ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- Yemaya Stallworth came to Clark Atlanta University to get an engineering degree at a school where her teachers and classmates looked like her: black.But that option may soon disappear -- if not for her, then for the students who come after her.The historically black university has decided to eliminate the engineering department in May 2008 as part of a cost-cutting move at financially troubled Clark Atlanta. The department is Georgia's only black engineering program."It's really our cultural responsibility to graduate from and be taught by our own people and to bring more children in and have them follow our path. That's going to be taken away from us," said Stallworth, a 20-year-old sophomore from New York City who hopes to earn her degree before the shutdown.Clark Atlanta's trustees voted in 2003 to eliminate the engineering department along with the school of library studies, the international affairs department, the allied health professions program and the systems science doctorate program.The board cited the university's $7.5 million deficit and a need to concentrate on areas like business, mass media, biology, education and social work -- disciplines President Walter Broadnax said would draw more donors and raise Clark Atlanta's profile."We got into financial trouble because we had spread ourselves too thin," Broadnax wrote last March.Eight engineering professors and a group of engineering students filed a lawsuit last Friday in hopes of saving the program, which has 85 students. A hearing is set for November 10."There's a dire need for us to produce black engineers," said Kester Garraway, a senior in mechanical engineering. "The faculty can better relate to our struggles -- some of us need that one-on-one time that we get at CAU."The lawsuit alleges Broadnax based the phase-out on personal preferences, not on financial needs or department performance."We want the issue revisited," department chairman Lebone Moeti said. "It will be clear that the department should be put back together."Provost Dorcas Bowles said the trustees' decision is final.Clark Atlanta's program, which began in 1994, offers students majors in mechanical, chemical, electrical and civil engineering.With the program closed, students will have to rely solely on an existing program where students attend Clark Atlanta for three years before transferring to one of 11 other schools to finish their engineering education, getting two degrees after five years from both institutions. One popular choice is engineering powerhouse Georgia Tech.But that would mean Clark Atlanta students would have to leave their alma mater. And at a school like Georgia Tech, they would miss the unique experience of attending a historically black college, the engineering program's defenders say."The drive they have to get postdoctoral degrees, to create their own businesses, to become consultants, is because of the foundation they got at a historically black college," said Temitayo Akinrefon, a graduate student in engineering at the University of Central Florida in Orlando and regional chairwoman of the National Society of Black Engineers.The move also means paying for an extra year of tuition. Many of Clark Atlanta's students are on financial aid.The department's closing would bring the number of engineering programs at historically black colleges nationwide to 13. Most are in the South, including two each in Alabama, Louisiana and Virginia."The need that led to the creation of the program at Clark Atlanta has not been fully met or addressed," said Georgia Tech engineering professor Augustine Esogbue, his school's longest-serving black professor. "Apart from educating more black engineers, there's a need for our people to develop the ability and the skills to run technical institutions that will not be met by Tech or any other majority school."Clark Atlanta's department has produced 102 graduates between 1999 and 2003, Many have gone on to careers in academia or jobs with NASA and companies like Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Ford -- corporations that also donate to the school.Faculty members say their program is not a drain on Clark Atlanta and actually generates more than $2 million a year in corporate sponsorships.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AMHERST, Massachusetts (AP) -- Accustomed to low and flat New Orleans, Tameka Noel finds herself huffing and puffing as she walks the hilly campus of Amherst College near the Berkshire Mountains. And though it's just October, it already feels like winter to her.She misses friends, and Cajun food, and Bourbon Street, which puts small-town Amherst's nightlife to shame.She and the six other students from Xavier University who wound up here this semester won't lie and tell you Hurricane Katrina was the best thing that ever happened to them, just because they get to spend time at an elite liberal arts college. They will, however, say they are grateful for the hospitality, and that -- when all is said and done -- their time at Amherst might have broadened their education."Some days are difficult and others aren't," said Noel, a senior from New Boston, Texas, who is part of Xavier's well-regarded premed program. "But I think being outside your comfort zone is something everybody should experience."An estimated 75,000 college students were displaced from New Orleans by the storm. Many are still in the South, or at least at schools close to family. But others are temporarily enrolled at colleges far from home, both geographically and culturally. About a dozen from Xavier, a historically black, Roman Catholic school, were taken in by Amherst and nearby Williams -- schools some would call archetypal New England liberal arts colleges.Around the country, host schools have worked hard to make the students feel welcome. Loyola of Chicago, which accommodated about 300, hosted a Midwest-themed welcome barbecue and a party to watch a New Orleans Saints football game. Washington & Lee University had Cajun night in the dining hall. Santa Clara University in California gave students skateboards and offered a one-time class called "Skateboard Etiquette 101" -- figuring it would help students both get around and feel more Californian.Amherst took its visitors shopping for the winter clothes they suddenly needed, and is even paying for them to fly home for Thanksgiving. In the classroom, it organized tutorials to help them catch up after missing the first two weeks of class. College officials say the students are doing fine academically.For the Xavier students, it's a way to get the courses they need to stay on track to medical school. But it's also a chance to try some new things. At Xavier, they said, most classes are in a lecture-and-drill format. Their Amherst seminars have been a nice change of pace in both structure and content."We discussed homosexuality, which is definitely a big taboo at Xavier, being Catholic and all that," said Noel, who added an elective on "cross-cultural constructions of gender" to her science coursework. The different classroom experience "is something I've enjoyed," she said.In interviews with students scattered across the country, several said they had found the chance to spend a few months at another college unexpectedly valuable."I wouldn't take it back. I honestly wouldn't," said Dawnyel Verrett, a junior from Loyola of New Orleans who is at Santa Clara and says she has been warmly welcomed -- and enjoyed discovering Mexican food. One of 19 displaced undergraduates at Washington & Lee, in tiny Lexington, Virginia, Tulane sophomore Jennifer Comarda says she has enjoyed some aspects of small-town life, like getting to know the man who works at a local ice cream shop.And being at Loyola of Chicago has allowed Zac Markey, who had expected to start at Loyola of New Orleans this fall, the chance to sample some bands on the local music scene.But make no mistake: Small and unexpected pleasures aside, being displaced is tough, for all sorts of reasons."I think all of us here are getting a little bit of cabin fever," said Comarda, who had never spent more than a few days outside her home state of Louisiana. "We're so used to going to the movies and having so many opportunities in a big city, going to the mall. There's no mall here. There's a Wal-Mart."Markey says he's never quite felt comfortable at Loyola of Chicago. "I'm not getting used to anything here," he said. "I kind of just see it as getting a few credits out of the way."People have been friendly, but he hasn't made close friends: "There's definitely a division between the Chicago students and the (New Orleans) students. They're from two different cultures."Some, like Josh Solowiejczyk, a Tulane student relocated to the University of Pennsylvania, have done New Orleans-related charity work to keep up their connection to the city. He has raised over $15,000 for a children's charity by selling bracelets. Others are showing up at recruiting events for their New Orleans colleges.But most students said they hadn't become involved with campus extracurricular activities; catching up on coursework was a higher priority.In some respects, the upperclassmen, who are far away from friends and feel like they are missing the best years of college, seem the most frustrated. Freshmen were already prepared for a new scene this fall, so the change is not necessarily as jarring."The hardest part is to know how to find the things we need to live day-to-day," said Terilyn Lake, a Xavier senior from Jackson, Mississippi, who talked about her experience while at an Amherst dining hall. "I don't feel much of a culture shock. It's just a lot of unknowns.""I feel like a freshman again," she said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AP) -- When architect Eero Saarinen was creating the design of this city's famed Gateway Arch, he constructed his first model out of pipe cleaners.A long way from its humble beginnings, the shimmering steel Arch celebrated its 40th anniversary Friday.The original builders autographed posters of the monument as they answered questions from visitors, and an exhibit on Saarinen opened in the museum beneath the Arch. Book signings were held for an anniversary publication, "The Gateway Arch, An Architectural Dream."Schoolchildren who had never seen the Arch came for the first time."Well, 40 years," said a silver-haired Susan Saarinen of Golden, Colorado, daughter of the late architect, who last saw the Arch at age 20. "Not very much time compared with the pyramids, but the last time I was here I had blonde hair and computer-aided design didn't exist."The idea for a memorial in St. Louis began in 1933 with lawyer Luther Ely Smith, who was looking for a way to beautify the city's run-down riverfront, the first glimpse many visitors got of St. Louis.Although work was done to secure and clear 90 acres, the idea for a memorial was not revitalized until two years after World War II.Saarinen created a design that would mark President Thomas Jefferson's role in the nation's westward expansion (Jefferson signed the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, which doubled the size of the United States) and honor the 19th century migration of hundreds of thousands of people to the West at a time when St. Louis was the last major city before the frontier.Saarinen recounted in a 1948 newspaper article how he came up with the Arch's design by thinking about how earlier memorials to "our three greatest men" -- Jefferson, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln -- each had a distinct geometric shape.He began to envision a dome with a design more open than the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, perhaps one that touched the ground at three points."We tried it in a very crude way; the only things we could find to make it with were some pipe cleaners. But three legs did not seem to fit in the plan, so we tried it with two legs, like a big arch."The design competition that Saarinen's team entered in 1947-48 had 172 submissions, including one from his father, the well-known architect Eliel Saarinen. Eero was just 38 and his father's reputation far surpassed his own at the time.When a Saarinen advanced in the competition, Eliel received a telegram congratulating him and the family broke out a bottle of champagne."Two hours later the family received a phone call from an embarrassed competition official," Eero's daughter, Susan Saarinen, Susan Saarinen said in the new book. It was young Eero, and not his father, who had a chance to win. "Eliel, a very proud father, broke out a second bottle of champagne" to toast his son.Eero Saarinen died in 1961, before the Arch's construction from 1963 to 1965. The new exhibit runs through July 16.