(CNN) -- In 1995, Craig Newmark gave his first name to a small, local Web site that helped spread the word about happenings where he lived in San Francisco, California. Since then, Craigslist.org has become a flourishing online community of city-centric bulletin boards on which users post notices about everything from job listings to personal ads.Today, Craigslist serves nearly 200 cities around the world, where it's become a must-read for anyone looking for jobs, housing or even love. Newmark spoke recently by phone with CNN.com's Lila King about his site's legacy in the Internet revolution.CNN: What do you think the Internet's biggest impact has been?NEWMARK: The Internet connects people for whatever they want to connect -- for commerce, for socializing; it's all working. The deeper answer is that the Internet is allowing people of goodwill to realize that most everyone is OK, means well and wants to get along. And it's allowing people of goodwill to connect to deal with bigger problems. ...People using the Web are starting to speak truth to power in the way that the press used to. And they're backing it up with fact-checking, investigative reporting and that kind of thing. And that's really important. Traditional journalism with citizen journalism -- get them together -- that's going to be the dominant mode in the future.The big lesson for me on the Internet -- the big lesson running Craigslist and doing customer service -- is that people everywhere are overwhelmingly trustworthy and good and moral. They help me remember my moral compass, which basically says, you know, "Don't hurt people." And if you have any time left over, help people out a little.Basically, [the Internet] reinforces the goodwill of people who already operate that way. And it also reminds people who are taking moral shortcuts that, hey, that ain't OK anymore.Specifically [in New York], apartment brokers kind of run that market. ... Well, we're now such a big resource in New York for apartments that I can now tell sleazy brokers, "Hey, it's over, you gotta play fair." And that's slowly working. I mean, I figure I've got another year to go on this, but this is my biggest single project.CNN: What do you use the Internet for?NEWMARK: I do get a certain amount of news from there. Like, I'll read Wonkette. ... I read the gadget blogs. And I got a new house, and I'm renovating it. I'm using [the Internet] to pick out fixtures and so on. I just spent about an hour doing it, and I was ready to put out my eyes. [Laughs.] This is not something I should be doing, but it is kind of fun. It was built in '22. And it's right on a hill.CNN: How do you think the Internet will change in the next decade?NEWMARK: Well, I've given up predictions, given that there are no lunar colonies yet. But I think the big change will be the way it delivers news and entertainment. And as the news industry changes, I think it's going to restore good government. ... It's already happening. It's already helped in [South] Korea and Spain.CNN: Do you predict any big surprises?NEWMARK: It's already spreading the word that nerds make better lovers. There was an article about that in the New York Daily News several days ago. ... I'd appreciate it if you could spread the word. I'm not looking, but I think the word needs to get around.CNN: What do you hope will be Craigslist's legacy?NEWMARK: People will realize that people everywhere are OK. You've got to be a little careful, but people are OK.

VALMEYER, Illinois (AP) -- Erin Shevlin doesn't live on a farm but would like to run a small one someday. And the 16-year-old thanks her school with helping plant that seed.Valmeyer High School's agriculture classes aren't just about cows, sows and plows. Instead, students tend to poinsettias, work in a vineyard and help run the school's moneymaking fish breeding operation."You learn a lot more than just how to scoop poop," said Shevlin, a junior. "This is not like a normal class where you just read a book. You actually get to work and feel like you're doing something."To boost ag enrollment, schools have broadened curriculum well beyond what it takes to milk a cow. Classes now include hands-on instruction on topics from greenhouse operations to landscaping, floral design, animal health and biotechnology.The effort appears to be paying off. Enrollment in Illinois' high school ag programs is 26,488 -- the highest it's been since the early 1970s and up from 11,733 just 15 years ago, said Dean Dittmar, a state coordinator of agricultural education.It's a trend that's reflected in the 490,000-student membership of the National FFA Organization -- its highest in more than two decades.The 77-year-old group was ahead of the curve in 1998 when it changed its name from Future Farmers of America after recognizing that agriculture involves more than 300 careers, ranging from agriscience to biotechnology to turf grass management.Some of the change may be tied to the shrinking of America's farmland as urban sprawl slowly gobbles up crop fields. Between 1997 and 2002, according to the Department of Agriculture, the number of U.S. farms has dropped to 2.1 million, down about 87,000.To keep current, schools including Valmeyer High have added greenhouses, and offered math and science credit for agriculture courses."It shows the community that you're just not sitting back and doing the same old, same old," said Howard Heavner, Valmeyer High's ag teacher and the town mayor.The high school's two greenhouses have raised $27,000 a year in plants often sold to churches and local markets, with about half of the money kept as profits. Students keep 20 percent of what they peddle, rewarding their salesmanship."We call this the 'Green Thumb Co-op,"' Heavner said. "The kids view this as theirs."Valmeyer students also work the school's 18 fish tanks, packed with thousands of bass, tilapia, bluegill and catfish eventually sold to other schools or for restocking ponds.The greenhouses and fish generate more than $30,000 for the school, making the ag program largely self-sufficient, Heavner said. Profits go to advertising or are reinvested in the operations, sometimes used to buy grapes for the school's small vineyard.Along the way, Heavner's students are shucking stereotypes."People are understanding this isn't just for farmers," said Heavner's son Andrew, a 17-year-old junior. "You don't have to work with steers, pigs and hogs."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (AP) -- One is a sprawling house exemplifying Frank Lloyd Wright's early Prairie style. The other is a skyscraper, a rare vertical work that was one of the architect's last projects before he died in 1959.The century-old Darwin D. Martin House in Buffalo, New York, and the H.C. Price Company Office Tower and Apartments, built nearly five decades ago in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, have undergone restoration and will soon be flanked by new museums and visitor centers designed by two architects currently in vogue -- Toshiko Mori and Zaha Hadid.The unrelated projects are the focus of an exhibition through January 15 at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, about 70 miles northwest of another building designed by Wright and considered to be his greatest architectural feat: Fallingwater.On display are Wright's original pencil sketches and meticulous ink drawings that show the evolution of the two buildings from conception to construction, while typed letters to clients reflect his almost fanatical concern with detail -- and routine requests for money.The exhibition also features angular office chairs and window frames that resemble tree branches -- finishing touches that Wright carefully added to complement the structures.The buildings mark two important periods in Wright's lengthy career, said Raymund Ryan, curator of the museum's Heinz Architectural Center. Nearly five decades elapsed between the projects, but both demonstrate Wright's so-called organic style, which blended structural forms with their natural surroundings and followed strict geometrical patterns."The central theme throughout his work is a synergy between the organic and the geometric," said Ryan, who added that Wright's buildings emphasize openness and strong connections between interior and exterior spaces."It's this notion of being inspired by nature," he said.Photographs and drawings of the Martin House, commissioned in 1902 by a Buffalo soap company executive who was Wright's longtime patron and friend, show an elaborate complex of buildings skirted by a covered walkway and gardens. It fell into disrepair after the Martin family lost its fortune during the Depression in the late 1920s, but has been undergoing a multimillion-dollar restoration in recent years.The restorers held a design competition for a new visitors' center, bookstore and cafe to be built at the site. They selected a proposal by Toshiko Mori, a Japanese-born architect who is also the dean of Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. The Carnegie exhibition has a scale model of the planned structure, which has a concave roof and floor-to-ceiling windows facing the Martin House.One thousand miles from Buffalo, in Oklahoma, plans are under way to build a museum dedicated to Wright's Price Tower, designed by the Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid. Computer screens at the Pittsburgh exhibition show three-dimensional views of the low, sloping building with transparent, colored roof panels through which visitors will be able to see the tower.The London-based Hadid, who won the 2004 Pritzker Prize, has said her Arts Center is meant to "flirt" with the 19-story skyscraper, which was originally conceived as an office and apartment space but was redesigned in 2001 as a boutique hotel. Wright described the high-rise as "the tree that escaped the crowded forest" as its floors radiate from central load-bearing shafts, like branches from a tree trunk.The new buildings by Mori and Hadid are set for construction in the next few years, according to the Carnegie curator Ryan."All of the designs are complementary to Wright's, but in no way mimic them," he