(CNN) -- A security alert in New York's subways. A major speech by President Bush. A purported letter from one of the world's top terrorists to another. There's a common thread to all these stories -- the Iraqi insurgency.The dubious tip about the alleged threat in New York came from Iraq; the president's speech about Islamic terrorism was provoked by the fighting in Iraq. And the purported letter from al Qaeda's number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was addressed to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leading foreign fighter in Iraq, and now the head of al Qaeda there.Earlier this year, my colleague Nic Robertson and I spent time investigating the insurgency and the men who, we discovered, like to refer to themselves as the Iraqi Resistance.With the constitutional referendum in Iraq and Saddam Hussein's trial looming, here is an Iraq Insurgency 101.How many insurgents are there?Up to 200,000, according to U.S. military intelligence sources. That seems astonishingly high, given official estimates of 5,000 to 25,000. The sources say their 200,000 figure includes 25,000-30,000 actual fighters while the rest are active and passive supporters, including fund-raisers, lookouts and even family members.But the numbers are growing.One U.S. military official --- looking back at the past year --- put it this way: "If someone would have told you that we would have killed 10,000, wounded 10,000 and imprisoned 32,000, you would have thought we would have won."The problem, he adds, is "the insurgency is self-regenerating."How and when did the insurgency begin?A former Iraqi general, who now leads an insurgent group in Baghdad, told us he and others were planning resistance even before the U.S. invasion. The general, who goes by the alias Abu Omar, said: "Six months before the occupation, we started training and exercising resisting the American army in small groups."U.S. intelligence and military officials say many of the groups now making up the resistance were factions who benefited under Saddam Hussein, including army officers, a paramilitary group called the Saddam Fedayeen, and various Sunni tribal groups. They had their own networks for communications and even for financing to get around U.N. sanctions before the fall of Saddam.Does that mean the insurgency was inevitable?"The insurgency was not inevitable," said former Maj. Gen. James "Spider" Marks, who headed intelligence for U.S. ground forces in Iraq before and after the invasion. He and the Iraqi ex-general, Abu Omar, both say that what might have made the difference was the decision by U.S. administrator Paul Bremer in late May 2003 to disband the Iraqi army, throwing hundreds of thousands, mostly Sunnis, out of work.At about the same time in May 2003 -- the month after the regime was overthrown -- Saddam Hussein's deputy Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri held a meeting in a car in Baghdad with four other top Saddam loyalists, where they decided to activate an insurgency, according to U.S. intelligence sources.Who are the insurgents?A mix of people and networks, according to both the insurgents and U.S. sources. Most are Sunni Muslims -- a minority in Iraq but who held pre-eminent positions under Saddam.There are also a growing number of disappointed and disillusioned tribesmen from the Sunni triangle, the area that includes the cities of Ramadi and Falluja, where many powerful local tribal sheiks once thought they could work with the invading Americans."The first day the American forces entered the province, we went and negotiated with great hopes and expectations due to what we had heard about America and its democracy," says Sheik Zeidan, who controlled 20,000 men. The U.S. military kicked Zeidan out of the country last year and has refused to negotiate with or pay court to many of these tribal leaders.Then there are the foreign fighters, most notably Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.How many foreign fighters are in Iraq?Surprisingly few, numbering perhaps 500 to 1,500. They carry out the most spectacular and bloody attacks, including the suicide missions that have, at times, killed more than a 100 people in a single day and the beheadings, such as that of American Nicholas Berg. There are four times as many people going after Zarqawi and his network, than looking after the rest of Iraq. -- Senior U.S. military official Al-Zarqawi and his followers, who call themselves al Qaeda in Iraq, are as sophisticated with their public relations as they are brutal with their attacks. They videotape their actions and executions, posting them to Web sites.In that recent speech about Iraq, President Bush mentioned al-Zarqawi almost as many times as he did Osama bin Laden. But all that attention may also be tilting the military effort against the insurgency. "There are four times as many people going after Zarqawi and his network, than looking after the rest of Iraq," says one senior U.S. military official.What exactly is the al Qaeda connection?Al-Zarqawi and bin Laden may have crossed paths in Afghanistan in earlier years, but it wasn't until last year that al-Zarqawi publicly swore allegiance to bin Laden. For his part, bin Laden soon followed by naming al-Zarqawi his deputy for Iraq. It is an arrangement that pays off for both men, say al Qaeda experts.Who are the insurgents targeting?The U.S. military was the initial and primary target for the Iraqi insurgents. But they've changed their focus to Iraqis they see as collaborating with the occupiers, which is why Iraqi military and police forces and, now, teachers have been targeted.And al-Zarqawi's group, especially, has targeted the Shiite Muslim majority, with a series of vicious attacks.What should we most be worried about?Three things. First, even though numbers are hard to come by, you can measure the strength of the insurgency by the number of attacks. Although there was a lull around the time of the Iraq election last January, the attacks have increased since then. "I believe that resistance is not confined to certain persons or organizations. Resistance is now the prevailing culture in Iraq," Sheik Zeidan says. The youth wants immediate results therefore he will join al Qaeda to inflict most harm against the enemy. -- Abu Omar, insurgent leader Second, and perhaps more worrying, is that al Qaeda no longer seems to be made up of foreign fighters. Abu Omar, the insurgent leader, says he welcomes al Qaeda fighters, but stresses that the resistance is Iraqi.Yet, he says, the situation may be spinning out of control as younger Iraqis join al Qaeda, attracted by its ability to carry out those daring attacks. "Those who like to inflict the most harm on the Americans prefer to join al Qaeda. The youth wants immediate results therefore he will join al Qaeda to inflict most harm against the enemy."Third, there is the possibility of civil war between the Sunnis and Shiites. A recent posting by al-Zarqawi's group made it clear one aim was "targeting the infidel militias and the [prominent leaders] who represent heresy and atheism among the Shiites."In that letter from al-Zawahiri to al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda's number two admonished al-Zarqawi for attacking the Shiites, or at least being public about it: "Even if we attack the Shiites out of necessity, then why do you announce this matter and make it public?"Nevertheless, civil war remains the biggest fear.Is there a way out?That may be the toughest question of all. U.S. military officials told us the same thing they say they've told their bosses, even the president: ultimately there is no military solution, there has to be a political deal between Sunnis, Shiites and the Kurds.For his part, Abu Omar talks tough, saying: "no negotiations, until we kill the last American soldier." But in the next breath, he adds "if they (the Americans) want to be serious, let it be official and in front of all people."

BELLE CHASSE, Louisiana (AP) -- Tammy Galjour already has a job, working 12-hour shifts as an X-ray technician at a hospital in this normally tidy suburb just outside New Orleans.These days, when she gets home just after dawn, she's grateful to be exhausted, to fall into bed and sleep away the destruction that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita rained down on her town and her state.But Galjour -- like hundreds of other parents across Louisiana -- has been handed a second, unpaid job: She'll be home-schooling her 12-year-old son, at least until classes start again in Plaquemines Parish, where six of nine schools were washed away by the storms."I think it will be a challenge just to get him to sit down and listen to me," Galjour said, juggling four fat textbooks she had just picked up.Across Louisiana, families are turning to home-schooling as officials scramble to reopen shuttered schools. At least 800 families in Plaquemines Parish alone are affected, according to school officials.Nationally, about 1.1 million students are home-schooled, according to the U.S. Department of Education, a movement that's been growing steadily for decades. Usually, though, it's not a decision made under duress, since home-schooling demands patience and commitment from both parents and students."This is a beautiful short-term solution, especially given where we are now," said Stephanie Riegel, a New Orleans resident now relocated to Baton Rouge with twin 9-year-old girls.Louisiana has done its best to encourage parents not to leave the public school system, urging them instead to enroll in schools wherever they've landed, said Meg Casper, a spokeswoman for the state Education Department. The East Baton Rouge Parish district, for example, has taken in more than 2,000 new students since Katrina hit.But other parents have pulled back, some because they eventually hope to send their children back to their local schools. Others simply got fed up with seeing their children in new, unfamiliar and crowded classrooms."At her school in East Baton Rouge, there were four drug busts one day, and the next someone was selling pills," said Michelle Pellegal, gesturing at her 16-year-old daughter, April Kent. "She said, 'I can't go to that school any more."'Like Galjour, Pellegal works in the produce department of a grocery store. She will oversee her daughter's lessons in chemistry and algebra after work, she said, until Plaquemines Parish schools reopen.Some, like Pam Ricouard, followed the state's wishes and enrolled her five children in school in Erath, a rural town in coastal Louisiana, after Katrina only to flee before Rita put the small farming town underwater.Now, she said, she's home-schooling her fourth, sixth, eighth, ninth and 12th grade children until her local school district reopens."Math'll be hard," she said, sighing. "It's not just addition and subtraction -- it's everything."Even the students seem fed up with the seemingly endless vacation that Katrina and Rita bestowed upon them, stuck as they often are at home in the sticky Louisiana heat."I'm ready to go back and see all my friends," Kent said. "I don't like being at home, all bored."Home-schooling parents can be sent Louisiana's curriculum, which outlines what students need to know at each grade level, Casper said. And help is available from some districts -- in Plaquemines Parish, for example, volunteer teachers are staffing tutoring sessions at a local church five days a week.Learning how to become a home-school parent on the fly will not be easy, said Dianna Van Timmeren, a Baton Rouge mother who home-schools her children and is helping a family of evacuees make the transition."For parents who have never considered it before, there's always the feeling that maybe they can't do it, that they don't have the education," she said. "But it is possible. There's tons of curriculum out there to choose from, and all kinds of help for parents who might feel wobbly about educating their children."Avis Fitte and her sons -- 13-year-old Beau and 12-year-old Evan -- recently worked together on a unit on vocabulary. Fitte asked her sons to figure out the meaning of the word "burden" by looking at its context in a sentence."Not wanting to burden her mother further, Sally rode her bike to soccer practice," Fitte read out.There was a pause, then "to bother?" Beau ventured, earning a proud beam from his mother.