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(Southern Living) -- My husband loves a good scary story, so we decided to take a ghost tour in Charleston, South Carolina -- home to legions of haints, spirits, specters and a banshee or two. Waiting with a group at Waterfront Park at 7:30 p.m., we met our guide, Nick, who took us on a wonderful walking tour filled with spooky tales.Nick began by explaining that he took his tales from the book "The Ghosts of Charleston," written by Julian T. Buxton III. "Charleston doesn't have more ghosts than other cities," said Nick. "Charleston just knows how to cash in on it." The first story he told involved the old Cooper River Bridge."A family was coming back from staying on Sullivan's Island in 1966," Nick began. "They were starting over the bridge when the father saw a car up ahead. It looked like it was out of 1945 -- an old green Oldsmobile -- and it was stopping and starting on the bridge. He decided to move around the car."Nick said the old car held two young children and a lady in the back seat, looking pale and lifeless, wearing 1940s clothing. In the front seat, a man and woman sat, both with eyes sunken into their skulls. Frightened, the father slammed on his brakes and let the old car pass. Then it vanished.Research later revealed that a ship, which had broken loose from its moorings in 1946, hit one of the main support pillars of the Cooper River Bridge and caused its collapse. One car -- a green 1940 Oldsmobile with a family of five inside -- was trying to get across the bridge and went into the river.Strange bedfellowsAnother ghost tale had a different twist. Nick guided us to the location of a popular inn on South Battery as he relayed the story of the Gentleman Ghost. "While elderly twin ladies were staying here at the Battery Carriage House Inn in Room No. 10, one went to sleep, but the other one had an odd feeling about the room," related Nick. "As she lay awake in the middle of the night, she saw a man walking back and forth across the floor. He was dressed for a fancy party." Nick said that the ghost floated up next to the amazed elderly woman in bed and put his arm around her. When she called out to her sister, the man disappeared. Charleston offers visitors a wealth of activities year-round. "We think the spirit is the ghost of a young Charleston man," said Nick. "He found that his best friend had married his girl. He probably climbed to the third-floor balcony and jumped, landing where Room No. 10 is. We think he's come back to get a wife." Nick added that only women see this ghost.He continued his stories, leading our enthralled group through Charleston's historic downtown, pausing for stories at St. Philip's Episcopal Church and its cemetery, East Bay Street and the Wagener Building (now Southend Brewery & Smokehouse), and the Dock Street Theatre."We find that people who are very skeptical are the ones who see ghosts," noted Nick. No, I didn't see a real, un-live ghost on my tour, but I certainly learned a lot about Charleston and its otherworldly inhabitants. Plus, we had a spirited good time.Photography by Gary Clark, Art Meripol

(SPACE.com) -- A major dust storm has just broken out on Mars and the event will be visible this weekend with good-sized backyard telescopes.The timing is incredible. Amateur skywatchers around the world are planning to gaze at Mars Saturday night because it will be closer to Earth than anytime until the year 2018. (Full story)The dust storm was no more than a small bright dot Thursday yet it was large and obvious Friday, as seen in images taken by Clay Sherrod at the Arkansas Sky Observatories.NASA took note and is monitoring signals from its Mars rovers, one of which has detected signs of the storm, SPACE.com has learned.The storm "will be quite obvious and plainly visible in even small telescopes from the Western Hemisphere for about the next week," Sherrod said in an email to colleagues that was forwarded to SPACE.com.The storm has seven appendages that stretch in all directions, Sherrod said. The overall cloud is about 700 to 800 miles across, according to estimates by longtime Mars-watcher Joel Warren, Sherrod said.Warren, of Amarillo, TX, told SPACE.com that he took the first image of the storm rotating into view early Friday using his 8-inch telescope. He notified Sherrod and others of its existence.The dusty cloud is spreading at a speed of about 35 mph and may become larger by the weekend.Dusty planetDust storms are fairly common on Mars. Small storms have been known to swell and engulf the entire planet, as occurred in 2001.In 2003, Mars made the closest pass to Earth that had occurred for 60,000 years. This weekend, it won't be quite that close, but still better than the other close approaches it makes every 26 months.Earth is closer to the Sun, so it effectively passes Mars every 26 months as both worlds orbit the central star.Mars will be 43,137,071 miles (69,422,386 kilometers) from Earth at around 11:25 p.m. ET Saturday. In truth, the view will be basically the same as the night before and the night after. But the event is being marked by star parties in many communities.Sherrod said the dust storm is not currently visible during nighttime hours from Europe or Australia.Mars is a fuzzy point of light in the late evening sky now, in the East. In the predawn, it looms in the western sky. Small telescopes will reveal Mars as a disk, rather than a point of light. Good-sized backyard telescopes, generally about 3 inches or larger, show details of the planet's surface.The view from MarsNASA's Mars rover Opportunity, currently exploring the Meridiani Planum, has seen some signs of the dust storm, which is apparently nearby."This may be the second biggest dust storm that Opportunity has seen," Mark Lemmon, a rover science team member from Texas A&M University, told SPACE.com, adding that he has seen the images taken by Sherrod. "I'd seen those this morning and I waited very impatiently for the rover's downlink to come in."Lemmon said that data returned to Earth Friday by Opportunity showed elevated dust levels at Meridiani Planum, which were measured at an optical depth of about 1.4. The largest dust storm experienced by the rover occurred in June and rated an optical depth of about 2, he added.For comparison, a smoggy day in Los Angeles would rate an optical depth of about 1.0, and moderate days on Mars are about 0.5, NASA officials said.Martian dust storms blot out sunlight from rover panels, but otherwise are relatively harmless to the robotic explorers, Lemmon said.While dust storm activity in Opportunity's region of Mars is winding down, team members with NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiters noticed a rise in activity about two weeks ago, Lemmon said, adding that researchers are not sure how large the current storm could grow."We started seeing more and more dusting on the solar panels," he added. "And we have indirect evidence that these storms are windy. We've seen material blown out of the rover tracks over the last two weeks."Tickled by the fingersLemmon suspects that Opportunity experienced one of the "fingers" of the storm photographed by Sherrod, adding that later atmospheric measurements were lower than the 1.4 optical depth seen earlier, but not quite at the moderate 0.5."Because we got the warning that something was happening...we were able to get in some atmospheric observations in," Lemmon said. "So if this does give us a direct hit over the rover, we're ready."Lemmon said he and other researchers are eager to learn the properties of the dust within the storm and compare it to the material Opportunity sees daily.Meanwhile, Opportunity's robotic twin Spirit has found some signs of additional atmospheric dust at its Gusev Crater landing site on the other side of Mars.Lemmon said Spirit detected an optical depth of about 0.6, still well within the moderate range, but would likely not experience as significant an increase in dust levels as Opportunity.SPACE.com's Tariq Malik contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- NASA trumpeted five years of human flight on the international space station on Thursday, at a time when U.S. astronauts need Russian vehicles to get there and space agency finances are under fire for mismanagement.Former residents of the orbiting outpost gathered at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to reminisce about their voyages in a televised briefing featuring video clips of weightless space voyagers caroming around with such props as bite-size candies, a guitar and Hawaiian shirts.The first station crew arrived at the complex on November 2, 2000. Ed Lu, a member of the first two-person crew to travel to the station after the fatal disintegration of space shuttle Columbia in 2003, described his impressions."We closed the hatch ... Yuri (Malenchenko, Lu's Russian crewmate) and I looked at each other and said to each other, 'What have we gotten ourselves into? You're stuck with me and I'm stuck with you for the next six months. I hope this goes well,'" Lu said. "As it turned out, it went extremely well. It went by much faster than I ever thought it would go."The cost of the ISS, including its development, assembly and operation, could well exceed $100 billion, shared between the participating nations.Only one shuttle has traveled to the station since the Columbia accident, which killed all seven shuttle crew members. With the shuttle fleet grounded until at least May 2006, Lu and Malenchenko were ferried aloft by a Russian Soyuz space taxi, currently the only mode of human transport to the station.Both houses of the U.S. Congress had to pass legislation to ensure that Americans will continue to have a ride aboard Soyuz until 2011, because of the Iran Nonproliferation Act, which bars the U.S. use of most Russian space technology as long as Russia exports nuclear and missile technology to Iran.President George W. Bush is expected to sign a waiver to the act that allows astronaut travel to the station aboard Russian space ships. The waiver would cover astronauts until the shuttles are phased out in 2010 after the completion of the space station.First envisioned in the 1980s, the 16-nation project has been repeatedly scaled down as costs rose. At this point, NASA figures it will take 18 shuttle flights -- down from 28 -- to complete construction. No station construction flights will occur until after next May's mission, while NASA tackles a persistent problem with falling debris on liftoff.The U.S. space agency must deal with physical challenges, including unexpected delays prompted by recent hurricanes, but it also must get its finances in order.A report issued on Thursday by Congress' General Accountability Office found a long-term high risk for waste, fraud and abuse at NASA, largely due to the lack of reliable information on how much it spends on contractors and how well the contractors perform.In 2003, NASA's independent auditors found the agency could not reconcile a $1.7 billion difference between what NASA thought it had and what was actually in its balance in the U.S. Treasury.That difference was whittled to $46.6 million by the end of September, according to Gwendolyn Sykes, the space agency's chief financial officer, in testimony at a congressional hearing on NASA's finances."The testimony we've heard has been depressing, totally depressing," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican. "NASA has an image of overcoming challenges that are preventing humankind from going into space. It seems that NASA has been unable to overcome the challenge of good financial record-keeping."Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Worried that bird flu in Asia could morph into a human flu pandemic, healthy patients, schools and even some doctors are asking if they should stock up on Tamiflu -- the one medicine experts believe might help fight the virus.Although some doctors' groups say no, the agency in charge of the nation's public health has no answer. That has frustrated local health officials who want to know how to advise people."Those are questions that are under discussion," Christina Pearson, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said this week. "Right now we're focused on the seasonal flu."HHS includes the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, whose job includes dispensing public health recommendations."A lot of people have asked the CDC to provide some guidance about this, with patients asking doctors for prescriptions," said Dr. Craig Conover, medical director for the Illinois Department of Public Health.Personal hoarding isn't fair, he said, "but on the other hand, I have heard people say that the more this gets used, the more manufacturing ability they'll develop. We've chosen to wait for CDC guidance on this."Tamiflu is a prescription pill designed to treat regular flu. But it also seems to offer some protection to people against the type of flu that has devastated Asian poultry flocks and is spreading to birds in Europe. Bird flu has killed more than 60 people over the past two years.On Thursday, Tamiflu's Swiss maker, Roche Holding AG, said it was temporarily suspending shipment to private U.S. suppliers because of increased global demand."We've seen recently some very large purchases at the wholesale level, companies or large entities who are possibly hoarding Tamiflu right now," said Darien Wilson, spokeswoman at Roche's U.S. offices in Nutley, N.J.Prescriptions for the drug last week were nearly quadruple what they were a year before, according to Verispan, a Pennsylvania-based company that monitors pharmacy sales.And this winter's flu season hasn't even started yet.Maura Robbins of Chicago said she and her husband have discussed whether to seek prescriptions for their two young children as a precaution against a pandemic. They won't for now, because they "didn't want to buy into the hysteria or overreact," she said.Dr. Bennett Kaye, a pediatrician affiliated with Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital, said he tells patients that stocking up on Tamiflu "is definitely a bad, bad idea."The virus circulating among Asian birds is not spreading between people and is not even very easy for people to catch from birds."Parents should not be worried about their kids catching bird flu this year unless they're planning on visiting a chicken farm in Vietnam," Kaye said.Published reports suggest that some doctors are keeping supplies of Tamiflu to give to family and friends in case the bird flu mutates into a bigger threat, but no doctors reached for this story acknowledged that.The American Medical Association is against personal stockpiling and says the misuse of Tamiflu could lead to drug-resistant flu strains.The American Academy of Pediatrics is preparing a statement urging pediatricians "not to do personal or organizational stockpiles," said Dr. John Bradley, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics' infectious disease committee. "The last sentence of the statement is that no pediatrician on this committee has a personal stockpile or is prescribing the drug" for healthy people.Dr. Deborah Yokoe, an infectious disease specialist at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, said, "Doctors are human, too. They have the same sorts of anxieties themselves. I'm sure some are keeping supplies, too."Last week, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health issued a notice advising against personal stockpiling, prompted by patients' questions, and Yokoe said such messages will discourage some doctors from writing advance prescriptions for a potential flu pandemic.Tamiflu isn't the only hot commodity being sought because of pandemic worries.Kimberly-Clark Health Care says it has "ramped up to full capacity" face mask production to keep up with bird flu-linked demand from governments, hospitals and individuals. Surgical N-95 masks protect against airborne disease transmission.Company spokesman David Parks declined to specify numbers but said some orders have been 50 times higher than usual.3M spokeswoman Jacqueline Berry also reported a rise in face-mask orders but said reasons for demand include hurricane-related mold problems.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan (AP) -- The ringleader of a scheme that bilked investors out of millions of dollars was sentenced to 25 years in prison Friday, but not before the screaming defendant was removed from the courtroom.Janet Mavis Marcusse was convicted of defrauding 577 people of $12.7 million and laundering the money through bank accounts opened under the names of nonexistent churches. Marcusse presented her scheme as a way for investors to capitalize on the tax-free status of churches.Marcusse, 49, spoke for more than an hour at the hearing, accusing the government of setting her up. She walked away from the lectern as U.S. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell began issuing her sentence, prompting the judge to order U.S. marshals to bring her back, prosecutor Mike Schipper said.Marcusse yelled repeatedly at the judge while she was restrained, saying "I don't recognize you" before she was removed from the courtroom, Schipper said. Bell sentenced her and ordered the court reporter to give the defendant a copy of the transcript, the prosecutor said."It's unfortunate that she was unable to maintain the decorum of the court and show the respect to Judge Bell that Judge Bell showed her by allowing her to speak for over an hour," said David L. Kaczor, a federal public defender assigned to help Marcusse prepare her defense. She had refused to be represented by a lawyer.Prosecutors said Marcusse led a ring that preyed on investors including many retirees who lost their life savings. There were victims throughout the United States, but most were from western Michigan.Paul Stinger, 63, of Spring Lake, lost about $150,000 in the scam. He had retired from his production job at Steelcase Inc., a Grand Rapids-based maker of office furniture where about a quarter of the victims worked, but he now has a construction job to make ends meet."I lost everything," he said. "I have no retirement."Marcusse was convicted in June of 61 counts, including conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering. Seven others convicted in the case were sentenced this month to prison terms ranging from five to 20 years.Marcusse was living in Grand Rapids when the investigation started but fled with her investment records to the Branson, Missouri, area in 2002. She remained a fugitive until 2004, when authorities tracked her to a cabin in a wooded area of rural Missouri, prosecutors said.Marcusse accused the government of tampering with witnesses and other prosecutorial misconduct. Schipper called the allegations "absolutely baseless."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Congressional Democrats sharply criticized the Bush administration Friday for deliberately trying to silence critics of its Iraq policy, after senior White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was indicted for his alleged role in revealing the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame.Plame's husband, diplomat Joseph Wilson, was an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq. (Related story)"The criminal indictments of a top White House official mark a sad day for America and another chapter in the Republicans' culture of corruption," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said. "At the heart of these indictments was the effort by the Bush administration to discredit critics of its Iraq policy with reckless disregard for national security and the public trust," Pelosi said.Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, called on President Bush to address the "very serious questions raised by the (Plame) investigation," and sought to broaden the Democratic criticism by charging the White House willfully used faulty intelligence data to justify its case for war against Iraq."This case is bigger than the leak of highly classified information," Reid said. "It is about how the Bush White House manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to bolster its case for the war in Iraq and to discredit anyone who dared to challenge the president."But Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, cautioned that people should not rush to judgment about whether Libby is guilty of breaking any laws."Out of respect for our system of justice, everyone needs to take a deep breath and not judge those involved until it has been proven they are anything other than innocent," Hutchison said. "Today's announcement is the middle of the process, not the end."Libby was indicted on counts of making false statements, obstruction of justice and perjury in the CIA leak probe. He has resigned his position as Cheney's top aide.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- Fifty-one members of the New Orleans Police Department -- 45 officers and six civilian employees -- were fired Friday for allegedly abandoning their posts before or after Hurricane Katrina."They were terminated due to them abandoning the department prior to the storm," acting superintendent Warren Riley said. "They either left before the hurricane or 10 to 12 days after the storm and we have never heard from them."Police were unable to account for 240 officers on the 1,450-member force following Katrina. The force has been investigating them to see if they left their posts during the storm.The mass firing was the first action taken against the missing officers. Another 15 officers resigned when placed under investigation for abandonment."This isn't representative of our department," Riley said. "We had a lot of heroes that stepped up after the storm."Another 45 officers resigned from the force after the August 29 storm. The resignations were for personal reasons ranging from relocation to new employment, Riley said.The fired officers do not have the right to appeal, Riley said."The regulation says that if you leave the job for a period of 14 days without communication you can be terminated," Riley said. "I don't think they have the right to a civil service appeal."Lt. David Benelli, president of the New Orleans police union, said he had no sympathy for those who abandoned their post."The worst thing you can call a police officer is a deserter," Benelli said.None of the officers had contacted the union about fighting the dismissals, he said.Two former New Orleans police officers and a New Orleans firefighter were rejected for jobs in the Dallas Police Department because of allegations they deserted their jobs during Hurricane Katrina."When you are ready and take an oath of office and you do not fulfill that office, that's an issue for us and it should be an issue for law enforcement in general," Dallas Deputy Chief Floyd Simpson said Thursday.Hearings for the New Orleans officers that remain under investigation for abandonment will begin November 8 and last four to six months, Riley said.The department is also investigating the beating of a man during his arrest and the alleged assault of an Associated Press television producer."It's still ongoing, but we hope to have a conclusion within a few weeks," Riley said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The CIA leak investigation is "not over," special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said Friday after announcing charges against I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff.Fitzgerald said he will be keeping the investigation "open to consider other matters." But, he said, "the substantial bulk of the work in this investigation is concluded."Libby resigned Friday after a federal grand jury indicted him on five charges related to the leak probe: one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements. (Charges explained)Libby said in a written statement he is "confident that at the end of this process I will be completely and totally exonerated." "Today is a sad day for me and my family," he said."I have spent much of my career working on behalf of the American people," he said. "I have conducted my responsibilities honorably and truthfully." (Quote gallery)During an afternoon news conference, Fitzgerald outlined what he called the "very serious" charges. (See video of Fitzgerald outlining charges -- 13:50)"A CIA officer's name was blown, and there was a leak, and we needed to figure out how that happened, who did it, why, whether a crime was committed, whether we could prove it, whether we should prove it," he said. "Given national security was at stake, it was especially important that we find out accurate facts."The charges against a high-ranking official "show the world that this is a country that takes its law seriously," Fitzgerald said.Libby was charged with lying to FBI agents and to the grand jury about conversations with reporters. (Read the full text of the indictment)Libby testified that he heard CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity from Tim Russert of NBC News when, in fact, he learned of Plame's identify from other government officials, the indictment alleged."Mr. Libby's story that he was at the tail end of a chain of phone calls, passing on from one reporter what he heard from another, was not true," Fitzgerald said. "He was at the beginning of the chain of phone calls -- the first official to disclose this information outside the government to a reporter -- and then he lied about it afterwards, under oath and repeatedly," he said.Libby's attorney Joseph Tate said Fitzgerald concluded Libby did not violate a law that makes it a crime to intentionally disclose the identity of a covert agent. (Watch as news of Libby's resignation breaks -- :52) Tate said in a written statement that Libby is innocent, and he asked that the public not judge the case until a verdict is returned.He said he and his client were "dismayed" and "surprised" at the charges, and accused Fitzgerald of turning "alleged inconsistencies in Mr. Libby's recollection and those of others" into charges.White House 'saddened'Libby discussed Plame's identity in the summer of 2003 with reporters after her husband, diplomat Joseph Wilson, wrote a highly critical op-ed column in The New York Times that challenged intelligence used as part of the rationale for the U.S.