(CNN) -- You might not think to put a NASCAR driver in a marathon runner's shoes.But with the physical rigors that come with driving -- mostly unseen by spectators -- some industry insiders and drivers not only understand the similarity to long-distance running but also stress the importance of being physically fit for their careers.With 30 years of experience in motorports, Dr. Stephen Olvey, director of the neurosurgical care unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, was determined to show that race car drivers measured up to traditional athletes.Olvey found that on an oval track like NASCAR's, drivers sustained heart rates 80 to 85 percent of their maximum, similar to the heart rate of a marathoner.Yet his findings were met with skepticism. Doctors and scientists attributed the spike to adrenaline and hormones; what an every day driver experiences in a "near miss."Olvey then joined forces with Dr. Patrick Jacobs, an exercise physiologist at Florida International University in Miami. The two set out to measure a driver's oxygen consumption. What they found was that drivers used the same amount of oxygen and energy as a long-distance swimmer or runner.Sports psychologist for Hendrick Motorsports Jack Stark stresses the non-stop nature of the sport."[In] football, you go hard for 15 seconds, rest 30-40. Basketball, you have time outs. You can't stop a race and get out of your car. You know, you're going hard for four hours."NASCAR driver Kyle Petty also likens what he does to participating in a marathon."You don't need to really peak at any given time and if you do peak, it needs to be at the end of your run when you can really kick," he says.Dr. Robert Cantu, a neurosurgeon at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Massachusetts, and an expert on motorsports, agrees that race car drivers are athletes, but says they don't need the speed or strength of other sports."They definitely need to have very keen eyesight. They need to be able to be focused, have very superior concentration, make split-second judgments, [and] have very, very good hand-eye coordination."The hot seatHeat is one factor present inside these cars which serves to break that vital concentration.During races, drivers are subjected to extreme temperatures -- over 100 degrees in the car and up to 170 degrees near the floorboards -- and despite the help of some air cooling systems, temperature is still a menace to the level of concentration drivers must maintain during a race. Olvey stresses the importance of being physically fit as a way to combat that threat, which can have serious consequences on the track."You'll see less fit drivers start to lose control and start to have accidents more often than they do early in the event or than the more fit drivers do," Olvey says.Further, Cantu offers this analogy: "You're essentially trying to function at a very high level of concentration in a sauna."While the heat is trying to break a driver's concentration, lateral G-forces are trying to throw them out of the car. For example, on turns drivers experience G-forces similar to those of a space shuttle on liftoff -- in their cars.Driving 'conditioning'Perhaps this is why some NASCAR drivers stress proper nutrition and workout routines, despite the busy schedule of a demanding season."I run 20-25 miles during the week ... but you really watch what you eat, I think that's the main thing," says Petty.Driver Jimmie Johnson is serious about staying in shape, too and equates good physical fitness to a better performance on the track."If you take a look at Mark Martin, he's been in the sport for a long time and at his age, the reason he's up front competing for wins and championships like he does is because he's in great shape," says Johnson.Now 46, Martin was one of the first drivers to begin seriously working out, in the late 80s. He's also written a book "NASCAR for Dummies" which highlights the importance of exercise.While driver Greg Biffle watches his diet, works out and stays active, he also sees racing alone as a form of exercise."We're in a race car three days a week which also keeps us in shape. You know, that's like working out... ," says Biffle.Racing a car is more than simply driving. With a race's intensity and length, NASCAR drivers may condition their bodies outside of work and on the job. Either way, they're making it possible to go the extra mile -- or last lap."You gotta have tremendous stamina and strength to be able to get in a car and go 200 miles an hour for four hours [in] very hot, difficult conditions where you're cramped in, and be able to move that car, and the G-force and upper body strength ... you gotta be a very good athlete," says Stark. "And you're reflexes have to be quick, you have to be able to see things, so it takes a tremendous amount of ability and skill, I think, to be a driver."

PRINCETON, New Jersey (AP) -- The students who started one of Princeton University's newest clubs remember the awkward moment when they realized they were in the minority: while watching a play called "Sex on a Saturday Night."The play is put on for incoming freshmen to inform them about sexual health and safety. But to some students, there was just too much talk about sex."I remember sitting there and feeling really uncomfortable because every single character had either engaged in premarital sex or was talking about having engaged in premarital sex," said Christian Sahner, 20, a junior from Maplewood, New Jersey.So about a year ago, the students formed a group promoting chastity. While similar groups exist at other universities, it is a first for the Ivy League. The groups first sprung up in the South, but the idea is catching on nationwide, said Jimmy Hester from "True Love Waits," a Nashville, Tennessee-based group that promotes abstinence."In the early days I would have said it was a Southern, Southeast movement, that's where it caught on the quickest," Hester said. "Now we hear from folks in Washington, Oregon, all over the place."The Princeton group is named after Elizabeth Anscombe, an English philosopher and staunch Roman Catholic who defended the church's teachings on sex, and died in 2001.People who want to take part in the society's activities don't have to sign a pledge or take an oath. Some members may have had sex in the past, and leaders say the group is open to everyone, even those who may just be interested in exploring the idea of chastity intellectually.One of the main reasons the group was created was to let students who don't want to have premarital sex know they're not alone, organizers said. They knew beforehand that sex would be part of college life, but many were surprised at how prevalent it was."My freshman year ... it was really distressing to me to see my peers going out, getting drunk, and having random sex," said Clare Sully, 20, a senior originally from Princeton. "I hadn't yet come to the conclusion that sex was only for marriage ... (but) I was quite certain that sex was way too important to treat so casually."At the University of Colorado at Boulder, Jonathan Butler, 19, and five of his friends are starting the "College Coalition for Relationship Education," a secular group designed to promote abstinence. They reached a similar conclusion."You don't just have sex to have sex. You have to be emotionally ready," said Butler.The Princeton group brings in speakers who talk about issues related to sex and chastity. A recent talk titled "Real Sex: The Truth About Chastity" drew about 120 people. Another speaker from the University of Virginia focused on the effects of the sexual revolution on family and children.The group is not affiliated with a particular religion or political ideology. Most of the group's organizers are Catholic and almost all vote Republican because many in the party oppose abortion. But others affiliated with the group are longtime Democrats, and a few are Jewish and from other religious denominations.Organizers are adamant that Anscombe is open to everyone, although questions have been raised about whether the group is anti-homosexual. An article in the university newspaper last February described the group as opposing homosexual relationships. Organizers say while many members may find homosexuality to be wrong, it's neither a universal belief nor the group's main focus.Members emphasize that they're not anti-sex. They fully intend to have sex, but only with the right person and after they are married. And for the record, they date, and some even have boyfriends and girlfriends."When you do have sex, you form a bond," said Caroline Chopko, 20, a junior from Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. "I'd rather save that for the person that I'm totally in love with and I'm going to marry."Organizers say students respond with a mixture of respect and curiosity. Others acknowledge their choice is a rare one. Chopko said some have a "warped perception" of what it means to practice chastity."It's not like we don't dance or have fun," she said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- Far from the French Quarter, children driven from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina are doing their schoolwork amid reminders of home.At New Orleans West, a charter school set up for storm victims in a small, once-shuttered brick elementary school, the student uniforms are the traditional Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold. The school's symbol is a Texas Lone Star with a Louisiana fleur de lis in the middle. And the principal wants to find a Louisiana flag to fly atop the Texas flag.More than 300 youngsters in kindergarten through eighth grade attend the school. The teachers and administrators are also Katrina victims from New Orleans. These efforts to keep New Orleans schoolchildren together and match them with teachers from their hometown are seen as a source of comfort."It soothes me in a real sense to know that I can connect with those students. I am from where they are from. I have lost what they have lost, likely," said teacher Towana Pierre-Floyd, 22.Many of the children are from the impoverished neighborhoods hit hard by Katrina. Many of their homes were flooded, and many still don't know where some of their relatives and friends are. Their belongings are covered with mold, mildew and mud.Like other students, 10-year-old Ceyonne Riley is using donated school supplies and backpacks."I don't want to start over, but now we have to," she said as she took a break from a culture class where students sang "Lean on Me."Ceyonne proudly displayed one of her few possessions -- a digital watch her mother recently bought her. She knows of only one other student from her school in New Orleans who is in Houston with her. Other than that, she does not know where any of her classmates ended up, nor if they are OK.The school 350 miles west of New Orleans tries to get the students to talk about Katrina and confront their anxieties, though the results are not always what teachers had in mind.One teacher encouraged students to debate such issues as the federal government's response to Katrina. "It got out of hand," Principal Gary Robichaux said. "There was too much emotion. Once you opened the bottle, it all came out."Teachers are now using other methods, including putting pictures of the flooded city on large pieces of butcher paper and allowing students to write down the feelings evoked by the images."I feel bad because my home is not the same," one student wrote about a picture of New Orleans under water.Another wrote: "I cry some times.""I feel sad for all the people," scribbled a third.Dr. Britta Ostermeyer, a psychiatrist who directs a Harris County health program, said the school is a good idea for those planning to return to Louisiana."If you put the students with other students from New Orleans and their own teachers, in the short run, they are going to feel more supported and might have a better sense of belonging," she said. "They all feel, 'We are from New Orleans and are going to make it together."'But in the long run, if parents decide to stay in Houston, it would be better for the students to begin getting used to their new surroundings, she said.The principal said many of the students plan to return to New Orleans. But in the meantime: "They feel at home here. We went through the same thing they went through."