said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(Ski Magazine) -- The Super G at Boyne is one wild ride.Slippery, steep and super-fast, you'd better know how to turn 'em, because this course is curvier than a pair of '70s stretch pants. And you might want to trade that Gore-Tex for spandex. The Super G's finish line isn't on snow -- it's in a pool. At least it's a heated pool.OK, so the Super G isn't a ski run. It's a slide at Boyne's new winter-themed indoor water park, Avalanche Bay, the first such operation at the base of a ski hill in the country. But then Boyne, a four-hour drive from Detroit, Michigan (six from Chicago, Illinois), has a history of innovation. The northwest Michigan ski resort claims the world's first quad, the first high-speed lift in the state and the first high-speed six-pack in the United States. Not bad for a place that opened in 1947 with one run serviced by an old Sun Valley double. Today, Boyne's 67 trails make up one of the Midwest's most-visited resorts. Best suited to beginners and intermediates, the ample green and blue terrain will satisfy families.Last season's newest upgrades, a collection of green cruisers off the backside, seem to swoop right down to the shores of Deer Lake. That's not to say that experts can't find a challenge: Over the past few years, front-side staples such as McLouth, Hemlock, Aurora and Victor have been joined by newcomers such as Devil's Dive on Disciples Ridge, a double-black plummet.What skiers of all abilities will now be able to find at Boyne is a little creature comfort. This season, the Solace Spa opened inside the new Mountain Grand Lodge. With 18,000 square feet and 19 treatment rooms, the spa is ensconced inside the 220-suite luxury hotel that's painstakingly themed after European ski chalets. That, combined with Avalanche Bay (which sports the state's first surf simulator), represents $74 million in what eventually will total a $300 million rebirth. Next up: an update of the '70s-era base village, complete with Austrian-style pedestrian walkways and new shops, pubs and cafes.The townThe lion's share of Boyne skiers opt to stay in the village -- which has three lodges, a few restaurants and shops, an outdoor swimming pool and a cafeteria -- although two nearby towns offer some interesting options. This is Hemingway country, described in some of Papa's Nick Adams stories, and both towns retain some of that era's charm. Boyne City, 10 minutes northwest of the mountain, is a summer destination, so the small motels and locally flavored shops are less frenetic in winter. Several restaurants and a 1960s-style movie house draw skiers looking for dinner and a movie. Petoskey, 25 minutes north, centers around a bustling Victorian gaslight shopping district, lots of turn-of-the-century architecture and a few places that can truly proclaim, "Hemingway was here."Where to stay The Boyne clock tower has been a village mainstay for skiers heading to the Michigan Upper Peninsula resort.Mountain Grand Lodge and Spa: In the base village, this new luxury hotel features one- to four-bedroom suites with kitchens, plasma TVs and vintage ski artwork on the walls. The suites designed for families are equipped with bunk beds and kid-friendly d�cor. From $135 per night; (800) 462-6963; www.mountaingrandlodge.com.Boyne Mountain Main Lodge: With a heated, slopeside pool and modern, well-appointed rooms, the Main Lodge reigns as the prime spot to stay for ski-in/ski-out convenience. Rates are from $85 per person, per night for lift-and-lodging packages; (800) 462-6963; www.boynemountain.com.Stafford's Perry Hotel: In Petoskey's gaslight district, the historic Perry has 79 rooms, some with balconies overlooking Little Traverse Bay, a restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, a fitness center, a hot tub and room service. Rates range from $79 to $149; (800) 737-1899; http://www.theperryhotel.com/.Where to eatEverett's: Boyne's newest restaurant, named after resort founder Everett Kircher, is off the main lobby in the Mountain Grand. The bill of fare is influenced by Kircher's passion for hunting and fishing, with dishes featuring native fish and game. Be sure to hoist an EK ale, a custom-brewed Boyne specialty. (800) 462-6963.Red Mesa Grill: Latin American influences blend with Michigan favorites, such as corn-roasted walleye, at this Boyne City eatery, but another major attraction is an extensive tequila bar, with 107 varieties. (231) 582-0049Garrett's On Water Street: Also in Boyne City, Garrett's, which has a formal dining room and an authentic Irish pub, is consistently ranked among the best restaurants in the state. Try the seared sea scallops in sweet red pepper cream. (231) 582-1111; www.garrettsonwaterstreet.comWhere to playAvalanche Bay: Climb the giant Splasherhorn peak and brave its 800-gallon simulated avalanche, or fly down the Super G on a slippery mat. Full day $39, half day $29; (800) 462-6963; http://www.avalanchebay.com/Solace Spa: The new spa in the Mountain Grand has men's and women's saunas and hot tubs, 19 treatment rooms, personal trainers, a juice bar and a state-of-the-art fitness center. (800) 462-6963; http://www.mountaingrandlodge.com/spa.aspBoyne River Brewing Company: Housed in what resembles an old fisherman's shack, Boyne River is a locals' hangout with the best brews in Boyne country and full menu of munchies to go with them. (231) 582-9001; http://www.boyneriverbrewery.com/

DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- Amateur fossil hunter Van Turner felt certain he found something important as he combed through turned-up earth at a construction site 16 years ago.Now, scientists finally confirmed that Turner found a prehistoric lizard that lived 92 million years ago and evolved into what some call the "T. Rex of the ocean." It's the first well-preserved early mosasaur found in North America, experts say.The reptile, now known as Dallasaurus turneri, was identified in a special issue of the Netherlands Journal of Geosciences this month. The article was written by paleontologists Michael Polcyn of Southern Methodist University and Gordon Bell Jr. of Guadalupe National Park.The lizard is an important link in the evolution of mosasaurs, which lived in the age of dinosaurs and evolved fin-like limbs, Polcyn said. Dallasaurus, the name given by Polcyn and Bell, is unusual because it shows an earlier version of the mosasaur with tiny feet and hands. The marine animals later developed paddles.A model of the Dallasaurus that was unveiled Wednesday at the Dallas Museum of Natural History looks somewhat like a Komodo Dragon, its closest living relative.Before Turner's discovery, only five primitive forms of the animal with land-capable limbs were known, and all were found over the last century in the Middle East and the eastern Adriatic, Polcyn said."This is exciting to us. It tells us the origin of mosasaurs," said Anthony R. Fiorillo, curator of earth sciences at the Dallas museum, which displays a much larger reconstructed mosasaur with sharp teeth and a massive jaw.Mosasaurs lived in the shallow seas and shores of a stretch of Texas around Dallas and Fort Worth that was mostly under water back then, Polcyn said. The animals evolved into the top predator of their domain before becoming extinct 65 million years ago.The Dallasaurus is not nearly as threatening as its oversized descendant -- its slim body is only 3 feet long."I call him Todd," said Ross McMillan, the ponytailed sculptor who worked with Polcyn for months to construct the lifelike model. "When you look at his face, doesn't he look like a Todd?"Scientists and museum curators hope to reconstruct the more than 100 identifiable skeletal pieces that make up Dallasaurus and display them within a few years at the Dallas museum, which owns them.Right now, the skeletal pieces are being kept at Southern Methodist University for study. A similar specimen, also acquired and donated by Turner, is at the Texas Memorial Museum at the University of Texas at Austin.The lizard is not related to the 13-foot oceanic crocodile discovered recently in Argentina, Polcyn said. The discovery of that creature, given the scientific name Dakosaurus andiniensis and nicknamed "Godzilla," was reported last week in the online edition of the journal Science.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- The rate of newly reported HIV cases among blacks has been dropping by about 5 percent a year since 2001, the government said Thursday. But blacks are still eight times more likely than whites to be diagnosed with the AIDS virus."The racial disparities remain severe," said Lisa Lee, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The falling rate among blacks seems to be tied to overlapping drops in diagnoses among intravenous drug users and heterosexuals, CDC researchers said.The study was based on 2001-04 data from 33 states that have name-based reporting systems for HIV. Health officials do not know which diagnoses represent new infections and which ones were infections people had for years but had just discovered.The CDC found that overall diagnoses in the 33 states decreased slightly, from 41,207 cases in 2001 to 38,685 in 2004. The rate fell from 22.8 cases per 100,000 people in 2001 to 20.7 per 100,000 in 2004.The decline was more pronounced among blacks -- the rate dropped from 88.7 per 100,000 in 2001 to 76.3 in 2004. Among whites, the rate rose slightly from 8.7 to 9.0.At least part of the decline among blacks appears to be tied to a 9 percent annual decline in diagnoses among intravenous drug users, who can get the virus from contaminated needles. More than half of the drug users were black, Lee said.The decline is also linked to a 4 percent decline in diagnoses among heterosexuals. About 69 percent of the heterosexuals diagnosed with HIV were black.Diagnoses among men who have sex with men remained roughly stable from 2001 to 2003 but climbed 8 percent between 2003 and 2004. That was true for men of all races, CDC officials said. But they could not explain the recent increase.In New York, needle exchange programs helped explain declining HIV infection rates, said state Health Department spokeswoman Claire Pospisil. New York introduced needle exchanges in 1992, and 114,500 people have participated, she said.Most public health researchers say such programs have been clearly effective against the spread of HIV, but some argue they work against efforts to fight drug abuse."The AIDS virus is spread through voluntary behavior. An unlimited supply of needles will not alter behavior patterns of irresponsible and often psychotic addicts," the conservative Family Research Council said in a statement.The government does not know exactly how many people have HIV. Roughly 25 percent of people living with HIV do not know they are infected, health officials said.The study for the first time includes data from New York, which accounted for more than 20 percent of the diagnoses seen in the 33 states. "The inclusion of New York data gives us more representative picture what going on," Lee said.California and Illinois are among the states still missing from the database.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

