BERKLEY, Michigan (AP) -- A song about people picking cotton was pulled from a middle school concert in suburban Detroit after a black parent complained that it glorifies slavery.Superintendent Tresa Zumsteg decided Monday to remove the song "Pick a Bale of Cotton" from the program, said Gwen Ahearn, spokeswoman for the Berkley School District.Ahearn said that when the song was picked for Wednesday's folk songs concert at Anderson Middle School, there was no intent to offend anyone."As it became apparent that that is the case, we pulled the song," she said.The school is predominantly white.The song's lyrics include, "Jump down, turn around, pick a bale of cotton. Gotta jump down, turn around, Oh, Lordie, pick a bale a day."Parent Greg Montgomery said he complained to school officials, and when he was dissatisfied with their response, decided to pull his 11-year-old daughter, China, from singing."It's mind-boggling that people don't understand sensitive issues," he told The Detroit News.China said: "They were bringing back the memories of how African-Americans picked cotton, and it wasn't a good memory. It was disrespectful to African-Americans."Ahearn said there's nothing derogatory in the song's lyrics, but the district did not want China to miss the concert."For her family and the school district, the best thing was to pull the song," she said.Earlier, Ahearn, while confirming that officials were considering pulling the song, had defended the choice."We used to sing that song when I was in school during the '50s," she said. "It's like a Southern type of folk song. I remember it being perky. It was more of a song that people just sang for fun."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(AP) -- Curious where those extra tuition dollars are going? One place to look would be the pockets of college presidents.Five presidents have cracked the $1 million compensation barrier, according to an annual survey by The Chronicle of Higher Education to be released Monday, and more are sure to follow. Nine earned more than $900,000 -- a figure none broke in last year's report.All were at private universities, and the figures are for fiscal 2004, the most recent information available for private schools. More recent data on public universities, for the current academic year, shows salaries are rising there, too. Leaders of 23 public institutions are being paid $500,000 or more this year, up from 17 a year ago.Donald Ross of Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida topped the list at $5.04 million. However, all but $477,000 of that was deferred compensation awarded after 34 years as president.He was followed by Audrey K. Doberstein of Wilmington College in Delaware ($1.37 million) and Gordon Gee of Vanderbilt ($1.33 million).In past surveys, the only presidents to break $1 million did so in their final years of service, their compensation boosted by some kind of severance or retirement package. This year's survey, however, features two million-dollar presidents -- Ross and Gee -- who are still on the job.Mary Sue Coleman of the University of Michigan is the highest paid public university president this year with $724,604 in compensation, followed by David P. Roselle of the University of Delaware ($720,522 in fiscal 2004, the most recent figures provided in his case) and Mark G. Yudof of the University of Texas system ($693,677).Raymond D. Cotton, a Washington attorney and expert on presidential contracts and compensation, said salary competition is being fueled by a wave of retirements by baby boomer college presidents, and by the growing desire of governing boards to hire only presidents who have already been presidents elsewhere."What's happening is there's an imbalance of supply and demand," Cotton said.The competition has driven the average tenure of the president of a large college down to about five years on average -- often too short for effective leadership."It's definitely not good to have instability at the top," Cotton said.Still, most presidents at the nation's 3,500 colleges and universities earn far less. Other figures from the Chronicle show the average chief executive of a single institution earns a salary of about $181,000. And even the salaries of top college presidents pale in comparison to those of top corporate CEOs.Cotton said he sees the compensation of private college presidents rising more rapidly than that of their public counterparts, whose schools educate far more students."That is troublesome to me," he said. "That's to me where we should be emphasizing the quality of the leadership."After a long-running dispute over release of the figure, Penn State University agreed for the first time to provide the Chronicle salary information for President Graham Spanier. He will be paid $492,000 this year, 25th among the 139 public universities surveyed.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

CHOLULA, Mexico (AP) -- A lot has changed since this town was founded on a flat plain in the valley of Mexico.But no wonder -- that founding was 1,800 years ago. Cholula's residents have learned over the years how to blend their ancient history with their modern lives to create a community that is deeply religious yet modern -- and often very noisy with fireworks, church bells and the music of religious processions.Cholula, in central Mexico, is said to be the oldest continuously occupied town in all of North America. Anthropologists and town fathers say the town was officially founded in the year 620 A.D. And they say people have been living there even longer -- possibly since around the year 200 A.D.The ancient town has lots to offer visitors. Just a dozen miles from Puebla, Mexico's fourth-largest city, Cholula has several dozen elaborately decorated churches; a huge pyramid with a church on top and tunnels throughout; a yearly symphony of church bells; a religious fair that brings in an enormous market of arts and crafts; and, on a clear day, the sight of three volcanoes, one of which regularly belches smoke.The churches are a spectacular attraction. Local lore has it that Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes ordered 365 Christian churches to be built when he arrived in Cholula around 1500 -- a church for every day of the year, as a means of promoting Catholicism. Only about 175 churches ended up being built in Cholula and neighboring villages, said Timothy James Knab, an anthropology professor at the University de las Americas in nearby Puebla who teaches a class about Cholula. But almost all the churches use fireworks to mark religious festivals, and almost all have multiple bells, so the sound of pealing bells and the sight of powerful pyrotechnics is a regular feature of life in town.The bed-shaking fireworks can be a surprise to visitors."They do have a constant need for explosions," said P.J. Ryan, 70, of Wheaton, Maryland, who spent three months in Cholula last winter. "Usually (when there are fireworks) there's an audience, but around here that doesn't seem to matter."Religious centerThen there is the pyramid, Tepanapa. Now mostly covered by earth and plants, the huge adobe structure looks at first like a pyramid-shaped hill rising out of the flat lands near the center of town. The pyramid was built by the Cholulteca people during the centuries leading up to 850 A.D., and features a large church on top, rebuilt several times over the last 400 years, that is still in active use. Visitors who are reasonably fit can climb the long, wide, winding stairs to the church and enjoy the views from the stone plaza on top of the pyramid -- cultivated fields stretching out in one direction and the city of Puebla in the other.For many years, Tepanapa was thought to be the largest pyramid in the world, with a length of 820 feet on each side and a height of 216 feet. It covers 10 hectares. It's no longer thought to be the largest -- but it does have the largest base of any pyramid in the world, said Knab. Visitors can tour the remains of several buildings inside by walking down a long, cool, narrow corridor within.Cholula is known as an important religious center, and its churches are generously decorated and scrupulously maintained. Domes and other interior walls are covered with statues of saints, children, fruit, flowers, birds and much more in plaster, wood, gold and paint, and many of the churches feature the colorful Talavera tiles that are a famous product of Puebla.The religious art and celebration doesn't stay inside the churches. Cholula has more religious festivals every year -- about 400 -- than any other town in Mexico, said Knab. The town is distinct because its social system, based on separate neighborhoods, is still functioning strongly, and each neighborhood, or barrio, still celebrates its own saints day with one or as many as 20 festivals featuring food, music, religious processions and of course fireworks. On important holidays such as Good Friday, the streets in the center of town are closed down and carpeted with flowers for the parades."Normally most towns will celebrate nothing more than their patron saint's day," Knab said. "Processions are almost constant here." A local band waits in front of San Diego church during a religious festival in Cholula.In November, Cholula holds a concert of its church bells, when all the bells of the barrios ring in sequence. The lights are turned off in the center of town, and townspeople carry candles as they meet in the Zocalo, or main plaza, to listen to the music.September is the time of Cholula's large fair celebrating the Virgin of the Remedies, the statue of the virgin now housed in the church on top of the pyramid. The statue itself, an 8-inch-tall figure left behind by a Spanish soldier in the 16th century, is taken down from the pyramid in September to begin a cycle of visits to Cholula neighborhoods. The Virgin of the Remedies is believed to be one of the most miraculous in Mexican culture, and the fair is a mammoth commercial event that attracts both buyers and sellers from other Mexican states with local crafts and products as well as plastics.During the fair, "all the streets in the Zocalo are filled with itinerant merchants," said Robert Shadow, an anthropology professor who has lived in the area for 20 years. "It's a very Mexican tradition, the fusion of commerce and religion."Cholula is a religious center, but the town has plenty of secular attractions as well, starting with the Zocalo, a large shady park that is surrounded by restaurants and stores. Shops selling local handcrafts including the Talavera pottery line many of the streets leading to the Zocalo, and the crafts -- local or from elsewhere in Mexico -- are affordably priced. A local culinary specialty, chilis en nogada, is made with green chilis, red pomegranate and white walnut sauce, reflecting the colors of the Mexican flag.The old city shows its ancient roots with narrow, cobbled streets and several huge stone plazas; walking is easy in town, and shade is plentiful. Jacaranda trees in flower provide splashes of color against the white stucco walls and the wrought iron of the traditional Mexican buildings. The town is set up for visitors, with many good hotels located downtown. Most of the tourists who visit Cholula are Mexican; the town is not on the regular route of Americans and Canadians. But it's well worth a side trip."I love Cholula; it feels different from any other city in Mexico," said Knab. "Everybody is still involved in their Saints days, their fiestas; this is the social glue that has held Cholula together for 2,000 years, and it still exists here."