-led war in Iraq.Descriptions of those conversations by reporters say Libby criticized the CIA and discussed Plame's identity in part to cast doubt on Wilson's accounts in the Times and elsewhere, the indictment alleged. The 22-page indictment said Libby -- before discussing Wilson and Plame with reporters -- discussed them with several people in the White House, identifying them only by title and alleging no wrongdoing on their part.They included Cheney, then-press secretary Ari Fleischer, an undersecretary of state identified by two sources as Marc Grossman and a senior White House official referred to as "Official A." Two other sources close to the probe said "Official A" is Karl Rove, President Bush's top political adviser. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said the charges "suggest a senior White House aide put politics ahead of our national security and the rule of law."These are so far the only indictments in a nearly two-year investigation. If convicted on all counts, Libby, 55, could face a maximum of 30 years in prison and a $1.25 million fine, Fitzgerald said.Fitzgerald said Libby would not be arrested and refused to discuss any possible plea deal. Court officials said Judge Reggie B. Walton has been assigned to the case.The indictment comes at a time of political difficulty for the White House and Republicans, with the president's approval ratings at a low ebb. Bush on Friday called the legal proceedings "serious" and said he accepted the resignation of Libby, who also was an assistant to the president and a national security adviser to Cheney. (Watch Bush's reaction -- 1:08)Speaking to reporters at the White House, the president said Libby has "sacrificed much in his service to this country," and he cautioned that "in our system each individual is presumed innocent and entitled to due process.""While we're all saddened by today's news, we remain wholly focused on the many issues and opportunities facing this country," he said. Cheney said in a statement that he accepted Libby's resignation "with deep regret," calling him "one of the most capable and talented individuals I have ever known."'No decision'Rove, who testified four times before the grand jury, was not indicted Friday, but sources said he is not out of legal jeopardy. (Full story)Rove's attorney Robert Luskin issued a statement Friday in which he said Fitzgerald "advised Mr. Rove that he has made no decision about whether or not to bring charges.""We are confident that when the special counsel finishes his work, he will conclude that Mr. Rove has done nothing wrong," Luskin's statement said.The event that triggered the legal and political quagmire was a syndicated newspaper column by Robert Novak, published on July 14, 2003, about Wilson.Before Novak's column, Plame's role as a CIA officer was classified and "not widely known" outside the intelligence community, Fitzgerald said. In a written statement, Wilson on Friday called the indictments an "important step in the criminal justice process.""It is certainly not a day to celebrate," Wilson said, adding that he and his wife "are confident that justice will be done." "Revealing my wife Valerie's secret CIA identity was very wrong and harmful to our nation," Wilson said. "I feel that my family was attacked for my speaking the truth about the events that led our country to war."CNN's Kelli Arena, Dana Bash, John King and Kevin Bohn contributed to this report.

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Three explosions ripped through New Delhi within minutes of each other Saturday evening, killing at least 55 people.Most of the deaths occurred at a marketplace crowded with thousands of people getting ready for India's festival of lights, the state of Delhi's chief minister, Sheila Dikshit, told CNN.She said at least 31 people died at the Sarojini Nagar marketplace in central Delhi and the others were killed at the Paharganj marketplace, both packed with people preparing for the Hindu holiday of Diwali, India's largest festival.Police reported that the blasts wounded 155 people. (Watch a report on the explosions -- 2:18 )While it is not clear what caused the blasts, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's office said he believes it was a terrorist attack."This kind of cynical attack on the people of India is just not acceptable," Singh's media adviser, Sanjay Baru, told CNN.No group has claimed responsibility.The explosions occurred at two Delhi marketplaces and in the neighborhood of Govindpuri. Police said several people were critically injured in Govindpuri, but there were no reports of deaths. (A look at where the blasts happened)"It's a very sad day for all of us because Delhi is celebrating a festive season," Dikshit said.U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice offered her condolences in a written statement Saturday night."The United States condemns the multiple terror attacks in New Delhi, India," she said. "These acts are made more heinous in that they deliberately targeted innocent civilians preparing for holiday celebrations. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims."Witness: Bag explodedA man who owns a store near the Sarojini Nagar market told CNN's Satinder Bindra that he noticed an abandoned bag sitting near his store and warned people to get away. As people scattered, the owner said the bag exploded, gutting several nearby stores and causing a fire that spread to other buildings.The explosion caused a stampede as people in the crowded market tried to get away.Authorities said bodies are still being pulled from the debris, and they fear the death toll will rise.Many women and children sustained serious injuries.The blasts triggered fears throughout the capital, shattering some of the festive atmosphere that precedes Diwali.Fireworks are often set off in advance of Diwali, so many people who heard the blasts initially thought they were firecrackers.Authorities urged people not to panic and to stay away from crowded areas.Indian authorities had issued some warnings in advance of Diwali, saying people should beware of the possibility of violence. Such warnings have become standard in recent years, and there were no warnings of specific attacks being planned.While Indian authorities are blaming terrorists for Saturday's attack, they are not saying if a particular group is believed to be responsible.Pakistan's foreign office issued a statement condemning the attack, calling it a criminal act of terrorism, and expressing the government's sympathies with the people of India.Delhi was the site in December 2001 of an attack on Parliament in which nine police officers, a government staffer and all five terrorists were killed. It was blamed on Islamic militant groups backed by Pakistan, although Hindu-Muslim tensions are normally centered in the disputed region of Kashmir.CNN's John Raedler and Ram Ramgopal contributed to this report

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In death, Rosa Parks is joining a select few, including presidents and war heroes, accorded a public viewing in the Capitol Rotunda. It's the place where, six years ago, President Clinton and congressional leaders lauded the former seamstress for a simple act of defiance that changed the course of race relations.On Sunday, Parks becomes the first woman to lie in honor in the vast circular room under the Capitol dome.The House agreed by voice vote Friday that the body of Parks will lie in honor in the Rotunda on Sunday and Monday "so that the citizens of the United States may pay their last respects to this great American." The Senate approved the resolution Thursday night.Congress has authorized this rite only 29 times since homage was paid to Henry Clay in 1852. Those honored include Abraham Lincoln, Gen. John Pershing, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey and unknown soldiers from the world wars, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The most recent was President Reagan in June last year.Parks is one of the few not to be a government official or a member of the military. In 1909 Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the architect who designed Washington, D.C., was commemorated 84 years after his death. In 1998 two Capitol Police officers slain in the line of duty lay in the ornate room 180 feet below the Capitol dome.Parks, arrested in 1955 after refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, turned to her minister, the Rev. Martin Luther King, for aid. King in turn led a 381-day boycott of the city's bus system that helped initiate the modern civil rights movement."This brave, courageous spirit ignited a movement, not just in Montgomery, but a movement that spread like wildfire across the American South and the nation," said Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, a leader of the civil rights movement in the 1960s."The Capitol serves as a beacon of American liberty, freedom and democracy, and Rosa Parks served as the mother of the America we grew to be," House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said in a joint statement.Parks, who for many years worked in the office of Rep. John Conyers, D-Michigan, was honored with the Congressional Gold Medal in ceremonies in the Rotunda in June 1999.Clinton said he was 9 years old when Parks refused to give up her seat. and he and his friends "couldn't figure out anything we could do since we couldn't even vote. So we began to sit in the back of the bus when we got on."In 1987, Parks co-founded a nonprofit group, the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, to help young people in Detroit, her home since 1957.According to Conyers' office, a memorial service will be held for Parks at the St. Paul AME Church in Montgomery on Sunday morning.Her body will then be flown to Washington for viewing in the Capitol on Sunday evening and Monday. President Bush is scheduled to attend memorial services at the Metropolitan AME Church in Washington on Monday, Conyers' office said. The White House said Bush would also go to the Rotunda to pay his respects.From Monday night until Wednesday morning, Parks will lie in repose at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit.The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, which has restored the bus on which she refused to give up her seat, will truck it to the Wright museum for display.Aretha Franklin is to sing at the funeral Wednesday at Greater Grace Temple Church in Detroit, said an official with the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute of Self Development.Officials in Detroit and Montgomery, meanwhile, said the first seats of their buses would be reserved as a tribute to Parks' legacy until her funeral. Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick put a black ribbon Thursday on the first passenger seat of one of about 200 buses where seats will be reserved."We cannot do enough to pay tribute to someone who has so positively impacted the lives of millions across the world," Kilpatrick said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SAN ANDRES, Colombia (AP) -- A strengthening Hurricane Beta headed for Central America's Caribbean coast Saturday after lashing the small Colombian island of Providencia with harsh winds, heavy rains and high surf.Nicaraguan troops evacuated thousands of people from low-lying areas as forecasters predicted the Category 1 hurricane could become a Category 3 storm before reaching the mainland Sunday, near the border between Nicaragua and Honduras. It was not expected to hit the United States.In Honduras, intense wind and rain were hitting the coast and President Ricardo Maduro declared a maximum state of alert. He reminded people of Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which stalled over Honduras with 120 mph winds, sweeping away bridges, flooding neighborhoods and killing thousands.Several people sustained minor injuries, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said, without providing an exact figure. The calming news is that there were no fatalities," Uribe said Saturday in Bogota before boarding a plane for the region buffeted by Beta, the record 13th hurricane of this year's Atlantic storm season.At 5 p.m. EDT, the National Hurricane Center said the storm was about 75 miles east of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, moving westward at about 5 mph. Its maximum sustained winds were around 90 mph.The storm began pummeling mountainous Providencia late Friday, tearing roofs off wooden homes and causing hundreds of people to move to brick shelters in the highlands. Electricity and telephone service were knocked out for the 5,000 people on the Manhattan-sized island.Colombia's social welfare minister, Diego Palacio, told The Associated Press that several houses and a popular tourist footbridge were damaged, but there was little flooding. Phones and power remained off on the island, a former pirate outpost inhabited mostly by descendants of slaves who speak English as their first language. It lies about 125 miles off the Nicaraguan coast.In Nicaragua, troops evacuated 10,000 people from the far eastern coastal port of Cabo de Gracias a Dios, and from along the River Coco, both on the Honduras border, said Nicaragua's national civil defense director, Lt. Col. Mario Perez Cassar.Residents of low-lying coastal communities, mainly Indians, moved into schools and a hospital evacuated patients. People lined up at shops to buy supplies as strong winds and heavy rain buffeted Puerto Cabezas, where 32,000 residents prepared for the storm.The National Hurricane Center warned that Beta could bring a storm surge up to 13 feet when it made landfall and said 10 to 15 inches of rain could fall in Central America.Maduro urged Hondurans to get ready, stressing the importance of being prepared to avoid a tragedy like that which occurred during Hurricane Mitch seven years ago.Beta was the 13th hurricane this year, more than any Atlantic season on record. This season has also seen 23 named storms, more than at any point since record-keeping began in 1851. The previous record of 21 was set in 1933.Last week Tropical Storm Alpha formed, the first time a letter from the Greek alphabet has been used because the list of storm names was exhausted.Hurricane Wilma, the most recent storm to hit the United States, caused widespread outages and gasoline shortages across Florida; and the U.S. Gulf Coast is still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina, which caused chaos and devastation in New Orleans and surrounding areas in August.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistan strongly condemned multiple attacks in New Delhi Saturday as "terrorism."Explosions shook India's capital Saturday evening, tearing through markets jammed with shoppers ahead of the upcoming Hindu festival Diwali and killing scores of people, officials there said.The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement in Islamabad denouncing the attacks as "barbaric.""Pakistan strongly condemns the terrorist attacks in New Delhi, which have resulted in the loss of a number of innocent lives, " the statement said. "The attack in a crowded market place is a criminal act of terrorism. The people and government of Pakistan are shocked at this barbaric act and express deep sympathy with the families of the victims." The initial blast took place just before 6 p.m. in the main Paharganj market, when it was crowded with people shopping before Diwali, which is celebrated next week, fire department officials said. Minutes later, two more blasts shook the city. From 60 to 100 people were wounded, officials said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- Yahoo Inc. is doubling the price of its online music subscription service for portable MP3 players, ending a short-lived promotion that sought to lure consumers from Apple Computer Inc.'s market-leading iTunes store.Effective November 1, Yahoo will charge about $120 annually for access via download to more than 1 million songs that can then be transferred to portable players. The Internet powerhouse has been charging just under $60 annually -- a price most industry observers predicted wouldn't last when Yahoo entered the market in early May.Subscribing to the service on a monthly basis will cost $11.99, up from $6.99 under the initial pricing plan. That's closer to but still below services from Napster Inc. and RealNetworks Inc., which each charge just under $15 per month.With its service, Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo joined Napster and RealNetworks in trying to sell the concept of renting an unlimited amount of tunes for a set fee instead of buying copies individually.The rental approach is supposed to encourage customers to sample different genres and discover new artists. But if the subscription expires, the previously downloaded music becomes unplayable. Customers at Apple's iTunes store, by contrast, keep the songs they buy.Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said Yahoo's low rental prices didn't impress most consumers because the service isn't compatible with Apple's iPod -- which boasts about 75 percent of the market for portable players."About 90 percent of the (iTunes) music store's success has to do with the devices that it works with," Munster said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(CNN) -- Development and storms have eroded much of the coastal wetlands that provide "speed bumps" for approaching storms. CNN.com asked readers whether steps should be taken to rebuild them. Here is a sampling of those responses, some of which have been edited:It's terrible to me to think of the loss of New Orleans, as I grew up there. But I'd much rather see us spend "my" money rebuilding the wetlands than rebuilding cities on sand. "Build not your home upon the sand but upon a rock." Most of us who actually work hard for the pittance we earn simply cannot afford to continue rebuilding homes and businesses for those who choose to live on a delta, coastline, fault line, or national forest. Suzanne Core, Cripple Creek, ColoradoRebuilding Louisiana's coastal wetlands offers an opportunity to rebuild more than just a natural buffer to approaching storms. Those wetlands destroyed by short-sighted development are vital to the life histories of many marine animals and the industries dependant on them. They would also provide living space for many "noncommercial" species facing unrelenting habitat destruction. To those who say Nature can take care of itself, Nature has little defense against a bulldozer. Learn from our mistakes, and let's give these areas the appreciation and respect they deserve. David, North Charleston, South CarolinaI live in Florida and see everyday the destruction development has on coastal areas. My thoughts are simple, rebuild the damaged wetlands as a barrier, but do not allow commercial or residential development. I agree that for every disaster, insurance premiums rise -- why should I have to pay for someone else's lifestyle? If you choose to live close to the coast, you are choosing to place yourself closer to the forces of nature. Toni Anderson, Hilliard, FloridaWetlands are a major source of American food and need to be protected for that reason alone. Congress needs to back the Corps of Engineers so they can channel development away from wetlands. Today they exist without purpose, rubber stamping almost every wetland permit. Restoring and preserving wetlands should be a national priority. Catherine Driessen, Kimberly, WisconsinIsn't the ocean reclaiming its own territory anyway? Why are people arrogantly or ignorantly building up shorelines when we have professionals claiming a rise in the ocean levels every year? We've partly done this to ourselves; our world and climate are changing. But what I don't understand is how people can continue to build in these areas and have their damage compensated by taxpayers. If private citizens want to build in those areas, let them do so and insure it from their own pocket. Public or state contractors should be listening to those environmentalists that are shouting their concerns about global warming and its effects. Remember "The Day After Tomorrow"? Charles, Suffolk, VirginiaConsidering most of the comments against wetland rebuilding posted on the feedback page, I do not believe there is an accurate picture of the destruction that has occurred by unnatural processes (by us). Much of the Gulf Coast region has been prevented from regenerating itself by our "progress." We can build smarter without breaking the bank. Rita, Katrina, Ivan, and other hurricanes did not wipe out several hundred square miles of wetlands. We did. If there is no value to the coastal wetlands other than a "speed bump," please consider their value the next time you eat a plate of seafood. Stephen R., Meridian, Mississippi Wetlands are of vital importance to the coastal protection. They help to slow down and diminish storm surges, filter water of contaminants, and provide habitat that promote the spawning of fish, shellfish, and keep waterfowl populations up. The benefits are endless, both economic and environmental, that there should be no question, especially in this post-Katrina world, to save and preserve this nation's wetlands. Jennifer Heller, Washington Large-scale restoration projects, such as the proposed Third Conveyance Channel are the only projects capable of moving enough silt to build up the deltas we have lost to coastal erosion. And, these channels should rightfully receive 15-20 percent of the Mississippi River water above New Orleans, because when the silt continues flowing down past New Orleans, it drops off the outer continental shelf at the mouth of the river, not helping anyone. Henri Boulet, Larose, LouisianaYes. The rich natural resources of the region and the culture that they nurture, resources and culture that benefit and are enjoyed by many throughout the nation, depend on it. Restoration is vital to the productivity of the region and, based on engineering and science, is doable with the support of the American people and a commitment from Louisiana citizens to make the adjustments and sacrifices to make it work. Restoration is linked directly to the feasibility of securing flood protection sufficient to support commerce and economic activity that supports the region and the nation. Randy Lanctot, Baton Rouge, LouisianaThe loss of the state's coastal wetlands is a complicated issue. No matter how much money is thrown at the issue, some areas can be restored while others simply cannot be restored at any cost. The state's comprehensive Coast 2005 proposal should be used as a guide and funds spent only where there is some reasonable chance for effective action. Jay Huner, Boyce, LouisianaThe issue of rebuilding the coastal wetlands is not a choice between nature or business/commerce. Rebuilding the wetlands is the wisest decision for the environment AND for the economy. When wetlands thrive, so does the business of eco-tourism. If the wetlands are reconstructed, the coastal cities will be better protected saving millions (billions?) of dollars in future storm damage and savings perhaps thousands of lives. Healthy wetlands mean cleaner coastal waters and a flourishing fishing industry. It is time to realize that protecting the environment is about far more than hugging trees. Protecting the environment is about the economic health of a region, the physical well-being of area residents, and respect for Mother Nature and her creatures ... including mankind. Steve, Boulder, ColoradoI live along the Pacific coast in Costa Rica. We have three kilometers of beachfront and one kilometer of river frontage and all is natural forest or mangrove. Much of the forest and mangrove was here when the land was purchased and cleared land was allowed to return to its natural state with species common to this area. There was no planting of foreign species to the area. During the rages of Katrina, Rita and Wilma we, too, were affected indirectly with torrential rains. Our land remained intact with no serious flooding and no erosion. But our neighbors who had cleared wetlands, beachfront and riverfront all received major damage both in property and homes. A lesson to be learned? Definitely! Respect and learn to live with nature and you will be protected. Destroy nature and a high price will be paid. Diane, Dominical, Costa RicaKatrina took out 30 miles of land that wasn't wetland but was people's homes and businesses. Do the math on how many storms like that it'll take before your back yard is on the Gulf of Mexico. Adam, New Orleans, LouisianaYes, we should rebuild the wetlands. The Mississippi is the watershed for one-third of our nation's rain. It deposited sediment at the Gulf, creating the marshland, for thousands of years. When we rebuild, serious effort should be made to channel off the sediment all along the coastline to start rebuilding the marshes. In addition to providing a buffer for storms, the wetlands improve water quality, provide habitat for numerous wildlife species and support a multi-billion dollar fishing, sports and tourism industry. David Lindley, Boerne, Texas