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ORLANDO, Florida (AP) -- Dave Surgan dropped into a crouch, then leaped into the air and let out an eardrum-rupturing yelp.His imitation of a crazed monkey during a recent audition at Universal Studios Orlando helped him land a job frightening some of the hundreds of thousands of visitors who will come to be scared, be very scared, at the theme park resort's multimillion-dollar Halloween celebration this October."Once, they had to call the paramedics because a girl started hyperventilating," said Surgan, 22, who in the past five years has worked as a crazed chain saw operator and a mutated dinosaur at the park's monthlong Halloween Horror Nights, now in its 15th year.Not so long ago, Halloween was merely a one-day holiday, observed primarily by kids dressed in fake blood, plastic teeth, ballerina tutus or superhero costumes, who traipsed from door-to-neighborhood door dragging pillowcases full of candy.Not anymore. Over the past five years or so, the nation's $11 billion amusement park industry has appropriated the holiday as its own, helping transform Halloween into a monthlong celebration."If there are still theme parks out there that aren't celebrating it, they need to get their heads examined," said James Zoltak, editor of Amusement Business, a trade publication. "It's a moneymaker, almost universally."Although the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions keeps no figures, industry experts estimate that millions of people go to Halloween celebrations at parks around the nation, generating tens of millions of dollars in extra revenue for them.For Terri Lacroix, the appeal of the Halloween celebrations comes from the adrenaline rush she gets anticipating where the next grotesquely masked figure is going to jump out at her in the confined space of a haunted house."I don't like roller coaster rides but I love scary movies. This is my adrenaline rush," said Lacroix, 35, an Orlando catering manager, as she exited "The Skool" haunted house at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights.Worldwide trendNationwide, Halloween has grown by leaps and bounds as a holiday, and this year consumers were expected to generate $3.3 billion in Halloween spending, according to the National Retail Federation. Celebrations also have spread abroad to amusement parks in places without strong Halloween traditions such as Mexico and Brazil."One of the things we know is that this is a worldwide trend. It's not just in the United States," said Beth Robertson, a spokeswoman for the amusement park association.The parks' embrace of Halloween has been for economic reasons as much as creative ones. Before Southern California's Knott's Berry Farm became the first park with a major Halloween celebration 33 years ago, most regional theme parks closed their gates soon after Labor Day.Halloween gave the regional parks an extra incentive to extend the season longer and offered the year-round destination parks in Orlando and Los Angeles a marketing tool to get people through their gates during what traditionally was a slow period."People just love to be immersed in a frightening Halloween experience. They love giving up that control," said Jim Timon, senior vice president of entertainment at Universal Orlando, who helps plan the park's Halloween Horror Nights.Knott's Berry Farm in 1973 began with just some scary decorations and a few dozen "monsters" lurking in the fog to jump out at unsuspecting guests. This year, the celebration will have 12 mazes, five "scare zones," six live shows and encounter over 1,000 "monsters" roaming the property. The Halloween celebration accounts for about 15 percent of the park's annual business, attracting 500,000 people from as far away as Germany, said Jennifer Blazey, a spokeswoman for Knott's Berry Farm."We were the first and there are a lot of copycats out there now," she said.Natural fitBusch Gardens Williamsburg in Virginia started its Howl-O-Scream celebration in 1999 with two attractions and three shows that operated over three weekends in October. This year, the Halloween celebration started in mid-September with five haunted houses, four "scare zones," five attractions and eight shows and also accounts for 15 percent of the park's annual attendance."It's a good business for us, doing it now for seven weekends," said Diane Centeno, a spokeswoman for the park which closes after Halloween.The parks vary in scare intensity from the child-friendly mellowness of trick-or-treating with Disney characters at Walt Disney World to the more R-rated anxieties generated by the "Slash" show at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, which is geared toward teenagers and young adults."'Slash' is kind of edgier, a magic show with a lot of gore and blood, people cut in half," said Nick Guevel, a spokesmen for Worlds of Fun, which started developing a scary Halloween celebration three years ago.Creatively, theme and amusement parks are well-positioned to handle the wild special effects that celebrants have come to expect from Halloween. Some park officials such as Universal's Timon, spend 11 months planning for the Halloween celebrations. Timon and a handful of associates lock themselves in a hotel room each December to plot out concepts for the following year."For theme parks to become involved in Halloween, it's kind of a natural fit because it's something that is so easily translated into a live experience," said Timon. "We're able to take what you expect the Halloween experience to be and blow it up a thousand times."This year, the nation's theme and amusement parks are counting on successful Halloween celebrations more than ever as a season of great promise in the spring gave way to what is expected to be flat attendance for the year because of the hurricanes and high gas prices."Everybody is really gearing up for it, particularly because of the fuel crisis and the weather," said Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services Inc., a consulting firm. "The parks are putting a heavy emphasis on it, so they can help generate the numbers that will help pick up some of the drop they've seen in late August and early September."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) -- There's no room service, no swimming pool, no microwave oven, no coffee machine, no television, no electricity.But the accommodations do include mattresses and wood stoves.An 89-year-old retired construction worker this month began advertising cave stays in east-central Idaho for $5 per night, or $25 a month.Richard Zimmerman, also known as "Dugout Dick," said his dwellings can double as bomb shelters and serve as mining sites for people who bring their own picks.Zimmerman, himself a cave resident, has spent decades carving out a dozen quarters from a hillside overlooking the Salmon River rapids.Now he said it's time to break from his labors and help jump-start tourism in this remote mountain community.The caves stretch as far as 100 feet (30 metres) into the hillside and are bolstered by rocks, peeled fir poles, mud and straw.So far, a few tourists from overseas -- one from England, another from Spain -- have taken him up on the offer. Zimmerman said they did not take to life underground."It's not for everyone," the self-styled Salmon River caveman acknowledged. But "I expect the trade will pick up anytime now."Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) -- Anchorage residents could see a cloud of steam last weekend from a volcano 75 miles away -- one of three Alaska volcanoes showing signs of unrest.The three volcanoes, including two located on remote Aleutian islands distant from any population centers, are setting off frequent tremors and minor bursts of ash or steam, seismologists said on Tuesday.Cleveland Volcano, 900 miles southwest of Anchorage, had a small eruption on Friday, said the Alaska Volcano Observatory, which monitors Alaska's more than 40 active volcanoes.Its ash plume rose to a height of nearly 15,000 feet above sea level, observatory scientists said.A cloud of steam from the 11,070-foot Mount Spurr was visible from Anchorage during the weekend.The volcano has had periodic but minor ash emissions and some debris flow caused by melted snow, said Dave Schneider, a U.S. Geological Survey volcanologist and acting scientist-in-charge at the Alaska Volcano Observatory.Ash emissions "are a lot easier to see now than they were in the summer because you have fresh snow," Schneider said.Cleveland Volcano, which comprises the western half of uninhabited Chuginadak Island, last erupted in 2001. The closest community, 45 miles to the east, is Nikolski, an Aleut village of 36 people.The other volcano showing unrest is 5,925-foot Tanaga Volcano.A series of eruptions in 1992 showered Anchorage and the surrounding region with ash, forcing a brief closure of Anchorage International Airport.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

BEIJING, China (AP) -- Chinese exulted at their country's second manned space flight Wednesday after the government eased its secrecy and showed the launch of two astronauts on live television.Children in Shanghai watched in class and hundreds of people gathered around a giant video screen at Beijing's main railway station to see astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng blast off from a base in China's desert northwest."I am feeling really emotional," said a construction worker at the Beijing train station, who would give only his surname, Liu. "This is a proud moment -- not only for China, but for Chinese people all over the world, and for humankind."The flight came two years after China launched its first astronaut into orbit in October 2003, becoming only the third nation able to send a human into space on its own, after Russia and the United States.None of that flight was telecast live, apparently out of fear that something might go wrong. But on Wednesday, Chinese viewers were allowed to see the liftoff and live scenes of Fei and Nie in their cockpit as they roared skyward. A camera attached to the outside of the rocket showed the ground dropping away.The manned space program is a key prestige project for the communist government. Chinese leaders hope that patriotic pride at its triumphs will shore up their standing amid wrenching economic change and public anger at corruption and a growing gap between rich and poor.Abroad, the government is eager to project an image of China as a rising power with technological and cultural prowess to match its stunning economic growth of the past two decades.President Hu Jintao and other Communist Party leaders were shown watching Wednesday's launch from a Beijing command center, while Premier Wen Jiabao was at the Gobi Desert launch base."China's aerospace science experiments are completely for peaceful purposes. It is also a contribution to human science and the cause of peace," Wen said. "We would like, together with the world's peoples, to make progress hand-in-hand for peaceful use of outer space."The secrecy surrounding the 2003 launch blunted the event's value as a propaganda event. Many Chinese said they felt little connection to the launch, and when the Shenzhou 5 capsule was displayed