(CNN) -- Somewhere in rural Asia, a bar-headed goose tramps through fields and puddles and makes itself comfortable inside the home of the farmer who owns her.Somewhere else, chickens outnumber people, and can be found roaming every corner of the community.Rural Asians are used to this constant contact -- it has been that way for centuries.But it's a coexistence that could threaten the worldwide community.The reason: bird flu, or what scientists are calling H5N1. It has been a smoldering threat this time in Asia for almost three years. Millions of birds have been killed either by the flu or by officials killing off flocks of birds to stop its spread. So far, it is blamed for killing more than 60 people.Worse, infected birds have been found as far away as Turkey, England and possibly Canada.This has started the murmurings of a bird flu pandemic among humans."Pandemics, the bottom line is they happen," said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt. "Ten times in the last 300 years, and three times in the last 100 years, viruses have mounted a massive pandemic assault that have made masses ill and caused millions to die. They happened before, they'll happen again and we need to be prepared."The U.S. is preparing with a proposed $7.1 billion plan to fight the bird flu, with most of the funding aimed at improving vaccine production and stockpiling anti-virals like Tamiflu.President George W. Bush said stopping the disease at its source is an integral part of the plan.But only a small part of the Bush plan's budget -- $251 million -- would go toward surveillance in other countries, what many experts say is the most important part of stopping a bird flu pandemic at its source."The world is unprepared," Leavitt said.Many of the poorest countries in Asia lack the resources to launch a formidable effort against a formidable virus. According to the journal Nature, there is a dearth of Tamiflu doses in Cambodia, so if the flu struck, many residents would have no ability to fight it.In Indonesia, according to the journal Nature, many chickens reside in backyard farms spread throughout an idyllic countryside and on thousands of sparsely populated islands, possibly too far from the reach of government.And health experts in Thailand, government officials pride themselves on strong surveillance, but across the Mekong river in Laos, there is barely a public health system.Even in China, the disease surveillance capacity is slow.The result of this mix of capabilities in Asia spells problems for the rest of the world."One just has to look at the current polio, measles and dengue epidemics in Indonesia to realize that the public health system is having trouble coping with preventable diseases," an unnamed outbreak investigator told Nature.The World Health Organization will work with other international organizations to coordinate with countries whose surveillance is, at best, flagging, but an integral part of the plan may also be the most difficult -- asking farmers to part with their birds, their economic and social cohorts for centuries."We must help people accept that the current strain of bird flu challenges a way of life that has been with us for centuries," said U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan at the Time Global Health Summit last week. "Hard as it will be, we must find ways to structure that coexistence or we will never be able to stop the viruses migrating from animals to us and to our children."Even the U.S., with all its economic power, is unprepared. In this country, as in Cambodia, there is a shortage of Tamiflu, there is no viable vaccine against H5N1 and should bird flu strike humans here, infectious disease experts say the public health system would be crippled."Our hospitals will be overrun," said infectious disease expert Dr. Michael Osterholm. "We'll run out of ventilators, we'll run out of drugs. How are we going to get through that? That's the basic plan we need right now."Despite each country's economic resolve, fighting a foe that cannot be seen, can barely be tracked, and could potentially ravage communities in weeks will be a Herculean task. These are the unique challenges faced when the world must come together to fight a common enemy."In response to each country's crisis, every country must be involved," Annan said. "Bringing all parts of government, civil society and the private sector together, working in partnership to deal with this crisis."Togetherness, in the current world climate, may be the toughest task of all.

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (AP) -- He's the top rusher in Division I-AA, most likely good enough for a shot at the pros. But Brown's Nick Hartigan would gladly set the NFL aside for the chance to study at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.What he won't do is abandon his teammates with the Ivy League title on the line.So, with his two big dreams on a collision course, Hartigan is crafting an ambitious travel plan.The senior running back has made the finals in the Rhodes selection process and will have to interview November 18 in Pittsburgh for the scholarship. Then he'll have to jump on a plane for New York, where Brown plays Columbia in its season finale the following day; at least a share of the Ivy League title could be on the line.Afterward, he might have to fly back to Pittsburgh for another round of interviews that night.But missing the game is not an option, even for a chance at Oxford."These kids are my brothers," said Hartigan, who's averaging 163 yards a game. "I've spent four years killing myself -- we all have -- to get this Ivy League title. It's not something I can skip."Hartigan's lucky he even has a chance to both interview and play: Rhodes committees are famous for refusing to accommodate scheduling requests. But he caught a break. Unusually, his selection committee planned to start interviewing some candidates Friday afternoon. Late Wednesday he got word he could have one of those slots.That means Hartigan will have a shot at one of the two scholarships being awarded from the Pittsburgh region, out of 32 nationally. He'll be up against a dozen or so other exemplary finalists in a pool where even his 3.91 GPA could be near the bottom.But he'll get to make his case."It's about as great a situation as I could have hoped for," said Hartigan, also a candidate for the Draddy Award -- the "academic Heisman Trophy." "I'm incredibly grateful to them."No mere bookwormWhether he wins or not, Hartigan looks like just the kind of Renaissance young man diamond magnate Cecil Rhodes had in mind a century ago when he created the Rhodes Scholarship.Rhodes's will ordered that recipients "shall not be merely bookworms" and shall be chosen for their scholastic achievements, character and "fondness of and success in manly outdoor sports such as cricket, football and the like."Over the years, selectees have included Heisman Trophy winner Pete Dawkins and runner-up Byron White, along with eventual NBA players -- and members of Congress -- Tom McMillan and Bill Bradley.The emphasis on sports has declined, but "athletic interest and success are still relevant," said Elliot Gerson, American secretary of the Rhodes Trust. "They have not been written out of the will. If someone demonstrates outstanding athletic success, it is in his or her favor as other factors are considered."Hartigan is the biggest reason Brown (7-1, 4-1 Ivy League) is guaranteed a share of the Ivy title if it wins its last two games; the Bears play Dartmouth (2-6, 1-4) this Saturday. Last week, he ran for 192 yards and scored four touchdowns against Yale, winning conference player of the week for the fifth time. He's rewritten Brown's record book and will likely finish as the Ivy League's third all-time leading rusher. Ed Marinaro, a 1971 Heisman Trophy finalist, tops the list followed by another Cornell back, Chad Levitt.But none of Hartigan's achievements on the field would matter without his stellar academic record -- earned in an era when big-time college sports have become so intense that Gerson says it is practically impossible for a star in a marquee sport to assemble the wide-ranging credentials a Rhodes Committee are after.About a half-dozen or so varsity athletes are still usually among the 32 American scholars selected each year -- many of them standouts and some even Olympians. But generally they have come from sports like swimming and track, where it is still possible for a committed college athlete to do other things. That has become harder in football, even at a I-AA program."I've pretty much been working from the day I got out of my parents' car four years ago August," Hartigan said this week, on a day when had been up for a 7 a.m. walkthrough, film time, class, practice and proctoring study hall for the team's freshmen. He double-majored in history and political science, and also ran a deck-washing business back home in Northern Virginia.He first learned about the Rhodes by reading "A Sense of Where You Are," a book about Bradley that his father gave him for inspiration. Hartigan wants to study health policy -- examining why Great Britain has managed to create a national health insurance system but the United States has not -- with an eye toward a career in law, policy or, perhaps, elective office.Pro scouts have stopped in regularly to watch film on Hartigan, and if Oxford doesn't work out he will likely have his shot at the NFL. It's a good consolation prize -- and at least he won't have to wonder what might have been.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Staying up an hour or two past bedtime makes it far harder for kids to learn, say scientists who deprived youngsters of sleep and tested whether their teachers could tell the difference.They could.If parents want their children to thrive academically, "Getting them to sleep on time is as important as getting them to school on time," said psychologist Gahan Fallone, who conducted the research at Brown Medical School.The study, unveiled Thursday at an American Medical Association science writers meeting, was conducted on healthy children who had no evidence of sleep- or learning-related disorders.Difficulty paying attention was among the problems the sleepy youngsters faced -- raising the question of whether sleep deprivation could prove even worse for people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.Fallone now is studying that question, and suspects that sleep problems "could hit children with ADHD as a double whammy."Sleep experts have long warned that Americans of all ages don't get enough shuteye. Sleep is important for health, bringing a range of benefits that, as Shakespeare put it, "knits up the raveled sleave of care." Not getting enough is linked to a host of problems, from car crashes as drivers doze off to crippled memory and inhibited creativity. (See how much sleep your children need)Teachers detect lack of sleepBut exactly how much sleep correlates with school performance is hard to prove.So Brown researchers set out to test whether teachers could detect problems with attention and learning when children stayed up late -- even if the teachers had no idea how much sleep their students actually got.They recruited 74 6- to 12-year-olds from Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts for the three-week study.For one week, the youngsters went to bed and woke up at their usual times. They already were fairly good sleepers, getting nine to 9.5 hours of sleep a night.Another week, they were assigned to spend no fewer than 10 hours in bed a night. And another week, they were kept up later than usual: First- and second-graders were in bed no more than eight hours and the older children no more than 6.5 hours.In addition to parents' reports, the youngsters wore motion-detecting wrist monitors to ensure compliance.Teachers weren't told how much the children slept or which week they stayed up late, but rated the students on a variety of performance measures each week.The teachers reported significantly more academic problems during the week of sleep deprivation, the study, which will be published in the journal Sleep in December, concluded.Students who got eight hours of sleep or less a night were more forgetful, had the most trouble learning new lessons, and had the most problems paying attention, reported Fallone, now at the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, Missouri.How much sleep?Sleep has long been a concern of educators.Consider: Potter-Burns Elementary School in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, sends notes to parents reminding them to make sure students get enough sleep prior to the school's yearly achievement testing. Principal John Haidemenos considers it important enough to include in the school's monthly newsletters, too."Definitely there is an impact on students' performance if they come