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- They're items you see every day.Air Force One? His design.Streamlined locomotives? His doing.The logos for Nabisco, Exxon, Shell and Sealtest? His, his, his and his again.Raymond Loewy is called "the father of industrial design" for a reason. He took ugly consumer items -- pencil sharpeners, refrigerators -- and made them beautiful. He designed cars that were a decade or more ahead of their time. He created kitchen appliances, crockery and furniture, and did design work for Greyhound, the U.S. Postal Service and NASA.It's not for nothing that Loewy, who was born in Europe in 1893 and died in 1986, titled one of his books, "Never Leave Well Enough Alone.""Raymond started industrial design and the streamlining movement," architect Philip Johnson once said."He designed everything from lipstick to locomotives," observes Laura Moody of the Museum of Design Atlanta, which is showing an exhibit of his work, "Raymond Loewy: Designs for a Consumer Culture," through the end of December. After its Atlanta stop, the exhibition will work its way across the United States over the next two years.Even today, his work -- which dates back to the 1920s -- looks startlingly modern, with clean lines, minimal fussiness and creative use of color."When he was a young boy, he was inspired by beauty and speed," says his daughter, Laurence Loewy, who watches over her father's estate. "[He said that] good design was not a veneer. It was an integral part of the project."'Most advanced, yet acceptable'The exhibit features a number of Loewy's greatest hits. There's a mid-1930s Sears Coldspot refrigerator, a sleek white appliance that won an award from a Paris design fair. (One interesting touch: Instead of pulling a handle, you push a large rectangular button to open the door.)There's Melamine dishware by Lucent -- mid-'50s plates and saucers made from a form of plastic, yet delicately designed by Loewy to give the appearance of china -- and 1950s color charts and posters showcasing Loewy's work for Formica (including countertops with the popular Googie forms of the time) and Arvin (a "Loewy-designed dinette set," trumpets an advertisement, illustrating the value of the Loewy name).Against one column is a futuristic 1946 television that looks like an oscilloscope, and one area is dominated by vintage Coca-Cola materials designed by Loewy, including a fountain, a jukebox and some Coke bottles.And all along the walls are many photos of Loewy's creations and the man himself, including the October 31, 1949, cover of Time magazine."He always intuited what the customer wanted," says Laurence Loewy, her house in suburban Atlanta lined with Loewy paraphernalia. "He always had good taste, and the sense not to push the envelope too far."His motto, she adds, was "MAYA" -- "most advanced, yet acceptable."'Always bringing home a new toaster'Ironically, though Loewy received constant commissions and accolades from manufacturers, he found it hard to obtain work on some of his favorite machines -- automobiles."Detroit considered him a renegade," says his daughter.He did get work from the Indiana-based Studebaker auto company, and his early '50s Studebakers are models of grace: the 1953 Starliner, which some consider the first American sports car, was voted one of the 10 most beautiful designs in an auto writers' poll and is now featured on a stamp. But Loewy was constantly pushing for lighter, safer and more efficient at a time when the American auto business was dominated by heavy, chrome-laden powerhouses with portholes, torpedoed bumpers and fins. Raymond Loewy with his daughter Laurence, who remembers serving as an "in-house focus group.""Dad called [General Motors designer] Harley Earl's designs 'chrome-plated barges,' " chuckles Laurence Loewy. "He said that, if left to his own devices, Harley Earl would put fins on a TV or refrigerator."As a person, she says, he liked "a stiff drink, a good smoke and a hearty laugh." He had a fondness for antiques, and when he was away from his studios, he enjoyed himself, she remembers -- he had houses in Palm Springs, California, and the French Riviera, was a gourmet cook and took time for reflection.But he was always curious about the practical uses of his work, she says."He was always bringing home a new toaster, a new mixer, for the staff to use and critique," Laurence Loewy says. "He had his own in-house focus group."At their peak, designers such as Loewy, Norman Bel Geddes and Henry Dreyfuss were household names. Then, for decades, design was something often taken for granted by the public. It wasn't until recently, with Target's focus on Michael Graves and Philippe Starck, that design has become celebrated again."[The exhibit] showcases a time when design had come to the forefront," says MODA's Moody. "I think we're seeing that resurgence again."Indeed, the Raymond Loewy Foundation offers several awards to design professionals, and works to bring design and related issues to the attention of the public, Laurence Loewy says.Her father would find much to admire today, she says."He would admire [car designer] J Mays' work -- the Volkswagen [New] Beetle, the Mustang, the Thunderbird ... He'd own a Macintosh laptop and would listen to an iPod. But," she adds, "he would complain that cell phones are too small, that an aging population would have problems using the devices."As the exhibit of his work shows, it just takes a desire to get it right -- for the product and the public, she says."There are some simple requirements," she says. "A little logic, some good taste and the willingness to cooperate."

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- A miniature robot released by a Japanese space probe to a small asteroid circling the sun was lost before it was able to land on the asteroid's surface, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said on Sunday.Minerva, a can-shaped "baby" robot 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) long, had been designed to gather information on the Itokawa asteroid as part of a rehearsal ahead of the unmanned Hayabusa probe's own landing on the asteroid Itokawa, scheduled for November 19.Minerva's landing was to have been the first attempt by Japan to send information-gathering equipment to an astronomic object outside the Earth.Equipped with a camera and thermometers, Minerva was meant to hop around Itokawa and send data such as surface temperatures and images back via Hayabusa, the Kyodo news agency reported.A previous attempt to land Minerva earlier this month was aborted because of technical problems.Itokawa, an asteroid 600 meters (1,970 feet) long that travels on an orbit that takes it between Earth and Mars, is named after Hideo Itokawa, the father of Japan's space exploration program. It is about 290 million kilometers (180 million miles) away from the Earth.Junichiro Kawaguchi, a professor at JAXA, said scientists had miscalculated the best moment to release Minerva, a task made difficult by Hayabusa's changing altitude over the asteroid."It is very disappointing that it did not work out nicely. We found out various things about the asteroid, so we will study the data and hope it will lead to the successful landing of Hayabusa," Kyodo quoted him as saying.Hayabusa, which was fired into space on May 9, 2003, has been hovering over Itokawa for almost two months.The spacecraft is designed to swoop down on the asteroid on two separate occasions and gather samples before returning to Earth.Scientists hope that by studying samples of the asteroid's surface they will be able learn more about the origins of the universe.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ROME, Italy (Reuters) -- Some 13 million hectares of forests are destroyed around the world each year, an area the size of Greece, although the net loss of trees has finally slowed thanks mainly to new plantations, the United Nations said on Monday.The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said its Global Forest Resources Assessment was the most exhaustive such survey undertaken, covering 229 countries and territories.Taking into account plantations, landscape restoration and the natural expansion of some forests, the FAO said the net loss of forest area between 2000-2005 was some 7.3 million hectares a year against 8.9 million hectares in the 1990-2000 period.FAO officials hailed the improvement in the net loss figure, saying China in particular had embarked on a major tree-growing program to provide timber for its construction boom and to tackle the process of deforestation."There are reasons to be very optimistic about what is happening," Hosny El-Lakany, FAO's assistant director general for forestry, told a news conference.However, environmental groups accused the FAO of playing down the devastation of the world's most important forests."FAO continues to emphasize the net forest loss number. This is misleading because most of the world's most valuable forests, especially in the tropics, are vanishing as fast as ever," said Simon Counsell, head of the Rainforest Foundation in Britain."These figures are the main basis for global decision-making on world's most important eco-systems. We fear that bad decisions are going to made on the basis of bad data."FAO said forests covered nearly 4 billion hectares, some 30 percent of the world's land, with 10 countries accounting for two-thirds of all forest area -- Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Indonesia, Peru, Russia and the United States.South America suffered the largest net loss of forests between 2000 and 2005 -- around 4.3 million hectares per year -- followed by Africa, which lost 4 million hectares annually.By contrast, forest area grew in Europe, although at a slower rate than in the 1990s, while Asia moved from a net loss of some 800,000 hectares a year to a net gain of 1 million a year -- thanks mainly to large scale planting in China.The FAO defines a forest as an area larger than 0.5 hectares where 10 percent of the ground is covered by tree canopy.The Rainforest Foundation said this definition was far too loose. "Ten percent is just land with a few trees dotted around. They are exaggerating the area of forest," Counsell said.The canopy of a tropical forest often covers almost 100 percent of the ground. Environmentalists say when this figure falls below 50 percent, the forest's eco-system is wrecked.But the FAO defended its methodology, saying it was almost impossible to gauge the degradation inside forests, and warned against excessive alarmism.It said primary forests, which are areas undisturbed by humans, represented 36 percent of total global forests, with some 6 million hectares lost or modified each year."It is obviously very sad to lose this amount, but you should bear in mind that it represents just 0.4 percent of total primary forest," said survey co-ordinator, Mette Loyche Wilkie.FAO said plantations accounted for less than 5 percent of all the world's forest areas, while 11 percent of forests were official conservation areas -- up 96 million hectares on 1990.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Medicare beneficiaries are not enthused about the program's new prescription drug benefit, which begins enrolling its first participants Tuesday.A survey of older people finds them divided into three camps:37 percent view the program unfavorably.31 percent have a favorable opinion.31 percent said they just do not know enough about the benefit to have an opinion."Seniors still are having a hard time. Seniors still aren't really prepared, and they're going to need a lot of help to make the choices they need to make under the law," said Dr. Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which undertook the survey with the Harvard School of Public Health.The foundation conducts health research and has no affiliation with any company providing prescription drug coverage through Medicare.Many beneficiaries already have drug coverage. That factor was listed as the No. 1 reason why people would not be enrolling in a private plan this year."When you look at the people who say they don't plan to enroll, it's mainly because they already have coverage. They have coverage through a former employer or through a Medicare health plan, and that's just great," said Mark McClellan, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.Among those surveyed who said they lacked drug coverage, only 28 percent said they would enroll. Twenty-three percent said they would not and 49 percent did not know."It depends a little bit upon which survey you see," McClellan said. "I can get five other numbers from other places that show a lot of interest in enrolling among people who don't have coverage now."The survey, taken through telephone interviews of 802 respondents October 13-31, has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.Altman said it will take a year or so to get a sense of what beneficiaries think about the law."It's just too complicated for them to get it from a brochure, or a Web site, or to answer the critical question of, 'What does this mean for me?"' Altman said. "Unfortunately, it's going to take a real world test for us to figure out whether this works or doesn't work."John Rother, director of policy and strategy at AARP, said he is not surprised that people have yet to warm up to the drug benefit."This was a program enacted as part of a very high-profile, partisan controversy," Rother said. "And the other thing is, the benefit is not what people had hoped to see."Rother said AARP, which has partnered with an insurer to provide a drug plan, believes people should view the drug coverage much like homeowner's or car insurance."It's really peace of mind that you're buying," he said. The program has an out-of-pocket cap feature that limits the yearly amount a particular participant would have to pay for medicines.Congress passed a prescription drug benefit in 2003 as part of the Medicare Modernization Act. Under the program, beneficiaries can voluntarily enroll in a private plan that pays for a portion of their prescription drugs.People will pay a monthly premium, an annual deductible and a portion of each prescription. Additional financial aid will be provided to those with low incomes.The federal government will spend an estimated $720 billion over the next 10 years to subsidize beneficiaries' drug purchases.The inspector general for the Health and Human Services Department recommending on Wednesday that the government be prepared to give millions of older people personal attention if they expect them to enroll.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LONDON, England (CNN) -- British researchers into the common cold say "catching a chill" really does help colds develop -- and are advising to "wrap up warm" to keep viruses at bay.Mothers and grandmothers have long warned that chilling the surface of the body, through wet clothes, feet and hair, causes common cold symptoms to develop. But much previous research has dismissed any link between chilling and viral infection as having no scientific basis. Now researchers in Cardiff, Wales, say they can prove drops in temperature to the body really can cause a cold to develop. (Watch what they did to 'chill' people in the study -- 3:24)Claire Johnson and Professor Ron Eccles, from Cardiff University's Common Cold Center, recruited 180 volunteers, half of whom they got to immerse their feet in ice and cold water for 20 minutes.The other 90 in tests during the common cold "season" sat with their feet in an empty bowl. During the next four or five days, almost a third (29 percent) of the chilled volunteers developed cold symptoms -- compared to just 9 percent in the control group, the scientists said. Professor Eccles said there was a simple explanation as to why chilly feet could lead to the development of cold virus symptoms. "When colds are circulating in the community many people are mildly infected but show no symptoms," he said, according to the UK's Press Association. "If they become chilled this causes a pronounced constriction of the blood vessels in the nose and shuts off the warm blood that supplies the white cells that fight infection. "The reduced defences in the nose allow the virus to get stronger and common cold symptoms develop. "Although the chilled subject believes they have `caught a cold' what has in fact happened is that the dormant infection has taken hold." The researchers, writing in the UK medical journal Family Practice, said that common colds were more prevalent in the winter than the summer, and this could be related to an increased incidence of chilling causing more clinical colds. But they also suggested that another explanation could be that our noses are colder in the winter. Professor Eccles added: "A cold nose may be one of the major factors that causes common colds to be seasonal. "When the cold weather comes we wrap ourselves up in winter coats to keep warm but our nose is directly exposed to the cold air. "Cooling of the nose slows down clearance of viruses from the nose and slows down the white cells that fight infection. "Mothers can now be confident in their advice to children to wrap up well in winter." Cardiff's Common Cold Center says it is the world's only center dedicated to researching and testing new medicines for the treatment of flu and the common cold.

HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- A former New Orleans police officer who resigned after being accused of abandoning his post during the Hurricane Katrina crisis was arrested while driving a stolen truck, authorities said.Willie Earl Bickham, 39, was expected to face felony charges including unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and impersonating a police officer, said Houston police Sgt. Nate McDuell.Bickham told Houston police he was still a New Orleans police officer. But police officials in Louisiana said Bickham resigned in early September to avoid being fired for abandoning his duties.Bickham was driving a 2005 Chevrolet truck when he was pulled over for speeding Saturday. The officer who made the stop noticed the black truck had no license plates.The car dealer's name marked on the truck was a New Orleans dealership that had reported several vehicles stolen during the hurricane crisis, McDuell said.Bickham, who has family in Houston, could also face weapons charges: He had a pistol issued by the New Orleans department, McDuell said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NEW BRITAIN, Connecticut (AP) -- A pair of twins who tried to dupe a judge in a larceny case have doubled their trouble.Yaricza Ortiz stood in for her sister and pleaded guilty to using a stolen credit card last week. New Britain Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Clifford sentenced her to probation.Soon after, the public defender was back in front of the judge with the 18-year-old twins, Yamahile and Yaricza.Yamahile had a simple explanation for why her sister came to court for her. "I had a final today," she said."Do you think this is funny? I don't know why you think it's funny," the judge said Tuesday, calling the action a "fraud on the court."He withdrew Yamahile Ortiz's original guilty plea and set her bail at $50,000.Then, Yaricza complained to her sister about having to help raise the bail money and used an obscenity -- so Clifford increased Yamahile's bail to $250,000 and ordered her taken into custody.Clifford also told prosecutors to review the transcript of Yaricza's appearance to determine if she had violated any laws. She is on probation and a violation could land her back in jail, Clifford said.Police accused the Ortiz sisters and a friend of charging more than $1,000 on a stolen credit card in February. The friend took the card from a purse she found at a restaurant, authorities say.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush's national security adviser defended the administration Sunday against accusations that it misled the nation about the need for war with Iraq as Democrats stepped up their attacks on the president's candor.Stephen Hadley told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" that those claims were "flat wrong.""We need to put this debate behind us," he said. "It's unfair to the country. It's unfair to the men and women in uniform risking their lives to make this country safe."Top Bush administration officials argued before the 2003 invasion that the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and was working toward a nuclear weapon. Hadley said the intelligence Bush used for those arguments "was roughly the same intelligence that the Clinton administration saw.""They drew the conclusion that Saddam Hussein was a threat to peace, that he had weapons of mass destruction. They acted against him militarily in 1998," Hadley said, referring to the administration of Bill Clinton, a Democrat. Bush warned that Saddam's government could provide weapons of mass destruction to terrorists, like the al Qaeda network behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.Those warnings spurred the House and Senate, with the support of many top Democrats, to authorize military action against Iraq. But no such weapons were found once Hussein's government collapsed in April 2003.Two and a half years later, with more than 2,000 U.S. troops killed in Iraq and support for the war dropping sharply in recent months, Democrats have pounded the administration on the intelligence issue, and the White House has begun firing back.On Friday, Bush said it was "deeply irresponsible to rewrite how that war began."Former Sen. John Edwards, the Democrats' 2004 vice presidential candidate, wrote Sunday in The Washington Post that he had made a mistake in voting to give Bush the authorization to go to war."The argument for going to war with Iraq was based on intelligence that we now know was inaccurate," Edwards wrote. "The information the American people were hearing from the president -- and that I was being given by our intelligence community -- wasn't the whole story. Had I known this at the time, I never would have voted for this war."And Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean, who opposed the invasion as a 2004 presidential candidate, said Bush "misled America when he sent us to war." He told NBC's "Meet the Press" that Bush "left the impression" that Iraq was tied to the Sept. 11 attacks."He never actually came out and said just that," Dean said. "But in every speech he gave during the campaign and afterwards, he left the impression. He left the impression with 65 percent of the American people, who agreed that Saddam had something to do with 9/11. It was dishonest, what he did."Hadley acknowledged that there was "an issue of our intelligence, and obviously we need to do a better job of our intelligence."But he pointed out that investigations by the Senate Intelligence Committee and the bipartisan Silberman-Robb Commission found no evidence to support claims the administration twisted the intelligence to argue that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, as it claimed before the invasion of Iraq."Yes, we were all wrong in the intelligence," he said. "But to go back now and to argue that the president somehow manipulated the intelligence -- somehow misled the American people in a rush to war -- is flat wrong."And Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona -- a member of the Silberman-Robb Commission -- said the accusation that Bush lied to Americans to sell the war is "a lie.""Were there intelligence failures? Yes," McCain said. "Were they colossal? Yes. But they do not mean in any way that the president lied to the American people."The renewed controversy over the war, and the related indictment of a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, also have taken a toll on Bush's own popularity. Numerous recent polls have put his approval rating in the mid- to upper 30 percent range. Senior White House officials told CNN last week they were working on a "campaign-style" response to the criticism.

ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska (AP) -- President Bush escalated the bitter debate over the Iraq war on Monday, hurling back at Democratic critics the worries they once expressed that Saddam Hussein was a grave threat to the world."They spoke the truth then and they're speaking politics now," Bush charged.Bush went on the attack after Democrats accused the president of manipulating and withholding some pre-war intelligence and misleading Americans about the rationale for war."Some Democrats who voted to authorize the use of force are now rewriting the past," Bush said. "They're playing politics with this issue and they are sending mixed signals to our troops and the enemy. That is irresponsible."The president spoke to cheering troops at this military base at a refueling stop for Air Force One on the first leg of an eight-day journey to Japan, South Korea, China and Mongolia. (Watch: Bush to address business, bird flu -- 2:01)During the stopover, he also met privately with families of four slain service members.After a Latin American trip with meager results earlier this month, the administration kept expectations low for Asia."I don't think you're going to see headline breakthroughs," national security adviser Stephen Hadley said on Air Force One. He dashed any prospect that Japan would lift its ban on American beef imports during Bush's visit and said a dispute with China over trade and currency would remain an issue after the president returns home.On Sunday, Hadley acknowledged "we were wrong" about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, but he insisted in a CNN interview that the president did not manipulate intelligence or mislead the American people.Iraq and a host of other problems, from the bungled response to Hurricane Katrina to the indictment of a senior White House official in the CIA leak investigation, have taken a heavy toll on the president. Nearing the end of his fifth year in office, Bush has the lowest approval rating of his presidency and a majority of Americans say Bush is not honest and they disapprove of his handling of foreign policy and the war on terrorism. (Poll story)Heading for Asia, Bush hoped to improve his standing on the world stage. "Reasonable people can disagree about the conduct of the war, but it is irresponsible for Democrats to now claim that we misled them and the American people," Bush said.He quoted pre-war remarks by three senior Democrats as evidence of that Democrats had shared the administration's fears that were the rationale for invading Iraq in 2003. Bush did not name them, but White House counselor Dan Bartlett filled in the blanks.--"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons." -- Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat.--"The war against terrorism will not be finished as long as [Saddam Hussein] is in power." -- Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat.--"Saddam Hussein, in effect, has thumbed his nose at the world community. And I think that the president's approaching this in the right fashion." -- Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat who was then the Democratic whip."The truth is that investigations of the intelligence on Iraq have concluded that only one person manipulated evidence and misled the world -- and that person was Saddam Hussein," Bush charged.Democrats stand groundIn the Senate, 29 Democrats voted with 48 Republicans for the war authorization measure in late 2002, including 2004 Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, and his running mate, John Edwards of North Carolina. Both have recently been harshly critical of Bush's conduct of the war and its aftermath.On Capitol Hill, top Democrats stood their ground in claiming Bush misled Congress and the country. "The war in Iraq was and remains one of the great acts of misleading and deception in American history," Kerry told a news conference.Bush is expected to get a warmer welcome in Asia than he did earlier this month in Argentina at the Summit of the Americas, where Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez led a protest against U.S. policies and Bush failed to gain support from the 34 nations attending for a hemisphere-wide free trade zone.Japan, the first stop on Bush's trip, and Mongolia, the last, are likely to give him the most enthusiastic response, while China and South Korea probably will be cooler but respectful.In South Korea, Bush also will attend the Asia Pacific Economic Conference summit in Busan, where 21 member states are expected to agree to support global free-trade talks. The summit also is expected to agree to put early-warning and information-sharing systems in place in case of bird flu outbreaks."It is good for the president to show up in Asia and say, 'We care about Asia,' because that is in doubt in the region," said Ed Lincoln, senior fellow in Asia and Economic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.At Bush's first stop, in Kyoto, Japan, the president will deliver what aides bill as the speech of the trip on the power of democracy, not only to better individual lives but contribute to the long-term prosperity of nations.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NEW YORK (AP) -- "Desperate Housewives" on your iPod. Jay Leno's monologue on your cell phone. Brian Williams delivering the night's news on your computer. And "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" available whenever you want to watch it -- not just Thursday night.Each of those developments became possible in the past few weeks, part of an extraordinarily tumultuous period in TV.The autumn of 2005 will doubtless be remembered as the time when all assumptions about the rules of television were thrown into the air and scattered, with no certainty about what happens when they land.The most shocking event clearly was Apple's deal with The Walt Disney Co. in October to make reruns of "Lost" and other programs available for downloading to iPods for $1.99. In less than three weeks, Apple said a million videos were sold."That's a significant amount of money," said Rob Enderle, an analyst for the Enderle Group. "I honestly believe that's going to change a lot of minds in terms of providing programming for this medium."Some worry this service will make people less likely to watch these hit shows on television. But many in the industry believe fans who may have missed an episode represent the biggest market. So far, there's no evidence that fewer people are watching new episodes of "Desperate Housewives" or "Lost" because they can download it later on iTunes.At the very least, the preliminary results show the idea of portable TV has some appeal.The big question is how many people will gravitate toward watching TV on iPods, computers or cell phones when a big-screen television is waiting in front of the living room couch.That remains unanswered, but it hasn't stopped an explosion of Internet channels or programming offerings this fall -- seemingly a new announcement every day.Several of the MTV Networks have launched affiliated broadband sites. 50 Cent made a concert exclusively available on MTV Overdrive, VH1 started the VSpot stream, kids can watch cartoons on TurboNick and Comedy Central's Motherload began operating November 1.NBC began offering a same-night replay of "Nightly News" online, the first network news broadcast to take that step. The Food Network starts a Web-only series with chef Dave Lieberman next week. HGTV debuted "My First Place," a series about young people moving into their first homes, on the Web before TV. PBS made NerdTV, a series about high tech pioneers, available exclusively on the Internet.America Online anticipated only a few hundred applicants for "The Biz," its online-only music talent contest. Instead, it got 9,000. AOL is expected to announce Monday a new initiative to show old TV programming.Live 8 eye-openerAOL's successful Webcast of the Live 8 concert last summer opened many eyes to the possibilities of Internet TV, and so did simple demographics. About 35 million homes now have broadband access (compared to 110 million homes with TVs), and about half of those online users say they've watched video online, said Josh Bernoff, principal analyst for the Forrester Group.Just as importantly, advertisers have warmed to the medium, and realize they can effectively present online commercials not that different from what's already on TV.Some of the biggest early customers for Internet TV are transplants, Enderle said. They're following sports teams from cities they departed or, if they're immigrants, catching the latest news from the home country.Comedy Central is using Motherload primarily to showcase stand-up comedians and other short-form comedy that wouldn't necessarily fit on the TV network. It shows highlights of "The Daily Show," but you still have to watch TV to get the full Jon Stewart experience, said Michele Ganeless, Comedy Central's general manager.Most people don't have the patience to watch more than four or five minutes of Internet programming at a time, she said."I think that will change over time," she said. "I think right now, based on my personal experience, the computer isn't necessarily set up in a spot in the home that is comfortable for long-term viewing."For the most part, Internet TV is still "like the minor leagues," Bernoff said. "It's stuff that wasn't good enough to get on the air, or too short to get on the air."Likewise, programming on cell phones is in its infancy. But NBC's announcement earlier this month that it is collaborating with Sprint to make Leno's monologue and comic sketches available on the phone is a sign of recognized potential.Sprint has been the most aggressive in providing programming, working with MobiTV to make a variety of news, sports and comedy programming available on their phones, said Phil Taylor, an analyst for Strategy Analytics Global Wireless Research. About 500,000 people subscribe to a cell phone programming service in the U.S.; market penetration is more advanced overseas.Just like on laptops, short bites of programming are most popular. So is adult fare, he said. Cell phone video is likely to spread more through convenience than any real consumer pressure, he said, because cable or cell phone companies are likely to bundle this with other services."I don't think usage of the mobile phone TVs will come anywhere close to the home television as a principal viewing device," he said. "But the evidence suggests that it's a handy way of spending time when you're waiting two minutes for a bus or for a friend at the bar."'Beginning of the end'Ultimately, this fall's most far-reaching development may be last Monday's dual announcements by Viacom Inc.'s CBS and NBC that it would begin selling replays of its most popular shows on an on-demand basis through Comcast Corp. and DirecTV Group Inc., respectively.It gives a tantalizing peek into a television landscape where viewers can decide when to watch their favorites. While the Internet and cell phone choices work around the margins of television fare, these deals involve the most popular programs on television."Mark down the date," Bernoff wrote after the announcement. "Today is the beginning of the end of the television schedule."Telephone companies SBC Communications Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. are also preparing to roll out Internet Protocol, set-top technology that could allow consumers to choose from among multiple camera angles while watching a program or search the Internet for information about the actors.It all foreshadows a completely upended business environment, where TV networks can get revenue directly from consumers instead of the advertising time they sell. Business deals of all sorts will have to be rewritten to reflect all these new distribution methods. Expect some nasty negotiations or lawsuits.Many of the new ventures are elaborate test drives. Bernoff expects a pause from the frantic series of announcements as media companies gauge consumer interest in all the options and check how it affects traditional TV viewership.The technology and changing consumer habits have converged at a time these companies are skittish. They're eager to be on the cutting edge but, more importantly, they don't want to be left behind.The transition to a new television world has only just begun.