WASHINGTON (AP) -- Education Secretary Margaret Spellings launched a major review of the nation's colleges Monday, citing slipping U.S. performance and scattershot decision-making."We make small fixes with programs to emphasize key areas, but we don't think strategically about the bigger picture," Spellings told a new team of policy advisers. "We can't afford to leave the future of our nation's higher education community to chance."Spellings' Commission on the Future of Higher Education has a task as sweeping as its name. By August 1, the group must recommend how to make colleges more accessible and affordable for families, accountable to policy-makers and competitive with peers worldwide.That goal is complicated because higher education in the United States is itself complex, a mix of largely independent schools with different missions, finances and political bases.For at least their first meeting, which largely focused on money matters, Spellings' advisers seemed pleased even to be talking about a coherent higher education strategy."We concentrate so much on what we're really good at that sometimes we don't look far enough out into the future and see what the problems are," said Charles Vest, professor of engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the school's former president.Spellings chose leaders from academia, corporate America and research for the panel, along with officials from the departments of Defense, Energy, Commerce and Labor.The college review is the most significant higher education initiative by the Bush administration, which is better known for its focus on reading and math in early grades.Part of Spellings' motivation is personal. She recently went through the college selection process with her oldest daughter and realized how confusing it is for families.Federal policymakers are also worried that the nation's colleges are not producing enough qualified workers and researchers, particularly in math, science and engineering. A string of government and independent reports has raised alarm about U.S. competitiveness.Commission members said that the country often doesn't know what it gets for its money because data on student learning in college are hard to find. The federal government commits about $80 billion a year to higher education in research grants and student aid."We don't really understand how money is used in higher education," said commission Chairman Charles Miller, former chairman of the board of regents for the University of Texas system. "I think most people outside higher education don't have a clue, and my experience inside is a lot of us who govern higher education don't know a lot about it."Spellings added that government and education leaders often have little good information about what's working and what's not, leading to "the accidental way that we make policy."She has set a goal of assuring that any students who work hard can go to college regardless of how much money their parents earn. And although she says it is time for significant federal action -- perhaps in the category of the G.I. Bill after World War II -- she has also assured observers that she is not advocating a bigger role for the government.The commission will hold meetings across the country over the next several months. Miller told reporters that the group will find a way to get direct input from college students.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The nation's students are getting better at math, but their reading performance is mixed, with slight progress in grade four and a slip backward in grade eight.The 2005 scores come from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a federal test considered the best measure of how students in every state perform on core subjects.Released Wednesday, the results will be widely used as a way to measure whether the country's emphasis on math and reading -- fueled by President Bush and Congress -- is working."What we've got here is a pretty satisfactory elementary performance -- better math and reading," said Darvin Winick, chairman of the National Assessment Governing Board, the bipartisan panel that oversees the test. "The eighth-grade performance is much more mixed."The strongest results came in math, particularly in fourth grade, where scores were up for every major racial and ethnic group since the last test in 2003. Math scores increased slightly in eighth grade, where black and Hispanic students narrowed their gap with whites.President Bush, meeting with Education Secretary Margaret Spellings at the White House Wednesday, called the report encouraging. "It shows there's an achievement gap in America that is closing," Bush said. Overall in math, 36 percent of fourth-graders could handle challenging material, up from 32 percent in 2003. Among eighth-graders, 30 percent reached at least that "proficient" level, up from 29 percent.But in reading, another skill vital for success in other subjects, scores weren't so solid.The average reading score rose one point to 219 on a scale of 500 in fourth grade, a statistically significant increase. But only 31 percent of fourth-graders showed mastery of demanding material -- the figure that typically matters the most. That performance was flat compared to 2003.The same share of eighth-graders, 31 percent, were proficient in reading. That performance actually dropped compared to 2003.Winick said that taking a longer view, back to 2000, shows steady gains in math in both grades. And reading is up overall in grade four, too. But, he said: "There's no dancing around the flat eighth-grade performance in reading. I think it's a national problem."In perspective, the numbers show a majority of students don't have the math or reading skills they should based on rigorous federal standards.Much higher numbers of students in both subjects showed basic skills, a lesser category meaning partial mastery of grade-level work.As usual, the numbers left much room for interpretation, from the scores themselves to whether the federal government's more aggressive role in education was having an effect.Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said she was heartened to see narrowing academic gaps between whites and minorities in both grades and both subjects. She said the core principles of the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act, including annual testing in reading and math and reporting of scores for all groups of students, were paying off for younger children."Most of the investment has been in grades K-3, where we can get the most bang for the buck, with little kids -- getting them on track to be good readers," she said. The president has also proposed extra help for older students, she added, "because we need not give up on middle and high school students who have intractable reading issues."Patricia Sullivan, director of the independent Center on Education Policy, questioned why gains weren't higher given the time schools devote to reading and math. States choose varying curriculum, which means some students may face unfamiliar material on the test.Still, she said: "The numbers aren't jumping in big ways, which tells us something's not right here. We're not doing enough." If scores only increase by a point every two years, she said, "Boy, we've got a long way to go."The increase in math scores is small but encouraging, said Jo Ellen Roseman, director of Project 2061, an initiative of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The project seeks to improve standards, teaching and testing in math, science and technology."It's great that we're improving, but we shouldn't expect that this is going to happen until we put in more resources, including research into what works," she said. "Are we going to intervene with the students and try to figure out what their difficulties are? Are we going to imbed those things into curriculum and teaching? These things take time."Under federal law, all states must take part in the test every two years. About 660,000 children were tested this year, with each student taking only a portion of an entire test. No student or school scores are reported, and there are no penalties tied to performance.In math, students tackled measurement, geometry, data analysis and probability and algebra. The reading test measured whether students could form a general understanding, develop an interpretation, make connections to the text and examine content and structure.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

COOPERSTOWN, New York (AP) -- Diamonds can be a hotel's best friend.The Otesaga Resort Hotel in Cooperstown, winner of AAA's four-diamond rating for five straight years after a $40 million renovation, uses the appraisal's cachet to attract guests from thousands of miles away and keep business buzzing.The Mirror Lake Inn Resort and Spa in Lake Placid is one of just a handful of hotels in New York state to have won a four-diamond rating from AAA for 21 years in a row. The 128-room hotel, offering every guest a view of pristine Mirror Lake and fall foliage near the venues of two winter Olympics, has won accolades from numerous travel magazines. But like many other inns, it covets the AAA rating most."It's a very important stamp of quality," said Carl Gronlund, Mirror Lake's general manager for the past 16 years. "People are looking for diamonds or stars to verify the quality of the experience is going to be good."Welcome to the high-stakes world of rating the nation's best inns and resorts. It's a world of secret inspections in which hotels strive to attain and retain high ratings.The reason? Pure economics: The more diamonds, the higher the room rate.The Mirror Lake Inn charges from $180 to $350 a night for a standard room and up to $865 a night for specialty suites. Rooms at the five-diamond rated Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows in Los Angeles start at $395 a night and run as high as $5,200 for the Presidential Suite.To get a rating, hotels apply to AAA's national office in Heathrow, Florida. AAA then sends an inspector unannounced to the hotel. After a thorough once-over, the inspector assigns a rating between one and five diamonds, said Eric Stigberg, the marketing manager for AAA's Northway division, based in Albany.The Mobil Travel Guide offers similar ratings for hotels in the United States.AAA inspectors look at the level of service, the cleanliness of the halls and rooms and the amenities offered, from well-lighted parking to heated swimming pools. Also counted is the decor across the inn, touches of style -- from a well-placed antique lamp in the lobby or the lake view offered from a room's balcony -- that help set it apart.Discerning travelersInspectors can show up at any time, so hotel staffers have no way to prepare, hotel managers say. The only thing they can do is keep their hotels up to snuff around the clock."Because of our rating and our price structure, every guest comes here with a high level of expectations," said John Irvin, general manager of the Otesaga, a 135-room federal style hotel on the shore of Otsego Lake. "We don't know when AAA is coming, so if we can exceed the expectations of every guest, we can exceed those of the inspector."A four-diamond rating indicates the inn is "upscale in all areas, refined and stylish," Stigberg said, with an "extensive array of amenities, service and attention to detail."The Otesaga, opened in 1909, features oak-paneled conference rooms, a golden chandelier in the lobby and groomed topiary at the entrance. Its fern-decorated back porch overlooks a manicured croquet court, swimming pool and the championship golf course. Inside, the staff is quick to open a door, help with a suitcase and attend to other guest needs.The rating is "extremely important," Irvin said. "Our guests are a very sophisticated group. I really believe they look at that book to see where to stay when they're traveling."Kari Akchurin, visiting Cooperstown from San Francisco for her son's baseball tournament in the village that includes the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, said she relies on the AAA ratings."We travel to Hawaii a lot and we always use it," she said. "What comes along with four or five diamonds is better service, better food and better amenities."Maintaining ratingsThe five-diamond rating, given to just 85 hotels nationally this year, indicates the ultimate in luxury and sophistication. Five of those are in New York City: The Four Seasons, The Peninsula, The Ritz-Carlton hotels in Battery Park and Central Park and The St. Regis.A one-diamond mark indicates a hotel for the budget-minded traveler with nothing but the basics.Just 3.3 percent of the 32,000 hotels AAA rated nationwide received a four-diamond rating this year."There is a certain amount of cost involved for that level of quality and an effort entailed in keeping that rating," Gronlund said. "If you jump into that realm, you want to keep it. It's not an easy task to do."Mirror Lake recently installed high-speed Internet access to all of its rooms, just the latest amenity top flight hotels are now expected to have.And keeping the rating means keeping the best people on staff."The first step is trying to hire the right kind of people and then training them," Gronlund said. "They need to have a great attitude and like to serve people."To head off any chance of a hotel trying to influence a rating, inspectors carry out their jobs anonymously, said Janie Graziani, a spokeswoman for AAA. And whenever a hotel's rating is moving up or down a notch, the hotel is inspected several times and by different people.Still, not all are convinced the ratings mean that much.Lila Ford, the owner of Gallery of Travel in Rochester, New York says her clients rarely rely on AAA for information and most of her business travelers simply want to stay in decent hotels near the places they are doing business.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