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- After the longest break in its 153-year history, Cafe Du Monde will once again fill New Orleans' Jackson Square with the luscious smell of beignets and rich, chicory-laced coffee.The French Quarter landmark known to tourists the world over for its fried dollops of dough dusted with powdered sugar is getting ready to reopen next week, a month and a half after being shut down by Hurricane Katrina.Cafe Du Monde normally stays open 24 hours a day, 364 days a year, closing only on Christmas. But it sold its last order of hot beignets at midnight on August 27, a day and a half before the storm roared in and devastated New Orleans.The cafe had only minor damage from Katrina, but a combination of storm-related problems -- no power, no drinkable water and no electricity for several weeks -- kept it closed.Its owners took advantage of the shutdown to clean and upgrade kitchen appliances and other parts of the business that are constantly in use.The reopening is set for Wednesday at 6 a.m. -- not soon enough for locals and relief workers."My mouth waters every time I walk by there," said French Quarter resident Faye Riley. "I've been having withdrawal symptoms."Beignets are French-style doughnuts made according to a recipe brought to Louisiana by the Acadians. The dark-roast coffee is served either black or au lait -- mixed half and half with hot milk. Dried chicory root adds flavor and intensifies it, too.The menu has not changed much since 1852, when the cafe opened in the French Market. Tourists love to get an authentic taste of New Orleans there. And New Orleans students have made it a tradition to close out prom night with coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde."Blowing powdered sugar on your date's tuxedo was a rite of passage in New Orleans," said Kit Wohl, who grew up in the French Quarter.Archie Casbarian, who owns Arnaud's Restaurant, another New Orleans institution, moved to the French Quarter in 1966, and used to go carousing back then. "And I always ended up at Cafe Du Monde for coffee and beignets," he said. "It's a well-known hangover cure."Cafe Du Monde sells so many beignets that it uses up 21/2 to 5 tons of flour every two weeks.On Thursday, workers painted the walls, boiled water in the deep fryers and hauled in new equipment. The tables and chairs that normally fill the patio were still stacked inside the building, and workers cleaned up tree limbs around the area."We've found about 50 of our 150 employees, and the cleanup will be finished by Tuesday," general manager Scott Escara said. "We'll turn the fryers on about 5 Wednesday morning and we should have hot beignets pretty quick after that."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (AP) -- Visiting Pendleton House at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum is a little bit like touring New England's many historic estates in just one stop.The museum's treasures boast lineages from around the region. In one room, a desk from Connecticut is paired with two side chairs from New York City. In another room, a tea table from Newport sits near a mahogany easy chair from Boston.Tucked next to the RISD Museum's main gallery, Pendleton House is devoted to American decorative arts. Built in 1906 to replicate the interior of antique collector Charles Pendleton's own home -- which still stands around the corner -- Pendleton House was the country's first exhibit wing dedicated to the decorative arts.It now holds much of RISD's decorative arts collection, which includes antique silver, porcelain and furniture.Items from the collection are not merely displayed on shelves and in cases. Taking advantage of the space they have, curators display the antiques in ways they might have been used. Dining room furniture is displayed next to porcelain dishes. A bedroom is made cozy with a quilt, Oriental rug and large easy chairs.The collection includes multiple pieces from the Newport furniture workshops that flourished during the colonial period, including a desk constructed in the 18th century by renowned furniture-maker John Goddard. Only nine such desks are known to exist, said Jayne Stokes, acting curator of decorative arts at the museum.The museum's silver collection shines in a small exhibit room on the second floor. Much of the display is devoted to a unique silver set made in Providence by the Gorham Company during the 19th century.The 700-piece set includes pieces with two distinctly different styles: Asian-style dishes, which were in vogue at the time, and classic Renaissance-style dishes and serving pieces."They're amazingly intricate," Stokes said. "It is the only one of the great, grand late-19th century service sets that's still intact."The Gorham collection includes a silver, wood and bronze desk that sits at the end of the second-floor hallway.The desk is one-of-a-kind, Stokes said, and was worth $25,000 in 1915, when it was made for the St. Louis World's Fair with almost 10,000 hours of labor.Portraits from the museum's collection hang throughout. Featured artists include notable American painters James Earl, Thomas Sully and John Singleton Copley.Quirky pieces contribute elements of whimsy to the exhibits. In one of the front rooms, Charles Pendleton's felt-covered card table sits, ready for a game; Pendleton was a serious gambler who kept homes near casinos, including one in Newport. On the second floor, a spinning wheel is used as the back of a gleaming wood chair that was made in Hartford, Connecticut.Pendleton willed his collection of English and American antiques to RISD in 1904, but he required that the institution build a fireproof exhibit space for them.Though it was constructed with cement, tile and hard plaster to be a modern and protective home for Pendleton's treasures, the brick building looks like any other historic Benefit Street home from the outside. The exterior was modeled on the 1821 Pickman House in Salem, Massachusetts. Inside, the "house" lacks the bathrooms and kitchen that would make it a livable space, but the Oriental rugs and historic quilts scattered throughout make it seem a place in which Pendleton might have lived.A Rhode Island native, Pendleton studied to be a lawyer, but his true love was antiques, Stokes said. He traveled to workshops around the country first to expand his collection and then on behalf of friends who admired his taste. And while other members of high society were interested only in European antiques, Pendleton focused on American works, unusual at the time."He had a pretty amazing eye," Stokes said.Exhibits of decorative arts are important to understanding history, said Laura Urbanelli, interim director of the RISD Museum."Because they are everyday objects, even if they are special everyday objects, they tell us a lot about the lives of people and the cultures that came before us," Urbanelli said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

BEIJING, China (AP) -- China's Shenzhou 6 briefly fired its rockets to adjust its orbit early Friday as the spacecraft began its third day of a mission meant to help prepare for the eventual launch of a Chinese space station.The maneuver was carried out after the capsule was found to have been dragged closer to the Earth by gravity, said the Web site of the Communist Party newspaper People's Daily. It said the "maintenance operation" lasted a few seconds, and there was no indication the crew was in any danger.Astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng blasted off Wednesday on China's second manned space mission, an effort by communist leaders to win respect abroad as a rising power and public support at home.Chinese space officials say they hope to land an unmanned probe on the Moon by 2010 and want to launch a space station.Traveling at about 17,528 mph (28,080 kph), the Shenzhou 6 was making its 35th orbit at midday Friday, circling the Earth at an altitude of 210 miles (343 kilometers), the People's Daily said.The capsule began its orbit-correcting maneuver at 5:56 a.m. (2156 GMT), according to the People's Daily. It said boosters fired and the vessel picked up speed for a few moments before returning to its planned trajectory.The government has not said how long Fei and Nie would stay up, but news reports said it could be three to five days.The official Xinhua News Agency said a new road to the landing site in grasslands of the northern Inner Mongolia region opened Friday as the space program prepared for the capsule's return.Recovery crews spent Thursday practicing rescue work, launching helicopters to the primary landing area in the Inner Mongolia region, Xinhua said.Early Thursday, the crew set a Chinese endurance record in space, surpassing the time of the country's first manned space flight in 2003, when astronaut Yang Liwei spent 21 1/2 hours in orbit.On its second manned trip into space, China is letting its guard down a bit.State television is giving the public a glimpse into a day in orbit for the two-man crew, showing them at work and play.The footage showed one of the astronauts clapping after his daughter sang "Happy Birthday" to him by radio, and showed him catching bits of food put into zero gravity by his crewmate.The intimate view differs dramatically from two years ago, when none of the first Chinese manned venture was shown on live TV -- apparently over fears something would go wrong.The Shenzhou -- or Divine Vessel -- capsule is a modified version of Russia's workhorse Soyuz. China also bought technology for space suits, life-support systems and other equipment from Moscow, though officials say all items launched into space are made in China.China has had a rocketry program since the 1950s and sent its first satellite into orbit in 1970. It regularly launches satellites for foreign clients aboard its giant Long March boosters.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(CNN) -- NASA managers said Friday that the space agency is working to resume shuttle flights as soon as next May, even as teams of engineers continue to analyze what caused a potentially critical problem during the Discovery's launch."May looks very doable," said NASA Associate Administrator for Space Operations William Gerstenmaier.Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale added, "I think we're beginning to have our hands well around the technical problems that we have and to find the fixes that are going to be necessary to fly again."NASA officials briefed reporters on the status of the space shuttle program Friday at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.NASA grounded the shuttle fleet after a chunk of foam fell off of Discovery's external fuel tank during its July 26 launch -- the same problem blamed for the Columbia disaster. Analysis determined that a briefcase-size piece of foam weighing just under a pound broke away from a section of the tank called the PAL ramp shortly after solid rocket booster separation.The foam did not hit the orbiter. But NASA officials said that it could have caused damage if it had.Bill Parsons, who was shuttle program manager at the time, announced the day after launch that the shuttle fleet would not fly again until the latest foam problem was solved.Elimination of large debris is key to the safe resumption of shuttle flights.The underside of a space shuttle is covered with insulating tiles and the edges of the wings are clad with reinforced carbon-carbon panels. Together, they make up the thermal protection system that ensures the shuttle can withstand the intense heat of re-entry.The engineers studying the issue have concluded that no single factor caused the foam to come loose. Rather, they think there were several contributing factors: The technique used to spray the foam onto the tank, engineering issues in the area where the foam broke off, and damage from workers touching and possibly crushing the foam while working on other parts of the tank."I want to make it clear that we found no negligence on the part of the workers," said Richard Gilbrech, leader of the engineers looking at the problem. "They were doing their work per procedure. It's just we really didn't have an appreciation for the significance that this handling damage could have in terms of foam loss."Gilbrech and his team suggested changing the way the foam is applied and how the tank is processed, with the goal of eliminating the shedding of large pieces of foam.Shuttle program managers said they are optimistic that testing will be completed and the modifications implemented in time to launch the shuttle between May 3 and 23.The date could be affected by engineering setbacks and by the impact of Hurricane Katrina on workforce at and infrastructure around Michoud Assembly Facility, which is in New Orleans."We have estimates that basically we will have lost the equivalent of three months worth of work at Michoud based on the effects of the hurricanes," Hale said. "In spite of that, our amazing work force down there is coming back to work. We are making outstanding progress in addressing these issues."With the exception of the one Discovery flight last summer, the shuttle fleet had been grounded since February 1, 2003, when the shuttle Columbia broke apart over Texas while on landing approach to Florida's Kennedy Space Center. All seven astronauts aboard died.Seven months later, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board concluded that a 1.6 pound piece of foam insulation broke off the shuttle's external fuel tank, striking and cracking a panel on the orbiter's wing. When the shuttle re-entered Earth's atmosphere, hot gases seeped into the wing and destroyed the spacecraft.Since the Columbia disaster, NASA engineers have said that it is not possible to eliminate the shedding of foam and ice from the external tank during launch. They did redesign the tank to minimize the size of debris that would come off. Prior to the Discovery launch, NASA managers said the heaviest piece of foam they expected to come loose would be three one-hundredths of a pound, and about the size of a breakfast muffin.Prior to the Columbia disaster, astronauts had no way to inspect the thermal protection system for damage that might have occurred during liftoff or to make repairs. During the Discovery mission, astronauts tested new tools and techniques to do those jobs.The new inspection system worked well, but limited testing of repair procedures confirmed astronauts cannot yet reliably fix a hole. Most NASA engineers say astronauts will never be able to repair a hole the size of the one that doomed Columbia.NASA now plans only 19 more shuttle flights, down from 28, Gerstenmaier confirmed. Eighteen of those missions will include docking with the international space station, with the goal of completing its assembly. The other would service the Hubble Space Telescope.NASA intends to retire the shuttle fleet in 2010. The space agency hopes to launch the next generation manned spacecraft, the Crew Exploration Vehicle, in 2012, with a manned mission to the moon coming in 2018.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The bird flu virus that infected a Vietnamese girl was resistant to the main drug that's being stockpiled in case of a pandemic, a sign that it's important to keep a second drug on hand as well, a researcher said Friday.He said the finding was no reason to panic.The drug in question, Tamiflu, still attacks "the vast majority of the viruses out there," said Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Tokyo and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The drug, produced by Swiss-based Roche Holding AG, is in short supply as nations around the world try to stock up on it in case of a global flu pandemic.Kawaoka said the case of resistance in the 14-year-old girl is "only one case, and whether that condition was something unique we don't know."He also said it's not surprising to see some resistance to Tamiflu in treated individuals, because resistance has also been seen with human flu.In lab tests, the girl's Tamiflu-resistant virus was susceptible to another drug, Relenza, which is made by GlaxoSmithKline.Kawaoka and colleagues report the case in the October 20 issue of the journal Nature, which released the study Friday. The researchers conclude that it might be useful to stockpile Relenza as well as Tamiflu.Both drugs are being stockpiled by the U.S. government. Doctors have good reason to believe Tamiflu would be effective at combatting a pandemic strain of bird flu, although it's not clear how long people would have to be treated or what doses they'd need, said Dr. John Treanor of the University of Rochester.In adults with mild cases of ordinary flu, Tamiflu speeds up recovery by a day or two, he said. Its effect on severe flu like bird flu isn't clear, he said.The new report, while not surprising, shows scientists must find out more about how people with bird flu respond to Tamiflu and how often they shed drug-resistant virus, he said.The shed virus could become a problem if it is transmitted to other people, he said. He noted that in the new report, as in prior studies, the resistant virus was less able to reproduce itself than normal virus was, which might cut down on the chance of transmission.The girl, who had been caring for an older brother with the disease, had been taking low doses of Tamiflu as a preventive measure when the virus was isolated in late February. She later got sick and was given higher doses. She recovered and left the hospital in March.Kawaoka said it's not clear whether the low preventive dose had encouraged the emergence of drug resistance.Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University called the report important and said it shows the importance of watching for drug resistance."It is not unusual to find the occasional resistant virus," he said. "It could be just a biological oddity, or we could see this more frequently."This is a blip on the radar screen, and it surely does mean that we have to keep the radar operative," Schaffner said. "We have to keep testing more viruses."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

TAMPA, Florida (AP) -- A passenger woke up from a nap, raised his fist and punched out the interior pane of an airplane window on a flight from Las Vegas to Florida, authorities said. Ryan J. Marchione, 24, shattered the inner plastic shield covering the glass window and disconnected its frame about 90 minutes into the America West flight, according to an FBI affidavit. The outer window was not damaged and the plane did not depressurize, the airline said. Marchione was arrested when the plane landed Wednesday at Tampa International Airport. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted of a federal charge of damaging or destroying an aircraft while it was operating. Marchione "woke abruptly from his sleep and turned to the passenger seated in 7B" about 90 minutes into the flight, an FBI affidavit said. He then "raised a clenched fist to his shoulder as if he was going to strike the passenger in 7B, then suddenly turned and struck the exterior window," the affidavit said. "It appears to have come out of nowhere," said Marchione's attorney, Thomas Ostrander. "Perhaps it was some sort of a psychotic episode as a result of drug abuse." Marchione was released on $25,000 bail to home detention with electronic monitoring. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(CNN) -- Adam Silvas was riding his all-terrain vehicle through the Pennsylvania woods when he came across a woman acting "really weird," standing near another woman, who was bloody, pregnant and lying on the ground by a car. "I initially thought it was a murder," he told CNN affiliate WTAE in Pittsburgh. Silvas, 17, went and got help. He's being hailed as a hero for saving the lives of Valerie Oskin, 30, and her son, who was born by Caesarean section at a hospital hours after the attack on Wednesday. Oskin's neighbor, Peggy Jo Conner, 38, is charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and aggravated assault of an unborn child. She is in jail.Silvas recalled the strange series of events in Armstrong County for WTAE on Friday. (See Silvas on the video -- 3:11)"When I first saw it, I knew it was foul play because it was just very suspicious happening. The lady acted really weird," he said.Conner told him "everything was fine," he said. He said he was going into the woods to ride, and she "smiled and waved at me.""I didn't really say too much because I knew something was wrong. I had seen somebody laying beside the car," he recalled. Instead he said he raced -- heart pounding, a lump in his throat -- back home to get his father, Andrew Silvas. The two rushed back to the site, unsure what they would find. "It was pretty frightening," the father told WTAE. "You just don't know what you're going to get into when you head out for something like that, especially in remote areas like that." When they arrived, he said, the woman who was standing had "an eerie calm about her." He asked her what she was doing. "She said, 'Nothing, nothing.'" She told him she was planning to take the bloodied woman to the hospital. "How come you didn't ask my son for help?" he said he asked. "She replied, 'I don't know.'" The father then told his son to get back to the house and tell his mother to call 911. As they waited for police, Adam Silvas said he saw that Oskin had severe wounds but was conscious. She later identified Conner as her attacker, police said. (Full story)He said he got some blankets when he heard her mumble that she was cold and wanted a warm shower. Conner seemed "spaced out, like she was hollow. She barely said a word," Silvas said. Adam Silvas said he doesn't want to be viewed as a hero, although he's extremely happy that Oskin and her baby are doing well.His father said, "I'm extremely proud of him. He handled himself very well."

RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- The Republican candidate for Virginia governor is drawing fire for campaign ads that suggest his Democratic opponent is so averse to the death penalty he would have spared Adolph Hitler from execution.The radio and TV ads feature victims' relatives who tearfully recount the crimes that killed their loved ones and say they don't trust Democrat Tim Kaine to administer the state's death penalty.Kaine, who says his moral objections to capital punishment are rooted in his Roman Catholic faith, responded with an ad pledging to carry out death sentences "because it's the law."One of the ads supporting Jerry Kilgore, Virginia's attorney general, cites a Richmond Times-Dispatch column that said Kaine had "suggested he would not favor sending even Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin or Idi Amin to the gallows."A commercial featuring death penalty proponent Stanley Rosenbluth has him looking into the camera and saying: "Tim Kaine says Adolf Hitler doesn't qualify for the death penalty. This was one of the worst mass murderers in modern times."Some Jewish leaders said Friday that the commercials trivialize the Holocaust and should be withdrawn.Kilgore spokesman Tim Murtaugh defended the ads and said that Rosenbluth spoke from his heart.Kaine, the lieutenant governor, is seeking to succeed Gov. Mark R. Warner, a fellow Democrat who is barred by the state constitution from seeking a second consecutive term this fall.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal deficit hit $319 billion for the budget year that just ended, down significantly from last year's record red ink, although a surge in Katrina-driven spending threatens to drive the shortfall up again.The improvement from the record $412 billion recorded in the 2004 budget year, which the Treasury Department reported on Friday, is largely due to a surge in federal revenues from an improving economy.The figures were released three days before Congress returns from a recess and commences a struggle to cut $35 billion from federal benefit programs over the next five years to help defray hurricane recovery costs. Friday's deficit figures underscored that even if lawmakers agree to such savings, they would have a barely visible effect on the overall red ink figure.Despite the improvement from last year's budget gap, the 2005 shortfall was still the third-highest ever recorded. The government's 2005 budget year ended on Sept. 30.Hurricane recovery costsBecause hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit in August and September, only about $4 billion of the $62 billion in emergency aid provided for the storms was actually spent in fiscal 2005, according to a senior Treasury official. Congressional analysts figure another $30 billion of those funds will be spent in the budget year that began October 1, though more spending is likely to be approved in coming weeks.Republicans emphasized that the figure was an improvement from earlier deficit projections.At the beginning of this year, the White House projected a $427 billion shortfall for 2005, which would have set another record in sheer dollar terms. The Congressional Budget Office forecast a gap of $365 billion, although both lowered their forecasts as the year progressed."Lower taxes and pro-growth economic policies have created millions of jobs and a growing economy that has swelled tax revenues over the past year," said Treasury Secretary John Snow. "While deficits are never welcome, the fact that we finished FY 2005 with a much lower-than-expected deficit is encouraging news."Deficit shrinkingThe White House and most economists say the truest measure of the deficit is relative to the size of the economy. In those terms, the deficit measured 2.6 percent of gross domestic product. The 2004 deficit, by contrast, equaled 3.6 percent of GDP. That is well below the post-World War II worst-ever record, a 6 percent figure set in 1983 under President Reagan.Democrats say that despite the improvement over 2004, the administration's record on the deficit isn't anything to be proud of.Indeed, the deficit picture remains far worse than when President Bush took office in 2001, when both White House and congressional forecasters projected cumulative surpluses of $5.6 trillion over the subsequent decade. Then, the White House forecast a surplus for 2005 of $269 billion.Those earlier estimates assumed the revenue boom fueled by the surging stock market and worker productivity gains would continue. But that bubble burst and a recession and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist assaults adversely affected the books.Several rounds of tax cuts, including Bush's signature $1.35 trillion, 10-year 2001 tax cut also contributed to the return to deficits three years ago after four years of surpluses.The White House has set a goal of cutting the deficit in half from the $521 billion prediction for 2004 that it issued at the beginning of that year.The administration claims it is still on track to reach that $260 billion goal by the time Bush leaves office. But administration budget projections leave out the long-term costs of occupying Iraq and Afghanistan and have yet to be updated with cost estimates of hurricane relief.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LONDON, England -- One of the worst kept secrets in the entertainment industry is no longer a secret.Daniel Craig, a blue-eyed and blond British actor, is the new James Bond.Sony Pictures on Friday confirmed media reports that Craig will replace Pierce Brosnan as the suave British spy of the silver screen. (Watch video of new 007)Craig's selection -- revealed by having the actor travel down the River Thames aboard a military boat, wearing Bond's trademark suit and dark glasses -- ends months of speculation over the role of agent 007.Later, at a news conference in London, Craig appeared to be at a loss for words about his new job."It's something else, I can tell you, really," he said.Craig added that his first reaction when told by producers was to say, "I need a drink." Producers said last year that they were seeking a replacement for Pierce Brosnan, 52, who has played the suave British spy in the last four Bond films.Rumored to have also been in the running were British actors Clive Owen, Ioan Gruffudd, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Gerard Butler and Ewan McGregor. Irishman Colin Farrell and Australians Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger and Eric Bana were also mentioned.But after all the guessing, it was Craig's mother that let the cat out of the bag."Obviously we are thrilled to bits," his mother Carol told the Liverpool Daily Post newspaper on Thursday. "It has come at a very good time in his career. He has worked extremely hard all his life and this would be his biggest populist role," she was quoted as saying. "It will be life-changing". Craig, 37, appeared in the 1990s TV drama "Our Friends in the North" and in such films as "The Mother," "Enduring Love" and "Layer Cake."He also played Paul Newman's son in "Road to Perdition," was poet Ted Hughes opposite Gwyneth Paltrow's Sylvia Plath in "Sylvia" and appeared in this year's thriller "The Jacket" with Adrien Brody.Craig's personal life has also been a source of media attention.He has dated model Kate Moss and has been linked to Sienna Miller, his "Layer Cake" co-star and on-off fiancee of Jude Law.Craig will appear in the 21st Bond film, a remake of "Casino Royale," which is due to be released next year."Casino Royale," published in 1953, was Ian Fleming's first Bond novel. The 1967 film version was a spoof starring Peter Sellers, and it was one of the few Bond adventures not to feature any MI6 gadgets. (MI6 goes online in plea for spies)Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

(AP) -- From "Say Anything ..." to "Almost Famous," Cameron Crowe has made his name with movies that strike just the right tone -- a bittersweet balance that's funny and melancholy, romantic and observant. It's one that his late idol, Billy Wilder, perfected decades ago, and one that's hard to achieve.Which is what makes "Elizabethtown" so curious, and such a disappointment.In telling the story of a young man who returns to his small-town Kentucky roots after his father's death, it's as if writer-director Crowe wanted to make several different movies but couldn't decide between them, so he just went ahead and made them all, then trimmed for time.Characters say and do things that real people don't say and do, and they frequently come up with poignant turns of phrase that are so perfectly timed, they clang self-consciously -- especially Kirsten Dunst as the perky flight attendant with whom Orlando Bloom's character strikes up an unexpected romance.Likable individually and refreshing as a couple, they do have some lovely moments together, though. Crowe told Bloom, the British hottie from the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy playing his first role as a Yank, to watch the Wilder classic "The Apartment" repeatedly and study Jack Lemmon's performance. While Bloom in no way comes close to achieving Lemmon's iconic comic skill and everyman vulnerability, he proves himself a reliable straightman, especially compared to Dunst, clearly functioning here as the effervescent, optimistic Shirley MacLaine figure in the equation.Bloom's Drew Baylor meets Dunst's Claire Colburn while flying as the lone passenger on a red-eye from Portland, Oregon, to Louisville, Kentucky, en route to Elizabethtown, where his father died suddenly during a visit back home. Drew's mother (Susan Sarandon) and sister (Judy Greer) are totally incapable of coping -- though they're so giggly and manic, you'd never know that they'd just lost the family patriarch -- so they send Drew to fetch his body and bring it back to be cremated.Drew was seriously thinking of killing himself when he got the news. A designer for a thinly veiled version of Nike -- complete with a boss named Phil, played with cliched Zen-like self-control by Alec Baldwin -- Drew just lost the company nearly a billion dollars with an athletic shoe he spent eight years developing. ("I am ill-equipped in the philosophies of failure," Phil informs him.)So nothing is going right for Drew, and he's not exactly in the mood for getting-to-know-you conversation with chatty Claire in the middle of the night. ("Phils are dangerous," she chirps when Drew tells her his boss' name. "Phils are less predictable than Bens.")She eventually wears him down through the sheer force of her kindness, though, and even draws him a map of where he needs to go once he lands, including her phone numbers.Surrounded by well-meaning but overbearing strangers in the mythically idyllic Elizabethtown, most of them relatives he'd never met, Drew finds himself reaching out to Claire with an all-night cell-phone call. They talk easily and about everything -- this is one of those sections of the movie that feels like a movie unto itself -- and when they agree many hours later to get in their cars and meet halfway to watch the sunrise, their face-to-face reunion is adorably awkward.That they've made this intense connection isn't so unbelievable in itself; it's how the relationship develops that becomes hard to fathom. She cancels a free trip to Hawaii, for example, to spend more time with this person she just met. She ingratiates herself with the wedding party going on at the hotel where he's staying, just to be around for him.And the most extreme example of all: Claire creates for Drew an elaborate map for him to follow during his solitary road trip back home -- a trip that was her idea in the first place. It's more like a scrapbook, really -- an annotated guide with photographs and sticky notes and mix CDs full of appropriate songs for every mile of the tour. The most painfully obvious: U2's "Pride (In the Name of Love)" as Drew visits the National Civil Rights Museum, built at the site where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot.It's a sweet idea -- just difficult to accept, even in a movie with romantic inclinations. How could she possibly have found the time to be so Martha Stewart-craftsy? And it's yet another segment that Crowe might have wanted to develop into a film all its own.As Drew tries to assure himself in the movie's opening voiceover, "A failure is simply the non-presence of success. ... A fiasco is a disaster of mythic proportions.""Elizabethtown" falls closer to the former than the latter.