable with being able to articulate why I am the best candidate for the job and it has also forced me to learn how to network well with people in my field." Top cities for new grads . While many new grads tend to look for jobs near their college or hometowns, scores of them are considering locations they might not have when they entered school four or five years ago. "Given the current economy, new grads looking to relocate are becoming increasingly concerned with the cost of living as they are faced with more competition for jobs than seen in previous years," said Tammy Kotula, public relations and promotions manager at Apartments.com. "With these very real concerns weighing on the minds of many, two leading online resources for apartments and jobs have come together to paint a realistic landscape of both the job market and cost of living in the most popular cities for young adults after college." For new grads who plan to expand their job searches beyond their college or hometowns, Apartments.com and CBcampus.com just released the "Top 10 Best Cities for Recent College Graduates." The list is based on the ranking of the top U.S. cities with the highest concentration of young adults (age 20 -- 24) from the U.S. Census Bureau (2006), inventory of jobs requiring less than one year of experience from CBcampus.com (2009) and the average cost of rent for a one bedroom apartment from Apartments.com (2009). According to Apartments.com and CBcampus.com, the top 10 cities for new grads are: . 1. Indianapolis Average rent:* $625 Popular entry-level categories:** sales, customer service, health care . 2. Philadelphia Average rent: $1,034 Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, management . 3. Baltimore Average rent: $1,130 Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, health care . 4. Cincinnati Average rent: $691 Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, health care . 5. Cleveland Average rent: $686 Popular entry-level categories: sales, marketing, customer service . 6. New York Average rent: $1,548 Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, admin-clerical . 7. Phoenix Average rent: $747 Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, marketing . 8. Denver Average rent: $877 Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, health care . 9. Chicago Average rent: $1,133 Popular entry-level categories: sales, marketing, customer service . 10. San Antonio Average rent: $696 Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, management . Looking beyond your hometown . If you are considering expanding your job search to other cities, here are some tips: . • Contact an alumnus from your college who lives in that city and join your alumni chapter if there is one. • Get an insider's perspective by familiarizing yourself with the local media and other resources. Read up on the city's business and community news. • Develop a list of companies within the area and learn about their businesses and company cultures. • Register with a national recruitment agency; interview with a recruiter in your local office and have that person put the word out to other offices in your target cities. • Consider spending a few days in your desired city to learn more, network and set up informational interviews. In your applications and cover letters, tell hiring managers the dates you'll be in the city and available to interview. Although this is a challenging market for new grads, remember: Attitude can be the key to your success. The reality is that the job search will take longer for these new grads thrust into the "real world" but the right mind-set can make you resilient. Consider the words from Elaine Goodwin, who plans to graduate this fall from Northern Illinois University: "There is always something. I love the Japanese proverb that says 'Fall down seven, get up eight.' I understand that it is going to be a tough economy to graduate in, but I will take the challenge and show companies how I can be an asset to them. You can't get discouraged because the world is not going to give you a break." *Average rent of one bedroom apartment **Using search term "entry level" in that city . Copyright CareerBuilder.com 2009. All rights reserved. The information contained in this article may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority .

Current economic climate has raised the stakes in choosing a place to settle down . Apartments.com, CBcampus.com release list of best cities for recent college grads . Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland top the list . Tip: Consider spending a few days in your desired city to learn more and network .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Janelle Monae is a girl from another planet, and she's invading your world. Janelle Monae creates "cool, futuristic soul with a real '80s quality," says a DJ. Sightings of the singer-songwriter will include this week's "American Idol" finale, the Hollywood Bowl and concert stages across America this summer and TV's Sci Fi Channel this fall. Monae insists that her real identity is Cindi Mayweather, an android traveling through space and time to escape destruction ordered because she fell in love with a human, a fatal infraction of robots' rules. Along the way, she's making music that moves into the future while drawing from decades past. "It is cool, futuristic soul with a real '80s quality," said Garth Trinidad, a disc jockey at Los Angeles, California, radio station KCRW. Trinidad spotted Monae three years ago, and he's been watching her like an astronomer tracking the approach of a distant comet destined to light Earth's sky. "I believe she's going to be a household name in the next year or two," said Trinidad, a self-described "champion of the underdog" who is credited with giving Jill Scott and Gnarls Barkley early radio airplay. Monae -- the human -- is a striking combination of voice, style, imagination and fearlessness that defies conventional description, making it easier to buy into the fantasy of Mayweather the android. When her song "Many Moons" was nominated for a Grammy in December, it was in the urban/alternative category. If Monae is an android from the future, her musical programming included the past. Trinidad compared her "very fluid, very pleasing" voice to Donna Summer, circa 1976. At a Los Angeles show this month, she mixed 20th-century classics with her own futuristic songs. Monae delivered a sweet version of Nat King Cole's "Smile" while standing atop a barstool. Senior citizens danced the "Twist" when her band broke out into the Beatles' 1964 hit "I Saw Her Standing There." She loves timeless music, Monae said after her show. "We look to a lot of people whose bodies are dead and gone, but their spirit is still with us," Monae said. Her choreography borrows from James Brown, Michael Jackson and Devo, with dance moves from the future. Monae -- or Mayweather -- thinks she can fly. She jumped head-first into the audience, "crowd surfing" the unlikely mosh pit in UCLA's Royce Hall. Search Monae's name on YouTube and you'll see her jumping into swimming pools to end her shows. She climbed a tree in New York -- after her swim. Unlike some performers, her talent matches Monae's onstage antics, Trinidad said. "It's one thing for her to perform a certain way, but she backs with it up with talent," he said. Monae's android-on-the-run theme, reminiscent of the 1982 movie "Blade Runner," reminds Trinidad "of all the great albums from the past that had a story and concept attached." "She was just kind of like bored with everything else going on, and she wanted to transcend it and tell a story," he said. Monae said she is not following a formula, that she is "being led by my maker." "I'm very similar to a terminal," she said. Monae will inevitably capture the world's attention because she is "outshining a lot of what's happening in the mainstream," Trinidad said. That time may be near. Sean "Diddy" Combs signed her to his Bad Boy Records, giving her music distribution. Coca-Cola hired Monae to sing on its "Open Happiness" ad campaign. It airs on this week's "American Idol" finale. Her tour stops next month include at least six shows in the northeastern United States, opening for Gwen Stefani's reunited rock group No Doubt. Monae then plays the Hollywood Bowl with the legendary jazz singer Etta James. She plays herself in two episodes of the Sci Fi Channel's "Stargate Universe" this fall.

Janelle Monae popping up on commercial, on tour, on TV . Singer has alter ego: Cindi Mayweather, futuristic android on the run . Observers praise talent: "I believe she's going to be a household name," says DJ .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama on Thursday sent a civil nuclear agreement with the United Arab Emirates to the Senate for ratification, but its passage remains uncertain, thanks to a recently disclosed video. Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan allegedly tortured a business associate on videotape. Senior U.S. officials said lawmakers critical of the deal could use the video, which shows a member of the UAE government's royal family torturing a man, to argue the United States should not have such nuclear cooperation with a country where the rule of law is not respected and human rights violations are tolerated. The senior officials said the Obama administration deliberately held off sending the deal to Congress for ratification because of fears some lawmakers would try to use the video to undermine the agreement. But the administration felt comfortable sending the agreement to Congress at this time, officials said, given that there has been little reaction to the release of the video except for a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this month from U.S. Rep. James McGovern -- the Massachusetts Democrat who co-chairs the congressional Human Rights Commission. Watch how the video came to light » . McGovern expressed "outrage and concern" and asked Clinton to "place a temporary hold on further U.S. expenditures of funds, training, sales or transfers of equipment or technology, including nuclear, until a full review of this matter and its policy implications can be completed." He issued a statement Wednesday after Obama signed the agreement, saying he would not support the deal until the UAE addresses his "very grave concerns" about its human rights record. In the video, an Afghan grain dealer is seen being tortured by Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, a member of the royal family of Abu Dhabi, one of the UAE's seven emirates, whose leaders also run the federal government. The government has since arrested the sheikh, pending a full investigation. The video emerged in a federal civil lawsuit filed in Houston, Texas, by Bassam Nabulsi, a U.S. citizen, against the sheikh. The men, former business partners, had a falling out, in part over the video. In a statement to CNN, the sheikh's U.S. attorney said Nabulsi is using the videotape to influence the court over a business dispute. The U.S.-UAE pact is similar to one the United States signed last year with India. Under it, Washington would share nuclear technology, expertise and fuel. In exchange, the UAE would commit to abide by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and International Atomic Energy Agency inspection safeguards. The small oil-rich Gulf nation promises not to enrich uranium or to reprocess spent nuclear fuel to extract plutonium, which can be used to make nuclear bombs. A statement issued Thursday by the State Department said the deal will "serve as a model for responsible nuclear energy development" in the Middle East. "The UAE agreement contains the strongest nonproliferation conditions of any negotiated by the United States," the statement said. Of special note, it said, is the UAE's commitment to obtain nuclear fuel from reliable and responsible suppliers rather than pursue indigenous uranium enrichment and reprocessing, fuel cycle activities that pose the most serious proliferation risks. This commitment "is reflected within the agreement as a legally binding obligation on the part of the UAE," the State Department said. The civil nuclear agreement was signed in January by the Bush administration, but had to be recertified because it was not approved before Obama took office. The deal is part of a major UAE investment in nuclear energy, and the government has already signed deals to build several nuclear power plants. UAE Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba said his country will "seriously consider" U.S. companies to implement the program. The United States already has similar nuclear cooperation agreements with Egypt and Morocco, and U.S. officials said Washington is working on similar pacts with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan. The United States has praised the UAE's development of nuclear energy, a stark contrast to criticism of Iran, which is suspected of attempting to enrich uranium for a nuclear bomb. But UAE's ties to Iran have caused concern. Iran is among the UAE's largest trading partners. In the past, the port city of Dubai has been used as a transit point for sensitive technology bound for Iran. Dubai also was one of the major hubs for the nuclear trafficking network run by Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who admitted spreading nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya up until the year 2000. He was eventually pardoned by the Pakistani government. Such ties contributed to stiff opposition in Congress to the failed deal for Dubai Ports World to manage U.S. ports. Some in Congress have expressed concern that the new deal could fuel an arms race and proliferation in the region. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Florida, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has said she was "deeply disappointed" the United States signed a "flawed agreement." "Transferring nuclear technology and know-how to this unproven partner is inconsistent with the administration's expressed commitment to the pursuit of stronger nonproliferation controls," Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement after Obama signed the agreement. "The UAE's long history as a conduit for Iran's nuclear weapons program, its failure to fully implement effective export controls, and the danger of expanding nuclear facilities and expertise in the Middle East make this agreement a dangerous precedent." She introduced legislation earlier this year that would prevent the agreement from going into effect until the president certifies that the UAE has met a number of conditions regarding export controls and terrorist financing.

Obama sends nuclear agreement with the United Arab Emirates to the Senate . Recently released video shows member of UAE royal family torturing a man . Co-chair of congressional Human Rights Commission opposes deal .

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MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- A top Mexican drug cartel suspect has been arrested along with 12 accomplices, including five women, federal authorities said. Police guard suspected members of the Beltran Leyva cartel after they were arrested in a 2008 raid. Rodolfo Lopez Ibarra, known as El Nito and believed to be a top lieutenant in the Beltran Leyva cartel, was arrested Monday at an airport in Nuevo Leon state, said the Mexican National Defense secretary. Along with the suspects, officials said they also confiscated a Cessna 550 airplane, two cars, a large quantity of drugs and cash, firearms and a hand grenade. Soldiers acting on an anonymous tip arrested the eight men and five women, including one minor, National Defense said in a release Tuesday. Authorities said they confiscated 40,680 pesos (U.S. $3,150), $29,385 (379,507 pesos), 13 packages of marijuana weighing 13 kilograms (29 pounds), three computers and 28 cell phones. The Beltran Leyva cartel is one of the top drug organizations in Mexico, allied with the Gulf cartel in its battle against the Sinaloa organized crime syndicate. The Beltran Leyva group was formerly allied with the Sinaloa cartel, considered the largest drug-trafficking organization in the nation. The two other major drug organizations in Mexico are the Juarez and Tijuana cartels. According to media reports, someone alerted authorities when a tipster noticed heavily armed men waiting at the airport in northern Mexico. Ibarra was on a flight back from a baptism in Acapulco at which drug cartel chief Arturo Beltran Leyva had anointed him with the top post in Nuevo Leon, the news reports said. A published photo of Ibarra after his arrest shows him wearing a long-sleeved printed shirt and blue jeans, a forlorn look on his face as he gazes off to the side. Ibarra, 33, was the second top suspect from the Beltran Leyva cartel arrested in recent weeks. In March, authorities announced the arrest of Hector Huerta Rios, also known as "La Burra" or "El Junior." Like Ibarra, he was arrested in the city of San Pedro Garza Garcia in Nuevo Leon state, along Mexico's border with the United States. Mexican officials also have recently announced the arrests of several other high-ranking cartel suspects as President Felipe Calderon wages a battle against a drug trade he says killed 6,500 people last year. About 2,000 more Mexicans are believed to have been killed this year. In April, authorities announced the arrest of Vicente Carrillo Leyva, a suspected leader of the Carrillo Fuentes drug cartel. A couple of weeks earlier, officials said they had arrested 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.

Suspected top Beltran Leyva cartel lieutenant arrested at airport in Nuevo Leon . 12 more suspects arrested; airplane, cars, drugs, cash, guns confiscated . Rodolfo Lopez Ibarra, aka El Nito, arrested on his way back from a baptism .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Singer Natalie Cole underwent kidney transplant surgery at a Los Angeles, California, hospital Tuesday, according to a statement from her publicist. Natalie Cole holds one of the Grammys she received in February for "Still Unforgettable." Cole, daughter of legendary singer-actor Nat King Cole, has been receiving kidney dialysis three times a week since September, the statement said. Cole was "resting comfortably" at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, it said. "Ms. Cole's physicians have advised her to postpone her summer tour dates as she recuperates for the next three to four months," it said. Rescheduled concert dates will be announced soon for Cole's tour, which is in support of her current double-Grammy-winning CD, "Still Unforgettable."

Natalie Cole underwent kidney transplant surgery Tuesday . Singer has been receiving kidney dialysis since September . Grammy-winning Cole scheduled a tour for CD "Still Unforgettable"

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(CNN) -- She had many plans for the future: to go to college, start a career, meet the man of her dreams, raise a family -- when the time was right. Expert: "There's a big disconnect between pregnancy rates and what Latina families want and value." It was all cut off by an unexpected pregnancy. The baby became her life, consuming her energy and forcing her dreams to the back burner of her life. She is 19 or younger and Latina, and has had her first baby. It's not what she wanted. Nor did her parents, who are the greatest influence on her decisions about sex, according to a wide-ranging survey released Tuesday by experts on the Hispanic community in the United States. The survey also found that 84 percent of Latino teens and 91 percent of Latino parents believe that graduating from college or university or having a promising career is the most important goal for a teen's future. Somewhere along the way, the aspirations fail to match up to reality. The survey attempts to examine some of the reasons for the disparity and why Latinas now have the highest teen birth rate among all ethnic and racial groups in the United States. "There's a big disconnect between pregnancy rates and what Latina families want and value," said Ruthie Flores, senior manager of the National Campaign's Latino Initiative. According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 53 percent of Latinas get pregnant in their teens, about twice the national average. After a period of decline, the birth rate for U.S. teenagers 15 to 19 years rose in 2007 by about 1 percent, to 42.5 births per 1,000, according to preliminary data in a March 2009 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. In 2007, the birth rate among non-Hispanic whites ages 15 to 19 was 27.2 per 1,000, and 64.3 per 1,000 for non-Hispanic black teens in the same age range. The teen birth rate among Hispanic teens ages 15 to 19 was 81.7 per 1,000. Of the 759 Latino teens surveyed, 49 percent said their parents most influenced their decisions about sex, compared with 14 percent who cited friends. Three percent cited religious leaders, 2 percent teachers and 2 percent the media. Watch more on the survey results » . Three-quarters of Latino teens said their parents have talked to them about sex and relationships, but only half said their parents discussed contraception. The survey also found that: . • 74 percent of Latino teens believe that parents send one message about sex to their sons and a different message altogether to their daughters, possibly related to the Latino value of machismo. • Latino teens believe that the most common reason teens do not use contraception is that they are afraid their parents might find out. • 72 percent of sexually experienced teens say they wish they had waited. • 34 percent of Latino teens believe that being a teen parent would prevent them from reaching their goals, but 47 percent say being a teen parent would simply delay them from reaching their goals. • 76 percent said it is important to be married before starting a family. Flores said it is crucial to understand the beliefs and attitudes that influence teen behavior in order to reduce the high rates of Hispanic teen pregnancy. The survey, co-sponsored by the Hispanic advocacy group National Council of La Raza, was an attempt to to do just that. She said that despite a rich culture and the growing influence of Hispanics in America, the Latino community disproportionately suffers from troubling social indicators. Consider that fewer than six in 10 Latino adults in the United States have a high school diploma. Latino teens are more likely to drop out than their non-Hispanic counterparts, and of all the children living in poverty, 30 percent are Latino. "Teen pregnancy is not an isolated issue," Flores said. "It's related to poverty, to dropout rates. That's going to have an impact on our national as a whole." Flores said 69 percent of Latino teen moms drop out of high school, and the children of teen mothers are less likely to do well in school themselves and often repeat grades. "That has a big economic impact," Flores said. It's an impact that is sure to be noticed. The nation's 45 million Latinos constitute the largest minority group in the United States with a growth rate twice that of the general population. That means by 2025, one-quarter of all American teens will be Latinos.

53 percent of Latinas are pregnant by their 20th birthday, survey finds . Survey: Most feel that college, career are key to their future . Most teens in study believe that parents give conflicting messages .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Republican congressman Wednesday asked the head of the FBI to investigate allegations that the CIA lied to Congress about the Bush administration's use of "alternative" interrogation techniques on suspected terrorists. Rep. Darrell Issa asked the FBI to investigate Speaker Nancy Pelosi's claim that the CIA lied to Congress. Rep. Darrell Issa, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, asked FBI director Robert Mueller whether the bureau was investigating that allegation and whether he could request a probe as a member of Congress. He said the claim, leveled last week by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, left him doubting whether "I can believe in the briefings I am receiving" from intelligence agencies. "If CIA is lying to any of us -- and I have been briefed many times by them on the Intelligence Committee -- it puts me in a position of not being able to do my job properly," said Issa, R-California. Pelosi made the charge in response to questions about what she was told about the use of the techniques, which critics say amounted to the torture of prisoners in U.S. custody. Her claim provoked a firestorm on Capitol Hill, with Republicans -- who generally defend the techniques -- blasting Pelosi and demanding she back up the allegation. Mueller said he would check into whether Issa's request would be enough to launch an investigation. Watch more on the Pelosi-CIA controversy » . Justice Department documents released in April show Bush administration lawyers authorized the use of techniques such as sleep deprivation, slapping, stress positions and waterboarding, which produces the sensation of drowning. Waterboarding in particular has been considered a form of torture since the Spanish Inquisition, and U.S. authorities prosecuted Japanese officers who used the techniques against American prisoners during World War II. But Bush administration lawyers argued that the tactics did not violate U.S. laws against torture as long as interrogators had no intent to cause "severe pain." Many Republicans, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, argue the tactics produced useful intelligence that saved American lives. Pelosi, D-California, has called for an investigation into whether the Bush administration authorized the torture of suspected al Qaeda figures, prompting Republicans to question what she knew about the tactics at the time they were approved. Watch Colin Powell's former aide speak out on CIA's history » . She told reporters last week that she was briefed by the CIA on such techniques once -- in September 2002, when she was the ranking Democrat on the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee -- and that she was told at the time that techniques such as waterboarding were not being used. She said she learned that waterboarding had been used after other lawmakers were briefed in 2003. CIA spokesman George Little said last week that the agency's records indicate Pelosi was briefed on the interrogation methods being used. But Little said it was up to lawmakers "to determine whether this information is an accurate summary of what actually happened." Rep. Pete Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said Monday that Pelosi may be forced to resign if her claims are proven untrue. "Either the CIA needs to be held accountable for their performance during this time, or the speaker needs to be held accountable and be responsible for the actions and the statements that she made last week," Hoekstra said. But Rep. Baron Hill, D-Indiana, said Republicans are trying to divert attention from the question of torture by attacking Pelosi. "I think a lot of people have lost focus on the people who put those torture policies in place in the first place," Hill said. "Nancy didn't do anything wrong, in terms of the legalities, that I'm aware of. I don't know what she was told."

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, is a member of the House Judiciary Committee . Issa calls on FBI director for a probe on CIA-Pelosi spat . "If CIA is lying...it puts me in a position of not being able to do my job," he says . Pelosi, D-California, has said the CIA didn't inform her about interrogation techniques .

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(CNN) -- Maria Sharapova returned to competitive singles after a near 10-month absence on Monday as she bids to prove her fitness for the forthcoming French Open in Paris. Maria Sharapova is hoping to prove her fitness ahead of the French Open in Paris starting on Sunday. The Russian defeated Italy's Tathiana Garbin 6-1 6-7 6-3 to book her place in the second round of the Warsaw Open claycourt tournament . Sharapova's world ranking has slumped from No.1 to No.126 during her absence from the court because of a shoulder problem that saw her miss three Grand Slam tournaments. The 22-year-old had to sit out last year's Wimbledon and U.S. Open and also failed to recover in time for the 2009 Australian Open. She has had to shelve comeback attempts but did appear in one losing game in the doubles tournament at Indian Wells in March. Sharapova, who has three majors to her name, broke her Italian opponent four times in a row in the opener, dropping her own serve once en route to the set. Garbin offered stiffer resistance in the second set although Sharapova wasted four match points at 5-3 and 40-0 up in the ninth game -- a seventh double-fault in the subsequent tie-break giving her rival a set point that she converted. Sharapova, playing with a bandage on her right shoulder, hit back from 3-1 down in the decider to seal victory in two hours and 35 minutes. The French Open begins in Paris on May 24.

Russian Maria Sharapova returns with win after near 10-month injury absence . She defeated Italy's Tathiana Garbin 6-1 6-7 6-3 in Warsaw Open first round . Sharapova hopes to prove fitness for French Open which starts this Sunday .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Perhaps Ryan Seacrest said it best at the top of the "American Idol" Tuesday night when describing Adam Lambert and Kris Allen, the show's final two contestants. In this corner: Kris Allen, the guy next door. "It is the battle of the acoustic rocker versus the glam rocker. Conway (Arkansas) versus California. The guy next door versus the guy-liner." After three performances apiece and plenty of judge feedback, it seems that the Southern California glam-rocker Adam Lambert has the edge -- but it didn't look that way early in Tuesday's show. In the first round, where the contestants chose a song from a favorite past performance this season, Simon Cowell declared Kris Allen the winner after his rendition of "Ain't No Sunshine" on piano. Watch Allen and Lambert talk after the show » . Lambert chose to sing "Mad World" while wearing a long black coat and walking around a stage filled with white smoke, all of which Cowell found "over-theatrical." "I think 'Mad World' is kind of symbolic," Lambert told reporters after the show. "It talks about people who don't feel like they fit in." Round two featured a tune hand-picked by "American Idol" creator Simon Fuller, where Lambert ditched the black overcoat and belted out Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" while sporting a shiny silver suit. Paula Abdul told Lambert "it was the best I've ever heard you sing, ever!" Allen's feedback after singing Marvin Gaye's classic "What's Goin' On" in the second round was much less flattering. See the best and worst performances from season eight » . "I thought it was too laid back for a night like this," said Cowell. He then gave round two to Lambert. Round three featured a bit of a twist -- both contestants had to sing a song co-written by judge Kara DioGuardi called "No Boundaries." Lambert went first and had little difficulty with the ballad. Cowell told the 27-year-old afterward that "you have been one of the best, most original contestants we've ever had on the show." Allen, however, struggled to stay in tune during the entire performance ... but the judges were less harsh this time. "You have thoroughly, thoroughly deserved to be standing on that stage tonight, congratulations," said Cowell. Watch anchors debate "Idol" finalists » . After the show, Lambert told reporters that they did not have a lot of time to work on "No Boundaries" and it was kind of a "rush job." "There was a lot of lyric, and it was a big song," said Lambert. "But it's a beautiful song." It almost seems appropriate that these two are facing off in the finale. According to Allen, he and Lambert were once roommates during the competition. They even critique each other's rehearsals. "He's always giving me stuff to change about mine ... to make it better," Allen told reporters. iReport.com: Who should win: Kris or Adam? A little over an hour before the show began, a magnitude 4.0 quake aftershock hit 10 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. Tuesday night's telecast was held at the Nokia Theater, which is in downtown Los Angeles. A 4.7-magnitude earthquake struck the area shortly before 8:40 p.m. Sunday. But, to Allen's disappointment, neither of the contestants felt the jolt Tuesday. "I was totally upset, too, because I've never been to California (except for 'American Idol'), and I was like, 'I want to feel an earthquake.' " Allen and Lambert will return to the stage Wednesday night and find out, along with the rest of the world, who will be crowned the next "American Idol" at the two-hour finale.

Final two "American Idol" contestants battle it out in song for the title Tuesday . Californian Adam Lambert has developed a glam-rock persona . Arkansas resident Kris Allen has a guy-next-door appeal . Who will America choose? Results show starts at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday .

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(CNN) -- An estimated 1 million people turned out to hear Pope Benedict XVI preach a Mass in Angola on Sunday, the last major event of his first trip to Africa. Pope Benedict XVI celebrates Mass in Angola, where he told Angolans on Sunday to "trust in God's promises." He spoke of the need for reconciliation in a country that endured a brutal civil war lasting nearly three decades. "Look to the future with hope, trust in God's promises and live in his truth. In this way you will build something that will stand and endure ... a lasting heritage of reconciliation, justice and peace," Benedict said in English to polite applause. The service's Bible reading's "vivid description of the destruction wrought by war echoes the personal experiences of so many people in this country amid the terrible ravages of the civil war," Benedict said in the Mass, which was broadcast by TPA, a CNN affiliate in Angola. "How true it is that war can destroy everything of value: families, whole communities, the fruit of men's labor." Benedict also expressed "deep sorrow" at the death of two women killed in a stampede at one of his events in Angola on Saturday, papal spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said. Cardinal Tarciso Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, earlier led a Vatican delegation to the hospitals where the bodies of two dead women are being kept, Lombardi said. They prayed over the dead bodies and met with the family of the one victim who has been identified, a catechism teacher in a parish in Luanda whose last class was Saturday morning. Midway through the Mass, a long line of worshippers brought offerings to the pontiff, as an electric organ and guitar played a joyous tune over the sound of percussion instruments and a choir, members of which were wearing matching white baseball caps. Women carried local produce on their heads in wide baskets or tall jugs, many dancing to the music as they waited to meet the pope. The 81-year-old pontiff mopped his face with a white handkerchief several times during the outdoor service, while many worshippers sought shelter from the sun under umbrellas. The pope spoke in English and Portuguese, the language of Angola's former colonial rulers, during the hour-long service, while local clergy read short passages in tribal languages. Benedict has been in Africa since Tuesday. He returns to Rome on Monday. Africa is the last continent that Benedict had left to visit, and one he could not avoid, said David Gibson, a biographer of the pope. "He knows he has to do this. He knows Africa is the future of the [Roman Catholic] Church, as it is for all of Christianity," said Gibson. Christianity, like Islam, is on the rise in Africa and Latin America, even as the northern hemisphere tends to become more secular. One in five of the world's Christians lives in Africa -- up from fewer than one in 50 in 1900, said Brian Grim, an editor of the World Religion Database. So Benedict is making the visit, although travel "is not his cup of tea," Gibson said, in contrast to his predecessor. "John Paul II loved the travel and loved the different cultures. Benedict is a European through and through." But Benedict understands that travel has become an essential part of a pope's duties, said Gibson, the author of "The Rule of Benedict: Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World." The trip opened with controversy, with the pope reiterating the Vatican's opposition to artificial birth control Tuesday while flying to Cameroon, the first stop on his journey. Sub-Saharan Africa has been hit harder by AIDS and HIV than any other region of the world, according to the United Nations and World Health Organization. There has been fierce debate between those who advocate the use of condoms to help stop the spread of the epidemic and those who oppose it. Gibson said this week's visit may be Benedict's only trip to Africa. "Knowing that the pope is older, he cannot travel as much -- he does not like to travel -- makes these trips more poignant. He may never come back to Africa again." CNN's Hada Messia in Rome contributed to this report.

NEW: Pope expresses "deep sorrow" at deaths in stampede at his Saturday event . About 1 million gather in civil war-torn Angola to hear Pope Benedict XVI . Mass was in English and Portuguese, the language of former colonial rulers . Benedict, who has been in Africa since Tuesday, returns to Rome on Monday .

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(CNN) -- Although many people think of a heart attack as a painful, sometimes fatal event, there are some heart attacks that go entirely unnoticed. Some people may have had heart attacks without knowing it, studies show. Undiagnosed, or "silent," heart attacks affect nearly 200,000 people in the United States annually. As many as 40 to 60 percent of all heart attacks are unrecognized, studies show. By definition, a heart attack usually happens when a clot gets in the way of blood flow from a coronary artery to the heart. This may cause symptoms such as severe chest pain, shortness of breath, fainting and nausea. Anyone who believes that he or she is having a heart attack should seek emergency medical attention. But sometimes a heart attack is not painful, or the person experiencing it does not recognize the symptoms as heart-related, so he or she does not go to a hospital for treatment. Cardiologists have only recently become attuned to the prevalence of these silent heart attacks, and research on treatment is limited. The risk factors for silent heart attacks are the same as for regular heart attacks, experts say, and include smoking, diabetes, stress and family history. Watch CNN Health Files: Heart attacks » . A new study from Duke University Medical Center shows that these silent heart attacks may occur more frequently than physicians thought. Even if a heart attack occurred in the distant past, it may still leave a signature called a Q-wave on an electrocardiogram. But there are silent heart attacks that do not have associated Q-waves. Researchers used a relatively new technique called delayed-enhancement cardiovascular magnetic resonance and then followed up with patients after about two years. The study was done on 185 patients who had never had a diagnosed heart attack but were suspected of having coronary artery disease. The researchers found that 35 percent of patients had evidence of a heart attack and that silent heart attacks without Q-waves were three times more common than those that had Q-waves. Patients with non-Q-wave silent heart attacks also had 11 times higher risk of death from any cause and a 17-fold risk of death from heart problems compared with patients without any heart damage. But experts do not recommend that people generally be screened for silent heart attacks unless they have other heart-related problems. "Currently, there has not been a study that has demonstrated that early identification and therapy changes how patients with unrecognized heart attacks do in the future," said Dr. Han Kim, a cardiologist at Duke University and lead author of the study. "If you don't know when an actual event occurred, it becomes difficult to prescribe therapy." Although the study was done on a relatively small sample of people at risk of coronary artery disease, meaning the results may not apply to the general population, other cardiologists say the study has merit in adding to the knowledge of silent heart attacks. "Ultimately, we're going to need trials to really establish what treatment works and what doesn't," said Dr. Eric Schelbert, a cardiologist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine who was not involved in the study. Treatment for someone who has had a silent heart attack is usually the same for someone who came to the hospital immediately after a heart attack, Kim said. This may include beta blockers, statin drugs, aspirin or other medications, Schelbert said. Schelbert said he has seen plenty of patients who have had silent heart attacks; in fact, he has treated some of his own colleagues who have experienced them. "It's an incredibly important thing that the physician scientist community needs to explore further," he said. Researchers noted that patients with non-Q-wave silent heart attacks were also generally older and were more likely to have diabetes. There needs to be more of a focus on prevention among these risk groups, said Dr. David Wiener, a cardiologist at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who was not involved in the study.

Silent heart attacks affect nearly 200,000 people in the United States annually . Researchers studied 185 people at risk of coronary artery disease . Treatment for "silent" heart attacks is similar to that for regular attacks . More research is necessary to determine whether screening is useful .