KIRKWALL, Scotland (AP) -- A famous signpost at the Scottish village of John O'Groats marks it as the farthest tip of mainland Britain -- 874 miles from Lands End in Cornwall, the country's most southerly settlement.But getting here is only the beginning of a journey that takes visitors more than 5,000 years back in time.The Orkney Islands are at once remote and mysterious, yet sophisticated -- transformed by the economic boom that followed the discovery of oil in the North Sea. Yet the islands also have archaeological wonders around every corner, along with spectacular scenery, wildlife and some incredible modern history.Visitors to Scotland come expecting green mountains and deep glens, yet the northeast tip of Scotland is remarkably flat, and that flatness is all the more apparent on Orkney, which has almost no trees.Thus the 4,000-year-old standing stones of the Ring of Brogar -- a UNESCO World Heritage Site -- are startling. Thirty-six of the original 60 stones remain, in a perfect circle, each up to 13 feet tall, surrounded by a deep ditch cut into the rock. At dawn and dusk the stones stand dark and imposing against the light reflecting off the Loch of Stenness below.Farther along is the biggest tourist attraction on Orkney, the village of Skara Brae, protected under the sand for nearly 5,000 years until it was revealed by a huge storm in 1850.Each of the stone houses still contains its central hearth, a pair of stone beds and a stone dresser used for storage and display of prized possessions.Another must-see is Maes Howe, a Neolithic chambered tomb older than the Egyptian Pyramids that is most remarkable for the graffiti inscribed there more than 4,000 years later by 12th-century Viking invaders. Like modern-day scribblers leaving graffiti on a wall, they carved their names and the names of the women they loved in runes on the stones of the chamber.Ruled by Norway until the 15th century -- Norway still hasn't formally recognized it as part of Scotland -- there are more than 70 islands in the Orkney group, but only 17 of them are inhabited.Strategically important during both world wars -- the German High Seas fleet was scuttled in Scapa Flow in 1919 -- the Orkneys were given an unplanned new lease of life when Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the building of a series of barriers between the islands to block German U-boats' access to Scapa Flow during World War II.The Churchill Barriers created five causeways that linked Orkney's Mainland to the southernmost island, South Ronaldsay, and for some older residents marked the first time that they had left their island.The barriers also mark the dividing line between the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and visitors often are astonished by the very different water levels just a few yards apart on each side of the causeway.The huge civil engineering project was carried out by thousands of Italian prisoners of war. And they left behind them one of the most extraordinary objects in deeply Protestant Orkney -- a lavishly decorated chapel.The Italian Chapel was built from the meager resources available to the prisoners. Based on two Nissen Huts -- semicircular wartime buildings made of corrugated iron -- placed end to end, it was painted inside in rich colors to resemble tiled mosaics by a team led by one of the prisoners, Domenico Chiocchetti, while other prisoners built the altar from concrete, fashioned the wrought iron screens and built the remarkable facade that hides the Nissen Hut shape.Chiocchetti was also responsible for the statue of St. George that stands outside the chapel, built from the only things he had available -- barbed wire covered with concrete.Nowadays, Orkney is a sophisticated place, supported by money from oil companies, loved by artists and adventurers, filled with craft shops and coffee houses -- though the flier in one cafe inviting people to come in for a coffee "to escape the bustle of Kirkwall," may be something of an exaggeration. The Italian Chapel was built by Italian prisoners of war during WWII on the island of Lamb Holm, Orkney. Kirkwall is the capital and biggest town on the Orkney island group, famed for the red-and-yellow-sandstone St. Magnus Cathedral. The population of this bustling metropolis: 7,500.For those seeking a more active vacation, Orkney boasts two golf courses and many opportunities for fishing, diving in the wrecks of Scapa Flow and watching wildlife including seals, dolphins and puffins.Whisky lovers will make a stop at Scotland's most northerly distillery, Highland Park, where visitors can follow the process of making the famous spirit and taste the finished product -- without having to wait the normal 12 years.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

MOSCOW, Russia (AP) -- Russia's space agency on Wednesday said engineers had lost contact with an Earth-monitoring satellite, in the second satellite mishap Russia has experienced this month.The Federal Space Agency said workers were unable to locate the Russian-built Monitor-E satellite after it lost orientation Tuesday. The satellite was launched in August.The agency said blame appeared to lay with the Russian company Khrunichev, which was also responsible for a faulty booster rocket that caused a $146 million European Space Agency satellite to crash into the Arctic Ocean hours after launch on October 8. (Full story)The company has been the main revenue earner for Russia's cash-strapped space program, which has depended on income from commercial launches of foreign satellites.Also Wednesday, a Mission Control spokeswoman said a maneuver to raise the orbit of the international space station had failed after engines on a docked cargo ship cut off unexpectedly.Vera Medvedkova said a Progress M-54 ship fired its engines beginning at about 2101GMT to raise the orbiting station about 6 miles. But the craft's engines quit after a little more than a minute, she said.Engineers were looking at the problem and expected to try again to raise the station at a later date, she said.The higher orbit would make it easier for the next cargo ship, scheduled to be launched in December, to dock at the station.The ITAR-Tass news agency reported Wednesday that officials intended to resume the search next month for an experimental mini-spacecraft that went missing on the Pacific peninsula of Kamchatka.The Demonstrator spacecraft -- designed to carry cargo and possibly passengers from the international space station -- was launched from a nuclear submarine thousands of miles away in the Barents Sea on October 7.Engineers lost contact with the craft after it began descending toward the peninsula on schedule.The ship was built on contract for the European Space Agency and the European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A close flyby of Saturn's grayish moon Dione reveals it is a mature, frigid world with hints of tectonic activity, new observations suggest.The U.S.-European Cassini spacecraft flew within 310 miles (500 kilometers) of the Dione's pale surface last week, showing it possessed a heavily cratered surface but no presence of an atmosphere.Cassini scientists compared the frozen Dione to another Saturn moon, Enceladus, which recently was found to have active ice volcanoes and a significant atmosphere."Dione seems to be an older sibling of Enceladus," said Bonnie Buratti, a Cassini scientist. "Enceladus is the up-and-coming moon, complete with a recently active history, while Dione is the older, more mature moon."Orbiting Saturn within the tenuous E-ring, Dione possesses fine streaks that crosscut its surface. Parallel grooves splash across the terrain, which are interrupted by larger, asymmetrical bright fractures. Scientists believe the cracks and fractures were caused by tectonic activity.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(CNN) -- Some of the biggest medical discoveries have come in the last 25 years -- everything from Viagra to laser vision correction.But the discoveries of the next 25 years could make these things seem like relics.There could come a day when you can swallow a tiny robot, and it will travel through your bloodstream to repair what ails you.Superdrugs could be contoured to a person's particular gene sequence, making the drug more effective because it knows specifically what the patient's genetic weaknesses are.Some of these technologies are already here. An Israeli company has come up with a camera that's not much bigger than a large pill. It can be swallowed and then transmits thousands of images of the gastrointestinal tract to a data recorder, worn by the patient on a belt. The doctor unloads the pictures and can check for cancer, polyps, or causes of bleeding and anemia.Genome project a goldmineIt might all sound like science fiction, but in the last 10 years, scientists have started to unlock secrets of the human body that may make these technologies possible.In just over 13 years, the human genome has been unlocked, for example, and thanks to technology, the project was completed two years sooner than expected.By essentially mapping out every gene and chromosome in the body, scientists can now look at people who are sick, and those who are not, and compare their genes, looking for abnormalities that might have caused disease.Once the problem is pinpointed, the cure is one step closer.Bioethical questionsBut while the advances promise the potential to cure cancer, AIDS, and maybe even the common cold, some might present thorny ethical problems.One example is stem-cell research, which is the cause of one of the most contentious debates these technologies can cause.Because stem cells are "blank" cells that can develop into any type of tissue, this research promises to give scientists the ability to grow new organs for people with liver or kidney disorders; grow new limbs for amputees, and functioning eyeballs for the blind.Scientists in South Korea have cloned a human embryo and removed its stem cells, and that nation has provided financial backing for its scientists to research stem cells. But the cells are taken from embryos that must be destroyed, and this has put stem-cell research into the realm of the abortion debate raging in the United States.President Bush has put very strict limits on federal funding for such research. And this is not likely to be the last roadblock or the last issue, says Alta Charo, a bioethicist at the University of Wisconsin. She's concerned about funding for these projects, and the possible religious and ethical debates they may cause."I think we're going to see some real change, but its not like we're going to flip a switch and overnight we're going to cure hundreds of thousands of people," she said.And discoveries raise more issues than questions of funding or ethics.Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, is concerned with what happens if a person's genetic information gets into the wrong hands."People will have trouble keeping a job, or even getting a job if their genetic information gets to an insurer, a potential employer or even an employer," said Snowe, who has drafted legislation that would make it illegal to discriminate against someone based on his or her genetic makeup.