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Calling computers fun, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Friday urged minority college students to consider careers in computer science.Wrapping up a three-day tour of college campuses at predominantly black Howard University, Gates said computer software writers will be in greater demand than ever in the next decade.Even so, the number of college graduates seeking software jobs is declining -- a trend Gates said his tour is designed to help reverse."These are jobs that pay great," Gates said. "These are fun jobs, and so you'd think right now we'd be having more people applying in them than ever.""But in fact," he added, "somehow we haven't got the word out. We haven't made it clear the steps to get the right skills to get these jobs."Those statistics apply to all races, Gates said, but are particularly true among blacks and other minorities, among whom only a tiny percentage of college graduates pursue computer careers."Getting minorities into those jobs -- we're not doing everything we should be to point out the opportunities," Gates said.Gates' appearance before an enthusiastic crowd of more than 600 at Howard's Blackburn Center was the final stop in a three-day tour that also included visits to the universities of Michigan and Wisconsin, Princeton and Columbia universities and the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.Microsoft spokeswoman Ginny Terzano said the speeches at all six schools had the same goal: "Getting good young people interested in the technical sciences for great careers in the industry."Abisola Oladapo, a Howard junior from Lagos, Nigeria, said she was impressed with Gates.Oladapo, a student member of the National Society of Black Engineers, said the number of young black engineers is decreasing. Asked how that can be reversed, she said, "Get people like (Gates) who are very intellectual to come to meetings like these and make an impact."Terique Greenfield, a 19-year-old junior from Silver Spring, Maryland, called Gates' appearance a boost for Howard, a historically black university with a strong science and engineering program."I'm glad he recognized the importance of minorities in the work force at Microsoft," Greenfield said. "I thought it was great for Bill Gates to show all the opportunities at Microsoft."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Podcasting is on the verge of setting off a video revolution and users of Apple's new video iPod can expect a deluge of outspoken commentary, religious sermons and pornography.Podcasting, a term based on the name for Apple's portable media player, allows customers to download audio -- and now video -- segments for free to their computers and portable devices. Radio shows are among the most popular podcasts, but amateurs have helped turn podcasting into an eclectic global phenomenon.Apple's video-enabled iPod models, announced Wednesday, promise to stoke the fervor of home-grown broadcasters."I'm thrilled by the possibilities of combining devices," said 'Soccergirl,' whose opinionated and sexually suggestive program was listed among the 40 most popular podcasts on Apple's iTunes service.The 26-year-old librarian, who chooses not to reveal her real name, already produces short video segments that can play on viewers' computers.The new iPods "will make it easier for many of my listeners to watch my video as easily as they listen to my show," she said.Other early adopters of video podcasting are likely to include clergy of all stripes.San Francisco-area pastor Tim Hohm, whose audio podcast is one of more than 1,400 religious offerings available on iTunes, says the new iPods represent "a fantastic opportunity" and believes video has the potential "to inspire tens of thousands to embrace a message of inspiration and hope."The current crop of audio podcasters also includes entrepreneurial-minded Web journalists, some of whom are struggling to find a workable business model.Media analyst Rafat Ali, whose paidcontent.org Web site focuses on the economics of digital content, forecasts many such start-up projects will fail due to lack of expertise and funding."Producing interesting video content is really hard," he said.Success will depend largely on programmers' resources and ability to grasp the complexities of a medium that is much more complicated than audio, Ali said."It's a matter of how good is the quality and how do they get funded," he added.Historically, pornographers have a strong track record of adapting new imaging devices and formats in a commercially viable way.Mark Kernes, a senior editor at the Adult Video News trade magazine, said the highly-visible video iPod would certainly be used for adult content, but that many consumers might not want to show off their new material in public."Anybody that's got a video iPod is probably going to want to have a couple of porn clips on there, just to have," he said. "But you're not going to be looking at it at the mall." Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) -- A tropical storm warning was issued for the Cayman Islands on Saturday and residents, many of whom had not removed the hurricane shutters from earlier storms this season, began preparing for the worst.The system could become Tropical Storm Wilma on Sunday, which would make it the 21st named storm of the season, tying the record for the most storms in an Atlantic season, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.The only other time that many storms have formed since record keeping began 154 years ago was in 1933.At 5 p.m. EDT, the tropical depression was 195 miles southeast of Grand Cayman and 85 miles southwest of Montego Bay, Jamaica, forecasters said. It was churning west at 3 mph with sustained winds near 30 mph. Depressions become tropical storms when their winds reach 39 mph.Cayman Island residents, such as 51-year-old Susan Craig, say they are ready."I still have all the supplies from the previous storms this season, basically a lot peanut M&M's, so I am ready just in case," she said.The chairman of the Cayman Islands' National Hurricane Center, Donovan Ebanks, said authorities had been monitoring the weather for several days."Because of where it is, and the fact that it is projected to become a tropical storm by tomorrow and possibly a hurricane in a couple of days, we've decided to go ahead and issue a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch," he said.In Jamaica, officials issued a flash flood warning for northwestern parts of the island.Jamaica's office of the disaster preparedness said several businesses had been flooded in Montego Bay and in St. James parish, several people were flooded out of their homes.Hurricane season ends November 30.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NALCHIK, Russia (AP) -- Residents tentatively returned to the streets of the shaken southern Russian city of Nalchik on Saturday, trying to restore a sense of normality after at least 128 people were killed in a militant siege.At least 18 hostages were taken during the clashes between more than 100 militants and Russian security forces in Nalchik on Thursday and Friday. Most were eventually freed.Deputy Interior Minister Andrei Novikov said on Saturday that 92 militants had been killed, raising the official figure from 72. He offered no explanation for the increase, which brings the death toll from this week's fighting to at least 128, according to a tally of accounts by officials, news reports and an Associated Press reporter.Novikov said Friday that 24 law enforcement officers were killed and added Saturday that 85 were wounded. Conflicting official casualty tolls put the number of civilian dead at between 12 and 18.Chechen rebels claimed involvement in the near-simultaneous attacks on police and security facilities that terrified the city of 235,000 and left corpses lying on the streets. But Novikov said Friday that more than two-thirds of the more than 100 militants in the attacks were from Kabardino-Balkariya.Nalchik is the capital of the Kabardino-Balkariya republic, near Chechnya where rebels have been fighting Russian forces for most of the past decade. Earlier this year, police in Nalchik twice launched assaults on alleged Islamic militants holed up in apartments, and this week's attacks raised worries that the Chechen violence was spreading in the republic.On Saturday, heavily armed soldiers and police troops patrolled the streets, looking for fighters who may have blended into the civilian population to regroup. Tanks and armored personnel carriers stood at several main crossroads and soldiers peered into the windows of cars entering and leaving the city.Most stores and restaurants had reopened, but although there were far more people outside than on Friday, the city's central market remained closed.In the city center, a crowd of several dozen people stood outside the shattered remains of a gift shop where gunmen had held two women hostage."We're used to all the news of violence around here, you know with Chechnya, and we've had small incidents, but never anything like this," said a 25-year-old man in the small crowd, who gave his name only as Akhmad.Authorities initially had said the near-simultaneous attacks on police and security facilities Thursday morning were a diversionary tactic prompted by a police raid Wednesday on suspected militants in the suburb of Belaya Rechka.But on Saturday, the republic's chief prosecutor Yuri Ketov denied that account, saying they were "a carefully planned and prepared operation.""The attacks must not in any way be considered as a response by rebels to the police special operation a day earlier," he was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.Kabardino-Balkariya President Arsen Kanokov backed up that claim, saying in Saturday's edition of the government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta: "It was a thoroughly planned action. They prepared for it for a long time."President Vladimir Putin promised Russia would deal with all attacks "hard and consistently," but the bloodshed underlined that violence in the restive Caucasus region is spreading."It is bad that such bandit raids are still possible here (in Russia)," Putin said Friday. "It's a great tragedy that we are sustaining losses among law enforcement officers and peaceful civilians."However, at a meeting with security officials on Saturday, Putin praised law-enforcement agencies for their "well-coordinated action" in Nalchik.Kanokov blamed the attack on social conditions, which rebels have capitalized on."The population's low income and unemployment create the soil for religious extremists and other destructive forces to conduct an ideological war against us," Interfax quoted Kanokov as saying.The attack came amid a long-running regional campaign aimed at undermining nascent Islamic extremism -- which Russian officials describe as "Wahhabism," a term stemming from the austere Islamic sect with origins in Saudi Arabia.Rights lawyers, and even the region's officially sanctioned Islamic leader, say the campaign has caught up innocent, peaceful young Muslims, alienating and offending them as they rediscover their Muslim heritage.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (Reuters) -- Ethiopia's prime minister said on Saturday he had moved more troops to the border with Eritrea since December to prevent any "miscalculation" by its old foe in an escalating border row.In a sign of rising tensions, a tough-talking Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said his army had reinforced Ethiopia's already heavily defended border with Horn of Africa neighbor Eritrea as a precautionary measure.Eritrea imposed a ban on U.N. reconnaissance flights over the disputed 1,000-km (620-mile) border on October 5, fuelling fears the tiny Red Sea state was trying to hide troop movements to prepare for a new war against Ethiopia."We have taken measures and beefed up our defense capabilities around the border since December to prevent any miscalculation by the other side," Meles told reporters.It was his first public comment on the border dispute since Eritrea imposed the flight ban.It was unclear whether the military build-up Meles referred to was over and above the 48,000 soldiers his army deployed last December.That move was criticized by the United Nations, although U.N. peacekeepers said on October 6 they had seen no sign of fresh troop deployments on either side of the border.Defending national pride, Ethiopia and Eritrea went to war over a border of scrubby plains and dusty villages in 1998, sending soldiers to die in World War One-style trench warfare. By the time the conflict ended in 2000, 70,000 people were dead.Asked by reporters if he was willing to meet Eritrean President Isayas Afwerki, Meles said: "I have no problem talking to anybody so long as it helps the purpose of peace."He said Eritrea's restrictions on U.N. flights violated a cease-fire agreement signed by the two countries in 2000 and urged the U.N. Security Council to enforce it."We are still hopeful that the other side (Eritrea) will not miscalculate," he added.Under a 2000 peace treaty, both sides agreed to accept an independent commission ruling on where the border should be as "final and binding".After first rejecting the decision which awarded the flashpoint town of Badme to Eritrea, Ethiopia said late last year it accepted the decision in principle but first wanted dialogue with Eritrea about the root causes of the conflict and how to implement the boundary decision.Eritrea refused and last month warned the United Nations it may rekindle war with Ethiopia if the world body failed to resolve the deadlock.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