to school tired," he said.But the findings may change physician practice, said Dr. Regina Benjamin, a family physician in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, who reviewed the data at Thursday's AMA meeting."I don't ask about sleep" when evaluating academically struggling students, she noted. "I'm going to start."So how much sleep do kids need? Recommended amounts range from about 10 to 11 hours a night for young elementary students to 8.5 hours for teens.Fallone insists that his own second-grader gets 10 hours a night, even when it meant dropping soccer the season that practice didn't start until 7:30 -- too late for her to fit in dinner and time to wind down before she needed to be snoozing."It's tough," he acknowledged. But "parents must believe in the importance of sleep."The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (AP) -- The relationship between this city and native son Muhammad Ali always comes back to the story of the brash Olympic boxing champ -- then known as Cassius Clay -- tossing his 1960 gold medal into the Ohio River in disgust over entrenched racism.But the story may be apocryphal -- Ali later told friends he simply misplaced the medal -- and as the years passed, Louisville and Ali eventually came to appreciate each other.Now, Ali's hometown is ready to unveil its most lasting tribute, a museum celebrating the life of one of the 20th century's most recognizable figures.The Muhammad Ali Center opens November 21, chronicling the life of "The Greatest" inside and outside the ring, emphasizing his peaceful values and vision of global tolerance, and setting the record straight about that infamous gold medal."People will be surprised when they visit the Ali center," said museum spokeswoman Jeanie Kahnke. "Many people only know of Ali as a boxer and a three-time heavyweight champion of the world. What they may not know about him is how he has been a charitable individual for most of his life. That has only grown since he has retired from the ring."Ali, now 63 and battling Parkinson's Disease, is expected to attend a star-studded opening gala November 19, along with celebrities Will Smith, Angelina Jolie, Jamie Foxx, Jim Carrey, James Taylor and B.B. King. The event is even attracting guests all the way from England, New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan, South Africa, Jamaica and Barbados."There are very few in the world who affect people the way Ali does," Kahnke said. "We've heard from people who are suffering from diseases and young kids who were born 15 years after Ali's last fight. Ali gives them the strength to achieve their own goals and fight for their own beliefs."Ali the boxer retired in 1981 with a 56-5 record, 37 knockouts and an Olympic gold medal. By then, the legendary fighting career was only part of his story.He became the world's best-known Muslim, took a peaceful stand against the Vietnam War that cost him his heavyweight title and has worked in his later years as a United Nations peace ambassador, helping raise awareness and money for the world's poorest nations.Embracing a native sonOrganizers broke ground on the $75 million, 93,000-square-foot project in 2002. Experts were summoned on the Vietnam War, Islam, civil rights and other areas to create a center related intimately to Ali's life. Some of the exhibits were reviewed by longtime Ali coach Angelo Dundee and biographers Robert Lipsyte and Thomas Hauser."When you think about boxing, you just see the athlete on a stage," said curator Susan Shaffer Nahmias. "For many years, Ali's story stopped at the ring. This center shows a picture of Ali through a voice that isn't a sportswriter."Numerous exhibits highlight parts of Ali's life often buried beneath his athletic prowess.One exhibit aims to set the record straight about the story in Ali's autobiography of him flinging his light heavyweight Olympic gold medal into the river. The since-denied story goes that he tossed the medal in disgust over continued racism in his hometown after he was refused service in a restaurant and harassed by a group of racist motorcyclists.Other displays recall the lighting of the Olympic flame at the 1996 Atlanta Games, when a trembling Ali hoisted a golden torch as spectators frantically clicked cameras and stood to give him a loud, emotional ovation."He held the torch, with the world watching and somehow, his disability enhanced his persona," said Tom Owen, a Louisville historian and professor. "He continues to have an energetic spirit. You see that man ascending to light the Olympic torch. What city wouldn't want to embrace a native son like that?"Longtime friend Howard Bingham, a Life magazine photographer who has shot hundreds of pictures of Ali since the 1960s, said it was one of the champ's defining moments."I told him, 'Ali, this is a time when the world is saying thank you for what you have done and sacrificed, and how you've helped people throughout your life,"' Bingham said.In a hands-on area designed to look like Ali's training camp in Deer Lake, Pennsylvania, visitors can learn how to shadowbox and hit a speed bag. Onlookers can gawk at Ali's Olympic gold medal that he received in Atlanta to replace the one that was lost.There is also the hope the center will become a bipartisan place where leaders can come, share their viewpoints and cultivate peace. The Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace and Justice, which is based at the University of Louisville, plans to hold seminars at the center to promote peace-making and conflict resolution. With Ali's international appeal, the goal is certainly within reach."We are not a world capital. But I believe they have hope that disputing peoples will come here," Owen said. "I would love to see Muhammad Ali come back and put his blessing and his encouragement at those tables of reconciliation."Ali, who currently lives in Michigan with his wife, Lonnie, has long hinted at moving back to the city where he grew up."He is the most recognized figure in the history of this city and when visitors ask about him, I point to the center," Owen said. "We hope he has a long and continuing life and hopefully, one day, he will come home."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(Southern Living) -- We searched Washington, D.C., for the ultimate value meal: great tasting, excellent service, unique atmosphere, and -- hardest of all -- close to the sites and attractions you want to see. Near the White House and want a bargain lunch? No problem. Spent a bundle on tickets to the Kennedy Center but don't have any money left for a pre-show dinner? Read on. All of the following restaurants are centrally located, and you won't need a wad of Benjamins to eat at them. A couple of Abes should do you just fine. Here are our top 10.Cheap eat No. 1: The BreadlineYou could almost hit the White House with a rock from this bright, tiny restaurant. (Editor's note: Rock throwing is not recommended in D.C.) Walls are decorated with old rationing signs that seem campy to modern politicos. One says: "Save a loaf a week, help us win the war!" But you'll definitely want to eat the bread here. It's crusty on the outside, soft inside -- perfect to house sweet Italian sausage, peppers and provolone ($6.90) or prosciutto, Gorgonzola, and fig jam ($6.90). The curried chicken salad has a fresh, spicy richness and packs a sweet aftertaste, probably accounting for why it's one of The Breadline's most popular dishes ($5.95). Splurge for the tangy, fresh-squeezed lemonade ($2.25). 1751 Pennsylvania Avenue; (202) 822-8900.Cheap eat No. 2: Ben's Chili BowlOK, everyone expects hot dogs and chili to be cheap. Roger that. But excellent, dare we say "gourmet"? You bet. Ben's, a D.C. institution since the Eisenhower administration, has tempted everyone from Bill Cosby to Nat King Cole with their famous "half-smoke," a special chili dog served with chips on the side ($4.35). The soft, steamed bun soaks up Ben's mild chili. The spicy sausage is split and grilled to crusty perfection. We recommend you wash your half-smoke down with a chocolate shake ($2.49). 1213 U Street NW.; (202) 667-0909.Cheap eat No. 3: Lauriol Plaza RestaurantWhile it resembles an old high school gymnasium on the outside, the inside of Lauriol is richly appointed and expensive looking. Big margaritas (both frozen and on the rocks) are popular with locals ($5.50). The chips are the lightest we've tasted, and the mild salsa arrives at your table warm, which enhances its deep tomato flavor. Order the giant Burrito Gordo, a flour tortilla stuffed with chicken or beef, melted cheese, beans, and an ancho chile sauce ($8.95). Maduros, the fried plantains that are served as an appetizer, will wow any true lover of Mexican food ($2.95). 1835 18th Street NW.; (202) 387-0035.Cheap eat No. 4: Matchbox Eleven dollars gets you a savory meal at Matchbox, a trendy new restaurant in the shadow of Chinatown's Friendship Arch.On a special date or want to feel like a Beltway insider? Come here and order the salty and savory Prosciutto White pizza, a mix of prosciutto, kalamata olives, garlic, ricotta, mozzarella and extra-virgin olive oil ($11 for a small). For fun, get a plate of three mini burgers ($7) and a mixed drink called the Ginger Snap, a concoction of pineapple rum, ginger, lemon juice and Sprite ($7). 713 H Street NW.; (202) 289-4441.Cheap eat No. 5: Capital Q Texas BBQI asked how hot the sauces got at this D.C. landmark, just a few doors down from Matchbox. "We got mild and spicy," said the general manager from behind the counter, "but if that isn't hot enough for you, I'll fix something that will kill you!" Luckily, I tried the smoky beef brisket sandwich ($6.50) before I sampled a spoonful of the "kill-you" sauce (free). I used the homemade banana pudding ($2) to extinguish my tongue, so I have no idea whether it tastes good or not. Order it before taking them up on their saucy death threats. 707 H Street NW.; (202) 347-8396.Cheap eat No. 6: The BurroThis restaurant is obviously a favorite for The George Washington University students, and it sits in power digs behind The Mall at 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue. Try the fish taco, a masterpiece of spice, onion, corn crunch, lime-cilantro slaw, pico de gallo and mahi mahi ($2.95). Fresh produce reigns in the Bean Basic gourmet burrito -- low-fat black beans, rice, lettuce, and tomato ($3.95; add grilled spinach or vegetables for another 95 cents). 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.; (202) 293-9449.Cheap eat No. 7: Left BankThe space age and minimalist modern meet at this spare, elegant restaurant. The setting and service give such an expensive feel that you'll think the menu prices are a misprint. Sandwiches begin at $1. A buck gets you a cheese sandwich with your choice of prosciutto or applewood-smoked bacon. The most expensive sandwich is the grilled steak with saut�ed onions and bitter greens on a whole wheat baguette ($10). The Black Angus sirloin burger comes topped with mushrooms, cheese, bacon, and grilled onions, making it well worth its price tag ($8). 2424 18th Street NW.; (202) 464-2100.Cheap eat No. 8: The DinerThe cops love this Adams Morgan neighborhood diner, complete with red vinyl barstools, a tile floor, pressed tin ceiling, and Ella Fitzgerald crooning from the sound system. Open 24-7, the restaurant promises to serve "early birds, night owls and everyone in between." Portions go beyond huge to gargantuan. The "Croque and Dagger," a mystery of eggs, bacon, bechamel, melted Gruyere and toasted French bread comes with home fries ($7.99). For lunch or dinner, the succulent ginger-lime-glazed swordfish accompanied by steamed rice and a side salad is a tangy treat ($10.05). 2453 18th Street NW.; (202) 232-8800.Cheap eat No. 9: Sushi AoiExceptional sushi can really suck the yen out of your wallet. But not at Sushi Aoi. Take the Roll Combo. The perfect choice for newcomers to sushi, the combo features a tuna roll, a cucumber roll and a California roll. Each delicate roll uses exceptional ingredients that seem far more luxurious than the $9.50 price tag. Miso soup and a mixed green salad come free of charge with all entrees. Dinner prices are just $2 to $3 higher, on average, than the lunch prices. 1100 New York Avenue NW.; (202) 408-7770.Cheap eat No. 10: Moby Dick House of KabobYou can stuff yourself like a Christmas goose here for less than $8. The menu is complicated, but don't be put off. Just order a kabob with your favorite meat or veggie. Take the Kabob-E Joojeh: Skinless chunks of tender, juicy chicken with a caramelized crust come with your choice of yogurt-cucumber sauce, salad, rice or bread ($7.75). Absolutely order the Mast-o Kheyar (99 cents, small), yogurt mixed with chopped cucumber, which should be used as a dipping sauce for the fresh, warm pita bread. 1300 Connecticut Avenue; (202) 833-9788.