LONDON, England -- A new wave of suspected bird flu cases was reported across Europe and Asia Wednesday as EU officials geared up to prepare for any human pandemic. Tests confirmed the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain in a second location in Romania's eastern Danube Delta region, a govenment official said Wednesday. The tests were carried out at an internation expert laboratory in Britain where most of the suspected samples from around Europe are being sent for verification. Romanian authorities have killed all farm birds in the area and finished disinfecting the areas, including people's houses and yards.Preliminary tests detected the H5N1 strain of bird flu in samples taken from a region south of Moscow where hundreds of birds died suddenly, the Russian Agriculture Ministry said Wednesday.If confirmed, the discovery in the Tula region, 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of Moscow, would mark the first time the lethal H5N1 strain decimating flocks in Asia has appeared in European Russia, west of the Ural Mountains. (Full story)The Chinese government reported that some 2,600 birds have been found dead of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in northern China's grasslands, according to The Associated Press.In Brussels, a European Union official said there is a suspicion of bird flu in Macedonia. The disease has already affected birds in at least two other European countries, Romania and Greece, as well as neighboring Turkey.Meanwhile, a U.N. agency warned that the risk of bird flu spreading to the Middle East and Africa has markedly increased following the confirmation of the Romanian and Turkish outbreaks.In Russia, hundreds of birds have died suddenly in a region south of Moscow, local media reported Wednesday, raising fears of a new outbreak of bird flu there. If confirmed, the discovery in the Tula region, about 125 miles south of Moscow, would mark the first time that the deadly virus has appeared in European Russia, west of the Ural Mountains.The dead birds in China were found in a breeding facility in Tengjiaying, a village near Hohhot, the capital of the Inner Mongolia region, the official Xinhua news agency reported. They were infected by the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus, Xinhua said. It did not give any further details."The epidemic is under control," Xinhua said.European Union officials said they were preparing to extend a ban on imports of pet birds and feathers from Siberia because of the bird flu.EU spokesman Philip Tod also said the EU executive would send experts to Greece to help identify bird the bird flu strain there. Health officials said they will also hold a simulation exercise of a flu pandemic by end of year to improve preparedness.However, the EU's disease control agency downplayed fears of bird flu spreading to humans on the continent. The agency gave two tips for people to minimize the risk of infection: do not touch dead or sick birds, and only eat well-cooked eggs or poultry. "The risk of infection for most people in Europe is close to zero," said Zsuzsanna Jakab, head of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. "If they follow these guidelines the risk is basically nonexistent," Jakab said at a news conference in Stockholm. Greek authorities began Wednesday the systematic disinfection Wednesday of a farm on a remote Aegean Sea island where a lone turkey was found to be infected with the deadly H5N1 strain.Tests on the Greek bird are being carried out at the European Union's laboratory in Weybridge, England, to determine if it was infected with the H5N1 strain, which has destroyed flocks and killed 60 people in Asia since 2003.The sample was sent to Britain late Tuesday and the full results are expected to be ready in about a week, though an announcement could come sooner.Late on Tuesday, Bulgaria banned the imports of live fowl, poultry products and eggs from Greece, as well as the transit transportation of poultry loads that have passed through the territories of Turkey, Greece, and Romania. A ban on poultry imports from Turkey and Romania was introduced October 10.Greece has banned the export of live birds and poultry products from Aegean Sea islands neighboring Oinouses, and said it would keep the measures in force until the results from the British laboratory were known.Union foreign ministers on Tuesday declared the spread of bird flu from Asia into Europe a "global threat" requiring international action. (Full story)The meeting issued a statement saying bird flu posed a serious, global health threat if it shifted from birds to humans and one that required "a coordinated international reaction." European Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou told reporters that because the flu may be carried by migratory birds, other European countries could experience outbreaks.He warned that the 25 EU member countries do not have enough anti-viral drugs on hand to fight a human pandemic.The World Health Organization recommends that governments hold in reserve sufficient anti-viral drugs to treat 25 per cent of their populations. Kyprianou said "more than half" of the EU countries are not yet prepared. EU ministers met as 12 new cases of bird flu were discovered in Romania.(Full story)And samples from a dead bird were sent from Macedonia to London for testing after a large number of birds died in the city of Bitola near the border with Greece, a member of Macedonia's parliament said Tuesday.A U.N. agency warned Wednesday that the risk of bird flu spreading to the Middle East and Africa has markedly increased following the confirmation of outbreaks in Romania and Turkey. "One of our major concerns is now the potential spread of avian influenza through migratory birds to northern and eastern Africa," Joseph Domenech, Chief Veterinary Officer at the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, said in a statement. "There is a serious risk that this scenario may become a reality," he said. The statement also mentioned the increased risk that bird flu could spread to the Middle East. Swiss drug maker Roche, pressed to raise output of antiviral flu drug Tamiflu, said it would consider allowing rival firms and governments to produce it under licence for emergency pandemic use. A Dutch company said it was working on a vaccine. Besides the human danger, countries visited by bird flu in its various forms can face face grave economic losses. The milder H5N7 strain struck the Netherlands in 2003, prompting slaughter of 30 million birds and losses estimated at 500 million euros.CNN Producer Stephanie Halasz 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.

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- A Spanish judge issued an international arrest warrant Wednesday, charging three U.S. soldiers with murder in the death of a Spanish television cameraman in Baghdad.Jose Couso was killed as U.S. forces advanced to take control of the Iraqi capital in April 2003, a National Court spokeswoman said. National Court investigating magistrate Santiago Pedraz issued the warrant for the arrests of the three soldiers and their eventual extradition to Spain.They are wanted on charges of murder and a crime against the international community, according to the warrant.The warrant names the three soldiers as Sgt. Thomas Gibson, commander of the tank that allegedly fired a projectile at the hotel where Couso was filming; Capt. Philip Wolford, Gibson's superior; and Lt. Col. Philip D. Camp, the captain's superior, CNN partner network CNN+ reported. The arrest warrant says the United States provided "no judicial cooperation" in the investigation of the cameraman's death. Couso worked for Spain's Telecinco national network. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for reaction to the warrant. In the past, European courts have issued war crime indictments for U.S. officials. The United States does not turn over its soldiers. Couso was shooting images of war-torn Baghdad at the Hotel Palestine on April 8, 2003, when the hotel was hit by a tank shell. Many international journalists were based at the hotel. Telecinco said Couso died during surgery afterward. Taras Protsyuk, a Ukranian cameraman for Reuters, also was killed.A Pentagon report said that the American troops had thought that an Iraqi scout was directing fire from the building and that they had not violated any rules of engagement during the incident.Journalists from three Western television networks told CNN they were in the hotel when the tank fired and saw no fire coming from the Hotel Palestine.Couso's family has waged a campaign calling for an independent investigation into the cameraman's death.An attorney for Couso's family told CNN+ that she doubted the arrest warrant would have much practical effect. She said she understood that the United States would not extradite the men and that they stood little chance of arrest unless they left the United States. Couso was one of three journalists killed in two buildings in Baghdad that day. The third was Al-Jazeera television reporter Tariq Ayoub, killed at the Arabic-language network's facilities on the other side of the Tigris River from the hotel, near Iraq's Ministry of Information.According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, 56 journalists have been killed in Iraq since March 2003. The committee's investigation found that the shelling of the hotel was not deliberate but could have been avoided.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- New York Times reporter Judith Miller and the U.S. Justice Department are facing off once again: This time they disagree about a proposed federal law that would allow reporters to keep the identity of their sources secret.Skeptical senators, concerned over Miller's jailing, grilled a Justice Department representative who testified Wednesday that government procedures for getting information from reporters had worked well for 33 years and didn't need to be changed."Here you have a reporter in jail for 85 days and millions of Americans wonder why? I'm one of those," Sen. Arlen Specter said.The Pennsylvania Republican heads the Judiciary Committee, which called Miller and others to testify on a proposed bill that would allow reporters to keep the identity of their sources secret. Specter: 'Chilling effect"Miller's jailing for refusing to discuss her sources with federal prosecutors investigating the disclosure of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity "has had an obvious chilling effect on other reporters" around the country, Specter said. Representing the Justice Department, Chuck Rosenberg, a U.S. attorney in Texas, declined to discuss the specifics of Miller's case but said, "We should not enter this debate believing that the First Amendment is under assault by the Department of Justice. Manifestly it is not." Rosenberg said that since 1991 only 12 of 243 subpoenas issued under Justice Department guidelines to news media called for confidential source information. "We seek information about confidential sources from reporters only when it really, really matters," Rosenberg said. "What is broken about the way we are handling subpoenas to the media?"Government opposes shield lawHe added, "I don't see anything in our work that justifies discarding 33 years of careful practice that has served the nation well." On her way into the hearing, Miller offered a different view: "We need a federal shield law. That's why I'm here. I went through a lot to be able to make this statement." Former U.S. attorney Joseph DiGenova suggested that the committee enact the existing guidelines into law, so reporters could get courts to enforce them. Rosenberg said even that would be a bad idea because court appeals could delay action at times "when we need to move fast." "Is that your argument -- to have no bill at all?" asked Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat."Yes," Rosenberg replied. In her testimony, Miller acknowledged her own stories suggesting Iraq had weapons of mass destruction were flawed by sources with wrong information. But she argued that "even flawed reporters should not be jailed for protecting even flawed sources." Many sources with accurate information needed by the public will provide it only to reporters who promise confidentiality even before the reporter can assess the information, Miller said. In prepared testimony submitted for the record, Rosenberg countered that the bill as drafted would seriously impede the government's ability to "enforce the law, fight terrorism and protect the national security." Miller's fight has given new life to the federal shield idea that Congress has ignored for decades. Two Indiana Republicans, Rep. Mike Pence and Sen. Richard Lugar, introduced the Free Flow of Information Act in January. Jailing renews interest in billWednesday marked the second hearing on the bill since Miller was locked up for refusing to reveal her sources to Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, who was directed by the Justice Department to investigate the disclosure of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity. Plame's name was exposed in July 2003 by columnist Robert Novak, who has been a frequent CNN commentator. The column came eight days after Plame's husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, wrote in a Times opinion piece that the Bush administration had manipulated intelligence about Iraqi weapons programs to justify going to war. Wilson and others have argued Plame was exposed to intimidate critics of President Bush's Iraq policy. Miller, 57, never wrote about Plame but was jailed for contempt of court for not being willing to testify about her sources. She was freed on September 29 after saying Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, had released her from her obligation to keep his name secret.Miller noted that some have said her source "did not deserve confidentiality because his motives were not pure." But she argued that while journalists should try to learn leakers' motives, "what counts far more ... is the truth and significance of what they are saying."On Tuesday, Miller told a journalists' convention in Las Vegas: "I did not go to jail to protect wrongdoing. I did not go to jail to get a large book contract or to martyr myself. Anyone who thinks I would spend 85 days in jail as a canny career move knows nothing about jail and nothing about me."