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) -- Rivals India and Pakistan agreed on Sunday to open the border dividing earthquake-hit Kashmir to allow survivors and relief supplies to cross.The accord is politically significant for old enemies who have been talking peace for almost two years.And it will be logistically helpful in terms of getting aid to cut-off villages in the mountains near the five points where the border will be opened."The two sides agreed on denationalization of the arrangement on November 7, 2005, as a humanitarian gesture," said a joint statement issued in the early hours of Sunday.News that three bombs had exploded, killing more than 50 people in New Delhi overshadowed the diplomats in Islamabad, whose talks dragged through Saturday late into the night.The outcome will go some way to dispel perceptions that New Delhi and Islamabad were wasting time scoring points against each other during the disaster, and will lift the spirits of Kashmiri families who will be allowed across to see kin on the other side.But it is unlikely to mean much to most of the 3 million-plus people living in dire straits since the quake on October 8 killed over 56,000 people, the bulk of them in Pakistan.With the Himalayan winter just weeks away and millions homeless, fears are growing for the lives of tens of thousands of villagers in Kashmir's mountains.Natural threats, angry pleasResidents in Muzaffarabad, the ruined capital of Pakistani Kashmir, were rocked by more aftershocks on Saturday, adding to anxieties.A massive U.N.-led effort to deliver vital food and shelter has been hampered by landslides blocking many mountain roads.At Chakothi, the last town in Pakistani Kashmir on the road from Muzaffarabad to Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, residents were getting impatient with being cut off.Pakistani army engineers have cleared landslides, and cut new sections of road out of rocky slopes, but the route is still blocked for the last 11 km (7 miles) and the only way for aid to reach the wrecked town is on foot, or by helicopter.Supplies are short and people are getting angry."Open up! Don't treat us like this!" a group of men shouted at soldiers manning the gate of an army camp on Saturday where supplies are dropped off by helicopter.The men, part of a crowd of several hundred outside the camp gates, said they were waiting for tents and food."We've been waiting for two days. They treat us like dogs, like Indians," one man said.The checkpoint between Chakothi and Uri, on the Indian side, was designated as one of the five crossing points, but at present the road is impassable on both sides of the border.India lost 1,300 people in the quake, many of them in Uri.Pakistan is accepting some relief supplies from India -- which has offered $25 million in aid -- but has refused to let Indian troops join the rescue work on Pakistani soil.Two of the three wars fought by the India and Pakistan, since they won independence in 1947 were over Kashmir.NATO preparationsThe commander of NATO's mercy mission to Pakistan said he was relying on the Pakistani military to identify where the need for relief was greatest."We are responding to where we are asked to go and for that we rely on Pakistan to determine," Vice Admiral John Stufflebeem, of the U.S. Navy, told Reuters.The NATO mission is focused on Bagh district of Pakistani Kashmir where some 300,000 people are believed to be in need of help. Its priority will be to distribute relief, install water purification facilities, deploy medical teams and engineers to help restore an infrastructure that was 90 percent destroyed.Islamist opposition politicians have criticized President Pervez Musharraf for accepting NATO's offer to deploy up to 1,000 troops, chiefly engineering and medical units, to help his government cope with the disaster.NATO was expected to have 32 helicopters belonging to alliance members in Pakistan in the next several days. They are crucial in delivering aid because of destroyed roads.The United Nations says unusually heavy snow was expected within weeks and thousands more lives were at risk unless donors give another $250 million immediately.With many survivors still without food or shelter, only about $117 million of $550 million needed has so far been provided and the U.N. warned that without more money it could keep its vital helicopter fleet running for only another week.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Pentagon has yielded to demands from residents on the Japanese island of Okinawa and committed to cut the number of U.S. Marines in the country by nearly half.The announcement from the Pentagon came Saturday and stated that the United States and Japan had agreed to shift 7,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam during the next six years. There are 14,460 U.S. Marines in Japan, and almost all of them are stationed in Okinawa.About 47,000 troops from all U.S. military branches are in Japan, and most of those also are in Okinawa.Earlier in the week, Japan and the United States agreed to close the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the crowded southern part of Okinawa and move its functions to Camp Schwab in the north, according to The Associated Press. Local residents have held widespread protests periodically during the past decade in response to U.S. military personnel committing crimes.Protests boiled over in 1995 after three American servicemen were found guilty of raping an Okinawan schoolgirl.Since 1995, U.S. service members have been convicted at least five times on sexual assault charges. An airman was convicted of rape in 2002.In July, Okinawa police in July charged another U.S. airman following the molestation of a 10-year-old girl in a parking lot. Sgt. Armando Valdez, 27, later pleaded guilty, Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported.Saturday's announcement followed talks among U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Japanese Defense Minister Yoshinori Ono and Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura.Rumsfeld told a news conference Saturday that the United States and Japan "agreed to findings and recommendations to strengthen the alliance and reduce the impact of U.S. military on local communities."Ono said the agreement represented a "transformation of the alliance" between the two countries that will provide it with "a fresh start and new energy."Both sides affirmed plans for closer military cooperation, sharing intelligence, and expanding training opportunities in deterring and defending against ballistic missile attacks. They also pledged to dissuade other nations from development and proliferation of ballistic missiles.Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A pickup truck carrying dates and packed with explosives blew up and killed at least 25 people in a market in a small Shiite town north of Baquba on Saturday, an interior ministry official said.Three U.S. soldiers also died Saturday, authorities said.At least 52 people were wounded in the attack that targeted civilians in town of Hwaider, Iraqi police said, and shops and restaurants were damaged. A doctor at Baquba hospital said at least 10 of the wounded were in critical condition. Hwaider is about 5 miles (8 km) north of Baquba and 35 miles (56 km) north of Baghdad.Insurgents carried out several attacks in and around Baquba this week, most of which targeted Iraqi police officers. The city is in Diyala province, an ethnically mixed region with a small Sunni majority that has endured its share of sectarian violence. Two of the U.S. troops who were killed Saturday were Task Force Baghdad soldiers on patrol in a southern part of the capital, the U.S. military said. They died in a blast from a roadside bomb.The third U.S. soldier died after the vehicle he was riding in struck a land mine southwest of Bayji, near Tikrit. Four other Task Force Liberty soldiers were wounded, two of whom returned to their unit. In the Iraq war, 2,014 U.S. service members have died, including 81 this month.Other developmentsTwo associates of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the most powerful cleric in Iraq, said Friday the Shiite leader may demand a timetable for the withdrawal of coalition troops in 2006, according to The Associated Press. The AP reported the associates claimed the reclusive but influential leader is suspicious of the United States. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday, told Italian television station La7 that he tried repeatedly to dissuade Bush from going to war, the AP reported Saturday, citing excepts obtained by the Apcom and ANSA new agencies. Berlusconi, who is up for re-election in 2006, reportedly said in the interview, to be broadcast Monday, that "I was never convinced that war was the best system to bring democracy to the country."CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

LONDON, England (AP) -- Two authors are taking Dan Brown's publisher to court in Britain over claims that his best-selling book, "The Da Vinci Code," features stolen ideas.Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh are suing publisher Random House, claiming that Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" lifts ideas from their 1982 nonfiction book, "The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail." Their work explores theories that Jesus and Mary Magdalene married and had a child and that their blood line continues to the present day.A similar theme is explored in Brown's novel, which has sold some 25 million copies around the world and is being made into a Hollywood movie starring Tom Hanks.Lawyers for both sides met Thursday at London's High Court to agree on details of a trial, scheduled to start February 27. They reached an agreement outside court on technical details of the case.A spokesman for Random House said the parties had agreed that a "substantial part" of the claim would be dropped.In August, a U.S. judge ruled that "The Da Vinci Code" does not infringe on the copyrights of a book published in 2000 by another author.U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels said Dan Brown's book exploring codes hidden in Leonardo Da Vinci's artwork is not substantially similar to "Daughter of God," by Lewis Perdue, who had threatened to sue and demanded $150 million for perceived infringement.Brown's book "is simply a different story," Daniels said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(AP) -- Watching a TV show requires far more attention than listening to a song, so it would be no surprise if Apple Computer Inc.'s new video-capable iPod music player provided a less-than-satisfying viewing experience.After all, the stylish design that puts thousands of songs in your pocket may not seem so cool after you've held it up to your face for hours. And while a tiny screen is great for displaying tune titles, a full-length TV show is another story.Though Apple could not overcome the inherent shortcomings of video on its popular portable, the latest iPod does a superb job of making the drawbacks seem far less significant than might be expected.For one, it's touting video as a feature, not the focus, which remains music. It's also kept the same price as the previous generation -- $299 for the 30-gigabyte model (7,500 songs) and $399 for the 60 GB model (15,000 songs).The color display has been bumped up to 2.5 inches from 2 inches while the gadget's overall size has been kept to roughly the length and width of a playing card. Both models are noticeably less thick than previous models.And the battery life has been extended to 12 hours on the 30 GB model and 20 hours on the 60 GB model when playing music.The improvements not only enable the video feature but also enhance music listening and slideshow viewing. Apple has created a compelling reason to buy an iPod even if it's never used to watch a single video.But with all the attention given to video in the months leading up to the launch earlier this month, most new iPod owners will give it a try.Purchasing and transferring a show is just as easy as music at Apple's iTunes Music Store. The content, once downloaded to the computer, automatically transfers to the portable as soon as its connected via a USB cable.With a 6-megabit-per-second DSL connection, an episode of "Desperate Housewives" was downloaded and transferred to a unit in about 10 minutes. Using the click wheel, you start the video just as you would a song or a slideshow.The program looked remarkably clear, and had no problem reading the tiny credits at the beginning and end of the show. The video was largely stutter-free, the audio quality pristine.Surprisingly you can hold the iPod in a comfortable viewing position for the 44 minutes of the episode (no commercials!). This might turn out to be a very popular iPod use on subways, buses and airplanes.But continuous video playing severely cuts down the battery life. A 30 GB model lasted just 2.5 hours -- still 30 minutes longer than Apple promised -- before it ran out of juice.Unlike music bought at the online store, video can't be transferred to a CD or DVD from the new iPod, thanks to copyright protection technology though an optional cable can be used to display an iPod show on a regular TV.The biggest problem is the anemic selection of commercial programming.Outside video can, of course, be transferred to the new iPod. But so far, offerings are slim in the video department of Apple's iTunes music store.There are episodes from five Disney television shows -- including "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" -- for $1.99 a pop. ITunes charges the same to download one of the 2,000 music videos or a half-dozen Pixar Animation Studios shorts.The business model is promising. If only more content owners would open their vaults.Even when counting the music videos and video podcasts, the selection pales compared to the 200,000 song tracks available when the iTunes Music Store launched in 2003. Today, it has more than 2 million songs.Movie studios, television networks and other content providers must determine whether there's money to be made in Apple's latest online venture without cannibalizing their existing businesses.While waiting for the number of titles to grow, iPod owners can fill their players with home movies and other video, provided their software can encode the video in a supported format (H.264 or MPEG-4 video) and other specifications.It's a fairly easy process on a Mac equipped with Apple's iMovie or Final Cut Pro. Windows users are advised to buy QuickTime Pro ($30), which has an export setting specifically for iPod video.Though watching home movies is fun, the promise of commercial content will interest a lot more people. But there's no indication when more TV shows or even movies might arrive on an iPod near you.In the meantime, there's always music.