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(OPRAH.com) -- Oprah Winfrey often says that moms have the hardest job in the world, but plenty of fathers carry the burden of raising a child all by themselves. In fact, 2.5 million single fathers in the United State are doing it all-- juggling schedules, putting food on the table and going to school plays or soccer games -- single-handedly. Larry Shine and his expanded family visited Oprah Winfrey on her show. Larry Shine and his wife, Kate, had their first son, Henry, 19 years ago. When Kate died of cancer only two-and-a-half years later, Larry says he was overwhelmed with grief. "The year after she died, I was just so immersed in the tragedy of her death," he says. "Then I thought: 'I can't live like this anymore. I can't have this be our life.'" He decided it was time for Henry to have a sibling. At the time, it was almost impossible for a single male to adopt in the United States, so Larry applied for both international adoption and surrogacy. Surprisingly, both applications went through, and soon Larry became a father of three. Still, he says he was ready for more. Today, Larry is raising nine children on his own! "I never thought I'd be a father of nine. Actually, I never imagined I'd be a father," he says. "Maybe this all happened for a purpose. Because if Kate hadn't died, I never would have done what I did and these kids wouldn't have had a home." Oprah.com: 8 things never to say to an adopted child . When it comes to raising nine kids (Henry, 19; Ari, 16; Halle, 15; Eli, 13; Lili, 12; Sofia, 10; Genevieve, 8; Simone, 5; and Lucia, 3), Larry says there is never a dull moment. His schedule is jam-packed, and it starts at 3 a.m. As if being a single dad isn't enough work, Larry also works full time as a corporate attorney. "When the second bus picks up the younger kids at quarter of nine, I leave and drop Lucia off at daycare. Then I go to work all day and come back and pick her up when daycare closes at 6 o'clock and then head home," he says. "[I work at] a very warm and family-oriented firm, so they're very supportive." Though Larry's big family is thriving, he says there were a few small bumps along the way. Eli's arm broke when he was an infant and hadn't healed properly before he joined the Shine family, but Larry says extensive orthopedic surgery fixed the problem. Lili had failure to thrive syndrome, which caused her to have trouble connecting with others -- though Larry says she opened up after three months in his busy house and is doing great. And, Simone's speech was delayed, he says. "She had therapy for about six months, and now sometimes I wish I hadn't given her speech therapy," he jokes. Is there room for any more kids in the Shine family? Depends on whom you ask! "I thought five was it, and I thought six was it," Larry says. "My sense is that nine is probably it ... because international adoption's a lot more difficult, and I'm older. ... [But] I've been given a lot of opportunities, and if it happened again, I'd have a hard time saying no." Henry, who is a sophomore at Notre Dame, says the family is at capacity. "We're at a pretty full limit right now," he says. "Now that I'm in school, I'd like to be around if there's going to be another sibling." Though he's rooting for Lucia to be his youngest sibling, Henry says he's incredibly proud of his dad. "Just how selfless he is," he says. "I don't know of anybody else who puts people before themselves like he does." Though Larry didn't plan on being the single dad of such a huge family, he says it came naturally to him. "I'm more comfortable doing something for somebody else than myself," he says. "Particularly with adopting the kids overseas, when I went to Paraguay for the first time to adopt Ari and saw all the kids who didn't have a home and or a place to go at night, I just thought, 'This isn't right.'" It may have been an unexpected path for Larry, but he says its one he's grateful for. "I love parenting," he says. "I just felt, 'This is what I want to do.'" Oprah.com: Talks every parent should have . Matt's blog . On March 25, 2008, Matt Logelin woke up to what should have been a perfect day. He and his wife, Liz, were proud new parents -- their daughter Madeline had been born the day before. But that afternoon, Liz died of a blood clot that no one knew she had. With a newborn in his care, Matt had no time for mourning. "Right after Liz died, I had to go straight in and I had to feed her (Madeline). I mean, she had to eat. I had to change her diapers. Life didn't stop when Liz died," he says. "I didn't know what I was going to do. I literally didn't know if I was going to live through this." Matt and Maddy survived the tragedy, and Matt used the blog he'd created to document Liz's pregnancy as an outlet for his grief. "If I write it, I can get it off my chest," he says. After Liz's death, tens of thousand of people started reading Matt's blog. The outpouring of support -- including notes, money and toys -- from the online community shocked him. "To have total strangers giving us stuff and wanting to make sure we're okay all the time was just incredible," he says. Matt says he's determined to give back as much as he's been given. "We've donated all of the clothes that no longer fit and the toys that we couldn't use," he says. "We've been given a lot of money as well, and we've tried to give that away as much as we can." Matt has also established the Liz Logelin Foundation, which helps widows and widowers with children. A year after Maddy was born, Matt's still adjusting to life as a single parent. He's even joined the neighborhood new moms group. "They sort of adopted me," he says. "They took me in and made sure I wasn't screwing things up too terribly." Matt says one of the scariest things about Liz's death is that she took all her parenting knowledge with her. "Liz had read all the books. She had done everything that we needed to do to make sure that this baby was taken care of properly," he says. "It's not something I ever anticipated doing on my own." Matt says he'd planned to be the free-spirited parent, while Liz would be the rigid one. Given the circumstance, Matt has struck a balance. "I've had to be a little more strict in the way that I do things, but I still let her eat sticks and leaves from time to time." Oprah.com: Meet more unforgettable fathers! From The Oprah Winfrey Show © 2009 . Subscribe to O, The Oprah Magazine for up to 75% off the newsstand price. That's like getting 18 issues FREE. Subscribe now! TM & © 2009 Harpo Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

One man added eight kids to family after his wife died of cancer . Larry Shine started adopting so his son could have a sibling . He kept adopting because he couldn't say no to kids in need . Another dad sets up blog, foundation to help widows, widowers raising kids .

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(CNN) -- Farrah Fawcett, whose public battle with anal cancer has brought new attention to a rarely discussed disease, has not been given a timetable from her doctor about how much time she has left, according to her friend Alana Stewart. Farrah Fawcett, seen here in 2006, has waged a very public battle with anal cancer. "No one has said to her you have two months to live," Stewart said Monday. "So I'm looking at that as a really good sign." Stewart talked with Lara Spencer, host of "The Insider," who discussed her interview with Fawcett's close friend on CNN's "Larry King Live" Monday night. Spencer said Fawcett, her family and friends are clinging to hope for a recovery. "She [Alana Stewart] doesn't want to throw out a number. And neither does Farrah. ... They're still hoping for that miracle," Spencer said. "Farrah's Story," a documentary-style program that has followed the course of her illness and showed her grueling treatment in graphic detail, aired on NBC Friday and was viewed by almost 9 million people. Fawcett and partner Ryan O'Neal watched the show together, Spencer confirmed. "Alana said it was the ultimate in bittersweet," Spencer said. "You know, they're reliving two years of hell that they've endured together." King asked Spencer whether Fawcett, who made her name a household word on the hit '70s TV series "Charlie's Angels," and O'Neal might marry. "He said you never know. He was cagey about it," Spencer said. "And, you know, I think he would in a second. He's so madly in love with her." King also had a panel of medical experts on his show to discuss Fawcett's cancer. Dr. Thomas Vogl, who at one time treated the actress in Germany, called her medical condition "very, very serious." Dr. Allyson Ocean, a medical oncologist in New York, said only about 5,000 cases of anal cancer are diagnosed in the United States yearly. Unlike Fawcett's case, it usually doesn't spread, and only about 10 to 15 percent of cases are advanced, Ocean said. Fawcett's cancer, however, is in Stage 4 and has spread to her liver. Ocean said there are various causes of anal cancer. "One of the causes is a virus called the human papilloma virus, which is a sexually transmitted virus. It seems to be more common in women, in general, outside of any viral infections. Smoking is actually a risk factor," she said. King asked Dr. Paul Song, a radiation oncologist, if he had seen Stage 4 cancer cured. "Not with anal cancer. I have seen it with other GI malignancies such as rectal cancer," Song said. "But anal cancer is a little bit more difficult to treat." Despite the bleak outlook, Song had praise for Fawcett and her documentary. "I think one of the most powerful things that Miss Fawcett did in this documentary was give patients a sense of hope and to just show how she's handled this with such courage and dignity," Song said. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta told King that doctors have to strike a delicate balance when they are caring for patients such as Fawcett. "You have to be absolutely honest with patients, but, you know, you don't want to strip away their hope and optimism, either. There are people, Larry, as you know, who beat the odds," Gupta said. Vogl told King he developed a close relationship with Fawcett during the time he treated her in Germany and expressed admiration for his one-time patient. "From a lot of treatments and contact and communication, I think she is extremely special, an extremely brave person," he said.

"Insider" host Lara Spencer says friends, family holding out for a miracle . Farrah Fawcett has been fighting Stage 4 anal cancer, which has spread . Doctor who once treated her calls condition "very, very serious" Another doctor said actress has handled illness with "courage and dignity"

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Pete Sampras and Roger Federer are two of the modern era's greatest tennis players. Between them, they have won a staggering 27 Grand Slam singles titles -- and yet, neither player has ever won the French Open. Tennis great Pete Sampras won 14 Grand Slam tournaments but never managed a French Open victory. That legendary players like Sampras and Federer have somehow failed to win at Les Internationaux de France de Roland Garros is just one of the reasons why this Grand Slam tournament holds such a special place on the tennis calendar. The French Open is notably the only Grand Slam event contested on clay -- a factor that separates it from the other three majors, and more than anything else defines the tournament. The layers of crushed brick that constitute the orange-red clay courts of Roland Garros are what brought Sampras -- and still bring Federer -- so much grief. Fellow greats John McEnroe, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg also failed to win the coveted title. The reason clay may have affected the natural games of these players is because the surface slows the ball and produces a slightly higher, loopier bounce than grass or hard courts. This means the high-power serve of someone like Sampras is negated, opening the way for players with a different style of game. To this extent, the French Open helped create the legend of one of the finest players of all time -- Swedish star Bjorn Borg. Borg won a record six times at Roland Garros. He also won five Wimbledon titles -- but never managed an Australian or U.S. Open crown, both tournaments fought out on hard courts. Describing what makes the French Open so special in an rare one-on-one interview with Indian Web site Rediff.com in 2001, Borg said: "It is toughest to win on clay. It is easily the most draining, the toughest Slam." Offering advice to Sampras, who was at the time still playing for a French Open title, Borg added, "I would advise him to concentrate on mental strength, to build it up, to hold that strength over the course of the fortnight. "Along with that, you also need a great deal of physical strength. And most importantly, you have to believe that you can win on clay." It is not surprising therefore, that Spanish players -- who are generally well-accustomed to playing on clay -- have come to dominate the tournament in recent years. Nine of the last 12 French Open finals have featured at least one Spaniard. The tournament is still held in high regard by France's population. A record crowd of more than 450,000 people came to watch the action at Roland Garros in 2008, and according to the tournament organizers, it is the most-watched French event in the world. First played in 1891 as a national tournament, it became an international event in 1925, and in 1928 moved to the Roland Garros facility at Porte d'Auteuil in Paris, where it remains today. Its chosen title, Roland Garros, was the name of a legendary World War One French aviator, who had frequented the tennis venue when he studied in Paris. The 2009 edition of what Borg called "the toughest Slam" promises to be just as entertaining and draining as those that have gone before. World number one Rafael Nadal is searching for his fifth consecutive title to usurp Borg's record of four in a row, which he currently equals. Meanwhile, world number two Roger Federer is looking to avenge three consecutive final defeats at the hands of Nadal. In the women's draw, the tournament appears wide open. Last year's champion Ana Ivanovic has slipped to eighth in the world rankings, while the top four ranked players have only one French Open title between them.

Legendary players like Sampras and Federer have failed to win French Open title . Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam tennis event held on clay courts . Four-time winner Bjorn Borg on the French Open: "It is toughest to win on clay"

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Perhaps Ryan Seacrest said it best at the top of the "American Idol" Tuesday night when describing Adam Lambert and Kris Allen, the show's final two contestants. In this corner: Kris Allen, the guy next door. "It is the battle of the acoustic rocker versus the glam rocker. Conway (Arkansas) versus California. The guy next door versus the guy-liner." After three performances apiece and plenty of judge feedback, it seems that the Southern California glam-rocker Adam Lambert has the edge -- but it didn't look that way early in Tuesday's show. In the first round, where the contestants chose a song from a favorite past performance this season, Simon Cowell declared Kris Allen the winner after his rendition of "Ain't No Sunshine" on piano. Watch Allen and Lambert talk after the show » . Lambert chose to sing "Mad World" while wearing a long black coat and walking around a stage filled with white smoke, all of which Cowell found "over-theatrical." "I think 'Mad World' is kind of symbolic," Lambert told reporters after the show. "It talks about people who don't feel like they fit in." Round two featured a tune hand-picked by "American Idol" creator Simon Fuller, where Lambert ditched the black overcoat and belted out Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" while sporting a shiny silver suit. Paula Abdul told Lambert "it was the best I've ever heard you sing, ever!" Allen's feedback after singing Marvin Gaye's classic "What's Goin' On" in the second round was much less flattering. See the best and worst performances from season eight » . "I thought it was too laid back for a night like this," said Cowell. He then gave round two to Lambert. Round three featured a bit of a twist -- both contestants had to sing a song co-written by judge Kara DioGuardi called "No Boundaries." Lambert went first and had little difficulty with the ballad. Cowell told the 27-year-old afterward that "you have been one of the best, most original contestants we've ever had on the show." Allen, however, struggled to stay in tune during the entire performance ... but the judges were less harsh this time. "You have thoroughly, thoroughly deserved to be standing on that stage tonight, congratulations," said Cowell. Watch anchors debate "Idol" finalists » . After the show, Lambert told reporters that they did not have a lot of time to work on "No Boundaries" and it was kind of a "rush job." "There was a lot of lyric, and it was a big song," said Lambert. "But it's a beautiful song." It almost seems appropriate that these two are facing off in the finale. According to Allen, he and Lambert were once roommates during the competition. They even critique each other's rehearsals. "He's always giving me stuff to change about mine ... to make it better," Allen told reporters. iReport.com: Who should win: Kris or Adam? A little over an hour before the show began, a magnitude 4.0 quake aftershock hit 10 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. Tuesday night's telecast was held at the Nokia Theater, which is in downtown Los Angeles. A 4.7-magnitude earthquake struck the area shortly before 8:40 p.m. Sunday. But, to Allen's disappointment, neither of the contestants felt the jolt Tuesday. "I was totally upset, too, because I've never been to California (except for 'American Idol'), and I was like, 'I want to feel an earthquake.' " Allen and Lambert will return to the stage Wednesday night and find out, along with the rest of the world, who will be crowned the next "American Idol" at the two-hour finale.

Final two "American Idol" contestants battle it out in song for the title Tuesday . Californian Adam Lambert has developed a glam-rock persona . Arkansas resident Kris Allen has a guy-next-door appeal . Who will America choose? Results show starts at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday .

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(InStyle.com) -- The co-star of "27 Dresses" discusses his personal style. "I just feel dirty," says James Marsden. Not to be alarmed: There's nothing indecent going on here. James Marsden talks about his favorite kind of clothes and how his style has changed over the years. The 34-year-old is explaining what it feels like to be sporting facial hair for a film he's working on with Cameron Diaz. Yet even the newly grown whiskers can't hide the finely chiseled features of an actor who seems to have cornered the Hollywood market on hottie-who-loses-the-girl roles ("Enchanted," "Superman Returns" and, of course, "The Notebook.") But the Oklahoma-bred star doesn't mind his wholesome image. "That's really me," he says. "I'm a little dorky -- awkward." However, his onscreen luck could be changing with his latest film, "27 Dresses," a romantic comedy co-starring Katherine Heigl. Scruffy or not, we'll be watching. You've played a prince in "Enchanted" and the superhero Cyclops in the "X-Men" movies. Is that a big deal to your kids and their friends? My daughter, Mary, is only 2, and my son, Jack, is 7. He has a Cyclops action figure, but he's really into Spider-Man and Pixar movies -- Buzz Lightyear is his guy. No "Superman," no "X-Men." I think he just assumes that everyone at his school has a dad who's a big superhero. You also played Corny Collins, the TV dance-show host in "Hairspray." What were you like in high school? That's when I came out of my shell and became more social -- people thought I was funny. I got into a whole preppy thing -- Duck Head shorts and Dockers. How would you describe your style now? Functional comfort. For a guy, it shouldn't ever look like you thought about it too much, like the clothes are wearing you. Whose clothes do you like? Paul Smith off the rack -- it's a slim cut, and I don't need to have it tailored. I always feel like an 8-year-old when I dress up in a suit, like, when can I take this thing off? But I wore a black Dolce & Gabbana suit to the première of "Hairspray" that was like, OK, now I know what a great suit is. Classic, clean lines -- sharp, sharp, sharp. Do you change your style from coast to coast? In L.A. it's too easy to throw on a pair of American Apparel sweats, a T-shirt and running shoes and just wear those for days. In New York, I actually like looking nice. Maybe I'm just getting older, but young guys need to pull their pants up. Do you ever shop for your wife? I love shopping for dresses, and I actually do a pretty good job. When I was in New York, I went into J. Crew in Soho and got her a cool fifties type dress with tiny polka dots. Style-wise I'm good, but figuring out sizing is a different story. What do you find sexy on a woman? I like spaghetti straps for my wife -- she has great shoulders and a great neck. I love when she puts her hair up, because I can see the back of her neck, so delicate and vulnerable. It's the vampire in me. Or my obsession with cheerleaders -- their hair up in a ponytail. When I was young, I could never have that. Never got the cheerleader? Eventually -- my wife was a cheerleader. What does your wife find sexy on you? A button-front shirt with [baby] spit-up on the shoulder. That means a guy is taking care of the kids and is a good father -- that's sexy to a woman. The adult version of rose petals and champagne is if I let my wife sleep in and I get up to change the baby's diaper, feed the kids, and do the dishes. Who inspires you? Paul Newman. My middle name is Paul, and my grandfather once said I was going to look like Paul Newman. That stuck with me. Beyond being a good-looking guy, Newman is a great actor with a long career, and he's got a life. He's married with kids and lives in Connecticut, sells popcorn and marinara sauce, and gives the money to charity. Anyone else? George Clooney dresses like Gary Cooper might have. Cary Grant. "A Streetcar Named Desire"-era Marlon Brando. They all made it look effortless. Their clothes framed their personalities really well -- comfortable, classic, but sharp. These guys could pull off a great suit, or jeans and a T-shirt. Don't you agree that guys have it easy -- they are considered "distinguished" as they grow older? I don't think it's guy-specific. As women get older, they become more comfortable with themselves. Susan Sarandon is the poster woman for that. A lot of guys fantasize about being with women who are in their forties or fifties. So your advice is ...? Act your age. Dress your age. Look your age. That doesn't mean you can't have fun. And isn't it time you got the girl in one of your movies? There are a couple of things I need to do [onscreen]: One, get the girl; two, pack a gun. Don't you love my career philosophy? E-mail to a friend . Get a FREE TRIAL issue of InStyle - CLICK HERE! Copyright © 2009 Time Inc. All rights reserved.

In high school Marsden showed off his preppy side . While it's easy for him to throw on sweats, Marsden likes to dress up . Actor says he is inspired by Paul Newman . Marsden: I can shop style for women, but size is a different issue .

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Editor's note: Jack Cafferty is the author of a new book, "Now or Never: Getting Down to the Business of Saving Our American Dream." He provides commentary on CNN's "The Situation Room" daily from 4 to 7 p.m. ET. You can also visit Jack's Cafferty File blog. CNN's Jack Cafferty says "the pain won't go away" until Bush administration's misdeeds are addressed. (CNN) -- It doesn't go away by itself. Watergate "went away" when Richard Nixon resigned the presidency in disgrace and left town never to be heard from in an official capacity again. The Bush presidency is thankfully over...but the damage he and Dick Cheney did continues to press on the nerve of the American people like an impacted wisdom tooth. And until the questions surrounding arguably the most arrogant and perhaps most corrupt administration in our history are addressed, the pain won't go away. From Nancy ("Impeachment is off the table") Pelosi to President Barack ("I want to look forward, not backward") Obama, the country is being poorly served by their Democratic government. And on this subject President Obama is dead wrong. George W. Bush and his accomplices damaged this country like it's never been damaged before. And it's not just the phony war in Iraq or the torture memos that justified waterboarding. It's millions of missing emails and the constant use of executive privilege and signing statements. It's the secretive meetings with Enron and other energy executives and the wholesale firing of federal prosecutors. It's trying to get the president's personal attorney seated on the Supreme Court and that despicable Alberto Gonzales sitting in front of congressional investigators whining, "I don't remember, I don't know, I...etc." It's the domestic eavesdropping in violation of the FISA Court, the rendition prisons, and the lying. It's looking the other way while the City of New Orleans drowned and its people were left to fend for themselves. It's the violations of the Geneva Conventions, the soiling of our international reputation and the shredding of the U.S. Constitution. It's the handing over of $700 billion to the Wall Street fat cats last fall, no questions asked. Where is that money? What was it used for? It's the no-bid contracts to firms like Halliburton and Blackwater and the shoddy construction and lack of oversight of reconstruction in Iraq that cost American taxpayers untold billions. If the Republicans were serious about restoring their reputation, they would join the call for a special prosecutor to be appointed so that at long last justice can be done. It's too late for George W. Bush to resign the presidency. But it's not too late to put the people responsible for this national disgrace in prison. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jack Cafferty.

Jack Cafferty: Bush administration left behind a trail of misdeeds . Cafferty: Obama is wrong to say he only wants to look forward, not back . Cafferty: Damage will last until Bush-Cheney deeds are addressed . Cafferty: A special prosecutor should be named to investigate .

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SAN BERNARDINO, California (CNN) -- Three-year-old Briant Rodriguez remained in a hospital bed fatigued and malnourished Monday, 15 days after being kidnapped at gunpoint and then dumped on the streets of Mexico. Liberato Vega, 30, left, and Israel Moreno, 28, are suspects in the kidnapping of 3-year-old Briant Rodriguez. Police don't know much about what happened to the boy, who was taken after gunmen tied his family and ransacked his California home on May 3. They don't know why the gunmen broke into the home, why they kidnapped the bubbly 3-year-old or how he ended up wandering the streets of Mexicali with a shaved head, rather than the long hair he had sported before the kidnapping. But police believe they do know who is responsible. In a news conference on Monday, the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department and FBI identified the two suspect gunmen as Liberato Vega, 30, and Israel Moreno, 28. The two men, who authorities said were illegal immigrants with criminal records, are believed to have burst into the San Bernardino home, ransacked the house, tied up 3-year-old Briant Rodriguez's family and snatched the child two weeks ago. The boy was returned to his family Saturday in the border town of Calexico. "It was a very emotional and unforgettable experience," said San Bernardino County Sheriff's Sgt. Doug Hubbard, who was with the boy's mother when he was returned. "Enough said there -- before I get emotional." Officials said the boy was still in the hospital Monday and was being treated for malnourishment and fatigue. "We're very happy that he's alive," San Bernardino County Sheriff Rod Hoops said this weekend. "A 3-year-old goes missing in this country for two weeks -- sometimes it has an unhappy ending. "This one did not." Now, police are trying to piece together exactly what may have happened during the 13 days the boy was missing. Detectives from the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department and Federal Bureau of Investigations agents were able to identify the alleged kidnappers based on unspecified physical evidence at the San Bernardino home and interviews with the boy's family and neighbors. Hubbard said the family has adamantly denied knowing who may be responsible for the kidnapping or having any association with those responsible. FBI Supervisory Special Agent Don Roberts said it was, however, "likely that this family was the target" of the kidnappers. "But why, we don't know," Roberts said, adding that the kidnappers had clearly planned the crime. Officials said they believe Vega and Moreno are the two men they captured on video at a home-improvement store near the Rodriguez home before the crime buying tape like the kind that was used to bind the family. Hubbard said there are no-bail warrants issued for both men for home invasion robbery and kidnapping and Roberts said the FBI also obtained federal warrants for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for both men. "We will leave no stone unturned until these two are returned to San Bernardino to face justice," Roberts said. "We will not take a break until that day happens." Authorities are hunting for both men, who have criminal records, in Mexico where they were both born. Roberts said both men have previously been deported from the United States, where they were living illegally. Their previous residences are empty, police said. Vega, who police said they considered to be the primary suspect, has had seven encounters with authorities in San Bernardino, according to court records, including four convictions in 2005 for a variety of charges, including driving under the influence. He also has a dismissed burglary case and two open cases against him for driving under the influence, providing false information to police and driving without a license. Police described Vega as a Hispanic male, 5 feet 9 inches weighing 130 pounds. Moreno was convicted in 2008 for driving under the influence and has another similar case open against him. Police described Moreno as a Hispanic male, 5 feet 6 inches weighing 150 pounds. Police have said they are also looking for 21-year-old Claudia Acosta, Vega's girlfriend, who may be traveling with him. They aren't sure how she's related to the kidnapping.

NEW: Liberato Vega, 30, and Israel Moreno, 28, suspects in kidnapping . NEW: Officials believe both men, illegal immigrants, have fled to Mexico . Briant Rodriguez found wandering streets in Mexicali, police say . Boy had been missing since May 3, when armed men burst into his family's home .

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SEATTLE, Washington (CNN) -- An accident involving de-icing solution being sprayed on an Alaska Airlines plane in snow-covered Seattle sent seven people to a hospital Wednesday, airport and hospital officials said. Emergency vehicles gather around Alaska Airlines planes in Seattle, Washington, on Wednesday. The seven, who were crew members, were transported to Highline Medical Center for minor issues, such as eye irritation, dizziness and nausea, said Sea-Tac Airport spokesman Perry Cooper. Eighteen passengers were treated at the scene. There had been an initial report that two people were badly hurt, but Cooper said all of the injuries were minor. He said six of the crew members transported to the hospital were working and one was off duty. Caroline Boren, Alaska Airlines spokeswoman, confirmed the injury numbers and said the most extensive treatment given to the passengers was an eye wash. None of them requested further treatment or were transported to the hospital. Matt Crockett, assistant administrator at Highline Medical Center, confirmed the hospital was assessing seven people in its emergency room. He said six of them were in satisfactory condition and another was still being evaluated. The incident began when fumes from the de-icing application got into the cabin of Alaska Airlines Flight 528. Watch an ex-transportation official explain how the fumes seeped into the plane » . Alaska Airlines said the flight was getting ready for takeoff to Burbank, California, when passengers began to complain of eye irritation and strong fumes from the chemicals. Video footage showed several emergency vehicles around the plane on the snow-covered tarmac. The airline said the plane, a Boeing 737-800, was carrying 143 passengers and several crew members. Boren called the situation "very unusual" and said maintenance crew had been working on the plane. Cooper said the airline was bringing in another aircraft to transport the passengers to their destination. Seattle has been blanketed with nearly 9 inches of snow this week, and forecasters predicted snow mixed with rain Wednesday, with an accumulation of about a half inch of new snow through Thursday. One passenger, Joe Dial of Seattle, told CNN affiliate KIRO-TV that passengers were exposed to the de-icer fumes for 45 minutes before they were able to leave the plane. The jetliner had pulled away from the gate Wednesday morning, but then had to return for the de-icing process, Dial told KIRO. Meanwhile in Moline, Illinois, an AirTran Airways jet skidded off the runway at Quad City International Airport, CNN affiliate WQAD-TV reported. Witnesses said passengers were being evacuated to buses, and there appeared to be no injuries, according to WQAD. The airport was closed to all traffic after the accident, the station said. At airports elsewhere across the U.S., weather was forcing significant delays as travelers tried to reach their destinations by Christmas. Flights bound for Newark-Liberty International Airport in New Jersey faced delays averaging three hours. Flights into Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in Illinois, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and San Francisco International Airport in California were all subject to delays averaging an hour or more, according to the FAA. Travelers at O'Hare were hoping Wednesday went better than the day before as thousands were stranded in the nation's second-busiest airport overnight when hundreds of flights were canceled. "It is ruining my holiday," one stranded passenger, Keith Bouchard, told CNN affiliate WLS-TV. "I am not going to have a holiday mood till I get home," stranded passenger Ken Estes told WLS. O'Hare's trouble extended to South Florida, where Laura Weichhand and Rachel Lewis got stuck at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport when their flight to Chicago was canceled. "If we want to be home for Christmas ... our only option is we're going to drive 26 hours to be home for Christmas," Lewis told CNN affiliate WPLG-TV. The Chicago area was expected to get 1 inch to 3 inches of new snow Wednesday. At Colorado's Denver International Airport, lost luggage was a huge problem. Thousands of pieces of unclaimed baggage were in the airport's arrivals area, CNN affiliate KMGH-TV reported. Deanna Nokes, who was stranded in Denver on her way to Portland, Oregon, told KGMH her bags were nowhere in sight. "They don't even know where my bag is," she told the station. "It still could be in Vegas, or Phoenix, or Portland." Airports in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, were hit hardest by weather delays earlier in the week, with hundreds of flight cancellations Sunday through Tuesday. The two Northwest airports were reporting just a few delays Wednesday, but a new storm was rolling in from the Pacific Ocean, bringing snow and rain, the National Weather Service said. "It will not be as strong as this past weekend's storm," said weather service meteorologist Kirby Cook in Seattle. But that may be of little consolation to thousands of travelers stranded at Northwest airports because of cancellations earlier in the week. Alaska Airlines, the area's major carrier, said fully booked holiday flights left it with few options to accommodate the weather weary, CNN affiliate KHQ-TV in Spokane, Washington, reported. Some in Spokane turned to Craigslist.com to try to get home for Christmas. The Web site had more than 30 posts from people looking to get to or out of Spokane, CNN affiliate KXLY-TV reported. "I know Craigslist has a rideshare community so I thought I'd try, and so far not so good," Priscilla Davis of Federal Way, Washington, told KXLY.

NEW: 18 passengers treated at scene after exposure to de-icing fluid . Fumes send seven Alaska Airlines crew members to the hospital . AirTran jetliner skids off runway in Moline, Illinois, TV station reports . Weather delays Christmas Eve flights across country .

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(CNN) -- Austrian officials are seeking to secure the release of two Austrian nationals who were kidnapped by an al Qaeda group while vacationing in North Africa ahead of a midnight Sunday deadline. Reinhard and Christine Lenz, right, the parents of kidnapped Austrian Andrea Kloiber. "There are efforts in all areas, unrelenting efforts to secure the earliest possible release of our citizens," Austrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal told CNN. The team of high-ranking government officials met Sunday morning and planned to work throughout the day, he said. Wolfgang Ebner, 51, and Andrea Kloiber, 44, were last heard from on February 18 while on a vacation in southern Tunisia, foreign ministry spokesman Martin Gaertner said. Earlier this month, the Austrian government received an audio message via the Internet from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claiming to have kidnapped the pair. The kidnappers' primary demand is the release of five prisoners in Algeria and Tunisia, Launsky-Tieffenthal said. While the kidnappers have set a midnight deadline, there are preliminary indications that it may be extended, he said. The government is in contact with authorities in Tunisia, Algeria, and Mali in an effort to find the missing duo, who are from the Austrian town of Hallein. A few weeks ago, the kidnappers released a set of written demands and six photographs that include images of the Austrians. Among the images was one that appeared to show the pair flanked by men holding assault rifles and a rocket launcher. Another appeared to show more than 15 group members -- several of them armed. Kloiber's face is obscured in all of the photographs in which she appears. E-mail to a friend .

Officials battling a midnight deadline to secure release of kidnapped Austrians . Wolfgang Ebner, 51, and Andrea Kloiber, 44, captured on holiday in Tunisia . Al Qaeda contacted Austrian government to seek release of five prisoners .

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(CNN) -- A pea-sized seahorse, the world's longest insect, a "ghost slug" and the world's smallest snake were among the top 10 species discovered in 2008, a committee of scientists said Friday. A tiny seahorse and the world's longest insect were among the top 10 new species discovered in 2008. These unusual critters were among thousands of species found last year, many in remote or tropical regions of the planet, that hint at the breadth of the Earth's undiscovered biodiversity. "Most people do not realize just how incomplete our knowledge of Earth's species is," said Quentin Wheeler, director of the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University, which announced the top 10 new species list. "We are surrounded by such an exuberance of species diversity that we too often take it for granted," Wheeler added. The ASU institute and an international committee of taxonomists -- scientists devoted to species exploration and classification -- compile the top 10 list of new species each year. Also on the 2008 list are a caffeine-free coffee plant, a snail whose shell twists around four axes, a palm that flowers itself to death and microscopic bacteria that live in hairspray. See photos of the new species » . Here's the complete list: . 1. Pygmy seahorse: Classified by its Latin name, Hippocampus satomiae, this species measures about half an inch long and was found near Derawan Island off Kalimantan, Indonesia. 2. A plant that kills itself: Found in a small area of northwestern Madagascar, a rare genus of palm -- Tahina spectablilis -- produces huge, spectacular flowers and then dies and collapses. Fewer than 100 have been found. 3. Decaf, please: Known as Coffea charrieriana, this plant found in Cameroon is the first record of a caffeine-free coffee species from Central Africa. 4. Spray-on species: An extremophile bacteria, Microbacterium hatanonis, was discovered in hairspray by Japanese scientists. 5. A stick that moves: The world's longest insect, with a body length of 14 inches (22.3 inches including legs), Phobaeticus chani resembles a stick and was found in Borneo, Malaysia. 6. The Barbados Threadsnake: Leptotyphlops carlae measures only 4.1 inches long and is believed to be the world's smallest snake. 7. A pale "ghost slug": Selenochlamys ysbryda was a surprising find in the densely populated area of Cardiff, Wales. 8. A very limber snail: This unique species, Opisthostoma vermiculum, is found on a limestone hill in Malaysia and has a shell that twists around four axes. 9. Damsel in the deep blue sea: Chromis abyssus is a beautiful species of damselfish found in deep-reef habitat off the coast of Ngemelis Island, Palau. 10. Fossil mama: A fossilized fish, Materpiscis attenboroughi, is an extremely rare find from Western Australia and shows a mother giving birth 380 million years ago. Scientists are still classifying species found around the globe in 2008, so final data for that year are not available. But on Friday, the taxonomists issued a State of Observed Species report card that states 18,516 species new to science -- about half of them insects -- were discovered and described in 2007. The vast majority of the 18,516 species named in 2007 were invertebrate animals (75.6 percent), vascular plants (11.1 percent) and vertebrates (6.7 percent). The report was compiled by ASU's International Institute for Species Exploration in partnership with other scientists. "Charting the species of the world and their unique attributes are essential parts of understanding the history of life," Wheeler said. "It is in our own self-interest as we face the challenges of living on a rapidly changing planet." According to Wheeler, a new generation of tools is coming online that will vastly accelerate the rate at which humans can discover and describe species. The annual release of the top 10 new species list and State of Observed Species report commemorate the anniversary of the birth of Carolus Linnaeus, who initiated the modern system of plant and animal names and classifications. An estimated 1.8 million species have been described since Linnaeus initiated the modern systems for naming plants and animals in the 18th century. Scientists estimate that there are between 2 million and 100 million species on Earth, though most set the number closer to 10 million, according to ASU. "It is estimated that the approximately 1.8 million species named since 1758 represent no more than a fraction of the world's species," the report states. "Rapid environmental changes around the world highlight the urgent need to accelerate our exploration of Earth's species," the report says. "Millions of species -- the majority not yet known to science -- face an uncertain future. Among these species are keys to understanding the history of the origin and diversification of life on our planet."

A committee of scientists named the top 10 species discovered in 2008 . Among them are an Indonesian seahorse that measures about half an inch long . The world's longest insect has a body length of 14 inches and resembles a stick . A coffee plant from Cameroon is a rare caffeine-free coffee species .

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(CNN) -- Hurricane Paloma continued to intensify Friday night as the Category 3 storm pounded Grand Cayman island with strong winds and heavy rain. As of 10 p.m. ET Friday, Paloma was moving northeast through the Cayman Islands. The National Hurricane Center said additional strengthening of the storm could occur through Saturday night as Paloma turned northeast and headed toward Cuba. A hurricane warning was in effect Friday throughout the Cayman islands, with residents being told that "preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion," the center said. A hurricane warning means that hurricane conditions are expected within 24 hours. Cuban officials also issued a hurricane warning for the provinces of Sancti Spiritus, Ciego de Avila, Camaguey and Las Tunas, the Miami, Florida-based hurricane center said in an advisory. As of 10 p.m. ET, Paloma's winds were near 115 mph (185 kph) with higher gusts. Paloma is forecast to approach Cuba as a Category 2 storm after weakening late Saturday, according to the hurricane center. Watch rainstorms beat the Cayman Islands » . Friday evening, the center of Paloma was about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Grand Cayman Island and about 275 miles (443 kilometers) southwest of Camaguey, Cuba. It was moving northeast at about 7 mph and was expected to pass near Grand Cayman Friday night and approach the coast of central Cuba late Saturday, the hurricane center said. The storm's projected path would steer it away from the U.S. mainland and into the Atlantic. See where the hurricane could be headed » . J.B. Webb, a manager at a radio station on Grand Cayman, said Friday evening that some residents had gone to shelters and others were shutting themselves in downtown businesses rebuilt to withstand a Category 5 hurricane. He said the local government had advised people to be off the roads by 11 a.m. The storm is expected to produce rainfall accumulations of 5 to 10 inches over the Caymans and central and eastern Cuba, with isolated maximum totals of 15 inches possible. Flash floods and mudslides are possible, forecasters said. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles from the center, and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 120 miles, the hurricane center said. iReport.com: Are you in Paloma's path? Forecasters predicted storm-surge flooding of 5 to 7 feet above normal tide levels, accompanied by dangerous battering waves, near the center of Paloma in the Cayman Islands. Near where Paloma is expected to make landfall, along Cuba's southern coast, storm surge flooding of 8 to 12 feet is forecast, the hurricane center said. Cuban television was broadcasting advisories to viewers, telling them not to cross swollen rivers, to avoid fallen cables and to evacuate if told to do so by Civil Defense officials. In Las Tunas, students in boarding schools were sent home, because the schools will be used as shelters. Evacuations were under way in some coastal areas prone to flooding. Rice and cereal was being shipped to other parts of the country to keep it from spoiling, and no tourists were being allowed to enter many areas. CNN's Morgan Neill and Rory Suchet contributed to this report.