TEXARKANA, Arkansas (AP) -- A tanker car transporting flammable gas derailed in a switchyard and exploded in a ball of fire Saturday, killing one person and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of homes.A plume of smoke covered the south end of the city, and at least seven people went to hospital emergency rooms with complaints of respiratory problems.At least two homes were destroyed -- including one where the victim died -- and several vehicles were totaled in the quarter-mile area surrounding the accident, police spokesman Chris Rankin said. A 209-foot-long railroad bridge also caught fire and was destroyed, a Union Pacific spokesman said.The propylene tank was still burning Saturday evening, but the fire was under control and the smoke had thinned out, Rankin said.Union Pacific officials planned to let the tank burn out and estimated it would take until early Sunday morning. Police canceled the evacuation order Saturday afternoon, about 10 hours after the derailment.Initially, police thought the chemical involved was vinyl acetate, which releases poisonous fumes. Officers went door to door, urging thousands of people in a 2-by-5 mile area to move to the north side of town. Propylene is less dangerous."The smoke was so thick it blocked out daylight," Rankin said.A Union Pacific train coming from Chicago hit the back of another freight train in the rail yard, causing the eight cars to derail, said Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis.None of the railroad crew members was injured, he said.Rankin said the switching yard is behind the police station, about a quarter mile from the Texas border and also serves Kansas City Southern and Amtrak.Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said a southbound passenger train was delayed two hours by the derailment but was eventually rerouted. He said the damage would likely mean delays for Amtrak's Texas Eagle until the site was cleaned up.Wadley Regional Medical Center was in the evacuation area, and several patients and nurses also complained of nose and eye irritation, spokeswoman Shelby Brown said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WORCESTER, Massachusetts (AP) -- Severe flooding swept away cars, uprooted trees and forced evacuations as the Northeast endured another day of driving rain Saturday. But in some places, there was good news -- the sun was shining.Forecasters expected strong winds overnight but said the worst of the heavy rain appeared to be over. Parts of the Northeast have endured more than a foot of rain since October 7."We need the sun and the breeze to dry it up a bit, to start raising the spirits of the residents," said Harry Conover, director of emergency management in New Jersey's Monmouth County. "These people have been going through this all week and they haven't seen the sun in a long time."Flooding kept roads and highways shut down Saturday, halted train service and prompted Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to declare a state of emergency, following New Jersey's lead. The death toll rose to 11 when a 75-year-old Connecticut man was swept away by rushing water at a campground. Four in New Hampshire have also been missing for a week.In Massachusetts alone, the flooding was estimated to have caused more than $6.5 million in damage, Romney said.Though the worst rain was over, the region was not out of danger. Flood warnings were in effect in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire as rivers swelled and officials worried that dams might burst."We probably got three months of rain in this past week," said Kerry Flaherty, director of emergency management in Connecticut.Amtrak canceled service in parts of the Northeast Corridor because of high water on the tracks, and flooded highways snarled traffic from Connecticut to New Hampshire. Hundreds of residents were evacuated as rivers overflowed their banks and covered roadways."Our whole first floor is gone," said Kay O'Malley, of Spring Lake, New Jersey, where the sun finally peaked through the clouds.O'Malley and her 11-year-old daughter Meghan took a canoe to their house to try to salvage some of their belongings.Flooding in central Massachusetts swept away about 30 cars in an industrial area of Worcester and forced a police officer to climb out his cruiser's window to escape the rising water. Two or three boxcars in a city rail yard also were lifted up by the flooding and pushed into the street, police said. Floodwaters were reported as high as 7 feet in some areas.Worcester resident Eric Plikunas, 22, and his family sought refuge at Doherty Memorial High School after the roof caved in on his apartment."I thought I was dreaming. I woke up and my girlfriend was lying in a puddle of water," he said.On Interstate 91 just south of Springfield, traffic backed up for miles after deep water forced officials to close the highway in both directions. State police said it could be closed for up to two days for repairs.Peter Judge, a spokesman for the Massachusetts EMA, said the agency was prepared to evacuate 6,000 people from Southbridge should dams near the town burst. Southbridge is in central Massachusetts, just north of the Connecticut border.In Rhode Island, firefighters in Johnston traveled down one street on a motorized boat. Dams in Exeter and Coventry were damaged.In New Hampshire, many of the 1,300 residents evacuated last weekend from Keene returned home Saturday, but a 500-foot mudslide shut down part of Route 123."There's water in the road, water in the basement, literally all over the state," said Jim Van Dongen, spokesman for the New Hampshire Emergency Management Office.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(CNN) -- The tragedy of Katrina has left New Orleans with a unique opportunity to remake a city many wonder: What will the new New Orleans be like?CNN.com asked readers whether New Orleans will ever be the same and what would need to be saved or rebuilt to maintain the spirit of the city. Here is a sampling of those responses, some of which have been edited:With American ingenuity New Orleans can be rebuilt and can be the same. However, it will still be precariously situated below sea level in a geographic region prone to hurricanes. The hurricane season cycle is supposedly going to get worse before it gets better. Foresight is needed to consider spending billions to rebuild only to experience a Category 5 direct hit in the foreseeable future. Would anyone consider rebuilding again? Philip M. Osanic, Kingston, OntarioNatural disasters have plagued nations around the world for decades. It has been through the tenacity of the residents and decisive assistance from governments which supported rebuilding efforts. I believe the question is not so much if "Can New Orleans ever be the same"? but rather can a restored New Orleans have a future of its own? Its obvious many aspects of the city may or may not have the same ambience as before. As a city rebuilding planner, I would concentrate on the restoration of historical structures first to keep the legacy of its forefathers alive. Then, take a look at a logical, cost effective method to revive businesses, facilities and homes. Jay Simmons, San Antonio, TexasNo. At least I sincerely hope not. I hope it can be rebuilt to respect the natural geography and human safety. The spirit of the city relies most on the people who carry it forth. The high and dry areas could be preserved or rebuilt. Study was done of the area by scientists/geologists/civil engineers, for years. Public agencies that allow building in such hazardous areas should be held accountable for any future damage. Susan Sherod, Venice, CaliforniaAreas where New Orleans was hit hard will never be the same. The federal government needs to assign a special risk management team to analyze, assess, and mitigate the losses for the damaged areas (it is critical that this assessment be focused on the needs of the people of New Orleans; not the buildings, not the business lost, or even the land). Human capital, human resource management, and human spirituality desperately needs repairing. In the meantime, the bowl should be filled with dirt; lots of dirt; dirt high enough to create a mountain a top way above sea level. Nyoka June Lee, San Mateo, California

Friday, Oct. 14; Posted 11:44 a.m. ET From Andreas Preuss, CNN Gulf Coast BureauMy assignment is up and I'm leaving New Orleans, where I lived for 25 years, with mixed feelings and a lot of unanswered questions. On one hand, I've seen people returning. There are glimmers of life in the neighborhoods. Some restaurants, grocery stores and schools are open. But is it enough to sustain the populace?I've seen debris removal, but not much trash removal. There are still refrigerators everywhere and it stinks. Many places are still without power, telephone or cable TV. And then there are neighborhoods like Lakeview and the 9th Ward where the question lingers: should residents rebuild, or bulldoze their houses?My heart sank when Mayor Ray Nagin brought up his casino-conversion and gaming zone idea. It seems to me to be another attempt at a panacea for the city's huge problems. Problems like poverty, corruption and weak levees don't need a quick fix.The New Orleans police beating in the French Quarter was another low point. Whether it was justified or an act of brutality, I felt just like when I saw those people stranded at the Superdome and Morial Convention Center -- ashamed of my city.I feel sad about the lives lost, those poor people in the hospitals and nursing homes. And what about the destruction of all your property and possessions? I can only imagine the grief many feel.A large part of the soul and character of the city has been displaced. Will those people come back? Is it right to start thinking about Mardi Gras? Should the city forgo the annual event, because it's just not right to party amongst the ruins? Or does the city need to momentarily forget the past, present and future?A part of me wants to move back immediately and help rebuild this great city. Another part of me doesn't want to deal with the fear of hurricane season, and it happening all over again. I'm torn, as many of you are.This is not a eulogy for the city. She will be back; it's just how and when.The Gulf Coast Blog will continue. I'm heading back to Atlanta. A place I live, but will never be from. I will always be a "Nawlins" boy. Good luck to you New Orleans. I'll be back to check on you.