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- For someone used to confronting vengeful gods, vampire bats must seem like chicken feed.In the CBS movie "Vampire Bats," Lucy Lawless -- forever famous as the scantily clad, weapon-wielding superwoman in the syndicated action series "Xena: Warrior Princess" -- plays Dr. Maddy Rierdon, "an everywoman," as Lawless calls her.Lawless, 37, first appeared as Rierdon in April, taking on a plague of bioengineered insects in "Locusts." That movie's appeal to a younger demographic (so vital now that the CBS Sunday night movie is up against the ABC hit "Desperate Housewives") has spawned this sequel, which airs Sunday at 9 p.m Eastern. Dylan Neal reprises his role as Rierdon's husband, and Timothy Bottoms and Brett Butler co-star.Lawless has no pretensions about "Vampire Bats" having a serious message, although the two-hour tale does indicate industrial pollution mutated the bats into little monsters."It's really fun and the people who make it are fun. They don't take themselves too seriously," says Lawless, explaining why she again signed on to play a character, who is -- bats aside -- closer to her own reality as a working mother of three.She's usually more interested in roles that provide escapism from her daily norm.Producer Frank von Zerneck says Lawless was an apt pick to play "a smart, headstrong woman, very well-trained, with connections in Washington, who really takes charge.""Lucy's got two feet on the ground; she's very, very strong and yet has a wonderful soft side that she reveals here. She's a dream to work with -- and talk about tricky circumstances," he adds, referring to Hurricane Katrina, which forced the production to move out of New Orleans.Lawless spent hours in a car with "dramatic weather rolling over us," en route to Baton Rouge, where she stayed with other crew members for a few days.Luckily, no real bats had to travel with them because the creatures are computer-generated. "Live bats are very hard to wrangle," quips the New Zealand-born actress.But one oversized animatronic bat was created. "Its mouth opens. Its tongue comes out. Its eyes bulge. Its head moves side to side. All those delicious things," von Zerneck says, laughing.Even before "Xena" ended production in 2001 after six seasons, Lawless started displaying her versatility. In 1997 she appeared on Broadway as Rizzo in the musical "Grease." Earlier this year in Seattle, she performed in a production of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."Those experiences reminded her that being a musical star was her dream back in Mount Albert, Auckland, where she grew up as Lucille Ryan -- possibly a "throwback" to her great-grandmother, a vaudevillian.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The lawyer for Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide has begun to outline a possible criminal defense that is a tradition in Washington scandals: A busy official immersed in important duties cannot reasonably be expected to remember details of long-ago conversations.Friday's indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby involves allegations that as Cheney's chief of staff he lied to FBI agents and a federal grand jury.Libby, who resigned immediately, was operating amid "the hectic rush of issues and events at a busy time for our government," according to a statement released by his attorney, Joseph Tate. (Watch as the prosecutor outlines the charges -- 2:49 ) "We are quite distressed the special counsel [Patrick Fitzgerald] has now sought to pursue alleged inconsistencies in Mr. Libby's recollection and those of others and to charge such inconsistencies as false statements," Tate continued."As lawyers, we recognize that a person's recollection and memory of events will not always match those of other people, particularly when they are asked to testify months after the events occurred."Previous defenses varied in successThe lack-of-memory defense has worked with varying degrees of success in controversies from Iran-Contra to Whitewater.Only one person went to prison in the Iran-Contra affair, although several people pleaded guilty to making false statements.President Clinton and his wife, Hillary, were cleared in the Whitewater investigation of fraudulent land deals in Arkansas, a subject well-suited to a lack-of-memory defense. The land deals took place a decade before they came under criminal investigation.Tate referred to another possible line of defense, saying that "for five years, through difficult times, Mr. Libby has done his best to serve our country." That argument worked in the administration of President George H.W. Bush in 1992, though not in court.Bush pardoned those in government who had been implicated in the Iran-Contra criminal investigation. Among others, the pardons went to former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, whose trial was scuttled.Libby's testimony disputedThe case against Libby: He testified that he learned from NBC correspondent Tim Russert the identity of a covert CIA officer who is the wife of Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson. Russert said they never discussed it. Fitzgerald said the indictment shows Libby learned about the CIA status of Valerie Plame from Cheney, from a senior CIA officer and from an undersecretary of state about a month before the conversation with Russert. (Full story)But Libby told the FBI and the grand jury that he informed reporters Matt Cooper of Time magazine and Judith Miller of The New York Times information about Wilson's wife that he had gotten from other reporters -- information that Libby said he did not know to be true. Libby testified that he told the reporters he did not even know if Wilson had a wife.But Fitzgerald said that rather than being at the end of a chain of phone calls from reporters, Libby "was at the beginning of the chain of phone calls, the first official to disclose this information outside the government to a reporter. And then he lied about it afterwards." (Charges explained)Indictment: Libby concerned with WilsonThe indictment points to interesting behavior by Libby that changed once Wilson went public with his criticism of the current Bush administration. The former ambassador accused the administration of twisting pre-war intelligence on Iraq's nuclear weapons program to exaggerate the Iraqi threat.Early on, the indictment says, Libby became concerned about an article in The New Republic magazine that referred to Wilson, though not by name, as having gone to Africa for the CIA to investigate allegations that Iraq had sought uranium from Niger. The unnamed ambassador was quoted as saying the "Niger story was a flat-out lie."The indictment said Libby told his deputy there would be complications at the CIA in disclosing information about the trip and that Libby could not discuss the matter on a non-secure telephone line."After Wilson criticized the Bush administration on NBC's "Meet the Press," Libby had lunch with then-White House press secretary Ari Fleischer and advised him that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA and noted that such information was not widely known, the indictment said.It said Libby proceeded to spread it more aggressively than he had previously. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- With the American death toll above 2,000, President Bush said Saturday the war in Iraq has required "great sacrifice," but that progress is being made and the United States must remain steadfast.In his third speech on Iraq this week, Bush sought to shore up flagging support for a war that began March 20, 2003."The best way to honor the sacrifice of our fallen troops is to complete the mission and win the war on terror," the president said in his weekly radio address."We will train Iraqi security forces and help a newly elected government meet the needs of the Iraqi people. In doing so, we will lay the foundation of peace for our children and grandchildren."Public support for Bush's handling of Iraq is at its lowest point, 37 percent, roughly where it has been since early August, according to AP-Ipsos polling.'Saddened' by indictmentAfter a tense week, Bush is spending the weekend at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains. Before leaving the White House on Friday, he paused to express support for I. Lewis Libby, who resigned Friday as the vice president's chief of staff after being indicted for perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements charges in a two-year investigation of the leak of the name of a CIA operative."We're all saddened by today's news," Bush said, adding that the U.S. justice system assumes that the accused are innocent and entitled to due process and a fair trial.Libby was a driving force behind the administration's march to war against Iraq and helped assemble evidence -- later proven false -- asserting that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, which became the rationale for the U.S.-led invasion.Referring to Libby by his nickname, the president said: "Scooter has worked tirelessly on behalf of the American people and sacrificed much in the service to this country."White House officials took comfort that Karl Rove, Bush's chief political adviser, escaped indictment on Friday. But the investigation into his role is continuing.Bush lauds constitution voteIn his radio address, Bush said Iraq had passed an important milestone with the certification of passage of its new constitution."Three years ago, when Saddam Hussein ruled with an iron grip, the prospect of Iraqis voting on a democratic constitution would have been unthinkable," he said."Now, the Iraqi people have shown that individual rights and rule by the people are universal principles, and that these principles can become the basis for free and decent governments throughout the Middle East."Bush said Iraqi voters had refused to surrender to intimidation and had risked their lives for liberty."Our security at home is directly linked to a Middle East that grows in freedom and peace. The success of the new Iraqi government is critical to winning the war on terror and protecting the American people. Ensuring that success will require more sacrifice, more time, and more resolve, and it will involve more risk for Iraqis and for American and coalition forces.""The progress we have made so far has involved great sacrifice. The greatest burden has fallen on our military families. We've lost some of our nation's finest men and women in the war on terror," the president said.At Camp David, Bush is considering whom he will nominate to the Supreme Court. Joining him at the retreat was Harriet Miers, the White House legal counsel who withdrew her candidacy for the high court Thursday in the face of withering criticism from conservatives.In accepting her withdrawal, Bush said Miers would resume her duties helping to review candidates for judicial openings.