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff defended his actions before and after Hurricane Katrina, telling lawmakers Wednesday he relied on Federal Emergency Management Agency experts with decades of experience in hurricane response."I'm not a hurricane expert," Chertoff said several times in responding to criticisms from members of a special House panel set up to investigate the dismal federal response to Katrina, which killed more than 1,200 people, flooded New Orleans and forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands.Chertoff, a former prosecutor and Justice Department official, took over the Homeland Security Department in February.Lawmakers grilled Chertoff about why he stayed home Saturday before Katrina made landfall on Monday, why he made a previously scheduled trip to Atlanta on Tuesday, and why he didn't act more decisively to speed up the federal response.Brown was 'battlefield commander'Chertoff said he relied on former FEMA Director Michael Brown as the "battlefield commander" and focused his efforts on making sure FEMA had all the resources it needed. He said he stayed in telephone contact with the office while at home and during the trip to Atlanta."I don't think there was a lack of a sense of urgency," he said.Chertoff's appearance came as weather forecasters kept a wary eye on Hurricane Wilma, the latest in a host of such storms, as it has grown into one of the most intense Atlantic hurricanes on record. Forecasters said it likely will strike the east coast of Florida with devastating winds by late in the week.Most of the blame for the federal response to Katrina has fallen on Brown, who resigned last month after Chertoff removed him from direct responsibility for Katrina relief and recovery efforts.Brown blamed state and local officials in Louisiana for the slow response to Katrina when he testified before the committee last month. Chertoff disagreed."From my own experience, I don't endorse those views," he said.Frustrated by responseAfter the levees broke in New Orleans, Chertoff said he became increasingly frustrated with the federal response and decided by the end of the first week to replace Brown with Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen. A week later, he relieved Brown of his duties and ordered him back to Washington.Wednesday's hearing provided the first opportunity for lawmakers to question Chertoff directly about his role in the response. FEMA was an independent agency before it was folded into the Department of Homeland Security when it was created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.The investigation is being conducted by a special committee appointed by House GOP leaders. Democratic leaders, insisting on an independent investigation, have refused to cooperate in what they contend is a too-soft probe of the Bush administration by GOP lawmakers.Several Democratic congressmen from the affected areas have attended the hearings and questioned witnesses. They were joined Wednesday by Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Georgia, who blasted what she called a lack of leadership in the Bush administration's response to Katrina.Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-Texas, objected when McKinney asked Chertoff why he should not be charged with negligent homicide because of the federal response.When questions "are over the top and not constructive, I don't believe the secretary should waste his time by answering," Bonilla said.Chertoff did answer, however, declaring the President Bush "was deeply and personally engaged in the process from before the hurricane; I was deeply and personally involved in the process from before the hurricane."Earlier, Chertoff told the committee that FEMA was overwhelmed by Katrina and must be retooled to improve preparation and response to natural disasters."There are many things that did not work well with the response," Chertoff said, adding later, "We are not where we need to be as a nation in the area of preparedness."Chertoff said Katrina demonstrated that FEMA's system for moving supplies into disaster areas is not adequate and that communications systems must be made to work even in the worst disasters. He said the agency also must learn how to identify issues and target resources when state and local officials are overwhelmed by a storm.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NEW YORK (AP) -- She may have mastered the art of French cooking, but don't call amateur cook-turned-author Julie Powell a foodie."Foodie to me implies being really taken with the trappings of the more elitist aspects of enjoying food, so I try to veer away from the term," she says.And elitist she's not.The first sign is her choice of takeout. Powell and her husband, Eric, frequently order Domino's bacon and jalapeno pizza the nights she stays out of the kitchen. Granted, they are Texans with a hankerin' for food with a kick. But why Domino's when you live in New York, home to arguably the best pizza in the United States?Powell says it's one of two restaurants that will deliver to the loft apartment in Long Island City they share with a dog, three cats and a snake. The alternative is bad Chinese food.The second sign is her inability to use a food mill, as called for in the recipe for the potage parmentier (potato soup) she's making this particular day. She fumbles with it for a bit before casting it aside for her Cuisinart."She doesn't like to use a food processor," Powell says as she transfers the soup between appliances.She, of course, is Julia Child, Powell's muse as she attempted to cook her way through Child's landmark 1961 cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1."Powell was blogging about the experience when she was plucked from obscurity and given a book deal. "Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen" (Little, Brown) hit bookstores several weeks ago. (The name is sort of misleading, because her 9-by-12 kitchen is rather large -- by New York standards.)The memoir follows her culinary triumphs and travails, from committing "lobster murder" to extracting marrow from a bone. Powell fleshes it out with back stories about her supportive husband, wacky friends and evil co-workers. Also scattered throughout the book are fictional flashbacks of Child's courtship with her husband, Paul, which Powell reconstructs based on journals and letters from the 6-foot-2 kitchen icon's archives.Sensual secretsPowell never met her mentor -- Child died as Powell was converting her blogs into the book -- but said she felt like Child was in her head as she cooked her recipes.Her fascination for what she refers to as "MtAoFC" began at age 11, shortly after she found her parents' hidden copy of "Joy of Sex." Powell would sneak into her parents' bedroom and pore over the tome whenever possible, but she stopped because she didn't want them to think she was snooping for Christmas presents. She turned her attention to her mother's cookbook instead."It first appealed to me as a book rather than a cookbook," Powell says. "I was a real bookworm and it just seemed sort of mysterious and adult and slightly dangerous."The recipes sounded weird -- and sort of dirty. She sensed that this book, too, was full of sensual secrets. Sex and cooking would forever be linked in her mind. (And in her readers' minds, too, after reading Powell's R-rated description of calves' liver.)"If the 'Joy of Sex' was my first taste of sin, 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' was my second," she writes.Years later, the cookbook resurfaced in her life. Married to her high school sweetheart, Powell was about to turn 30 and full of anxiety about her dead-end secretarial job at a government agency and ticking biological clock.She hopped on a plane to Austin, Texas, to visit her parents and wound up stealing her mother's food-splattered, dog-eared classic. She unwittingly bought the ingredients for Child's potage parmentier one day back in New York, and it turned out to be so delicious her husband encouraged her to go to culinary school."If I wanted to learn to cook, I'd just cook my way through 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking,' " she said. "You could write a blog," he suggested. And the Julie/Julia project began.The blog, hosted on Salon.com, garnered her a legion of loyal readers. An article in The New York Times turned Powell into a media darling. Freelance writing and a bidding war for a book contract followed.Powell was shocked by the attention. "So many people did teach themselves to cook with this book, there's nothing unique about what I did," she says.But what made her stand out was her self-imposed timeline: to cook all 524 recipes in the book in one year. Writing about it for a national audience helped, too.'I was completely lost' At the time, Powell struggled to explain the reasons behind the project. She moved to New York right out of college and got married. An aspiring actress who was terrified of auditions, she feared every temp job would become permanent."I was painted into a corner. I was completely lost -- I didn't know what I was going to do," says Powell, a sassy, foul-mouthed 32. "I wanted to learn to cook. ... It wasn't until the project was nearly done that I really understood that what I was trying to do was figuring out a new way of living and finding new experiences in life."Those new experiences -- from battles with sauces that separate and searches for obscure ingredients -- nearly gave her an emotional breakdown. She would wake up, blog for a bit, go to work, shop for ingredients on the way home and cook into the wee hours of the night. A disastrous attempt to cook sauce diable and chou-fleur en verdure (puree of cauliflower and watercress with cream) prompted her to call off the Julie/Julia project. Fifteen seconds later it was back on."I realized that if I didn't have the project, I didn't have anything," she says. "The project had become the center of my life."Powell finished it in August 2003, and her book deal was lined up the next month. Her next challenge was turning a few paragraphs a day into a book with a beginning, a middle and an end."It was very clear to me from the beginning that I couldn't just take the blog and plop it into a book form, because that would be excruciatingly boring," she says.But publisher Little, Brown (a division of Time Warner, as is CNN) had faith in her, even though it was the first time it had picked up a book based on a blog."It was somewhat of a gamble, but once we got into the process, we stopped thinking of it as such," said senior editor Judy Clain. "It's such a strong, original idea. And then there was Julie. Her voice is so acerbic and clear. There's almost a performance artist in her."Critics, however, have gotten snagged on the transformation. Some say the book is too, well, bloggy." 