BALTIMORE, Maryland (MedPageToday) -- It was three days before Christmas last year. Nick Anderson, a budding race car driver, was on his way home from a friend's house."My car spun out and hit the guardrail," recalls Anderson, now 19. The guardrail slammed through the vehicle, ripping off his left leg at the knee, shattering his right leg and destroying his left elbow, leaving his left hand paralyzed.On Thursday, a surgical team at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is trying to repair some of that damage by performing a rare operation -- a mother-to-son nerve transplant with the goal of restoring sensation and function to Anderson's paralyzed hand.If it succeeds, it will be a triumph both of will and of science."I fought very hard not to let them amputate his arm," says Anderson's mother, Frankie Anderson-Harris, 40. "I didn't want to see him lose the arm because I thought technology and science would catch up to him."And, she said on the eve of the surgery, "it kind of has."To restore Anderson's hand, surgeon Dr. Allan Belzberg of Johns Hopkins will have to replace two of the three main nerves in the lower part of his left arm -- nerves that were torn out in the accident."They're gone," Belzberg said. "There's a huge gap where the nerves should be."Combined with the extensive damage to Anderson's legs, that gap -- about 7 inches of missing tissue -- meant Belzberg couldn't harvest the needed nerve tissue from elsewhere in the young man's body.Family members volunteered to donate nerves, and Anderson-Harris' tissue was found to be a close match to her son's."Sometimes you feel very, very helpless, and it's nice to be able to do something," she said. "I was glad to be able to do it."Anderson-Harris underwent surgery to both legs and arms last week, so that Belzberg could get the tissue he needs."Mom's a bit sore right now," Anderson said.For Anderson-Harris, losing the nerve tissue will mean some numb spots on her feet and on the insides of her elbows. Those numb spots will grow smaller over time, Belzberg said, but will never disappear entirely.Today, Anderson-Harris says, "I can walk -- I don't walk well yet -- but I can walk. And unless you see the staples in my arms, you can't tell anything happened."Only a handful of such transplants have been performed, Belzberg said, and the state of the art is evolving rapidly. Even in the past couple of years, he said, "we've made some very good advances in rewiring nerves."In Anderson's case, the idea of the surgery is simple -- the severed ends of his medial and ulnar nerves will be joined using the nerve tissue from his mother. Over the next few months -- if the grafts are not rejected -- his body slowly will replace his mother's cells with new ones of his own.Until then, he'll have to take drugs to suppress his immune system, just like any other transplant.Belzberg said he'll know within a few months if the graft has taken, and the first signs of restored function will come in about a year, if all goes well.But the chances for successful nerve repair are greater the earlier it's done, Bezberg said, and Anderson-Harris was "100 percent right" to refuse to let doctors amputate her son's arm."In a lot of these patients, I can repair the nerves and save the limb," he said, but other doctors aren't aware of the advances that have been made."For whatever reason, it's just not out there in the medical community," he said. "We need to get the word out there -- don't go lopping things off until you check with us."On the other hand, he noted, there is a bottleneck because only a handful of doctors can perform such nerve surgery."The whole field of nerve repair has taken off -- there're just not enough of us doing it," he said.For Anderson, the past year has been a long road and, the night before his surgery, he was trying not to get too high or too low. "I want it to work, but if it doesn't, I don't want to get too bummed out about it," he said.He doesn't remember his mother's battle to prevent amputation -- he was in a coma at the time. But he remembers the battle to find new options after he woke up."I've had four or five opinions, and they were all different from one another," he said.Eventually, he said, researching the options led to Belzberg and this week's operation.Anderson's advice? Do your homework, find the best choice, and "once you decide it's a good idea, go for it."

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- A state agency removed a Los Angeles judge from the bench, concluding that he engaged in "a shocking abuse of power" that led to the wrongful conviction and two-day jail stay for a woman challenging a traffic infraction.Superior Court Judge Kevin Ross was also cited Wednesday for filming a pilot television series called "Mobile Court" in a Los Angeles strip club. The main charge behind Ross' dismissal involved a 2003 case in which he threw a woman in jail who was challenging a seat belt violation. The judge concluded she lied when she said she wasn't the motorist who was pulled over.Ross never informed the woman of her right to an attorney or right to challenge the case, according to the Commission on Judicial Performance, a state judicial watchdog agency.Once officials learned of the woman's plight, another judge released her and dismissed the case.The commission concluded Ross illegally assumed "the function of the prosecutor to add additional charges." The panel said Ross tried to cover up the 2003 jailing during hearings before the commission.Ross, who first won election to the bench in 1999, said in a statement he was unsure whether he would appeal the commission's decision to the state Supreme Court."As I have previously indicated, I accept complete responsibility for those specific actions that did not exemplify the highest standards of judicial excellence," Ross said.The commission said he violated judicial ethics by getting paid $5,000 in 2002 for a TV pilot that was never picked up for syndication.In the taped case Ross heard in the strip club, a stripper claimed that she had been wrongly disqualified from the "Miss Wet on the Net" contest.Judicial codes prohibit sitting judges from getting paid for acting as a private arbitrator, the commission concluded.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Iraq War protester Cindy Sheehan was found guilty Thursday of demonstrating without a permit outside the White House, a misdemeanor carrying a $50 fine.Twenty-six other defendants also were convicted at the end of a two-day trial before U.S. Magistrate Alan Kay today. Sheehan, who demonstrated against the war for several weeks near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, and the others were among 300 arrested September 26 while trying to deliver petitions calling for an end to the war. Some sat on the sidewalk outside the White House fence, while others chanted and sang songs. They were taken into custody after refusing police orders to disperse. Kay ordered Sheehan and the other defendants to pay $50.25 to cover their fines and court costs. Sheehan's attorney said he plans to appeal. Sheehan insisted she was not demonstrating, but only petitioning her government and exercising her First Amendment rights. Sheehan plans to return to Crawford next week to continue to press her request for a one-on-one meeting with Bush, who will be spending Thanksgiving at his ranch. Sheehan's soldier-son was killed in Iraq last year.Charges against at least nine were dismissed. (Full story)Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Republicans are striving to pass a deficit reduction bill to curb spending on Medicaid, food stamps and student loan subsidies. On a parallel track they are succeeding in their drive to freeze many agency budgets funded through annual spending bills.The two-pronged effort was coming to a head as early as Thursday. Votes loomed on a budget-cut plan that is a pillar of the GOP's agenda as well as on a separate spending bill cutting money below last year's levels for the departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services.Both votes presented a challenge for House leaders such as Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois. Hastert has been working hard to salvage the deficit reduction plan, hoping to avoid a repeat of last week's embarrassing setback when a revolt by party moderates over the proposed cuts in social programs delayed a final vote.The bill would trim about $50 billion over five years from programs like Medicaid whose budgets increase automatically every year. The proposed savings are modest considering the $14 trillion the government is set to spend during the five-year period.Still, the budget bill has run into fierce resistance from Republicans unhappy with limiting eligibility for food stamps, curbing student loan subsidies and requiring Medicaid beneficiaries to pay for a fraction of their health care."There is no question we are having a difficult time rounding up the votes," said GOP Rep. Jim Nussle of Iowa, chairman of the House Budget Committee.Wooing moderatesGOP leaders early Thursday made modest changes to the bill in an attempt to ease moderates' concerns. Dropped from the measure is a proposal raising copayments from $3 to $5 for the very poorest Medicaid beneficiaries and a provision that would have denied free school lunches to about 40,000 children whose parents would lose their food stamps. A provision denying Medicaid nursing home benefits to people with home equity of $500,000 would be modified by raising the cap to $750,000.Last week, GOP leaders dropped plans to open an Alaskan wildlife refuge to oil drilling and to allow states to lift a moratorium on oil drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.As Nussle and other GOP leaders have struggled to find the final mix of spending cuts for the deficit-reduction plan, the chamber's powerful appropriators have made steady progress in their goal of passing 11 separate spending bills for the budget year that began October 1.Though they've blown the October. 