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) -- Two Roman Catholic priests visiting Jamaica for training were shot dead in Kingston after eating dinner with colleagues, police said Friday.The priests, from India and the Philippines, were shot through a kitchen window at the Missionaries of the Poor facility in downtown Kingston. The killings pushed the murder toll in Jamaica, a Caribbean country of 2.7 million people, to 1,382 for the year."Five brothers were washing dishes in the kitchen after just finishing dinner, when two bullets went through the heads of the two brothers. It was terrible," Father Richard HoLung, head of the Missionaries of the Poor in Jamaica, told reporters.Police identified the slain priests as Suresh Barwa from India and Marco Laspuna from the Philippines. Both were said to be in their 20s.Police were looking into reports that the missionaries were killed after they had seen a crime being committed days earlier. Detectives said that neither of the two had reported any crime to the police.Jamaica has one of the highest per capita murder rates in the world. Local business leaders have pleaded with politicians to take steps to curb violent crime, which has damaged the island's important tourism industry.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- Some of the New Orleans homes drowned by the flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina have been damaged by a second calamity -- fire.Both Louisiana investigators and insurance companies are starting to look into the blazes amid reports that some may have been set by desperate people who had no flood insurance but want to collect on their policies."I can tell you we are aware of those kind of allegations, and we have seen claims where we view the fire as suspicious," said Allstate spokesman Bill Mellander."There has been an increase, or spike, in the number of claims in fire losses compared to what we would normally see," said State Farm Insurance spokesman Morris Anderson.The standard home owner's policy pays only for wind and rain damage, meaning that people without added flooded insurance weren't covered for damage caused by the water that submerged 80 percent of the city for weeks after Katrina."The rash of fires is concerning because we have a lot of homes that did not have insurance or had the wrong insurance," said Lt. Allen Carpenter, director of the fraud investigation unit for the Louisiana State Police.One arrest has been made in suburban Jefferson Parish, said fire department spokesman George Rigamer. A 26-year-old man was charged with setting fire to his parent's damaged house."Every fire is investigated," Rigamer said. "If something looks suspicious, if the fire has several points of origin, if there appears to be a propellent, it's going to get extra attention."The main type of homeowners' fraud that usually turns up after a hurricane is "claim padding," said Frank Scafidi, Director of Public Affairs at the National Insurance Crime Bureau."The policy owner has some damage, but during the period following the storm before adjusters get there they enhance it," he explained. "They knock the rest of the fence down, pull off the rest of their shingles."Two types of automobile fraud are turning up -- people passing off flood-damaged vehicles as undamaged and people claiming losses they did not have."The first couple of claims we looked at were people who evacuated but claimed their vehicles were stolen or flooded," Carpenter said. "They turned up hidden in malls in the cities the people had evacuated to. It's kind of unusual that the thief took them to the same city."Tips about people filing fraudulent claims have been pouring in from the public, Scafidi said.Companies are paying claims now but may investigate them later, Scafidi said."The idea is to settle, get people the money they need as quickly as possible," he said. "But just because they're paid doesn't mean we won't investigate."People caught filing fraudulent claims could face jail time. An attorney general's fraud task force set up after Katrina will investigate fraud involving as little as $2,000 as a federal offense, Scafidi said.The number of fraudulent claims is expected to rise as more people return to the area, Carpenter said."This loss has been devastating in so many ways -- lost homes, lost jobs, no money and not properly insured. People will try to recoup those losses somewhere," he said. "I understand the situation and the economic burden, but I have no sympathy whatever for those who try fraud to improve it."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein manipulated the United Nations oil-for-food program so that his regime received $1.8 billion in illicit payments, a U.N.-backed independent report said Thursday.The investigation, led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, said kickbacks came from some 66 member states and illicit surcharges came from 40 member states."Oil surcharges were paid in connection with the contracts of 139 companies and humanitarian kickbacks were paid in connection with the contracts of 2,253 companies," the report said.In a speech to the General Assembly, Volcker recommended the United Nations undertake "fundamental and wide-ranging administrative reform" to ensure future programs are not similarly corrupted."Corruption of the program by Saddam and many participants could not have been nearly so pervasive with more disciplined management by the United Nations," he told the U.N. governing body."At stake is whether the organization will be able to act effectively."He called for the secretary-general -- typically selected for diplomatic rather than organizational skills -- to hire a strong chief operating officer to ensure oversight, auditing and inspection functions are better insulated from management influence and control."What's needed is a widely respected, independent oversight body ... equipped with enough staff to review budgeting and staffing," he said.In the audience was Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who told reporters afterward he would "take measures to strengthen the organization," adding that he had already had received proposals "to ensure that, in the future, we are better equipped to handle this sort of program."The report -- the probe's eighth and final document released about the now-defunct program since August 2004 -- describes "how thousands of contractors, wittingly or unwittingly, facilitated the process," Volcker told reporters earlier at a New York hotel.It is based in large part on data from the former regime itself, supplemented by banking and other records, Volcker said.He called the oil-for-food program -- which began in late 1996 and ended in 2003 -- "the mother of all humanitarian programs," noting that thousands of employees were involved in running it.A critical point came in 2000, when the program was almost three years old and "the regime began openly to demand illicit payments from its customers," the report said."Iraq's largest source of illicit income under the program came from kickbacks paid by companies that had been selected to receive contracts for humanitarian goods," the report said."Available evidence indicates that Iraq derived more than $1.5 billion of income from the kickbacks."Once the kickbacks and payoffs became generalized, "it should have been caught. There were provisions in the program and in its management and oversight that should have permitted it to be caught."By the time the surcharge program ended two years later, the Iraqi government had received $228.8 million in illicit income, the report said.Program had separate goalThe program sought to ease the toll of sanctions imposed by the United Nations after the 1991 Persian Gulf War by allowing Iraq to sell oil to provide revenue for humanitarian needs.Volcker blamed Hussein's ability to decide how much to charge and to whom to sell for making it easy for him to manipulate the program.In addition to its humanitarian component, oil-for-food had a separate goal, which was to keep Hussein from obtaining or maintaining unconventional weapons, Volcker said. Though the program appears to have succeeded on both counts, "that success came with a high cost; in my judgment, an intolerably high cost," he said.The 630-page report said there was plenty of blame to go around. Though the oil overseers expressed concern to the U.N. secretariat and to the Security Council about Iraq's demands for payment, "little action was taken," it said.The report cited Banque Nationale de Paris, which held the escrow account for the $64 billion program and provided the letters of credit needed for the financing, saying it "was in a position to have firsthand knowledge" of what was going on but "did not recognize a particular responsibility to adequately inform the U.N."In response, BNP said it operated through subsidiaries and affiliates that could not share customer information with each other, an argument the report described as "unpersuasive."In addition, the report said countries that "were responsible for approving their national companies to do business with the program took no action."The report pointed to a number of contracts with Russian companies, which it said accounted for about 30 percent of oil sales."By far, the largest portion of surcharge payments went through the Iraqi Embassy in Moscow between March 2001 and December 2002," when more than $52 million in surcharges was paid, the report said.Companies deny involvementThe companies have denied involvement, despite being confronted with evidence, the report said.Among those cited were subsidiaries for Siemens, one of the world's largest electrical engineering and electronics companies.The subsidiaries -- in France, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates -- "paid kickbacks to the Iraqi regime in order to obtain program contracts," the report said.The company, in a written response published in the report, said its own inquiries "cannot confirm the committee's allegations" and that its management considers the conclusions "premature" and "unjustified."Volvo of Sweden, which sold $11.8 million in heavy construction equipment to the regime under the oil-for-food program, was cited for having paid kickbacks of more than $317,000 in April 2002 to Iraq's central bank account in Amman, Jordan.The company decided not to furnish any contrary evidence, the report said, though its vice president and general counsel said in a letter to the commission, which was published in the report, that the conclusions were not supported by the evidence.The report said Marc Rich & Co. financed 4 million barrels of oil under a 9.5-million-barrel contract awarded to the European Oil and Trading Co., a French-based shell company."Surcharges were imposed on the oil," the report said, and "Marc Rich & Co. directed BNP Paris not to disclose its identity to BNP NY in connection with its financing of the U.N. contract."It added, "According to an individual familiar with the companies, EOTC and Marc Rich & Co. agreed that the premium paid to EOTC would cover a commission and a surcharge. The premium paid by Marc Rich & Co. of 30-40 cents per barrel was sufficiently high to cover both."The company responded that it "continues to dispute vigorously" the report's conclusion.The report named Daimler Chrysler for having "knowingly made or caused to be made a kickback payment of approximately $7,134."The report said the payment was known to at least one managerial-level person working for the company in Germany.The company issued as statement saying it was aware of the report and "in light of ongoing investigations" had no comment.Volcker cautioned that just because a company's individual contract was identified as the subject of an illicit payment "doesn't necessarily mean that company made, authorized or even knew about the illicit payment."The report names British Member of Parliament George Galloway for receiving proceeds, either directly or through an associate, from 18 million barrels of oil. (Galloway challenges senators)Galloway, a critic of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, heatedly denied the allegation.Volcker said he had found no evidence linking former Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who led the world body from 1992 to 1996, to any of the corruption schemes.Annan's son was employed by a contractor that got an oil contract, and Volcker's panel in September released findings that criticized the elder Annan. (Full story) Annan himself authorized an inquiry into his son's dealings, but Volcker was not impressed at the elder Annan's move."It was not much of an inquiry," Volcker said Thursday. "We have criticized him, I think, about as severely as you can in saying he made a mistake."Volcker said the commission members would make themselves and their information available to any law enforcement or regulatory agencies that might want to pursue particular cases, but would disband in about a month.In New York, meanwhile, Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt Jr. pleaded not guilty Thursday to felony charges of conspiring to pay kickbacks as part of the oil-for-food program.U.S. District Judge Denny Chin set a June 20 trial date for Wyatt, former chairman of Coastal Corp.CNN's Liz Neisloss contributed to this report.