'Julie and Julia' still has too much blog in its DNA: it has a messy, whatever's-on-my-mind incontinence to it, taking us places we'd rather not go," writes David Kamp of The New York Times. (Powell's disclosure that she sold her ova to pay off her credit card debt springs to mind.)Yet the reviews have been generally favorable -- Publishers Weekly calls it "feisty and unrestrained."The book had a first printing of 150,000 copies and 25,000 more have been ordered.Powell is currently promoting the book and meeting the blog readers (or "bleaders," as she calls them) who helped launch her career. Ideas for her next project are already swirling in the back of her mind, and film rights to "Julie and Julia" have been sold.So what does a blogger do when the blog and ensuing book are finished? She blogs about the book tour, of course.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- Five major publishers filed suit against Google Inc. in Manhattan's federal court on Wednesday seeking to block plans to scan copyrighted works without permission.The complaint lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Google names as plaintiffs McGraw-Hill Cos. Inc., Pearson Plc's Pearson Education and Penguin Group (USA) units, Viacom Inc.'s Simon & Schuster and John Wiley & Sons Inc.The suit seeks a declaration that the Web search leader commits infringement when it scans entire books covered by copyright without permission of the copyright owner.Legal experts say the spat between Google and the publishing industry is shaping up as a new front in the battle over digital duplication of media, including music, movies and now books.At issue are the rights of copyright holders versus the public's "fair use" interest in being free to use limited portions of these materials for commentary or review, analysts say.A spokeswoman for the Association of American Publishers said the suit was filed after lengthy discussions broke down last week over the alleged copyright infringement implications of Google's Print Library Project."Creating an easy-to-use index of books is fair use under copyright law and supports the purpose of copyright: to increase the awareness and sales of books, directly benefiting copyright holders," David Drummond, Google's general counsel, said in a statement."This short-sighted attempt to block Google Print works counter to the interests of not just the world's readers, but also the world's authors and publishers," Drummond said.The Authors Guild and writers Herbert Mitgang, Betty Miles and Daniel Hoffman filed a separate suit against Google making similar charges in September.The Authors Guild suit is a class action suit that seeks damages from Google. The newly filed publishers suit seeks a declaratory judgment that Google is committing copyright infringement by scanning books, said Patricia Schroeder, president of the Association of American Publishers.In August, Google, which is working with five of the world's great libraries to digitize their book collections, temporarily stopped scanning copyrighted books in the face of a growing outcry by publishers. The libraries have continued to scan public domain works, which are not covered by copyright.The Google library project plans to resume scanning copyrighted works as well starting in November. The copyrighted books being scanned by libraries are for use in what amounts to a digital card catalog, Google and its backers argue.Supporters of the Google Print project say the scanning of the full text of the books is necessary to create a searchable catalog of the books located within the five libraries' collections. Google says it has no plans to make full copies of copyrighted works available without their owners' permission.Google operates a parallel program with major academic, technical and trade publishers to allow readers to search the text of copyrighted books on publisher-controlled Web pages that show several pages of adjoining text and feature links to publisher and other retail outlets for purchasing the books.All five of the publishers named as plaintiffs in the latest lawsuit have participated in Google's publisher program, according to the company.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

HERMISTON, Oregon (AP) -- Parked alongside his onion fields, Bob Hale can prop open a laptop and read his e-mail or, with just a keystroke, check the moisture of his crops.As the jack rabbits run by, he can watch CNN online, play a video game or turn his irrigation sprinklers on and off, all from the air conditioned comfort of his truck.While cities around the country are battling over plans to offer free or cheap Internet access, this lonely terrain is served by what is billed as the world's largest hotspot, a wireless cloud that stretches over 700 square miles of landscape so dry and desolate it could have been lifted from a cowboy tune.Similar wireless projects have been stymied in major metropolitan areas by telephone and cable TV companies, which have poured money into legislative bills aimed at discouraging such competition. In Philadelphia, for instance, plans to blanket the entire city with Wi-Fi fueled a battle in the Pennsylvania legislature with Verizon Communications Inc., leading to a law that limits the ability of every other municipality in the state to do the same.But here among the thistle, large providers such as local phone company Qwest Communications International Inc. see little profit potential. So wireless entrepreneur Fred Ziari drew no resistance for his proposed wireless network, enabling him to quickly build the $5 million cloud at his own expense.While his service is free to the general public, Ziari is recovering the investment through contracts with more than 30 city and county agencies, as well as big farms such as Hale's, whose onion empire supplies over two-thirds of the red onions used by the Subway sandwich chain. Morrow County, for instance, pays $180,000 a year for Ziari's service.Each client, he said, pays not only for yearly access to the cloud but also for specialized applications such as a program that allows local officials to check parking meters remotely."Internet service is only a small part of it. The same wireless system is used for surveillance, for intelligent traffic system, for intelligent transportation, for telemedicine and for distance education," said Ziari, who immigrated to the United States from the tiny Iranian town of Shahi on the Caspian Sea.It's revolutionizing the way business is conducted in this former frontier town."Outside the cloud, I can't even get DSL," said Hale. "When I'm inside it, I can take a picture of one of my onions, plug it into my laptop and send it to the Subway guys in San Diego and say, 'Here's a picture of my crop."''Getting the go-ahead'Even as the number of Wi-Fi hotspots continues to mushroom, with 72,140 now registered globally, only a handful of cities have managed to blanket their entire urban core with wireless Internet access.Hundreds of cities from San Francisco to Philadelphia have announced plans to throw a wireless tarp over their communities, and a few smaller ones such as Chaska, Minnesota, have succeeded. But only Ziari appears to have pinned down such a large area.The wireless network uses both short-range Wi-Fi signals and a version of a related, longer-range technology known as WiMax. While Wi-Fi and WiMax antennas typically connect with the Internet over a physical cable, the transmitters in this network act as wireless relay points, passing the signal along through a technique known as "meshing."Ziara's company built the towers to match the topography. They are as close as a quarter-of-a-mile apart inside towns like Hermiston, and as far apart as several miles in the high-desert wilderness.Asked why other municipalities have had a harder time succeeding, he replies: "Politics.""If we get a go-ahead, we can do a fairly good-sized city in a month or two," said Ziari. "The problem is getting the go-ahead.""The 'Who's-going-to-get-a-piece-of-the action?' has been a big part of the obstacles," said Karen Hanley, senior marketing director of the Austin, Texas-based Wi-Fi Alliance, an industry group.No major players were vying for the action here, making the area's remoteness -- which in the past slowed technological progress -- the key to its advance.Morrow County, which borders Hermiston and spans 2,000 square miles, still doesn't have a single traffic light. It only has 11,000 people, a number that does not justify a large telecom player making a big investment, said Casey Beard, the director of emergency management for the county.Beard was looking for a wireless provider two years ago when Ziari came knocking. The county first considered his proposal at the end of 2002 and by mid-2003, part of the cloud was up.The high desert around Hermiston also happens to be the home of one of the nation's largest stockpiles of Cold War-era chemical weapons. Under federal guidelines, local government officials were required to devise an emergency evacuation plan for the accidental release of nerve and mustard agents.Now, emergency responders in the three counties surrounding the Umatilla Chemical Depot are equipped with laptop computers that are Wi-Fi ready. These laptops are set up to detail the size and direction of a potential chemical leak, enabling responders to direct evacuees from the field. Traffic lights and billboards posting evacuation messages can also be controlled remotely over the wireless network."We had to find a way to transmit huge amounts of data -- pictures, plume charts.... All that data is very complex and it's hard over radio to relay to someone wearing chemical protective gear," said Beard.And for the Hermiston Police Department, having squad cars equipped with a wireless laptop means officers can work less overtime by being able to file their crime reports from the field.While the network was initially set up for the benefit of city and county officials, it's the area's businesses that stand to gain the most, say industry experts.For the Columbia River Port of Umatilla, one of the largest grain ports in the nation, the wireless network is being used to set up a high-tech security perimeter that will scan bar codes on incoming cargo."It has opened our eyes and minds to possibilities. Now that we're not tied to offices and wires and poles, now what can we do?" said Kim Puzey, port director.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ABUJA, Nigeria (Reuters) -- Nigeria, home to some of the world's most notorious cyber crimes, has proposed a law making spamming a criminal offence for which senders of unsolicited e-mails could be jailed for at least three years. The draft law identifies the use of computers for fraud, spamming, identity theft, child pornography and terrorism as criminal offences punishable by jail terms of between six months and five years, and fines of 10,000 naira ($77) to 1 million naira ($7,700). Under the bill, which has to be approved by the National Assembly to become law, convicted spammers face jail terms of three to five years and could also be made to hand the proceeds of crime to the government."Any person spamming electronic messages to recipients with whom he has no previous relationship commits an offence," said a section of the draft law obtained by Reuters on Wednesday.Under the proposed law, service providers who aid and abet cyber crimes and fail to cooperate with law enforcement agents could be fined between 500,000 and 10 million naira.The draft law empowers law enforcement agents to enter and search any premises or computer and arrest any person in connection with an offence.The advance fee e-mail scam, known as "419" after the relevant section of the Nigerian Criminal Code, is a computer age version of a con game dating back hundreds of years and is sometimes called "The Spanish Prisoner."Typically spammers send millions of unsolicited e-mails around the world promising recipients a share in a fortune in return for an advance fee. Those who pay wait in vain for the promised windfall.President Olusegun Obasanjo has been keen to clean Nigeria's image as a country of spammers and one of the world's most corrupt nations since he was elected in 1999, ending 15 years of military rule in Africa's to oil producer.He set up the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in 2003 to crack down on e-mail fraudsters who had elevated scamming to one of the country's main foreign exchange earners after oil, natural gas and cocoa, according to campaigners.The anti-fraud agency is investigating hundreds of suspects and prosecuting over 50 cases involving about 100 suspects.The agency got its first major conviction in July when a court sentenced a woman whose late husband masterminded the swindling of $242 million from Brazilian Banco Noroeste S.A. between 1995 and 1998, one of the world's biggest e-mail scams.The agency signed a deal with Microsoft last week to help fight spamming, phishing, spyware, viruses and counterfeiting. Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday defended U.S. policy in Iraq amid criticism from lawmakers demanding a plan to bring troops home.In her first appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee since February, Rice said the U.S. goals in Iraq are to break the back of the insurgency, keep Iraq from becoming a safe haven for Islamic extremism, turn the corner economically and become a democratic example for the entire Middle East.She outlined a strategy to clear the toughest areas of insurgents, secure them as a sanctuary from violence and "build durable national Iraqi institutions," which she insisted would "assure victory.""Our strategy is to clear, hold and build," she told senators. "The enemy's strategy is to infect, terrorize and pull down."The Afghanistan modelRice said the Bush administration would "restructure" part of its mission on a model the United States found successful in Afghanistan, where diplomats and reconstruction workers are embedded with the military."Provincial reconstruction teams" made up of civilian and military personnel will work together to clear out insurgents, train police, set up courts and help the government establish basic services, Rice said. The first of these new teams will begin work next month.But the hearing often turned contentious, with Rice facing tough questioning from senators on both sides of the aisle, looking for a timetable to win the peace and begin withdrawal of U.S. troops.Timetables debatedRice refused to give a timeline for U.S. withdrawal but called Iraqi forces' assumption of responsibility for some of the toughest areas in Iraq "good benchmarks"But the Republican committee chair, Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, countered that "the American people need to more fully understand the basis upon which our troops are likely to come home.""We are engaged in a difficult mission in Iraq and the president and Congress must be clear with the American people about the stakes involved and the difficulties yet to come," he said.Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said that nobody was suggesting an immediate pullout of U.S. troops, but more details on the Bush administration's plan to win the peace and begin withdrawing troops were needed."What's the plan, Stan? Tell us," Biden said. "We are not setting timetables and saying cut and run. We are saying give us a plan."Asked pointedly whether the United States would still have troops in Iraq five or 10 years from now, Rice said, "I think that even to try and speculate on how many years from now there will be a certain number of American forces is not appropriate."I don't know how to speculate about what will happen 10 years from now, but I do believe that we are moving on a course on which Iraqi security forces are rather rapidly able to take care of their own security concerns."Syria and IranShe reiterated U.S. criticism of Iraq's neighbors Syria and Iran, who she said need to take steps to stop fighters from entering Iraq."Syria and, indeed, Iran must decide whether they wish to side with the cause of war or with the cause of peace," she said.While Rice said the United States is continuing to put diplomatic pressure on Syria to stem the flow of insurgents, the military option remains on the table. The United States also wants Syria to stop supporting Palestinian extremist groups and end its presence in Lebanon.Rice said the United States is examining whether its ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, should hold diplomatic talks with Iranian officials about the situation in Iraq, just as he did during the U.S. war in Afghanistan.'Spin of false expectations'In response to her comments that a free Iraq would "be at the heart of a different kind of Middle East" and allow the United States to defeat the ideology of hatred and extremism threatening it, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, accused Rice of "rewriting history."Boxer said the Bush administration's war on terror was supposed to be about going after the terrorists that threatened the United States after the September 11 attacks, not "rebuilding the Middle East.""Our country is sick at heart with the spin of false expectations," she told Rice.The secretary also faced criticism from senators for failing to appear before the committee for so many months. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut, pointed out that if Rice made time to appear on Sunday morning talk shows, she could make herself available to address Congress about a policy that is costing the lives of U.S. soldiers and Iraqis and "draining our treasury substantially.""This is just unacceptable we go this length of time without discussing this in full and in the public," Dodd said.

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for a greater world response to the earthquake victims in Pakistan, where relief agencies say thousands in the Himalayas face death from exposure."There are no excuses," Annan said. "If we are to show ourselves worthy of calling ourselves members of humankind, we must rise to this challenge. Our response will be no less than a measure of our humanity."UNICEF said it has yet to reach an estimated 120,000 children in Pakistan's mountainous north, and about 10,000 of those could die of hunger, hypothermia and disease within a few weeks. Annan called on international groups, such as NATO and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, to contribute helicopters, trucks and heavy-lifting equipment. Relief agencies need up to 45,000 more winterized tents, 2 million blankets and sleeping bags, water, sanitation equipment and food supplies, he said. Annan urged governments and relief agencies to send representatives "at the highest level" to a donors conference in Geneva next week.He said that international donors have pledged a little more than 8 percent -- or $37 million -- of the $312 million that relief agencies estimate is needed. (See which agencies accept donations)By contrast, donors responded to the U.N. goal for tsunami relief funds within 10 days of the Indian Ocean region disaster last December, Annan said.Some 3 million in Pakistan remain homeless, and the country now faces "a second wave of massive death," Annan said.The October 8 quake already has been blamed for the deaths of 47,700 people and injuries to 67,000 in Pakistan, according to its government. India says the magnitude 7.6 quake killed another 1,200 people there.Regional authorities in Pakistan, however, cite a much higher death toll -- more than 79,000 -- based on information filtering in from outlying areas and as more bodies are pulled from the rubble of collapsed buildings, The Associated Press reported Thursday. Kashmir border contactsMeanwhile, India has welcomed moves by Pakistan to free up the movement of people across the border that separates the disputed territory of Kashmir following the devastating October 8 earthquake in the region.Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday urged India to allow the people of divided Kashmir to help each other deal with the disaster, offering free relief movement across the border."If Kashmiris from Indian-controlled Kashmir want to come and take part in the relief efforts, they are most welcome," Musharraf said at a news conference in Muzaffarabad.In New Delhi, Navtej Sarna of the Ministry of External affairs said the Pakistani's leader's comment was a "welcome step in line with India's policy of increasing people-to-people contact over the Line of Control."Kashmir, in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, has been disputed by Pakistan, India and China since 1947. The Line of Control divides Pakistani-controlled Kashmir from the Indian-controlled area, and the two rivals have fought three wars over the territory since 1947.New Delhi had offered helicopters to assist in relief missions, but turned down a Pakistani suggestion that it send military helicopters without crews, The Associated Press reported. Sarna said India would welcome additional contacts from Pakistan on the practical steps for allowing Kashmiris to move across the line.Still, conflict in Indian Kashmir continues with suspected Islamic militants killing the state's education minister during a raid Tuesday. (Full story)Earlier, a spokesman for India's Department of Telecommunications said four centers would be set up at Srinagar, Jammu, Uri and Tangdhar to help families contact relatives on the other side of the border."These centers will permit people in Jammu and Kashmir who have relatives in Muzaffarabad to contact them on telephone, free of charge, for the next fortnight."On Wednesday a pair of aftershocks rattled northern Pakistan. A 5.8-magnitude temblor hit about 80 miles (130 km) north of Islamabad, Pakistan around 7:33 a.m. (10:33 p.m. ET Tuesday). Less than an hour later and only 5 miles to the west, a 5.6-magnitude quake struck at 8:16 a.m. (11:16 p.m. ET). CNN's Becky Anderson, Satinder Bindra, Ram Ramgopal and Syed Mohsin Naqvi 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.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Ticket buyers played their kids' birthdays, their wedding anniversaries, even a set of numbers taken straight from the TV show "Lost," in hopes of winning $340 million Wednesday in the second-biggest lottery jackpot in U.S. history.The Powerball jackpot has been snowballing since mid-August, with 20 straight drawings in which no one won the grand prize. Stores reported heavy sales in all 27 states selling Powerball tickets."We're swimming in it today," said Marianne Ward at the Cash & Dash in Little River, South Carolina. "We've sold more than $2,000 in tickets since 6 a.m."Mary Neubauer, spokeswoman for the Iowa Lottery, said hundreds of ticket buyers were playing a set of numbers from the ABC drama "Lost," which featured a character who won $156 million by playing a string of digits obtained from a patient in a mental institution: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42."I just think it speaks to people's fascination with numbers and the what-if factor," Neubauer said.The odds of hitting all six numbers were 1 in 146 million.Susie Siebke crossed the Mississippi River from Illinois to buy 25 Powerball tickets for herself and five co-workers. "We only buy just whenever it gets this high," Siebke, 30, said as she stood in line at a convenience store in Bettendorf.The biggest lottery jackpot in U.S. history was $363 million, won by two ticket holders in Illinois and Michigan in 2000.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

BALTIMORE, Maryland (CNN) -- The informant who told U.S. authorities about the purported plan to set off explosives in a Baltimore Harbor tunnel is a prisoner in the Netherlands, two federal officials confirmed to CNN on Wednesday.The prisoner underwent a polygraph test last weekend, and some of the answers were considered deceptive, the officials said, without offering further detail.One federal law enforcement source said the test was "inconclusive." The informant has provided some useful information to authorities in the past, a U.S. government source has told CNN.Authorities said the investigation into the terror tip continues, but that no plot has been uncovered. Agents continue to look for suspects, sources said.Four men who sources previously had said were detained in connection with the investigation will be deported on immigration charges, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official said Wednesday.The four are Ahmad Al Momani, 58, a citizen of Jordan, and three Egyptian citizens -- Mohamed Ahmed Mohamady Ismail, 30; Mohamed Mohamed-Abdelhamed Elsyid, 38; and Suied Muhamad-Ahamad, 25, said Ernestine Fobbs, a spokeswoman for ICE.No information was provided on their connection to the Baltimore case, if any. The plot, as outlined by the informant, involved detonating at least one truckload of explosives in a Baltimore Harbor tunnel, government sources told CNN. The explosives were to arrive aboard ship containers labeled cocoa. As many as eight Egyptians were involved, the government sources said. The attack was to take place sometime during a two-week period this month, federal and state officials said.The informant phoned the tip to U.S. authorities late last week, sources familiar with the investigation told CNN on Tuesday. Law enforcement and counterterrorism agents and analysts immediately started trying to corroborate the plot and locate the alleged perpetrators.While there were questions about its credibility from the start, officials said they still had to take the information seriously and started operations midday Tuesday to locate and interview people who could be involved. At the same time, authorities closed down one tunnel under Baltimore Harbor and limited traffic in another.CNN's Pam Benson, Kevin Bohn, Carol Cratty, David Ensor, Terry Frieden and Jeanne Meserve contributed to this report.