1 deadline, as is the case most years, the appropriators have managed to avoid producing another embarrassing, hastily assembled omnibus bill, a win for freshman Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis, R-California.And Lewis has defied convention by winning passage of bills that, taken as a whole, freeze the budgets for most domestic agencies except Homeland Security Department.Still, stopgap funds will be needed to keep many agencies running past a Friday deadline.And while all of the domestic spending bills should be cleared before Thanksgiving, the defense spending bill is on hold until next month, to the embarrassment of GOP leaders.The Pentagon worries that further delays in defense spending boosts could have a harmful impact on some operations.Tough votes aheadThe vote on the labor, health and education bill won't be easy, especially since about $1 billion worth of lawmakers' cherished hometown projects and grants -- commonly called "earmarks" -- were dropped from the bill to avoid more severe budgets for heating subsidies, the Centers for Disease Control and the Head Start preschool education program, among others."Had the $1 billion been spent on earmarks, we would have sustained intolerable cuts," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania, lead Senate negotiator on the spending bill.The separate budget cut plan is the first effort in eight years to take on the automatic growth of mandatory programs like Medicaid, which make up about 55 percent of the budget. By comparison, the annual appropriations bills fund about one-third of the budget.Unlike last week, when it was clear that Republicans were struggling to find the votes before pulling the budget measure from the House floor, GOP leaders and staff aides are cautiously optimistic they will succeed."We're always making progress, everyday," Hastert said. "Sometimes it's inches. Sometimes it's feet. Sometimes it's backward."Still, it is not difficult to find Republicans who oppose the bill.Rep. John McHugh, R-New York, said he had "significant problems" with the measure, and all three Connecticut Republicans have signaled opposition.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(Entertainment Weekly) -- There are some things you can't state often enough. The Aston Martin DB5 was the greatest Bond car ever. "The Empire Strikes Back" is the best "Star Wars" movie. And "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is one of the seminal TV shows of the last 50 years. In the top 10. Not open for debate.So it's particularly noteworthy that now you can get all seven seasons, 144 episodes' worth of slayage, 40 discs' worth of ground broken by creator Joss Whedon, in one handy box. Behold "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Chosen Collection." And behold a colossal missed opportunity.On the surface, "Buffy" was about a pretty blonde who killed vamps every episode, with a werewolf or a demon thrown in for variety. But the greatest weapon in Whedon's formidable arsenal was metaphor. Adolescence is a breeding ground for all sorts of insecurities that can be extrapolated to end-of-the-world dilemmas: the girl no one notices who actually disappears; the picked-on nerd who might snap ... and kill; the boyfriend who totally changes once you sleep with him. And by confronting them all, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her Scooby Gang -- Willow (Alyson Hannigan), Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), and Xander (Nicholas Brendon) -- evolved and matured as they went from high school to college to real life, even to the afterlife."Buffy" did what all great genre fiction does. It allowed us to look at ourselves through a fantastical lens, and see who we truly are: at once stronger than we thought we could be and weaker than we'd like to let on. And, as with most great genre fiction, the establishment just didn't get it. "Buffy" was never nominated for a best-drama Emmy, probably because it was a show about a hottie who dusted vampires. But many of us fell for the girl, and the show, with a white-hot passion.That geek lust explains why some were disappointed with Fox's first "Buffy" DVD sets. The handful of commentary tracks, documentaries, even the occasional full script couldn't satisfy our jones for more dirt. And now, in offering a $200 collection that, let's be honest, only the diehards are gonna buy, Fox has still failed to deliver the mother lode of extras. A few new docs and an admittedly nice Whedon-hosted roundtable featuring some of "Buffy's" most valuable players don't cut it.Where are the audition tapes, so we can see why Charisma Carpenter, Selma Blair, or Julie Benz wasn't fit to be the Slayer? Where's that first abandoned pilot, with Riff Regan playing Willow? Where are the deleted scenes? I find it hard to believe that someone as geek-to-the-core as Whedon wouldn't have saved this stuff; why not let those of us willing to pony up for this set -- and you know most will be buying these seven seasons for a second bloody time -- finally have the goods?"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is a titanic achievement, one worth holding on to so you can show your children. If only "The Chosen Collection" had lived up to it.EW Grade: B'Born to Run: 30th Anniversary Edition,' Bruce SpringsteenReviewed by Tom Sinclair There's a retrospectively comic passage about Bruce Springsteen in former Columbia Records president Clive Davis' 1974 memoir, "Clive: Inside the Record Business." After praising the artist's ''fascinating use of words,'' Davis, who greenlit Springsteen's 1972 signing to Columbia, gripes that ''he is building a small cult, but it's been difficult to break him commercially ... without that trademark single, it's a slow build.''By late 1975, two years after Davis left Columbia, that ''trademark single'' had arrived. ''Born to Run'' and the album that shares its name had launched Springsteen into the public consciousness, big-time.Spectorian in scope and execution, "Born" was an inarguable watershed, a richly dramatic document that found Springsteen breathing fresh life into hoary Top 40 cliches. This scruffy, post-Dylan hipster from Freehold, New Jersey, had become a new kind of rock & roll alchemist, capable of transforming a genre of songs that had been largely concerned with girls, cars, and the search for kicks into one that encompassed stirring, almost religious epics about the Girl, the Car, and the Quest for Redemption.The faithful have probably been singing hosannas since getting wind of "Born to Run: 30th Anniversary Edition," although we imagine some acolytes may be perturbed by the absence of any outtakes (usually considered de rigueur in compilations of this sort). The package includes only a lone, remastered CD of the original album, which still sounds both timeless and terrific. From the romantic, wind-in-our-hair rush of the title track and the madcap R&B propulsion of ''Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out'' to the steely-eyed balladry of ''Backstreets'' and the gritty urban melodrama of ''Jungleland,'' it's a collection that will no doubt be as compelling three decades hence.But it's the two DVDs that accompany "Edition" that make this boxed set something extra special. The documentary "Wings for Wheels: The Making of Born to Run" includes interviews with Springsteen and E Street Band members and associates past and present, who reminisce about the long, often painful process of honing that album. (The Boss' autocratic tendencies may be old news, but who knew that he had coached saxophonist Clarence Clemons through literally every single note of the solo on ''Jungleland''?)Wheels contains a wealth of delectable info-tidbits, whether it's Springsteen's confession that he still has no idea what the title ''Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out'' means, or the revelation that Steve Van Zandt walked in cold one day and conceived the final horn arrangement for that track on the spot. The scenes showing today's Springsteen talking about the sessions are particularly refreshing, with the Boss achieving just the right mix of gravitas and self-deprecating humor as he recalls what it was like to make the album while under tangible pressure from Columbia to come up with a hit. Sitting around a studio with longtime manager Jon Landau, we see him listening to -- and occasionally laughing at -- alternate takes, like syrupy, string-soaked versions of the title track and the intro to ''Jungleland'' (''We should have used that one,'' he comments to Landau of the latter snippet).There is also a swell 20-minute segment of a 1973 Los Angeles show (with excellently named original drummer Vini ''Mad Dog'' Lopez). But perhaps the biggest treat is the two-hour London concert, filmed four months after "Born to Run's" release. Here we see a bearded, hoop-earringed Springsteen leading the E Street Band on a joyride through songs from his three then-existing albums. It's a sizzling testament to what many have long contended -- that, in the '70s, Bruce and his boys put on the most exciting show around. Look out for the priceless moment when a sheepish Springsteen says to the audience, ''I've never been