(CNN) -- Scientists say they have discovered the intact fossilized skull of a marine crocodile with a dinosaur-like head and a fish-like tail that likely terrorized the Pacific Ocean 135 million years ago. The head of the expedition that found the specimen has dubbed it "Godzilla."The fossil was discovered in 1996 in the Patagonia region of Argentina and researchers spent years uncovering the skull and analyzing their find. They published their work Thursday in the journal Science.Zulma Gasparini, paleozoology professor at Argentina's Universidad Nacional de La Plata, said the fierce-looking animal probably terrorized creatures in the Pacific Ocean in the late Jurassic era, just as the film monster Godzilla frightened the people of Tokyo in the movies."We are calling him the 'chico malo' -- 'bad boy'" of the ocean, she said.Report co-author Diego Pol of Ohio State University said "Godzilla," whose scientific name is Dakosaurus andiniensis, had a short, high snout and large, jagged teeth for biting and cutting prey. He said this was surprising, because other marine crocodiles have long, thin snouts and many smaller teeth.But Pol said "Godzilla" was a top ocean predator and preyed much like the dinosaurs of its era.He said it was probably about 12 feet long and had four paddle-like limbs instead of the legs of today's crocodiles.The National Geographic Society and Argentina's National Council of Scientific and Technical Research funded the research.

(SPACE.com) -- A new image from the Hubble Space Telescope reveals stars in the process of being born amid a fantastic scene of wispy space structures and intense radiation.The stars have yet to condense into small enough packages to trigger thermonuclear fusion, which is what powers stars, but they appear to be on the verge, astronomers said Thursday.The setting is 210,000 light-years away in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way. At the center of the region is a brilliant star cluster called NGC 346. Arched and ragged filaments with a distinct ridge surround the cluster.Radiation from the cluster's hot stars eats into denser areas, creating the features. The dark, intricately beaded edge of the ridge, seen in silhouette, contains several small dust globules that point back towards the central cluster, like windsocks caught in a gale.Energetic outflows and radiation from hot young stars erode the dense outer portions of the star-forming region, formally known as N66, exposing new stellar nurseries. The diffuse fringes of the nebula prevent the energetic outflows from streaming directly away from the cluster, leaving instead a trail of filaments marking the swirling path of the outflows, astronomers said.The NGC 346 cluster, at the center of the new picture, is resolved into at least three sub-clusters and collectively contains dozens of hot, blue, high-mass stars, more than half of the known high-mass stars in the entire SMC galaxy. A myriad of smaller, compact clusters is also visible throughout the region.A rich population of infant stars is scattered around the young cluster NGC 346, reports a team led by Antonella Nota of the Space Telescope Science Institute/European Space Agency in Baltimore. These stars are likely to have formed 3 to 5 million years ago, together with the other stars in the NGC 346 cluster.These infant stars are particularly interesting as they have not yet contracted to the point where their interiors are hot enough to convert hydrogen to helium.The findings will be detailed in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.The Small and Large Magellanic Clouds are diffuse irregular galaxies visible to the naked eye in the southern hemisphere. They are two smallish satellite galaxies that orbit our own Milky Way Galaxy and will eventually merge with it.

BEIJING, China (AP) -- China has reported the fourth bird flu outbreak in a northeastern province in the past two weeks amid fears that counterfeit flu vaccines being sold there might be worsening the public health threat.The report on Friday brought the total number of outbreaks reported by China in the latest round of cases to seven.The outbreak Sunday killed 300 chickens in Beining, a village near Jinzhou, a city in Liaoning province, the Agriculture Ministry said in a report on the Web site of the Paris-based International Organization for Animal Health. It said officials destroyed 2.5 million birds to contain the virus.Liaoning has reported three other outbreaks since November 3 -- two on farms near Jinzhou and the other near the city of Fuxin.China earlier warned that counterfeit vaccines were being sold in Liaoning, raising the possibility that millions of chickens, ducks and other birds weren't properly inoculated. China suffers from rampant counterfeiting of food and medicines."Quite clearly, there's a major problem in Liaoning, and it seems from what the Chinese are saying this has to do with using shoddy, inferior or maybe fake vaccines for poultry," a World Health Organization spokesman, Peter Cordingley, in comments broadcast Thursday by Hong Kong's Cable TV."And what we have now, almost certainly, we think, is sick chickens who are showing no symptoms, and that is very, very bad. They are silent carriers of the virus," he said.China hasn't reported any human infections in this round of outbreaks, but experts say one is inevitable with so many cases in poultry.Chinese authorities quarantined 116 people after outbreaks Sunday in Jinzhou and Fuxin killed 1,100 chickens, the Agriculture Ministry said Thursday.The first case in Jinzhou on October 26 prompted officials to destroy more than 6 million birds.On Thursday, state television showed government workers in white protective suits and masks spraying disinfectant on chicken coops and farm buildings.One man was shown pouring a bag of chalky, white disinfect on the ground where dead chickens were buried. Others sprayed disinfectant on car tires and roads.China has also reported outbreaks in poultry in the Inner Mongolia region in the north, and in the provinces of Anhui in the east and Hunan in central China.H5N1 first appeared in Hong Kong in 1997 but was curbed when authorities destroyed all poultry in the territory. It re-emerged in December 2003, and has recently spread from Asia to Europe.Meanwhile, WHO is sending experts to Hunan to help investigate whether bird flu caused a 12-year-old girl's death and two illnesses in an area hit by an outbreak in poultry last month, said Roy Wadia, a spokesman in Beijing for the agency.Chinese officials earlier said those three people tested negative for the virus.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(AP) -- Overweight? Diabetic? Cholesterol out of control? Have we got a deal on a meal for you!If that sales pitch sounds a little sick, that's the point. Aging baby boomers and rising rates of obesity, diabetes and other health conditions have marketers looking to chronic illness as the new must-reach demographic.It's part of a cultural shift that increasingly sees health problems as lifestyles rather than diseases. Now the food industry is realizing those lifestyles can have a major influence on spending habits.It's easy to see why this is a fast-growing trend. For people like Karen Merrill, her lifestyle has become a matter of life and death.The 49-year-old Barrington, New Hampshire, woman had a heart attack and quintuple bypass in 2002. She credits the chronic disease-pitch -- which gives good-for-you branding to everything from menu items to entire supermarket shelves -- makes it easier for her to eat and shop.During a recent trip to her local grocer, she was thrilled to spot several new whole-grain breakfast cereals -- foods she's supposed to be eating more of -- displayed in a special "heart-healthy" section of the cereal aisle."I never would have known that this cereal existed if it wasn't for that display," said Merrill. "By coupling things like that, it introduces me to new things. Normally I would have been heading to the health food store to get it."And there's plenty of incentive for these efforts.Americans with heart problems -- there are more than 70 million of them -- represent $71 billion in annual buying power. The nation's nearly 21 million diabetics command around $14 billion. And don't forget that about two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese.People with chronic health conditions also are two to three times more likely than their healthy peers to follow special diets, making them prime targets for low-fat, low-sugar and other specialty foods, according to a report by IRI Healthcare, a Chicago-based marketing research firm that recently studied the disease-marketing trend.There's also a spillover effect."If Mom comes down with something, the entire household's diet changes," says Bob Doyle, a senior vice president at IRI.Merrill, for example, shops not just for herself, but also hopes to prevent her husband and 11-year-old daughter from suffering her fate.Some critics accuse the industry of trying to profit off sickness, but American Dietetic Association spokeswoman Dawn Jackson Blatner says anything that makes it easier for consumers to make healthy choices is a good thing.Marketing gets more sophisticatedMarketing good-for-you foods is nothing new, but the tactic is becoming increasingly sophisticated and ailment-specific.Broad healthy living campaigns are being replaced with efforts that narrowly target foods to people with particular conditions, says John Stanton, a food marketing professor at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia.Along with those heart-healthy sections that appealed to Merrill, grocers increasingly are introducing shelves of sugar-free items for diabetics and gluten-free foods for people with wheat allergies.The Maine-based Hannaford Bros. Co. grocery chain, for example, recently added gluten-free and dairy-free sections to its 140 stores in the Northeast and is developing plans for additional health-inspired sections."It absolutely is a question of making a grocery store more user-friendly," says Hannaford spokeswoman Caren Epstein, who notes that the typical grocer offers 35,000 items these customers otherwise would need to comb through.Products also are becoming more specialized. Low-fat and low-sugar are old news. Minute Maid has an entire line of health-based orange juices, including its Heart Wise, which the company claims helps lower cholesterol because it is fortified with plant sterols.Since its introduction two years ago, Heart Wise has outsold most other Minute Maid orange juices, says company spokesman Ray Crockett. With so many people concerned about cholesterol, offering such a product just made sense, he says.Companies eager for healthy bragging rights also can seek certification from the American Heart Association, which awards its Heart Check Mark to items low in saturated fat and cholesterol. So far 850 products from 100 companies have passed muster.And the increasingly ubiquitous in-store pharmacy isn't just a convenience anymore; it also is an opportunity to cross-merchandise. Why not grab some oatmeal -- purported to reduce cholesterol -- while waiting for your heart medications?Stand-alone pharmacies -- already chipping into the grocery market with growing food offerings -- are using the same tactic to fight back. Rite Aid, which operates 3,350 shops nationwide, recently said it wants its brand to be synonymous with caring for diabetes.Among efforts to that end, the Pennsylvania company has broadened its selection of diabetic-friendly products and at many stores offers cooking lessons to help diabetics and their families understand the role of diet in managing the condition.But there are potential pitfalls, including a tendency to oversimplify the market, says IRI's Doyle.Though people with high cholesterol buy more vitamins than diabetics (who spend more on meat and eggs), men coping with cholesterol shop differently than women, buying more indulgences such as cookies, according to IRI.Misinformation is another concern. Dietitians say look to the back of packages for nutrition facts; assume anything else is advertising. Even accurate information can give consumers the wrong impression (fat-free or not, cookies require portion control).Companies also risk backlash when consumers don't see instant -- or sometimes any -- results from foods that make health promises."You don't drop 2 pounds in two days. You don't see your cholesterol cut in half," says Cornell University marketing and nutrition professor Brian Wansink. "It sets these foods up for failure when people don't see immediate cure-all benefits." .Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