ROME, Italy (Reuters) -- Oscar winner Roberto Benigni treated Italians watching Saturday's prime time news show to an impromptu strip tease to mark the release of his new film "The Tiger and the Snow" about the war in Iraq.Benigni, whose poignant Holocaust film "Life is Beautiful" won the 1998 Oscar for best foreign film, left the newscaster on Italy's most watched evening news program open-mouthed when he began unbuttoning his shirt during an interview.A laughing Benigni removed his shirt and draped it over the newscaster's shoulders.Benigni brought a fresh touch to the often stuffy Oscars ceremony when he climbed on the back of his seat and applauded the audience after he was told he had won the Oscar. He went on to also win best actor.Benigni is also a vociferous critic of media tycoon Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and he led a crowd of thousands in Rome on Friday in protest at the center-right government's decision to cut state arts funding by 35 percent.Prior to removing his shirt, Benigni had already hijacked the opening credits of the 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) news, jumping behind the newscaster and announcing: "Berlusconi has resigned."Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Railing against the delayed relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan said Saturday that the federal government should be charged with "criminal neglect of the people of New Orleans.""For five days, the government did not act. Lives were lost," Farrakhan said at the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March. "We charge America with criminal neglect."A crowd of thousands cheered as dozens of prominent speakers -- academics, activists, artists and media pundits -- spoke, recited poetry and sang songs in the 12-hour program on the National Mall.Pointing to the broad spectrum of participants, Farrakhan said the march included an "unprecedented" array of black leaders of organizations "coming together to speak to America and the world with one voice.""This tells us that a new day is dawning in America," he said.Ten years ago, Farrakhan urged black men to improve their families and communities -- women, whites and other minorities had not been invited. On Saturday, all were welcome at the Millions More Movement, which organizers said would build on the principles of 1995 and push people to build a movement for change locally and nationally.Neither Farrakhan, who spoke for 75 minutes, nor police would not offer a crowd estimate.Associated Press photos showed the gathering was significantly smaller than that of 1995, when Boston University researchers estimated between 600,000 and 1 million participants. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said subway ridership by 7 p.m. was 367,000, compared with a Saturday average of 275,000 to 300,000.On the day of the march 10 years ago -- a weekday, when regular commuters drove up overall ridership -- that number was just over 804,000, the third-highest ever recorded.Still, participants said they were inspired by the gathering.Farrakhan "is the only one who can pull this magnitude of people together," said Michael Warren, 41, a Washington resident who attended for about five hours with three youths that he mentors. "No other leader since Martin and Malcolm have done this."Many said the day held echoes of earlier gatherings.Kelly Callahan, 65, of Newark said he had attended the 1995 march and Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 March on Washington. The movement, he said, is "more universal now."Mouchettee Muhummad, 38, drove through the night from Detroit with four companions. "We have to show that the spirit from 10 years ago did not die -- it's still alive," he said. "We have to show that we didn't forget and we're actually carrying out what we pledged" a decade ago.He added that Farrakhan "is asking us to organize beyond political boundaries, religious differences, cultural differences."Some speakers paid tribute to victims of the hurricanes in prayers and pledges of support, and many participants said the storm helped inspire them to come.Katrina "brought the issues to the surface to some who were asleep," said Jason 2X, a Nation of Islam member who attended the march with several family members from Chicago.During his speech, Farrakhan announced a Millions More Movement disaster relief fund, urging participants to give one dollar each week for victims.He did not repeat his speculations in recent weeks that someone bombed New Orleans' protective levees, deliberately flooding black neighborhoods after Katrina struck."We want to know what happened to the levees," Farrakhan said Saturday. "We don't want to guess about it and we don't want to be guilty of following rumors."Earlier, Jesse Jackson, the president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, urged people to channel their frustration about Katrina toward change in their communities. He also told the crowd that "a barge in the canal hit the levee and the waters came rushing in," but he did not elaborate on whether he believed this may have been deliberate.Other prominent speakers included former presidential candidate Al Sharpton, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, singer Erykah Badu and Congressional Black Caucus chairman Rep. Mel Watts, D-N.C.Farrakhan's appears to be broadening his message beyond those of concern specifically to black Americans and the poor. He denounced President Bush, the war in Iraq and Muslims who kill "innocent life for political purposes." He also called for unity with Africa, reparations for slavery, inclusion of undocumented immigrants and a government apology to American Indians.Danny Bakewell, publisher of the Los Angeles Sentinel, a black newspaper, said the gathering was "a glaring symbol of the possibilities that are in front of black people. This is not the end, it's a beginning."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Notes by the New York Times' Judith Miller that were turned over in a criminal investigation contain the name of a covert CIA officer, but the reporter has told prosecutors she cannot recall who disclosed the name, the newspaper reported Saturday.The prosecutor in the case asked Miller in recent days to explain how Valerie Plame -- misspelled in those notes as "Valerie Flame" -- appeared in the same notebook the reporter used in interviewing her confidential source, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, according to the Times.In response to questioning by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, Miller replied that she "didn't think" she heard Plame's name from Cheney's aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby."I said I believed the information came from another source, whom I could not recall," Miller wrote, recounting her testimony for an article that the newspaper posted on its Web site Saturday afternoon."Valerie Flame" actually was the name in the notebook, and the Times said Miller should have written Valerie Plame.Fitzgerald has focused on three conversations Miller had with Libby as the prosecutor investigates whether a crime was committed in the leaking of Plame's identity to reporters.The public disclosure of Plame's identify followed strong criticism of the Bush administration by Plame's husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson.The newspaper said that Miller and Libby met for breakfast at a hotel near the White House on July 8, 2003, two days after Wilson stated that the Bush administration had manipulated prewar intelligence to exaggerate the Iraqi threat. Miller had been assigned to write a story about the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.The notebook Miller used for that July 8 interview includes the reference to "Valerie Flame." But Miller said that name did not appear in the same portion of her notebook as the interview notes from Libby, according to the Times.At the breakfast, Libby provided a detail about Wilson's wife, saying she worked in a CIA unit known as Winpac. The name stands for weapons intelligence, nonproliferation and arms control. Miller said she understood this to mean that Wilson's wife was an analyst rather than an undercover operative.In a July 12, 2003, phone call with Libby, another variant on Plame's name appears in Miller's notes -- "Victoria Wilson." The newspapers account Saturday says that by the time of the July 12 phone call, Miller had called other sources about Wilson's wife. The Times said Miller would not discuss her sources for the newspaper's account.Miller spent 85 days in a federal jail in Virginia for refusing to cooperate with Fitzgerald's investigation. Other reporters already had cooperated with the prosecutor.Miller relented when she received a personal waiver of confidentiality in September from her source. Miller then testified before the grand jury in late September and this month.The Times said Fitzgerald questioned Miller about a letter that Libby sent her while she was in jail. Libby assured her that he wanted her to testify, but the letter also said, according to the Times, "the public report of every other reporter's testimony makes clear that they did not discuss Ms. Plame's name or identity with me."Fitzgerald questioned Miller about Libby's letter, the newspaper said. Miller said she told Fitzgerald in her sworn testimony that the letter could be perceived as an effort by Libby "to suggest that I, too, would say that we had not discussed Ms. Plame's identity." But she added, "My notes suggested that we had discussed her job."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The death toll in the South Asian earthquake has risen to nearly 40,000 in Pakistan alone, while wintry conditions hampered relief efforts and compounded the misery of millions of homeless victims a week after the disaster.President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said the toll -- 38,000 dead and 62,000 injured in Pakistan -- would probably climb as rescue and recovery teams finally reached more communities. In India, 1,300 deaths have been reported."I think it will keep rising when we go into the valleys," the president told a news conference Saturday.Musharraf said tents were desperately needed to help shelter an estimated 2 million homeless survivors ahead of the harsh Himalayan winter."The main thing we need is tents," said the president. "We are asking everyone to give us tents."Heavy rain fell Saturday in many quake-hit towns and snow fell in mountains nearby, disrupting relief efforts. Helicopter relief flights -- which have been ferrying supplies into the quake zone and ferrying out the injured -- was briefly halted Saturday morning although no flights were operating to the northern town of Balakot where the weather was particularly bad. The Associated Press reported that hundreds of people, many of them injured, were waiting by the helipad, hoping for the weather to clear.Last weekend's 7.6 magnitude quake has prompted rival nations to put aside their differences -- at least for the moment -- to help the tens of thousands of people left homeless. India, which has fought three wars with Pakistan since 1947, sent a plane loaded with humanitarian supplies on Friday to Lahore. It was the second shipment to its nuclear rival. And when an Iranian plane arrived at Chakalala air base in Pakistan, it sought help with unloading the cargo from U.S. military personnel already on site."I said, 'Certainly, no question about it,' " said Col. Richard Walberg of the U.S. Air Force. "I sent my team over behind the airplane with our loaders, and they brought some equipment off." (Watch efforts to get aid to hard-hit areas -- 2:40)Walberg said he was proud to do it, and wouldn't hesitate to do it again."When I put this uniform on, the American taxpayer pays my salary," he said. "And I have two choices: I can go to war in this uniform, and I'm very good at that, or I can help people, and I'm very good at that."So, let's take option two every time."Militant violence, however, had not ceased in the region. Early Saturday in Indian-controlled Kashmir, militants killed two Indian army soldiers and wounded six others when they threw grenades and opened fire on soldiers after entering an Indian army camp in the town of Kathua, according to state police sources. Meanwhile, despite the weather, relief operations were working at a fever pitch, with helicopters and other equipment trying to rush supplies to the hardest-hit areas. Roads to many areas were clogged with traffic, slowing ground efforts to reach the most vulnerable. President Musharraf said earlier almost 2.5 million people were homeless as a result of the quake. (Watch Musharraf faces tough test after quake -- 2:19)The Pakistan government on Friday announced it had officially called off rescue operations."From now the search and recovery operation is being launched as there is a very slim chance of finding any survivors in the rubble" six days after the quake, Maj. Farooq Nasir told AP.At one point late Friday, a magnitude 5.0 aftershock sent quake-weary people fleeing into the streets. No major damage was reported.Pakistani Army Maj. Gen. Javed Aslam said the worst damage was spread over a 125 mile (200 km) by 190 mile (305 km) area and required a well-coordinated relief effort. He said about 70 helicopters were being used to get supplies to the region."The size of the operations is massive," he said.Rear Adm. Michael Lefever, the head of operations for the U.S. Navy, said, "It's great to show our allies that they have given us wonderful support, and we are supporting them in their operations to save lives."In Washington, U.S. President George W. Bush visited the Pakistani Embassy as a show of support, signing a condolence book while there."We want to help in any way we can," he said. "There's been a lot of loss of life, and Americans pray for those families who have lost a loved one."He added: "Not only will we offer our prayers, but we'll offer our help -- to help the people, to help the government, to help this great nation get back on its feet."The Cabinet has said it will set up a tent village for thousands of Pakistanis left homeless by the quake. Musharraf said reaching the displaced people is the nation's priority.It was not clear where the tent village will be constructed.The disaster already has cost Pakistan billions of dollars, the Cabinet said, and international donors have given $360 million to help offset that cost.Some 40,000 Pakistani troops have been moved into the area "to make sure the distribution mechanism (for relief items) improves, and it is improving by the day," according to Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.Meanwhile, aid workers told CNN on Friday that looting and heavy fighting, including gunfire and small explosions, erupted overnight in Muzaffarabad, a devastated Himalayan city. People from outlying areas, who had come to the city seeking relief items, were blamed for the violence.The United Nations' emergency relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, toured the devastated area Thursday and told CNN's Matthew Chance that immediate resources -- mainly helicopters and tents -- are needed to keep people alive."People are dying as we speak because we're not there in all of these villages where there are wounded people," Egeland said.In his aerial tour, he said, he saw "town after town destroyed.""I fear we're losing this cruel race against time to reach those outlying villages," he said.In Indian-controlled Kashmir, a delivery of clothing set off a scramble among people left with nothing. The Indian army, already deployed on the front lines in Kashmir, has taken the lead in ensuring aid gets into the right hands.Officials say weather-resistant tents are needed most in the region, which gets 15 feet (5 meters) of snow every winter."The clothes, the rations, the stores -- which you are seeing -- is most welcome," said Indian Army Lt. Col. Anupam Bhagi. "But that's not exactly what is required now. This can be used for the needs of the destitute but not for those who've lost the roof on top of their heads."CNN Correspondents Becky Anderson, Satinder Bindra and Ram Ramgopal 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.