here before.'' He was talking about England, but he could just as well have been referring to his newfound seat at the table of rock royalty. He's been there ever since -- and this lovely anniversary set reminds us why.EW Grade: A-'Madagascar'Reviewed by Hannah TuckerAfter a foiled escape attempt from the Central Park Zoo, pampered denizens Marty, Gloria, Melman, and Alex find themselves shipwrecked on the island of Madagascar. The main characters are charming, but hilarious minor players like the stowaway penguins and disaffected monkeys don't get enough screen time after the first third of "Madagascar."Still, "Madagascar" makes good use of the tested DreamWorks formula of bathroom jokes and grown-up quips: ''I heard Tom Wolfe is speaking at Lincoln Center. ... Of course we're going to throw poo at him.''EXTRAS An amusing short about the eggnog-chugging, havoc-wreaking penguin foursome is just the beginning. The plentiful features also include a virtual tour of "Madagascar," a behind-the-scenes look at the animation, and lively interviews with the film's stars. But it's too much -- ''Mad Mishaps'' is dull, and the ''I Like to Move It, Move It'' lemur music video is just plain annoying. The DVD-ROM, meanwhile, which offers slow-paced games and printable iron-on T-shirt transfers, is for PCs only.EW Grade: A-'The Oprah Winfrey Show: 20th Anniversary Collection'Reviewed by Tina Jordan"When you sit down with somebody for an hour, you get a real sense of who they are,'' says Oprah Winfrey in her running commentary on "The Oprah Winfrey Show: 20th Anniversary Collection." And yet it isn't the stars (John Travolta and the Judds among them) that make the set worth watching. Most interesting is learning which guests, like Elie Wiesel, meant the most to Oprah, and why. And of course, there's her ever-evolving appearance -- ''For me, good taste was a long time in coming,'' she says cheerfully -- especially her frank discussions about her weight. Recalling her most popular segment, 1988's ''The Fat in the Wagon'' -- where she fit into a pair of size 10 jeans after four and a half months on a liquid diet -- she admits, with a twinge, that she couldn't zip them up just two days later. But it's exactly this humanness that makes her viewers able to relate to her, and her, in turn, able to inspire them.EW Grade: B+

NEW YORK (AP) -- Kimberly Stewart will wed Talan Torriero, one of the stars of the MTV reality series "Laguna Beach."Stewart, the 26-year-old daughter of singer Rod Stewart, and Torriero, 19, are engaged, People magazine reported Thursday. Torriero's spokesman, Jack Ketsoyan, confirmed the couple's plans to the magazine.Stewart also confirmed the engagement to Us Weekly, saying, "We're getting married."They announced their surprise engagement Wednesday evening at a Los Angeles party for Microsoft's Xbox. Stewart flashed a 5-carat diamond engagement ring, according to People.Stewart and Torriero, who have been dating for several weeks, were recently in the news as the back seat passengers of Paris Hilton when she was involved in a minor car accident November 9. No one was hurt and police said no one was cited after the mishap.Stewart is a close friend of Hilton's and was at one time reported to be a possible replacement to Nicole Richie on the canceled Fox reality show "The Simple Life."Torriero, who stars on the MTV high school reality show, has said he's attempting to start a music career.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- In a world where a park bench can function as an office cubicle, iPods play video and cell phones serve as mini-computers, the risk for both the consumer and the corporate world is sometimes overlooked.At a recent summit held by the Georgia Tech Information Security Center, Chris Rouland, the chief technology officer for Internet Security Systems, and Richard A. DeMillo, the dean at Georgia Tech's College of Computing, spoke to CNN's Manav Tanneeru about some of the security issues associated with the emergence of a truly wireless society.CNN: It almost seems like the beginning of a new era with the movement toward a more wireless platform for the Internet versus the traditional, wired version. How have things changed over the last two or three years?DEMILLO: One of the things you have to believe is that the train is clearly leaving the station, you don't know if it's just going to pick up steam or head into a brick wall, and one of the things you have to believe is that whatever we learned about security in the wired world probably has to be rethought for wireless.Take the issue of using Windows updates to patch your operating system. It's a different world when you have a million [cell phones] floating around. Where is the update button on here, and who do I go to if there is an intrusion on the device. I think a lot of the basic business issues are yet to be [solved].ROULAND: In general, as we move to wireless, one of the biggest challenges and one of the things to overcome is ease of use. Today, for instance, to deploy a wireless network in your home, you might skip some things that are hard to do. So, as the vendors are making things easier to use, we also need to encourage them to make security easier to use. Some of the important research that's going on at Georgia Tech is how to make security automatic and easier to understand in wireless and other areas.CNN: How concerned are you about the common consumer who is going from traditional Internet usage to a wireless world where the boundary between the public and private space is shrinking? What concerns you the most about the behaviors about the common consumer?ROULAND: If you look at what we are seeing in the wired world today -- the wild, wired world maybe -- it's becoming very difficult for big businesses to protect themselves -- not because they can't protect their own networks, but because they can't protect what the consumer sees. You can receive an e-mail and it really looks like it's from the Bank of America, or Paypal; however, it's not. It's some guy from Kazakhstan who is waiting for you to click "yes" so that he can drain your bank account. Then, the consumer will go to the financial institution to mediate, and they'll end up taking the loss.So, the extension of the network to the end consumer and the end consumer being hijacked is great concern, it's a very difficult problem.DEMILLO: [Chris], are you worried about people just sort of radiating their identity? For instance, if you walk through this space, [this cell phone] is radiating. It's radiating the number, it's got personal information that's stored on it, and you don't know who's picking up on it. I think that's something really different in the mobile world.ROULAND: A metaphor...is that you are not really aware of it, but if you have a wireless network on your laptop at home, when you turn that on, it beacons out a broadcast saying, "Where are you, where are you?" Even if that SSID, or the identification of that network, is hidden, it actually beacons that out. It's analogous to standing out [on a street corner] and shouting out your Social Security number.CNN: Could you speak a bit about how iPods, portable hard drives, and other USB devices -- which now have the capability of storing large amounts of information -- are creating new security concerns?ROULAND: That's a big a concern for us and our customers as well. We're one of the market leaders in protecting corporate desktops and one of the concerns our customers have is someone plugging in their iPod and copying all their corporate secrets onto the iPod because an iPod not only stores music, but large amounts of data. So, just as we saw 10 years ago when companies started taking out floppy drives because there was no real use for them, they're taking out USB drives as well.CNN: Many media outlets speak of the convergence of online media going to wireless devices. For example, video being broadcast on cell phones or iPods, or Web sites being available on the same devices. What kind of security issues might such a convergence raise?DEMILLO: I'm not sure convergence by itself buys you that much more in terms of risk. It really has to do with the number of devices, the sheer scale, and what you're going to do on those devices. If all you're doing is streaming video, there's one set of applications, but if it's interactive video -- for example, are you pushing games out to a CNN portal -- then there's financial transactions taking place, and I think that's where the risk, at least the initial risk.CNN: What is approaching on the horizon that is worrisome in regards to security?ROULAND: The windows for attacks have become so compressed now. From the time a vulnerability is found to the time it is actually exploited, it is very a short period now. One of the key reasons for that is the profitability for this type of fraud. Whereas 10 years ago when a lot of computer viruses were written to send out greetings and for bragging rights, today it's all about the money.So, as we enable these devices with more and more capability, and the capability of a mobile device becomes as rich as a personal computer, it will become a richer target to attack. There is a linear relationship between the amount of bandwidth and the amount of devices an attacker can take over. So, the faster the bandwidth, the richer the resources available, and the more attractive the target becomes, then they will be taken over.CNN: What are you general impressions on the current state of wireless security?DEMILLO: I think it's too hard for the average consumer. For someone who knows how to use a personal computer, it's different. There is the educational issue and the vendors have to be more engaged in security. The infrastructure will continue to build up and we'll make progress there.ROULAND: I think we're very much at a stage of immaturity in wireless security. We're just graduating past the "OK, make it work stage." While we are rapidly trying to add features, we're also trying to add security, and as we overcome some of these stumbling blocks of making security easy to use, I think we'll see security catch up with features and functions.