in Beijing after its return from orbit, it attracted only modest crowds.But the decision to engage the public by showing Wednesday's launch already appeared to be paying dividends.At the Xiang Ming Middle School in Shanghai, students in teacher Feng Qiang's science class watched on a projection TV and cheered when the capsule reached orbit. They held up handpainted signs saying, "My heart takes flight," and "Celebrate the successful launch.""It's a very great day for our country," said 15-year-old Seymour Lee. "It feels like we've been waiting 50 years for it."The mission this week is expected to be longer, more complex and possibly riskier than the 2003 flight, which carried one person and lasted just 21 1/2 hours.The government did not say how long Fei and Nie would stay aloft, but news reports said it could be three to five days. The official Xinhua News Agency reported they had food and water for a week.State television broadcast updates throughout the day, showing more live scenes of the astronauts -- known in Chinese as yuhangyuan, or "travelers of the universe" -- taking off their bulky, 22-pound spacesuits and moving around their cabin.Both Fei, 41, and Nie, who celebrates his 41st birthday Thursday, are military officers, former fighter pilots and Communist Party members.Xinhua said both men talked to their families from orbit. The two astronauts aboard the Shenzhou VI capsule. "May you carry out the task entrusted to you by the motherland and return smoothly," Fei's wife, Wang Jie, was quoted as saying. The report said Nie's wife wished him luck, and "at these words, Nie Haisheng was in tears."The Shenzhou -- or Divine Vessel -- capsule is based on Russia's workhorse Soyuz, though with extensive modifications. China also bought technology for spacesuits, life-support systems and other equipment from Moscow, though officials say all of the items launched into space are Chinese-made.China has had a rocketry program since the 1950s and fired its first satellite into orbit in 1970. It regularly launches satellites for foreign clients aboard its giant Long March boosters.Chinese space officials say they hope to land an unmanned probe on the moon by 2010 and want to launch a space station.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- After nearly three years of legal wrangling, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has released information from the personnel files of 126 clergy accused of sexual abuse. The confidential records show that for more than 75 years the nation's largest archdiocese shipped accused priests between therapy and new assignments, often ignoring parishioners' complaints. And, in many cases, there was little mention of child molestation. Instead, euphemisms such as "boundary violations" were used to describe the conduct. The documents were released late Tuesday as part of settlement talks with lawyers for more than 500 accusers in a civil lawsuit. The records, which summarize clergy personnel files, offer details in numerous cases, though much of the information has already been published in various forms. One priest, who served as a teacher and administrator at numerous Southern California schools, was convicted of molesting two boys and given probation. The conviction was later expunged from his record. A subsequent report was made in 1994 of "boundary violations," in which he allegedly patted the buttocks of a teenager. He entered alcohol treatment days later and was eventually placed on leave. Another priest's file shows the archdiocese received repeated complaints that he engaged in "inappropriate sexual conduct with children" beginning in 1959, but that it did not appear to take significant action against him until 1994 when he was relieved of his duties, documents said. The files show that in many cases the church provided years of therapy to some of the clergy. The archdiocese has posted nearly 150 pages of summaries from the clergy files on its Web site. (Archdiocese of Los Angeles)Raymond P. Boucher, the plaintiffs' lead attorney, said the newly released information was a first step but that complete personnel files, including letters of transfer and other confidential documents, should be made public. "The significance of these files is that they provide a little more information for the public about the church's knowledge and frankly their participation in the molestation of children, but until the files are made public, we're not going to be satisfied," he said. Archdiocese and plaintiff attorneys had agreed to release the information, but lawyers for the accused clergy succeeded in blocking publication, arguing it would violate their clients' privacy rights. An appellate court ordered the documents released last month. David Clohessy, who heads a victims' rights group, called the information release a "shrewd public relations effort," as civil cases against the clergy inch toward trial. Archdiocese attorney J. Michael Hennigan said that in the early days of the accusations, church officials did not go to civil authorities because "parents of children who had been victims did not want their children famous for this. They did not want people talking about this." Hennigan said that in many cases counseling was offered to clergymen accused of abuse. Those accused were generally removed from the ministry altogether as church officials' understanding of sexual abuse increased, he said. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SHAKOPEE, Minnesota (AP) -- Once the thin blue mattress rolls out from under the single bed, the prison cell is sleepover-ready.The trundle bed is the best thing Suzanne Locke has here. Along with good behavior, it allows her to host her 6-year-old daughter, Marae, for monthly overnight visits during her 12-year sentence for arson in the state prison for women."She's my saving grace," said Locke, 26, who says she was high on methamphetamine four years ago when she set fire to a house and a trailer home over unpaid drug debts. "This little girl loves me. She's got me up on this huge pedestal, and I've got to live up to her standards."Women are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. prison population, a trend fueled by their growing involvement in drug crimes and by longer sentences in general. But once behind bars, their needs are often overlooked because of tight budgets and the attention given to sex offenders and death-row inmates, advocates say.180,000 women behind barsPrison and jail officials from around the country are to gather this weekend in Bloomington, Minnesota, to address the rising number of incarcerated women -- more than 180,000 in prisons and jails nationwide, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.The conference on adult and juvenile female offenders -- which has been held every two years since 1985 -- will bring 500 people together, including juvenile detention workers, probation officers and some who provide community services to inmates.Until recently, prisons have emphasized making sure women get treatment, work and education offerings comparable to male inmates. What works better, advocates say, is to tailor programs specifically to women."They need to focus more on learning healthy relationships and developing the skills to navigate through the messy lives they've been enveloped in," said Louise Wolfgramm, president of Amicus, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that serves criminal offenders.Most female inmates are mothersSince 1995, the number of women in state and federal prisons has swelled more than 50 percent, outstripping an increase of about 32 percent for men. Female jail populations are growing even faster.Most are mothers. Between 66 and 90 percent have children, depending on the type of institution. When a mother is locked up, her children usually end up in foster care or living with a relative other than their father. By contrast, most children with imprisoned fathers stay with their mothers.Advocates say programs that help mothers behind bars to maintain relationships with their children are key to reducing crime over the long run.In prison, mother-child time is usually fleeting. At Shakopee, pregnant inmates go to a local hospital to give birth and then return to prison without the baby. Some women lose parental rights while they're serving time.The first time Locke's mother and Marae made the 450-mile (720-kilometer) round trip to visit, Locke struggled to explain her prison sentence to her daughter, then a toddler. Locke will be eligible for release after serving six years and four months.Locke -- whose honey-brown hair now reaches her shoulder blades _ told Marae she would come home when her hair grew down to her bottom.Bittersweet visits"She used to come into the visiting room every month and the first thing she'd want to do, before she hugged me, was check my hair to see, you know, can mommy come home yet," Locke said.The 24-hour visits start Friday afternoon. Saturdays are bittersweet."She wakes up and then it's, 'Today's Saturday, huh, mom,"' Locke said. "Some days she can leave with a hug and a kiss, 'See you next month, mommy -- call me on Sunday.' Other times my mom literally has to pull her off of me."The Shakopee program isn't the only one of its kind.Women's prisons in New York, Nebraska, Ohio and Washington let inmates who meet certain requirements live with their newborns, typically until the child is about 18 months old. An Indiana prison offers summer day camp for children and mothers. A facility in Vermont hosts a Head Start program that brings female offenders, children and caregivers together regularly.Programs offer therapyMore prison systems also are starting to use female-oriented treatment programs that focus on healing from traumatic experiences, said Maureen Buell, a National Institute of Corrections specialist who helps prisons with programs for female offenders.At Shakopee, women can participate in classes on depression, grief and anger management. A boot camp program for nonviolent female offenders in northern Minnesota holds group meetings where women talk about important relationships in their lives and how to deal with them when they're released.Currently, seven states and the federal Bureau of Prisons have policy specialists focused on female offenders, Buell said. But there is always competition for funding."When competing interests are things like death-row inmates and capital punishment and sex offenders, it's very difficult to say, excuse me, this chunk of the population is really important," says Mary Scully Whitaker, an organizer of the five-day conference. "It's shortsighted. Women respond well to treatment."