NEW: Cayman Island residents flee homes for shelters, fortified buildings . Paloma has 115-mph winds; storm-surge flooding expected in Caymans . Evacuations under way in parts of Cuba; safety advisories issued . Projected path would steer hurricane away from U.S. mainland .

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(CNN) -- Lots of kids are into dinosaurs. Tyler Lyson says he just never grew out of it. He grew up in rural North Dakota and says fossils were more widespread there than in other places in the U.S. Tyler Lyson's interest in fossil discovery led him to help create a research foundation. "I was very fortunate to grow up in a very rural area ... that just happens to be one of the best places to find dinosaur fossils," Lyson said. But in 1999, he didn't find just any fossil; he discovered something jaw-dropping: a 25-foot-long dinosaur, complete with skin. Lyson's find was an Edmontosaurus he named Dakota. The 65 million-year-old mummified dinosaur was unearthed with Lyson standing by in 2004. Lyson explained that the dinosaur is one of approximately six "dinosaur mummies" in the world. "This dinosaur mummy has portions that none of the other dinosaur mummies have preserved," he said. "So we're able to get a good look at the feet and the legs and the hands and basically the entire body -- what it actually looked like." Watch the CNN.com Live interview » . Lyson is the co-founder of the Marmarth Research Foundation in his hometown. The foundation is creating a museum and outreach programs to give volunteers hands-on field and lab work with fossils. While getting his doctorate at Yale, Lyson wants to make sure that other kids don't grow out of their fascination with the extinct. E-mail to a friend .

Tyler Lyson discovered a 25-foot-long dinosaur fossil with skin in 1999 . Check out the YPWR blog to meet this week's featured young person . iReport.com: Do you know someone who rocks? Let us know .

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LONDON, England -- Former Culture Club singer Boy George has been convicted of falsely imprisoning a male escort. The judge told Boy George he faced jail. Norwegian Audun Carlsen, 29, said the frontman with the 1980s band beat him with a metal chain as he tried to flee his London flat after a naked photo shoot. A jury at a London court found on Friday that the case was proven against the 46-year-old musician -- tried under his real name of George O'Dowd. The singer declined to give evidence during the trial but the jury heard he told police he handcuffed Carlsen to his bed while he investigated alleged tampering with his computer. Carlsen told the court O'Dowd invented the story about computer tampering so he could punish him for not having sex at a previous meeting. He said: "I think he couldn't handle the refusal -- me not having sex with him." O'Dowd looked grim as the verdict was delivered, according to the Press Association. The singer was bailed until sentencing on January 16. Judge David Radford warned him that he was likely to face jail. "The fact that your bail is being continued does not imply that this will be dealt with by a non-custodial sentence. I don't want any false expectations created," he said.

Boy George convicted by jury in London of falsely imprisoning male escort . Norwegian Audun Carlsen said star beat him with metal chain after photo shoot . Singer told police he handcuffed Carlsen while he investigated tampered computer .

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(CNN) -- This season on "American Idol," there's a huge question looming around Adam Lambert. Kris Allen, left, and Adam Lambert are battling it out to become the next "American Idol." No, not that one. The one about whether this season would have been as exciting had he not been a part of the show. Love him or hate him, Lambert has added an element to the competition that has been woefully lacking in seasons past: a contestant so unique that you can't wait to see what he will pull next out of his bag of tricks. Regardless on how the season concludes, with Lambert being named "American Idol" or losing the title to competitor Kris Allen, it's obvious that a star has been born, and we all got to watch. "I don't think there would be nearly the interest that there is if it weren't for Adam," said Brian Mansfield, who blogs about the show for USA Today. "Really, all season long it's been Adam and the rest of the field, and is there anybody in the rest of the field that can beat Adam." Read and watch the best "Idol" performances » . Indeed, the talent level for "Idol's" 2009 edition has been fairly high. Once upon a time, the show plucked apparent unknowns from auditions and thrust them before millions of viewers for a ready-made career. Now, "unknown" has become a relative term as more contestants like Lambert, who toured with a production of "Wicked," have shown the polish of veteran professionals. But not everything has worked at a high level. The show's ratings have declined a bit from unbelievable to simply juggernaut. And then there's the tried-and-true format, which producers attempted to mix up a bit this season. Among the changes: more semifinalists -- and fewer semifinal performance shows. That meant viewers didn't have the opportunity to see the contestants perform more than once. At least a few felt cheated. "It's a situation where they get who they want to get, and they pimp those people, which takes away from some of the really good singers," said "Idol" fan Ricky Hoggard Hollman, who gained fame during season six for correctly guessing the top 24 semifinalists. This season's robust group of 36 contained some fine potential finalists, Hoggard said, but he believed it wasn't a level playing field partly because producers chose to focus more on back stories than talent. There was also the addition of a fourth judge, Kara DioGuardi, to the longtime triumvirate of Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul, which in the end added nothing but time. Producers also added a "judges' save," which became a throwaway. Much of the criticism has fallen on DioGuardi, a Grammy-nominated songwriter who was supposed to bring a fresh and informed perspective. Instead, she brought uninspiring critiques, some crazy costumes based on the week's theme and the magical ability to force Abdul into a few weeks of coherent comments. Even Cowell wasn't acting like the Simon we have come to alternately adore and want to shake a finger at. He engaged in juvenile antics with Abdul (at one point drawing on her face) and at times stared into space with such complete boredom that you wondered whether Susan Boyle's "Britain's Got Talent" performance had forever altered his state of consciousness. "Simon has shown a level of disinterest and a level disdain for the show that I think is kind of alarming," said Michael Slezak, who writes about the show for Entertainment Weekly. "We sort of expect Simon to speak for us as viewers. We expect him to be up-front and honest and the voice of reason, and he's just been completely disinterested. "I think it's disrespectful to the contestants, and I think even more so it's disrespectful to us as viewers," Slezak added. "For better or for worse, and crazy or not, we take this show and what's happening up on that stage seriously. It's our escape from reality for the week." And boy, do viewers take it seriously. iReport.com: Who do you want to win? As CNN.com's regular "Idol" blogger, I have never been more lambasted -- pardon the pun -- than on the weeks I have dared to give Adam Lambert anything less than a flawless critique on the "American Idol" blog. My sanity has been questioned. So has my nationality. (Hey, critics: My last name is "France." It's not the location of my blog posts.) Question Lambert's ability, and the Lambs -- his devoted fans -- come out in force. I haven't been completely sold on Lambert. He can be over the top with the dramatics, and the way his tongue hangs out during certain notes is, frankly, bizarre to me. Yet, for all of his antics, Lambert is unbelievably interesting to watch. It took me a while to warm up to him, but with Lambert, I wanted to watch if for no other reason than I didn't want to be left out of the watercooler conversation the next day. He was the pathway that allowed me to also fall in love with Allen's musicality, Allison Iraheta's mature-for-her-years voice and Anoop Desai's determination to be the first Indian R&B star. I was able to cheer Scott McIntyre's persistence, jeer the lack of the use of the judges save for Alexis Grace and puzzle over Megan Joy's quirky performances. Regardless of who takes the title Wednesday night, Kris Allen or Adam Lambert, I can at least say I was entertained. And isn't that what good television is all about?

Adam Lambert has added spice to season eight of American Idol . Kris Allen and Lambert are vying to win "American Idol" Show's producers tried new tactics this season to draw viewers . Addition of new judge and antics at the judges' table have drawn fan ire .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- The Indian owners of car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) have agreed to pump "tens of millions" of dollars into the luxury car brand to prevent a cash flow crisis, it was reported Monday. Jaguar Land Rover was bought by the Indian company Tata earlier this year for $2.3 billion. The moves comes as the British government ponders a public-funded bailout of the West Midlands-based automaker, the Financial Times newspaper said. Tata, which bought JLR earlier this year, warned its support for the UK subsidiary did not negate the argument that the British government should provide bridging loans and credit guarantees to help the company and the car sector as a whole through the current financial difficulties, the FT said. Last week, the ailing "big three" automakers in the U.S. were given a boost when the Bush administration agreed a $13.4 billion loan package. Now British Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has come under pressure to come up with a similar package for UK manufacturers. JLR employs 15,000 workers in Britain and is seen as a vital contributor to the West Midlands regional economy in particular. However, the business secretary at the weekend reiterated that the state had to be a "lender of last resort," only after Tata has looked to its own resources, the FT reported. Any state support would be conditional on the due diligence on the Indian parent company being conducted by the government's City advisers, according to officials. A spokesman for Lord Mandelson's Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform told the British Press Association: "The Government doesn't have an open cheque-book to bail out ailing companies, but we are doing all we can to help businesses overcome the current challenges. "Jaguar Land Rover have owners who are well resourced and have the first responsibility to sustain the companies they own." According to the FT, accountancy firm KPMG and investment bank NM Rothschild have been called in to advise the UK government on the Indian group's complex finances and to assess demands from the car sector.

Tata bought the British-based luxury car maker earlier this year . UK government also pondering a public-funded bailout of the company . JLR employs around 15,000 workers in Britain .

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(CNN) -- When makers of one of the most anticipated video games of the year invited users to help design part of the game, the gamers jumped at the chance to create animated characters. Users will have the option to incorporate other people's "Spore" designs or choose to block them all. But some took it upon themselves to create something entirely different: a new kind of Internet porn. It started when the makers of "Spore" released a Creature Creator program that allowed users to develop their own characters to drum up hype before the game's scheduled release in September. The game, a joint venture from "Sims" creator Will Wright and Electronic Arts, allows users to create a unique creature and then control its evolution from a single cell into a complex cultural civilization. Within 24 hours of the Creature Creator's release, gamers had gone creature-crazy, designing millions of critters that were all thrown into a database and shown on a YouTube channel for the public to see. But scrolling through the database -- past the three-legged sea horse, past the seven-eyed wildebeest and the half-motorcycle-half-pig -- revealed something many users didn't expect. Buried among the more wholesome attempts were two-legged dancing testicles, a "giant breast monster" and a four-legged "phallic fornication machine," for starters. Watch Bradshaw demonstrate the "Creature Creator" and "Spore" » . These naughty -- some would say obscene -- creations have spawned an Internet meme nicknamed "Sporn," short for "Spore" porn. For EA, the developer of "Spore," it's the downside to tapping into the booming user-generated content arena, which has made sites like YouTube, Flickr, MySpace, Facebook and Second Life so popular. These games and sites often allow people to create and host their own content in addition to creating cartoon personas, called avatars, for themselves. Many of the popular user-generated content sites have faced similar challenges in trying to control obscene material. In Second Life, users can read Slustler, a cyberporn magazine, or buy programs that allow them to have animated sex with other characters. "Whether it's modeling clay, dolls or crayons, a small number of people can be counted on to use it for something vulgar," said Lucy Bradshaw, "Spore's" executive producer. Despite its "Sporn" issues, "Spore" is poised to become one of the most popular games because of its ability to let people tell their own story, rather than one mapped out for them, Bradshaw said. "Rather than putting players in the shoes of Luke Skywalker or Frodo Baggins, we're giving them the opportunity to be George Lucas or Peter Jackson, as they create their own universe from scratch," she said. But for every George Lucas and Peter Jackson, there's always a spoiler. Enter the Spornmaster, a 37-year-old Web developer who refused to give his name for this interview. He, like many others, has spent hours creating characters and turning them into sexual beings. "It came up simply as something silly and juvenile to do," he said. The creatures are not just static. Users can create animated scenarios for the characters to engage in, some of which include sexually graphic acts. When EA got word of the Sporn creations, it began working with YouTube to pull them down. Players who repeatedly upload "offensive content" are warned, suspended and eventually banned, Bradshaw said. But the policing isn't restricted to EA and YouTube. Users also are able to flag and report content that they find offensive. That angered some content creators, who feel that they should be able to create whatever they want. "It was a totally ridiculous overreaction," the 37-year-old Web developer said. "I admit it is silly and juvenile, but I don't think there's anything perverted, vile or awful about it. If people find it offensive, they can simply not search for it online. No one is forcing anyone to see this content." In response, he created a site to preserve as many of his naughty creations as possible. He said many other creators of Sporn have told him that they too were only joking around. But the Web developer and other Sporn creators have had their share of critics. On blogs and message boards, some have called these creators perverts. "I consider this very similar to child pornography, at least to the extent of distributing the material to children," said 18-year-old Michael James from Calgary, Alberta. James said he has flagged about 10 of the "disgusting" creations. EA plans to make sure nobody sees the content if they don't want to, Bradshaw said. When playing "Spore," users will be given three choices regarding people's creations: to receive no outside content, to receive content from buddies only or to receive all external content. Bradshaw hopes the sexual characters don't spoil "Spore" for everyone or get in the way of what she says is a revolutionary game. "User-created content gives players total control over their game experience and empowers them to express their creativity in ways that they never thought possible," Bradshaw said. "It also gives them a powerful emotional connection to the game, since they've created the world from scratch." Miles Moffit, a gamer attending the University of Georgia who has created tons of "clean" characters on his own, is glad to know EA will be regulating what makes it into the game. Moffit is eagerly awaiting the game's September 7 release. And if by chance a Sporn character shows up in his virtual "Spore" world, he has a plan. "My initial reaction to discovering it in my final game would be to ban it so it wouldn't show up again and then blow it to pieces for the sheer satisfaction of it," Moffit said. "Go ahead, create a walking phallus. See how long it lasts in the databases and galaxies of 'Spore.' "

Creature Creator allows gamers to design characters for new "Spore" game . Some users have created sexual creatures, now known as "Sporn" "Spore" maker EA is banning those who continue to upload offensive creations . One Sporn creator: "I don't think there's anything perverted, vile or awful about it"

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ALTADENA, California (CNN) -- When she was laid off in February, Patricia Guerrero was making $70,000 a year. Weeks later, with bills piling up and in need of food for her family, this middle-class mother did something she never thought she would do: She went to a food bank. Patricia Guerrero was laid off in February. Desperate to make ends meet, she recently went to a food bank. It was Good Friday, and a woman helping her offered to pay her utility bill. "It brought tears to my eyes, and I sat there and I cried. I was like, 'This is really where I'm at?' " she told CNN. "I go 'no way;' [but] this is true. This is reality. This is the stuff you see on TV. It was hard. It was very hard." Guerrero is estranged from her husband and raising her two young children. She's already burned through her savings to help make ends meet, and is drawing unemployment checks. She has had to take extreme measures to pay for her interest-only mortgage of $2,500 a month. In fact, her mother moved in with her to help pay the bills. Guerrero even applied for food stamps, but was denied. Watch Guerrero describe going to food bank » . "I never used the system. I've been working since I was 15-and-a-half. I needed it now and it turned me down," she said. Stories like Guerrero's are becoming more common as middle-class Americans feel the pinch of an economic downturn, rising gas prices and a housing crunch, especially in a state like California that has been rocked by foreclosures. On Wednesday, a key government report on the battered housing market found new home sales fell to their lowest level in 13 years in February, suggesting the nation's housing market is still struggling. Americans also have been attending in large numbers foreclosure fairs where mortgage lenders, financial planners and counselors offer tips to hard-hit homeowners. "Our economy is struggling, and families in the 'Inland Empire' and across the nation are hurting," California Rep. Joe Baca said, referring to an area of Southern California in his district. "Our housing market is in a state of crisis due to rampant abuses of sub-prime lending, and unemployment is rising. At the same time, the cost of necessities such as gas, healthcare, and education continue to rise." Map: Foreclosures state-by-state » . Daryl Brock, the executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank in California's San Bernardino and Riverside counties, said his organization supplies food to more than 400 charities in metro Los Angeles, from homeless shelters to soup kitchens to an array of food banks. While the majority of people they help are working poor families, he said they have seen some major changes. In the last 12 to 18 months, Brock said, the agencies he supplies have begun seeing more middle-class families coming to their doors. "Our agencies have said there is an increasing number of people coming to them for help," Brock told CNN by phone. "Their impression was that these were not people they normally would have seen before. They seemed to be better dressed. They seemed to have better cars and yet they seemed to be in crisis mode." He added, "The only thing they can do is give us anecdotal evidence that they think it's because of the sub-prime mortgage meltdown and the housing crisis." See recent trends of foreclosure filings » . A former loan processor, Guerrero knows all about that, although so far she has been able keep her house. She used her tax refund to help pay many of her bills for the first two months, but now that money's gone. She says she's now in a middle-class "no-man's-land." "It just happened so fast. It happened in a matter of -- what -- two months," she said. She's eager to get back to work and to hold onto her home until the market turns. But for this single mom, every day it becomes harder to hang on. "It's just depressing," she said. "For me, I just don't want to get out of bed, but I have to. That's my hardest thing. I have to." E-mail to a friend . CNN's Gregg Canes contributed to this report.

Patricia Guerrero went from making $70,000 to drawing unemployment checks . Desperate to feed her kids, she recently went to a food bank for the first time . Expert says charities are reporting a rise in middle-class families at food banks . Guererro: "It just happened so fast. It happened in a matter of -- what -- two months"

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Murphy bounds up the stairs, down the stairs, over the hurdles, through the tunnel and stops. He cautiously sidesteps the large white ring in front of him and sits down. Betty Yadlosky tries to tease her Himalayan Persian named Tangerine with a feather. "Through the ring! Come on, Murphy, through the ring!" his owner encourages, as she enthusiastically jingles a feathered toy on the other side of the obstacle. Murphy glances over, clearly saying, "There is no way I am jumping through that hoop." And anyone watching -- anyone who has ever owned a cat -- knows he is right. "It can be frustrating," Donna Hinton says from the sidelines of the agility course. "But it's a challenge, a new dimension to showing." Hinton is the owner of Kevi, one of the nation's top agility cats. Dressed to impress, Hinton looks more like a business executive than a cat fanatic -- but the breeder of Maine Coon cats has more than 20 years experience in pedigree showing. "Some people like to go to the golf course on the weekend. I like to go to a cat show," she says with a smile. This time around, it was last weekend's Cat Fanciers' Association's International Cat Show, in Atlanta, Georgia -- touted as the Western Hemisphere's largest cat show, with 729 cats from 41 breeds and 14 countries. Elaborately decorated cages fill both sides and the back of the convention center floor. Vendors sell everything from cat hammocks to gutter guards (even the show manager isn't sure why gutter guards are there), and a man in a wig shows off his tightrope-walking cats. But arguably the most important activity takes place just past the garbage cans marked "Dump litter here, please." Judging . Bob Druzisky carries Zoe -- short for Mittsnpaws Zoe of Wyldephyre -- two-handed under her belly, stretching her out to her full length as they walk to one of the 12 judging rings. "[We do this] to show her off to the crowd and to avoid handprints on her fur," he says. Zoe's judge wipes down his table with disinfectant and then picks up Zoe, staring into her eyes as her feet dangle four feet above the ground. He puts her down and proceeds to feel her coat and check her response time. At one point, she tries to escape from the table, but is nabbed by the quick-handed judge. The whole thing is over less than a minute later. Each cat is judged by six judges throughout the weekend, show manager Emily Turner says. The cats are split into three groups: kittens (less than 8 months), champions (adult cats), and premiers (adult neutered/spayed cats). These categories are broken down again by breed, color and sex. On Sunday morning, judges tally up the points and select the top two cats from each category. A panel then picks the best in show. "That's it in a nutshell," Turner says. Of course, it's slightly more complicated. Each judge must train for six years. They must know the standards for each breed -- written descriptions of the "ideal" cat -- and be able to tell which Siamese has the perfect ear width or which red cat has the best color. Time and money . The ideal breed standard is impossible to reach, Turner says, but owners spend hundreds of hours, and dollars, trying. That's most evident when an announcement comes over the loudspeaker for a DNA "blue-eyed" breeding seminar, starting in one hour. Druzisky and his wife, Jennifer, attend approximately 30 cat shows each year. The couple arrived in Atlanta with Zoe and Angel on Thursday night after a 12-hour drive from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Between gas, hotel rooms, entrance fees and cat supplies, Druzisky estimates the shows cost him between a couple hundred and $1,000 per month. Of course, showing cats is a lot cheaper than showing horses -- as Betty Yadlosky is quick to point out. She and her husband Bill showed horses for many years before switching to Himalayan Persians. The couple has 11 Persians, all of which need regular baths if they're showing. Each bath takes Betty Yadlosky an hour and a half to two hours, including a blow dry. So how much time does the average owner spend grooming their cats? "Just depends on how many you have and how well you take care of them," she says. "You've got to keep them healthy and happy." For the love of it . Back in the ring, Kevi is running Hinton ragged. He zooms through the other obstacles, only to stop short at the blue weave bars. Once, twice, three times he stops, before Hinton sighs, wiping her forehead with her arm. "I think we're tired," she says. "Bored, not tired," agility instructor Carol Osbourne calls out to Hinton. "[Kevi] could do this all night. Keep your body ahead [of the cat] and make a wide sweep with your arm." Hinton goes to scoop up Kevi, only to miss the rascal by inches. This starts a game of chase that ends with Kevi in a red carrier and Hinton laughing. Putting on a show this large takes more than a year, and it's scenes like this one that convince Turner her hard work is worth it. She says most of the people who come to shows are there simply because they love animals. "There's the best of all things," she says, speaking loudly over the call for Tokinese cats in ring three. "At night, when you go home you have this warm, fuzzy, cuddly animal that adores you and you adore him or her. I mean, how could you ask for anything better?"

Cat Fanciers' Association holds International Cat Show in Atlanta, Georgia . More than 700 cats of 41 breeds participate in show . Kuorii Santos of Cuzzoe wins "Best in Show" Cats give owners trouble on the agility course during training time .

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(CNN) -- A federal judge has stayed what would be the nation's first military execution since 1961, saying the U.S. soldier -- who was convicted of rape and murder two decades ago -- should have more time to pursue a federal appeal. Pvt. Ronald Gray has been on the military's death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, since 1988. A court-martial panel sitting at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, unanimously convicted him of committing two murders and other crimes in the Fayetteville, North Carolina, area and sentenced him to death. Last month, the Army said Gray was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection December 10 at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. But in an order issued November 26, U.S. District Judge Richard Rogers of Kansas said that a stay is necessary so Gray can pursue his federal appeal. Rogers ruled on a motion filed by Gray's attorneys, who asked for time to challenge the legality of his convictions and sentence. Government attorneys have asked Rogers to reconsider his decision, saying that Gray seeks a stay "apparently based on the premise that at some point he will identify a new legal issue or discover new evidence" upon which to appeal and that Gray "continues to delay unnecessarily." Gray has had ample time to appeal, the Justice Department attorneys said. In a response filed Tuesday, Gray's defense attorneys point out that the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal in March 2001, and "since then, it has taken the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice and the Office of the President over seven years to approve as final Private Gray's sentence of death. The significant constitutional issues presented on the face of Private Gray's case ... have obviously troubled the decision-makers, as evidenced by the years they had his case under advisement." President Bush approved Gray's death sentence in July, making it final, defense attorneys write in the filing. Inmates sentenced to death in state and federal courts are given a year to file federal appeals after their death sentence becomes final, they claim, and members of the military under death sentences should receive the same consideration. "Private Gray is seeking federal habeas court review for the first time and he has not delayed commencing this action," defense attorney Thomas Bath wrote. "In fact, until the president approved his death sentence, there was no action available." Gray was convicted of raping and killing a female Army private and a civilian near his post at Fort Bragg. He also was convicted of the rape and attempted murder of another fellow soldier in her barracks at the post. Military and civilian courts both found Gray responsible for the crimes, which were committed between April 1986 and January 1987. Gray pleaded guilty to two murders and five rapes in a civilian court and was sentenced to three consecutive and five concurrent life terms. The general court-martial at Fort Bragg then tried him and in April 1988 convicted him of two murders, an attempted murder and three rapes. Bush's July action, the Army said in a statement at the time, followed "completion of a full appellate process, which upheld the conviction and sentence to death." Members of the U.S. military have been executed throughout history, but just 10 have been executed with presidential approval since 1951 under the Uniform Code of Military justice, the military's modern-day legal system. The Army has also sought Bush's authorization to execute another condemned soldier, Pvt. Dwight Loving, who was convicted of killing and robbing two cab drivers in 1988. The last U.S. military execution was in 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged for raping and attempting to kill an 11-year-old Austrian girl. Bennett was sentenced in 1955. The U.S. military hasn't actively pursued an execution for a military prisoner since President Kennedy commuted a death sentence in 1962. Nine men are currently on military death row. CNN's Mike Mount contributed to this report.

U.S. soldier should have more time to seek federal appeal, judge says . Pvt. Ronald Gray has been on death row for 20 years . He was convicted of two murders and other crimes in North Carolina . Gray had been scheduled for execution December 10 .

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(CNN) -- Somalia's transitional president has resigned amid a power struggle with the African nation's prime minister and parliament, sources told CNN on Monday. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed tried to fire his PM this month but later lost a confidence vote. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed announced his resignation Monday before parliament in Baidoa. Ahmed's resignation is the latest turn in the political crisis in Somalia, which is already struggling with an Islamist revolt, a refugee crisis and rampant lawlessness that has fueled a wave of piracy off the Horn of Africa. Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991. The U.N.-backed transitional government has the support of Ethiopian troops that ousted an Islamist government at the end of 2006, but it controls little of the country outside the southwestern city of Baidoa. Ahmed attempted to fire his prime minister, Nur Hassan Hussein, earlier this month for being ineffective. But Hussein said the president did not have the power to fire him, and the vast majority of members of parliament backed Hussein in a vote of confidence. Kenya -- a major player in international efforts to stabilize Somalia -- warned that the government crisis endangered peace efforts and singled out Ahmed over his attempt to sack Hassan.

Somalia's transitional president resigns amid power struggle with PM, parliament . Country struggling with Islamist revolt, refugee crisis and rampant lawlessness . Kenya has warned that Somali government crisis is endangering peace efforts .

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Kathryn Kolbert is president of People for the American Way, a nonprofit advocacy group that supports equality and freedom of speech and religion. An attorney who has been recognized as one of the most influential lawyers in America, she appeared frequently before the U.S. Supreme Court from 1986-1997, arguing in favor of retaining a legal right to abortion. Before joining People for the American Way, she was executive producer of Justice Talking, a radio show about law and American life and senior research administrator with the Annenberg Public Policy Center. Kathryn Kolbert says Rick Warren's selection upset activists who supported Barack Obama . (CNN) -- The announcement that Pastor Rick Warren has been chosen to give the invocation at Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony landed with a thud in my inbox. Many people who know Warren as the affable megachurch pastor and best-selling author may be confused about the anger and disappointment that his selection has generated among progressive activists who worked so hard to help elect Obama. Here's my explanation; you can find plenty of other voices online. Warren enjoys a reputation as a bridge-building moderate based on his informal style and his church's engagement on issues like AIDS in Africa. He took grief from some of his Religious Right colleagues when he invited then-Senator Obama to his church for a conference on AIDS a couple of years ago. And, in August he hosted presidential candidates Obama and McCain at his church. Warren has worked hard to cultivate a moderate public personality but his views are very similar to those of traditional Religious Right leaders.In an email sent before the 2004 election he wrote a Falwell-esque message proclaiming that, for Christian voters, the issues of abortion, marriage for same-sex couples, stem cell research, cloning and euthanasia were "non-negotiable." In fact, he said, they are "not even debatable because God's word is clear on these issues." And while some Religious Right leaders were nervous that Warren would give Obama a platform to talk about poverty and the environment at the August event, Warren thrilled them by eschewing those issues entirely in order to emphasize issues like abortion and marriage that worked to McCain's advantage with the evangelical audience. iReport.com: Your thoughts on Rick Warren . Warren also campaigned for Proposition 8, the initiative that stripped same-sex couples in California of their right under the state constitution to get legally married. But it's not just his support for Prop. 8 that is so galling to equality activists. It's that Warren, in an interview with Beliefnet.com, has since equated allowing loving same-sex couples to get married with redefining marriage to permit incest and pedophilia. And he has repeated one of the Religious Right's big lies: that somehow allowing marriage equality to stand would have threatened the freedom of preachers like him to say what they thought about homosexuality. That's not remotely true, but it's a standard tool of Religious Right leaders trying to resist the public's increasing support for equality. In other words, Warren has been divisive and dishonest on the issues of marriage equality and religious freedom -- and on other issues important to many Obama supporters, as well. He adamantly opposes a woman's legal right to abortion and dismisses common-ground efforts to reduce the need for abortion by comparing them to accommodating the Holocaust. He is disrespectful of progressive people of faith, suggesting that they are tools of the Democratic Party or more Marxist than Christian. So much for the values of unity and respect, not to mention the constitutional principle of equality, on which President-elect Obama campaigned. Why exactly is he being given the high honor of delivering the invocation at one of the most historic ceremonies in American history? There is no shortage of religious leaders who reflect the values on which President-elect Obama campaigned and who are working to advance the common good. Rev. Joseph Lowery, who has been selected to give the benediction, is a lifelong advocate for justice. There are others like him, and in our increasingly diverse nation, they aren't all Christian. Rick Warren gets plenty of attention through his books and media appearances and has every right to promote his religious views. But he doesn't need or deserve a position of honor at the inauguration of a president who has given hope to so many Americans by rejecting the politics of division and emphasizing his commitment to constitutional values. I am still excited about the tremendous changes in policy that I expect under an Obama administration. But it's the job of progressive advocates to hold public officials accountable, and to speak up even when our friends drop the ball. This decision, which will leave a bad taste in the mouths of many passionate supporters of Barack Obama, is one of those times. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Kathryn Kolbert.

Kathryn Kolbert: Rick Warren has image of a moderate religious leader . She says his views are closer to those of the Religious Right . Kolbert: Warren backed Prop. 8 and opposed abortion and stem cell research . She says he doesn't deserve position of honor at Barack Obama's inauguration .

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(CNN) -- A new national poll suggests Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich could be on the top of Santa's naughty list. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich tops new CNN poll of which politician has been the naughtiest of 2008. Fifty-six percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Wednesday said Blagojevich, who has been arrested on corruption charges, was the naughtiest politician in 2008. Blagojevich, accused of attempting to sell President-elect Barack Obama's former Senate seat, has said he has done nothing wrong and plans to fight the allegations. The poll also found 23 percent believed former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer should get the nod, followed by 19 percent for former presidential candidate John Edwards. Spitzer resigned in March after it was revealed he was Client No. 9 in a high-end prostitution ring. In November, prosecutors announced they would not be bringing criminal charges against Spitzer. Edwards, who had been considered a major contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, admitted in August to having an extramarital affair with former campaign staffer Rielle Hunter. The former North Carolina senator also denied he was the father of Hunter's then-newborn baby. CNN polling director Keating Holland said while Blagojevich's top spot in the survey may be due to his arrest occurring more recently than the transgressions of the others, there may be another reason. iReport.com: Do you trust your political leaders? "Americans typically take a much dimmer view of corruption than of sex scandals, since the former is a violation of the public trust and the latter is usually considered more of a private matter," he said.

CNN poll: Rod Blagojevich was the naughtiest politician in 2008 . Illinois governor accused of trying to sell President-elect Obama's Senate seat . Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer was second in poll, followed by former Sen. John Edwards .

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(CNN) -- No budget for a new computer in this recession? It's a common malady these days. A self-admitted tech geek, Chris Pirillo is president of Lockergnome.com, a blogging network. But this doesn't mean you have to suffer along with substandard performance from your system just because it's got more dust on its cover and less hard drive space than that shiny floor model you've been drooling over at the local Fry's. Will an '09 Ford Escort outpace a '67 Mustang in a drag race? If the Mustang's been neglected and allowed to rust away in the back yard for the past decade, then...probably. If it's been babied and protected from the elements, then it's not even a fair contest. Like any machine, a well-maintained car or computer will surprise you, no matter its age. In our modern consumer culture, it's not surprising that many people are under the impression that newer always means better. Yesterday's top-shelf computer is as disposable as a Taco Bell spork, and what cost $3,000 four years ago is now surpassed by technology that didn't even exist -- for any price then -- for a comparable pittance. We're conditioned to kowtow to the expectations of obsolescence. Why settle for less, manufacturers will ask coyly, when we could have so much more -- interest-free for six months if we just sign up today? I'm here to tell you that even if you don't have the riches to get your dream setup today, you don't have to settle for less than what yesterday's perfect computer can offer. Here's a list of things that could help keep you and your machine playing nicely together for a while until you can save up enough pennies for tomorrow's offerings. It may be your software that's slow -- not your computer. Check for driver and version updates either at your computer manufacturer's Web site or through the list of software you use frequently; see if new drivers or versions are available. If you've been using the same programs for a year or two, it's likely that such updates are available, and those updates could result in noticeable performance improvement. The future of the desktop is on the Web, where there's little (if anything) for you to install to (and slow down) your system. For this reason, I recommend moving as many of your activities to the Web as possible. Many of today's Web sites are built with rich JavaScript frameworks, which enable amazing in-browser experiences for everybody. If you can, begin accessing and managing your email from the Web rather than the desktop. If you use more than one computer on a regular basis, this is likely what you're doing anyway. A lot of people I know swear by Google's Gmail (especially for its pretty good spam-filtering capabilities), but you have many options -- and most of them are free. At the risk of seeming Google-centric, I have to point out that it's even possible to manage basic documents and spreadsheets online -- once proprietary to bloated Microsoft Office products -- for free with Google Docs. And sharing the data from these applications for collaboration with friends and coworkers has never been easier. If you're still using Internet Explorer, stop! Please, stop. It's not fast -- not by today's standards. You're better off with a newer build of Firefox or possibly Google Chrome or Safari (my personal favorite). External hard drives are a good way of keeping transient data off your computer's core hard drive, which should give your operating system some extra room to do its job more efficiently. Another option takes us back to the Web -- you can often get an online backup plan that will remove your valuable data not only from that main hard drive, but also from your computer's immediate vicinity. If a calamity (whether human-created or, as insurance companies like to say, an "act of God") befalls your household, your data will be safe in a sanctuary far, far away and not melted on that physical, external hard drive next to that poor old computer we've been trying to save! Instead of downloading music and storing it indefinitely, consider paying for a music/content subscription service instead. There'll be less data bogging down your computer, less stuff for you to manage, and you'll have access to so much more content. Comparably minor hardware upgrades like more RAM or better video cards will likely make a major difference in your old system's performance. A second monitor is one way I've found of, if not making my computer more productive, at least making my interaction with the computer more productive. Doubling your screen real estate is a great way of getting the most out of the information that your computer's giving you without having to switch back and forth between pages on a smaller, single-screen setup. Make sure your video card supports this option; if not, there are USB converters that might help overcome this obstacle. See? Your old computer, treated with care and respect, can still make that pan-global road trip on the Information Superhighway. It just needs a careful hand on the wheel and a steady toe on the pedal to maximize its potential: That New Computer Smell on an Old Wallet Budget.