LONDON, England (AP) -- "Romeo, Romeo -- wher4 Rt thou Romeo?"It could be the future of Shakespeare.Dot mobile, a British mobile phone service aimed at students, says it plans to condense classic works of literature into SMS text messages. The company claims the service will be a valuable resource for studying for exams.Academic purists will be horrified. Hamlet's famous query, "To be or not to be, that is the question," becomes "2b? Nt2b? ???"John Milton's epic poem "Paradise Lost" begins "devl kikd outa hevn coz jelus of jesus&strts war." ("The devil is kicked out of heaven because he is jealous of Jesus and starts a war.")Some may dismiss the summaries as cheat notes for the attention-deficit generation, but John Sutherland, a University College London English professor who consulted on the project, said they could act as a useful memory aid."The educational opportunities it offers are immense," said Sutherland, who chaired the judging panel for this year's Booker Prize for fiction.Sutherland said the compressed nature of text messages allowed them to "fillet out the important elements in a plot.""Take for example the ending to Jane Eyre -- 'MadwyfSetsFyr2Haus.' (Mad wife sets fire to house.) Was ever a climax better compressed?"But political commentator and author Oliver Kamm said the terse texts were "more than a travesty.""What you lose with text messaging in literature is what makes literature what it is -- the imagery, the irony, the nuance," he told British Broadcasting Corp. radio."What I fear will happen with text versions of Shakespeare is that students will be encouraged not to read the books but to settle for something else, and people don't need excuses not to read books. They don't read enough as it is."Books planned for the service include Charles Dickens' "Bleak House," whose tale of the interminable legal suit of Jarndyce and Jarndyce is reduced to a few snappy lines, and Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," which describes hunky Mr. Darcy as "fit&loadd" (handsome and wealthy).Dot mobile said it planned to launch the service in January, with Shakespeare's complete works available by April. The texts will be free to subscribers to the company's phone service.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) -- A strong earthquake rocked northern Chile and parts of Bolivia on Thursday, sending residents fleeing out of buildings and temporarily knocking out telephones and electricity, authorities reported. There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries.The quake struck at 4:26 p.m. local time in the Andes Mountains along the border between the two countries. The U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado, measured the quake at magnitude 6.9 and said the epicenter was located in the Bolivian province of Potosi, about 780 miles (1,260 kilometers)northeast of Santiago, the Chilean capital.The University of Chile's Seismological Institute put the quake's magnitude at 6.8.The temblor was felt strongly in the Chilean port city of Tocopilla, 960 miles (1,550 kilometers) north of Santiago."Panic was widespread here and we are still checking, but we have no reports of victims or damage," said Tocopilla Gov. Jorge Peralta. "People took to the streets, and many parents rushed to schools to pick their children. I saw some automobiles traveling at clearly dangerous high speeds."He said power and phone lines were cut but were gradually being restored.The tremor was felt along a 440-mile (700-kilometer) stretch of Chile's narrow territory, between Copiapo and Tocopilla, said Hernan Vargas, a regional director of Chile's Emergency Bureau.It was felt near Chuquicamata, the world's largest open-pit copper mine and even across the border in Bolivia, where it registered a magnitude 5.4 in the Sud Lipez province of the Potosi department, 340 miles (550 kilometers) south of La Paz, according to the San Calixto Observatory.Earthquakes are frequent in northern Chile. A powerful quake in June left 12 people dead and destroyed hundreds of houses in small Andean villages, just north of the area affected Thursday. (Full story)Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

BUSAN, South Korea (AP) -- Counseling resolve and patience, U.S. President George W. Bush is looking for a show of unity among Asian leaders to press North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.Among those gathering here for a 21-nation summit are the leaders of the five countries -- the United States, China, South Korea, Russia and Japan -- negotiating with North Korea for its nuclear disarmament. Bush was meeting Thursday with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun after talks Wednesday in Japan with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi that included a call for dismantling North Korea's nuclear program.South Korea has resisted the tough approach advocated by the Bush administration for ending the impasse with North Korea, opposing the idea of military action if diplomacy fails. (Watch how South Korea and the U.S. differ on North Korea -- 2:13) South Korea also is cool to the idea of taking the standoff to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions."The tone is different sometimes because, of course, for the people of the Republic of Korea, the demilitarized zone is right at their doorstep," said Mike Green, senior director for Asian affairs on the National Security Council.Green said Seoul, the South Korean capital, was as close to the demilitarized zone separating the two countries and to North Korean artillery as the White House was to Dulles International Airport, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) outside Washington."It's very much a clear and present threat for the people," he said.Green, talking with reporters on Air Force One as it flew to South Korea, said Bush and Roh would discuss ways to strengthen coordination on foreign policy. The objective was to have the pursuit of North-South reconciliation reinforce the disarmament talks, Green said. One proposal calls for a peace treaty to replace the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War.Bush and Roh were to confer in Gyeongju, the ancient capital of Korea.Bush's eight-day journey to Asia offers him a reprieve from troubles at home, where his approval rating has fallen to the lowest point of his presidency. Unhappiness over the war in Iraq has hurt Bush's popularity and credibility, and Republicans are nervous about how the war and the president's other woes will affect next year's midterm elections.Roh has been a major supporter of Bush's Iraq policy. South Korea is the third-largest contributor of troops behind the United States and Britain, deploying more than 3,000 soldiers. Like Bush, Roh's domestic approval ratings are down, and his foes call him a lame duck.Bush flew here for the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, representing 21 countries that account for about half the world's trade. APEC is expected to call for progress at the next round of World Trade Organization talks in Hong Kong next month towards a global trade agreement. (Ministers adopt plan)APEC represented "a significant bloc in the WTO membership," said Faryar Shirzad, deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs."And so when they speak and lay out an agenda of ambition, it's an agenda that the membership at the WTO takes note of and helps drive the negotiating dynamics in a constructive way."In addition to the APEC meetings, Bush will hold separate talks with the leaders of Malaysia, Russia and Indonesia before traveling to China on Saturday.Looking ahead to talks about North Korea, Bush said his objective was to remind his partners that they needed to stick together and send a consistent message.The most recent round of negotiations adjourned Friday with no sign of progress, but it's likely they will resume in Beijing next month or in January. In September, North Korea promised to end its nuclear program in exchange for aid, diplomatic recognition and security guarantees.North Korea has insisted that it will not make any move until the United States first offers concessions for giving up its nuclear weapons. Washington has refused the demand.The Pentagon has begun pulling thousands of U.S. troops out of South Korea, where it has maintained a contingent of about 37,000 since the cease-fire amid concerns that the communist North might try to reunite the two Koreas by launching an all-out attack.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's interior minister has defended a government facility that was found to be holding dozens of prisoners, including some showing signs of torture, saying it held "the most criminal terrorists.""Nobody was beheaded or killed," a defiant Bayan Jabr told a news conference Thursday, saying that only seven of 170 detainees showed marks of torture."Those detainees, those criminal killers inside the bunker were not Indians or Pakistanis or Iranians," he said, waving a stack of passports in the air. "Those are your Arab brothers that came here to kill your sons." He said one detainee who had been reported as paralyzed was afflicted before his arrival at the facility and had been used "by one of the terrorists" to set off bombs."They gave the handicapped $1,000, and he was just a beggar," Jabr said.The minister said a judge was in charge at the facility and was dealing with each case. Jabr pledged to hold anyone who has tortured a detainee accountable."I will punish them if (the investigation) proves they are responsible for any violations," he said."You can be proud of our forces," Jabr said. "Our forces ... respect human rights."We are a government and we are responsible for protecting you," he said. "The detainees are the sons of Iraq. Even if they make mistakes, it is not for us to decide this."Jabr said he personally instructed his officers to take suspects to the center because they were considered the most dangerous, The Associated Press reported.The interior minister said an investigation was under way into the torture allegations and that he has discussed the allegations with Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, AP reported.Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said Tuesday the prisoners were found malnourished and possibly tortured by government security forces at a Baghdad lockup. He has launched an Iraqi-led investigation with U.S. assistance.Jim Bullock, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, said Thursday that Jaafari's investigative commission was to provide a preliminary report in one week and a final report in two weeks. Another commission, Bullock said, was inspecting all Iraqi detention facilities in the country and was to report back in 30 days.Bullock also said that the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI were aiding the investigation and that the commission investigating the detainees was also reviewing the cases of each of the detainees.Earlier, Jabr's deputy, Maj. Gen. Hussein Kamal, called for a unified command over detention centers to prevent future cases of torture."What we were afraid of has happened when some prisoners were subjected to ill treatment at the hands of the investigators," AP quoted Kamal as saying. "We strongly condemn such illegal acts."Meanwhile, Iraq's acting human rights minister, Nermin Othman Hassan, said the ministry was aware of a number of claims of torture and abuse at detention centers and that a number of investigations had already been launched"It was not only shocking for us -- it made me angry, its not only a surprise, its a danger, they must do something very quickly to punish those that are involved," she said."We are focusing on building a new Iraq -- this is opposite to our strategy, when we are speaking about democracy and human rights, those things must not be done."Hassan said her ministry has received claims of torture and abuse by people of various ethnicities in Iraq and has spoken with some of the detainees from the Interior Ministry compound.Hassan said she was told that the detainees were tortured to extract information because they were believed to be part of a terrorist organization, not because they were of a certain sect.According to the acting minister, the detainees are undergoing medical treatment and questioning at an undisclosed location.Call for international investigationThe allegations of torture risk damaging the legitimacy of the Iraqi government and Washington's case for going to war, analysts said. (Analysis)On Wednesday, a prominent Sunni Muslim party called for an international investigation into the allegations of torture at the Iraqi facility, which allegedly held more than 160 detainees -- some of whom showed signs of apparent torture.The Iraqi Islamic Party, which helped broker the deal that brought a national constitution to a national referendum in October, said the detainees were mostly Sunnis and the human rights violations at the compound were part of a campaign to marginalize Sunnis ahead of another nationwide vote next month."The Islamic Party appeals to the U.N., Islamic Conference Organization, Arab League and human rights organizations all over the world to condemn the flagrant violations of human rights under the current government and demand them to launch an international investigation so that those involved would get just punishment," the party said in a statement."I have the full story of this shelter," said party Secretary-General Tariq al-Hashimi. "I have all the documents about