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Indicted Rep. Tom DeLay's attorneys are trying to compel testimony by prosecutors on their contacts with grand jurors, sending subpoenas to the Texas district attorney who normally issues them.DeLay's defense team reversed the normal direction of subpoenas in their strategy to have the charges dismissed before trial. The lawyers contend that the Travis County district attorney, Ronnie Earle, acted improperly with two grand juries that filed charges and one that refused to do so.DeLay, R-Texas, was obligated to temporarily step aside as House majority leader when charged with conspiracy and money laundering in a state campaign finance investigation led by Earle. DeLay has denied any wrongdoing.Defense attorney Dick DeGuerin said that Earle refused the subpoena delivered to his office on Tuesday, when he declined to sign a paper acknowledging its delivery. Earle countered that he voluntarily accepted it.DeGuerin wants Earle and two of his assistants to testify, and said he would redeliver subpoenas Wednesday. Earle responded that redelivery wasn't necessary."It was not a properly prepared subpoena but we accepted service voluntarily anyway," the prosecutor said. He refused to say whether he would file a motion to have his subpoena dismissed.DeGuerin also asked that grand jurors be released from their secrecy oath so they could answer questions about the prosecutor's conduct.Earle's office said in a written statement, "Because of laws protecting grand jury secrecy, there are limitations to what we can say at this time, but we fully expect to prevail in this matter."Focus on conversationDeGuerin wants Earle to answer 12 questions about conversations he had with grand jurors, including whether the prosecutor became angry when a grand jury decided against an indictment of DeLay and why that decision was not publicly released.He also wants to know the details of Earle's conversation with William Gibson, foreman of a grand jury that indicted DeLay on conspiracy charges, whose term has since ended."If you did nothing improper, you should not be concerned about answering these questions," DeGuerin said in his letter to Earle.The first of three grand juries said DeLay and two political associates conspired to violate Texas election laws; the second declined to indict, and the third accused DeLay of money laundering.All the charges were related to allegations that corporate money was funneled to Texas legislative candidates in violation of state law. The donations helped Republicans capture the Texas legislature, redraw congressional districts with DeLay's help and take control of the state's congressional delegation.In a motion filed last week, the defense team said that from September 29 through October 3, Earle and his staff "unlawfully participated in grand jury deliberations and attempted to browbeat and coerce" the grand jury that refused to indict DeLay.Foreman 'incited'The motion said Earle then attempted to cover up and delay public disclosure of the refusal, and also "incited" the foreman of the first grand jury to violate grand jury secrecy by talking publicly about the case -- in an effort to influence grand jurors still sitting.The foreman, William Gibson, gave media interviews after the grand jury finished its work but told The Associated Press that Earle did not ask him to discuss the case."That's a bunch of (expletive) there," Gibson said. "That man did not talk to me."He said Earle advised him and other grand jurors to keep an open mind as they considered evidence and cautioned them, "What goes on behind closed doors is secret."The lawyers said Earle then spoke about the case with members of the first grand jury, whose work was finished, to get their opinion of what they might have done if they had known their conspiracy indictment was flawed -- as defense attorneys alleged.Earle then submitted the grand jury opinions to the third grand jury to persuade it to hand down the money laundering indictment, the defense team contended.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- New York Times reporter Judith Miller on Wednesday gave prosecutors details of a previously undisclosed conversation she had with Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, adding a new dimension to the criminal investigation into the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity.Miller testified for over an hour to a federal grand jury, the reporter's second appearance before the panel. On Tuesday, Miller turned over to special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald notes from her June 23, 2003, contact with I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and underwent questioning by prosecutors.Miller's notes, according to a story published last weekend in the Times, refer to Bush administration critic and former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson.She and her lawyer, Robert Bennett, had no comment as they left the courthouse. Bennett said Miller had completed her testimony.The prosecutors have been examining the roles of Libby, presidential aide Karl Rove and others in the Bush administration in the leak to reporters of the identity of Wilson's wife, covert CIA officer Valerie Plame.Before the June 23 Miller-Libby conversation, the Times and The Washington Post had both referred to Wilson, though not by name, in articles questioning the Bush administration's handling of prewar intelligence on Iraq. On July 6, 2003, the Times published an op-ed piece by Wilson suggesting the Bush administration had twisted intelligence to exaggerate the threat from Iraq's nuclear weapons program. Eight days later, columnist Robert Novak exposed Plame's identity as a CIA officer, saying his information had come from two administration officials.Miller never wrote a story about Wilson or Plame. She testified September 30 about two conversations with Libby in the days after Wilson's op-ed piece in The Times came out.Times promises 'thorough story'The newspaper said in a memo to its staff that once Miller's obligations to the grand jury are fulfilled, The Times intends to write "the most thorough story we can of her entanglement with the White House leak investigation. It's a complicated story involving a large cast, and it has required a meticulous reporting effort -- in part to chase down and debunk some of the myths kicked up by the rumor mill."The newspaper said the "story is incomplete until we know as much as we can about the substance of her evidence." It contrasted its intentions to reveal the evidence Miller has given with other reporters who have testified, including two from the Post.The Times added that Novak has not disclosed the details of his grand jury testimony. Novak has refused to say whether he cooperated with Fitzgerald's investigation.Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, in an interview on NBC's "Today" show Wednesday, was asked why a person would be making an encore appearance before a grand jury.Specifying that he was not discussing Rove or any other witness before this particular grand jury, Gonzales replied: "This prosecutor may have new information that may contradict prior testimony or may have questions about prior testimony, may simply seek a clarification. I'm not going to try to speculate what the motivation is behind Mr. Fitzgerald in asking a return by any witness. But there are a variety of reasons that someone might be called back to answer additional questions before a grand jury."Miller spent 85 days in jail for refusing to cooperate with Fitzgerald's probe. She testified September 30 before the grand jury after getting a waiver from her source, Libby, and after receiving assurances from Fitzgerald that questions would be limited to her conversations with Libby.Presidential aide Karl Rove had conversations about Plame with Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper and Novak. Cooper also spoke with Libby about Plame.Fitzgerald also is calling Rove for additional testimony. It will be Rove's fourth appearance. The grand jury, which has been hearing evidence in the investigation for the past two years, is due to expire October 28.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Sienna Miller and Jude Law have ended their engagement, months after he apologized for an affair with his children's nanny, according to a published report.A London-based representative for Miller, who became engaged to her "Alfie" co-star last Christmas, refused comment Wednesday on the story, which was posted on People magazine's Web site. The magazine did not name any sources.Public Eye, the London firm that represents Miller, said it would not comment on her personal life.The Associated Press sent an e-mail to Tor Belfrage, Law's Los Angeles-based representative, seeking comment early Wednesday.British media reported this week that Miller, 23, had been seeing Law's friend Daniel Craig while Law was fighting to win her back. Miller and Craig appeared together in the 2004 film "Layer Cake."Miller was quoted last month as saying, "There's nothing going on between me and Daniel. We were in a movie together two years ago."Law, 32, earned Oscar nominations for his roles in "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Cold Mountain." His screen credits also include "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow," "Closer" and "The Aviator."Craig's credits include the 2005 thriller "The Jacket," starring Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley.The blond, blue-eyed British-born actor has been mentioned as the new James Bond. Earlier this year, Craig praised the Bond character, calling him "an iconographic figure in moviemaking.""I think you'd have to be stupid not to consider something like that," he said, but added that he hadn't given the role "any serious thought."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

TORONTO, Ontario (CNN) -- Author Truman Capote was a singular individual: dapper, egocentric, diminutive, with a high, singsongy voice and a talent for observation.For Philip Seymour Hoffman -- almost 6 feet tall, often appearing rumpled and quiet, better known as a supporting actor in such films as "Magnolia" and "Almost Famous" -- playing the author in the movie "Capote" was not going to be an easy transformation."It wasn't easy being him," said the actor in an interview at the Toronto Film Festival, where the film played to rave reviews. "I think Norman Mailer said, 'It must have been exhausting to be Truman,' and I understand what he meant. It really was. There was no one like him.""Capote" is set during a particularly dramatic period in the writer's life. In 1959 Capote, at the time famous for "Breakfast at Tiffany's," read a short article about the brutal murder of a rural Kansas family, the Clutters, and talked The New Yorker magazine into giving him an assignment to write his own piece about the tragedy.He took along with him to Kansas as his research assistant Nelle Harper Lee (played by Catherine Keener), his friend since childhood whose novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird," would be published to great acclaim the next year.For the next six years Capote's work to produce what he called a "nonfiction novel" on the Clutter family murders came to consume his life. The result was "In Cold Blood," serialized first in The New Yorker in 1965 and in book form the next year.The 1967 movie version was much praised for its photography and the performances of Robert Blake and Scott Wilson, who played murderers Perry Smith and Dick Hickock."Capote," however, is not about the murders. It covers Capote's journey from an outside observer of the criminal case to his homoerotic personal attachment to the two killers, especially Perry Smith, and ultimately his desire -- his need -- for the two men to be put to death for their crime so he would have an ending for his landmark literary achievement.'At first I thought that was absurd'Capote, a New Orleans native, was a social gadfly and a member of the jet set when that term for high society was new. He was also flamboyant and openly gay at a time when homosexuality was not even mentioned in polite society.It was important to Hoffman to avoid doing a caricature of the much-parodied Capote, who was known as the Tiny Terror (he was 5 feet 3 inches tall, according to Internet Movie Database)."My job wasn't to do a 'Saturday Night Live' sketch," he said. "My job was to tell a story in a very honest way, to get a sense of him soulfully and as honest as possible."Capote's appearance and mannerisms could have been a major problem in rural Kansas during the 1950s. But the writer managed to not only befriend the local citizens and the law enforcement officers, he also became close to the two killers, Hickock and Smith, promising to stand by them as their appeals worked their way through the courts. Hoffman was approached by two old