Here's how to squeeze the most performance out of your older computer . It may be your software that's slow, not your computer; check for updates . Move as many of your activities, such as e-mail, to the Web as possible . If you're still using Internet Explorer, stop! You're better off with a newer build of Firefox .

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Editor's note: You can follow the Bilsons' progress on CNN American Morning 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. through February 4. Mary Bilson tries to contain her autistic daughter Marissa's tantrum, as Marissa's brother Brendan looks on. Seal Beach, CALIFORNIA (CNN) -- The Bilson family is like many other families: three kids, a cat, and a small, lovely home with lots of family photos and carved wooden wall signs with sayings like "Live, Laugh, Love." But step inside their house after 4 p.m. most weekdays and you'll want to cover your ears because of the noise -- the screaming, to be exact. These are not the shouts of sibling rivalry or parental annoyance. This is the high-pitched, ear-shattering sound of a 13-year-old girl. More accurately, it is the sound of a frustrated, irritated, very loud teenager with autism. Marissa, the middle Bilson child, was diagnosed with autism when she was a toddler. Her mother, Mary, a nurse, knew something wasn't right early on, when young Marissa's tantrums were off the charts and seemingly unwarranted. But during the first few years, doctors told Mary Bilson that her daughter was fine and this behavior would eventually pass. They were wrong on both counts. Marissa's behavior has not passed; it has, in fact, become worse. According to Bilson, Marissa and her tantrums rule the household. "I don't want to hear her screaming and tantruming, so we pretty much let her do what she wants," Bilson says. "We" means Mary, her husband, John, and their two other children, Brittany, 15, and 6-year-old Brendan. Keeping the peace means that, when it comes to Marissa, the rules are different. She is allowed unlimited time on the one family computer. She is allowed access to her siblings' rooms and possessions. She is allowed to eat dinner at the computer instead of the family table. Watch part one of the Bilsons' journey » . But before you sit in judgment of the Bilsons, and suggest they just need a firm hand to keep their middle child in line, consider one thing: They are trying to cope with a child with severely impaired social sensibilities. "Do you think people who don't have children with autism know how tough it is to deal with them?" CNN's senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, asked Marissa's mom in a recent interview. "No," Mary Bilson replied. "And I don't see how they could." She's right -- we can't, because many of us have never seen autism in action, day in and day out. Learn more about autism » . Autism is described on the National Institutes of Health Web site as a "developmental disorder that appears in the first three years of life, and affects the brain's normal development of social and communication skills." According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, autism and related disorders affect about one out of every 150 babies born each year. Autism manifests itself in many different ways. Although there are some common threads, like language issues, repetitive movements and difficulties connecting to others, specific behavioral patterns are largely unique to the individual. "Children with autism are all different; they are like snowflakes," explains Dr. Ronald Leaf, co-director of the group Autism Partnership. The one thing that Leaf believes they all have in common is that "they are not expected to do enough." Leaf insists we have set the bar too low for what we think children and adults with autism can do. "They are highly teachable," he says. "You just have to have a good teacher." A good teacher is exactly what Bilson was looking for to help her with Marissa. The family had already tried various programs, starting when Marissa was a toddler -- but nothing completely worked for her. And as Marissa entered her teen years, her behavior grew worse. Mary knew that her daughter needed to be reined in, and it needed to be done now. "She is getting older. She's 13 and her tantrums are louder and longer than they used to be. It's just so inappropriate. It was OK when she was much younger, but now that she's going to be an adult soon, she can't be behaving this way," Bilson says with tired resignation. But what could the Bilsons do? This family doesn't have a lot of extra money, and most programs either aren't covered by insurance or have long waiting lists. The costs are staggering, according to the Web site FightingAutism.org. Families with autistic children can expect to spend $30,000 annually to provide proper medical, educational and other assistance necessary for dealing with an autistic child. Watch part two of the Bilsons' journey » . Enter Autism Partnership, or AP. This group, founded in 1994, offers extensive therapeutic services to children and adults with the disorder. One of its most unique programs is an intensive one-on-one, at-home intervention service that is similar in scope to what happens on the television show "Nanny 911." It's not cheap -- about $2,500 per day, typically for a five-day period (with additional days on an "as needed" basis). Most of AP's work is grounded in a behavior modification technique known as Applied Behavioral Analysis or ABA. Essentially, the method breaks down behavior patterns, rewarding proper behavior while being careful not to encourage improper responses. And that is exactly how AP therapist Rick Schroeder hopes to reshape Marissa Bilson's worst behavior. The group, which met Marissa while working in her school, offered the Bilson family a free week-long intervention with the proviso that CNN be allowed to record the process. The week started off with a day of observation -- a day with lots and lots of screaming and tantrums, that left Schroeder stunned. He had observed Marissa at school where, he says, she was much less demonstrative. But Schroeder is still eager and ready to tackle the challenge. "I think the family is starting to realize something needs to change, and that's very good," he says after his day of observation. "As far as Marissa's behavior goes -- and the level that she is capable of going to -- she's pretty much out of control, for sure."

CDC: Autism and related disorders affect one out of every 150 children . Each autistic child is unique in his or her behavior, but there are common threads . Social skills, communication are common problem areas . Marissa screams, throws tantrums -- behavior her family hopes to change .

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SAN ANTONIO, Texas (CNN) -- Three Americans rescued last week from captivity in the Colombian jungle will return to their homes Saturday, the U.S. Army South said. Left to right, Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves and Thomas Howes talk about spending more than 5 years as hostages. Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell have been undergoing a reintegration process at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, since their return 10 days ago to the United States. The men were among 15 hostages, including former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who were rescued July 2 in a Colombian military operation. The men carried with them a metal lock, a bullet and a chess board made of cardboard -- small items that are reminders of the years they spent away from their families, cut off from the world outside the jungle, seeing only fellow hostages and their captors, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The group had held the three U.S. government contractors hostage since February 2003, after their plane crashed in a remote region of the South American country. "They don't recognize humanity, they don't recognize human rights. They're animals. They're terrorists," Stansell said of the FARC. "We don't want to exaggerate what happened. We just want to tell the truth." The men painted a gruesome picture of their captivity, describing months in which they were ordered not to speak to each other and an initial campsite where they lived with a rat's nest above them. They slept on the floors of drug labs and were forced to march for hours while chained. Chains were very much a part of their captivity. "That was put around my neck every night," Stansell told Headline News' Robin Meade on Thursday, holding a heavy industrial lock. "This lock, with 5 meters of chain -- thick, 1-inch links -- went to his neck," Stansell said, pointing at Gonsalves. "We slept like that," he said. Watch how the rescue surprised the hostages » . Gonsalves also held small wooden chess pawns he had carved using a broken piece of a machete. It took three months to make them, he said. Watch Gonsalves talk about how chess made him feel free » . "We're in chains, sitting Indian-style on a piece of plastic, just playing chess," Stansell said. "And when you're doing that, you're free." Howes, the most reticent of the three, carried with him a bullet from a commander who had once threatened to kill him. But despite the chains, the intolerable living conditions and the isolation, being away from their families was possibly the most difficult hardship to endure, the men said. "I remember my darkest day was in the first month of our captivity," Gonsalves said. "We were, at that point, locked in boxes at night. ... That night, I dreamt about my daughter, who was my little girl and still is. And I had this dream about her that was so real; she was sitting on my lap, and ... she had little braids in her hair," he said. Watch Gonsalves talk about his darkest hour » . "It was a wonderful dream, with all of my family. But the problem was, I woke up." Colombian government agents infiltrated the FARC leadership over several months, eventually tricking the rebels into moving the hostages by saying a humanitarian group wanted to check on them. A helicopter carrying fake rebels picked up the hostages at a rendezvous point on July 2, ostensibly to take them to another rebel camp. But it was actually a Colombian military helicopter and the hostages were flown away, free, without a shot being fired. Read about the daring rescue mission . The FARC, which has been fighting with the Colombian government and other paramilitary groups for decades, defends the taking of captives as a legitimate act of war. The group is thought to be holding about 750 prisoners in the nation's remote jungles. Along with the former contractors, French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt was also freed from FARC. She was abducted by the rebels in 2002 during her campaign for Colombia's presidency. She told CNN's Larry King on Wednesday that her time as a hostage was "hell." Stansell, who was captured while his girlfriend was pregnant with twins, said he believed for a while that one had died. A guard told Stansell he saw a photograph of the girlfriend with only one son, he said, although the guard did not produce the photograph. Then, one day on the radio, he heard "two little guys ... sending me messages." On Sundays, Caracol Radio airs a program called "Voices of Captivity," a lifeline for FARC hostages as the program often plays messages from the family members of the hostages. "This is just a deep breath of happiness," Stansell said of his sons. Watch the full interview - Part 1; » Watch the full interview - Part 2 » . The radio was also how Stansell's girlfriend accepted his marriage proposal, which he had smuggled out with a hostage who had been released, he said. She also accepted in person after his rescue, he said. "And I looked at [her] and I said, 'This is a go, right?' She said, 'That's it. This is our family,' " he recalled. He said when he saw his sons for the first time, it was as though he had known them since birth. "I opened the door. ... I hear, 'Papa, Papa, Papa," he said. "And they just hit me; it was like I had never even been gone." Captivity also separated Howes from his wife and two sons. "Before this [I] was a guy that was kind of a typical American guy that was working, busy working, running through a life full-speed," he said. "I had a little boy when we crashed that was 5 years old, another one 15. Had a wife who was back in the States; we just got a house. I had 12 nights in the house of my dreams in the States," he said. "And suddenly, we drop off the face of the Earth." He said, "When you're in our situation, we realize what's important. We know. The three of us know better than any of you guys out there, it's the family. And I'd like everyone to listen very closely to that."

Former FARC captives talk to CNN a week after they were freed . One keeps a lock that held the chain that was placed around his neck at night . Another has a cardboard chess set that he carved as a hostage . FARC captured the U.S. government contractors hostage in February 2003 .

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(CNN) -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter met Sunday in Damascus, Syria, with Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas' political wing, a Hamas official said. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, left, walks with Jimmy Carter north of Damascus on Sunday, December 14. The five-hour meeting ended late Sunday and covered several issues, including Cpl. Gilad Shalit -- an Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas since June 2006, the official said. Carter previously met with Meshaal in April. In that meeting, the Hamas leader promised Carter that the group would allow Shalit to send a message to his parents, Noam and Aviva. Carter also asked Hamas to release Shalit, Meshaal said after the former president's visit, but the request was rejected. Watch report on Carter's meeting » . Hamas said Sunday it will soon release a statement about the latest meeting between Carter and Meshaal. Carter's series of meetings with top Hamas officials in April garnered condemnation from the U.S. and Israeli governments. They criticized him for engaging in diplomacy with a group that both governments consider a terrorist organization. How the incoming Obama administration will receive Carter's meetings with Hamas remains to be seen. During his visit in Syria, Carter also visited the Saint Taqla convent in the city of Maalula, north of Damascus, with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. CNN's Cal Perry contributed to this report in Beirut, Lebanon.

Hamas says five-hour meeting ends late Sunday in Damascus, Syria's capital . Carter's appeal for release of Israeli solider captured in 2006 is rejected . U.S., Israeli governments criticized previous meetings between Carter, Hamas .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- What recession? Christie's, the famed auction house, this week sold a nearly 36-carat diamond for $24.3 million, which it said was the highest price for a diamond sold at auction. The 35.56-carat diamond dates back to the 17th century. The previous record was a mere $16.5 million for a 100-carat diamond in 1995, Christie's said. "In the midst of these challenging times, we were thrilled to achieve an historic price for an historic diamond," said Francois Curiel, chairman of Christie's Europe and auctioneer for Wednesday's sale. The 35.56-carat Wittelsbach blue diamond, dating to the 17th century, was purchased by international jeweler Laurence Graff, the auction house said in a release. Graff was bidding against Aleks Paul of Essex Global Trading, a professional of Russian origin based in New York, Christie's said. "Known as 'Der Blaue Wittelsbacher' since 1722, it is one of very few diamonds which can claim 17th century heritage, incredible rarity and exceptional beauty." The diamond, mined in India nearly 400 years ago, has been privately owned since 1964. Until 1723, Christie's said, all diamonds worn by European royalty came from India. The diamond has a royal lineage. Christie's traces it thus: King Philip IV of Spain (1605-1665) selected the diamond in 1664 as part of a dowry for his daughter, the Infanta Margarita Teresa (1651-1673). She had become engaged to Leopold I of Austria (1640-1705), who later became Holy Roman Emperor. When she died in 1673, her husband retained the diamond, which was passed on to his heirs. In 1722, the diamond entered the Wittelsbach family when the Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria (1701-1756) married the Bavarian Crown Prince, Charles Albert (1697-1745). It was worn by successive rulers until the abdication of King Ludwig III (1845-1921) in 1918. The world's largest deep blue diamond is the "Hope Diamond," a 45.52-carat stone housed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Diamonds apparently are recession-proof. Christie's reported jewelry sales of $226 million for the first half of 2008, calling it "the best jewelry season ever seen at auction." Sales for the first six months of this year marked a 32 percent increase over the same period in 2007, Christie's said. According to Christie's, key diamonds the company sold in the first half of 2008 included a 13.39-carat fancy intense blue diamond that fetched $8.9 million in Geneva on May 14 and the pear-shaped potentially flawless 38-carat Onassis diamond, which sold for $7.1 million on June 11 in London.

Christie's sells nearly 36-carat diamond for $24.3 million . Amount said to be highest price for a diamond sold at auction . Jewel was mined in India nearly 400 years ago .

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Two of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s children are suing their brother, accusing him of wrongfully taking money from their parents' estates. Dexter King, left, Bernice King and Martin Luther King III attend a 2006 tribute for their late mother. Bernice King and Martin Luther King III allege that Dexter King took "substantial funds" out of Coretta Scott King's estate and "wrongfully appropriated" money from their father's estate. The suit, filed Thursday in Fulton County Superior Court, serves as a very public fissure in an iconic family that has always professed unity, particularly as questions have swirled around some of their financial dealings. In a written statement Friday, Dexter King called the suit "inappropriate and false." "I'm disappointed that our personal family disagreement, as it relates to the family business, has evolved into being handled in a public legal forum," he said. "It is my hope that this inappropriate and false claim by my siblings will be swiftly resolved and we can go about the business of focusing on our parents' tremendous legacy." The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead garbage workers on a protest march. King's wife, Coretta Scott King, also devoted her life to the civil rights movement, died in 2006. Attorneys for Bernice King and Martin Luther King III would not say Friday how much money they are accusing Dexter King of taking from their mother's estate. Bernice King is the administrator of that estate. Dexter King, the suit says, controls their father's estate, which is registered as a Georgia corporation. All three children are shareholders in that corporation. The lawsuit names Dexter King and the corporation as defendants. It alleges that last month, the defendants "converted substantial funds from the estate's financial account at Bank of America for their own use." Harmon Caldwell, an Atlanta attorney representing the plaintiffs, said Dexter King is a signatory on the account, but "was not authorized to transfer the funds," and gave his sister "no notice that those funds were being transferred." The suit says that as a result of the transfer, "plaintiffs have and will suffer financial loss." The lawsuit lists Bernice King as a plaintiff both individually and as administrator of their mother's estate. Separately, the suit says Dexter King "has wrongfully appropriated assets belonging to the [estate of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.] or its shareholders for his own benefit." Caldwell said Dexter King has refused to say what has happened with some of the corporation's money. "I can't tell you that he's gone out and used corporate assets for his own living expenses," the attorney said. "What I can tell you for certainty is that by not providing Martin and Bernice with information about how the corporation is using its assets, he is essentially using those assets, appropriating those assets for his own benefit." The plaintiffs' attorneys would not estimate the size of either estate. But one, Jock Smith, noted that a collection of King's manuscripts and other items was sold in 2006 for a reported $32 million. "I don't think it was a substantial corporation of any sort before that," Smith said. Over the years, the family of the civil rights leader has zealously protected its financial interests, at times taking legal steps even against the media for showing some of King's most famous speeches. In 2005, some news agencies reported on the King Center, a nonprofit, having put millions of dollars into a for-profit business run by Dexter King. The family rejected allegations of wrongdoing, and has generally pushed to keep financial matters private. Smith said his clients made repeated efforts to reach out to their brother in recent weeks before deciding to take legal action. Smith agreed with the suggestion that it was emotionally tough for the King children to file the suit. "That would be the understatement of the year, Smith said.

Bernice King, Martin Luther King III name Dexter King, father's estate as defendants . Suit also says defendants wrongfully took money from Coretta Scott King estate . Suit alleges defendants "converted substantial funds" for their own use . The suit was filed in Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta, Georgia .

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ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- A federal court Thursday struck down ordinances passed by Hazleton, Pennsylvania, that were intended to limit where illegal immigrants could live and work. Last year, Hazleton passed the Illegal Immigration Relief Act Ordinance, which would have fined landlords who rented to undocumented immigrants and would have penalized companies that employed them. Under another law, tenants would have had to prove they were citizens or lawful residents, register with the city and pay for a rental permit in order to receive an occupancy permit. The ordinances were copied by other cities. The court ruled that Hazleton cannot enact any ordinances dealing with illegal immigration because they conflict with the supremacy clause of the U.S. constitution. "Hazleton, in its zeal to control the presence of a group deemed undesirable, violated the rights of such people, as well as others within the community. Since the United States Constitution protects even the disfavored, the ordinances cannot be enforced," U.S. District Judge James M. Munley wrote in the 206-page opinion. Mayor Lou Barletta, who spearheaded the opposition, said he will appeal the ruling. "This fight is far from over," he told reporters outside the courtroom. "Hazleton is not going to back down. ... We will take it all the way to the Supreme Court if we have to." Watch mayor decry "injustice" » . Barletta drafted the act last year after "a high-profile murder, the discharge of a gun at a crowded city playground, and drug busts" allegedly involving illegal immigrants, he wrote on his Web site, www.smalltowndefenders.com. "Illegal aliens in our city create an economic burden that threatens our quality of life," he wrote. "With a growing problem and a limited budget, I could not sit back any longer and allow this to happen. I needed to act!" Hazleton's population was 23,000 in 2000. Since then, it has risen to an estimated 30,000 to 33,000, with many of the newcomers being Mexican immigrants, according to Munley. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania was among several groups that filed the suit on behalf of Hazleton residents, landlords and business owners. The groups contended that only the federal government has the right to regulate immigration or to deprive residents of the rights to equal protection. In addition, they said, the ordinances violated state and federal housing laws. The ordinances, Munley said, "penalize landlords, tenants, employers and employees without providing them the procedural protections required by federal law, including notice and an opportunity to be heard." "Our analysis applies to illegal aliens as well as to legal residents and citizens. The United States Constitution provides due process protections to all persons," he wrote, emphasizing "all." The city exceeded its police powers by enacting unconstitutional ordinances, wrote Munley, whom President Clinton appointed to the federal bench in 1998. Barletta said he would "continue to fight for the people of this community and other cities around the country." "It's almost amusing to me that the judge would say we can't do what the federal government should be doing, when in fact the federal government is not doing their job," he told CNN's Lou Dobbs. A spokesman for the ACLU of Pennsylvania expressed satisfaction with the ruling. "Hazleton-type laws are designed to make life miserable for millions of immigrants," said Vic Walczak, legal director for the group and a lead attorney in the case. "They promote distrust of all foreigners, including those here legally, and fuel xenophobia and discrimination, especially against Latinos." Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU, added, "Political leaders, like Mayor Barletta, must stop scape-goating undocumented immigrants for all the problems we confront in our local communities." E-mail to a friend .

Federal court throws out laws limiting where illegal immigrants can live, work . Judge says ordinances conflict with supremacy clause of U.S. constitution . Law would have fined landlords renting to illegal aliens . Mayor Lou Barletta: "This fight is far from over"

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- One of the best gifts you can give a child this holiday season may not be the latest gadget, toy, or tasty treat, but instead the gift of a healthy lifestyle. Participants get a workout at the FitWit fitness boot camp. An Atlanta-based non-profit organization is doing its part to combat childhood obesity by teaching kids proper nutrition and exercise in a six-week fitness boot camp similar to NBC's "The Biggest Loser." The FitWit Foundation hopes its program will catch on nationwide. "We wanted to work with teens in a meaningful way, and we saw firsthand how fitness and physical activity in general is being neglected in this population. With a lot of help from volunteers and donors, we've started a program this past spring that encourages hard work and is a fun way to get in shape," said FitWit instructor Ben Thoele. FitWit's program is a six-week after-school boot camp competition which rewards participants with prizes for meeting fitness goals. An iPod Nano was the grand prize for Atlanta Public Schools students completing a recent fitness session. Watch for more on FitWit » . Students who are motivated to get in shape but not involved in an organized sports team are selected as contestants. Participants' fitness levels are assessed at the beginning and end of the program. Each week, volunteers lead three 60-minute sessions that include fitness instruction and physical health education. In addition, the participants are assigned two home workouts to be performed between sessions. "After six weeks, all participants have an increased total fitness ability. We averaged over 40 percent improvement in total fitness in our first program last spring. It's common to have a participant double their fitness ability," Thoele said. "A lot of these kids don't know how to work out, or that they even have the capacity to work out. They gain an appreciation for pushing their limits, and when that happens, we see a tremendous boost in their self-confidence," he said. The need for increased fitness across the country is striking. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17.6 percent of U.S. teenagers were obese in 2006 -- more than triple the rate in 1980. Obesity puts the teens at increased risk for heart disease, bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems, the CDC says. "Success for us is when a kid is thinking about fitness outside of the program, because they enjoy how they feel when they're in better shape," Thoele said. "Our first winner, Raquel, told us that she continued to come because she just felt better. She had incredible numbers as well. She was not able to perform even one sit-up at the start of the program and did 21 in our final assessments. She also shed more than 90 seconds off her mile time." "Since I've been here, I've been eating healthy," one FitWit participant said. "I have been watching what I eat and drink. I drink three cups of water every day. And I exercise more often. I don't spend too much time inside my home anymore."

FitWit's program is a six-week after-school boot camp competition . CDC data shows childhood obesity is a huge problem in the U.S. Program rewards participants with prizes for meeting fitness goals .

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(CNN) -- An Austrian man who participated in a Nazi massacre of Jews during World War II and later gained U.S. citizenship has been deported to Austria, U.S. officials said. The Sachsenhausen concentration camp just north of Berlin where the U.S. says Krumpf worked as an SS guard. Josias Krumpf, 83, lived for years after the war in Racine, Wisconsin. The United States revoked his citizenship in 2005 after the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice sought to denaturalize him. Acting Assistant Attorney General Rita Glavin announced Krumpf's deportation Thursday. It was not clear when he arrived in Austria, and representatives of the Austrian Justice Ministry were not immediately available for comment. "His court-ordered removal from the United States to Austria is another milestone in the government's long-running effort to ensure that individuals who participated in crimes against humanity do not find sanctuary in this country," Glavin said. The United States removed Krumpf because of his participation in that and other Nazi-sponsored acts of persecution during the war, Glavin said. Krumpf admits standing watch on November 3, 1943, as SS guards at the Trawniki Labor Camp in Poland shot and killed 8,000 Jews, including women and 400 children, in pits. Glavin said Krumpf said he had orders to shoot any prisoners who survived. Krumpf also served as an SS guard at the Nazi-run Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in Germany and at slave labor sites in Nazi-occupied France, where prisoners under his watch built launching platforms for German missile attacks on England, Glavin said. The November 1943 shooting was part of a larger Nazi operation called "Aktion Erntefest," or "Operation Harvest Festival," that led to the deaths of 42,000 Jews at three camps in eastern Poland in two days, the Justice Department said. At Trawniki, Krumpf said, he was assigned to watch for victims who were still "halfway alive" or "convulsing" and prevent their escape by shooting them to death, the Justice Department said. Krumpf, who was born in Serbia, immigrated to the United States in 1956 and became a U.S. citizen in 1964. His removal to Austria is part of an effort by several U.S. government departments and law enforcement agencies to identify and prosecute participants in Nazi crimes of persecution who live in the United States, the Justice Department said. The Criminal Division's Office of Special Investigations (OSI) started the operation in 1979 and has since won cases against 107 alleged Nazi criminals, the Justice Department said. The OSI also has a watch list for World War II war criminals that has prevented the entry of more than 180 people into the United States, the Justice Department said.

Josias Krumpf lived for years in Wisconsin before being deported to Austria . The 83 year old admits he shot survivors during a masscare in Poland in 1943 . The U.S. revoked his citizenship in 2005, deported him to Austria this week . His removal is part of a U.S. effort to identify and prosecute Nazi war criminals .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- We're in Hollywood on this month's CNN Business Traveller where we look at style on the road. As travelers of the world, we want to express our own individuality, we want to fit in and look the part but at the same time stand out. Hollywood is the perfect place to look get to grips with style because in this city - image is everything. Watch the show. » . Why style matters . If we live in a particular way, we want the same when we travel; and the airline and hotel industry are more in tune with what we want than ever before. We look at why style matters on the road and in the air. Attire to suit every occasion . We get some golden rules from Hollywood stylist Negar Ali who shows Richard Quest how to co-ordinate and downsize his wardrobe, and a secret weapon - equivalent to the 'little black dress'. Bags of style . Your suitcase travels as much as you do and is often the next thing people look at after your clothes. For some, making a statement with their luggage is important, for others functionality is the key. Two business travelers road test some stylish pieces whilst on their business trip to Maastricht. Smart Traveller . This month's Smart Traveller focuses on tagging services that reunites lost property with the owner. Richard Quest found out that it really does work when he left his Treo PDA in the back of a New York taxi and only realized he'd lost it when he got an email from Zreturn once in LA. Sunrise to Sunset . Award-winning documentary maker Morgan Neville shows us round his hometown -- giving us ideas on how to enjoy our spare time in LA from Sunrise to Sunset. E-mail to a friend .

CNN goes to Hollywood to get to grips with traveling in style . Top Hollywood stylist shares tips on how to co-ordinate a wardrobe on the road . Two business travelers road test some stylish luggage on a trip to Malta .

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MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- More than 11,500 public servants have been suspended or fined for corruption during the past two years, the Mexican government said. Mexican President Felipe Calderon, at right, spoke at the National Public Security Session last month. "We have made an important effort to oversee the good use of public funds," said President Felipe Calderon on Tuesday. "We have broken up networks of corruption in Pemex [the state-owned oil company], ... in customs or in areas linked to construction of public works." Some 40 agents of the attorney general and of the secretary of security also are under investigation for presumed ties to drug cartels. Some are accused of receiving money from the narcotraffickers in exchange for information. Among them is the nation's former anti-drug czar, Noe Ramirez, who is accused of receiving $500,000 per month for passing information to the Pacific Cartel. Although organized crime has penetrated state institutions charged with fighting crime, Calderon said he had a program intended to work on that. Watch what Mexico is grappling with » . "With Operation Cleanup, we will continue acting against police, agents, public ministers or any servant implicated in corruption who may have crossed over the line to crime." The problem extends beyond bureaucracy. A poll by the organization International Transparency shows that Mexico is one of the emerging countries where businesses are more open to paying bribes. In all, 38 percent of Mexican businesses surveyed said they tended to use relationships with friends or relatives to obtain public contracts, and 32 percent said they had bribed politicians and government workers. "Clearly, this lends itself to corruption," said Jose Claudio Trevino, a senior manager with Ernst & Young in Mexico. Corruption is rampant in the private sector, particularly in deals that involve buying or selling, he said. According to official studies, more than 100 million acts of corruption are committed in the country each year, and the typical family spends the equivalent of 25 percent of its income on bribes.

International Transparency poll: Businesses in Mexico more open to paying bribes . Organized crime has penetrated state institutions charged with fighting crime . Some 40 government agents under investigation for presumed ties to drug cartels .

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(CNN) -- The former Utah state trooper suspected in a series of roadway shootings earlier this week died Wednesday, the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office said. CNN affiliate KSL in Salt Lake City, Utah, provided this file photo of the Dallas suspect, Brian Smith. Police said Tuesday that Brian Smith attempted suicide after Monday's shootings. Smith was brought to a local hospital in serious condition, officials said . At 7 p.m. Wednesday Smith died at Parkland Hospital, the medical examiner's office said. An autopsy is slated for Thursday. Two people were killed in the shootings along a three-mile stretch on and near the LBJ Freeway, about 10 miles northeast of downtown Dallas. Police used ballistic tests to link Smith, a 12-year veteran of the Utah state police, to three of the four shootings, Dallas Police Lt. Craig Miller said Tuesday. Miller said Smith was a suspect in both nonfatal shootings and one of the fatal shootings. He said it was unclear if Smith was a suspect in the fatal shooting that occurred first. The first attack occurred in the city of Garland at about 5:41 p.m. Victim Jorge Lopez, 20, was sitting in his Nissan at a traffic light in Garland when a man in a pickup pulled alongside him and fired shots into his car, killing him, Officer Joe Harn of the Garland police said. A few minutes later and two miles away on the LBJ Freeway, a gunman fired at two tractor-trailers. While one driver escaped injuries, William Scott Miller, 42, of Frankfort, Kentucky, was shot to death behind the wheel of a United Van Lines truck, police said. "He was going to be traveling home," Lt. Miller said. "He was about to park his rig. He was going to get on a plane to fly to be with his wife and children for the Christmas season and then come back to this location." Miller called the truck driver a hero because he was able to control his rig before he died -- preventing other motorists from being hurt. The fourth attack came a mile west on LBJ Freeway, where gunfire shattered the windshield of another tractor-trailer. The bullets missed the driver, but flying glass caused minor cuts, police said. Smith, 37, left his trooper job in Utah after he was caught abusing alcohol and drugs, CNN affiliate WFAA reported, citing an official report. The sergeant began using drugs and alcohol after his patrol car was rear-ended while he was writing a ticket, according to the report by Utah Peace Officers Standards and Training. He moved to Texas shortly afterward, the station said. Harn told WFAA that Smith's wife had phoned police Monday to say her husband was suicidal and driving around with a gun. Police were able to locate him using cell phone transmission towers. A three-hour stand-off followed, ending when Smith shot himself in the head, Harn said.

Police say ex-Utah officer was tied to at least three of four Dallas shootings . Police: Brian Smith was hospitalized in serious condition after a suicide attempt . Two drivers were shot and killed, another wounded in Dallas rush hour Monday .

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(CNN) -- When David Green, 22, graduated from Western Washington University in December, he applied for dozens of jobs, from fast food to secretarial positions -- sending out more than 50 resumes and scoring only two interviews in the process. The organization Reach to Teach has seen a 100 percent increase in applications to teach English in Asia. "It was horrible. I couldn't find anything," said Green, a history and social studies major. With few employment options in his hometown of Bellingham, Washington, Green applied to teach English in a South Korean middle school through Reach to Teach, an organization that assists college graduates with finding teaching positions in Asia. Green, who counts trips to Canada as his only experience abroad, will be leaving for Seoul on March 20 for one year. "I am scared. I've only had one major breakdown so far, ... but I'm really excited about being on my own ... somewhere completely new where I know absolutely no one," he said. Like Green, many recent college graduates are searching for alternatives to jumping into the job market in the face of the recession. An increasing number of young Americans are searching out paid positions teaching English in countries like South Korea, Japan, China and Spain as a means to expand their horizons and weather the economic doldrums. Mitch Gordon, director of school relations for Reach to Teach, said his organization has seen more than a 100 percent increase in applications in the last six months, with 3,784 applicants compared to 1,488 during the same six-month period last year. The application system doesn't track U.S. applicants separately, but Gordon estimates more than 70 percent are from the United States. The program also has seen a significant increase in current teachers extending their teaching contracts abroad for an extra year. Gordon said he believes the recession is the primary reason for the steady increase in applicants, and the increase has made the program more competitive. "We have more people for the same number of positions," he said. "We're able to raise our standards a little bit more." Japan's JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) program also has recorded a jump in applicants. For 2009 positions, the Japanese government-sponsored program has received 15 percent more U.S. applications than last year, according to program coordinator Joelle Williams. The program attributes the jump in part to the economic situation and the tough job market in the United States. JET officials also noticed that more applications arrived farther in advance of the deadline this year. 'Taking control of my own life' Ayana Hosten, a spring 2008 graduate of Claremont McKenna College, has been working as an English teaching assistant in Madrid, Spain, since February through a program organized by the Ministry of Education of Spain. Her contract is ending in June and she is already looking to extend her stay for another year. Spain's Ministry of Education has announced more than 1,200 openings for U.S. and Canadian "cultural ambassadors" for the 2009-2010 school year. Grants provide the teaching assistants with about $900 a month for the eight-month stay. Teachers are responsible for their own lodging and transportation costs, and applicants should have a functional knowledge of Spanish. For Hosten, 22, going to Spain was a way to escape a rough job market that left her without a full-time job between graduating and applying for the teaching program. "After being unemployed for three months, it really started to affect me emotionally, which was something I was not prepared for," Hosten said in an e-mail. "Going to Spain was me taking control of my own life and pretty much just wiping my hands of the financial crisis." Travis Lee, a University of Tennessee alumnus who is in a teaching program sponsored by a university in Wuhan, China, began teaching English in September 2008, originally intending to stay for one year. "Now I'm thinking of extending my stay for another semester or full year, and if I really like it and can't find a job in America, who knows?" Lee said in an e-mail. He said the economy and the tight job market have been a big influence in his consideration to stay in China. Trying another path . For many recent graduates, working abroad is becoming a more secure option than searching for a job in the United States. Most teaching programs in other countries will provide teachers with a salary and health insurance, and some programs in Asia will even provide free housing, said Jake Hanin, a teach abroad program coordinator for the Council on International Education Exchange, who also has noticed an increase in applications. For programs in Asia, fluency in English is usually the most important qualification for teaching jobs, and many do not require applicants to have previous teaching experience, Hanin said. Lee's salary in China is approximately $555 per month, which he says is more than enough to live comfortably in Wuhan. The university also provides him with a rent-free apartment and pays his electric bill. "We make twice what a Chinese teacher with a bachelor's makes and we do half the work," Lee said in an e-mail. But for Lee and many other recent graduates, working abroad is primarily about having once-in-a-lifetime experiences in a completely different culture. "You have plenty of time to get a career, start a family, and follow that path," Lee said. "Why not try another path first? What have you got to lose?" CNN's Marnie Hunter contributed to this report.