that." (Watch: Footage of abuse in similar cases in Iraq -- 3:04)"Nobody except the Sunni community are reporting missing people," al-Hashimi said. "I have a concrete knowledge about what I am talking about. I am sure those people being discovered in this shelter are exclusively Sunni people."He displayed a report with what he said were photographs of abuse victims and a CD that he said contained the information he planned to present to the United Nations and other international organizations. Kamal, the deputy interior minister, has dismissed as "nonsense" allegations that a majority of detainees were Sunni."There are Turkomen from Tal Afar, there are Kurds, Arabs, Sunni and Shia," he told CNN.He also denied an allegation that the facility was run by the Badr organization -- the military arm of the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq."These are employees of the Ministry of Interior, not affiliated with one organization or another," he said.The U.S. military said they found the detainees Sunday when they entered a building controlled by the ministry while looking for a missing 15-year-old boy. The boy was not there, but the detainees were. Iraqi police said the building was run by "police commandos" who work for the Interior Ministry.In Iraq, police answer to the Interior Ministry, while the Iraqi military answers to the Ministry of Defense.While the U.S. military would not confirm the condition in which they found the detainees, Iraqi police said they had been tortured. Kamal confirmed that human rights abuses had taken place and that the facility was run by the Interior Ministry's Special Investigation Unit."I saw signs of physical abuse by brutal beating -- one or two of the detainees were paralyzed and had their skin peeled off various parts of the body," he told CNN Tuesday.Kamal said the building housed 161 detainees.Al-Hashimi said the presence of the facility was not entirely a surprise -- it was merely "the missing link" in what he said was a series of arrests of Sunnis that ended with either a missing person report or a body."When I talked to minister of the interior, I told him many times I have a list of missing detainees," he said. "He said I could go and check the prisons, and he ... told me about four or five official prisons.""I sent my staff to go and check the prisons," al-Hashimi said. "At the end of the day, I didn't discover those detainees. So it gave me the impression that there are hidden and secret camps in fact being again directed and managed by Ministry of Interior, but no one knows about them."Al-Hashimi called for Jabr's immediate replacement and said he feared there were more such facilities."I am sure that there are many other secret camps being used by Ministry of the Interior, and we have to move very quickly, make this survey and try to announce to the Iraqi people," he said."Whoever might have some sort of information about these secret camps should present it to a reliable source and try to gather this information and pass it to the American troops or whoever will now manage the file of this case."Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

CANNELBURG, Indiana (AP) -- Amish farmers tracked down missing cattle and surveyed what remained of their barns Wednesday as residents across three Midwestern states began cleaning up the debris left behind by a deadly storm and its nearly three dozen tornadoes.One tornado swept through two counties between Evansville and Bloomington as an F3, with winds of 158-206 mph, leaving at least 60 homes uninhabitable.The area's Amish and Mennonite communities sustained some of the worst of the damage when the tornado hit Tuesday. They lost two schools, about 10 businesses, 25 barns and scores of animals, Daviess County Sheriff's Detective Ron Morgan said. Still, it was clear people had taken precautions, he said.Typically, about 100 people would have been inside the nearby K & K Industries factory building trusses about the time the tornado hit, but the managers sent everyone home ahead of the storm, said employee Abe Knepp.The tornado blew the factory apart, leaving boards strewn about like toothpicks."It's a miracle that everybody got out of here," Knepp said.Tuesday's storms were the third deadly outbreak of twisters to hit the Midwest this month, and the second in the southern Indiana region.A tornado killed 23 people in the Evansville area, about 60 miles south of Cannelburg, on Novemebr 6. Less than a week later, nine tornadoes swept through central Iowa, killing one.The weather conditions Tuesday afternoon were similar, and ripe for tornadoes: A cold front moving rapidly east collided with warm, unstable air from the south to produce thunderstorms that stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes, meteorologists said. The National Weather Service had preliminary reports of at least 35 tornadoes.In western Kentucky, roofs were caved in, walls blown out and entire buildings blown off foundations in Madisonville after an F3 tornado ripped a 17-mile path across the county."We heard a weird sound coming through, kind of a whistle," said Penny Leonard, 37, who sought shelter in the basement of a Madisonville hospital. "I thank God I'm safe."Sixty miles to the southwest, near Benton, a 63-year-old man was killed when the storm blew his mobile home off its foundation and the home rolled and caught fire, said Lori King, public information officer for Marshall County Emergency Management Services.The storms also brought downpours, flooding some streets and low-lying areas. A teenager in Indiana died after her car skidded on a water-covered road and overturned east of Indianapolis, Hancock County Sheriff's Sgt. Bridget D. Foy said.In Tennessee, Henry County emergency officials had to scramble for shelter themselves when their office was struck by a tornado.About 50 miles to the east, four mobile homes and two houses were destroyed in Cunningham in Montgomery County. A young girl was rescued from one trailer that had tumbled down a hill.Near Paris, about 90 miles west of Nashville, Jason Coffield and a group of friends picked through debris Wednesday as they waited for an insurance adjuster to arrive in Henry County. His house had been destroyed, even though flimsier trailer homes across the street survived."We're just cleaning up this humongous mess," he said. "I had accumulated too much stuff anyway."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The disappearance of Flight 19, a Navy mission that began the myth of the Bermuda Triangle, is still unexplained, but not forgotten, 60 years later.The 27 Navy airmen who disappeared somewhere off Florida's coast on December 5, 1945, were honored in a House resolution Thursday. Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Florida, said he hoped the gesture would help bring closure for surviving families.What happened is the question that has befuddled, entertained and tormented skeptics and those who believe that the Bermuda Triangle -- a stretch of ocean between Puerto Rico, Bermuda and Miami -- is an area of supernatural phenomena. (See map of the area)"There's just so many weird things here that experienced pilots would have not acted this way," Shaw said. "Something happened out there."Five U.S. Navy Avenger airplanes left the Fort Lauderdale Naval Air Station on a routine training mission over the Bahamas. The five pilots and nine crewmen, led by instructor Lt. Charles Taylor, were to practice bombing and low-level strafing on small coral shoals 60 miles east of the naval station. They were then to turn north to practice mapping and then southwest to home. The entire flight, which Air Station pilots took three or four times a day, should have lasted three hours.Radio reports overheard by ground control and other airplanes indicate the compasses on Taylor's plane malfunctioned 90 minutes into the mission.With no instruments to guide him over the open ocean, Taylor thought the flight had drifted off-course and was actually south over the Florida Keys. As a result, he directed the planes to fly due north to hit land."He was not in the Keys, he was out in the end of the Bahama chain," said David White, who at the time was a flight instructor stationed at Fort Lauderdale. "When he went north, he was going out to the wide ocean."Just about the time the squadron was to have landed back at Fort Lauderdale, a last radio message from Taylor was received: They would keep flying "until we hit the beach or run out of gas." Because of weakening radio signals, no reading could be made on the direct location of the planes.Radio messages show that some of the students wanted to fly east, said Allan McElhiney, president of the Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Historical Association.Yet military discipline overruled."You stay with the leader, that's the Navy way," McElhiney said.The mystery deepened when a few hours later a Navy rescue airplane, a Martin Mariner with 13 crewmen, also vanished. A passing ship reported seeing bright lights in the sky indicating what could be an in-air explosion, but that could not be confirmed.The next morning, White became part of one of the largest rescue missions in American naval history. Civilian vessels and units of the Coast Guard, Army and Navy scoured an area of more than 250,000 square miles, but no wreckage was found."In all the times I remember, we never had one plane missing," White said. "Five, all qualified, pilots missing at one time? I couldn't believe it."Even the official review offered little explanation. The Navy Board of Inquiry report concluded, "We are not able to even make a good guess as to what happened."Did Flight 19 turn east? Was landfall ever reached? Where was the debris?Several ocean expeditions, documentaries and books offer varying theories, ranging from paranormal activities to sightings of alien activity. The SCI-FI channel will broadcast a new documentary November 27.Bermuda Triangle author Gian Quasar believes electromagnetic anomalies in the area's atmosphere led to the demise of Flight 19. Such "electronic fog" can cause needles on compasses and other instruments to spin. This fog comes and goes and can cause pilots to become disoriented, Quaser said."It's something that will seize the aircraft and travel with you," he said. "You are not flying into the fog, it is flying with you."In the years that David White flew out of Fort Lauderdale, none of his instrumentation ever malfunctioned. He thinks the planes crash-landed east of Florida and the airmen died on impact or drowned in the stormy waters. And the Mariner? That type of plane had such a history of accidents it was known as the "flying gas can," he said."It was pure and simple pilot error," said Joan Pietrucha, the niece of Howell Thompson, one of the navigators on Flight 19. "I don't believe in wacky compasses."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(CNN) -- Hoping to speed up the identification of those killed by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, Louisiana said Thursday it would accept a new federal plan to pay for most of the cost for DNA testing.The identification of bodies has been slowed in the state amid a bureaucratic fight over whether the state or federal government would foot the bill, estimated to be about $13 million.Earlier this week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency informed state officials that funding the DNA testing was not its responsibility. The agency then backpedaled late Wednesday, saying it would pay the cost of the DNA testing through the Louisiana state police DNA laboratory.Under that plan, FEMA will pay 100 percent of the cost through November 26. After that, the state would be left paying for about 10 percent of the cost, or roughly $1.3 million.The proposal still needs to be approved by the Office of Management and Budget.Denise Bottcher, a spokeswoman for Gov. Kathleen Blanco, said the governor hopes that FEMA will extend its offer and pick up the full tab, because the state is short of cash.If FEMA declines, she said, the state would pay the 10 percent cost because it has a "moral obligation to do so."The federal Department of Health and Human Services had offered to hire a contractor to do the DNA testing at no cost to the state. But Bottcher said the governor was not interested in that option because it would take months to set up -- an unacceptable choice when families simply want to bury their loved ones.Bottcher said testing DNA samples has been delayed because the police crime lab and FEMA have been negotiating over the price.In all, 321 bodies remain unidentified in refrigerated trucks at a makeshift morgue set up after the hurricane. Of those, officials say about 150 will definitely need DNA testing for identification. Dental records and other means may be enough to identify the others."I'm just sick to my stomach," said Linda Hymel, whose younger brother, Darryl, is believed to be among those in the refrigerated trucks. "I'm not only grieving and mourning -- I'm angry. ... It's so simple: I just want my brother."The bureaucratic delays have even frustrated the state's top coroner."I need DNA results," said Dr. Louis Cataldie. "I'm not the money man. I find myself in a position where money is holding me up right now."In an interview with CNN Wednesday night, Blanco said the delay has been painful for families: "It is just part of the frustrating process that we have all been going through."She added, "We feel very sorry for all these folks. It's been very complicated."