friends -- director Bennett Miller and actor Dan Futterman, the latter making his screen-writing debut -- to star as Capote. Initially, he was reluctant."They came to my house and said here's the script, would you like to play Truman Capote?" recalled Hoffman. "And at first I thought that was absurd." Hoffman laughed. "Because my image of Truman Capote didn't fit me.""He was the only choice. He was going to do it or we weren't going to do it," Miller told The Associated Press. "I've known Phil for 21 years now, and I feel I know him inside and out, and other than him being an incredible actor, a shaman-like actor, I will say that everything in this movie that gets revealed through this character are things that Phil knows."Eventually Hoffman was won over, but he still had reservations."I was petrified of all the work it would be to play him. There was a chasm between us in so many ways," he said.'You feel like Capote committed a crime'"In Cold Blood" marked the pinnacle of Capote's fame. He never wrote another novel (one attempt, "Answered Prayers," was left unfinished) or enjoyed the same level of success -- and perhaps ruminated over all that until he died in 1984 from alcoholism and drug addiction. In "Capote," the author befriends murderer Perry Smith, with whom he has a strange relationship. "Capote" doesn't follow the author in his later years, but Hoffman hopes it provides some clues as to why Capote could never repeat "In Cold Blood.""Hopefully the film answers that," Hoffman said. "It opens that can of worms, where people walk out and say, 'Wow, I can see why it would be hard for him to function again after that.' ""Somebody said the other day, at the end of the movie, you feel like Capote committed a crime, and that's exactly right," Hoffman told the AP."That's why the film works so well. You really have this sense that he's the one who committed the crime, and I think deep down inside, that's how he felt, too. That's something he could never come to terms with."Hoffman's performance is creating early Oscar buzz for best actor, but he doesn't really want to go there just yet. Indeed, for his next role the seasoned character actor has undertaken a broad action flick, playing the villain in "Mission: Impossible 3.""I'm a bit overwhelmed right now," he said. "There's a bit of me that's wondering, but that's OK, I'll stop right there with that."Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- The European Union called on Europe's music industry Wednesday to create EU-wide copyright licenses for online music, saying this would boost demand for legal downloads."These licenses will make it easier for new European-based online services to take off," EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said.Music copyrights are currently collected by national agencies, but the emergence of online music services such as Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes means there is growing demand for a license that covers all 25 EU nations.The European Commission said the absence of bloc-wide copyright licenses has been one factor that has made it difficult for new Internet-based music services to develop their full potential.Apple has to obtain separate licenses for each song in every EU country to offer it to all Europeans, which could cost it up to 475,000 euros ($569,000) per song, the commission said. In practice, this means that users in some countries have a much smaller catalogue to choose from.Germany is Europe's biggest online user of both legal and pirated music with 9.5 million people downloading, according to a Forrester Research report from August 2004. Some 89 percent of people questioned said they never paid to download music or video.Last year, online music sales in the EU reached 27 million euros ($32 million), far below the booming U.S. market which reported $248 million in sales.Research group Enders Analysis predicts European sales to surge to 900 million euros ($1.1 billion) by 2010, but foresees a continued lag behind the United States, where sales should reach 1.4 billion euros ($1.7 billion) that year.McCreevy warned the music industry that, at this stage, he is merely asking them to develop licenses."I will be monitoring the situation closely and, if I am not satisfied that sufficient progress is being made, I will take tougher action," he said.The commission said it wants to give rights holders and commercial users of copyright material the choice between two options.It said commercial users and rights managers backed the first option allowing the national agencies that collect copyright payments to grant an EU-wide license.Music publishers, independent record labels and some collective rights managers wanted to give copyright holders the choice to appoint a rights manager for online use in the EU.McCreevy said last week he saw music copyrights as a test case which could lead to single licenses for books and films.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

DAMASCUS, Syria (CNN) -- Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad denied Wednesday that he or his country was involved in the February assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Al-Assad said such an act would go against the principles and interests of Syria as well as his own values."I would never do such a thing in my life. What do we achieve?" Al-Assad asked. (Transcript)"I think what happened targeted Syria. That would affect our relation with the Lebanese people and with most of the country. So we wouldn't do it because it's against our interest, and it's against my principle. I would never do it. It's impossible." (Watch Al-Assad express confidence Syria wasn't involved in the killing -- 4:21) Al-Assad also denied reports that he had threatened Hariri and demanded that the former prime minister support a term extension for Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, a Syrian supporter."I'm a very quiet person. I'm very frank, but I wouldn't threaten," he said.Al-Assad argued Syria didn't have the motive to kill Hariri, whom he said helped Damascus by working to keep Lahoud in power longer.A U.N. investigation is trying to determine if Syria played a role in the February 14 bombing that killed Hariri. He had opposed Syria's decades-long presence in Lebanon, and his death sparked protests that led to Syria's withdrawal in April. Investigators will report their findings within two weeks.Al-Assad said that if the U.N. investigation concludes Syrians were involved, those people would be charged with treason and face an international court or the Syrian judicial process. Speaking in fluent English, Al-Assad bristled at a question suggesting that he may not be fully in charge of his country or not "in the loop" regarding alleged retribution for those who speak out against the government."But at the same time, they say that I'm a dictator," he said. "So they should choose. You cannot be a dictator and not in control. If you're a dictator, you're in full control. And if you're not a dictator -- if you're not in control, you cannot be a dictator."He said his authority is dictated by the country's constitution, but he also encourages dialogue within his government before he makes crucial decisions.Regarding Syria's eastern neighbor, Iraq, Al-Assad said the United States should re-examine its policy there because of the negative consequences of the war."We should re-evaluate what's going on in Iraq," he said. "What did we achieve, what did they achieve from that war in Iraq," he asked. "It's a very simple question. What did they achieve economically, politically, fighting terrorism? (Watch Al-Assad tell Amanpour why he disagrees with U.S. policy -- 1:51) "We didn't achieve anything. This is one example."When Amanpour suggested the U.S.-led war ousted Saddam Hussein, Al-Assad replied, "Yeah, but what did you lose as a return? The hope of the people, the stability, no better democracy, no better economy, no services, no stability in the region, more terrorism -- so is that the prize you've won for getting rid of a dictator? That's not a goal."Al-Assad's regime has faced sharp criticism from the United States, which has alleged the country shelters terrorist organizations and has failed to take measures to prevent fighters from crossing the border into Iraq.On Wednesday, President Bush called on Syria to be a "good neighbor" in the Middle East, warning Damascus against interfering in Lebanon and allowing insurgents to cross into Iraq. "We're making good progress toward peace in the Holy Land, but one of the areas of concern is that foreign countries such as Syria might try to disrupt the peace process by encouraging terrorist activities," Bush said. (Full story)"We expect Syria to do everything in her power to shut down the transshipment of suiciders and killers into Iraq." Al-Assad said that the United States cannot control its border with Mexico so Syria cannot be expected to keep people from sneaking into Iraq.He said his country does not support people who kill Iraqis but he thinks there is a difference between terrorists and those who fight against American and British troops.He added that his country has asked Washington for technical support to monitor the Iraqi border better but ended its security cooperation with the United States recently because of repeated verbal attacks from the Bush administration.The interview was conducted just before the news of the suicide of Ghazi Kanaan, Syria's interior minister who led the country's military intelligence in Lebanon for nearly 20 years. (Full story)Kanaan died in a Damascus hospital of a gunshot wound to the head, according to the interior ministry and other government ministers. The official was among those interviewed by a German prosecutor heading the U.N. investigation into Hariri's death.

BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has said he will not take part in the next German coalition government, expected to be led by conservative Angela Merkel as chancellor."I will not belong to the next government, definitely not belong," Schroeder told a labor union meeting in his hometown of Hannover Wednesday.Coalition talks between Schroeder's Social Democrats and Merkel's conservatives are expected to last at least one month, during which Schroeder is expected to remain chancellor.On Monday, Merkel said her Christian Democrats had reached a "grand coalition" agreement that will make her Germany's first female chancellor. Merkel said her party will take the chancellery and six Cabinet posts, while the Social Democrats will have eight. (Full story)Coalition talks have been ongoing since the September 18 national election in which Merkel's conservatives won by a narrow 1 percent plurality over Schroeder's Social Democrats.In Hannover, Schroeder thanked union members for their support during his seven years of government and urged the new leadership to push through economic reforms while maintaining the nation's social welfare programs, The Associated Press reported. The chancellor gave no indication of what he planned to do in the future, although he has said he would participate in upcoming formal coalition talks "so that they turn out well," AP reported. Schroeder hinted Tuesday evening he did not want to take one of the Cabinet posts that will go to the Social Democrats in the new government.Schroeder's union speech came ahead of a trip Wednesday to Turkey, and he again argued for Turkey's membership in the European Union."By combining a non-fundamentalist Islam with Western enlightenment, our values, it would be an enormous security increase for us," he said.Merkel has opposed Turkish membership and called instead for a "priviledged partnership." EU-Turkish talks on membership began this month.CNN's Chris Burns contributed to this report.