Economy is prompting some recent grads to delay entering U.S. workforce . Reach to Teach applications are up 100 percent from last year . Japan's JET program receives 15 percent more U.S. applications .

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SHANGHAI, China (CNN) -- In between selling tickets and greeting customers, Min Min turned his curvy 6-feet-tall frame to survey the spacious dance hall and revealed he is no ordinary doorman at this extraordinary place. Min Min hosts a drag show in Shanghai while not manning a ballroom dance hall for older gay men. "When I first started this, it was only a dozen or so of us," reminisced the former factory worker-turned-drag queen. "Now 300 people or more come each night." Welcome to Lai Lai Dance Hall, arguably the only entertainment venue for older gay men in Shanghai, if not the whole of China. Tucked away in a rundown neighborhood in the city's northeast, Lai Lai sits atop a public bathhouse, and features cracked wooden floors and a primitive sound system. Its location and facilities, however, belie its prominence in a community that thrives almost entirely underground. Every weekend, men flock here to unleash their ballroom dancing skill as well as their true identities for three treasured hours. Lai Lai's "gay nights" are only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Casually dressed in jeans and sneakers, men of various ages -- but mostly in their 40's and upwards -- and shapes filled the dimly lit dance floor one recent evening. They waltzed, jitterbugged and rumbaed in pairs to the nostalgic Mandarin tunes churned out by a live band on the small stage. "You won't see this anywhere else," said Min, organizer of this regular gathering, himself a middle-aged gay man whose dual passions lie in ballroom dancing and performing in drag. On this Sunday night, however, he was out of drag, donning a sweater and cargo pants. "I don't really do this for the money -- it's just great fun." Patrons pay a mere 5 yuan (70 U.S. cents) to enter and enjoy cheap drinks -- a bottle of beer costs just 3 yuan. Observing from the sidelines, one of Min's fellow drag queens -- known as Teacher Zhang -- noted most older gay men don't feel comfortable going to the more expensive bars or clubs frequented by the younger generation. "It's a totally different culture and environment in those places, while everyone fits right in here," said the 58-year-old former soldier and retired school administrator. "It's a rare outlet for people to relax, to find friends or sex." Zhang's personal story mirrors those of many patrons at Lai Lai. Realizing he was gay at an early age, Zhang -- like many gay men in China -- married a woman because of family and social pressure. He is expecting to become a grandfather this autumn. "My wife and my son have suspicions about me, but it's always going to be a question mark in their minds," Zhang said. "They have seen me perform folk dance in drag, but I will never let them see me in an intimate situation with another man." Unlike many among Lai Lai's largely blue-collar clientele, Zhang said success in running his own catering business has injected freedom and flexibility into his closeted life. "I bought a big duplex for my wife, and I told her I would stay in the old apartment to concentrate on work," Zhang said. "Chinese women at her age are very pragmatic -- they are satisfied as long as you take good care of the family." Taking precautions . Family issues aside, activists have pointed to inconsistencies in government policy to explain older gay men's reluctance to come out. Although homosexuality is not illegal in China and has been removed from the country's list of officially recognized mental disorders since 2001, it remains a taboo topic in the state-run media. Gay venues have popped up in major cities across China in recent years, but the authorities sometimes shut them down during politically sensitive times. The upcoming Olympics appears to be one such occasion, amid reports of a series of recent police raids on gay clubs, saunas and cruising spots in Beijing and Shanghai. Activists have voiced their worries about a new crackdown aimed at "cleaning up" the country ahead of the Summer Games in August. Both Zhang and Min said they will keep a low profile and be even more cautious about staging drag shows in the next few months. As an extra precaution, they requested their real names not published and Min also insisted no pictures be taken at Lai Lai. For now the dance routines continue and have attracted new fans like Ray Mahoney, an American volunteer with a local AIDS-prevention organization. Mahoney, 50, has been visiting Lai Lai with fellow volunteers to hand out free condoms and safe-sex literature. While he loves the uniquely romantic dance scene, Mahoney emphasized that he has an urgent message for Chinese gay men of his age group. He said many people in this generation, because of their educational and social background, have never used a condom before -- either with their wives or with their male sex partners. "I had three friends in the U.S. die in the 1980's of AIDS," Mahoney said. "The people at Lai Lai don't realize AIDS is really close to them and it's spreading quickly in the gay community here." Acknowledging the rising HIV-infection rate among gay men, Chinese health officials have quietly started their own outreach program, which calls for sending trained staff to gay venues nationwide to promote AIDS awareness and encourage voluntary testing. Although he has welcomed the volunteers and admires Mahoney's dedication, Min still focuses his attention on dancing. He is even prepared to set his sights on an alternative "Olympic" event that includes ballroom dancing as a competitive sport. "In the future we might," Min responded when asked if he and other Lai Lai regulars would join the Gay Games -- the gay answer to the Olympics -- next to be held in 2010 in Cologne, Germany. "We probably won't win," he said with a laugh. "But I bet we could finish in 6th place!" Steven Jiang is a Beijing-based freelance writer and former CNN producer.

Old dance hall one of few underground gay clubs in Shanghai for older generation . Caters for a different generation who enjoy ballroom dancing and drag acts . Homosexuality is not illegal in China, but culturally difficult for older men to come out . Many fear a crackdown on gay clubs in the lead up to the Olympics .

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(CNN) -- A man sought in the slayings of a woman and her four young children in Oklahoma was arrested Tuesday night after a car chase in Texas, authorities said. Joshua Steven Durcho was arrested Tuesday after a car chase with police. Joshua Steven Durcho was arrested in Waco, Texas, after a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper tried to stop the car Durcho was driving because the trooper suspected a drunk driver, according to Erin Mangrum of the Canadian County, Oklahoma, sheriff's office. The trooper checked the vehicle tag on the car and it matched the tag being sought by Oklahoma police, Mangrum said. Mangrum said Durcho's car sped off, but he later wrecked the vehicle, and Durcho was taken into custody. Durcho suffered minor injuries in the accident, Mangrum said. Officers found the bodies of Summer Rust, 25, and her children Monday in their apartment in El Reno, about 30 miles west of Oklahoma City. Rust's daughter Evynn was 3, son Teagin was 4, and daughters Autumn and Kirsten were both 7. Durcho is believed to have taken the slain woman's car, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said. CNN affilate KOCO reported that Durcho had been spotted Monday night in Clinton, Oklahoma. His image was captured by surveillance cameras, the affiliate said, quoting police. Authorities would not reveal how Rust and her children were killed, pending the outcome of autopsies. Rust's mother, Susan Rust of Carson City, Nevada, said her daughter had been shot, but she did not know how her grandchildren had been killed. Watch authorities name Durcho as the suspect » . Susan Rust said her daughter was loving and outgoing but tended to get involved with the wrong men. Durcho was unemployed and had been living with Summer Rust and her children, the mother said. Police were asked to check up on the family because Rust and Durcho had had a fight, she said. Summer Rust attended Redlands Community College in El Reno, where she majored in legal assistant training, according to school officials. Rust's mother said she was retraining after losing her job in casino security several months ago. "Summer was very bright, very outgoing, had a positive attitude and was very determined to complete her education," Julie Lamb of the college told CNN Radio. Lamb heads a student support program on campus. The school brought in grief counselors Tuesday to help students affected by the killings. Domestic violence groups also reached out to the students. A friend posting online described Summer Rust as "fun-loving" and "a little crazy kind of person" who was also very smart. "Her children were beautiful, funny and always cheerful and sometimes a little wild. They were a great bunch of kids and they loved each other very much. They were proud of their mom for going back to school," the friend said. "She was going to make a better life for her family. I can't believe something like this could happen to her and the kids. ... I will miss her silliness and her smile. I will miss them all."

NEW: Joshua Steven Durcho arrested after police chase in Texas . Durcho suspected in deaths of woman, four kids in El Reno, Oklahoma . Friends and relatives describe victim Summer Rust as bright, outgoing .

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(CNN) -- U.S. Masters -- April 9-12, 2009 . 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson puts the green jacket on 2008 winner Trevor Immelman. While The Open Championship at St Andrews, Scotland may rival it for history, few would argue that the U.S. Masters tournament is unrivalled in terms of beauty and exclusivity. Played at the prestigious Augusta National Golf club in the city of Augusta, Georgia, the first "major" of the golfing year is a strictly invitational event controlled by the club itself. The top 50 golfers in the official world rankings are all guaranteed an invite. The dramatic azalea-draped course -- the brainchild of golfing great Bobby Jones -- provides a tough test for the world's elite golfers, particularly since it has been lengthened or "Tiger-proofed" in recent years. However the relatively short 12th hole, named Golden Bell, is arguably the most challenging. Jack Nicklaus once called it "the hardest tournament hole in golf," due to the fact that its perilously narrow green is protected in front by Rae's Creek, with two sand traps behind it. Misjudge the wind or get your club selection wrong and the ball will most likely end up in the water. Since Horton Smith won the inaugural Masters title in 1934, the tournament has become as famous for its traditions as it has for the quality of golf on show. Winners are presented with a green jacket by the defending champion -- which they are obliged to return to the clubhouse the following year. Nicklaus, nicknamed the "Golden Bear," became the first golfer to successfully defend his green jacket. He also holds the record for the most titles won at Augusta with six -- his last coming in 1986 at the age of 46. American players currently dominate the competition, following a period in the 1980s and 1990s which saw European players, including Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo, win 10 titles in 17 years. Current world number one Tiger Woods has won four times at Augusta since 1997, while compatriot and rival for top spot, Phil Mickelson, won in 2004 and 2006. South Africa's Trevor Immelman is the current owner of the coveted green jacket. 2008 season in pictures » . U.S. Open - June 15-21, 2009 . Tiger Woods and his caddie walk up to the 18th green on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park in 2002. The second of the four major tournaments, the U.S. Open is hosted by the United States Golf Association (USGA). Since its inaugural event in 1895 at the Newport Golf and Country Club, the event has been staged at a number of different courses. What's your favorite tournament? It wasn't until 1913 that the U.S. Open championship really caught the imagination when a young American amateur, Francis Ouimet, stunned the golf world by defeating famous English professionals, Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, in a playoff. The format of the tournament has changed several times. The USGA extended the championship to 72 holes in 1898, with 36 holes played on each of two days. In 1926, the format was changed to 18 holes played each of two days, then 36 holes on the third day. In 1965, the present format of four 18-hole daily rounds was implemented for the first time. Over the years, much has been made of the way U.S. Open courses have been set up, with incredibly tough pin positions and rough thick enough to require a compass to navigate through. "Sometimes the players feel [the USGA] has gotten a little close to the edge on some holes," defending champion Retief Goosen told the BBC at Pinehurst, North Carolina in 2005. Two years later, when Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania hosted the tournament, World Golf.com quoted Tiger Woods as saying "a 10-handicapper didn't stand a chance at breaking 100" on a course that boasts over 200 deep bunkers. Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Willie Anderson and Hale Irwin have all triumphed at the U.S. Open on four occasions, while Woods, who won last year's event at Torrey Pines following a dramatic playoff victory over Rocco Mediate, counts three so far among his haul of 14 major titles. The U.S. Open is the only major that requires participants to play-off over 18 holes. This year's event at Bethpage State Park's Black Course in Farmingdale, New York should be familiar to Woods, as he won here in 2002. At 7,214-yards, the municipally-owned Bethpage was the longest U.S. Open course in history. The aptly-named Black Course even carries a warning sign about its difficulty on the first tee. In 2002, American Hale Irwin missed the cut for only the sixth time in 33 Open starts after two torrid rounds of 82 and 81. "They can go out and write a new book and title it, 'Massacre at ... wherever the heck we are," U.S. Open.com quoted him as saying. It remains to be seen whether the recently-injured Tiger can tame the course once again. Watch more about Woods' comeback » . The Open Championship -- July 16-19, 2009 . Padraig Harrington (right) and Greg Norman line up putts during the 2008 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Organized by the R&A, which takes its name from Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland, The (British) Open Championship is the oldest of the four major tournaments. It is also the only one held outside of the United States. First held in October, 1860, The Open was mostly played in Scotland during its early years. Prestwick Golf Club in Ayrshire was the birthplace of the event, which saw just eight players compete in its inaugural year. A year later the tournament was declared open to the whole world and the event has been known simply as "The Open" ever since. Since the early days, the R&A has established a rota of British seaside "links" courses to host the event. The major difference between a links course and a parkland course -- such as Augusta -- is that it is far less manufactured. Links courses are constructed out of the sandy, windswept coastal terrain, with few "man-made" additions. Players are faced with thick rough, narrow undulating fairways that snake around dunes, and lightening quick greens. There are far fewer trees and water hazards. When the wind gusts these courses demand the highest level of skill and imagination. This year's tournament will be held on the famous Ailsa course at Turnberry on the west coast of Scotland. With its dramatic views and elevated cliff-top holes, the 7,200 yard course previously hosted The Open in 1977, 1986, 1994. The winning aggregate scores in 1977 and 1994 rank among the lowest recorded in Open history, largely because the wind wasn't blowing as it can. Current Open champion Padraig Harrington will arrive at Turnberry looking to win the tournament for the third time in as many years. At Carnoustie in 2007, Harrington became the first Irishman to win The Open since Fred Daly in 1947. He defended his title the following year at Royal Birkdale, finishing four strokes ahead of England's Ian Poulter. Harrington has a long way to go before matching the great Harry Vardon's record of six Open victories between 1896 and 1914. Surprisingly, U.S. golfers -- more used to parkland courses -- have enjoyed great success in the competition in recent years, with 10 wins in 12 years. Tiger Woods, who missed out through injury last year, lifted the Claret Jug in 2000, 2005 and 2006. U.S. PGA Championship -- August 10-16, 2009 . Harrington pumps his fist as he sinks a putt to win the 2008 U.S. PGA Championship at Oakland Hills. The final major of the year, The PGA Championship is organized by the Professional Golfers Association of America (PGA of America) and is also held at a different course each year. The brainchild of New York salesman Rodman Wannamaker, the first PGA Championship was held at Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, New York in 1916 -- the same year the PGA of America was founded. The winners' trophy is named after him. The competition, which was only switched from a matchplay to a strokeplay format in 1958, does not allow amateurs to compete. It always attracts a world class field, in addition to a number of ordinary club professionals in the United States who can qualify through a national tournament. This year's tournament will be held at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, the scene of Rich Beem's defeat of a charging Tiger Woods in 2002. Beem, an unknown club professional who also sold car stereos, held off Woods by recording birdies in his final four holes for a 68 that gave him victory by just one shot. The 7,149-yard course is ranked among the top courses in the United States, according to the PGA. Its signature 16th hole features a wide open fairway that narrows into a long peninsula featuring an elevated green protected by Lake Hazeltine. This year Padraig Harrington will attempt to defend the trophy, a year after he pulled off a dramatic victory over Spain's Sergio Garcia at Oakland Hills. If he succeeds he will become only the second man -- after Tiger Woods -- to be back-to-back PGA Champion. However, both men lag behind Jack Nicklaus, who won a record-equaling fifth U.S.PGA title in 1980 at Oak Hill, Rochester -- the hometown of Walter Hagen, the player whose record Nicklaus tied.

U.S. Masters is always held at prestigious Augusta National, Georgia, U.S. 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage State Park's Black Course in Farmingdale, NY . Open Championship is the only major held outside the United States . U.S. PGA Championship is only major not open to amateur golfers .

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(AOL Autos) -- Ever wonder what goes into the making of that round, black, rubber thing that holds air, we refer to as a tire? To the casual observer all tires look the same, but there's a lot more to it than meets the eye ... There are many different tire designs and they may contain up to 200 raw materials. Modern tire construction has allowed for a degree of handling, ride comfort, traction, extended treadwear and fuel economy that far exceeds the tires of just a few years ago. Today there are tire designs that contain up to 200 raw materials, as well as complex architecture of steel belts, textile piles and computer designed tread patterns, which deliver maximum traction under all conditions. Each component of a tire is designed to perform its own function and to work together with the rest of the components. For instance, the belt system's job is to provide stability to the tread area, keep the tread grooves open, and work as a unit with the sidewalls to provide stability in cornering and handling. Kind of reminds me of the old song, "The toe bone's connected to the foot bone" well ... you get the picture, right? The major component in tires is rubber. How did this substance find its way into the American automobile tire? As with most inventions, this is a fascinating story. Rubber by itself is a gooey substance that is extremely sensitive to temperature. Back in the early 1830's "rubber fever" was the craze, and it ended as quickly as it started. At first, everybody wanted things made of this new waterproof gum from Brazil, and factories sprung up to meet the demand. Then abruptly, the public became fed up with the messy stuff that froze bone-hard in winter and turned glue-like in summer. Not one of the young rubber companies survived as long as five years. Investors lost millions and everyone agreed that rubber had seen its hay-day in America. AOL Autos: Best car deals of the month . Then Charles Goodyear stepped up to the plate. Through extensive experimentation and persistence, Goodyear found that rubber could be stabilized and formed into a useful compound by adding sulfur and applying heat. He found that steam under pressure, applied to the compound for 4 to 6 hours at about 270 degrees Fahrenheit, gave him the most uniform results. This was the beginning of rubber compounds! AOL Autos: Most popular sedans . Rubber compounding is like mixing a cake. Different ingredients are mixed together at different degrees to produce rubber with specific characteristics. Some rubber compounds are stickier for better traction when racing. Some compounds are much harder for heavy-duty work in construction or with heavy equipment. All-season rubber for all-season tires is rubber that doesn't freeze below thirty-two degrees, allowing for movement of the tread in the cold weather so it will grip and give maximum traction in all weather. AOL Autos: Best-selling hybrid cars . Ever wonder how a steel belted radial tire is constructed? Check this out. 1. First comes the construction of the casing. This is the body (or carcass) of the tire ... the "foundation" upon which everything is built. The casing is made up of a series of cords (most typically polyester) which are combined to form layers or piles. These layers are connected to two circular strands of steel called beads. Then the inner liner is added, serving as the air seal. Once the casing is formed, everything else is added to make up the tire. AOL Autos: Consumer reports picks best used luxury cars . 2. Next comes the steel belt. This is a belt made up of woven steel strands that cover the casing of the tire and is located directly under the tread. The steel belt adds strength and durability, aids in keeping the tread grooves open for maximum traction, and protects the casing against impacts and punctures. On high performance tires an extra belt is usually added for strength; this is a nylon overlay that is wrapped around the whole steel belt package. As the tire rolls faster it heats up. The nylon in turn heats up and tends to shrink, counteracting the natural tendency of centrifugal force to throw the whole thing apart at high speeds. AOL Autos: Cars with best Blue Book resale value . 3. Finally, the tread is added. Remember that this rubber compound is a special mix for a specific application and varies depending on the function of the tire. In this day and age, computers play a big role in the tread designs. Tread designs are tested for traction in "virtual reality" before they are molded into the rubber. While tread designs vary greatly, there are consistent elements present in all tread patterns. The tread block grips at its leading and trailing edge. Within each block, sipes are often molded or cut to provide additional traction. These sipes segment the block and allow for movement of each individual block so that when it comes in contact with the pavement, it opens and closes causing a squeegee (or pumping) action, cleaning the road surface as it rolls along. The grooves built into the tread pattern are designed to channel away weather elements such as water, snow, slush, and mud. To illustrate how a tread design channels away water, just pour water over the tread of the tire and watch the water directed right out of the sides of the tire. On the outside edges of the tires "shoulder lugs" are molded into the tread. These heavy segments provide protection as well as additional traction during hard cornering. A final note and credit to Charles Goodyear. He didn't just happen upon this discovery of rubber compounding and the use of heat. Goodyear spent five miserable years in poverty trying to perfect his idea. Then one day, it happened... the great discovery came in the winter of 1839. As stated earlier, Goodyear was using sulfur in his experiments. Although Goodyear himself has left the details in doubt, the most persistent story goes as follows. One February day, Goodyear wandered into Woburn's general store to show off his latest gum-and-sulfur formula. Snickers rose from the cracker-barrel forum, and the usually mild-mannered little inventor got excited and waved his sticky fistful of gum in the air. It flew from his fingers and landed on the sizzling-hot potbellied stove. When he bent to scrape it off, he found that instead of melting like molasses, it had charred like leather. And around the charred area was a dry, springy brown rim -- "gum elastic" still, but so remarkably altered that it was virtually a new substance. He had made weatherproof rubber! This discovery is often cited as one of history's most celebrated "accidents." Goodyear stoutly denied that. Like Newton's falling apple, he maintained, the hot stove incident held meaning only for the man "whose mind was prepared to draw an inference." That meant, he added simply, the one who had "applied himself most perseveringly to the subject." Thanks for your perseverance Charlie. Tom Torbjornsen is a veteran of 37 years in the auto service industry, an automotive journalist registered with IMPA.

Writer credits Charles Goodyear for developing rubber compounds . Tires may be constructed from 200 raw materials . Tire casings are made up of a series of cords, which form layers . Tread designs are first tested for traction in "virtual reality"

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DENVER, Colorado (CNN) -- Early indications show no problems with the landing gear, tires or brakes on the Continental Airlines jet that veered off a runway at Denver International Airport in Colorado, despite earlier reports. The wreckage of the Continental Airlines plane sits in a ravine December 22 in Denver, Colorado. "There's no indication from the physical examination on the scene of brake problems at this time," said Robert Sumwalt, a National Transportation Safety Board member leading the investigation team. Saturday's accident injured more than three dozen people, including the captain who piloted the plane. Sumwalt said preliminary evidence indicated no problems with the Boeing 737's landing gear, tires or engines before the jet ran off the runway into a 40-foot-deep ravine during its take-off roll. Earlier Monday, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN that early indications suggested that a problem with the landing gear, tire or brakes may have caused the accident. The source said the problem could have caused a wheel to lock up or some other situation that would have made the plane veer off as it headed down the runway. Watch what NTSB official has to say about flight recorders » . "The brakes showed no leaks, no locked brakes," Sumwalt told reporters late Monday, adding that the brake pads "looked good." He said tire marks indicate that all four main landing gear were inflated. The weather was clear, and no obstacles were on the runway, he said. The accident injured 38 people, most from bruises and broken bones as frightened passengers tried to flee a fire that broke out on board Flight 1404. No fatalities were reported. Sumwalt said the captain, an 11-year veteran of Continental, was injured in the accident and "not physically able" to be interviewed yet. But an investigator interviewed the first officer, who told them that the initial take-off roll and taxi was normal. The the co-pilot "noticed a deviation from the center line of the runway and a sudden left turn," Sumwalt said. An off-duty crew that flew the aircraft into Denver before the Saturday flight to Houston was also on board. The first officer from that crew said there was "absolutely no problem with the aircraft" during the previous flight. Sumwalt said the cockpit voice recorder "shows nothing out of the ordinary" during the preflight operations. He said the recording revealed that 41 seconds after the brakes were released, there were sounds of bumping and rattling. Four seconds later, a crew member called for a rejected takeoff. Flight 1404 was taking off about 6:18 p.m. Sumwalt said the plane reached a maximum speed of 119 knots (137 mph) before going into the ravine. Passengers on Sunday described the chaos inside the plane after the plane came to rest. Watch survivor describe crash on blog » . "Some people were trying to get luggage from the top, the engine was on fire so I was worried, you know, about getting out of there," said Gabriel Trejos. "And then we had another guy yelling, 'Oh the plane's gonna blow up! The plane's gonna explode!' " Another passenger, Jeb Tilly, described the experience as "incredibly violent." Watch first responders on the scene » . Trejos, who was traveling with his wife and baby, told CNN he sensed something was wrong with the plane before it took off. "I heard something over the intercom before, you know, that they were having engine problems and shortly after that they said that everything's fine ... there's going to be an on-time flight." Continental spokeswoman Julie King, however, told CNN that she was unaware of any announcement of engine problems on board the flight. Sumwalt agreed, saying, "I don't have any information, no one has come to us that they knew of a problem" before the accident.

NTSB says early evidence does not point to tires, brakes or landing gear . Earlier report from CNN source suggested a potential problem . Captain was injured in accident and hasn't been interviewed yet . Jet veered off runway into a 40-foot-deep ravine during its takeoff in Denver Saturday .

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(CNN) -- Police digging for clues in the deaths of six people found in the New Mexico desert hope the identification of one set of bones will generate leads. An Albuquerque, New Mexico, police forensics team member digs last week at the burial site. The remains of Victoria Chavez and five other people were found in a 92-acre area housing development under construction just west of Albuquerque. Chavez was a prostitute and drug user who was last seen in 2003 and reported missing in 2004, Albuquerque police said. The six bodies were found after a woman walking her dog found a human bone two weeks ago and notified police, said John Walsh, Albuquerque police spokesman. Authorities have not yet identified the other five sets of bones but say they might find others. Attempting to piece together identities could take a long time because, they said, "it's very difficult" to determine cause of death from skeletal remains. "We're going off of one remain so far," Walsh said. "And that's all we've got at the moment. We've only got skeletal remains. "This is a slow go," Walsh said. "Things won't pop up in hours, likely in weeks." Chavez's remains were identified through dental records that her family provided when she was reported missing in 2004. It will be tougher to identify the others. For example, one had no dental work and another had no skull. The cause of Chavez's death was not known, but Walsh speculated that her death could be related to violent sex trade. He said police are looking at reports of missing prostitutes over the years and are trying to determine possible suspects. He said he hopes family members of those missing could help authorities. Police are trying to figure out how the bodies got there. They are investigating the possibility that one person put the bones there. "At this stage, the best way I can describe it, we have a handful of theories," Walsh said. The names of two dead men have surfaced during the investigation of Chavez's death, Walsh said, confirming a news report. One was a pimp who died of natural causes. The other was killed by a pimp after he killed a prostitute, the report said. The last set of remains exhumed at the site was nine or 10 feet deep. Authorities were using heavy and light equipment and cadaver dogs to find bodies and clues. Investigators think there could be even more remains buried on the New Mexico site.

NEW . Only one body identified; she was a prostitute last seen in 2003 . The bones of six bodies found in desert west of Albuquerque . Authorities fear remains of even more bodies might be buried there .

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(CNN) -- A rat believed to be extinct for 11 million years, a spider with a foot-long legspan, and a hot pink cyanide-producing "dragon millipede" are among the thousand newly discovered species in the largely unexplored Mekong Delta region. The "dragon millipede" is among the 1,068 new species discovered in the Mekong Delta region. The region, including parts of Vietnam and five other countries, is home to 1,068 species found between 1997 and 2007, according to a World Wildlife Fund report released this week. Some of the creatures were not lurking in fertile floodplains or tropical foliage. A scientist visiting an outdoor restaurant was startled to see a Laotian rock rat among the nearby wildlife. The hairy, nocturnal, thick-tailed rat, which resembles a squirrel, had been thought for centuries to be extinct. "There is a certain amount of shock because our scientists will sometimes see something that doesn't fit anything they know," said Dekila Chungyalpa, Director of the Fund's Mekong Program. "They run through a catalogue of wildlife in their brain, asking themselves, 'Have I seen this?'" Perhaps a more startling discovery than the rat was a bright green pit viper scientists spotted slithering through the rafters of a restaurant in Khao Yai National Park in Thailand. The Fund dubbed the Mekong a "biological treasure trove." The organization's report "First Contact in the Greater Mekong" says 519 plants, 279 fish, 88 frogs, 88 spiders, 46 lizards, 22 snakes, 15 mammals, four birds, four turtles, two salamanders and a toad were found. Scientists are still trying to determine if they have uncovered thousands of new invertebrate species. Scientists are discovering new species at a rate of two per week, said Chungyalpa, who said the reason for publishing the report now was twofold. "We realized that we should highlight these discoveries in part because of the legacy of war and conflict in the region," she said. "There's an urgency with the threat of development in the Mekong countries." A horned bovine found in 1991 living in the evergreen forests of the Annamite Mountains of Laos and Vietnam has not been found in recent years, she said. Timber development and mining industries are encroaching. There are 150 large hydropower dams that have been constructed along the Mekong river, and another 150 are slated to be built, according to the Fund. Dams that can trap and kill fish are at different stages of planning in the Greater Mekong. High variation in geography and climate zones that enabled species to flourish are now jeopardized by climate change, said Chungyalpa. War is always a threat in countries touched by the Mekong River, particularly Burma. Also known as Myanmar, the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia has been ravaged over the years by conflict, political instability and natural disaster. This summer, for example, the United Nations reported that as many as 100,000 people were killed by a cyclone that hit Myanmar. The country's ruling military junta blocked the outside world for weeks before allowing aid to flow into the region. There are cultural obstacles to protecting rare species, too. Many restaurants serve them as food. Restaurants often have rickety bamboo floors that one can look through to see cages filled with exotic animals, Chungyalpa says. The more exotic the animal, the more status it often bestows on the person who consumes it. "Reports [like the WWF's] are important because these regions can be educated," said Maureen Aung-Thwin, the director of The Burma Project, which is funded by the George Soros Foundation and supports local Indonesian organizations working toward an open society. "People are taking climate change more seriously and even the ruling junta have a forestry NGO. There are glimpses of hope," said Aung-Thwin. "But it's also a situation where someone could step forward and say 'We don't need this' and cut it all down." WWF said it is working with governments and industry to plan the conservation of more than 231,000 square miles of forest and freshwater habitats that cross borders with all countries in the Greater Mekong.

World Wildlife Fund documents new species of mammals, plants, lizards, fish . 1,068 species were found between 1997 and 2007, according to WWF report . WWF calls the Mekong Delta region a "treasure trove" of rare creatures .

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(CNN) -- Venice has suffered its worst flooding in 22 years, leaving some parts of the historic Italian city neck-deep in water, reports said Monday. A woman wades through high waters in Venice's Piazza San Marco. Water burst the banks of the coastal city's famed canals, leaving the landmark Piazza San Marco -- St Mark's Square -- under almost a meter of water at one point, news agency ANSA reported. Strong winds pushed waters to a high of 1.56 meters (5 feet 2 inches) at 10:45 a.m. local time, prompting the city government to issue warnings to the public, the agency said. The flood level began to drop soon afterwards, prompted by a change in the direction of the wind. Previous highs include 1.58 meters in 1986 and 1.66 meters in 1979, the news agency said. Watch more about the flooding » . Photographs showed people wading through inundated piazzas and waves lapping over waterside cafe tables. Venice, built around a network of canals and small islands, has for years been trying to tackle the problem of floods that have regularly blighted the city. In 2007, the United Nations cultural organization UNESCO warned Venice -- a designated World Heritage Site -- is under threat from rising sea levels caused by climate change. See pictures of Venetians wading through flood waters. » . It said that unless the problem is tackled, Venice could be flooded daily and water levels would permanently rise by 54 centimeters in the city by the year 2100.

Venice reportedly suffering one of its worst floods in 22 years . Landmark Piazza San Marco under almost a meter of water at one point . UNESCO has warned Venice at risk of high waters caused by climate change .

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NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Three British guards jumped overboard and were rescued from the water after battling in vain to prevent pirates hijacking a chemical tanker off the coast of Somalia. Three British security guards board a helicopter to be transferred to a Royal Navy vessel. The Liberian-flagged Biscaglia came under "sustained and heavy attack" early Friday morning, Nick Davis, Director of Anti-Piracy Maritime Security Solutions (APMSS), said in a statement. The three APMSS-employed security guards -- all former British servicemen -- mounted "sustained non-lethal resistance" but were unable to stop the attackers seizing control of the ship, Davis said. The trio were airlifted to safety by a German naval helicopter and flown to a French frigate after the vessel summoned assistance from coalition warships. They were later transferred to a British Royal Navy ship. All three were unhurt, Davis said. "I have spoken with my team leader on the phone and he informs me that the level of violence was significant and forced them reluctantly to leave the vessel after every effort was made to ensure the safety of the ships crew," Davis said. Pirates continued to shoot at the three in the water, Davis said. "The hijacked vessel with pirates in control then attempted to run them down." The Biscaglia is managed by Singapore-based Ishima and owned by Winged Foot Shipping in the Marshall Islands and was crewed by 25 Indians and two Bangladeshis who are believed to be still onboard. The vessel is believed to be on its way to an anchorage in Puntland, northeastern Somalia, Davis said. iReport.com: Share your view from 'Inside Africa' Also Friday, pirates released the Greek ship MV Centauri, which was hijacked in September off the coast of Somalia, according to Andrew Mwangura, the head of the Kenya Seafarers Association. There was no immediate information about the 25 crew members on board the ship when it was taken. A multinational naval force including vessels from the U.S., NATO member states, Russia and India has been patrolling the Indian Ocean waters seas near the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, following a sharp increase in pirate attacks in the region. Around 20,000 oil tankers, freighters and merchant vessels pass along the crucial shipping route each year. So far this year, pirates have attacked almost 100 vessels off the coast of Somalia coast and successfully hijacked nearly 40, according to the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Center. The most high-profile hijacking so far came earlier this month, when pirates seized a Saudi oil tanker carrying $100 million worth of oil and a crew of 25, although that attack occurred outside the pirates' normal operational range, 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya. Pirates are still holding the ship. Another vessel held since September is the Ukrainian MV Farina, which was carrying a cargo of weapons and tanks and a crew of 22. In an interview provided to CNN this week, a pirate leader claimed attacks on shipping would continue as long as life in Somalia remained desperate. "The pirates are living between life and death," said the pirate leader, identified by only one name, Boyah. "Who can stop them? Americans and British all put together cannot do anything." The interview was conducted in August by journalists working for the Somali news organization, Garowe.