TUCSON, Arizona (AP) -- Joseph Bonanno Jr., younger son and namesake of the late mob chieftain who headed one of New York City's five original crime families, has died. He was 60.The younger Bonanno died of a heart attack on November 2 at his ranch in Ione, California, his older brother, Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno said Friday.Joe Bonanno Jr., the youngest of three children born to Joseph and Fay Bonanno, was shielded from much of the family business, his brother said."I don't even think he knew what it was all about," Bill Bonanno said. "We tried to make it our business not to involve him in anything."Joe Bonanno Jr. raised horses on his 20-acre ranch. He studied animal husbandry at the University of Arizona, where he was a bull rider and calf roper in club rodeo competition, his brother said.The family patriarch died of heart failure in 2002 at age 97. Derisively nicknamed "Joe Bananas," he retired to Arizona in 1968 after allegedly running one of the most powerful Mafia groups of the 1950s and 1960s.He was convicted of felony obstruction of justice in 1980 for trying to block a federal grand jury investigating his sons, and later served 14 months for contempt of court.Joe Bonanno Jr. was given a 120-day jail sentence in June 1985 after pleading guilty to making a false statement to a federal drug agent during an alleged cocaine conspiracy investigation. Both sons also were charged in an alleged home improvement scam. Joe Bonanno Jr. eventually pleaded no contest in a plea bargain and his brother was convicted.In addition to his brother, survivors include his wife, Karen, and sister Catherine R. Genovese.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

CHILTON, Wisconsin (AP) -- A man who spent 18 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit will be charged with killing a woman whose vehicle was found near his home, a prosecutor said Friday.Steven Avery's blood was found inside Teresa Halbach's sport utility vehicle, said Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz, who plans to charge Avery with first-degree intentional homicide by Tuesday."It is no longer a question, at least in my mind as special prosecutor in the case, who is responsible for ... the death of Teresa Halbach," Kratz said.Avery, who was freed from prison two years ago, has denied involvement in the disappearance of Halbach, 25, who was last seen October 31. The freelance photographer had three appointments that day to take pictures of vehicles for sale, including one at a salvage yard owned by Avery's family in Manitowoc County, about 25 miles south of Green Bay.Days of searching for the Hilbert woman ended Thursday, when authorities announced they had found the burned remains of a woman. Like the SUV, which was spotted last weekend, the remains were found at the salvage yard.The remains had not been identified Friday, but Calumet County Sheriff Jerry Pagel said investigators believe they are Halbach's.Blood was found in Avery's trailer home and garage, according to search warrants filed Friday. Eleven spent .22-caliber shell casings also were found in Avery's garage and two guns were found in his home, and Halbach's ignition key was found hidden inside his bedroom, authorities have said.Avery, 43, remained jailed after being arrested and charged Wednesday with a weapons violation. Officers found wounds on his body, Kratz said.A public defender was not immediately assigned to Avery, whose brother, Chuck, refused to comment about the case Friday.Avery served 18 years in prison for sexual assault but was freed in 2003 after a law school group persuaded a judge to allow new DNA testing, which ruled him out and linked another man to the crime.Authorities in neighboring Calumet County are handling the case because Avery has sued Manitowoc County over his wrongful conviction.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(CNN) -- You know the classic definition of inflation? "Too much money chasing too few goods." Well, off-year elections provide fertile ground for a different kind of inflation: too many political pundits chasing too few items of significance. So here's an effort to sort out the pretense of significance from results that may actually mean something a year -- or three -- from now.1. In off-years, almost all politics really is localFormer House Speaker Tip O'Neill's maxim that "all politics is local" is way overrated as a guide to what happens. Sometimes national and international events far outweigh local concerns: President Bush's re-election was rooted in the voters' conclusion -- by a narrow margin, to be sure -- that he represented a better leader in the fight against terror than did John Kerry. But in a governor's or mayor's race, matters such as property taxes, the state of education, and crime really do matter most. Republicans lost the Virginia governor's race four years ago, but there was no fallout in the congressional or presidential elections that followed. And if there's anyone who thinks national Republicans can take much heart from New York Mayor Bloomberg's re-election, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell -- unless Bloomberg bought that as part of his campaign. Which reminds me ....2. It's money that matters -- more than everWe don't really know how much of his $5 billion fortune Bloomberg spent on his re-election. The ballpark figure is $70 million (speaking of which, it was a big help to Mike that his clumsy and obsessive push for a new football stadium and the 2012 Olympics ended in failure last spring, giving New Yorkers time to forget). But at more than $100 a vote, it reminds us of how many really, really rich folks there are in politics. In New Jersey, John Corzine ($300 million net worth) beat Republican Doug Forrester, a piker at $50 million. Outgoing Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, who apparently has visions of 1600 Pennsylvania dancing in his head, is worth upwards of $200 million. California Gov Schwarzenegger put some of his $100 million into the 2003 recall and into his unsuccessful fight for ballot propositions. More and more, the political arena seems like the world's most pricey private club.3. It takes a busload of faith to get byThe race for Virginia's governor will have Democrats sifting through the results like an Alaskan prospector. Why? Because the victor, Democrat Tim Kaine, may have provided a lesson on the "faith and values" front. At a time when only 29 percent of voters see Democrats as "friendly to religion," as opposed to 55 percent who see Republicans that way, Kaine ran by openly talking about his religious faith. He went on Christian radio and embraced the conversation that so many secular Democrats seem either unfamiliar or uncomfortable with. Moreover, it gave Kaine a frame in which to put his views against capital punishment, ordinarily a kiss of political death in a hard-line state like Virginia. When you remember that the only successful Democratic presidential contenders in the past 45 years -- Carter and Clinton -- both were immersed in the language of faith, it holds out the promise that economic liberals with a grounding in traditional religious beliefs may be able to win back culturally conservative Democrats.4. Fading fear of Ah-noldEarlier this year I went out to Sacramento to investigate the "Ah-nold" phenomenon. The bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned-candidate had swept to victory in the recall that ousted Gov. Gray Davis, and his popularity was above 70 percent in opinion polls. Schwarzenegger believed, as did many Democrats, that this gave him enormous clout with the Democratic legislature. He could, he and they believed, threaten to take his case directly to voters through the ballot initiative if the legislature did not follow his led on spending and other matters. Well, last Tuesday voters rejected every one of the governor's proposals: curb spending, toughen teacher tenure, take redistricting away from the legislature, and make pubic employee unions get permission from individual members to spend their dues on politics. The consequence? Ah-nold is no longer in a position to echo Ronald Reagan's famous observation/threat that if legislators don't see the light maybe they'll feel the heat. And this, in turn, means that the structural, seemingly intractable fiscal dilemma of California -- with Democrats frozen on spending cuts and Republicans frozen on tax increases -- will remain for the foreseeable future. With Schwarzenegger up for re-election next year, and with Democrats smelling blood, the idea of some kind of grand compromise seems farther away than ever.5. Less than met the eyeLate in the New Jersey campaign, the Forrester forces aired TV ads quoting the ex-wife of John Corzine. She said that he'd let his family down and he'd probably let New Jersey down, too.This, many political types felt, was a potential blockbuster: it would peel women away from Corzine on the primal ground that they world see him as a bad husband and father. And without women, Democrats don't win. Polls in the last weekend showed a sharp drop in Corzine's support; and there was a wide belief that many women represented a "hidden vote" -- unwilling to tell pollsters they were deserting a Democrat on such grounds. Well, Corzine won by a double-digit margin. Lesson for next year? When insiders excitedly read entrails and tell you that their insights let them foresee the behavior of voters, tell them to try the decaf and back off.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Republican leaders abruptly called off a vote Thursday on a bill that would trim $50 billion in spending after moderate Republicans resisted cuts to a range of social programs, including Medicaid, student loans and food stamps.House Majority Leader Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, acknowledged the leadership team was "not quite where we need to be to go to the floor." He said the vote was postponed because representatives needed to get back to their districts for Veterans Day events.Blunt said he needed to do some work getting members "more comfortable" with the bill, and he said he would bring the measure back for a vote next week.The unusual debate was the first big test for the House Republican leadership since Rep. Tom DeLay was required by congressional rules to step down as majority leader in September following his indictment in Texas on money laundering and conspiracy charges. He has pleaded not guilty.Late Wednesday night, House leaders -- bowing to objections from two dozen moderate Republicans -- dropped a provision in the bill that would have allowed oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.The concession was a blow to President Bush, who has been urging Congress to open ANWR as part of an effort to develop more domestic energy sources. However, the Senate has included ANWR exploration in its version of the budget bill, which means it could be revived when the two versions are reconciled by a conference committee.One of the GOP moderates, Rep. Mike Castle, R-Delaware, said the move to strip ANWR out of the bill was significant, but he said it was not enough to garner support from House members concerned with the level of spending cuts. He said he remained undecided on whether to vote for the measure at the time it was pulled.House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said Democrats made the bill "too hot to handle" for Republicans, and she called the cuts "anti-family, anti-taxpayer and anti-American.""By having to pull it today, it is a failure on the part of the Republicans," she said.Blunt downplayed the idea that the decision could prompt questions about his leadership abilities, saying, "It's pretty easy to criticize leadership."Though no longer an official member of the House leadership, DeLay was involved throughout the day in meetings to secure votes, and he appeared with the leadership team when they announced they were postponing the vote.DeLay described his role to reporters as "advising the speaker and the leadership. I worked the votes, did it all."He blamed Democrats for refusing to work across party lines, charging that "if it weren't for the political scheming of the Democratic leadership, there would be Democrats who would be excited for voting for this bill."The budget bill passed by the Senate last week had $35 billion in spending cuts, as opposed to $50 billion in the House version.