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Harry Potter doesn't just have the fate of the magical world on his shoulders. This time, the teen wizard's trying to save Hollywood, too.In this year of mediocre studio flicks, with movie attendance at its slowest pace since the mid-1990s, audiences might kill for a big film that really delivers.Well, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" really delivers. As Harry and his pals work their way through Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, each of the movie adaptations of J.K. Rowling's novels grow richer and more involving. (The Potter movies are made by Warner Bros., like CNN a division of Time Warner.)No. 4 is the best yet, with Harry imperiled by an unseen nemesis from beyond and also struggling with some teenage rites of passage, like finding a date to the big Yule Ball. (See story.)"As you grow up, you realize from the age of 14 or so, you grow extra emotions somehow, and I think Harry is at the point where he's at the mercy of all these emotions," said Daniel Radcliffe, back again as Harry."He suffers from the same frailties and hormonal-related problems as all sorts of people his age, but he's also going through this massive thing of almost paranoia, where someone's trying to get at him, trying to destroy his life, but he doesn't know who. Some invisible force is trying to tamper with his life in some way."Along with "Harry Potter," the other 900-pound gorilla on the holiday schedule is Peter Jackson's epic update of "King Kong," starring Naomi Watts as the beauty who becomes the bait to capture a giant ape.The season's other film highlights include an old-guard music legend and an up-from-the-mean-streets rapper.Hip-hop star Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson makes his film debut with "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," the story of a drug dealer turning his back on crime in favor of a rap career. Jim Sheridan ("My Left Foot") directs. The film opened November 9. (Read Entertainment Weekly's review.)Joaquin Phoenix belts out country classics as the late Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line," a portrait of the singer's early success, drug addiction and long courtship with the love of his life, June Carter (Reese Witherspoon).Like last year's Ray Charles film biography "Ray," "Walk the Line" deals explicitly with both the joyous and unsavory sides of Cash's life. From the start, Cash was an artist of the shadows, said "Walk the Line" director James Mangold."All you have to do is listen over and over and over again to any one of his songs," Mangold said. "Even when they first started appearing in the early to middle '50s, the lyrics are incredibly dark. Everyone else is singing about getting girls and being happy, and he's singing about, 'I go out on a party and look for a little fun, but I find a darkened corner, because I still miss someone.' That's a dark lyric for a pop song."The best of the rest ...On with the showCurtain up!: Mel Brooks' "The Producers," which went from Hollywood comedy classic to Broadway musical sensation, returns in a new film version. Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick reprise their stage roles as producers who set out to create a Broadway flop -- a musical called "Springtime for Hitler" -- so they can pocket a fortune in unspent cash conned from investors."Rent," directed by Chris Columbus ("Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"), is adapted from the stage smash centered on Manhattan bohemians who find love and friendship amid the daily struggle against poverty, addiction and AIDS. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon star in "Walk the Line," the story of Johnny and June Carter Cash."The protagonists are not the usual sort of people in musicals," said Rosario Dawson, who plays an HIV-positive heroin addict in "Rent." "Transsexual people with HIV and AIDS, people who are drug addicts, are making a lot of lifestyle choices that toleration-wise we have a big problem with."But it's interesting to me to see the humanity in the choices they make and how they're dealing with the same things everyone else deals with."High drama: Reclusive director Terrence Malick ("The Thin Red Line") returns with his first film in seven years. "The New World" stars Colin Farrell in a historical epic about 17th century colonial leader John Smith, his romance with Indian princess Pocahontas (Q'orianka Kilcher), and the roots of Indian exploitation by white settlers.It's a tougher, more authentic rendering of the story than the Pocahontas fable schoolchildren learn, Farrell said."It's a turning point in history, the birth of a nation, and the death almost of a culture," Farrell said. "The culture still exists, the Native Americans that remain, but they began to take a severe beating from the day the English arrived onwards."Terry was conscious of all those things and wanted to tell the story as he had read it in the history books."All dolled up: A healthy crop of costume drama and period pieces are on the way, led by "Memoirs of a Geisha," directed by Rob Marshall ("Chicago") and starring Ziyi Zhang in an adaptation of the best-seller about a woman who rises from poverty to become an enchantress to Japan's most powerful men. "Memoirs of a Geisha," starring Ziyi Zhang and Ken Watanabe, is considered an Oscar front-runner.Keira Knightley joins the corset crew for a new adaptation of Jane Austen's romance and social satire set in 18th century Britain, "Pride & Prejudice." The film opened in limited release November 11. (Read Entertainment Weekly's review.)Helen Hunt, Scarlett Johansson and Tom Wilkinson star in "A Good Woman," based on Oscar Wilde's comedy of romantic schemers, "Lady Windermere's Fan," updated to the 1930s Italian Riviera.From director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant, who died last spring, comes "The White Countess," a romantic drama with Ralph Fiennes and Natasha Richardson as unlikely comrades in 1930s Shanghai as the Japanese occupation nears.And the season's true costume queen may be Cillian Murphy in a flashy, cross-dressing role as an orphaned Irishman mincing his way through IRA violence and London's 1970s glam scene in Neil Jordan's "Breakfast on Pluto."Parents and childrenIn a family way: Standing-room only domiciles are big this fall with the remake "Yours, Mine & Ours," starring Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo as widowed newlyweds whose collective kid count is 18 and "Cheaper by the Dozen 2," with Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt in a sequel to a remake about a family of 12 offspring.The ensemble comic drama "The Family Stone" features Sarah Jessica Parker, Diane Keaton, Claire Danes and Luke Wilson in the story of a clan that takes a severe dislike to the uptight businesswoman engaged to one of their fair sons.Rob Reiner's "Rumor Has It" stars Jennifer Aniston, Shirley MacLaine and Kevin Costner in a post-"Graduate" comedy about a woman who learns her family may have been the basis for the book and movie "The Graduate.""Bee Season" follows a teen (Flora Cross) overlooked by her parents (Richard Gere and Juliette Binoche) who suddenly finds herself empowered after her surprise success in a spelling bee.Thrillers and killers: "Munich" is Steven Spielberg's suspense tale following a Mossad agent (Eric Bana) who leads a retaliatory mission against Palestinians suspected of killing 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics.George Clooney and Matt Damon head the ensemble cast of "Syriana," weaving multiple story lines in a "Traffic"-like tale of political and business intrigue centered on the oil industry. "Match Point," with Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, has earned Woody Allen's best reviews in years."Derailed" stars Jennifer Aniston and Clive Owen as business executives whose romantic affair subjects them to blackmail. The film opened November 11. (Read Paul Clinton's review.)In "Freedomland," racial tensions erupt in a blue-collar community as a cop (Samuel L. Jackson) investigates claims by a white woman (Julianne Moore) who says a black man stole her car with her 4-year-old son sleeping in the backseat.Lawyers, guns and money: A man (Jim Carrey) loses his cushy job and turns to a life of crime with his wife (Tea Leoni) in the comic remake "Fun With Dick and Jane."Harold Ramis directs "The Ice Harvest," a black comedy about a Christmas Eve getaway gone awry after a sleazy lawyer (John Cusack) and his partner (Billy Bob Thornton) embezzle $2 million.Singer Usher stars in the romance "In the Mix" as a nightclub DJ who saves the life of a crime boss (Chazz Palminteri) then finds himself in dutch with the don when he falls for the mobster's daughter."The Matador" casts Pierce Brosnan as a burned-out hit man who finds an unlikely shoulder to lean on when he meets a traveling businessman (Greg Kinnear) in a Mexican bar.Narnia, 'Flux' and WoodyFantasy and sci-fi: "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" is a visual-effects feast based on C.S. Lewis' tale of four siblings whisked to a magic realm where they battle an enchantress (Tilda Swinton) who has cast the land into endless winter."Zathura: A Space Adventure," adapted from the children's book by Chris Van Allsburg ("The Polar Express," "Jumanji"), follows the adventures of two brothers (Josh Hutcherson, Jonah Bobo) dispatched on a cosmic trek by a mysterious board game. The film opened November 11. (Read Entertainment Weekly's review.)Adapted from the animated series, "Aeon Flux" stars Charlize Theron as an anti-hero assigned to assassinate a leader of an oppressive government in a post-apocalyptic future. Theron said she knew virtually nothing about action films, but the former ballerina was eager to learn the moves. "Brokeback Mountain" stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as cowboys who embark on an affair."I was very scared going in, but also really excited about doing a film using my body again," Theron said. "I like that she never spoke. This character, she was very quiet, but she was telling her story through her body. It's a very physical role."From across the pond: Manhattan homebody Woody Allen transplants himself to London for "Match Point," a dark drama about a tennis pro (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) whose comfy life with his heiress wife is threatened by a fling with a wannabe actress (Scarlett Johansson).Stephen Frears ("High Fidelity") directs "Mrs. Henderson Presents," starring Judi Dench as an eccentric society dame who founds a theater for nude musical revues in pre-World War II Britain.Great lechers of history: Johnny Depp is the Earl of Rochester in "The Libertine," about the aristocrat who scandalized 17th-century society with his womanizing and subversive writings.Lasse Hallstrom ("The Cider House Rules") directs "Casanova," starring Heath Ledger as the 18th-century heartbreaker, who finds the tables turned when his latest pursuit (Sienna Miller) resists his charms.Hitting the road: "Transamerica" stars Felicity Huffman in a gender-bending role as a transsexual about to take the final surgical step to become a woman, who ends up on a cross-country romp with a newly discovered teen son needing some "fatherly" guidance.Anthony Hopkins plays a real-life motorcycle enthusiast who sets out to break speed records in Utah in "The World's Fastest Indian."Different cowboys: Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal star as ranch hands who share a summer of love then conceal their ongoing affair from their wives and families in "Brokeback Mountain," directed by Ang Lee ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). (Read about "Brokeback Mountain.")Tommy Lee Jones makes his directing debut and stars in "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada," about a ranch boss who forces the Border Patrol agent (Barry Pepper) responsible for his best friend's death to dig up the body and haul it on horseback to a new resting place in the victim's Mexican home town.Jones is happy the name of his debut film is such a mouthful."I like the title. If I were going to change it, I'd make it longer," Jones joked. "It's a mouthful, and that's a good thing. I prefer to use the Spanish title, 'Los Tres Entierros de Melquiades Estrada.' And if you can't say that, you need to see the movie twice."