MONROVIA, Liberia (Reuters) -- U.N. helicopters and jeeps collected ballot boxes from across Liberia on Wednesday as local radio reported soccer star George Weah and a Harvard-trained economist emerging as frontrunners in the first post-war polls.After a big, enthusiastic turnout in Tuesday's presidential and parliamentary polls, expectation gripped the west African nation which hopes new elected leaders will build a more stable future after a brutal civil war that ended two years ago.Liberia's National Elections Commission said it expected to announce the first official partial voting returns on Wednesday evening, but cautioned that the final national results would take between three and seven days.The polls pitted former AC Milan striker and soccer millionaire Weah against former warlords, wealthy lawyers and a 66-year-old Harvard-educated economist, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who could become Africa's first elected female president.In Monrovia, groups of excited residents clustered around radio sets in shops and coffee houses to hear early reports of voting tallies posted by individual polling stations out of the more than 3,000 spread across the country."I've been up all night listening for preliminary results. I want to hear what happened in every county, in every precinct," said Martin Kromah, 33, a cellphone repairman.The private radio reports appeared to confirm predictions that Weah, whose well-funded campaign had drawn huge crowds, and former finance minister Johnson-Sirleaf were leading contenders."It's like a see-saw. Some places it's Ellen, some places it's Weah, but in Monrovia George seems to be in the driving seat," Kromah said, referring to the radio reports.But the absence of reliable opinion polls made the final outcome difficult to predict."Please be reminded that there are 3,070 polling places from which information must be compiled. The entire process is expected to take between three and seven days," National Elections Commission Chairman Frances Johnson-Morris told reporters.Electoral officials had already started counting votes through Tuesday night, using battery-powered lanterns.U.N. supportLiberians hope the outcome of the polls will cement future stability and leave behind the 14-year civil war that killed a quarter of a million people, uprooted almost a third of the population and left the country's infrastructure in ruins.Among the 22 presidential candidates standing is one representing the National Patriotic Party of exiled former President Charles Taylor, who triggered the civil war in 1989 and is seen as the mastermind of several West African conflicts.Taylor went into exile in Nigeria to end Liberia's conflict but he is wanted by a U.N.-backed court in Sierra Leone for war crimes. The court prosecutor said last week he had convincing evidence Taylor was supporting candidates for Tuesday's polls.Paul Risley, spokesman for the 15,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping mission in Liberia, said four U.N. helicopters and more than 350 U.N. trucks and jeeps were helping to transport tally sheets and ballot boxes from remote voting centers."Now it's just a question of getting everything back to Monrovia," he said.Apart from the presidential candidates, there are also 718 candidates standing for the 30-seat Senate and 64 seats in the House of Representatives.The presidential and vice-presidential candidates need 50 percent plus one vote to win, otherwise a run-off will be held between the two leading candidates no more than two weeks after results of the first round are announced.Blue-bereted U.N. peacekeeping troops, their rifles slung on their backs, helped load ballot boxes onto trucks after what was a generally trouble-free election.Johnson-Morris said no formal complaints had been lodged with magistrates so far against the electoral process.Some international election observers estimated a turnout of 80 percent.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

BRANDON, South Dakota (AP) -- An 8-year-old girl with a big heart and loose tooth found a creative way to help people displaced by the hurricanes.Briton Nordmeyer of Brandon sent her tooth to the Red Cross chapter in Sioux Falls, hoping the tooth fairy would leave money there instead of under her pillow.The tooth poked a hole through the envelope and fell out, but her letter made it.And after word spread of her generosity, a $500 check came in from an anonymous donor, said Jeff Stingley, director of the Sioux Empire Red Cross chapter.Briton had told her mother she wanted to do something for the children who lost everything."It's really nice to help them get new food, homes, schools, toys, lots of stuff to help them," Briton told KELO-TV of Sioux Falls.Stingley said Wednesday the $500 anonymous check was the only one that mentioned the tooth, but he believes Briton's story prompted other donations to the chapter.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- Many of the country's most disadvantaged minority households are trapped in pockets of concentrated urban poverty, preventing them from getting the educations and jobs that would enable them to rise above the poverty line.Fresno, California, has the nation's highest concentration of residents in extremely poor neighborhoods, according to a study released Wednesday by the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.New Orleans, Louisiana, second on the list, had its deep racial and economic rifts exposed by Hurricane Katrina. But according to the Census-based research, the deprivation seen in that city's lower 9th Ward is closely mirrored by conditions in parts of Louisville, Kentucky; Miami, Florida; and Atlanta, Georgia, which round out the report's top five list.Poor planning over decades has concentrated public housing at the core of cities around the nation, while new developments, jobs and schools mushroomed in the suburbs, beyond the reach of low-income households, deepening the divide between the haves and have-nots, the study said."Concentrating poverty compounds the effects of just plain poverty," said Alan Berube, primary author of "Katrina's Window: Confronting Concentrated Poverty Across America."Berube's study focused on extremely disadvantaged neighborhoods where high crime and a lack of quality housing, stable job opportunities and supportive schools erode the quality of life, and limit the chances that a family might rise above the hardships imposed by their own financial straits.These are areas in which 40 percent or more of residents live below the federal poverty line. The average household earnings in these areas barely exceed $20,000, and four in 10 adults are disconnected from the labor force -- unemployed and not looking for work."We're underserved, under-respected. ... You have to leave your community to get the most basic services," said the Rev. Paul Binion II of Fresno's Westside Church of God.One result of high-density poverty is its tendency to ensnare the next generation, the study suggests. In these communities, where an average of one in 12 adults have college degrees, children lack the money, role models and academic footing that would help them get into college themselves."It's access," said Tate Hill, business development coordinator for the Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development. "It's not that people who live in impoverished areas don't want to work or don't want better lives or don't want their children to go to good schools -- they just can't access it."Atlanta is one of the cities where a concerted effort has been made to dissolve pockets of poverty.The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development tore down some of the city's worst projects and replaced them with mixed-income neighborhoods in the 1990s.But the successful program, created under the first Bush administration and supported by President Clinton, has been hurt by the current president's budget cuts, Berube said."For a significant number of families in distressed inner-city neighborhoods, the first step has to be removing the barriers associated with their living environment," Berube said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

If you're like most workers, the e-mail message icon is a regular fixture on your office computer. Now the preferred medium of communication in many workplaces, Americans process 76 e-mails each day, according to a study by the Radicati Group, a market research firm. By 2007, the survey found, Americans will be sending and receiving an average of 100 messages per day.With all of those messages flooding your inbox, it can be almost impossible to find the ones you actually need. Fortunately, a few simple rules can help tame your escalating inbox, say David Teten and Scott Allen, co-authors of "The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online."Teten and Allen researched effective systems that workers have used to tackle their inboxes. Although everyone has his or her own best way of dealing with e-mail overflow, the duo's book outlines these seven rules for keeping your inbox under control:1. Keep your inbox empty: "If you do not quickly respond to every e-mail you get, you will rapidly lose control over your entire work flow," Teten and Allen write. David Allen, in his book "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity," says you have three choices to handle each e-mail you receive: Do it, delegate it or defer it.If the task can be done in two minutes or less, do it right away. Otherwise, give it to the most appropriate person or place it in your organization system to do later.2. Organize around action, not data: Organizing your e-mail with a folder for each project you're working on may seem like the obvious choice, but it's not the most efficient way to plan your workday. This type of arrangement makes it impossible to look at e-mails quickly and decide what to do next, Teten and Scott Allen say.Instead, organize your folders around the required action. Teten and Allen recommend organizing your e-mail into these folders, which can help you prioritize your tasks:InboxDeadline-drivenAs soon as possibleDelegatedArchive3. Save everything: "Disk space is cheap," Teten and Allen write. You never know when you'll need to look up an old acquaintance or find a file, so think twice before hitting delete. The only e-mails you should send to the trash bin are spam, e-zines you're done reading and notifications of new messages elsewhere.4. Organize just enough: What's worse than looking for something you've already deleted? Looking for something because you've forgotten where you put it. Instead of having a multilevel folder system, stick with a few high-level categories. "As a rule of thumb, you want to have no more folders than you can see on one screen," Teten and Allen write. "This allows you to properly file any message with a single mouse motion."5. Review regularly: Organizing your inbox once isn't enough. You also need to keep up with the daily onslaught of messages. Teten and Allen recommend these review cycles: Daily: Empty your inbox.Weekly: Review your ASAP folders and review your deadline-driven items when planning your week.Monthly: Update your folders and move completed projects into the archive area.Yearly: Go through your archive and move obsolete files to a separate folder.6. Keep your file sizes manageable: If you file all your e-mails to the same few folders, they're bound to get huge after a year or so. If your files are getting too big, sort your old e-mails by date, Teten and Allen suggest. For example: "Archive 2005 -- January."7. Filter spam: Set up your automatic spam filter and then review the suspected spam folder once a week. Once you've reviewed it to ensure there's nothing in there that you want to save, delete all the messages.Laura Morsch is a writer for CareerBuilder.com. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- Mardi Gras organizers promised Wednesday to roll out the city's signature celebration in February despite the widespread destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina.Tourism officials, float builders and parade hosts appeared before the City Council to insist the annual pre-Lent celebration -- part family party, part Bacchanalian blowout -- returns this winter."We have to do this," said Councilwoman Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson. "We can't afford to miss a beat."Mardi Gras organizers said about 25 groups are planning to stage their parades, about a half-dozen fewer than normal. Besides that, they offered no specifics on scaling back the celebration that culminates on Fat Tuesday, which falls on February 28 next year.Councilman Eddie Sapir suggested the city ease rules on private funding for next year's Mardi Gras, which could pave the way for corporate sponsorships and possibly draw millions of dollars."No one wants Mardi Gras commercialized," Sapir said. "But if we want to have it this year, we may need good, clean-soap sponsors for an infusion of dollars."Mardi Gras generates as much as $1 billion in economic activity and the celebrations draw an estimated 1 million people each year.J. Stephen Perry, president of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau, said staging Mardi Gras next year -- no matter the odds -- will be an important step in the city's financial recovery."Not only is this going to be the opening of the city in many ways, but also our economics," he said. "A lot of those things that go to support Mardi Gras also go to support conventions."Naaman Stewart, vice president of the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, one of the largest parade organizations, said the revelry would be important psychologically for city residents."Things are not normal," Stewart said. "But bringing Mardi Gras back will help people to start normalizing things."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