NEW YORK (Billboard) -- As it prepares for its maiden tour of South America, which begins November 22 in Santiago, Chile, Pearl Jam is still working on its first studio album since 2002's "Riot Act."The as-yet-untitled set is due next spring via Sony BMG's J Records label."It's been a difficult record and it's like sometimes the harder something is, then the more valuable it becomes," frontman Eddie Vedder said during a Brazilian radio interview earlier this week."It's easily the best stuff we've done but also some of the hardest stuff. It's very aggressive, because again, it's kind of a product of what it's like to be an American these days. It's pretty aggressive, especially when you turn it loud."The band has been working on and off throughout the year on the set, but Vedder said, "It's not quite done. I'm hoping to finish the last of the songs while I'm down (in South America). I'm bringing my tape machines and all that down. If I can come back and finish the last few songs in January, then it will be out in April or something."For now, Pearl Jam is not planning to unveil any new songs in a live setting. "We want them to be heard for the first time when the record comes out," Vedder said.But he added he had been mulling an album title that was a play on Soundgarden's "Superunknown": "I was thinking of the word 'un-owned' -- not owned by anybody," he said. "The sky is un-owned. The moon is un-owned. We're un-owned. We want to remain un-owned. The title was 'Superun-owned.' "Continuing an initiative launched during Pearl Jam's recent fall North American tour, the South American shows will be available for paid download from the band's Web site (http://www.pearljam.com) within hours of their completion.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(CNN) -- You know this much from thrillers: Bad things happen to good people. You can be at the right place at the wrong time. Changing a set schedule yields terrible results.All of these time-honored plot points come into play in "Derailed," with nail-biting consequences. The climax isn't much -- even the most mundane episode of "Law & Order" would have concluded more realistically -- but, if you suspend a bit of logic and get on the ride, it's one heck of a good time, with some surprising twists and turns.Charles Schine (Clive Owen) is a brooding husband. He's drifted apart from his wife Deanna (Melissa George), though they maintain a united front for their daughter Amy (Addison Timlin), who is suffering from kidney failure and awaiting a transplant.One day Charlie, who works at an ad agency, misses his usual train into Chicago. On the train he meets a beautiful stranger, Lucinda Harris, played by Jennifer Aniston. She, too, is trapped in a dull marriage. Soon the two find themselves having lunch together, which escalates into dinner and finally to a seedy hotel room.Then an armed man bursts into the room, demanding their wallets and money, and proceeds to pistol-whip Charles and rape Lucinda. After this horrendous ordeal they both decide not to go to the police in order to keep their affair a secret from their respective spouses. And, as terrible as the event was, both think it will end there.Of course, they're wrong.Making a caseThe armed robber, Laroche (Vincent Cassel), begins to blackmail Charles. Laroche, it appears, is not a common mugger, but a sophisticated criminal. As Laroche's demands for money escalate, so do his threats to do physical harm to Charles' family. He even comes to Charles' home posing as a client.Charles pleads with Lucinda to go to the police. She refuses. Without her testimony, Charles' lawyer tells Charles, he has no case.Charles decides to take the situation into his own hands, and now the film really gets twisted -- and entertaining. The lightning pace is maintained with excellent skill by Swedish director Mikael Hafstrom -- making his first English-language film -- as Charles enters a world way over his head.Look for hip-hop artists RZA and Xzibit in small but pivotal roles, and Giancarlo Esposito as the Chicago detective looking into the mounting pile of bodies resulting from Charles' vengefulness.Owen delivers a solid performance and Aniston is excellent in a demanding role that requires her to switch gears at some pivotal moments in the plot. The sexual chemistry between the two, while not overwhelming, is believable; overall, they make a solid pair.Cassel isn't quite as good. His teeth-gnashing exertions diminish the otherwise natural relationships established by Aniston and Owen.Given that we're now entering Oscar season, "Derailed" -- a pure popcorn thriller -- may find it hard to make a dent at the box office. But it is worth seeing. Just stay on the ride.

NEW YORK (AP) -- A Miami resident has bought a virtual space station for $100,000 and wants to turn it into a cross between Jurassic Park and a disco.Jon Jacobs, a director of independent films, plans to call the space resort, in the science-fiction themed game Project Entropia, "Club Neverdie." Like other land areas in the game that has been visited by 300,000 players, the resort grounds will spawn dinosaur-like monsters, which visitors can kill.Jacobs will take a cut of the virtual resources that the carcasses yield, like hides.Jacobs, 39, plans to hire famous disc jockeys to entertain visitors once a week or so at the resort but still reckons on netting $20,000 a month from the hunting tax and other income."I want to operate this thing at the level of a major nightclub in a major city," Jacobs said.Jacobs bought the property late last month from MindArk PE AB, Project Entropia's Swedish developer. The game, which has no subscription fee, has its own currency but it's convertible at a fixed rate to dollars.About a quarter of the purchase money came from Jacobs' in-game earnings.Over three years playing Project Entropia, Jacobs accumulated items that later became worth thousands of dollars, like first-aid kits and powerful weapons.He sold those items last year to buy an island in Project Entropia, but was outbid -- it sold for $26,500, the previous record sale in that world.He refinanced his house shortly after and considered investing some of the cash in the hot Miami real-estate market, but he realized that if he bought a rental property, it really wouldn't generate any income beyond what he'd pay for the mortgage and repairs.So he invested the proceeds in the game.IGE, a leading broker of game property, said it has handled deals worth more than $100,000, but would not provide details because of client confidentiality.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Britain's remembrance poppies have gone high-tech, as digital versions of the red paper flowers are now available for downloading to mobiles.The poppies' move into cyberspace is a bid to get younger Britons aware of the sacrifices made by those who fell in battle, the Royal British Legion charity said."This is the first time the poppy can be downloaded to mobile telephones," a spokesman said. "The Poppy is about remembering those who did not come back."The digital image can be accessed via www.poppy.org.This year's Poppy Appeal has been fronted by an Iraq war widow and her young daughter, a move designed to show the charitable work of the Legion will continue so long as Britain is engaged in military conflicts.The symbol was adopted in the 1920s after the end of World War One because the poppy, a wild flower, was the only plant that grew in the aftermath of the bloody trench warfare which devastated parts of northern France and Belgium.Millions remembered those who died in all Britain's wars with a two-minute silence at 1100 GMT on Friday and a service at the Cenotaph in central London on Sunday. The silence, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, marked the moment when the guns fell silent at the end of World War One in 1918.The first Legion Poppy Day was inspired by a 1915 poem written by John McCrae, a serving officer, which starts: "In Flanders' fields the poppies blow, Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place: and in the sky, The larks, still bravely singing, fly, Scare heard amid the guns below."Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

PARIS, France (Reuters) -- Thousands of French police patrolled central Paris on Saturday to enforce a ban on large gatherings and prevent urban unrest reaching the heart of the capital, including targets such as the Eiffel Tower.Police said they had monitored calls for violence on Internet sites and that potential targets included the Champs Elysees and the Eiffel Tower.In a sign of concern after violence rose slightly on the 16th night of clashes, regional authorities for the first time declared a curfew for minors in France's second city of Lyon for Saturday and Sunday night.Rioting by youngsters angered by unemployment, racism and lack of opportunities has generally dropped in intensity since President Jacques Chirac's government announced emergency measures on Tuesday including curfews.But the number of cars set ablaze by rioters rose slightly again on Friday night, and two fire bombs were thrown at a mosque in southern France, damaging the entrance.Some 502 vehicles were set ablaze across France, compared to 463 the previous night, and unrest hit areas including Strasbourg, Marseille, Lyon and Lille. But there were fewer incidents of violence in the Paris suburbs, police said."We've gone back to an almost normal situation in Ile de France (greater Paris region)," national police service chief Michel Gaudin told reporters.But warning of violence in the capital, he said: "One can easily imagine the places where we must be very vigilant."The Paris ban on large gatherings went into force at 10 a.m. (0900 GMT) and was due to run until 8 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Sunday. The heart of the city has largely escaped the violence that has rocked impoverished neighborhoods just outside the city.Three thousand extra police were brought into the capital on Friday, the Armistice holiday marking the end of World War One, and riot police have been patrolling key areas, important buildings and suburban trains since then.Mosque attackedPolice detained 206 people during the night, during which youngsters attacked a primary school in Savigny-Le-Temple southeast of Paris and destroyed its creche.Two shops were destroyed in Rambouillet, southwest of Paris, and a person on a scooter threw two fire bombs at a mosque and in the southern town of Carpentras before fleeing.There was no major damage and no one was hurt but Chirac, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFSM) swiftly condemned the attack."We firmly ask the authorities in particular to protect our mosques, which seem to be becoming the target of violent demonstrations and provocations," the CFSM said.Police said it was not clear if it was a racist act or an act of provocation.The top government regional official for the Lyon region announced a curfew for minors on Saturday and Sunday nights from 10 p.m. (2100 GMT) until 6 a.m. (0500 GMT) in Lyon and 10 communities near the city. Violence in the area rose overnight.The unrest was triggered by the accidental deaths of two youths who were electrocuted on Oct. 27 as they hid in a power substation while apparently fleeing police just north of Paris. It later spread to other cities and towns across France.Chirac and the government have been heavily criticized over their handling of the rioting, involving white youths as well as French citizens of Arab and African origin.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

BANGKOK, Thailand (Reuters) -- A Bangkok toddler has tested positive for bird flu, a senior official said on Saturday, the first human case in the Thai capital since a fresh flare-up of the deadly disease a month ago.The one-year-old boy probably contracted the H5N1 virus from playing around chickens at his home which later died of the virus, said Paijit Warachit, director-general of the Department of Medical Science.His grandmother was under surveillance."The boy is confirmed as definitely having H5N1," Paijit told Reuters. "As for his grandmother, we have to keep close watch on her, just to be safe."The virus -- which has killed 13 Thais since it swept across large parts of Asia in late 2003 -- has re-emerged in 10 of Thailand's 76 provinces, mainly in central areas, since the beginning of last month.Three provinces were later declared free of the disease after a 21-day surveillance period.Despite the spread of the virus to Bangkok, the new outbreaks remain far fewer than at the same time last year, when 44 of Thailand's 76 provinces reported bird flu cases.In a bid to curb bird flu's spread, the government has imposed strict measures such as restricting movements of fighting cocks and eliminating the traditional free-range method of raising fowl.But officials have faced some stiff resistance from owners who claim the new restrictions mean higher costs for them.The highly pathogenic H5N1 virus is endemic in poultry across Asia, where it is known to have infected 124 people and killed 64.Although the H5N1 virus has yet to be transmitted between people, experts fear it could mutate into a strain that can move easily from person to person, touching off a pandemic that could kill millions. In China, the number of outbreaks in the latest round of cases has risen to seven.There have been no human infections in this round of outbreaks, but experts say one is inevitable with so many cases in poultry.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