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(AP) -- An African-led initiative that will use high-speed Internet connections to treat AIDS patients in Burundi and Burkina Faso offers inspiration for those working to bridge the world's digital divide.Its great promise lies in its linking of technology spending with existing campaigns to extinguish poverty, diseases and illiteracy, averting the need to choose one over the other.Yet such projects remain few, despite great need. The age-old challenge remains: Who's going to pay for such works?As world leaders convene in Tunisia on Wednesday for a U.N. summit on extending technology to the poor, the very fund that was to be its legacy still wants for support. Much of The Digital Solidarity Fund's contributions comes from African nations least able to afford it.The challenge is huge.Worldwide, just 14 percent of the population is online, compared with 62 percent for the United States and an even higher ratio in some Western European countries, according to the International Telecommunication Union. Less than half the world's people have telephones, even as some in developed countries are so wired they can't seem to get away from ringing phones.The Digital Solidarity Fund has just $6.4 million in cash and pledges, pocket change compared with the $2.25 billion the United States spends a year on E-rate grants to schools and libraries in the nation's rural and low-income areas. Of the countries contributing to the world fund, all but one -- France -- are African."We still need to raise funds," said Elena Ursache, the fund's project manager. "It's obviously not sufficient to start to do a lot of activities."More important than one-time contributions from cities and nations, she said, is a continuous revenue stream like that pledged by the Swiss city of Geneva, the fund's headquarters. Geneva's cash infusion comes from a simple formula: Contractors winning bids on computer-related city projects must give the fund 1 percent of the award amount.When some 12,000 business, civic and government officials convened in December 2003 for the first round of the U.N. World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva, President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal aggressively pushed for the fund's creation.Other African heads of state joined him in touting the initiative as a way to help governments, companies and nonprofits narrow gaps in Internet and communications technologies.But many leaders from the developed world did not believe a separate fund was needed. They preferred to augment existing funding sources such as the World Bank."There is general agreement we need to do more, ... but there is very little agreement on the best way to do that," said Andy Carvin, a U.S.-based expert on improving access to technology and the Internet. "Many countries feel they have already set up successful programs."In draft language expected to win approval at the summit's second and final phase, in Tunis from Wednesday to Friday, the fund is welcomed as "an innovative financial mechanism" -- but there's no explicit recommendation for nations to contribute, even voluntarily.There is hope, however: In September, leaders of more than 150 nations meeting at U.N. headquarters approved a document that in part encourages voluntary contributions.Meanwhile, fund officials aren't waiting to start spending.The first $1 million is committed to bringing high-speed Internet access to about two dozen AIDS clinics in Burundi and Burkina Faso. Satellite and other communications equipment will go to nine cities in the African nations, and an emerging wireless technology called WiMax will extend access to more remote sites.The clinics are getting videoconferencing units, with serial ports to attach stethoscopes and other medical equipment, so specialists can examine patients from afar.Lab technicians can remotely analyze blood samples and quickly determine the need for antiretroviral drugs; before, samples had to be sent by mail or messenger.Each site will also get 20 to 30 computers so medical workers can store records for follow-up care and keep up on the latest treatment and prevention techniques.Only after all that is in place can the rest of the community use the computers, too, for other projects.Focusing first on basic needs like health, food and education only makes sense, Ursache said."The life of vulnerable populations cannot improve dramatically if all of (a) sudden they have a computer," Ursache said. "But if their doctor is able to provide better health care thanks to a computer, then it is the use of the machine that matters, and not the acquisition itself."That the fund is focused on local, targeted projects shows promise, though success will ultimately depend on how well it sticks with those objectives, said Willie Currie of the Association for Progressive Communications, a coalition of nonprofit groups devoted to improving communication technologies.Past efforts to put computers into schools didn't necessarily come with training, native language Web sites or any plans to integrate the equipment into curriculums, Currie said. "That period is over," he said, and projects now have to be more focused.The fund's approach is also consistent with a U.N. task force's findings that governments and development agencies now favor encouraging private investments in access and equipment while giving grants to "more direct poverty alleviating impacts."At this week's summit, closing the digital divide will likely take a back seat to heated discussions on whether the United States should share control of Internet traffic and directory computers.In fact, negotiators already reached agreement on much of the language concerning the digital divide.The draft document calls for using technology not in isolation but as a means for meeting other development goals. But it doesn't say where the money will come from, other than to suggest a mix of old and new funding sources.For some, the summit will be more important for making contact.Although the policy discussions may appear like "we're all just rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic," Carvin said, civic leaders, philanthropists and others will be there to exchange ideas and forge new partnerships.Alan Rossi of the Development Gateway Foundation plans to showcase his ideas for saving governments money when soliciting contract bids, and Daniel Wagner of the University of Pennsylvania will release a report he's done for the World Bank on ways to measure effectiveness so projects do more than benefit a developing country's elite.Bruno Lanvin, World Bank senior adviser for e-strategies, said that although "thousands of beautiful anecdotes" exist, presidents and finance ministers need concrete evidence that technology will augment rather than divert money from food and medicine.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The United States is headed for a showdown with much of the rest of the world over control of the Internet but few expect a consensus to emerge from a U.N. summit in Tunisia this week.The very notion of "Internet governance" may seem an oxymoron to the 875 million users of the global computer network, which has proven stubbornly resistant to the efforts of those who wish to rid it of pornography, "spam" e-mail and other objectionable material.But the United States, which gave birth to the Internet, maintains control of the system that matches easy-to-remember domain names with numerical addresses that computers can understand.That worries countries like Brazil and Iran, which have pushed to transfer control to the United Nations or some other international body.Even the European Union, where much of the business community backs the current system, has taken swipes at the United States."We just say this needs to be addressed in a more cooperative way ... under public-policy principles," said one EU official who asked not to be identified.The issue is expected to dominate the World Summit on the Information Society, which begins Wednesday in Tunis, Tunisia.Part diplomatic summit, part trade fair, the summit was launched two years ago with a focus on bringing the Internet and other advanced communications to less developed parts of the world.That remains a hot topic for many of the 17,000 diplomats, human-rights activists and technologists expected to attend.High-tech heavyweights like Intel Corp. and Alcatel will send top executives to talk up their development programs.Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will unveil a $100 laptop computer that can be powered by a hand crank in areas without a reliable supply of electricity.But progress can't come without legal reform, business groups say. Internet access in the developing world will always remain expensive as long as governments allow their telecommunications monopolies to discourage competition, said Allen Miller, a senior vice president at the Information Technology Association of America."For most of these countries that are complaining about it, it's their own regulation and lack of liberalization that's preventing backbone providers from coming in," he said.Over the past two years tension between the haves and have-nots has shifted from the question of who has access to the Internet to who controls its plumbing.Diplomats were to meet on Sunday for a final round of negotiations before the summit. They might agree to set up a forum to discuss issues like cyber-crime and spam, and countries might win more direct control over their own top-level domains, such as .nl for the Netherlands and .fr for France.But the United States has said repeatedly it does not intend to cede control of the domain-name system to a bureaucratic body that could stifle innovation."No agreement is preferred to a bad agreement," U.S. Ambassador David Gross said at a recent public meeting.Many experts say the Internet needs less government involvement, not more."When governments talk about imposing their public policies on the Internet, unfortunately they don't typically mean, 'Let's protect human rights, individual rights, let's guarantee the freedom of the Internet,'" said Milton Mueller, a professor at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies."They mean, 'Damn it, somebody using the Internet did something I don't like and let's find a way to stop it,'" he said.