3 security guards battle pirates, jump overboard as tanker hijacked off Somalia . British trio were rescued from water by German naval helicopter . Liberian-flagged Biscaglia also carrying 25 Indians, 2 Bangladeshis . Pirates release Greek ship MV Centauri, held since September .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has signed a deployment order to move an additional 3,000 troops to Afghanistan next year, according to U.S. military officials. Helicopters are the main transportation of the U.S. military in Afghanistan, with its high mountain terrain. The troops will be part of a combat aviation brigade, the latest approved by Gates for the expected build-up of U.S. troops in Afghanistan throughout next year. Earlier this year, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David McKiernan, requested at least 20,000 additional troops be sent there to fight the increasing violence by the resurgent Taliban forces in the southern and eastern parts of the country. The officials could not say what units are being tapped to go because those units are now being told of their deployment and the announcement has not yet been made public. The aviation brigade will send a number of much-needed helicopters to the region. Helicopters are the main transportation of the U.S. military in Afghanistan, where high mountain roads and passes make it difficult for large transport vehicles to move troops and supplies around the country. There are more than 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, a Dutch soldier was killed Friday in southern Afghanistan, the NATO command confirmed. The soldier died in an improvised explosive device strike, according to a news release from NATO's International Security Assistance Force. "Our sincere condolences and sympathies are with the family and friends of this brave soldier, especially during this holiday season," said ISAF spokesman Capt. Mark Windsor Royal Navy. "This soldier's death is an irreplaceable loss to all of us who fight for the peace and stability of Afghanistan. ISAF will continue to fight for the cause for which this brave soldier gave his life." Eighteen Dutch troops have died in the Afghan conflict, according to a CNN count of casualty figures.

Troops will be part of a combat aviation brigade; transport helicopters to be sent . They are latest to be approved for expected build-up of U.S. troops next year . Dutch soldier has been killed in southern Afghanistan, NATO confirms . Soldier died in an improved explosive device strike .

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HOLLYWOOD, Florida (CNN) -- For nearly three decades, John Walsh's black leather jackets and swagger have made him a crime-fighting cultural icon. But when he returned this week to the Hollywood police station, he was once again the father of a murdered child. John and Reve Walsh turned their grief into activism on behalf of missing children and crime victims. His face was ashen. His eyes were red and brimming with tears. He clutched the hand of his wife, Reve, as police closed the books Tuesday on their 27-year investigation into his boy's abduction, murder and decapitation. Ottis Toole, a convicted pedophile and murderer who was a partner of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, was officially named the killer. Toole died in prison for an unrelated crime in 1996. After his son's death, Walsh became an advocate for missing children and crime victims, and host of the TV show "America's Most Wanted." He always thought Toole was the boy's killer. Now he knows for sure. "For 27 years, we've been asking, 'Who can take a 6-year-old boy and murder and decapitate him? Who?' We needed to know," Walsh said. "The not knowing has been a torture, but that journey's over." "We will always be the parents of that little boy," Reve Walsh said. Watch Reve Walsh thank her children » . In 1981, the world seemed to be a much safer place. It was not unusual for parents to let children play outside unattended or to drop them off at parks, malls and schoolyards. After Adam's murder, his parents went through tough times, separating and later reconciling. They raised three other children, who are now 26, 24 and 14. Adam would be 33. Walsh said the birth of their oldest daughter, Megan, "probably saved our lives, because she was born a year after Adam [died], when we were spiraling into hell." Perhaps to save themselves, they made it their mission to preserve Adam's legacy by helping other crime victims. The abduction and murder of Adam Walsh also fundamentally changed the way law enforcement agencies look for missing children. Chad Wagner, the police chief in Hollywood, where Adam was abducted, said law enforcement back then was "like a whole 'nuther world." Watch the chief close the case » . Hollywood police were accused of some major blunders in their investigation, and Wagner apologized to the Walshes for those mistakes. The case, he said, "made us a better agency.... If this same type of situation were to occur today, I would tell you it would be a much quicker, much better, much cleaner outcome." "In 1981, when Adam disappeared, you couldn't enter missing children information into the FBI computer system," said Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The Walshes are co-founders of the center. "You could enter information on stolen cars, stolen guns and stolen jewelry, but you couldn't enter information on missing children," he said. Walsh, who before Adam's murder was a hotel developer, went to Capitol Hill and began a second career as an activist for crime victims. He fought for passage of the 1982 Missing Children's Act, which created the FBI's national database. Today, there are at least 80,000 missing children listed in the database. In 1981, when Adam was taken and killed, there was no coordinated national response to child abductions. The 18,000 police departments across the United States did not effectively communicate. "Most police departments would tell you he probably just ran away, if he doesn't come back, call us in 48 or 72 hours," Allen said. "But, what we've found in 75 percent of cases, the child is dead within the first three hours. Waiting until the day after tomorrow is just too late." Walsh lobbied for more federal legislation and by 1984, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was up and running. With it came an explosion of activism that resulted in the faces of missing kids being printed on milk cartons and on fliers that have gone into 85 million homes a week for 23 years. There also have been advances in age enhancement photography. "Code Adam" is now an internal alarm at 70,000 department stores and shops that alerts employees to potential threats to children. The employees are trained to lock the doors when the alarm goes off. "It's a powerful example of the legacy of one little boy and his courageous parents," Allen said. Beyond the technical advances, there are social and cultural changes as well. People have become much more aware of crime, predators and fugitives. The Web site for John Walsh's show, "America's Most Wanted" says it has helped catch 1,049 fugitives. "Society has built on a lot of the things they have done," said CNN law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks. There are surveillance cameras at businesses, and Amber Alerts are issued when a child is missing. Walsh "has helped law enforcement immensely," Brooks said. "The more eyes and ears you can get out there looking for a missing person, the better." The Walshes raised their three other children in an envelope of pain and grief for a sibling they never knew. On Tuesday, the Walsh children, now grown, accompanied their parents to the police station in Hollywood, Florida. They stood silently as their parents clutched hands and fought tears, once again victims, once again the parents of a murdered child.

Murder of Adam Walsh, parents' response, changed law enforcement . Adam, 6, was abducted and murdered in July 1981 . Police closed case Tuesday, named deceased drifter Ottis Toole . Boy's father, John Walsh, became activist for crime victims .

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(CNN) -- Caroline Kennedy, the 51-year-old daughter of President John F. Kennedy, has indicated her interest in filling the New York Senate seat being vacated by secretary of state designee Hillary Clinton. Caroline Kennedy has her eyes on the New York Senate seat. "I've talked to Caroline Kennedy and she's clearly interested," New York Sen. Chuck Schumer said at a news conference Monday afternoon. He indicated that 12 people were interested in the position. "She's interested in the position," New York Gov. David Paterson confirmed. But at the same time "she realizes it's not a campaign." Paterson, who will name Clinton's successor, noted that Kennedy had indicated a desire to "sit down and tell me what her qualifications are." The Rev. Al Sharpton also released a statement Monday indicating that he had received a call from Kennedy "who expressed to me her interest in [Clinton's] Senate seat." Kennedy's interest in the seat could mean the continuation of a family legacy in the Senate that began 56 years ago with the election of her father as the then-junior senator from Massachusetts. Background: The Kennendys in Politics » . Her uncle Ted Kennedy has represented Massachusetts in the Senate since 1963, and her uncle Robert Kennedy served as New York's junior senator from 1965 until he was assassinated in 1968. "Remember, [Clinton's] seat in the Senate was once held by Robert Kennedy," said Bill Schneider, CNN's senior political analyst. "[Caroline Kennedy's] other uncle, Ted Kennedy, is ill right now. If Paterson appoints Caroline Kennedy to the Senate, it means there could be a Kennedy staying in the Senate for quite a long time." Watch Sen. Schumer on the possible candidates » . CNN reported earlier this month that Caroline Kennedy had called Paterson to discuss the possibility of taking the seat. Paterson has the power to appoint a replacement, who will then face a special election in 2010 to fill out Clinton's term. Paterson confirmed to CNN last week that Kennedy had called and "asked a few questions" about the expected vacancy. One Democratic source close to the Kennedy family told CNN earlier this month Kennedy was "interested to say the least" in the Senate seat and had asked a tight circle of other family friends and political advisers for advice. Before this year, Kennedy generally limited her forays into the public sphere to nonpartisan activity, penning books on civil liberties and serving as the de facto guardian of her father's legacy. But in January, she backed a political candidate for the first time, announcing her endorsement of Obama during the Democratic primary season with an op-ed in The New York Times that drew days of the kind of media attention she has spent her life avoiding. "I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them," she wrote. "But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president -- not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans." "Apparently, she has acquired a taste for politics," Schneider noted. "She wants to be part of this new regime in America, clearly playing a key role in the Senate if she gets that appointment." Watch Bill Schneider's report » . There are a slew of high-profile candidates for Clinton's Senate seat, including New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, whose last name carries some star power of its own New York, where his father was once governor. Kennedy's roots in New York also run deep. Her mother, Jacqueline Kennedy, relocated to New York after her husband's assassination in 1963, with children Caroline and John F. Kennedy Jr. Caroline Kennedy has also spent most of her life in the city, working there after graduating from Harvard, meeting her husband, Edwin Schlossberg, on the job at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and attending Columbia Law School there. Her most prominent public roles involved overseeing her father's presidential library and presenting the annual Profiles in Courage Award. She's also edited several books, from a volume of children's poetry and an updated edition of her father's book "Profiles in Courage" to a collection of patriotic verse ("A Patriot's Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories, and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love"). Most of her leadership positions have been based in the arts: serving as host of the annual nationally televised Kennedy Center Honors in Washington and serving as the honorary chairwoman of the American Ballet Theatre, as her mother did. In late spring and early summer she was mentioned as a possible vice-presidential candidate and more recently as a contender for secretary of education in an Obama Cabinet. But elected office would mark a major shift for Kennedy. In a 2002 Time magazine interview promoting the updated "Profiles in Courage," Kennedy would not rule out the possibility of a run for public office. "I don't have any plans to do that right now," she said. "I don't plan ahead. My kids are young, and I'm really happy to be able to be around. But I do care about issues, and I'm interested in them. So I don't see that now, but you know, I have a long life ahead of me." CNN's John King, Kate Bolduan, Mark Preston and Alexander Mooney contributed to this report.

NEW: Sen. Schumer says Kennedy is "clearly interested," one of 12 candidates . Kennedy's interest in the seat could mean the continuation of a family legacy . Gov. David Paterson can appoint replacement who will face special election in 2010 . Kennedy is the daughter of former President John F. Kennedy .

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(CNN) -- One person has died and another was trapped in a pair of avalanches in the Utah mountains Sunday afternoon, authorities said. One of the Utah avalanches, at Snowbird Ski Resort, buried one woman under 2 feet of snow. She later died. Heather Gross, 27, died Sunday evening at a hospital in Salt Lake City from her injuries, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Deputy Levi Hughes said. Gross, a county resident, had been buried under 2 feet of snow by an early-afternoon snowslide at Snowbird Ski Resort, Hughes said. Rescue teams found her about an hour after the avalanche, and she was flown to University of Utah hospital, where she died. A man who was with her at the time was not injured and reported the slide, Hughes said. A second avalanche occurred nearby in the backcountry area known as Lake Desolation, said Randy Doyle, a spokesman for the Big Cottonwood Canyon resorts nearby. He said the avalanche, which left at least one person trapped, was not within the resort.

NEW: Woman taken University of Utah hospital dies of her injuries . Woman was buried under 2 feet of snow in avalanche at ski resort . Witness contacted authorities; woman rescued an hour later . One person trapped after second avalanche near resort, officials say .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- One million free text messages will be sent every day for 12 months from Monday in South Africa in a bid to raise HIV awareness and encourage testing for the disease. Former South African president Nelson Mandela launched a similar cell phone initiative in 2003. The ambitious Project Masiluleke is being rolled out across the country after a pilot period that saw calls to a AIDS national helpline shoot up by 200 percent, organizers say. The United Nations estimates that there are currently six million people living with HIV in South Africa and just one in 10 get the treatment they need. "South Africa is the epicenter of the global HIV epidemic," said HIV activist Zinny Thabethe in Octorber at an annual conference for the social innovation network Pop!Tech, an organization instrumental in developing the concept. 'Project Masiluleke,' or 'Project M' was set up to try to encourage people to seek testing and treatment in a country where cell phones are abundant. Africa is cited as the fastest growing mobile-phone network in the world. In South Africa, more than 80 percent of the population has one -- the country has a population of 49 million, and it is estimated that 43 million have cell phones. Almost 95 percent of the phones are prepaid. The initiative plans to broadcast millions of health messages every month to phones across South Africa. "This is the largest ever use of cell phones for health information," said Gustav Praekelt, one of the project's originators. "There is near universal coverage," said Praekelt during the launch of the project. "And in the absence of other services, the mobile phone has become the central component for people to get access to information." Organizers say 'Project M' will offer South Africans the privacy to get tested and pursue treatment options and counseling by staff who are HIV positive themselves. The system sends the messages using a so-called "Please Call Me" (PCM) service. This free form of text messaging, common across Africa, allows someone without any phone credit to send a text to a friend asking them to call. Each sent PCM message has the words "Please Call Me," the phone number of the caller, and space for an additional 120 characters. The extra space is normally filled with advertising, which helps offset the cost of running the service. The message reads: "Frequently sick, tired, losing weight and scared that you might be HIV positive? Please call AIDS Helpline 0800012322." Encouraging people to get tested is a huge challenge in a country where people with the AIDS virus still face stigma and shame. However, 'Project M' appears to be having an impact, since it was initiated in October. "We have observed a dramatic increase in the call rate to the AIDS Helpline -- from approximately 1,300 calls per day to a new average of 3,600," said Milo Zama, Projects Development Manager for LifeLine, one of the partners. Trained operators provide callers with accurate healthcare information, and referrals to local testing clinics . Many of the messages are broadcast in English and in local languages such as Zulu. As well as Pop!Tech, the project has been developed and funded by HIV charities and technology and design firms, including Nokia Siemens, MTN, the Praekelt Foundation, iTeach and National Geographic. Pop!Tech's Director of Communications Jason Rzepka told CNN there are plans to expand the project to other affected countries after its official launch in February 2009. He said: "One of the objectives of the February launch event will be to secure additional funding, so we can continue to expand Project Masiluleke into its planned 2nd and 3rd phases beyond South Africa."

One million free texts will be sent every day for 12 months from Monday . Project Masiluleke has seen rise in use of AIDS helpline during pilot project . The initiative plans to send millions of health messages every month .

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(CNN) -- Drew Peterson has met with a prominent divorce attorney more than a year after his wife, Stacy, disappeared, his lawyer confirmed to CNN on Tuesday. Drew Peterson's behavior after his wife disappeared deepened suspicion, but he says she ran off. Peterson, a former Bolingbrook, Illinois, police sergeant, has not filed divorce papers, said his attorney, Joel Brodsky. But Peterson told an author he would look into a divorce after Stacy had been missing for a year. He said he was considering divorce for the sake of their children. "I can confirm that Drew Peterson did have a consultation with Jeffrey Leving," Brodsky said, adding that no divorce papers have been filed. Leving, who bills himself as a father's rights lawyer, represented Cuban immigrant Elian Gonzalez's uncle and ultimately helped reunite the boy with his father. Police have said that 54-year old Peterson is a suspect in his wife's disappearance, which investigators have labeled a "potential homicide." Peterson maintains that his wife, who was 23 at the time of her disappearance, left him for someone else. In an interview in May with Derek Armstrong, author of "Drew Peterson Exposed," Peterson hinted that he planned to divorce her after she had been missing for a year. In Illinois, willful desertion or abandonment is grounds for a divorce after a year. The interview begins with Peterson expressing frustration with the media attention and negative reactions from his neighbors. "We were talking about the neighbors and how it's hard to live in the neighborhood with the media trucks around and the neighbors being so difficult," Armstrong told CNN. "I asked if he was going to move, and he said, 'Yeah, when I get a chance, but Stacy's on the title.' " After the one-year anniversary of Stacy Peterson's disappearance passed, Armstrong said he began to make some phone calls to see whether Drew Peterson was acting on his earlier plans. Armstrong said he called two other prominent divorce lawyers until he reached Leving's office, which confirmed the meeting. In a phone conversation, Peterson confirmed to Armstrong that he was "getting information" and "exploring options." Armstrong pressed Peterson, who responded, "A desertion. She deserted me." Peterson elaborated, "I've always said that I'm mad about that. But I'm looking into this for the kids. This neighborhood is not healthy for my kids because of Sharon Bychowski." Bychowski has been battling Peterson since his wife -- her friend and neighbor -- disappeared in October 2007. Peterson has accused Bychowski and other neighbors of harassing and threatening him. Armstrong asked Peterson whether he thought news of the divorce might encourage Stacy to contact him. "I have nothing more to say," the former cop shot back. Brodsky told CNN he had not been aware that news of the meeting with the divorce lawyer had become public knowledge. "We definitely didn't advertise it," he said. "That's real thorough detective work. [Armstrong] could show police a thing or two about finding someone." Drew Peterson said he awoke at his suburban Chicago home to find his wife gone October 28, 2007. He said she called him at 9 p.m. and announced that she was leaving him, Peterson said. Police confirm that there was some activity on Stacy Peterson's cell phone about 9 p.m. October 28, but her family and close friends say she would never leave her two children behind or go away without mentioning it to her family. In the days leading up to her disappearance, Stacy Peterson confided in friends and her sister. She said she was afraid of her husband and wanted to leave him, according to her sister, Cassandra Cales. "If anything happens to me, he killed me. It wasn't an accident," Cales quoted her as saying. At 10 a.m. that Sunday, Stacy Peterson failed to show up for an appointment with a friend. Worried, Cales called police Monday, October 29, and reported her sister missing. The media frenzy and police scrutiny soon revealed that Drew Peterson's third wife had died mysteriously a few years earlier during a nasty divorce. Kathleen Savio died just before the division of the marital assets was finalized, making Drew Peterson the sole beneficiary. Savio was found in the dry bathtub of her home. At the time, the death was ruled an accidental drowning. But her family continued to insist that Savio died as a result of foul play. The investigation into Stacy Peterson's disappearance brought renewed interest in Savio's death. Authorities exhumed Savio's body, further tests were conducted, and her death has now been ruled a "homicide staged to look like an accident." Some witness statements portray Drew Peterson as jealous, possessive and controlling. He was said to keep such close track of his wife that he frequently called her cell phone and appeared unannounced at social outings to take her home. This caused tension in the marriage, the witnesses told police. Police named Drew Peterson as the prime suspect in his wife's disappearance in November 2007. He has not been charged in the case, but he has been charged with illegal gun possession, which could put him behind bars for up to five years if he is convicted.

Peterson says he's looking into options since wife deserted him a year ago . Peterson: Neighbors are making it unsafe for family to live in home . Stacy Peterson left him October 28, 2007, husband says . Police have said Drew Peterson, an ex-cop, is prime suspect .

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(CNN) -- Houston Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada is expected to plead guilty Wednesday in federal court to a count of lying to Congress about his knowledge of Major League Baseball players using performance-enhancing drugs, according to officials familiar with the case. Miguel Tejada, a shortstop for the Houston Astros, has been charged with lying to Congress. In a document filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Tejada is charged in a criminal "information," a document that routinely signals a plea bargain agreement. The document does not directly accuse Tejada of using steroids or other substances. However, the court document says that in 2003 Tejada gave another player more than $5,000 in checks "for substances which he believed to be HGH [human growth hormone]." The document says Tejada lied to congressional investigators when he told them on August 26, 2005, that he had never heard discussions about steroids by other players, and that he never knew of any other player using steroids. After the December 2007 Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball, which appeared to contradict Tejada, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform asked the Justice Department to investigate whether Tejada "made knowingly false statements to the committee." The investigators concluded he had lied. "Defendant Tejada unlawfully withheld pertinent information from the committee because defendant Tejada before and during his interview with the committee staff, then and there well knew that Player #1 [unidentified], one of his teammates on the Oakland Athletics, had used steroids and HGH," the document says. Tejada played for the Athletics from 1997 to 2003. He is scheduled to appear at 11 a.m. Wednesday before a magistrate judge, indicating the charge against him will be a misdemeanor carrying a maximum sentence of a year in jail. However, a government official familiar with the case said that under sentencing guidelines, Tejada could get from zero to 6 months, which means he may receive probation without jail time. Tejada, who started his MLB career in 1997, hit at least 30 home runs from 2000 through 2004 with the exception of 2003, when he hit 27. He won the American League's most valuable player award in 2002, when he hit a career-best 34 home runs. He matched that total in 2004, his first year with the Baltimore Orioles. He began playing with Houston in 2008. The information came one day after MLB star Alex Rodriguez -- the New York Yankees' third baseman since 2004 -- admitted that he had used a "banned substance" during the 2001-2003 seasons. Sports Illustrated had reported that Rodriguez had tested positive for steroids in 2003, when he was playing for the Texas Rangers.

Court document: Tejada knew teammate used performance-enhancing drugs . Document: Tejada lied in 2005 when he denied knowing of players using steroids . Houston Astros shortstop charged with lying to congressional investigators .

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Two-year-old Tangena Hussain vanished three months ago in the Detroit suburb of Hamtramck, Michigan, and police say the trail has gone cold. Tangena Hussain, 2, has been missing since October 2 and police in Michigan are asking for the public's help. Tangena's mother called police on the evening of October 2, 2008, to report her daughter missing after frantically searching the area where she was last seen. The child's mother, Nilufa Begum, told police she had left the girl in the care of her boyfriend, Jamrul Hussain. Although Tangena and Hussain have the same last name, he is not her father. Begum told investigators her daughter was with Hussain all day while she worked at the Northland Mall. Hussain said he stopped at a gas station with Tangena while on the way to the mall to pick up Begum. They stopped at about 9 p.m. to buy gum and juice, he said. Hussain told police he left Tangena in the car for only a few moments and when he returned, the little girl was gone. He did not call police and did not conduct a search, but instead drove to the mall and picked up Begum, investigators said. When she saw Tangena was not with Hussain, Begum asked him where she was. His response was cryptic, she told police. He said he would take her to the place where her daughter was. Begum became alarmed as Hussain drove to a gas station where, he said, Tangena disappeared. They searched for Tangena together, while Begum called the police to report her daughter missing. A surveillance camera shows the boyfriend, Hussain, going into the gas station's store, police said. On the video, he makes some purchases and leaves within a few minutes. But there is no video of the area where Hussain parked his car, nor any video that could show whether the little girl had been there or how she might have disappeared. Police have not named a person of interest in the toddler's disappearance. When the media picked up the story, a teenager came forward, saying she recognized Hussain as the man who allegedly attacked her. During the investigation, police discovered that the young accuser, then 15, had been Hussain's prior girlfriend. Hussain, 24, was arrested and charged with two counts of having sex with a minor. He is free on bail while awaiting trial. "My client is innocent of the charges. He did not have sex with a minor child," said Hussain's lawyer, Shawn Patrick Smith. Tangena's parents said they just want answers. Her father, Mohammad Ahmed, lives in New York and added $5,000 to an existing Crimestopper's reward of $1,000. "We are praying that someone knows something that can help us find my daughter," Ahmed said. "How can a child disappear without someone seeing something? Something doesn't fit about [Hussain's] story." When questioned, Begun told police only she and Hussain saw Tangena in the week leading up to her October 2 disappearance. A Michigan Amber Alert was issued for Tangena at 5 a.m. the morning after she disappeared. But in the months since, police have hit a dead end. Police and family members are turning to the public for help. If anyone has seen Tangena Hussain or has any information regarding her whereabouts, please call the Detroit Police Department at 313-596-1240. Tangena is 3' 2" tall, weighs 34 lbs, has black short hair, brown eyes, and is of East Indian descent. She was last seen wearing white cargo pants, brown long-sleeved T-shirt with a cartoon picture on the front and gold sandals. The reward for information leading to the whereabouts of Tangena Hussain is $6,000.

Tangena Hussain last seen on October 2 . Mother left child, age 2, in care of boyfriend . Mom's boyfriend says child disappeared from car at gas station . A $6,000 reward is offered. Call Detroit police at 313-596-1240 .

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(CNN) -- Barack Obama's daughters are moving into a house with a swimming pool, a bowling alley and its own movie theater. Sasha Obama, left, and Malia Obama will make the White House home come January 20. When their father is inaugurated on January 20, Malia Obama, 10, and Sasha Obama, 7, will also be moving into a place where they'll not only be under the watchful eye of the Secret Service but also under the eye of the media. "One of the negatives of the White House is that its very much a fishbowl," presidential historian Doug Wead said. "There's something that Sasha or Malia will say or do and they'll be remembered for it for the rest of their lives," said Wead, who wrote "All the Presidents' Children," a book on the lives of kids at the White House. Watch what life's like for White House kids » . Theodore Roosevelt's children used to like to drop water balloons on foreign dignitaries, Wead said. They also let their pet snake slither around the White House dining room. John F. Kennedy Jr. was known for hiding under his father's Oval Office desk. His older sister, Caroline, had a pony who romped untethered around the White House grounds. President Abraham Lincoln's youngest son, Thomas, used to startle everyone in the building by making all the White House bells ring at one time. But with the mischief and pranks comes a lifetime of pressure, said Noah McCollough, who wrote the book "First Kids." "John Quincy Adams' kids went through alcoholism and addiction because they couldn't live up to their parents expectation" in their later years, McCollough said. Read up on the blessed and star-crossed lives of some other White House kids » . Much of Malia and Sasha's White House experience will be monitored by their mother, Michelle Obama, who seems determined to be active in their lives. Even as her husband campaigned for the presidency, Michelle Obama was a soccer mom, cheering from the sidelines of her daughters' games. "I'm a mother first. And I'm going to be at parent-teacher conferences, and ... I'm going to be at the things that they want me to attend. I'm not going to miss a ballet recital," Michelle Obama said. Together with the president-elect, she'll have to decide where the girls will attend school. "If they send their child to a private school they'll be called elitist for betraying the public school system," Wead said. Jacqueline Kennedy, not wanting Caroline being hounded by the media as she went to school, set up a first-grade classroom on the third floor of the White House. Ten of Caroline's friends also attended, each bringing their own lunch pail. President Jimmy Carter sent daughter Amy, age 9 when she moved to Washington, to the public Hardy Middle School. President Bill Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, attended the private Sidwell Friends School. No matter the choice, even their grades will come under public scrutiny. "If you flunk that huge math test, it's on the front page of the newspaper the next day," McCollough said. But assuming no one gets grounded for bad grades, imagine the possibilities for sleepovers or parties. President Gerald Ford's daughter Susan, for example, held her senior prom at the White House. Whatever the educational choice, the Obamas have made clear their kids won't be an afterthought now that Barack Obama is about to become the world's most powerful person. On Friday morning, before the president-elect met with his advisers on the troubled economy and before his first news conference since the election scheduled for the afternoon, Barack and Michelle Obama went to a parent-teacher conference at the University of Chicago Lab School. And the girls will have company at the house on Pennsylvania Avenue. "You have earned that puppy that is coming with us to the White House," their father told them in his acceptance speech.

Malia Obama, 10, Sasha Obama, 7, will be in the public eye . Historian: Kids will do something that they'll be forever remembered for . Flunk a test and make headlines, historian said . Pranks and mischief: Teddy Roosevelt's kids dropped water balloons on people .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- British people love pubs -- so much, in fact, that a recent survey found that they cherish only fish and chips and the Queen more. A combination of factors including the smoking ban, higher taxes and cheap supermarket alochol are hurting pubs. Yet this enduring icon of British culture is under threat after having flourished for hundreds of years. Recent surveys found that more British pubs are closing than ever before -- victims of an indoor smoking ban, higher taxes and food prices, and changing times. Tuesday marks one year since England followed Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland to ban indoor smoking at pubs, restaurants and bars. Some feared that would mark the death of the traditional British pub in all its smoky glory -- and they were quick to blame the ban when surveys found the pub numbers in sharp decline. Those findings, released in March by the British Beer and Pub Association and CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, showed that more than 1,400 pubs closed in 2007. That's a sharp increase from 2006, when 216 pubs closed; and 2005, when just more than 100 closed down. The advocacy groups, however, say the ban may be just one of many factors shutting pub doors. Watch more on the decline of British pubs » . Pub owners -- landlords, as they're called in Britain -- are turning in their leases for a variety of reasons. Some say it's hard to compete with cheap alcohol sold at supermarkets, a trend increasing amid the credit crunch. Others feel they could make more money operating as a wine bar or cafe. Patrons say two things in particular have had an impact on the decline of pubs -- one being the smoking ban. Those who used to enjoy a smoke along with their pint now must smoke outside, and many pubs -- particularly in urban areas -- have little space or shelter on the sidewalk. CAMRA says, however, that the effects of the smoking ban, introduced just halfway into 2007, are "not yet fully evident." Pubgoers were also turned off by a boost to alcohol taxes. "Rents and rates are shooting up," said Ian Lowe, a spokesman for CAMRA. "There's also things like excise duty. The chancellor kindly put another 4 pence [8 cents] on the price of a pint, and while supermarkets can probably absorb that, the pubs have to pass it on [to the customer]." Pubs are also passing higher food prices on to the customer, denting a plan by many proprietors to fall back on the menus to boost business. About 57,000 pubs remain in Britain, and while they may be under threat, they're not going away any time soon. A drink at "the local" -- where social and financial status cease to matter -- remains one of the average Briton's favorite pastimes. "If you took a guy from the 10th Century and brought him forward in time, the only things he would recognize in the world today are churches and pubs," said Peter Brown, the author of "Man Walks Into a Pub," a history of pubs and beer. The smoking ban may also be attracting a new kind of customer, Brown said. "[Smokers] stopped going to the pub immediately as soon as the ban came in, whereas a lot of other people who didn't used to go to pubs have now started to come back to the pub because they now prefer a smoke-free environment," he said. Advocates say pubs provide a safe place to drink and are a valuable part of British culture. They are lobbying the British government to help stop their rapid decline by cutting beer taxes and changing planning laws to prevent pub demolitions. CNN's Robin Oakley contributed to this report.

Traditional British pubs are facing tough times, with 1,400 closing in 2007 . Indoor smoking ban, higher taxes and cheap supermarket alcohol hurt pubs . About 57,000 pubs still remain in Britain despite decline in numbers .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- As familiar and reassuring as the map of the world is, there is only so much that physical geography can tell us about the state of the planet. Forest loss: This cartogram shows areas where the worst deforestation occured from 1990 to 2000. A new book, The Atlas of the Real World, has redrawn the map giving vivid new insights and bringing economic, social and environmental data to life. Not since the German meteorologist, Alfred Wegener, sketched out the first detailed theories of continental drift has the world appeared so misshapen, so otherworldly. The 366 cartograms (statistical maps) which make up the book twist, shrink and distend countries and continents into all sorts of shapes and sizes. The book and the accompanying Web site were devised by Daniel Dorling, professor of human geography at the UK's University of Sheffield, Anna Barford, a research associate at Sheffield and Mark Newman, a professor of physics at the University of Michigan. Work on the project began in earnest in 2006 when Dorling teamed up with Newman, who had co-created a new software technique for creating equal area cartograms the year before. With the software in place, the painstaking task of assembling the data began. The information was drawn from a variety of organizations including the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the World Bank. For ease of visual comparison, territories are split into 12 geographical regions -- e.g. blue for North America, brown for Northern Africa -- and shading marks out specific countries. The range of subjects is impressive, from greenhouse gas emissions, wealth and disease to more obscure data about numbers of dentists and working tractors. John Pritchard, research assistant at University of Sheffield and part of the team working on the project, told CNN: "I think the maps of disease are particularly shocking and bring home the scale of the problem in Africa better than a table of statistics does." Indeed, the map of malaria deaths is striking: 94 percent of deaths from malaria occur in Africa, making the continent appear like a vast bloated blob. The rest of the world is reduced to a disparate series of veiny streaks. There are other sobering statistics to consider. In June 2008, Principal Voices spoke to Head of Research at Oxfam GB Duncan Green about strategies to eradicate poverty. Green talked about the education being crucial to breaking the cycle of poverty, particularly for girls. The new atlas's Girls not at Primary School cartogram graphically illustrates the lack of female education in many parts of the developing world. Team members are currently working on a map of languages and soon hope to be producing animated maps. "We have a series of maps that show deaths at various stages, which would be particularly suited to an animation, and we now have a PhD student looking at extending the Web site, including ways of mapping flow." Pritchard said.

The Atlas of the Real World brings economic, social and environmental data to life . 366 cartograms include vivid data on disease, wealth, poverty and the environment . Team are extending the collection with maps of language and developing animations .

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(CNN) -- The dramatic developments in Gaza over the past three days have driven Arab citizens to the streets, where they have displayed anger directed first and foremost at their own governments. A Yemeni protester rips through an Israeli flag in the capital, Sanaa, on Sunday, December 28. In Yemen, thousands of demonstrators gathered in the capital, Sanaa, shouting slogans in support of Gaza and its residents and burning Israeli and U.S. flags. They cried out against the League of Arab States, which delayed discussion on the crisis. One demonstrator told the Al-Jazeera network, "The Arab League is worthless. ... They're all worthless leaders, and they should all go home." Al-Jazeera is based in Doha, Qatar. Israel has been conducting airstrikes in Gaza for three days, in what they say is retaliation for repeated rocket attacks into southern Israel by Hamas. Hundreds of people have died, mostly Hamas militants, according to Palestinian security forces. In Sudan, the scene was similar. A woman wearing a Hamas banner around her forehead told Al-Manar TV, "Where are the Arab leaders? Where are their actions? Enough condemnation and finger-pointing. Show Gaza your support." Students at the University of Qatar boycotted their classes and demonstrated their support for Gaza. Watch a report from CNN's Octavia Nasr » . One student spoke about what he saw as his moral responsibility: "Our ancestors claimed that the news about the Palestinian disaster reached them late in 1948. We have a responsibility to our children and the future generations. We can't tell them we heard about the Gaza disaster of 2008 but didn't do anything." Jordan's parliament held a special session in solidarity with Gaza. But one parliamentarian defied the speaker's orders and burned the Israeli flag before stepping on it in the middle of applause from some of his colleagues. The images played repeatedly on Arab media. Egypt has been the recipient of much criticism in this crisis. Hamas supporters say Egypt has sold the Palestinians out by being too close and friendly with Israel and the United States. From Egypt, political analysts retaliated, blaming Hamas for ending the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire, thus inviting the Israeli airstrikes. One expert speaking to the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya blamed Hamas for "presenting Gazans on a silver plate to the Israeli monster." He then blamed Syria and Iran for not taking military action to stop the bloodshed in Gaza.

In Yemen, thousands of people demonstrate in capital city of Sanaa . Citizens of Sudan also protest Israeli airstrikes in Gaza . Students at University of Qatar boycott their classes in support of Gaza . Some Arabs blame Egypt, saying it's too cozy with Israel and the United States .