MONROVIA, Liberia (Reuters) -- Soccer star George Weah's party has demanded a rerun of Liberia's presidential runoff vote, saying the poll he appeared to have lost was unfair.Weah supporters hurled stones at police on Friday and United Nations police used tear gas and batons to disperse hundreds of people protesting at the U.S. embassy in Liberia's capital Monrovia but the city appeared calm on Saturday.With 97 percent of polling stations' votes counted from Tuesday's runoff ballot, Harvard-trained former Finance Minister Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has an unassailable 59.4 percent and looks set to become Africa's first elected woman president, but former AC Milan striker Weah has cried foul."The process was unfair. There is a difference between free and fair elections," Milton Teahjay, senior political advisor to Weah and his Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) party, told Reuters on Saturday."We are asking for a rerun of the election," he said.Weah's party says Tuesday's election was marred by serious irregularities including doctored ballot papers, even though international observers gave it a generally clean bill of health and urged all parties to respect the result.African Union commission head Alpha Oumar Konare, a former president of nearby Mali, issued a statement on Saturday calling "on the candidates to accept the results of the polls as a clear expression of the will of the people of Liberia."Weah's CDC has filed an application to the country's Supreme Court to try to stop the counting process, now in its final stages, but the court told Weah's campaign team it could not consider the complaint until the National Elections Commission (NEC) had investigated it.A transitional government formed two years ago to draw a line under 14 years of civil war urged Weah and the CDC to restore calm after Friday's violence."Government deems such mob and unruly action as a serious violation of the law and therefore completely unacceptable," the government said in a statement.Weah appealed for calm in broadcasts on several local radio stations and asked his supporters to go home, the CDC's national campaign manager Jacob Kabakole told Reuters.Alan Doss, head of the 15,000-strong U.N. peace mission in Liberia, spoke to Weah about Friday's trouble, UNMIL said in a statement."UNMIL reiterates that it will deal firmly and decisively with any attempts, by any persons, who would seek to use violence to derail the elections process or to undermine peace or public order," it added.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- These days it seems that some people just can't go anywhere or do anything without a cell phone to their ear.In northern Virginia, police say they're looking for a woman who's been holding up banks while chatting on her phone."This is the first time that I can recall where we've had a crime committed while the person was using a cell phone," Loudoun County sheriff's spokesman Kraig Troxell told The Washington Post in a story published Friday. "The question would be whether anyone is on the other end of the line or not."Investigators believe the woman has hit four Wachovia bank branches in recent weeks in Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties.In three of those bank jobs, she was talking on a cell phone, while showing the teller a box with a holdup note attached to it. In the most recent holdup, on November 4, in Ashburn, the robber showed the teller a gun.The woman is described as well-spoken, with a slight Hispanic accent.Investigators say they're not sure if she's actually talking to someone on the phone or just pretending. They also won't speculate on why she's chosen only Wachovia branches.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lloyd Brown remembers Armistice Day in 1918 as few -- ever so few -- veterans can."For the servicemen there were lots of hugs and kisses," recalls Brown, of Charlotte Hall, Maryland, a teenage seaman aboard the battleship USS New Hampshire, in port stateside when the fighting stopped. "We were so happy that the war was over."Now 104, Brown adds, "There's not too many of us around any more."No one knows exactly how many of America's World War I veterans will celebrate Veterans Day, which marks the armistice of November 11, 1918, that ended what then was considered the Great War. An estimated 2 million Americans served in Europe after the U.S. entered the war in 1917.Today, the Veterans Affairs Department lists just eight veterans as receiving disability benefits or pension compensation from service in World War I. It says a few dozen other veterans of the war probably are alive, too, but the government does not keep a comprehensive list.The Census Bureau stopped asking for data about those veterans years ago. Using a report of 65,000 alive in 1990 as a baseline, the VA estimates that no more than 50 remain, perhaps as few as 30.World War I, fueled by intense nationalism and conflicting economic and colonial interests, began in the Balkans in 1914 and quickly spread across Europe because of military alliances. The major allied powers were Great Britain, France and Russia, and they were opposed by Germany, Austria-Hungary and a few others.The U.S. remained neutral even as Germany threatened its shipping and as anti-German sentiment grew among Americans. Congress declared war on Germany in April 1917 at the urging of President Woodrow Wilson. "The world must be made safe for democracy," Wilson said.More than 10 million troops died before the war ended with Germany's surrender. Of the U.S. troops, more than 116,000 died and more than 200,000 were wounded.Long-lived veterans are common among America's warriors. The last veteran to fight in the American Revolution died at age 109 in 1869, according to Defense Department statistics.Other wars and the ages of their last veterans the year they died: the War of 1812, 105, 1905; the Indian Wars, 101, 1973; the Mexican War, 98, 1929; the Civil War, 112, 1958; and the Spanish-American War, 106, 1992.The ranks of all World War I veterans grow thinner as the months pass. One of France's seven remaining veterans died two weeks ago, and the last Australian to serve in a war zone died a week earlier.In the U.S., the last known American veteran wounded in the war died at 108 in January 2004. West Virginia's last veteran passed away in October 2004, and Iowa lost its only remaining Great War veteran two months later. An Alabama veteran of the war died last March at 110.With each death, what was called "the war to end all wars" fades in American memory."It's a war that's out of mind," says Sean Flynn, who teaches World War I history at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota. "The U.S. entered it late and we have no real connection to it."Unlike the wars that followed, World War I doesn't have the visual record so important to becoming part of American consciousness, Flynn says. Yet its impact can be linked to many problems facing the world today, including conflict in the Balkans and the rise of Arab nationalism that occurred after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire."We learn about war through television and through film," Flynn says. "There's just not a lot of moving-picture footage of World War I. There's no visual image there for the public to identify with."Lloyd Brown spends little time thinking about the days his ship escorted convoys in North Atlantic waters threatened by German submarines. Living alone in a house in southern Maryland, just a few blocks from his daughter, Nancy, he does not believe that his war has been forgotten and feels satisfied with the attention paid to its veterans over the years."You can't celebrate World War I year after year after year, because there are other events taking place," says Brown, who watches the news each day to keep up with the world. "You have to honor them."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush encouraged older and disabled Americans on Saturday to enroll in the prescription drug benefit that will soon be offered through Medicare."This new benefit is the greatest advance in health care for seniors and Americans with disabilities since the creation of Medicare 40 years ago," Bush said in his weekly radio address.Enrollment begins Tuesday and continues until May 15, 2006. The program itself begins January 1. To participate, people must enroll in a private plan that will cover a portion of their prescription drug costs.On average, the program will save beneficiaries about 50 percent on their prescription drugs, federal officials estimate. Beneficiaries who qualify for the low-income subsidy will save substantially more -- about 95 percent.Critics have described the program as much too complex, and recent surveys found potential beneficiaries wary. Nearly half of senior citizens don't believe the benefit will help them, according to a survey conducted last month by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health.Most beneficiaries will have more than 40 plans from which to choose, the government has said.Bush described the new benefit as a means of preventing serious illness. In the past, he said, Medicare would pay tens of thousands of dollars for ulcer surgery, but not a few hundred dollars for prescription drugs that would eliminate the cause of ulcers.The president stressed that the benefit is voluntary. He asked family and friends of senior citizens and the disabled to help with the enrollment process. They can call 1-800-Medicare for assistance."The sooner you enroll, the sooner you can have the peace of mind this coverage will bring," Bush said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Actress Jennifer Aniston says her latest film, "Derailed," is a departure from the funny, girl-next-door roles that helped make her famous.In an interview on CNN's "Larry King Live," the former "Friends" star was tight-lipped about her personal life -- including her very public divorce from Brad Pitt and her rumored relationship with "Wedding Crashers" star Vince Vaughn.Aniston laughed but refused to answer when asked about Vaughn and instead repeated King when he said "we love him," and "he's a national treasure." (Watch Jennifer Aniston on public breakup: 'It's a bitch" -- 1:25)When asked why, she replied "because it's none of your -- I don't mean to say that. It sounds harsh to say 'it's none of your business' but it's -- I've learned my -- you know you learn your lessons. That's all."Aniston said she met Vaughn when they were working together on the romantic comedy "The Break Up," which is scheduled for release next year.Much to the tabloids' delight, Vaughn had also appeared in "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," with Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who were said to be romantically involved in the months leading up to Aniston's divorce from Pitt. (Full story)Aniston said she stays away from the tabloids."It's toxic ... I want no part of it and it's the only way you can really go through, walk through anything like that with any kind of dignity is to just not succumb to that crap," she said.She said that the paparazzi frequently cross the line and invade her privacy because "they just want a photograph so they can make a buck.""I'm on the clock. We're on the clock, we're working right now. I think when you're off the clock, you should be off the clock," she said. "You don't follow them to their private events and to their children's schools and to their family or friends' funerals or whatever. I mean, it's just -- come on, it's common sense."Aniston said she signed on for "Derailed," which opens Friday, because the thriller "was just a different part than usually comes my way."She and co-star Clive Owen play married executives who meet on the train ride to work and have a one-night stand.That affair goes about as wrong as humanly possible, when a man bursts into their hotel room and goes on to terrorize them and their families."I just feel lucky to be able to do things other than that character, you know, other than Rachel (her "Friends" character) to be able to sort of move on into films and be accepted," she said."Friends," which catapulted her to fame, stays on her mind. She's best friends with "Friends" castmate Courteney Cox and the six main actors always negotiated contracts together -- which led to huge paydays late in the show's run."I miss them, that's the one thing I miss terribly -- the crew, the writers. Everybody worked there together so long, everyday, eight months out of the year," she told The Associated Press. "Like school ... depending on what kind of a student you were."Owen, best known for his dark hero roles in "Sin City" and "King Arthur," said Aniston was "a brilliant choice" and was fantastic to work with in "Derailed." "I was a big fan of the script. I felt the character was unusual and that he was completely reactive the whole film. It's like he's not -- he's not the guy that drives the story," he said. "The story attacks him and there was just something very attractive about playing that."