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) -- Police arrested a major opposition leader Monday, saying for the first time they suspect him of links to the notorious rebel Lord's Resistance Army. The arrest touched off protests that police put down with tear gas and water cannon.Kizza Besigye, who was greeted by huge crowds when he returned from exile last month and has mounted the strongest challenge to President Yoweri Museveni's 19-year rule, will be charged with treason on Tuesday, said Maj. Gen. Kale Kaihura, the police inspector general.If convicted, he faces the maximum death sentence.Besigye, once a close Museveni ally, and 22 others "are accused of plotting to overthrow the government of Uganda by force of arms." He is accused of recruiting, mobilizing arms and other logistical support as well as gathering intelligence to fight the government, Kaihura said.The charges stem from evidence obtained from rebels captured in lawless eastern Congo and in neighboring western Uganda, said Kaihura, a trusted, longtime military aide to Museveni.Former Lord's Resistance Army commanders, who have since abandoned a separate rebellion in northern Uganda, have provided credible evidence of links between Besigye's political party and the notorious insurgents, Kaihura told journalists.Besigye's October 26 return from exile in South Africa "made it possible to proceed with the prosecution. His public statement justifying violence and refusing to renounce armed rebellion, confirmed the suspicion that he was actively involved in acts of war against Uganda," Kaihura said.Police fired tear gas and used a water canon to disperse angry supporters as heavily armed officers transferred Besigye from the outskirts of the capital to the central police station."Museveni is a dictator! It is time for Museveni to go!" opposition supporters shouted near the police station. Others torched vehicles and roadside kiosks, looted from businesses and burnt tires on the streets.Some businesses in central Kampala closed down amid fears of escalating violence.Besigye has denied past accusations from the government that he led the People's Redemption Army, described as a group of armed Ugandan dissidents based in the east of neighboring Congo.Government charges that Besigye has links with the Lord's Resistance Army are new.The cult-like LRA is notorious for kidnapping children and using them as soldiers or concubines. It is made up of the remnants of a northern insurgency that began after Museveni, who like Besigye is a southerner, first took power. The rebels have declared they want to replace Museveni's government with one guided by the Ten Commandants.Besigye has been making appearances across the country as he prepared a bid to run in March presidential elections. He was arrested as he returned to the capital, Kampala, from political meetings in southwestern Uganda, his home region.Besigye finished second in 2001 presidential elections. After the elections, he fled Uganda saying he feared for his life and because Museveni had threatened with arrest.In the past the government had accused Besigye of terrorist activities, but never provided evidence. Museveni's office released a statement when Besigye returned last month saying, "The president clearly states that he has nothing against the return of Besigye. He however advised that should there be allegations of Besigye's involvement in criminal activities, the normal course of investigations will be carried out and the law will take its due course."Besigye was Museveni's personal physician during a five-year insurgency that Museveni led before coming to power in 1986.Museveni had come to power hailed as a reformist in a country that suffered the brutal tyranny of Idi Amin in the 1970s and 1980s. Museveni's progressive credentials have been called into questions amid what his critics see as signs he wants to remain president for life.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) -- Venezuela called its ambassador to Mexico home Monday rather than apologize after President Hugo Chavez warned Mexican leader Vicente Fox: "Don't mess with me." Mexico responded by recalling its own diplomat.In an interview with CNN en Espa�ol, Fox said he would meet with Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez to decide what to do next.Tensions between Fox and Chavez spilled over after this month's Summit of the Americas in Argentina, where Fox defended a U.S.-backed proposal for a Free Trade Area of the Americas while Chavez proclaimed the idea dead.Mexico had said earlier Monday it would kick out Venezuelan ambassador Vladimir Villegas and recall its own ambassador to that country at midnight Monday unless Chavez's government said it was sorry after the Venezuelan leader said Sunday to Fox: "Don't mess with me, sir, because you'll get stung."But in a news conference Monday in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, Foreign Secretary Ali Rodriguez said his country would not accept Mexico's demands."The immediate return of ambassador Vladimir Villegas has been ordered," Rodriguez said, adding that his departure was "leaving the affairs of our embassy in Mexico in the hands of an appointed charge-d'affaires."Venezuela "rejects as an unjustified attack the ultimatum issued by the government of Mexico," Rodriguez said. "This situation is entirely the responsibility of President Fox."Fox responded by saying he was going to continue to fight for free trade -- the topic that sparked the dispute between the two leaders.He promised to keep the debate with Chavez from becoming personal, but added that "we can't allow people to offend our country."In a statement late Sunday, Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said that because Chavez's comments "strike at the dignity of the Mexican people and government, Mexico demands a formal apology from Venezuela's government."Earlier, Fox spokesman Ruben Aguilar said withdrawing ambassadors wouldn't mean severing ties completely with Venezuela because business and cultural relations would remain intact.A diplomatic dispute with Cuba in 2004 led Mexico to expel the Cuban ambassador and withdraw its own emissary to Havana, a freeze that lasted for several months. Venezuela is a close ally of Cuba's.Chavez's comments reignited a dispute that flared late last week but appeared to cool during the weekend.On Friday, Aguilar demanded a satisfactory explanation from Venezuela for Chavez's comments accusing Fox of being a "puppy" of the U.S. government for supporting its plans for the free-trade zone. Aguilar said this country would take "appropriate steps" if it didn't get one.But Mexico's Foreign Relations department released a statement a day later saying Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez and his Venezuelan counterpart, Ali Rodriguez, had a "cordial and productive" talk and that the countries were moving closer to a resolution of the dispute that would strengthen their bilateral relationship.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(CNN) -- Last month's deadly quake in South Asia will cost Pakistan more than $5 billion -- more than twice the amount pledged so far, two international agencies have found in a joint report.Islamabad "will need approximately $5.2 billion to effectively implement a relief, recovery and reconstruction strategy," a comprehensive needs assessment put together by the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank said.The figure includes costs of support for victims and of reconstruction.The report said nations and institutions around the world have pledged assistance totaling nearly $2.5 billion.More than 73,000 people in Pakistan died in the 7.6-magnitude quake on October 8, according to Pakistani authorities. India blamed it for another 1,200 deaths in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.The Pakistani government says at least 70,000 people were severely injured.The Asian Development Bank and World Bank's joint report said the earthquake destroyed more than 200,000 housing units and damaged nearly 200,000 others. An estimated 2.8 million people were left without shelter.As of November 11, the Pakistanis had distributed 350,000 tents, 3.2 million blankets, and 3,000 tons of medicine, and established tent villages for displaced people, the assessment said.The World Bank itself approved supplemental financing of $200 million to help the government meet emergency expenditures.Speaking to CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "Late Edition Sunday," Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said, "I would call the assistance to the relief operation reasonable, reasonably good." "And we are extremely grateful to the world community and the United Nations and Secretary-General Kofi Annan to be projecting our cause. But now we are getting into the reconstruction and the rehabilitation stage."Musharraf said he would appeal for $5 billion in international donations at a November 19 donors reconstruction conference.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider reinstating rules that keep newspapers and magazines out of the hands of disruptive Pennsylvania inmates, a case that court nominee Samuel Alito dealt with.A panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had sided with inmates who claimed the ban on most reading material and personal photographs violated their free speech rights.Alito, one of the lower court judges in the case, filed a dissent and argued that the state should be allowed to withhold the news.Alito said that they were "temporary, last-resort restrictions" and were not unconstitutional.If Alito is confirmed, he will likely recuse himself. That would mean the case would be heard by the other eight justices, with the potential for a tie.Alito had said in his dissent that prison officials could encourage good inmate behavior with the promise of newspapers to those who behave.The lawyer for the inmate who challenged the ban, which includes newspapers, magazines and photographs, told justices that prisoners in the "segregation unit" are kept in their cells 23 hours a day and are rarely able to speak with each other."In this closed environment, the impact of the challenged policy is stifling and far-reaching. It essentially blocks the flow of information to these men about current political, social and other public events occurring outside the prison walls," Jere Krakoff of Pittsburgh wrote in the appeal.The state argued that the restrictions are only imposed on the most disruptive inmates who have not responded to other punishments, like loss of tobacco privileges and visits. State attorneys quoted Alito's dissent in urging the Supreme Court to hear the appeal.The case is Beard v. Banks, 04-1739.Also Monday, the court said it would hear a second inmate case from California that will clarify when federal courts have jurisdiction in prisoner lawsuits.Inmate Viet Mike Ngo claims that he was wrongly punished for alleged inappropriate activity with volunteer Catholic priests at San Quentin State Prison. Ngo, who has since been transferred to a different prison, is serving up to life in prison for the shooting of a 14-year-old boy on Christmas Eve 1988.He filed a lawsuit over the punishment that kept him from participating in Bible study sessions and corresponding with a former Catholic chapel volunteer.California, backed by more than 20 states, urged the court to use the case to make it harder for inmates to bring lawsuits. Prisoners must first exhaust options with administrative grievances, they argued.The California and Pennsylvania cases will be argued next spring.The case is Woodford v. Ngo, 05-416.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

GAINESVILLE, Georgia (AP) -- A 37-year-old woman was charged with child molestation after being accused of having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy whom she married last week.The woman also is allegedly pregnant with the boy's child, though paternity hasn't yet been determined, his grandmother and guardian told The Associated Press on Monday."You hear about stuff like this from the TV, but it's not reality," Judy Ann Hayles said. "But (this) happened. And this won't be over because a baby is on the way."Lisa Lynnette Clark was arrested Wednesday and remained in custody Monday. A preliminary hearing is set for November 30.Hayles filed a police report on October 6 when she learned from a friend that Clark was pregnant. About a month later, before authorities made their move, the two were married.In Georgia, a person must be 18 to marry without parental consent or 16 to marry with parental consent. But if the couple has a child or the woman can show she is pregnant, the age requirement doesn't apply.District Attorney Lee Darragh said Georgia law on child molestation says that a person under 16 legally cannot consent to a sexual act. Darragh would not comment further on the case.Hayles said she knew her grandson was spending a lot of time with his best friend's mother, but she had no real objections until she found love letters and lurid photos from Clark.Hayles' grandson had been spending every weekend with Clark's son. In July, the two boys were charged with burglarizing a neighbor's home and sent to a youth detention center for 45 days.Hayles said her grandson during that stay received the letters from Clark, along with seductive photos of her posing on top of a mantle and in a bikini.Hayles said she hopes to get an annulment or a divorce for her grandson.Hayles, who lives on the outskirts of this northeast Georgia town, said that if the baby is shown to be her grandson's, she's not optimistic about the teen's future."This child's life is down the tubes," she said. "What's he going to do with a kid? He's not even old enough to buy groceries."