TOLEDO, Ohio (CNN) -- A neo-Nazi group's scheduled march against "black crime" in Toledo, Ohio, sparked rioting Saturday afternoon.Police and SWAT teams moved in, and about two dozen rioters were arrested, Toledo Police Chief Michael Navarre said. He said he expected 30 to 40 arrests by the end of the day.Toledo Mayor Jack Ford declared a state of emergency and asked for 50 highway patrol officers to reinforce Toledo police. A curfew came into effect at 8 p.m. for people "roaming around the streets," he said.(Watch neo-Nazi protests turn violent) He also blamed gang members for the violence, saying it turned into "exactly what they wanted," referring to the Nazi group. Ford said he had appealed to the community Friday night to ignore the Nazi march.It's not clear why the National Socialist Movement chose north Toledo for its march, said Ford, himself African-American. "It is not a neighborhood where you have a lot of friction in the first place," he said. The NSM promotes itself as America's Nazi Party and said that it was protesting black gangs, which it claimed were harassing white residents. The group said it had received support from Toledo's white citizens and community activists.A spokesman for the group, Bill White, blamed the riot on Toledo police, saying the police intentionally changed the group's march route to make it collide with a counter-demonstration. About 20 members from both the International Socialists Organization and One People's Project showed up, and some handed eggs to African-American residents to throw at the Nazi marchers, White said.Ford said that scenario was likely. "Based on the intelligence we received, that's exactly what they do -- they come into town and get people riled up," Ford said. "I think that's a very common technique." The Nazi march was called off, and none of the National Socialist Movement group's 80 members who showed up to participate was arrested, White said.Hours later, aerial video showed people vandalizing buildings and setting fire to a two-story building that apparently housed a bar, Toledo police spokeswoman Capt. Diana Ruiz-Krause told CNN. The violence was contained to a six- or eight-block area in the north Toledo neighborhood, she added. At least 150 officers from various units -- some on horseback, bicycles and in riot gear -- were on the scene. The city's police chief said his officers showed "considerable restraint" after being pelted with rocks and bottles for "considerable hours." "We could have made a couple hundred arrests," he said.Ruiz-Krause blamed the mayhem on a disorganized group of the community's youth.Most of the violence happened when residents, who had pelted the Nazi marchers with bottles and rocks, took out their anger on police, said Brian Jagodzinski, chief news photographer for CNN affiliate WTVG.Video showed crowds at around 2:25 p.m. using bats to bring down a wooden fence as looters broke into a small grocery store."The crowd was very ... extremely agitated at the police ... for doing this [making arrests in] the community when they should be doing this to the Nazis," Jagodzinski said. Around 3 p.m., crowds of young men pelted the outside of a two-story residence with rocks, smashed out the windows with wooden crates, ran inside and threw out the furniture and lamps from the upper-level windows to the sidewalk below. No police were on the scene. About 10 minutes later, the building's second story was in flames as a crowd of people watched. When police arrived, they used pepper spray on counter-demonstrators and shot tear gas containers into the crowd, Jagodzinski said. He added that his news van and a police car had windows smashed and doors bent back.When the violence broke out, the Nazi marchers returned to their headquarters, White said.A statement from the National Socialist Movement said Toledo city officials had said they would not issue a permit for the group's march. The group said it did not seek a permit, because it didn't ask for "special accommodations.""We are not asking that roads be closed; we are not asking that sidewalks be closed; we are not asking for additional police protection," White said in the statement. "All we are saying is that we will have a few people walking down the street making a statement about an issue the City is refusing to address."And if the City interferes with or unreasonably burdens our ability to do so, then they will answer for their behavior in court," the statement added.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- By nightfall Saturday election workers in Iraq were hand-counting the millions of paper ballots cast in the war-weary nation's constitutional referendum.The process, which involved more than 5,800 polling stations, is expected to take days.Although results aren't expected until next week, the referendum already was being hailed as a success, because turnout appeared to be high enough to legitimize the outcome -- and no major violence was reported. (Watch how people voted -- 2:33)"The success in this referendum, it isn't how many people are going to say 'yes' and how many people are going to say 'no,' " said Fareed Ayar, a spokesman for Iraq's Independent Electoral Commission. "The success is that all Iraqis ... found out that the polling station is the way to deal with the political problems in Iraq, to deal with the violence in Iraq.""That is the message today that the Iraqis are sending to the rest of the world," he said.About 15.5 million of Iraq's 26 million people were registered to vote. (A look at what's at stake -- 3:08)Initial figures showed more than two-thirds of eligible voters cast ballots in Baghdad and seven other provinces, said Ayar. In eight others, turnout ranged between 33 percent and 66 percent, he said.Electoral officials had no information about Anbar province in western Iraq, which has been a hotbed of insurgent violence. Turnout in the southern province of Qadisiya was projected to be less than 33 percent, Ayar said. The United Nations' top elections official, Carina Perelli, described voting as having gone "steadily" in all regions of the country. But she cautioned that initial turnout numbers were based on best guesses and unscientific counting and didn't take into account the possibility of irregularities.In January, when Iraqis elected an interim national assembly, about 60 percent of the registered voters turned out nationwide. Sunni Arab leaders actively boycotted that vote, then found themselves with little voice in government. By contrast, strong participation was reported Saturday in some of the Sunni Arab areas where voters were scarce in January.No major violenceElaborate precautions taken by Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition forces prevented any major incidents. Iraqi soldiers and police protected voting sites, while U.S. and coalition forces were on stand-by in case of trouble.Vehicles were barred from the streets, so voters walked to the polls. (Watch last-minute preparations -- 2:24There was scattered violence, however. Iraqi police said a sniper killed a civilian at a western Baghdad polling station. The sniper, who may have been targeting police, was not captured. An Iraqi police patrol near a polling station in Baghdad was hit by a roadside bomb shortly after voting started. Two Iraqi police officers were wounded, according to a police official.And 11 gunmen stormed a Baghdad polling place a half hour after polls closed at 5 p.m. (10 a.m. ET), making off with five boxes of ballots and wounding an electoral commission employee, police said. How many ballots were stolen was not clear.Election day was heralded Friday night when insurgents attacked a main power line into Baghdad, knocking out electricity to about 70 percent of the capital. By morning, power and water were being restored. (Full story)Reaction to the voteA White House spokesman said President Bush -- who has seen public support for his Iraq policy waver in recent months -- was "pleased to hear that Iraqis turned out in large numbers to freely express their views on this historic day.""Today's vote deals a severe blow to the ambitions of the terrorists and sends a clear message to the world that the people of Iraq will decide the future of their country through peaceful elections, not violent insurgency," spokesman Allen Abney said.A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called Saturday's vote "an important opportunity for the Iraqi people to express their political views.""Whatever the outcome, the secretary-general believes that this referendum offers an opportunity for all Iraqis to move away from violence and to unite in a spirit of national reconciliation to build a democratic, unified and prosperous Iraq," the U.N. spokesman said.Sunnis' pivotal voteChances for approval of the constitution increased considerably Wednesday when the Iraqi Islamic Party -- the largest Sunni Arab party -- dropped its opposition after the transitional assembly agreed to consider changes in the framework once a general election is held in December.Sunni Arab groups have objected to provisions that would grant more autonomy to Shiite areas in the south and Kurdish areas in the north. They also object to provisions that exclude elements of former dictator Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated Baath Party.How the vote must goThe draft constitution -- hammered out after months of contentious, painstaking negotiations by lawmakers in Iraq's transitional National Assembly -- must be approved by a majority of Iraq's voters.With strong support in the Shiite and Kurdish communities, which together account for more than three-quarters of the population, that threshold is expected to be met.However, the constitution will fail if it was rejected by at least two-thirds of the voters in at least three of the country's 18 provinces. With many Sunni Arab groups opposing the document, rejection is considered possible in four provinces where Sunnis predominate. (Full story)Rejection of the constitution would be a serious blow to Iraq's political evolution since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam in 2003. The transitional assembly would be dissolved and the process of writing a constitution would have to start over after a new assembly is elected in December.By contrast, if the constitution is approved, Iraqis would vote in December for a new, permanent government -- possibly clearing the way for the United States and its coalition allies to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq.CNN correspondent Aneesh Raman, Arab Affairs editor Octavia Nasr and producers Arwa Damon and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.