DURHAM, New Hampshire (AP) -- The college fair at a University of New Hampshire gymnasium is a regular stop on Rae-Anne Mena's annual circuit through the Northeast. Her job is talking up Loyola University of New Orleans -- its Jesuit service mission, its strong core curriculum, its academic programs and sports teams. But this year, as students and parents snake along the rows of tables toward Loyola's, they look surprised to see her."Are you under water?" several ask. "When will you reopen?"Some offer friendly encouragement, others crack jokes within earshot. "I hear their best major now is scuba diving," one man says to his son as they walk past.Mena smiles patiently and stays on message: Loyola was not badly damaged; television exaggerated the violence; the school will be running when they arrive next fall. Maybe by then Mena will get to answer some of the questions that used to seem normal, like "What SAT score do I need?" and "Could I study abroad?"The New Orleans colleges that were closed at least temporarily by Hurricane Katrina face monumental short-term obstacles simply to reopen their campuses, and next year's freshman class won't arrive for nearly a year. (Ambitious plans to reopen) Nonetheless, recruiting is an urgent priority. New students are the lifeblood of any college, and for schools such as Loyola, Dillard and Xavier -- and even for wealthier Tulane -- the future depends on filling classroom seats and collecting tuition.For the admissions officers working out of scattered hotels and offices, this may be their most challenging and important recruiting season ever."We need to be out there and show the flag," Mena says, setting up her Loyola table a few minutes before the fair begins. "People walk by, and you see them say, 'You're here. Are you OK?' And you can start that dialogue."Running up a mountainThe challenge is enormous.Admissions officers first had to get their own lives in order after the storm, while at work, important records and plans were destroyed.Against that backdrop, recruiters' salesmanship on the road must be better than ever. There may be just a few moments to persuade a potential applicant that -- the chaotic television images notwithstanding -- New Orleans will rise again as a great college town.The colleges acknowledge that enthusiasm from new prospects has been muted so far. But they also insist students who had already expressed interest haven't crossed the New Orleans schools off their lists.They are counting on current students and alumni to help. Late last month a half-dozen Tulane students showed up at a recruiting event in Providence, Rhode Island, some coming from Boston, 45 minutes away."Tulane is the greatest place in the world," sophomore Bridget Cheney, taking classes temporarily at Providence College, told the audience. "Every single person I know is going back."Tulane admissions officer Liz Seely, a 2004 graduate, emphasized that the school, which plans to reopen next semester, was not badly damaged. She even talked about unique service opportunities. New Orleans, she said, "is going to be an amazing place to be involved next year.""I really believe it's going to be the same wonderful place it was a month ago again," she said.Then she put the topic to rest, turning to Tulane's facilities, its plans to hire more faculty, its alumni network. Even during the question-and-answer session the audience ignored the storm, asking instead about academic programs, housing and sorority life. The students, at least, seemed unperturbed by the state of New Orleans. Their parents appeared more concerned that it's 1,500 miles from home."I think it might even be an interesting opportunity to be there and be part of the rebuilding process," said Kaileigh Ahlquist, a high school junior from Providence. Said her mother, Kathy: "I don't think it's going to be any worse than sending her off anywhere else."Seely said she always expects tough questions about the recovery, but they haven't come."I've only had a few presentations with the persistent mom saying, 'I just don't know how you can know it's going to start back up."' Still, she acknowledged attendance is down a bit compared to when she came through New England last year.With the storm, "you definitely weed out everyone who's semi-interested," she said.Dillard's flag still flies tooTulane and Loyola have some things going for them: endowments of hundreds of millions of dollars to act as a cushion, and relatively little damage to their campuses. But Dillard, a historically black college with just $48 million, was flooded so badly it will have to share space with Tulane next semester. At Dillard, meeting the recruiting challenge is truly imperative.Within a week of the storm, the school's seven admissions officers were on the road. Their own plans lost, they sometimes tagged along with other historically black colleges at recruiting events. Dillard asked a network of more than 1,000 alumni and parents to help staff tables at college fairs the admissions office couldn't reach.Colleagues at other schools saw Dillard's flag flying at college fairs, and it "brought tears to their eyes," said Darrin Q. Rankin, vice president of enrollment management. At a Chicago event, one person was so impressed Dillard showed up that he offered a donation.But Rankin said he's also heard cruel comments as students walk by, and he acknowledged Dillard is struggling to get everywhere it wants to be. Alumni can help with college fairs at night, but high school visits during the day are harder. Dillard has hit only about 70 percent of the college fairs it attended last year and shown up at only about 30 percent of the high schools."We're moving the class forward," Rankin said. "We may not have 700 freshmen like we normally do. But we will have a class."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SAN JOSE, California (AP) -- Apple Computer Inc. introduced an iPod capable of playing videos on Wednesday, evolving the portable music player of choice into a multimedia platform for everything from TV shows to music videos.Videos will now be sold online alongside songs on Apple's iTunes store.Citing a groundbreaking deal with ABC Television Group, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said video offerings via iTunes will include episodes for $1.99 each of the hit shows "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost," which will be available the day after they air on television.The purchased video can be watched on a computer or taken on the road for viewing on the new iPod's 2.5-inch color screen.The much-anticipated new iPods, available starting next week, will replace Apple's current 20-gigabyte and 60-gigabyte models. A 30 GB version will sell for $299 and a 60 GB version will cost $399. A 30 GB model can hold about 7,500 songs, 25,000 photos, or 75 hours of video, Apple said.Apple hopes to repeat with Hollywood the coup it achieved with music labels: Ease an industry's piracy fears and transform its business models to include convenient, legal distribution of digital content over the Internet at reasonable prices for consumers."It's never been done before, where you could buy hit TV shows and buy them online the day after they're shown," said Jobs, whose other company, Pixar Animation Studios Inc., has a long relationship with ABC's parent, The Walt Disney Co. Short films from Pixar also will be sold via the iTunes store.But that's just the beginning, Apple executives say, noting that the iTunes store catalog has grown to 2 million songs from 200,000 at launch in 2003. More than 600 million downloads have been recorded since."We've gained a lot of credibility in the industry in the past two and a half years with what we did with songs," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of applications. "And that's what we're trying to mirror in the video space."Analysts consider a video iPod a test of whether consumers would embrace video on such a small screen. Over-the-air TV services are already available for cell phones but the quality remains substandard.Competing portable video players have been available for several years but very little compelling content has been available, and Apple's move comes amid fledgling initiatives to offer original video programming on the Internet."This is the first giant step to making more content available to more people online," said Robert Iger, Disney's chief executive. "It is the future as far as I'm concerned. It's a great marriage between content and technology and I'm thrilled about it."The new video iPod, available in black or white, will be able to play video and podcasts. Apple said the 30 GB model will have up to 14 hours of battery life while the 60 GB model's battery will last up to 20 hours. Both versions will include a clock, a calendar, a stop watch and a screen lock."It's really very beautiful and very thin," Jobs told assembled journalists and guests.The video iPod will lock TV shows, films and music videos downloaded from the iTunes store with copy-protection software -- just as Apple does for music. Users will be able to download purchased video to up to five computers and transfer it to iPods, but unlike songs, users will not be able to burn the videos onto a CD.The new iPod will also support the MPEG-4 video standard, meaning users could view home movies and other unencrypted videos on it.Susan Kevorkian, an analyst with research firm IDC, said she expected Apple to increase the screen size of the video iPod in future generations."This will tell us a lot about whether their consumers will be comfortable watching longer-format programming on a small screen," she said.Apple has been riding high on the success of its iPods, which helped quadruple the company's profits last quarter.In the last fiscal quarter, about 6.5 million iPods were sold, accounting for nearly a third of Apple's revenue; Macintosh computers, Apple's historical core product, accounted for about 44 percent with 1.2 million units sold.On Wednesday, Apple also introduced two newer, thinner models of the all-in-one iMac desktop computer.Each of the 17-inch and 20-inch iMac G5 models, priced at $1,299 and $1,699 respectively, comes with a built-in webcam and a slim, six-button remote control about the size of thin pack of gum.Using software called "Front Row" that comes with the iMacs, the remote control allows users to quickly browse and access their music, photo and video files from across the room, as far as 30 feet away, according to Apple.The new iMacs also carry new software called "Photo Booth" that allows users to take quick snapshots and send them to others via e-mail.It all falls in line with Apple's goal of making the computer a digital multimedia hub and the iPod its portable extension.Apple shares closed Wednesday down $2.34, or 4.5 percent, at $49.25 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. In after-hours trading Apple lost 2 cents to $49.20. The shares' 52-week low was $18.83 on Dec. 12, 2004.