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - James Bond's car -- really, the James Bond car --will be going up for auction in January. Cars custom-built for Al Capone and Hank Williams, Jr. will also be for sale at the same event.The 1964 Aston Martin DB5 driven by the character James Bond in the movies Goldfinger and Thunderball will be sold to the highest biddder at RM Auctions' Vintage Motor Cars in Arizona to be held in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Jan. 20, 2006.The car is one of four created for the films and for promotional use. The car has a variety of optional equipment for both offensive and defensive purposes. This includes a pair of .30 caliber Browning machine guns that deploy from behind the headights (these are non-firing props), and a wheel-mounted tire slasher. An oil-slick ejector squirts out from the left-rear light cluster and a smoke-screen system is located next to the car's exhaust.The license plate revolves to display any of three different plates and the car still has its hydraulic ramming bumpers. In the interest of safety, the ejector seat has been replaced with a standard, non-ejecting passenger seat. RM Auctions would not comment on the car's estimated value.A 1928 Cadillac built for the Chicago gangster Al Capone includes some similar features. It, too, has a smoke screen device and it's bullet-proof, with steel-plating reinforcing the car body and with windows more than an inch thick. The back window folds down to facilitate the use of firearms. The car is painted in the same color scheme as Chicago police cars of the time and it's equipped with a siren and flashing police lights.The car was seized by the U.S. Treasury Department and is said to have been used by President Franklin Roosevelt for a short time. It's value is estimated at $250,000 to $500,000.Hank Williams Jr.'s 1964 Pontiac Bonneville used guns in a different sort of way. The car is decorated with 18 pistols -- 12 large ones and six small ones -- as well as 547 silver dollars, 12 silver horseshoes and 17 sterling silver horse heads. Inside, the center console is fitted with a saddle. The car's estimated value is $100,000 to $200,000.Photo GalleryFeedback

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- Crowds of well-wishers shouted "banzai" (long life) and applauded as Japan's Princess Sayako left the royal palace Tuesday to marry urban planner Yoshiki Kuroda.In doing so she bid farewell to her life as a privileged princess.The marriage means she relinquishes her title, swaps the grandeur of the Imperial Palace for an ordinary apartment, and trades official duties for housework and the supermarket run.The reserved princess, whose hobbies include birdwatching and traditional Japanese dance, wrote of feeling "lonely" about leaving the palace following a stilted farewell ceremony with her parents at the weekend.Her final, private goodbye to the empress, to whom she appears very close, is likely to be more emotional."I would like to tell Sayako just what comes to mind on the morning of the wedding, but like my mother before me, I may not be able to say anything at all," Empress Michiko said recently.Sayako's sister-in-law, Crown Princess Masako, found the opposite transition -- from commoner to princess -- so stressful that she had to take more than a year's break from public duties, only returning to the public eye in the past few months.A hint of the culture shock awaiting Sayako was revealed in an exchange with a lady-in-waiting quoted by one newspaper."It's really hard to clean everything up, things like closets and bureaus just after you move into a new place," the Asahi Shimbun newspaper quoted the lady-in-waiting as saying.To which Sayako replied: "What, you have to clean up?"But Sayako's serious, bespectacled fiance has said he is determined to help her adjust to her new life.Though a descendant of Japan's now-abolished aristocracy, Kuroda shares a modest apartment with his widowed mother.The newlyweds will move to a rented apartment not far from the palace before taking up residence in a new condominium to be completed next year, media reports said.'Miss never mind'Sayako is at least unlikely to suffer the embarrassment of becoming tabloid fodder, as the Japanese media tend to keep a respectful distance from royalty.The wedding also will involve little of the fanfare associated with European royal weddings, or the public frenzy that accompanied her brothers' marriages."We aren't especially interested in the royal family, but we do like to see things when something special is going on," said Yoshiko Baba, 59, one of the crowd gathered near the palace."This is a very happy occasion," she added.In line with the custom of the imperial family, which traces its history back at least 1,600 years, the ceremony will be carried out according to the rites of Japan's indigenous animist religion, Shinto."Nori is very kind, she's a real old-fashioned Japanese girl, very different from the young people of today," 59-year-old Michiyo Ichikawa said.The wedding of the daughter Akihito nicknamed "Miss Never Mind" for the words of encouragement she offered at difficult moments, will be a welcome cause for celebration in the imperial household, recently shaken by disputes and illness.Last year, Sayako's brothers squabbled over Naruhito's public complaints about the way his wife had been treated.Honeymoon plans have not been made public but some media said the couple would visit such domestic sites as the Ise Shrine in central Japan after settling in to their new life.The shrine is dedicated to the goddess Amaterasu, mythical ancestress of the imperial family.The couple's life after the wedding will be cushioned by Sayako's $1.29 million dowry from the government.She has taken driving lessons in an apparent attempt to fit in with Kuroda's enthusiasm for motoring, and has also spent time brushing up her cooking skills.Sayako has already given up her part-time job as a researcher at an ornithology center in Chiba, near Tokyo, possibly to give herself more time to adjust to unfamiliar chores.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

PARIS, France (Reuters) -- French President Jacques Chirac's government decided on Monday to ask Parliament to extend emergency powers for three months to quell unrest that he said had caused a deep malaise."We will respond by being firm, by being fair and by being faithful to the values of France," Chirac said in his first televised address to the nation on unrest by youths in poor suburbs over racism, a lack of jobs and a sense of exclusion.Chirac, who has been under fire for saying little during the crisis, also announced the creation of a voluntary task force to help young people find work. He said it would provide training for 50,000 young people in 2007.Although the violence was waning after reaching a peak a week ago, police said youths destroyed 284 vehicles in petrol bomb attacks on Sunday night."I think it's over. I think the young people have let out their anger, and I think the government got the message," said Bernard Moutei, 40, walking among the high-rise estates in the Clichy-sous-Bois suburb of Paris where the unrest began.Disturbances began with the deaths on October 27 of two youths apparently fleeing police, but grew into wider protests by youths of African and Arab origin as well as white youngsters.The government approved emergency powers last week that went into force on November 9 for 12 days.On Monday, it agreed on a draft law to extend the measures until February. The law goes before the lower house of Parliament on Tuesday and its passage seems certain because the ruling center-right party dominates the two chambers.Chirac called for calm, urged people to rally together and said the main priority remained to restore public order."These events bear witness to a deep malaise," Chirac said. Referring to the problems of youths in the suburbs, he added: "It is a crisis of meaning, a crisis of reference points and an identity crisis."The emergency powers, including curfews, were introduced under a 50-year-old colonial-era law to grant prefects, France's top local officials, broad powers to impose curfews and other restrictions on designated areas.The decree named 38 towns, cities and urban areas across France. But few prefects have made use of the new powers.Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin would meet leaders of the main political parties on Tuesday just before the vote on the draft law in the National Assembly, his office said.The Communist Party plans to boycott the vote and the main opposition Socialists are expected to oppose the law."I want to express our extreme reserve about the extension, all the more so since the measures have been used only on rare occasions," said Socialist Party spokesman Julien Dray.Chirac has been heavily criticized for appearing out of touch, but the Socialists appear not to have made up ground on the president's ruling Union for a Popular Movement.An opinion poll on Monday showed a majority of voters did not think the Socialists would do any better in ending the violence, and 60 percent said they believed the Socialists were incapable of winning the next presidential elections in 2007.Violence has declined sharply since last Sunday's peak of 1,400 vehicles torched across France. Police said 10 youths were arrested in the southwestern city of Toulouse after youths burned 10 vehicles on Sunday and damaged a school.Overnight, five police officers were hurt and 115 people detained. Police have arrested 2,767 people since the unrest began.The disturbances have sparked a debate on the integration of immigrants and triggered copycat violence in some EU neighbors.Many people in affected areas do not expect government plans to help poor neighborhoods to bear much fruit."The government is not serious. They are not doing enough for us ... We don't have a proper cinema, nothing. Nothing is going to change," said a 16-year-old in Clichy-sous-Bois who gave his name only as Ali.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In a two-decades old document, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito voiced his support of the Reagan administration's fight to show "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion." Alito's 1985 letter, which was part of a newly released set of documents from his federal government service, was an application to be deputy assistant attorney general. He was already working in the department's solicitor general's office, where he helped prepare cases to be argued in court on behalf of the government.In the memo, he writes, "I am and always have been a conservative and an adherent to the same philosophical views that I believe are central to this administration." (Read an excerpt from the document)Later he writes about his accomplishments, "I am particularly proud of my contributions in recent cases in which the government has argued in the Supreme Court that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to abortion."He notes that as a federal employee, "I have been unable to take a role in partisan politics. However, I am a lifelong registered Republican."Liberal groups were quick to criticize Alito's memo. "Combined with his judicial record, Judge Alito's letter underscores our concern that he would vote to turn back the clock on decades of judicial precedent protecting privacy, equal opportunity, religious freedom, and so much more," said Ralph Neas, president of People For the American Way. "And it is further evidence that if Samuel Alito is confirmed to replace Sandra Day O'Connor, he will shift the Supreme Court dramatically to the right for decades to come."The documents are among dozens of pages released Monday by the Reagan and Bush presidential libraries. Alito did get the job he applied for, and went on to serve as U.S. attorney in New Jersey from 1987 to 1990. He then became a federal appeals court judge, his current job.He was nominated last month to take O'Connor's seat. Abortion is certain to become a key issue in confirmation hearings.As a judge, he dissented in 1991 as his appeals court threw out a Pennsylvania provision requiring a married woman seeking an abortion to notify her husband. The Supreme Court later upheld that ruling.Alito has told senators in private meetings in recent days he has "great respect" for precedent, including the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion. But he would not say whether he would continue to uphold that ruling.