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minnesota (AP) -- Police shut down a suburban shopping mall for several hours Saturday after screaming fans of the boy band B5 rushed the stage during a free concert.Five people suffered minor injuries, police said.More than 2,000 fans, mostly teenage girls, converged on Brookdale Center mall for the show, sponsored by the local Radio Disney station, KDIZ-AM. The band had only begun the second song when the chaos broke out and girls began rushing the stage."It just seemed like a girl frenzy," said Christopher Taykalo of Radio Disney. "A lot of young teenage girls who were trying to get close to their artists that they are huge fans of."Seventy officers from 23 area communities responded the chaos. It took about 15 minutes for them to get the crowd under control and another 30 minutes to clear out the mall. The mall reopened later Saturday evening."I've never seen anything like it in my life," Jennifer Fullbright, 49, of Cottage Grove, told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis. She took her daughter and her daughter's friend to see the band.B5 is a group of five brothers from Atlanta -- Dustin, Patrick, Kelly, Bryan and Carnell Breeding -- ages 10 to 17. Their debut album, "All I Do," came out this summer, and they toured with the BET cable network's "Scream Tour IV."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SALEM, Oregon (AP) -- Police shot a man after he crashed a truck into a downtown courthouse early Saturday, ending a pursuit that began when he allegedly set fire to several squad cars in a nearby town and shot at an officer who chased him.The man drove the pickup through the glass double doors of the Marion County Courthouse and hid inside the building for about three hours, setting at least one fire before police tracked him down in a stairwell, police Capt. Jeff Kuhns said.He was in surgery Saturday afternoon, officials said. His condition and the extent of his injuries were not immediately released.Authorities identified the man as Christopher Lee Millis, 37, of nearby Keizer."We have a few indications of what might have motivated him," said Marion County District Attorney Walt Beglau. He declined to elaborate.The pursuit started shortly before dawn when a man was spotted pouring liquid on cars parked at the police department in Keizer and setting them on fire, authorities said.An officer chased him in her car, but the suspect fired at her, police said. The officer crashed but wasn't injured.Shortly afterward, police got calls that someone in the area was firing shots at homes. Around 6:30 a.m., Salem police got a call that someone had driven up the concrete steps of the courthouse and crashed through the doors.Officers from several police departments surrounded the building and attempted to negotiate with the man. They eventually confronted him in the stairwell and shot him.Millis had set at least one fire inside the courthouse and fired a weapon, Kuhns said, adding that it was unclear whether he was firing at officers outside. A bomb squad was called in as a precaution after Millis was subdued, and police searched the five-story courthouse for possible explosives but didn't immediately find any.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

PARIS, France (AP) -- Emergency security measures went into effect Saturday in Paris, with 3,000 police patrolling train stations, the Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Elysees to prevent France's worst unrest in decades from spreading to the capital.National Police Chief Michel Gaudin said police were taking "every precaution," including banning certain public gatherings, a day after calls for "violent actions" Saturday evening in Paris were posted on Internet blogs and sent in text messages to cell phones."This is not a rumor," Gaudin told a news conference, citing Paris' best-known landmarks among potential targets. "One can easily imagine the places where we must be highly vigilant."Several hours after nightfall, no trouble anywhere in Paris had been reported.Unrest has weakened in intensity since the government declared a state-of-emergency Tuesday, empowering local authorities to invoke exceptional security measures such as curfews if deemed necessary.Despite heightened security around the country, new violence broke out early Saturday evening in the southeastern city of Lyon. Police fired tear gas to disperse stone-throwing youths at the city's historic Place Bellecour. It was the first time in 17 nights of unrest across France that youths and police clashed in a major French city.Just hours earlier, regional authorities had imposed a weekend curfew on Lyon, France's third-largest city, that barred youths under 18 from being outside without adult supervision between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.Some 40 towns, suburbs and smaller cities have imposed curfews on minors to clamp down on violence that started Oct. 27 in a Paris suburb and has grown into a nationwide insurrection marked by extensive arson and clashes with police.Paris police took the exceptional step of banning all public gatherings that could "provoke or encourage disorder" from 10 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Sunday. Police spokesman Hugo Mahboubi said it had been at least a decade and possibly longer since authorities had imposed any similar ban on gatherings in the French capital.As unrest continued, calls for peace and political change were mounting.Police allowed an evening demonstration in Paris' Latin Quarter, which drew several hundred people protesting against the state-of-emergency measures. Many of the protesters were left-wing political groups and members of Communist-backed unions. They called for the resignation of Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been accused of inflaming the violence by calling troublemakers "scum."Under tight police surveillance, protesters called the strict new measures a "provocation" that would not resolve violence or answer the long-term problems that caused the unrest. A similar rally in the southern city of Toulouse drew about 700 people.The violence first started in the northeastern Parisian suburb Clichy-sous-Bois on October 27. About 100 youths rioted to protest the accidental deaths of two Muslim teens, who were electrocuted while hiding from police in an electricity substation. It quickly triggered rioting in low-income housing projects across the country that have been centers for unemployment and alienation.The unrest has forced France to confront its failure to integrate minorities and the anger simmering among its large African and Arab communities.Late Friday, two gasoline bombs were tossed into a mosque in the southern city of Carpentras, slightly damaging the foyer. It was not immediately clear whether the attack was linked to the unrest.President Jacques Chirac asked investigators to find those behind the incident in Carpentras, a town grimly remembered for a 1990 neo-Nazi attack on a Jewish cemetery that sparked national outrage.Police said that unrest was now concentrated outside of the Paris region, where 86 vehicles were burned overnight Friday, compared to a total of 502 nationwide.The overall figure was slightly higher than during the previous night, but a significant drop from the 1,400 cars incinerated in a single night of mayhem a week earlier.Arson attacks were reported in 163 towns around France overnight Friday and early Saturday morning -- about half the towns hit by violence a week earlier, the national police chief said.The riots have been marked by hundreds of nightly arson attacks on vehicles. Schools, gymnasiums, warehouses and public transport also have been targeted for arsons.Two police officers were injured, one burned in the face by a gasoline bomb while trying to put out flames of a burning vehicle in the Aisne region, Gaudin said.Overall, 2,503 people have been detained since the start of the unrest, with 364 of them convicted in expedited trials. Nearly 460 minors have gone before juvenile courts, 103 of whom were in the process of being charged, the Justice Ministry said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(CNN) -- Officials are searching for a "mother ship" believed to be used to launch high-speed boats for several recent pirate attacks off Somalia. Since November 5, when pirates tried unsuccessfully to attack a 440-foot cruise liner operated by Seabourn Cruise Lines, at least five other attacks have taken place, most of them northeast of Somalia, said Andrew Mwangura, program coordinator at the Kenyan Seafarer's Association.Overall, he said, seven ships and crews have been taken into captivity in that section of the Indian Ocean.Fishermen in the area spotted a "pirate mother ship" drifting off the Somali coast in July, on November 5 and earlier this week, Mwangura said. Only one mother ship has been spotted, but there may be more in existence. Officials think the smaller boats used in attacks are launched from the mother ship, he said.A crew of more than 10 people, including a captain and engineer, are believed to be on the ship. The crew is believed to be well-organized, Mwangura said."We are trying to call up the coalition forces to track the vessel and to get pictures of the mother ship," he said.Earlier this week, the director of the International Maritime Bureau, appealed to vessels off the Somali coasts to come to the aid of ships under attack in a statement citing an "alarming rise" in the number of piracy attacks in the area."At the very least," said Capt. Pottengal Mukundan, IMB director, "they can prevent the hijackers from taking these ships into Somali waters. Once the vessels have entered these waters, the chances of any law enforcement is negligible."Twenty-five pirate attacks have been reported in the past six months, the statement said. "In one incident, a ship was lured into danger by pirates firing bogus distress flares."In the attempted cruise liner attack, pirates were in two boats and armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, Deborah Natansohn, president of Seabourn Cruise Lines, told CNN at the time. (Watch passengers recall their encounter with ocean marauders -- 2:34)The northern and southern coastline of Somalia -- Africa's longest -- links trade routes for key commodities like oil, grains and iron ore from the Gulf and Red Sea region down to the Mozambique Channel. Thousands of merchant ships snake down the Somali coast to the Cape of Good Hope every year.Some of the world's leading shipping bodies called on the U.N. to urgently address the issue.The piracy watchdog has warned merchant ships to stay at least 200 nautical miles away from the Somali coast -- an admonition that has gone unheeded.After two years of relative calm, 32 pirate attacks have been recorded since mid-March, including raids on ships carrying supplies for the U.N. World Food Program.Somalia has been ruled by rival warlords since dictator Mohammed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991. Many of the warlords are believed to run gangs who smuggle drugs, weapons and people by road, sea and air around the region.Piracy is a lucrative and growing offshoot of this trade.On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council criticized Somalia's squabbling government and urged rival factions to work to confront the chaos and piracy plaguing the lawless nation.The council expressed "serious concern" about the recent wave of pirate attacks off the coast, and urged regional powers and international bodies to address the problem urgently.CNN's Erin McLaughlin contributed to this report.Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) -- A U.S.-backed summit meant to promote political freedom and economic change in the Middle East ended Saturday without agreement, a blow to U.S. President George W. Bush's goals for the troubled region.A draft declaration on democratic and economic principle was shelved after Egypt insisted on language that would have given Arab governments greater control over which democracy groups receive money from a new fund.U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also used the conference to send a message to Syrians chafing under authoritarian rule, saying Washington backs their "aspirations for liberty, democracy and justice under the rule of law."Bush hosted a coming-out party for the Forum for the Future last year at Sea Island, Georgia, and the U.S. is putting up half of the $100 million (euro85.5 million) in a venture capital fund for economic development launched at this year's gathering.Egypt plants roadblockThe White House had hoped the conference would showcase political progress in a part of the world long dominated by monarchies and single-party rule, and spread goodwill for the U.S.American officials seemed startled that an ally, Egypt, threw up a roadblock.Egypt receives nearly $2 billion (euro1.7 billion) annually in U.S. aid, second only to Israel. The country held its first multiparty elections this year, but remains under the firm control of President Hosni Mubarak.Rice chose Egypt as the site for a widely noted June speech promoting democracy. An earlier visit was postponed in a dispute over the jailing of a democracy activist, who was later released.The disappointing outcome at the conference followed a rocky summit a week ago in Argentina, when Bush got a cold shoulder from some Latin American leaders, failed to win consensus on a free trading bloc for the Western Hemisphere and endured biting criticism from anti-U.S. protesters and Venezuela's leftist president, Hugo Chavez.In Bahrain, tense negotiations in private over the language of a final statement could not persuade the Egyptians. Egypt's foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, left the session before a closing press conference."We didn't withdraw" from the conference, he said later. "What happened is that the meeting took so long, more than it was scheduled."Bahrain's foreign minister, Sheik Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, told reporters the declaration will come up again, perhaps at a gathering scheduled for Jordan next year."We don't want to issue a haphazard decision," Khalifa said. "We decided we will come back to it one day."Many Middle East nations are wary of Bush's second-term democracy agenda for the region. Some organizations that the administration has tried to engage are reluctant to take money from the U.S."It would be a disaster for this region if the region thought democracy is an American idea," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said at the closing press conference, where the final agreement had been expected to be released."America is a great country but democracy was born in Greece, just across the Mediterranean" from the Middle East, Straw said.Dollars for democracyAs intended, the 36-nation session launched a $100 million (euro85.5 million) venture capital fund to promote economic enterprise. The fund includes $50 million (euro43 million) from the United States, with contributions from Egypt, Morocco and Denmark.The conference also started a $50 million (euro43 million) foundation aimed at promoting democracy and political change in the Middle East.Both initiatives were shepherded by U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Liz Cheney, the vice president's daughter. She accompanied Rice on a Mideast trip to Bahrain, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and the West Bank.U.S. officials said the sticking point was a passage in the declaration that pledged "to expand democratic practices, to enlarge participation in political and public life and to foster the roles of civil society," including nongovernmental organizations, and to widen women's political and economic participation.Egypt wanted the statement to stipulate that those organizations, known as NGOs, be "legally registered" under each country's laws. U.S. officials said the requirement would undermine the purpose of the statement.Nongovernmental organizations is a term used by the U.S. State Department and others to describe both humanitarian aid organizations such as the Red Cross and lesser-known groups that promote social and political agendas.Groups covered in the disputed language increasingly are active in Egypt.Egypt's ruling party secured the most seats in the first stage of parliamentary balloting last week that was seen as a test of Mubarak's pledges of electoral reform. The opposition said there were widespread irregularities at the polls.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan -- the latest top diplomat to visit volatile Iraq -- on Saturday denounced the deadly terror strikes coursing through the Middle East and called for Iraqis to reconcile. "This region, and particularly Iraq, has suffered too much from terrorist attacks," Annan said during his first visit to Iraq since the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion."Even those who are at a distance feel the pain and the misery that is being inflicted on families and innocent citizens," he added. Annan told reporters he talked with Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and other Iraqi politicians during a stop that followed visits earlier this week of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.The officials braved the region's violence to offer solidarity to the transitional government and its efforts to build democracy. Annan spoke in the capital as a car bomb reverberated in a market in another part of Baghdad, killing at four women and wounding 40 other people. Annan: Reconciliation vitalHe urged Iraqis to embrace a process aiming to reconcile the country's ethnic and religious groups. "Reconciliation is absolutely vital in Iraq," Annan said, adding that the U.N. supported all efforts to bring peace to the country.On Friday, Annan visited the Grand Hyatt and Radisson hotels in Amman -- two sites struck Wednesday by suicide bombers. A third hotel, a Days Inn, was also targeted. Fifty-seven people were killed in the bombings and more than 90 injured.Annan expressed his solidarity with Jordan's King Abdullah II and renewed his call to the U.N.'s member states "to agree on a comprehensive convention against terrorism.""It can be done, and it is essential that this convention be adopted by the end of the year," Annan said.The diplomatic stops came amid U.S. and Iraqi operations in the fight against insurgents and reports that a top insurgent leader had died. Report: Insurgent leader deadGovernment commandos launched major raids in the Baquba area that netted more than 380 arrests and U.S. and Iraqi forces wrapped up Operation Steel Curtain near the Syrian border in western Iraq. The U.S. Marines said Saturday that U.S. and Iraqi forces carrying out Operation Steel Curtain "are in the final phases of clearing operations" in Karabila, a border town with an insurgent presence.Earlier, Arabic-language news network Al-Arabiya reported that Saddam Hussein's former deputy, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, has died. The report quoted a Baath Party statement.CNN has not been able to confirm the death, and previous reports of Ibrahim's death or capture have proven to be unfounded. Al-Arabiya gave no details on how or where he died. (Watch: Who is Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri? -- 1:30)Ibrahim was named the most senior member of the former regime still at large and had been an insurgent leader. He is sixth on the U.S. military's list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis, with a $10 million reward offered for his capture. (Reward offered)Baquba raidMore than 380 people were detained in the Baquba raid. Among them were: Khalid al-Sanjari, deputy mayor of Baqub; Ayad al-Ajeeli, deputy dean of Diyala University's College of Education and a member of the Islamic Party; and Sheikh Mohammed Kamil, a city council member and a senior member of the Islamic Party, Maj. Gen. Mohammed Hasan of the Interior Ministry and the brigade commander told CNN.The Islamic Party issued a statement condemning the raids and detention of Sunnis in Baquba. One of those detained, the party said in the statement, was a party member who holds the position of deputy chairman of Baquba's courthouse.The Ministry of Interior's police commandos, Wolf Brigade, began the raid on the Tahreer neighborhood at about 6:30 a.m., Hasan said. The operation on the neighborhood ended about three hours later, he said, and the brigade went on to raid the town of Kan'an in eastern Baquba."We were very well-received by the people of Baquba," Hasan said. "People are fully cooperating, providing us with all the information needed to capture all terrorists. We came upon the request of the residents of the city, and we shall remain here until we clean the city from all the terrorists."During the raid, roads in and out of Baquba were blocked, and the streets were almost empty.Earlier on Saturday, an insurgent was killed and an insurgent group was captured when they were preparing to launch a strike on a checkpoint near the city, the U.S. military said. Insurgents engaged the 3rd Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade with rocket-propelled grenade and small-arms fire, but were quickly overwhelmed by the patrol. Other developmentsPresident Bush on Friday accused critics of the Iraq war of distorting the events that led to the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, saying Democrats viewed the same intelligence and came to similar conclusions. Democrats responded immediately -- and angrily -- to Bush's comments. (Full story)Two U.S. soldiers were killed Friday and two others were injured in a vehicular accident during a combat logistical patrol northwest of Kirkuk. Two other U.S. soldiers died Thursday from small arms fire near al-Khalidiya, the military said Friday. The deaths bring the number of U.S. service members killed in Iraq to 2,065. The bodies of two unidentified civilians were found in separate locations Friday in Baghdad. Both had their hands tied behind their backs and were blindfolded. They had been shot in the head execution-style, Baghdad emergency police said. CNN's Enes Dulami and Octavia Nasr contributed to this report.