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Four Americans -- two soldiers and two civilians from the Defense and State departments -- were killed Tuesday in a blast that rocked a municipal building in Baghdad's Sadr City, the U.S. Embassy said. The attack also killed six Iraqis and wounded 10 others, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said. A second employee from the U.S. Defense Department also died, but that person wasn't an American. The employee was a dual Italian-Iraqi national, the Italian Foreign Ministry said. The U.S. military said the blast struck a meeting of a district advisory council, a neighborhood group that looks at local needs and passes on its assessments to the provincial government. The deputy head of the council was seriously injured, the Interior Ministry official said. The U.S. military blamed Iranian-backed militants it calls Special Groups for the blast and detained three people in connection with the attack, including a suspect "fleeing the scene [who] tested positive for explosive residue." "We believe the target of the attack was a high-ranking [district advisory council] member as well as the U.S. soldiers," said Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a U.S. military spokesman. "We believe the Special Groups criminals were upset that the DAC member was working with coalition forces to improve the quality of life for the southern Sadr City residents." A statement from Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, identified the slain State Department employee as Steve Farley. "Mr. Farley was a member of our embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team for the Sadr City and Adhamiya districts of Baghdad City," the statement said. "We extend our deepest condolences to their families and friends, and our profound appreciation for the ultimate sacrifice that they made in service to their country and for the people of Iraq. This is a tragic loss and one we all mourn." The U.S. Embassy statement didn't identify the other victims. The blast dramatizes the perils the war still poses for Americans despite a Pentagon report Monday that touted a sharp decrease in violence in Iraq in recent months. The explosion also marked the third strike in two days involving local politicians and political institutions in Baghdad. A city councilman on Monday fired on U.S. forces at a municipal building southeast of the capital in the Salman Pak area and killed two soldiers. Separately, the head of Abu Dsheer City Council in Baghdad's southern Dora area was gunned down at his home later Monday. Last week, a bomb ripped through Baghdad's Hurriya district near a neighborhood advisory council meeting where U.S. troops were stationed, killing 63 people and wounding 71 others. The U.S. military also blamed that attack on a Special Groups cell, but Stover couldn't say whether it was connected to Tuesday's blast. "Last week's event was an attempt to incite sectarian violence and hatred against the Iraqi Sunni population in an effort to keep them from returning to Hurriya," Stover said. Sadr City, the scene of Tuesday's deadly blast, is a stronghold of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and where some of the capital's most intense fighting in recent months has occurred between Shiite militia members and Iraqi security forces. A truce deal was reached last month between the Iraqi government and al-Sadr's followers, ending weeks of fighting and allowing the Iraqi army to enter Sadr City, but violence persists. Al-Sadr recently announced his intention to develop a new fighting force that would battle U.S.-led forces in Iraq. Many followers in al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia have heeded a long-standing cease-fire, but some rogue forces are thought to be involved in violence. "This was the fourth meeting of this district council, led by hard-working Iraqis determined to make a difference and set Sadr City off on the right path. Special Groups are afraid of progress and afraid of empowering the people," Lt. Col. John Digiambatista of the 4th Infantry Division said in a news release, referring to Tuesday's attack. Twenty-five U.S. troops have died in Iraq to date this month. There have been 4,109 deaths of U.S. service members since the war began. Other developments . • Three U.S. soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter were killed Tuesday evening by a roadside bomb in northern Iraq's Nineveh Province, the U.S. military said. No other details were immediately released. • A suicide car bomb went off near a police station in central Mosul Tuesday evening, killing a child, a police officer and wounding dozens more. Police and civilians, including women and children, were among the wounded, though injury reports varied from 90 to 70 to 57, according to the U.S. Military, Mosul police and the Iraq Interior Ministry, respectively. All three sources agreed on the death toll, however. Several houses were affected by the blast, which destroyed a coffee shop in a residential area. • Earlier Tuesday, coalition troops in Mosul killed a senior-level al Qaeda in Iraq leader, the U.S. military said. The operation led to the killing of the group's "emir" of Mosul, the military said. A dozen people were detained in raids targeting the group in northern Iraq and Baghdad, the military said. • U.S. troops raided a Shiite militant hideout Tuesday in southeastern Baghdad's Karrada district, capturing four suspects the military said were connected to recent attacks on coalition bases. A vehicle bomb being built in the hideout was destroyed, according to a coalition statement. • Anbar province will soon be run by the Iraqi military. The U.S. military said it is transferring security responsibility this week to the Iraqis. Anbar is the 10th of the 18 provinces where Iraqi forces have taken charge of security control since 2003 and the first largely Sunni Arab province to do so. CNN's Yousif Bassil and Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report.

NEW: Another victim identified as Italian-Iraqi working for U.S. Defense Department . NEW: Child and policeman killed, dozens wounded in Mosul suicide car bomb . Four Americans and six Iraqis among 11 dead in blast in Baghdad's Sadr City . U.S. military will transfer security responsibilities in Anbar province to Iraqi military .

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

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

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Corporate lobbyists may have to jockey for attention alongside smaller, grassroots organizations under new ethics rules issued by President-elect Barack Obama's transition team, one analyst says. President-elect Obama's rules will mean nonprofits will have an easier time being heard, an analyst says. Chai Feldblum, a Georgetown University professor who teaches lobbyists-in-training, said nonprofit groups are likely to have a stronger voice under the restrictions that Obama's transition staff issued this week. "Lobbyists for business will absolutely get meetings with staff for people on the Hill, just like they got meetings before, so their access will not be denied," Feldblum said. "Their positions will be heard, but now they won't be the only ones being heard." The rules, which transition co-chairman John Podesta announced Tuesday, bar federal lobbyists from contributing to or raising money for the transition effort. Those who leave the transition team will be barred for a year from lobbying the incoming administration on matters related to their transition jobs, and current lobbyists who join the team are barred for 12 months from working in policy fields related to their lobbying work. Podesta called the new policy "the strictest, the most far-reaching ethics rules of any transition team in history." They follow a pledge Obama made during his campaign, when he instituted similar rules for aides and vowed that lobbyists "will not drown out the voice of the American people." Feldblum said lobbying is protected by the First Amendment, which guarantees the right to petition the government for redress of grievances, and that the trade's ranks in Washington are unlikely to shrink. But she said corporate lobbyists "will have to share the stage with other people representing other points of view." "I think that lobbyists for a broader range of the American public -- lobbyists for Catholic Charities USA, lobbyists for the Epilepsy Foundation, lobbyists for domestic violence groups -- people trying to bring those positions forward will have an easier time being heard," Feldblum said. One practicing lobbyist told CNN he hopes the new rules will improve the public image of a trade that has become a "dirty word." Michael Lewan, who has pleaded the case for some of the biggest U.S. corporations for 16 years, said a stricter regime Congress imposed on itself after the influence-peddling scandal involving disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff "wasn't such a bad thing at all." "We were all very upset when we found out we could no longer take Capitol Hill staffers to lunch," he said. "But you know what? At the end of the day, we all saved money and lost weight." But seriously, Lewan said, both Obama and his Republican opponent, John McCain, blasted lobbyists on a near-daily basis during the presidential campaign, "and it's my hope that we can bring down that level of vilification by cooperating with the new administration."

Analyst: Corporate lobbyists will not be only ones heard by Obama's transition staff . Transition team's ethics rules will give nonprofits stronger voice, analyst says . One of the rules: Federal lobbyists can't contribute to transition effort . Transition co-chairman: Ethics rules strictest "of any transition team in history"

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(CNN) -- Imagine the entire population of Kentucky forced out of their homes in the past 25 years, with many of the residents moving to a neighboring country. Displaced children at a camp in El Barrancon, Colombia, earlier this year. That's what has happened in Colombia, a country of 45 million where up to 4 million people -- roughly the population of Kentucky -- have been forced to flee fighting between government forces and an entrenched Marxist rebel group. So many Colombians have taken flight to escape violence that the nation has the second largest number of internally displaced people in the world -- surpassed only by Sudan in Africa. Oftentimes, the violence is not incidental. "Violence against civilians is a strategy of war for all the parties involved in the warfare," said Ellen Beattie, who worked for relief agencies in Colombia for 15 years. "That's the problem. They do it on purpose. They use it as a strategy. Vicious." Exact figures are hard to come by. Reliefweb, a United Nations Web site that provides information to humanitarian relief organizations, says nearly 400,000 Colombians were displaced last year. The Colombian government puts the number of displaced at 255,000 for 2008. Likewise, the Colombian government says nearly 3 million citizens have been displaced inside the country in the past few decades. But the non-governmental Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacements, known in Colombia as CODHES, estimates more than 4 million people have had to leave their homes since the 1980s. Mauricio de Vengoechea, a political analyst with the Newlink Group consulting firm, says about 200,000 Colombians have ended up in Ecuador, which has granted 5,500 residency permits in the past eight weeks. At the heart of the violence lies a guerrilla war with the Colombian government and paramilitary groups on one side and the FARC, which is the Spanish acronym for Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, on the other. The FARC has been waging war against the government since the 1960s and has major strongholds in the jungles of southwest Colombia, near the 366-mile (590-kilometer) border with Ecuador. Narcotraffickers also have strongholds in the area and are often allied with the FARC, who provide security and intelligence. Many times the rebels and the narcotraffickers are one and the same. The guerrillas use drug money to buy weapons. "There are large parts of Colombia where the state has no presence, no police, no army, nothing," said Myles Frechette, the U.S. ambassador to Colombia from 1994 to 1997. "That's where the narcotraffickers hang out." That makes it valuable territory for the guerrillas and narcos, said Beattie, executive director of the International Rescue Committee office in Atlanta, Georgia. "They're more willing to fight over land that is strategic," she said. "You've poured gasoline on the fire with that." As the army, paramilitaries and the guerrillas fight for territory -- often retaking land one side or the other had held before -- the civilian population gets caught in the middle. When one side comes in, Beattie said, everyone living in the area is suspected of having collaborated with the enemy. That sometimes leads to massacres, or at least kidnappings and death threats. "The majority of displacements in Colombia are not because of combat, but because people are directly threatened," said Gustavo Valdivieso, spokesman in Colombia for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "They are told, 'Leave or be killed.'" Many times, indigenous populations in far-flung places suffer the most. That's what happened earlier this year to the Awa tribe in southwest Colombia. The FARC admitted in an Internet statement that guerrillas "executed" eight people February 6 in the town of Rio Bravo because the rebels believed the Indians were gathering information to give to the Colombian military. The Human Rights Watch organization said the guerrillas tortured some of the Awa before killing them with knives. Luis Evelis Andrade of the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia said the FARC had targeted the Awa because the Indians don't want to get involved in the armed struggle and refuse to reveal information on government troop actions. He said the FARC had abducted 120 Awa in February and killed 44. "We are very worried about the Awa community," said Monsignor Gustavo Giron Higuita, the bishop of the city of Tumaco. "It is a community that is pretty unprotected and that in the past five years has received a type of persecution by armed groups." The Colombian government has issued a "risk report" warning that civilians in the region are in danger, and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees proclaimed an alert this week about threats against human rights workers. A U.N. report notes that displacement disproportionately affects Colombia's poorest citizens, and their lives get worse after they are forced to flee. One of every two displaced Colombians is unemployed and a similar number live in makeshift homes made of cloth, cardboard or wood, says the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. More than three-fourths of children who leave school after being displaced never return. Then there's the issue of forced conscription. According to Reliefweb, between 12,000 and 14,000 minors have been forced to join armed groups. Valdivieso, the U.N. spokesman in Colombia, notes that displaced residents have lost about 15 million acres (6 million hectares). That's an area about the size of West Virginia. "You have displaced people living in hunger in the cities of Colombia while they still have property," Valdivieso said. Displacement occurs when people move within a country. When they leave the country, they become refugees. The problem occurs among all segments of Colombian society. The political class is often hit hard. Ramiro Echeverri was among 12 regional lawmakers the FARC kidnapped on April 11, 2002, in Cali, Colombia's third-largest city. The rebels killed him and 10 others on June 18, 2007, when a Colombian army patrol came upon the camp in which the hostages were being held. When the bodies were recovered three months later, autopsies showed most had been shot several times in the back. Echeverri's son, also named Ramiro, was a doctor in Cali at the time. "We buried him and the next day we left the country," he said. He, his wife and younger sister first went to Ecuador, where they lived for two months before securing passage to Atlanta, where he works as a neurological researcher for the Emory University School of Medicine. His mother stayed behind but visits often, especially after the birth of her granddaughter, Rafaela, four months ago. Echeverri, 28, has been in the United States for 16 months but still harbors hopes to return. "Of course," he said. "It is a very good country. I believe there will be a solution. Once there is, I will go back." Atlanta resident Ibonne Pinilla Martinez, 25, tells a similar story. Her father was a politician in Palmira, in southwest Colombia about 17 miles east of Cali. He started receiving threats and some colleagues were kidnapped. They first moved around inside Colombia, living in three cities over a two-year period. She, her parents and a younger sister then lived in Costa Rica for five years before moving to Atlanta two years ago, the soft-spoken Pinilla said. "There is always fear when someone makes threats," she said. She, too, holds expectations of returning some day. "We will wait for the right time and for all that to end," Pinilla said. Many refugees end up in Ecuador because it's the nearest country to the killing fields of southwestern Colombia. Some are forced there by the fighting. "Over the course of the past five years, the FARC has been pushed back into Colombia's less densely populated jungle regions and across the Ecuadorian border," said Patrick Esteruelas, an analyst with the Eurasia Group consulting firm. "More and more citizens in southern Colombia have been forced out and had nowhere else to go but Ecuador." Beattie, the aid agency official, has noticed the same phenomena. "The Colombians go across where the violence pushes them that way," she said. "Often, that's the only direction they can go." Ecuador has started incorporating the displaced Colombians, giving residency status to 5,500 in the past few weeks. That may seem surprising, given the poor standing between the countries. Ecuador broke diplomatic relations with Colombia in March 2008 and amassed troops along the border after a Colombian military attack against a FARC camp inside Ecuador. The attack killed 25 people, including rebel leader Raul Reyes, four Mexicans and an Ecuadorian. No country in the area is afraid of Ecuador, says Frechette, the former U.S. ambassador. Neither is the FARC. "Ecuador is a very weak state. It's lost 60 percent of its territory since its independence (in 1822)," he said. "Ecuador is a little guy who gets pushed around by everybody." Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa used the tension to forge national unity when he successfully ran for re-election in April 2009, said Vengoechea. "It was more convenient for President Correa to be an enemy of Colombia than a friend of Colombia," Vengoechea said. "Now both sides have been trying to find common points to restore diplomatic relationships," Esteruelas said. The issue of residency visas, he said, "is one such point." Ecuador also may have felt the need to do something about the FARC. "Ecuadorians are also under a lot of pressure since allegations that the FARC was coming across the border and Ecuador has been looking the other way," said Esteruelas. "Ecuador is under pressure to register all Colombian immigrants coming in to prevent Colombian rebels from coming into Ecuador unregistered and unnoticed."

Colombian civilians caught in cross fire between rebels, government forces . "Violence against civilians is a strategy of war," relief worker says . Many civilians flee homes as a result of direct threats . Ecuador is country closest to Colombia's killing fields, many flee there .

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(CNN) -- When the water of Lake Delton ripped through the highway and drained into the Wisconsin River this week, so did the lifeline for much of the surrounding community. Boats sit mired in mud Tuesday after Lake Delton drained into the Wisconsin River the day before. Lake Delton Village and Wisconsin Dells, the self-professed "waterpark capital of the world," are home to about 5,000 residents. But the area's motels, resorts and vacation homes can accommodate more than 10 times that, according to the visitors bureau. Innkeepers, restaurateurs and other business owners were getting ready for the typically bustling tourist season this week when torrential rains sent the 267-acre lake rushing through an embankment propping up Highway A. The manmade lake sucked a 200-foot swath of highway and a half-dozen homes into the Wisconsin with it. "I was on the water when I realized the plug had been pulled," said Steve Zowin, who was towing a capsized pontoon boat when he noticed the water level quickly diminishing. "It drained like a bathtub." Watch a report from the lake » . Zowin and his wife, Kathy, have owned Lake Delton Watersports for almost three decades. In addition to running a marina, the couple offers parasail rides and rents boats. Personal watercraft and ski boats are their most popular wares, he said. "My gross income will be reduced by about 75 percent, and that's huge," he said Wednesday. "It's a big step backwards for someone who's been in business for 29 years." Zowin, 56, says that most of the tourists hail from metropolises like Chicago, Illinois; St. Paul/Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin -- all "within a gas tank of the Dells." They start trickling in on Father's Day, and tourism booms between Independence Day and mid-August, he said. Like many business owners around Lake Delton, Zowin is seeing canceled reservations from disenchanted visitors who will be spending their summers elsewhere. Asked whether visitors were canceling reservations at her lakeside resort, one owner who didn't want to give her name replied, "Every day, many." Thomas Brown, who owns Port Vista, a popular burger and steak joint on the lake, said that one of his resort-owner friends has refunded $10,000 in deposits for canceled reservations. The friend has closed his resort until at least July, Brown said. iReport.com: Are you near the floods? Send photos, video . Brown, 49, who has owned the bar and restaurant for 15 years, said business hasn't been hit hard yet. "The first couple of days has been absolutely packed because of all the people coming by to look at the lake and stopping by for a burger or steak," he said, adding that he doesn't expect business to boom for long. "I think when people see what they have to see, it's going to be not so good." Some business owners who aren't on the lakefront are still trying to gauge what effect the drained lake will have on them. Watch the rushing lake carry a home away » . Del-Bar is a popular seafood and steak restaurant near the lake on Wisconsin Dells Parkway. It's so popular, in fact, that actor Johnny Depp and director Michael Mann recently stopped in during filming of their upcoming movie "Public Enemies," owner Jeff Wimmer said. Wimmer said his restaurant, which he has owned for 30 years, may be more resilient than lakefront businesses because he relies more on Wisconsin Dells locals. The 66-year-old knows that the summer brings hungry tourists; it's just too early to tell how many of them have been deterred by the dry lake bed. "We're anticipating that it's going to affect us, but it's too early to tell right now," Wimmer said. How long the lake will remain dry is also a question. Business owners say, some skeptically, that there are efforts afoot to refill the lake by mid-July. Delton Oaks Resort ran a warning on its Web site to potential guests, explaining that there was no timetable for refilling the lake and repairing the highway. But the resort's owners showed they still have a sense of humor. "We at Delton Oaks Resort are 'make lemonade' kind of people, so we will be adding terrific beach volleyball and horseshoe courts in the near future. And, of course, building sand castles on the beach will be big this year," the site quipped. "For all you dog lovers, as soon as the last of the lake bed has dried up, we will have the biggest dog park you've ever seen." Even if the lake is refilled quickly, business owners like Zowin and Brown fear that the lake's splendid fishing might not make a rapid rebound. The lake was home to white and largemouth bass, walleye, crappie, bluegill and perch, but those fish are now in the Wisconsin River after their habitat burst through the Highway A embankment. "Fishing might be gone for the next four or five years," Brown predicted. Business owners around Lake Delton say they hope to bounce back sooner, perhaps by next summer, but this summer may be a wash. "Once in a while, the more serious ramifications -- mostly financial -- they hit me, and I'm flooded with a few emotions," Zowin said. "It's going to hurt, but I'll survive."

Lake Delton went away as businesses were getting ready for busy tourist season . "My gross income will be reduced by about 75 percent," one business owner says . Many businesses at the lake are already seeing canceled reservations . Some owners not on lakefront try to gauge how drained lake will affect them .

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- One of the perks of using search engine Google's home page is checking out the frequently changing seasonal, current-event, and holiday-inspired "doodles" used for the logo. Christin Engelberth's "doodle" beat out more than 28,000 entries in Google's annual contest. Soon the work of 12-year-old Christin Engelberth will occupy the Google spotlight to be viewed by millions of online searchers worldwide. On Wednesday, Google announced that Christin, a sixth-grader at Bernard Harris Middle School in San Antonio, Texas, is this year's winner of "Doodle 4 Google," a yearly competition that asks K-12 students to dream up their own variation of the logo. Her work will be featured on Google's main site for 24 hours on Thursday. The theme of this year's contest was "What I Wish for the World." "Both our country and the world are undergoing significant change," Google said on the contest's Web pages. At Google we believe in thinking big, and dreaming big, and we can't think of anything more important than encouraging students to do the same." "A New Beginning," the title of Christin's doodle, depicts the Google logo as a land and sea naturescape intertwined with trees, a frog and leaping dolphin, a curious lizard, a turtle and fish, and a butterfly set against an orange and yellow background with a rising sun represented by the second "O" in "Google." In an interview with CNN, Christin said she portrayed a dawn as a symbol of a new day. Her wish was that "out of the current crisis, discoveries will be found to help the Earth prosper once more." She added that wanted to portray a brighter tomorrow and "discoveries being made lead to a better Earth for everyone." Christin said her initial idea for a doodle was for animal conservation, but then she decided "it shouldn't just include animals; it should include the rest of the world." Christin did check out her competition, and said she thought the other doodles were "much better than mine." But a panel of independent judges and Google employees, along with close to 6 million online voters, disagreed, and chose her sketch as the overall winner from a field of over 28,000 other submissions. Google's Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products and user experience, and Dennis Hwang, webmaster manager, said on the Google Blog that Christin's design was part of "a very creative pool of doodles." As the national winner, Christin will receive a $15,000 college scholarship, a laptop, and a $25,000 technology grant for her school, in addition to having her artwork featured on the Google site. She was presented with her award at the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City, where Google also unveiled an exhibit of the top doodles. They will be on display until July 5. National finalists also were selected in three grade groups. Each will receive a laptop computer. All winners were treated to a day in New York that Google said "included activities which promote peace, sustainability and wellness -- all inspired by this year's theme." The winners also will participate in a doodling class led by Dennis Hwang and the Google doodle team. Grand prize winner Christin -- who told CNN she was excited to visit New York City -- said she's been "drawing for as long as she can remember." When she grows up, she said, she hopes to do "anything to do with art."

San Antonio, Texas, 12-year-old wins "Doodle for Google" national contest . Christin Engelberth's work will grace Google's main site for 24 hours Thursday . Other prizes: $25,000 college scholarship, laptop, tech grant for her school . When she grows up, she said, she hopes to do "anything to do with art"

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ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (CNN) -- Standing slightly more than 4 feet tall, 9-year-old Tuguldur proudly stated the greatest challenge he faced in a horse race across the Mongolian plains in the country's annual Naadam Festival was serenading his horse. Young wrestlers cheer on teammates during the opening round at the Naadam Festival. "The hardest part of the race was singing to my horse while riding," said Tuguldur, wiping perspiration from the July sun off his face. The long-distance horse race is exclusively for children, ranging in ages from 6 to 12. Riding up to 30 kilometers (19 miles), these children maneuver their galloping steeds on a thin saddle pad that often does not have stirrups. "Mongolians believe they can communicate with their horses through singing, and their horse will go faster," said Tamir, a senior at Mongolian University. "This is why the kids must keep singing during the race." Singing to racing horses is just one part of Mongolia's Naadam Festival, an annual event believed to have existed for centuries, and rivaling the Olympics as the premier sporting event in the central Asian nation. "For us Mongolians, the Naadam Festival is what we look forward to all year," said Dashtsogtsol Erdenetuya, who has competed in the Naadam Festival for the past 22 years. "It is our tradition and a reminder of an ancient way of life. Getting gold in this festival brings as much honor as any Olympic medal." Held every July, the Naadam Festival was possibly founded as long ago as 800 years ago by Genghis Khan. The festival is believed to have started as a way for Mongols to train for military and hunting expeditions. Today, it formally commemorates the 1921 revolution when Mongolia declared itself a free country. Many of Naadam's customs, which include wearing traditional clothes and singing hymns once sung in battle, are still followed, a sign of the importance of the festival. "In the Naadam Festival, everyone knows who you are; many companies will sponsor you, and if you win, you can become the face of the country," said Nasanbat Oyunbat, director of the Mongolian Olympic National Team. "The Olympics are only now becoming popular in Mongolia and were televised for the first time in the 2004 Games in Athens." "The horses in the Naadam Festival have higher endurance than the horses that will compete in the Olympic Equestrian events in August," bragged Edward Rochette, an American lawyer who married a Mongolian woman and is living in Ulaanbaatar. "Most thoroughbreds would die if you ran them for 30 km. The Mongolian horses have been running across these plains for hundreds of years and have developed the correct body type for this kind of sport." Rochette's wife's family lives in a yurt (round animal skin tent), owns more than 1,500 and entered 20 horses in the three-day race competition this year, which was visited by thousands of tourists. "I was overwhelmed watching the clouds of dust rise across the prairie as the horses galloped to the finish line," explained Miep Thulijls, a tourist from Holland. "I could not believe these tiny kids could ride for so long and was terrified when I saw one of the children fall off his horse like a rag doll." The age limit was raised from 4 to 6 after a child was killed in a race a few years ago. Only small children are allowed to compete in this event because they are particularly light. The kids are generally rewarded with warm mare's milk and candy while the horse owners get money and sometimes even cars. Wrestling without weight limits . Mongolian wrestling has no weight divisions; a time limit was only introduced after a match went on for more than four hours. Wrestlers compete in single elimination events and are weeded down from 512 participants during nine rounds of competition. "It is more difficult to wrestle the little guys because they are so quick," complained Gantogtokh, who at 130 kilos (286 pounds) is an eighth-generation wrestler. His father placed second in Judo in the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico. Dressed in tight blue shorts and a half shirt, which is usually red or blue, the wrestlers dance around the judges in slow graceful sways and then pay homage to the nine flags dating back to Genghis Khan before and after each match. It is rumored that the dress code, which requires wrestlers to compete without shirts was imposed after a female participated in the event disguised as a man. Many of the male athletes who compete in the free style wrestling and judo events in the Olympic Games were once Naadam Festival winners. But, the Olympic gold medal hopeful this year is a female Judo wrestler. "Each generation of wrestlers gets stronger as they have more opportunities to work out," Gantogtokh said. "I hope this year we will bring home a gold in Judo and wrestling. But, the competition is going to be tough." Arrows to anklebones . Other athletes participated in archery and anklebone shooting. "This has always been my dream," beamed Dashtsogtsol Erdenetuya, 36, who has competed in the Naadam Festival for the past 22 years. "I placed second the past three years and finally came in first this time. My mother was a champion in 1969 and 1975 and taught me everything I know about archery." Archery is usually the only event in which women compete. Men shoot from 75 meters and women from 65 meters. Mongolians sing to the archers and stand on either side of the targets. The singers, dressed in elaborate decor, sing three different types of songs, including an invitational song and songs that recognize a good or bad shot. Famous for his ability to shoot backward on horseback, Genghis Khan created the sport of anklebone shooting to strengthen the middle finger of his soldiers, so they would be better skilled in archery. Anklebone shooting is the newest event in the Naadam Festival, only becoming an official sport in 2000. "The game is becoming more modern now," explained Khatanbator, 56, an anklebone participant." Competitors now use pieces of deer antler instead of anklebones. It is easier on the wrist to flick than anklebones. But, everyone still refers to the sport as anklebone shooting because it has been this way for hundreds of years." The competitors are divided into teams of eight who compete against each other. The first to knock all the deer chips down wins. "People cheer for the other competitor like fans would in a soccer game," explained Berkfat Tumenjin, a Mongolian tour guide. "While the singing in other events is used to encourage competitors, the singing in this event is used to distract them."

Naadam Festival is held every July in Mongolia . Competition's events have origins in military, hunting training . Naadam in the most widely watched festival in Mongolia .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Flowers arrived at Capt. Marissa Alexander's office at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on June 3, 2005. Arlington's Section 60 is the final resting place for many casualties of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Her husband, Staff Sgt. Leroy Alexander, was half a world away fighting with the Special Forces in Afghanistan, but he had found a way to send a floral arrangement to his wife, who was five months pregnant with twins. "He called me and asked me what building I worked in. He said he had to update some records," Alexander said. The flowers lifted her spirits. But a few hours later, her emotions would be thrown into a tailspin. Alexander saw two Army officers in dress uniforms knock on her front door. One of the officers started to talk: "We regret to inform you..." If he said any more, Alexander doesn't remember. "The next memory I have is in my kitchen, banging on the floor. I just couldn't believe it," she said. The good feelings from flowers delivered a few hours before were gone, replaced by shock, pain and mourning. A roadside bomb had made her a widow. Staff Sgt. Alexander now lies in Arlington National Cemetery's Section 60, where 500 soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried. For years Section 60 has been the one of busiest parts of the cemetery. Every day new burials bring precision marches, the somber tones of taps and the nerve-rattling three-gun salutes. Watch how widows connect at Section 60 » . Then there are family and friends who come to the graves to make an emotional connection to their lost loved ones. Memorial Day weekend brings even more activity and more visitors. Adults, even some uniformed generals, walk slowly between the rows and rows of headstones, looking for a familiar name. But small children often seem to find the cemetery a place to explore, even play. Their smiles and curiosity remind grown-ups that even in a place synonymous with death, life goes on. A sense of community has emerged in Section 60. "I've come here at times and I've met people who were paying remembrances to their loved ones. You become friendly," Capt. Alexander said. "You see each other sometimes and you make a friendship because you know that your loved ones died for the same cause." Angie Capra's husband is buried a few yards from Leroy Alexander. Air Force Tech Sgt. Anthony Capra was an explosive ordnance disposal expert, killed trying disarm a bomb in Iraq. "Other widows will come by and put something on there for me if they don't see me. They'll put down flowers. It's kind of a community," Capra said. More than flowers adorn the graves in Section 60. Visitors of all faiths have picked up the ancient Jewish tradition of leaving a small stone on the headstones to show that a visitor had been to the grave. In most cases these are pebbles found near the grave. But some people have taken to leaving colored glass beads or elaborately painted stones with shamrocks or words like "hero." View images from Section 60 » . Capra recently found a small Yoda figure on her husband's grave. She doesn't know who left it, but it must have been a friend, because her husband loved "Star Wars." "We never know who puts stuff" on the headstone, she said. Some mementos leave one to wonder about the story behind them. Like the headstone topped by a tiny bottle of Tabasco hot sauce. Or a set of dog tags with a name that didn't match the name on the headstone. Watch how friends say goodbye to a fallen soldier » . There is another topped by a small Lego toy, perhaps left by a child whose father died in a far-off land before they even knew each other. Or the grave adorned with an empty bottle of Bud Light, a rubber duck and a candle. Nearby an empty Wild Turkey bottle is the lone addition to the grave of a soldier who died in a country where drinking alcohol is strictly forbidden. Capra has found a variety of items on Tony's headstone. "Coins, lots of rocks, candy. My husband was a candy freak," Capra said. "There was a cross. A little necklace, Mardi Gras beads during Mardi Gras season. Anything they have they'll put on top to show that they are thinking about them at the time." Alexander seems to draw strength from the items she finds. "Someone came and did a picture of Lee, and it was a hand-drawn picture. I thought that was very interesting," she said. "People who haven't been seen in years will leave a note of some sort. It's nice to know that you've been remembered after all of this time. To know that we have friends who still love and support us, that is just wonderful." Section 60 has been called the "saddest acre in America," and without a doubt sadness abounds. But so do comfort, support and even an occasional smile.

National cemetery's Section 60 holds dead from Iraq, Afghanistan wars . Visitors take up Jewish tradition of leaving stones on grave markers . Some mourners leave tokens such as toys, empty liquor bottles . Families of fallen service members meet at cemetery, form bonds .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- In Russia, a country often associated with consumption of mass amounts of vodka, men have an average life expectancy of just 60 years -- one of the lowest in Europe. Men in Russia have an average life expectancy of just 60 years. Life expectancy for Russian men is well below that of western European countries like Germany, where men have an average life span of 77 years, according to World Health Organization figures. "The biggest health problem facing Russia is the very high level of mortality among working aged men," says Martin McKee, an expert in Russian public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. A new dynamism appears to be taking hold of Russia as it aims to raise its prominence on the world stage. Despite having benefited from a boom in commodities prices before the global economy hit the skids, health indicators like life expectancy have shown marginal improvement. Life expectancy for men has stagnated for quite some time, and a major culprit has been high levels of alcohol consumption. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, alcohol and tobacco use have risen, as Russians have struggled to adapt to economic change, health experts say. The transition from a system of state ownership to a market-oriented economy has not been easy for many Russians, according to Mireia Jofre-Bonet, a health economist at City University London. When the Soviet Union fell and the state disappeared, unemployment soared, and a significant portion of the population was pushed into poverty, she told CNN. Research suggests that those most vulnerable to alcoholism tend to be men with the lowest levels of education and the unemployed. A typical 18-year-old in the West has a 90 percent probability of reaching retirement age, but for young men in Russia the odds are reduced to 50 percent, says McKee. Alcoholism tends to be less of a problem among Russian women -- who have a higher average life expectancy of 73 -- but they face an equally worrisome health threat. There has been a big increase in smoking among women, who are being targeted by tobacco companies, says McKee. Traditionally, rates of smoking among Russian women have been very low, but now, he says, almost 30 percent among those under 30 smoke. "Ten years of adjusting to a new regime created lots of stress," says Jofre-Bonet. The resulting rise in alcohol and tobacco abuse have led to ailments like heart disease and cancer. Besides chronic conditions, epidemics of infectious disease, including tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, have added to the country's health woes. In the 1990s, Russia experienced a resurgence of tuberculosis, considered a disease of poverty. Since then the growth of new cases has slowed, but strains of the disease that can't be treated with the usual drugs continue to pose a serious public health threat. Meanwhile, the number of people living with HIV in Russia has more than doubled since 2001. While largely confined to injecting drug users, HIV remains a challenge. Lack of needle exchange programs has curbed efforts to combat the spread of the disease, says Annabel Kanabus, director of international AIDS charity AVERT. "The crisis is still going on. Efforts at prevention are not really working." The Russian government is attempting to tackle its health challenges. The alcohol problem improved briefly in 2006 after federal restrictions were applied to the sale of non-beverage alcohols, such as aftershave, which are commonly drunk, McKee says. But he added, there is a major challenge in ensuring that law is enforced everywhere. And while the Kremlin has invested in upgrading technical equipment in recent years, facilities are still not well equipped to deal with high levels of chronic conditions such as high blood pressure. The economic downturn isn't helping. Anxiety levels are rising as a result of soaring unemployment, and the government doesn't have enough funds to meet the needs of the health system. "There is no money. It's a big mess," says Jofre-Bonet. "The health care system cannot pay for what it needs and there is a lot of corruption in the way of under the table payments for medicines or doctors that legally people should get for free."