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (AP) -- Michelle Duggar just delivered her 16th child, and she's already thinking about doing it again.Johannah Faith Duggar was born at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and weighed 7 pounds, 6.5 ounces.The baby's father, Jim Bob Duggar, a former state representative, said Wednesday that mother and child were doing well. Johannah's birth was especially exciting because it was the first time in eight years the family has had a girl, he said.Jim Bob Duggar, 40, said he and Michelle, 39, want more children."We both just love children and we consider each a blessing from the Lord. I have asked Michelle if she wants more and she said yes, if the Lord wants to give us some she will accept them," he said in a telephone interview.The Discovery Health Channel filmed Johannah's birth and plans to air a show about the family in May.The Learning Channel is doing another show about the family's construction project, a 7,000-square foot house that should be finished before Christmas. The home, which the family from the northwest Arkansas town of Rogers has been building for two years, will have nine bathrooms, dormitory-style bedrooms for the girls and boys, a commercial kitchen, four washing machines and four dryers.Jim Bob Duggar, who sells real estate, previously lost his bid for the U.S. Senate. He said he expects to run for the state Senate next year but isn't ready to make a formal announcement.Michelle Duggar, 39, had her first child at age 21, four years after the couple married.Their children include two sets of twins, and each child has a name beginning with the letter "J": Joshua, 17; John David, 15; Janna, 15; Jill, 14; Jessa, 12; Jinger, 11; Joseph, 10; Josiah, 9; Joy-Anna, 8; Jeremiah, 6; Jedidiah, 6; Jason, 5; James, 4; Justin, 2; Jackson Levi, 1; and now Johannah.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (AP) -- Jack White, a reporter whose story on President Nixon's underpayment of income taxes won a Pulitzer Prize and prompted Nixon to utter the famous line, "I am not a crook," died Wednesday at 63.White died at his Cape Cod home, said WPRI-TV in Providence, where he worked as a reporter.He was working for The Providence Journal and Evening Bulletin in 1973 when he used tax documents and a tip to establish that Nixon had failed to pay a large portion of his income taxes in 1970 and 1971.Nixon ultimately agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes, and White won a Pulitzer for national reporting.During a news conference the month after the story ran, one of White's colleagues asked Nixon about his income taxes, and the president replied: "People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I am not a crook.""Whatever he did was right. It was accurate. It was fair," said WJAR reporter Jim Taricani, who said White took him under his wing when he was a young reporter.Taricani turned to White when deciding whether to disclose the source of a secret FBI videotape that showed a Providence mayoral aide taking a bribe. White told him not to do it, and Taricani served four months of home confinement.White's scoop on Nixon almost didn't happen. The night he was prepared to write the story, the union representing reporters voted to strike. He later recalled rolling the story out of his typewriter and putting it in his wallet."I was dreading the information I had was going to get out there. Every day I was checking out-of-town newspapers," he later told The Providence Journal.The strike ended 12 days later, and the story ran on October 3, 1973.The story revealed that Nixon and his wife paid just $793 in income taxes in 1970 and $878 in 1971 and received a tax refund totaling more than $131,000 for those two years. Nixon ultimately agreed to pay $476,000 in back taxes.White also broke the news in 2001 that former Providence Mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci was indicted on federal corruption charges. White knew it before Cianci, who told reporters: "I heard it from Jack White."White began his career in 1969 as a reporter for the Newport Daily News. He moved the following year to the Providence Journal and Evening Bulletin, where he worked as a general assignment reporter, Newport bureau chief and head of the newspaper's first permanent investigative team.He later worked for WBZ-TV in Boston and was a reporter for the Cape Cod Times before joining WPRI in 1985 as chief investigative reporter. He won two Emmy Awards for his television reporting.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's president praised his people Wednesday, calling Saturday's earthquake "a test for the nation" and requesting more international help as nuclear rival India joined the ranks of countries supplying aid.Gen. Pervez Musharraf said some 23,000 people have been reported dead after the deadliest quake in South Asia for a century, and another 50,000 were injured.Hours after Musharraf's televised address to the nation, a strong aftershock rattled buildings early Thursday in Pakistan's capital and the North-West Frontier province. No damage was reported. The aftershock had a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 and was centered about 85 miles (135 kilometers) north of Islamabad, the U.S. Geological Survey said.In the latest sign that Saturday's magnitude-7.6 quake could be easing tensions in the region, Indian troops Wednesday crossed the disputed line of control in Kashmir to help Pakistani soldiers repair a damaged bunker, an Indian army spokesman said.The Indian soldiers were responding to a request for help from the Pakistani troops manning the bunker near the Aman Setu bridge, the only crossing between the regions of Kashmir controlled by Pakistan and India, the spokesman said.The Indian defense ministry was working around the clock to clear the road to the bridge, also known as Kaman Bridge, which likewise was damaged in the quake, the spokesman said. "Five to six soldiers from our side went across," the Indian army spokesman said.India also sent a relief plane Wednesday to Islamabad carrying tents, medicines and other materials.After initial reluctance, Pakistan decided to accept aid from India, with whom it has fought three wars -- two of them over the disputed Kashmir region that took the brunt of the quake. (Working together)Although India's Himalayan region suffered damage and casualties, Pakistani-controlled territory took the worst damage.The earthquake killed at least 1,239 in India and one person in Afghanistan, according to government, police and hospital officials.Some officials have said Pakistan's death toll could be nearer to 41,000. But Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri said Tuesday the government "can only give the number of the people actually certified as dead."Millions homelessReaching the 2.5 million people the government says are now homeless is Pakistan's top priority, Musharraf said. "Communication has broken down; roads are damaged," he said. "Telecommunications and electrical lines are destroyed."With health experts warning the Himalayan region could become a fertile breeding ground for disease, Musharraf said food, medicine and shelter are the prime necessities.Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of pledges have poured in from round the world, and the president thanked the international community for its response. But he said more help is needed, both financially and physically. Particularly, he said, helicopters are needed to reach remote areas rendered accessible only by air.U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Pakistan after saying Washington would likely add to the $50 million it has committed to the quake recovery effort.Pakistan is the latest stop on Rice's tour of Asia, which was expanded to include the earthquake-damaged nation. Rice met with Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. (Full story)Pakistan has been a key ally in the U.S.-led war in neighboring Afghanistan.Response defendedThe United States has sent military helicopters from Afghanistan, and the number involved will grow substantially in the next few days, perhaps to several dozen, a senior defense official in Washington said Tuesday.Rescuers have yet to reach some remote areas in the mountainous Pakistan side of Kashmir, and many bodies are still buried beneath piles of concrete, steel and wood. Hopes of finding more survivors were dimming.The quake struck near Balakot, a city of about 250,000, 145 kilometers (90 miles) north-northeast of Islamabad. (In pictures)In Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, hungry survivors mobbed relief trucks loaded with food and water. (Grabbing food)Severe weather has stymied relief efforts -- along with roads blocked by the quake itself.Musharraf defended his government's response to the disaster -- a response some Pakistanis criticized as too slow -- saying the scope of the catastrophe made such problems unavoidable."Disaster is always painful, and the people who are still facing that are facing a very bad situation," he said. "In these dangerous situations, the easiest thing is to blame someone. Instead of blaming someone, we have to face it with confidence."We have to show that we have got the confidence, and we have got enough strength to face this," he said.The president said relief efforts took some time to get started because the administrative structure in the affected regions collapsed and roads were impassable."I am very sorry for that delay," he said. "But there was no other way."Many roads are now clear, he said, but other places remain inaccessible except by air. "We need the strength to serve in this situation," he said. "This is a natural disaster, and nobody could predict this. The people who are gone are gone, but we can work for the future generations."He said he could not praise the Pakistani people enough for jumping in and helping with relief efforts.U.N. agencies report progressMedical teams from throughout Pakistan and the world have rushed to the earthquake zone to treat injuries and prevent life-threatening infections. (Racing to the zone)Hans Strohmeyer, a United Nations senior humanitarian official, said Wednesday that access to the earthquake-affected areas of Pakistan has been increasing as the weather has improved. Clean water remains the key need, Strohmeyer said.Many hospitals were damaged and many health workers were killed or injured in the quake, the World Health Organization said as it appealed for $21.7 million in aid.Help is needed for emergency surgery, while safe food and water is essential to prevent diarrhea spreading among survivors living in crowded, unsanitary shelters, WHO said.Antibiotics to treat pneumonia, another major risk, is also a priority as victims have been camping outdoors in freezing overnight temperatures.The agency also warned about the possibility of a measles epidemic, as only 60 percent of children in the region are protected.Health experts have also warned of potential disease threats from devastated public sanitation systems.The U.N. refugee agency said it has begun to distribute relief and shelter items -- including plastic sheeting, mattresses and tents -- for 100,000 people.The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said the agency is receiving reports that Afghan refugees are among the dead in the Mansehra district in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province. The UNHCR said entire villages are reported flattened in the area.The World Food Program said its first convoy of trucks with emergency food rations has arrived in Abbottabad, Pakistan, the first in what the WFP said will be multiple deliveries of high-energy food bars flown from Europe."We are doing all we can to get this food where it is needed most as fast as possible," said German Valdivia, WFP representative in Pakistan. "It will be enough for 400,000 people ... for the next two days, by which time we should have established a proper supply line."Valdivia called the situation "increasingly desperate" and said many areas have no safe water, no electricity and limited food supplies. "They are living out in the open in the mountains, and it is extremely cold," Valdivia said in a news release. "We will be providing one million people with ready-to-eat food over the next month." (World responds)CNN's Andrew Stevens, Satinder Bindra, Matthew Chance, Ram Ramgopal, Becky Anderson, Syed Mohsin Naqvi, John Raedler, Mukhtar Ahmed and Tom Coghlan contributed to this report.Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.