Are you outgoing and outdoorsy? How about mild-mannered and detail-oriented?People's personalities can play a major role in their career choices. For example, someone who prefers being active and working in the sunshine might be miserable in a sedentary desk job. Likewise, people who prefer working alone might not excel in a team environment.Knowing this, Michael Farr and Laurence Shatkin examined the relationship between personality and careers in their book "50 Best Jobs for Your Personality" (JIST). They began with looking at six personality types created in the 1950s by career guidance researcher John Holland.Farr and Shatkin then created a database of about 1,000 job titles using information from the Occupational Information Network, U.S. Census Bureau and other sources, rating these jobs in terms of the six personality types. They then ranked the jobs by annual earnings, projected growth and projected yearly job openings.According to the researchers, the following jobs emerged as the top three for each personality type:Type one: RealisticAccording to Farr and Shatkin's book, realistic personalities like work that includes hands-on problems and solutions. They enjoy outdoor work, including working with plants, animals, wood, tools and machinery. Many realistic personalities do not enjoy handling a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.Top jobs: Highway patrol pilots -- Pilot airplanes to maintain order, respond to emergencies and enforce traffic and criminal laws. Annual earnings: $44,020. Expected growth: 24.7 percent. Annual job openings: 67,000.Electricians -- Install, maintain and repair electrical wiring, equipment and fixtures. Annual earnings: $41,680. Expected growth: 23.4 percent. Annual job openings: 65,000.Pipe fitters -- Lay out, assemble, install and maintain pipe systems, pipe supports and related equipment. Annual earnings: $40,950. Expected growth: 18.7 percent. Annual job openings: 56,000.Type two: InvestigativeInvestigative personalities prefer ideas and thinking over physical activity. They like to search for facts and figures and solve problems mentally, preferring these types of tasks over persuading or leading people.Top jobs:Engineering teachers, postsecondary -- Teach the physical laws and principles of engineering for the development of machines, materials, instruments, processes and services. Annual earnings: $69,700. Expected growth: 38.1 percent. Annual openings: 216,000.Computer software engineers, systems software -- Research, design, develop and test operating systems-level software, compilers and network distribution software. Annual earnings: $76,240. Expected growth: 45.5 percent. Annual openings: 39,000.Computer software engineers, applications -- Develop, create and modify general computer applications software or specialized utility programs. Annual earnings: $72,530. Expected growth: 45.5 percent. Annual openings: 55,000.Type three: ArtisticArtistic personalities like working with forms, designs and patterns. They like self-expression in their work and prefer less-structured settings without following a clear set of rules. Here, again, postsecondary teaching jobs dominate the best-jobs list.Top jobs:Art, drama and music teachers, postsecondary -- Teach courses in drama, music and the arts beyond the high school level. Annual earnings: $47,980. Expected growth: 38.1 percent. Annual openings: 216,000.English-language and literature teachers, postsecondary -- Teach classes in English language and literature, including linguistics and comparative literature. Annual earnings: $47,120. Expected growth: 38.1 percent. Annual openings: 216,000.Foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary -- Teach classes in non-English languages and literature beyond the high school level. Annual earnings: $46,780. Expected growth: 38.1 percent. Annual openings: 216,000.Type four: SocialSocial personalities like working, communicating and teaching people. They like to assist others and promote learning and personal development, preferring to communicate over working with objects, machines or data.Top jobs:Economics teachers, postsecondary -- Teach courses in economics and how society distributes scarce resources such as land, labor, raw materials and machinery. Annual earnings: $64,950. Expected growth: 31.8 percent. Annual opening: 216,000.Anthropology and archaeology teachers, postsecondary -- Teach courses in anthropology and archaeology beyond the high school level. Annual earnings: $59,710. Expected growth: 31.8 percent. Annual openings: 216,000.Political science teachers, postsecondary -- Teach courses in political science, international affairs and international relations beyond the high school level. Annual earnings: $57,340. Expected growth: 38.1 percent. Annual openings: 216,000.Type five: EnterprisingEnterprising personalities like to start up and carry out projects, especially business ventures. They like to lead people and make decisions and prefer action over extensive thought.Top jobs:Sales managers -- Direct the actual distribution or movement of a product or service to the customer. Annual earnings: $80,470. Expected growth: 30.5 percent. Annual openings: 54,000.Management analysts -- Conduct organizational studies, evaluations and other duties to assist businesses in operating more efficiently and effectively. Annual earnings: $62,580. Expected growth: 30.4 percent. Annual openings: 78,000.Computer and information systems managers -- Plan, direct or coordinate activities in fields, including electronic data processing and computer programming. Annual earnings: $89,740. Expected growth: 36.1 percent. Annual openings: 39,000.Type six: ConventionalConventional personalities prefer work activities with set rules and procedures. They prefer working with details and data over working with ideas. They like precise standards and having a clear line of authority to follow.Top jobs:Accountants -- Analyze financial information and prepare reports to determine or maintain record of assets, liabilities or other financial activities within an organization. Annual earnings: $49,060. Expected growth: 19.5 percent. Annual openings: 119,000.Customer service representatives, utilities -- Interview applicants for water, gas, electric or telephone service, and talk with customers to receive orders for installation, discontinuance or changes in service. Annual earnings: $26,500. Expected growth: 24.3 percent. Annual openings: 419,000.Cost estimators -- Prepare cost estimates for product manufacturing, construction projects or services. Annual earnings: $48,290. Expected growth: 18.6 percent. Annual openings: 25,000.Laura Morsch is a writer for CareerBuilder.com. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- Desertions, allegations of looting and theft, and the videotaped beating of a retired teacher have contributed to a growing sense that the New Orleans Police Department is reverting to its dirty-cop past at the very moment the city is desperately trying to persuade residents to come back to the Big Easy.No hard evidence exists of a rise in police misconduct since Hurricane Katrina hit on August 29.But the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana said it is investigating at least 10 brutality complaints filed in the past month or so. And stories are making the rounds at Uptown coffee houses and French Quarter bars of overbearing cops abusing their power, of a force seemingly out of control."There's a credibility issue that is manifesting itself in New Orleans," said Rafael Goyeneche of the Metropolitan Crime Commission of Greater New Orleans, a police watchdog group. "Part of that is the disconnect the public feels with the police department. The reputation of corruption lingers, and the new problems compound it."Since the storm, the videotaped beating by police of Robert Davis, 64, and the roughing up an Associated Press TV producer in the French Quarter have focused new attention on the department. Police said Davis was drunk and combative; Davis denied he was drinking and said he put up no resistance. The U.S. Justice Department is investigating. (Full story)Also, 12 New Orleans officers are suspected of looting or condoning looting at a Wal-Mart in Katrina's aftermath. Authorities are investigating allegations that police took more than 200 cars, including 41 new Cadillacs, from a dealership as the storm closed in. And nearly 250 officers on the 1,450-member force are under investigation for leaving their posts during the storm."People are right on the edge because they think police are hired to protect them, but that's not what seems to be happening," John Penny, who teaches criminal justice at Southern University at New Orleans. "I think there's a high feeling of anxiety in the community."Josh Clark, who works for a monthly entertainment publication, admitted he and his girlfriend were out past curfew two weeks after Katrina. Still, he said, the police reaction seemed extreme."They pulled their guns out and pointed them at us," Clark said. "They wouldn't listen to anything."Clark said he was finally able to show his press pass to one of the officers. He said that when the policeman learned he worked for a publication whose editor was a friend, Clark and his girlfriend were allowed to leave."If they know you, they'll do anything for you," Clark said. "If they don't, you're in deep doo-doo."Department defendedPolice spokesman Marlon Defillo denied the department is slipping back into its old habits, saying discipline is being maintained. He said the department has launched four formal investigations post-Katrina into police wrongdoing.Asked about the notion that the department is out of control, Mayor Ray Nagin said Wednesday: "We're going to have to deal with this perception as we're going forward."He acknowledged the department "is a little battered and torn right now" and said all officers had gone through physical and psychological evaluations since the storm. He also noted that two officers had committed suicide."They have gone through hell and back," he said.But Nagin added: "We're going to try to deal with this as best we can. We are going to infuse the police department with new blood. We're going to build one of the best departments in the country. That's all we can do."The department's reputation for corruption and brutality goes back generations, but it was solidified in the 1990s when police were arrested for crimes ranging from shoplifting and bribery to bank robbery, drug dealing, rape and murder. Two officers from that period are on death row, one for having a woman killed after she filed a complaint against him.Former Police Superintendent Richard Pennington, now Atlanta's chief, is widely credited with cleaning up the