Russian men face startlingly low average life expectancy of just 60 years . Alcohol and tobacco use contributing to rise of heart disease and cancer . Health facilities not equipped to deal with high levels of chronic conditions . Tell CNN what you think about Russia and its resurgence .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Four British Coastguard helicopters of the same model as the one that crashed off Canada last week have been grounded in Scotland to replace a gearbox mounting part, and all those models worldwide are expected to be grounded as well. Sikorsky's Web site says the S-92 "is the most advanced aircraft" in its civil product line. This move comes after the Transportation Safety Board of Canada indicated on Friday that the components must be replaced on Sikorsky-92 A helicopters across the globe. The Canadian agency said the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will issue an emergency airworthiness directive, effectively grounding all Sikorsky S-92 A helicopters worldwide until the parts are replaced. On March 12, 17 people died when a Sikorsky S-92 A operated by Cougar Helicopters crashed or ditched in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland. One person survived. Canada's transportation board on Friday said investigators found a broken main gearbox component that had been addressed in a January alert from Sikorsky. Sikorsky's alert, on January 28, said the "main gearbox filter bowl assembly mounting titanium studs should be replaced with steel mounting studs." This "one-time modification" was to be done within 1,250 flight hours or within a year of the alert's issue date. According to Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Sikorsky on Friday notified helicopter contractor CHC that aircraft operating out of Stornoway and Shetland in Scotland need the "urgent modification." The British agency said that when it is clear how long the helicopters will be grounded or need to undergo engineering work, the agency "will take a decision on implementing a contingency plan for longer term air coverage. The aircraft on the south coast are unaffected."

Canadian authorities warn Sikorsky-92 A helicopters need gearbox part replaced . FAA to issue emergency directive ordering repair, Canadian safety board says . Four British Coastguard helicopters grounded in Scotland to replace a part . Sikorsky-92 A crashed last week off Newfoundland; 17 people died .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Staff Sgt. Cody Reeves has survived harrowing conditions and stared down enemies on the battlefield during two tours in the military hotspots of Iraq. Staff. Sgt. Cody Reeves works out with his fellow Old Guard soldiers. Now he is stationed near Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, trained to carry the remains of fellow soldiers who perished in that same conflict. Before,"it was all about catching the bad guy," Reeves said. "When you come here, it's all about honoring your brothers who are fallen for catching the bad guys, for their service." Reeves serves in the Army's Old Guard, a tight-knit group of soldiers of similar height and size who physically bear the weight of the Army's fallen veterans. The Old Guard conducts a 15-minute ceremony called a dignified transfer. A recent decision by Defense Secretary Robert Gates gives families the choice to allow media to film the solemn event. It's the first time in 20 years the ceremony has been open to the press. Watch members of the Old Guard in action » . Every detail of the transfer is precise. When an American soldier dies overseas, the Old Guard is called into action. They travel from their base to Dover, where they meet the aircraft carrying the soldier's body. The six men receive the flag-draped casket, which can weigh 500 pounds, and carry the soldier's body to a waiting vehicle. Women serve as officers in charge on the Army transfer teams, but do not carry the caskets. For Air Force transfers, which use eight people, women help carry the coffin. Despite the cold or the heat, the late hour when the planes often arrive and the physical and emotional strain of their job, the soldiers keep their faces blank. "There's definitely times where your mind goes off, even in the ceremony," said Spc. Wilbert Steinborn, another member of the Old Guard. "You say, 'This guy might have a wife or kids or mother or father who's never going to see him again.' "You can't let it show. Inside you might feel it, and definitely a human's going to feel that -- they're going to feel that emotion. But you can't show that on the outside," Steinborn said. The men stifle sneezes, learn to yawn through their noses and betray no sign of the burden they carry. And -- what they say makes keeping their composure even more important -- the team performs its duties in front of the soldiers' families. "We're soldiers too. We're infantrymen. We could easily be in their place," Steinborn said. "It's hard because you honestly think you see your wife or your girlfriend sitting where the next-of-kin is. You can imagine yourself being there.... So I think that's why we try to be as precise and exact, and look as good, and make them look as good as possible." Some of the Old Guard choose to learn about the lives of the soldiers they've carried. Reeves asks for information about the fallen after having participated in the ceremonies, but never before he greets the soldier's body. "It's 'take care of business' and then afterwards I like to know a little bit about the soldier," he said. "That way you can keep emotions at bay and you're just focused on doing the soldier part." Strikingly, the men, who head to their barracks' gym for intense weight training twice a day and take five-mile runs as a team, seem to be able to communicate without speaking. After drilling for countless hours on the base's grounds, they can feel if another man is even minutely out of step in the ceremony. Sometimes they'll whisper corrections so discreetly no onlooker would ever notice. The nature of their job means the men also share a tighter, unspoken bond. "When I was walking through the aircraft and saw the transfer case with the American flag draped over it, it was -- it was very emotional," Steinborn said. "I don't know if it sadness or pride or what, but -- it was honestly the most difficult and touching thing that I have ever done."

"It's all about honoring your brothers who are fallen," Reeves says . Army's Old Guard transfers remains of soldiers who died in conflict . The team performs duties in front of the soldiers' families . The nature of their job means the men share a tight, unspoken bond .

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(CNN) -- President Obama delivered the commencement address Friday to the U.S. Naval Academy's graduating class, speaking to an audience of 30,000 that included a former presidential candidate and proud parent of one of the graduates in attendance. Jack McCain shakes hands with President Obama at Friday's commencement ceremony. John Sidney McCain IV, more commonly known as Jack, on Friday became the fourth McCain to graduate from the Annapolis, Maryland, service academy and the fourth with the same name. "America, look at these young men and women. Look at these sailors and Marines. Here are the values that we cherish. Here are the ideals that endure," Obama told the crowd. About midday at the academy's commissioning and graduation ceremony, McCain received a Bachelor of Science degree, taking the oath of office and being commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy 103 years after his great-grandfather did the same. Watch Obama hug John McCain's son » . With parents John and Cindy McCain watching, he shook hands with the president and then walked back into the crowd to applause and more hugs. Joe McCain told CNN that his brother plans to join his father and great-grandfather as naval aviators. "His grandfather, JSM Jr., was in submarines, commanding three different boats in World War II," he said. That grandfather later became Adm. McCain and was commander of the Pacific Theater during the Vietnam War, when Jack's father, now Arizona Sen. John McCain, was being held as a prisoner of war in Hanoi. In an interview last year with GoMids.com, Jack McCain reflected on the advice his father gave him on the day he arrived at the Naval Academy. "My dad told me there is one thing McCains are good at, and that is not giving in to pressure, and honor -- keeping our honor regardless of what happens," Jack McCain said. "He then said, 'Don't lie, cheat or steal -- anything else is fair game.' " John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, frequently poked fun at his record at the Naval Academy while on the campaign trail, pointing out that he "stood fifth from the bottom" of his class and racked up dozens of demerits. At a campaign event last October, McCain joked that Jack needed a "DNA check" because he had yet to receive a single demerit. (Jack McCain told GoMids.com that he did accumulate some demerits -- for wearing flip-flops outside and forgetting to shave). McCain told Fox News on Thursday that his son is graduating "in better class standing than I had, which wasn't hard to do." "I'm very proud of him," he said. Meghan McCain, Jack's older sister, sent a message on Twitter Friday saying her younger brother, Jimmy, could not attend because he is serving overseas. McCain told Fox News he is returning home this weekend. In his remarks to the students, Obama made a vow that he would not send them to war unless it is "absolutely necessary." "It's a promise that as long as I am your commander in chief, I will only send you into harm's way when it is absolutely necessary, and with the strategy, the well-defined goals, the equipment and the support that you need to get the job done," he said. "This includes the job of bringing the Iraq war to a responsible end and pursuing a new comprehensive strategy to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda and its allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan." Obama also promised additional assistance to military families, vowing that "we will be with you every step of the way, increasing your pay, increasing child care and helping families deal with the stress and separation of war." And he said new laws will help ensure that veterans are well taken care of. Obama's commencement address was his third and final of the year. He was also commencement speaker at Arizona State University and the University of Notre Dame.

Son of Sen. John McCain, the former GOP presidential candidate, graduates . Jack McCain shakes hands with Obama, who delivers commencement address . He is the fourth McCain to graduate from Naval Academy . Obama vows to not send them to war unless it is "absolutely necessary"

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sailors aboard a U.S. ocean surveillance ship reacted with a mix of bemusement and profanity to what they said was harassment by Chinese ships earlier this month, according to video released Friday by the Pentagon. The Navy says this shows a trawler crew member using a hook to try to snag the Impeccable's towed acoustic array. "Chinese aggression, from aboard the USNS Impeccable," one member of the American ship's crew is heard narrating. "Details at 11." The Pentagon has raised concerns about a March 8 incident in which "increasingly aggressive" Chinese ships harassed the Impeccable, an unarmed survey ship with a mostly civilian crew. China's government accused the ship of violating Chinese and international laws during its patrols, which took place more than 100 miles off the Chinese coast. "The U.S. claims are gravely in contravention of the facts and confuse black and white and they are totally unacceptable to China," Ma Zhaoxu, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, said after news of the incident emerged. Five Chinese vessels shadowed the Impeccable, with two of them closing to within 25 feet while their crews waved Chinese flags and stripped down to their underwear in a sign of disrespect. The Impeccable also turned fire hoses on one of the ships "in order to protect itself," the Pentagon said. The Pentagon said the Chinese also attempted to snag the sonar equipment that the ship was towing behind it, leaving crew members discussing possible orders to destroy the equipment at one point. "Lou and Wilson man the hoses while the Chinese irritate us to tears," the video's narrator reports. "Here he comes for another swipe at the array cable." Watch Pentagon video of Impeccable incident » . The 281.5-foot Impeccable is one of six surveillance ships that perform military survey operations, according to the Navy. It is an oceanographic ship that gathers underwater acoustic data, using sonar. It has a maximum speed of 13 knots -- or about 15 mph -- but it travels 3 knots, or 3.5 mph, when towing its array of monitoring equipment. It carries a crew of 20 mariners, five technicians and as many as 20 Navy personnel. The Chinese ships involved included a navy intelligence collection ship, a Bureau of Maritime Fisheries patrol vessel, a State Oceanographic Administration patrol vessel and two small Chinese-flagged trawlers, the statement said.

Irritation shows in video taken during harassment of U.S. ship by Chinese vessels . China says Navy surveillance vessel was violating Chinese and international law . USS Impeccable turned fire hoses on vessel that came close in March 8 incident . Crew discussed possibly destroying sonar equipment Impeccable was towing .

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CANNES, France (CNN) -- Editor's note: Watch The Screening Room Cannes special on CNN at the following dates and times: Wednesday 27 May: 0730, 1730, Saturday 30 May: 0730, 1800, Sunday 31 May: 0430, 1730, Monday 31 May: 0300 (All times GMT) In the most high-profile amalgamation of Indian and western talent yet, Academy Award-winning actor Ben Kingsley stars with Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan in a drama about a pair of maths geniuses. Ben Kingsely who stars in "Teen Patti" is the first Academy Award-winner ever to take a role in a Bollywood movie. Bollywood-produced "Teen Patti" ("Card Game") also marks Kingsley's first return to Indian filmmaking since playing the title role in "Gandhi," the critically-acclaimed biopic of the Indian leader that propelled him to fame in 1982. He is the first Oscar-winning Hollywood actor ever to star in a Bollywood movie, and Kingsley believes that the future of filmmaking could lie in combining the twin talents of the world's biggest film industries. "I think the two talents put together could be extraordinary," Kingsley told CNN in Cannes where he was promoting "Teen Patti." The 65 year-old English actor maintains that western cinema is suffering from a lack of originality and "heart," with many films just ending up as a "copy of a copy of a copy." He thinks that the Indian approach to filmmaking can give western productions the infusion of originality they need -- and that filmmakers in India can benefit from "the technology, and the casting opportunities, the directorial opportunities of the west." "Teen Patti" is set in India and the UK, where Kingsley shot all of his scenes, and uses English and Hindi dialogue. The drama, which cost a mere $7 million to make, will have its world premiere in Mumbai in August. Watch CNN The Screening Room producer Neil Curry search for Ben Kingsely in Cannes » . It tells the story of a university professor, played by Bachchan, who schools five of his most able students in the finer points of high-stakes gambling. The film's plot is reported to be similar to "21," the 2008 Kevin Spacey drama, based on the story of the MIT Blackjack Team. Indian production company Serendipity Films, which was launched in 2003 by Ambika Hinduja, a member of one of India's richest families, is behind the picture. One of the company's central projects is cultural-fusion projects, like this one. The company is aiming to enter the big league by investing $50 million over the next three years in projects which bring together Indian and western talent. Do you think that Bollywood can make movies for a western audience? Tell us below in the SoundOff box . Kingsley says he has wanted to be associated with mainstream Indian film ever since he made "Gandhi" -- an Indo-British production and so not "entirely an Indian film"-- with director Richard Attenborough in India. The actor who is acclaimed for performances in "Sexy Beast" (2000) and "Schindler's List" (1993) says he wanted to know what it would be like to work with an Indian director -- Leena Yadav, "who was amazing" -- and a huge Indian star like Bachchan. "I was very curious about him and he was very curious about me," says Kingsley of working with 66 year-old Bachchan, or "Big B" as India's most prominent Bollywood star is affectionately known to audiences. Bachchan's deep voice and brooding persona changed the face of Hindi cinema in the 1970s. Up until then Bollywood screens had been populated by wisecracking loverboys -- the trademark Indian hero in the 1960s. Today, he is best-known for hosting the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire" ("Kaun Banega Crorepati"). Kingsley says that while on set, he and Bachchan "circled each other like hunters." Despite his respect for the Godfather of Bollywood, Kingsley refused to socialize with the star: "Because my character in this film is discovering Bachchan's character and if it's all frittered away in social 'bla-bla' there's nothing left to discover." Kingsley's Indian connection goes back even further than "Gandhi." The British actor was born Krishna Bhanji to an English mother an Indian father and adopted his British name while at drama school. Apart from his Bollywood work Kingsley has just finished filming a Martin Scorsese directed period drama, "Shutter Island," which is expected to hit cinemas later this year. He is also busy producing his own films as part of SBK Pictures, the production company he founded in 2007, as he says, "putting into practice all the things that one has learnt along the way." The company currently has five films in development, one of which is a drama about native Indians called "Whispers Like Thunder." For Kingsley, producing is a chance to have some control over the filmmaking process that isn't possible as an actor. "It's tragic when [a film] just misses," he told CNN. "If you'd made a slight adjustment in your casting, or your writing, or your director of photography or the rhythm of editing, it could have been absolutely perfect." Other Hollywood stars mixing with Bollywood include Sylvester Stallone, who will appear in Sabir Khan's romantic comedy, "Kambakkht Ishq" and Mickey Rourke is set to star in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Hollywood debut, "Broken Horses."

Oscar-winner Ben Kingsley stars with Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan . "Teen Patti" is Kingsley's first return to Indian filmmaking after "Gandhi in 1982 . It is the first time an Oscar-winner has starred in Bollywood film . Most high-profile amalgamation of western and Indian movie-making talent yet .

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SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir (CNN) -- Senior Pakistani and Indian military officials met Tuesday to discuss a border clash in Kashmir, the first major skirmish between South Asia's nuclear rivals since a 2003 cease-fire. Indian army soldiers on the outskirts of Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar. Pakistan's army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas told CNN that Pakistan "made our point clear" regarding the firefight, which he said began after Indian soldiers crossed the Line of Control that separates Kashmir between India and Pakistan. But an Indian military spokeswoman, Capt. Neha Goyal, told CNN Pakistani troops crossed the Line of Control and "started firing on our patrol," killing an Indian soldier. "Our troops also retaliated and the Pakistan army troopers ran back," she said. Abbas said "further action should be taken" following Tuesday's "flag meeting," but did not elaborate. The meeting took place along the Line of Control. Reports in India's media said four Pakistani soldiers were killed, but Pakistan's military "strongly denied the report of any (casualties) on the Pakistani side." Pakistan's military also denied its forces crossed the Line of Control, saying the skirmish started when Indian soldiers tried to establish a forward post on Pakistan's side of the line. "On Pakistan's' objection, Indian troops opened indiscriminate and unprovoked fire," a Pakistan military news release, posted on Monday, stated. "The Indian fire was immediately responded to. The firing continued -- intermittently during the whole night." Pakistan said the Indian soldiers "were forced to flee from the area leaving behind their weapons" after the firefight. Indian and Pakistani forces have exchanged periodic gunfire since May, but Monday's clashes appear to be a serious setback to the ongoing peace process between the two nations. India and Pakistan had announced a bilateral cease-fire all along their borders in November 2003 and the cease-fire had been holding on the borders until recently. Kashmir has been at the root of two wars between India and Pakistan, both of which tested nuclear weapons in 1998. An 18-year separatist campaign in the Indian-controlled portion of the largely Muslim territory has claimed more than 43,000 lives, according to government officials, although human rights groups and nongovernmental organizations put the toll at twice that number. India has long accused Pakistan of supporting the separatists in Kashmir, a charge Pakistan denies. India blamed militants from Pakistan for a suicide car bombing outside its embassy in Afghanistan that killed 58 people on July 7. A December 2001 attack on India's parliament that India blamed on the militants brought the two nations to the brink of another war, but they have expanded economic and cultural ties since the November 2003 cease-fire agreement. -- CNN's Aliza Kassim in Atlanta and Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar contributed to this report .

Pakistan: Fighting began after Indian soldiers crossed the Line of Control . India accused Pakistan of attacking one of its patrols, killing a soldier . Firefight took place across the Line of Control border in disputed Kashmir region .

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(CNN) -- U.S. and NATO forces are engaged in a futile war against the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, Canada's prime minister said. Canadian leader Stephen Harper says he backs President Obama's "renewed commitment to Afghanistan." "We are not going to ever defeat the insurgency," Stephen Harper told CNN's Fareed Zakaria in an interview that aired Sunday. "Afghanistan has probably had -- my reading of Afghanistan history -- it's probably had an insurgency forever, of some kind." Harper's blunt assessment comes as nearly 2,800 Canadian forces are fighting in Afghanistan. The country's parliament has voted to pull them out by 2011. Harper spoke with Zakaria last week after a visit by President Obama, who made Canada his first foreign trip since taking office in January. Obama has said Afghanistan is the central front to the U.S.-led war on terror. The Pentagon is in the process of sending an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan, bringing the total there to 55,000. Harper told CNN that he supports Obama's "renewed commitment to Afghanistan" but said he would not recommit any more Canadian troops until there is a clear plan for leaving Afghanistan. "What has to happen in Afghanistan is, we have to have an Afghan government that is capable of managing that insurgency and improving its own governance," Harper said. "If President Obama wants anybody to do more, I would ask very hard questions about what is the strategy for success and for an eventual departure."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper: "We are not going to ever defeat the insurgency" Canada's parliament has voted to pull its troops from Afghanistan by 2011 . Harper says he supports President Obama's "renewed commitment to Afghanistan" But Harper says he won't recommit more troops until there's a clear plan for leaving .

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LA PAZ, Bolivia (CNN) -- Heads of South American nations lent support Monday night to President Evo Morales of Bolivia, who says opposition leaders are trying to overthrow his government. Indigenous people from El Alto, Bolivia, take part in an anti-U.S. demonstration in La Paz on Monday. Confronting their first crisis, members of the four-month-old Union of South American Countries voted to create a commission to support Morales' democratically elected government, said President Michelle Bachelet of Chile. She read a nine-point statement on Chilean TV that calls for the support of human rights and democracy and the preservation of Bolivia's territorial integrity. The statement condemns any attempts to overthrow the government. It also said the new commission would investigate a reported massacre in the Bolivian state of Pando, where violent clashes killed 30 people last week. Those clashes pitted supporters of eastern governors who want autonomy against the central government. The South American leaders also urged dialogue to address disputes in Bolivia. Morales attended the emergency meeting of the union, which is modeled on the European Union and aims to politically and economically integrate South American countries. The president is poised to approve the start of negotiations between his leftist government and opposition leaders of five provinces who demand greater autonomy and the cancellation of a constitutional referendum that would give the president more power. The opposition also is angry over tax money that Morales is diverting from the provinces to fund elderly programs. Morales said the opposition leaders are trying to overthrow the government. "This is a coup in the past few days by the leaders of some provinces, with the takeover of some institutions, the sacking and robbery of some government institutions and attempts to assault the national police and the armed forces," Morales said. Opposition leaders say they merely want their demands met. Police kept order Monday during a march by about 2,000 pro-government groups opposed to the violence in the provinces. The demonstrators marched past the U.S. Embassy in La Paz. Morales expelled the U.S. ambassador to Bolivia last week, blaming the American government for inciting the violence. The United States called the accusations "false and baseless" and said Bolivia was making a "grave mistake." Most of South America's leaders attended Monday's emergency summit, with the exception of President Alan Garcia of Peru. Protest leaders asked to attend the summit in Santiago, Chile, but it was limited to heads of state. The protests started 21 days ago in Pando, Beni, Santa Cruz, Tarija and Chuquisaca provinces. The opposition groups have blockaded major roads and threaten to disrupt the nation's natural gas shipments, particularly to Brazil and Argentina. Anti-government protesters also have clashed with police and taken over offices and buildings in the five provinces. Watch some of the violent demonstrations across Bolivia » . Much of the violence has taken place in Pando -- Morales declared martial law there Friday. On Monday, supporters of Morales, or his so-called militias, were gathering in Santa Cruz, and threatening to encircle the city, stoking fears that blood could be shed there. In Pando, it was reported that arbitrary arrests were taking place as the military took to the streets. Houses had been broken into and shot up, and civic leaders were fleeing to Brazil. It was uncertain, meanwhile, whether the Bolivian military remained solely behind Morales. Some signs of divisions had been seen within the military. Opposition leaders say they will not negotiate if there are any more deaths. Vice President Alvaro Garcia said the government will not negotiate about the dead citizens but will rigorously pursue those responsible for the killings. There are conflicting reports over who killed the 30 peasants. Opposition leaders say the peasants were ambushed by local forces. The government says the peasants were armed and initiated the firefight. The opposition has offered to lift the blockades as a goodwill gesture, but the government demanded that the protesters also relinquish the buildings and other property they have seized. Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, was elected in December 2005. CNN's Ione Molinares and Journalist Martin Arostegui contributed to this report.

NEW: Bolivian president to return home to approve negotiations with provinces . South American nation have met to discuss violence in Bolivia . At least 30 people killed during past week of protests . Violence is centered in the eastern province of Pando .

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(CNN) -- In a Nairobi slum, more than one in four children under 5 will die, but in a wealthier part of the Kenyan capital, the mortality rate is one in almost 67, according to a World Health Organization report released Tuesday. A woman lies next to her sick child at a medical center in Sheshemene, Ethiopia, in July. The World Health Report 2008 aims to spotlight disparities in health care across the globe, and as the Nairobi example illustrates, the differences exist not only between the First and Third Worlds -- they can occur just across town. WHO roundly criticizes the organization, finance and delivery of health care and calls advances in the field "deeply and unacceptably unequal, with many disadvantaged populations increasingly lagging behind or even losing ground." The report says that a citizen of a wealthy nation can live up to 40 years longer than someone in a poor country, and of the 136 million women who will give birth this year, about 58 million (43 percent) will receive no medical assistance during childbirth or the postpartum period. UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman said the sharp inequities in the cost and access to health care often speak to larger societal ills. "High maternal, infant and under-five mortality often indicates lack of access to basic services such as clean water and sanitation, immunizations and proper nutrition," she said in a statement. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan insists the dilemma is not just a matter of haves versus have-nots. "A world that is greatly out of balance in matters of health is neither stable nor secure," she said in a statement from Almaty, Kazakhstan, where the report was released. The difference in annual government expenditures on health care is more canyon than gap, according to the report. While the wealthiest nations dole out as much as $6,000 per person each year, some countries are unable or unwilling to spend more than $20 per person. However, while calling for wide-ranging reforms in the delivery of primary health care, the report notes that it isn't always a matter of government expenditures. Tajikistan and Sierra Leone both spend less than $100 per person on health care. But while the health-adjusted life expectancy in Sierra Leone is under 30 years of age, Tajikistan's is almost 70 -- a figure comparable to the United States, which spends more than $2,500 a person on health care. "When countries at the same level of economic development are compared, those where health care is organized around the tenets of primary health care produce a higher level of health for the same investment," the report says. WHO defines primary health care as being "universally accessible to individuals and families in the community by means acceptable to them, through their full participation and at a cost that the community and country can afford." The organization's report -- titled "Primary Health Care -- Now More Than Ever" -- calls for a move toward universal coverage to reverse a trend over the last 30 years in which disparities in the levels of health care have actually widened. Universal coverage, the report says, would lower the risks of disease outbreaks for everyone, not just the impoverished. Currently, the most common means of paying for health care is out of pocket, which WHO says is the "most inequitable method for financing health care services." The report says more than 100 million people fall into poverty in a given year because of health care bills. Another problem, the report says, is that doctors tend not to focus on prevention. "Rather than improving their response capacity and anticipating new challenges, health systems seem to be drifting from one short-term priority to another, increasingly fragmented and without a clear sense of direction," according to the report. But the report also handed out accolades, most notably to Iran and Cuba. WHO applauded the Islamic Republic's 17,000 "health houses," which serve about 1,500 people each. The report credited the centers with boosting Iranians' life expectancy from 63 to 71 years between 1990 and 2006. And in Cuba, the nation's "polyclinics" have yielded one of the longest life expectancies (78 years) of any developing country, the report says. The report called for all sectors of society to help determine how health care is allocated, and it singled out the United States for spending just 0.1 percent of its health budget on health systems research -- the kind of research that policymakers use to decide how money is spent. The report also points to the pharmaceutical industry's impact on health care in the United States, where the average expenditure on prescription drugs in 2005 was $1,141 per person -- twice the average in Canada, Germany and Britain, and 10 times the average in Mexico. To combat the problems facing global health care, WHO says in its report that nations must improve coverage and delivery, as well as policy and leadership. It acknowledges that primary health care isn't cheap, but asserts that the "investment provides better value for money than its alternatives." "The legitimacy of health authorities increasingly depends on how well they assume responsibility to develop and reform the health sector according to what people value -- in terms of health and of what is expected of health systems in society," the report says.

Health care disparities make world "neither stable nor secure," WHO director says . Report: 43 percent of women giving birth this year will do so without medical help . Tajikistan, Sierra Leone have 40-year gap in life expectancy despite expenditures . Report applauds Iran, Cuba for finding ways to improve health care .

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(CNN) -- Recent headlines focusing on the rash of pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia should instead focus on the humanitarian crisis driving Somalis to commit crimes on the high seas, an international aid group said Thursday. Somalia's population have suffered from a lack of the most basic services. An estimated one-third of Somalia's population desperately needs emergency aid, the international agency Oxfam said, as donors to Somalia met in Brussels, Belgium. "Without economic opportunities offering alternatives to criminality, and without law and order to curb these activities, then the massive economic returns of hijacking ships will continue to drive piracy," Robert Maletta, policy adviser for Oxfam, said in a news release. "The international community must urgently focus their attention on finding ways to assist the millions of people in desperate need," Maletta said. Somalia, which is racked by poverty and conflict, has not had a fully functioning government since 1991, when its president was overthrown in Mogadishu, the capital. Drought and rising food prices have added to the nation's problems, according to Maletta. "Families are finding it difficult to meet their most basic needs, as prices for basic food items are at record high levels," he said. Not only do civilians need emergency aid, they also need protection from military abuses, aid groups said. "Since Somalia's security forces have committed so many violent abuses against civilians, efforts to strengthen them also need to make them more accountable," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director for Human Rights Watch. The combination of security and humanitarian assistance is necessary to curb piracy in the region, which borders the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, aid groups said. The April 8 hijacking of the U.S.-flagged cargo ship Maersk Alabama made headlines worldwide when its American captain, Richard Phillips, was held hostage by four Somali men. Phillips was rescued four days later, after U.S. Navy snipers fatally shot three pirates. The fourth suspect, Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, was brought to New York to face federal piracy charges. Ships with aid supplies destined for countries in the region, including Somalia, also have been hijacked in the Indian Ocean. Pirates held a ship carrying U.N. food aid for 100 days in June 2005. Two years ago, a cargo ship and crew delivering U.N. aid to Somalia were held and released after 40 days. The Maersk was going to the coastal town of Mombasa, Kenya, to deliver relief supplies intended for various countries in the region, including Somalia.

Oxfam: One-third of Somalia's population desperately needs emergency aid . Somalia has not had a fully functioning government since 1991 . Groups: Security, humanitarian assistance necessary to curb piracy . Brussels meeting aimed at supporting Somalia's security through more funding .

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Members of an Iranian group say Iraqi forces have beaten and abused them as Iraqis move to expel the Iranians from a camp on Iraqi land. About 3,500 people live at Camp Ashraf, where members of the People's Mujahedin have lived for 24 years. The Iranian group -- designated a terrorist organization by the United States and Iran -- has asked the United States to intervene on their behalf. About 3,500 people live at Camp Ashraf, most of them members of the People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran who have lived at the camp for 24 years after fleeing Iran. Iran, Iraq, Canada and the United States consider the People's Mujahedin, which opposes the government in Tehran, a terrorist organization, although the European Union removed the group from its terrorist list in January. The United Kingdom did so last year. The People's Mujahedin accused the Iraqi military of entering the camp north of Baghdad on Friday and forcibly evacuating a building that served mostly as a women's dormitory. Ashraf residents rallied Monday against the military, chanting for Imam Hussein -- the Prophet Mohammed's grandson and a holy figure for Shiite Muslims -- to save them from the abuse of the Iraqi soldiers. Statements from the National Council of Resistance to Iran, an umbrella group of Iranian opposition organizations -- the largest of which is the People's Mujahedin -- accuse Iraq's Shiite-dominated government of doing the bidding of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also a Shiite. "The Iranian Resistance calls for urgent intervention of the U.S. government and competent international bodies to neutralize plots by the clerical regime and prevent a human catastrophe in Camp Ashraf," said a statement dated Sunday. Iraq's government denied that it was acting on Khamenei's behalf. "The Iraqi government's position is clear and there is no retreat from its decision to close Camp Ashraf," said a statement from the office of National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie. "The national security adviser is only implementing the decision and the policy of the Iraqi government." The National Council also accused the Iraqis of barring delivery of all supplies to the camp except for food, banning Iraqi workers from entering the camp and blocking families from visiting relatives inside the camp. The Iraqi government statement denied keeping supplies from Camp Ashraf. "The Iraqi government continues to facilitate all humanitarian materials entering Camp Ashraf," the Iraqi statement said. " ... We welcome any visit by any international organization." A People's Mujahedin spokesman in Camp Ashraf called the statement false and asked international groups "to visit Ashraf and observe the facts and realities of the present situation by themselves." Camp Ashraf, which has housed Iranians since the mid-1980s, was under U.S. protection until January 1, when it was handed over to the Iraqis. Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council and the long-time leader of People's Mujahedin, sent a letter to President Obama asking for help against "a conspiracy hatched by the religious dictatorship ruling Iran against the lives of 3,500 residents of Camp Ashraf." Rajavi cited comments by Khamenei during a meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talibani last month calling for the expulsion of the People's Mujahedin from Iraq and later comments by former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani during a trip to Baghdad calling for Camp Ashraf's closure. After those remarks, the National Council said, al-Rubaie declared that the Iranians at Camp Ashraf had no right to refugee status or to political asylum and would be expelled either back to Iran or to a third country. Rajavi, in her letter to Obama, asked the president to "issue an order so that the arrangements for the protection of Ashraf are reinstated to that which was in place before January 2009, i.e., the U.S. forces be tasked with the protection of Ashraf." The U.S. military in Iraq had no comment on the matter, referring queries to the State Department, which did not have an immediate comment. Also known as Mujahedin-e-Khalq, People's Mujahedin was initially formed to oppose the shah of Iran, but fell out of favor with the Islamic revolution of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after 1979. People's Mujahedin, which promotes a secular, Marxist government for Iran, waged a violent campaign against the fundamentalist Islamic Tehran government -- including bombings that killed politicians, judges and Cabinet members -- for years. The group allied with Saddam Hussein in Iraq in the mid-1980s and fought with the Iraqis against Iran in the latter years of the Iran-Iraq war. People's Mujahedin renounced violence in 2001, but a group of 12 former members told Human Rights Watch in 2005 that they were subject to physical and psychological abuse when they made it known they wanted to leave the organization. The group is also said to have provided Western governments with information about Iran's nuclear program. The National Council accused al-Rubaie in particular of "clearly implementing the dictates of Khamenei" and said he should "be prosecuted by international forces."

People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran have lived at camp for 24 years . Group is considered terrorist organization by United States, others . Iraqi government has decided to close the camp . Group says Iraq is doing bidding of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who group opposes .

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Former New York City police Commissioner Bernard Kerik pleaded not guilty in federal court Monday to a revised indictment charging him in a corruption and tax evasion case, according to a spokesman for the New York District Attorney. A revised indictment brings to 15 the number of counts against former police Commissioner Bernard Kerik. The revised indictment includes two new counts of aiding the filing of false returns and a charge involving making false statements while applying for a housing loan, spokesman Herbert Hadad of the district attorney's office told CNN. Kerik is accused of failing to report more than $500,000 in income between 1999 and 2004, said Patricia Haynes, the IRS agent in charge of the case. Prosecutors allege Kerik received and concealed benefits of about $255,000 in renovations to his Riverdale, New York, apartment from a company seeking to do business with the city of New York. Revisions to the original indictment, which included charges of corruption, conspiracy and tax evasion, bring to 15 the number of counts against Kerik. Barry Berke, Kerik's attorney, declined to comment. The indictment also charges that Kerik made several false statements to the White House and other federal officials when he applied for the position as adviser to the Homeland Security Advisory Council, to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and in connection with his nomination to be secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. U.S. District Judge Stephen Robinson did not rule Monday on whether the two counts that include charges of lying to White House officials will be tried in Washington or White Plains, New York. Kerik is due back in court February 3 for a hearing on pretrial motions, Hadad said. A trial date has not been set. Kerik, 53, is a longtime friend and former protege of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani. President Bush nominated him to be secretary of homeland security after winning re-election in 2004, but Kerik withdrew his name amid allegations that he employed a nanny who had a questionable immigration status. Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson began investigating allegations that Kerik had traded payment on repairs to his Bronx apartment for favors, including city contracts. The former chief pleaded guilty in 2006 to accepting tens of thousands of dollars in gifts while he worked as city corrections commissioner. He was fined $221,000 and avoided jail time under his plea agreement. Before tapping Kerik for a Cabinet post, Bush dispatched him to Baghdad to train Iraqi police after the U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. He left three months into an expected six-month stint, with Iraqi officials telling reporters that he had completed his assignment. In 2004, he campaigned for Bush's re-election and spoke at the Republican National Convention in New York. CNN's Mary Snow contributed to this report.

Bernard Kerik is accused of failing to report more than $500,000 in income . Kerik is the former New York City police commissioner . Indictment also charges that Kerik made false statements to the White House . A trial date has not been set .

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