department, purging it of scores of bad cops and establishing procedures for investigating complaints. Critics say many of those reforms have fallen into disuse."We're back in denial," said civil rights attorney Mary Howell. "If people are saying there isn't a problem, that's part of the problem."Since Katrina, there has been widespread suspicion among police watchdog groups that the misconduct reflects the unprecedented stresses and demands put on officers by the hurricane, which wiped out many cops' homes and scattered their families.Council concernBut even before the hurricane, the City Council was concerned enough about misconduct that it planned to hold a hearing on the subject. Katrina forced its cancellation.It is impossible to say how big the problem is because there has been so much chaos since the storm hit. Floodwaters wiped out some police records, and independent agencies that take complaints have only recently re-established telephone service.Warren Riley, who took over as superintendent last month, does seem determined to restore public confidence in the department, said Goyeneche, who met with Riley this week.That will be difficult, said Ed White, spokesman for Louisiana Victims and Citizens Against Crime."We're asking people to return to this city and rebuild it and their lives," White said. "If people don't have confidence in the police doing their jobs, why would they do that?"Penny said decisive action is needed to prove to returning residents they will be protected by police, not terrorized by them. "We have to have that administrative, managerial cleansing so people will gain confidence to be in a city that's being protected," he said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- The scene at Caf� du Monde on Tuesday was frenetic: employees polishing the counters and wiping the windows, contractors installing new equipment in the kitchen and applying one last coat of paint inside and around the landmark's outside seating area.Early Wednesday morning, the hard work paid-off, as the cafe's trademark beignets and coffee were once again available to the public. More than seven weeks after Katrina, the reopening of Caf� du Monde is helping New Orleans project a "back in business" image. "There are many jobs to be had here right now in the city of New Orleans," Caf� du Monde vice president Burt Benrud said. "If you come to the city of New Orleans and you don't have a job, you're not looking." (Watch: Influx of Latino workers -- 1:32)Despite his optimism about New Orleans' economic climate, Benrud acknowledges a fair amount of uncertainty. In his case, he wonders what will happen to a 142-year-old business that operates around the clock when the city's curfew kicks in."(Are) the cops going to show up over here and say it is midnight -- you guys need to close? It is my hope that that situation gets resolved shortly, so we can go back to business as usual: 24 hours a day, 364 days a year." Caf� du Monde gives its workers Christmas Day off.In addition to restaurants, some of the downtown art galleries are reopening. "Help wanted" signs are everywhere, underscoring what economist and University of New Orleans Chancellor Tim Ryan says is the city's most pressing post-Katrina economic and social issue: a shortage of working-class housing."In the short run there is a real critical problem," Ryan told CNN. "If you don't have housing you don't get the people back, and you are going to be limited in the number of businesses you will be able to open ... Right now businesses are not very encouraged, and we are hearing that message from the business community."In fact, "back in business" is in many ways more a slogan than a fact on the ground, especially outside of the French Quarter and downtown's central business district.There were 3,708 licensed retail food establishments in New Orleans when Katrina hit. Fewer than one-third of those, 1,193, have been certified to reopen by the state Department of Health and Hospitals.Further evidence of the devastating economic impact is found in the state's new data on unemployment claims. The state Department of Labor reports more than 281,000 unemployment filings in the past seven weeks since Katrina hit. That's more than 13 times the normal average for a seven-week period and well in excess of the 193,000 claims filed statewide in all of 2004.At Antoine's, the French Quarter restaurant that is as much a museum to the city's Mardi Gras culture as it is an eating establishment, general manager Mike Guste tells CNN the goal is to reopen by Christmas. Katrina ravaged the restaurant, knocking open a brick wall on the fourth floor and leaving significant water damage."I'm really hoping it is going to be Christmas," Guste said as he led CNN on a tour of the damage. "Christmas or sometime in the middle of December."Guste said negotiations with his insurer are proceeding reasonably well. Contractors are beginning the early stages of reconstruction, and Guste and other managers are gathering the records necessary for their claim under a "business disruption" clause in his insurance policy."I haven't had any definitive answer either way," he said. "I've got my CFO and CEO and some other accountants working on it. ... It's a bean-counter thing. I will leave it to them."Because of that clause, Guste says he hopes to soon begin regular payments to many of the restaurant's employees, and he anticipates minimal turnover in the most crucial positions. Antoine's maitre' d, however, was among those killed by Katrina. Guste said he ignored pleas from family members to evacuate.Mayor Ray Nagin has said it makes sense for the business reopenings to begin in the downtown area, and then in areas that suffered less damage from Katrina and Rita. Visits to lower-income and harder-hit neighborhoods suggest "back in business" is a distant dream at best.On St. Claude Avenue in the predominantly black neighborhood of Bywater, banks, restaurants, fast-food establishments and corner groceries remain shuttered, many of them heavily damaged.But count Joseph Peters among the optimists there.Peters reopened his tire-repair shop within a week of Katrina passing, when there was still water in the streets. His business is bustling because of all the damage to cars caused by the debris-strewn streets, and Peters says cleanup crews have been showing up in recent days at a seafood restaurant across the street from his shop. As Peters spoke to CNN on Tuesday, a man with a wheelbarrow made more than a dozen trips in and out of a small, mom-and-pop grocery store nearby, dumping debris on the median of what once was a busy thoroughfare from the working-class neighborhood to the central city."I don't think it is being unfair. It's just the way it works," Peters said between repairs when asked if he believed more help was going first to downtown and richer neighborhoods."You come back in six months you are going to see this up and running," Peters said. "Those people are going back into business. Trust me, they will be back. ... This is home."

NEW YORK (AP) -- Four Fox network programs, led by the comedies "The War at Home," "The Family Guy" and "American Dad," topped a parents group's annual listing of the worst prime-time shows for family viewing.The Parents Television Council rated two aspirational reality shows, ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and NBC's new "Three Wishes," as the best programs for family viewing.The group's president, L. Brent Bozell, said he was alarmed that the three Fox Sunday night comedies are being marketed as family friendly."Families should not be deceived," he said. "The top three worst shows all contain crude and raunchy dialogue with sex-themed jokes and foul language. Even worse is the fact that Hollywood is peddling its filth to families with cartoons."A Fox spokesman said the network never comments on reports by the Parents Television Council.The Fox drama "The O.C." was fourth on the group's list of worst prime-time shows for families. Add in "That '70s Show" and "Arrested Development," and the network that tries to be hip for young viewers makes up 60 percent of the list.Television's two most popular programs -- "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "Desperate Housewives -- are also cited as bad family viewing. So were "Two and a Half Men" and "Cold Case" on CBS.The group said it makes its determinations based on the amount of bad language and sexual and violent content, giving more weight to shows that appear earlier in the evening when children are likely to be awake, said Melissa Caldwell, its research director.Fox's "American Idol," which returns in January, made the group's list of best family viewing experiences. Two new shows, CBS' "The Ghost Whisperer" and UPN's "Everybody Hates Chris," also made it.Bozell said the group couldn't even come up with 10 prime-time shows it would recommend for family viewing. Its list stops at nine.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Elizabeth Paige Laurie's name was on a sports arena when a former University of Southern California roommate alleged the Wal-Mart heiress paid her $20,000 to do her homework. Now it isn't even on a USC diploma.Laurie, the granddaughter of Wal-Mart co-founder Bud Walton, has returned her degree, nearly a year after Elena Martinez told ABC's "20/20" that she had written term papers and done assignments for Laurie for three-and-a-half years."Paige Laurie voluntarily has surrendered her degree and returned her diploma to the university. She is not a graduate of USC," the school said in a statement dated September 30 but not widely disseminated until the school newspaper wrote about it late last week. "This concludes the university's review of the allegations concerning Ms. Laurie."USC spokesman James Grant said Wednesday the university had no further comment. Laurie had been given a bachelor's degree by the USC Annenberg School for Communication in May 2004.After the homework allegations surfaced last November, the University of Missouri changed the name of what was then Paige Sports Arena.Laurie's billionaire parents, Bill and Nancy Laurie, had received naming rights in exchange for donating $25 million toward the building's construction. Nancy Laurie is Walton's daughter.A call seeking comment from Bill Laurie at his Paige Sports Entertainment company was not immediately returned. The family has repeatedly declined to comment on the cheating allegation.Martinez has an unlisted phone number and could not be reached for comment.At the time of the "20/20" broadcast, Martinez said she dropped out of USC because she couldn't afford the tuition. She said she learned a great deal by doing Laurie's class work.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.