GENEVA, Switzerland (AP) -- A diamond necklace believed to have been made for 18th century Russian empress Catherine the Great fetched over $1.5 million (euro1.3 million) at auction Thursday night in Geneva, but sold at just below the high-end estimate.Some 200 collectors and dealers of rare jewels packed into Sotheby's auction room for the sale at the city's plush Le Beau Rivage hotel.Sotheby's executive director David Bennet said the auction house was "not really surprised" that the diamond necklace was sold for under its estimated worth, saying "we had put a full estimate on it.""It's the most important historical necklace that we have sold at Sotheby's" in 30 years, said Bennett, who was auctioneer of the sale.In total, over 340 lots were sold for 35.8 million francs ($27.0 million; euro23.1 million) during the daylong auction.The most expensive of the jewels -- a pink diamond ring -- sold for 5.17 million francs ($3.90 million; euro3.34 million).'A rare survivor of the 18th century'But some collectors lamented what they called inflated prices, saying they more reflected the allure of famous names from history than actual market prices."When you sit here, it looks like the market is good because many private buyers are here," Milan dealer Isaac Nessim said. "But this is not reality for a dealer. It is almost impossible to buy a piece here."Sotheby's did not disclose the names of most buyers, many of whom purchased items anonymously. It also refused to identify the former owner of the famed diamond necklace, saying only that it belonged to a lady from a "noble family."Catherine II, or "the Great," was one of 18th century Europe's enlightened despots, known as much for her correspondence with French philosophers Diderot and Voltaire as for the reforms she introduced into Russian society and government. The self-described "philosopher on the throne" ruled as Russia's tsarina between 1762 and 1796.The necklace, which holds 27 large cushion-shaped diamonds, is believed to have been made for Catherine during the beginning of her reign and was housed in the Russian state diamond fund in St. Petersburg until 1917. It includes a matching bow clasp.The piece "is a rare survivor of the 18th century, when jewels were usually broken up to produce new jewelry in the latest styles," Sotheby's said. "Its survival, in its original state, is almost unheard of outside royal or museum collections."On Tuesday, rival auction house Christie's also held an auction of magnificent jewels in Geneva, fetching 51 million Swiss francs ($38.5 million; euro33 million) for over 280 lots.Ten pieces sold for over $1 million (euro857,000), and the most expensive jewel in the collection -- a crown set with diamonds -- went for just under 8 million francs ($6.1 million; euro5.2 million) -- the highest price ever for a crown at auction.Another record was set for the price of a single pearl, when the drop-shaped "La Regente" sold for 3.27 million francs ($2.5 million; euro2.1 million), three times the low-end estimate.That pearl, which weighs over 300 grams (over 10.5 ounces), was given by Napoleon Bonaparte to his second wife Marie-Louise in 1811, Christie's said.Four decades later, Bonaparte's nephew, Napoleon III, had the pearl set in a corsage as a wedding present for his future wife, Eugenie de Montijo, who became Empress Eugenie of France.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SAN QUENTIN, California (AP) -- As murderer and Crips co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams tries to stave off execution next month, California prison officials have launched an unusual counterattack against the notion that he has redeemed himself behind bars.The corrections department earlier this month posted a news release on its Web site about the upcoming execution, detailing Williams' crimes and asserting that he has continued to be a gang leader while on death row at San Quentin Prison.San Quentin spokesman Vernell Crittendon, speaking on behalf of the department, went further in an interview last week, saying he suspects Williams is orchestrating gangland crimes from his cell."I just don't know that his heart is changed," Crittendon said.Williams, 51, has been behind bars since 1979, when he shot and killed four people during two robberies in Los Angeles. He has been on death row since 1981 and is set to die by injection December 13 in what could be the biggest death-row cause celebre in California since capital punishment was reinstated in 1978.Celebrity supportersHe and a childhood friend founded the Crips in 1971 in Los Angeles. In the years that followed, the gang did battle with its main rival, the Bloods, for territory and control of the drug trade, leaving hundreds of people dead. Hundreds of offshoots and copycat gangs with thousands of members have emerged across the nation.Williams' supporters contend he has made amends for his crimes, and they are pleading with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to spare his life.In prison, Williams has gained international acclaim for writing children's books about the dangers of gang life. He has been nominated repeatedly for the Nobel Peace Prize -- anyone can nominate anyone. And he has attracted a cadre of celebrity supporters, including Jamie Foxx, who played Williams in a TV movie, "M*A*S*H" actor Mike Farrell and rapper Snoop Dogg, who is scheduled to appear at a rally Saturday outside the prison.The Los Angeles District Attorney's office is expected to respond to Williams' clemency request this week. But Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman April Harding said there is no evidence of any illegal gang activity on Williams' part."None," she said. "His name doesn't come up."Williams supporters called the prison system's allegations ridiculous."What troubles me about the devaluing of Stan's work and its impact on many low-income youngsters ... is they're saying, `We don't care if Stanley Tookie Williams could help another 5,000, 10,000 or 100,000 kids,' " said Barbara Becnel, Williams' spokeswoman.In his 2004 memoir, "Blue Rage, Black Redemption," Williams said that his gangster life ended in 1992 and that he knew prison officials "would try at every turn to discredit me."'Trying to drum up business for death row'State Sen. Gloria Romero, a Los Angeles Democrat, called the corrections department's allegations an effort to malign Williams and an abuse of power."I do see it as a very serious offense and one that is intended to help the governor make up his mind," she said. Schwarzenegger, who has not spared anyone's life on death row, has not said whether he will schedule a clemency hearing.On its Web site, the corrections department said of Williams: "By 1994, having firmly entrenched himself as the leader of the Crips at San Quentin, he wielded his power as his lieutenants and other minions were dispatched to carry out his objectives." The paragraph was removed a day after it was posted following a call from The Associated Press.Daniel Vasquez, who was warden at San Quentin from 1983 to 1993 and wrote a letter supporting clemency for the most recent death row inmate executed, said he had never seen such an inflammatory statement in a news release from the prison."It's like they're trying to drum up business for death row," he said.But Crittendon, who has worked at the prison nearly 30 years and regularly deals with Williams, said Williams has refused to formally renounce his gang membership and submit to "debriefing" -- that is, inform on his old friends. Crittendon also cited Williams' willingness to share an exercise yard with Crips and his unusually large prison bank account. And he said Williams' younger son is a trouble-making Crips member in prison for murder."A con always will say one thing to you while the whole time he has another agenda," the San Quentin spokesman said. "I'm concerned that possibly this marketing that's going on ... leads the public to hear the words but not to see that sleight of hand."In August 2004 a committee of prison officials noted Williams' prior gang activity but said it had not seen any recent gang involvement, according to a report cited by Becnel. The committee commended Williams for his positive steps in the past 10 years.In his book, Williams addressed nearly all of Crittendon's accusations, saying that informing on gang members would "rip my dignity out of my chest," that he gets along with everyone in the yard, and that his son is trying to change his ways.As for his bank account, Crittendon said that while other high-profile inmates -- such as Scott Peterson, sentenced to death earlier this year for killing his wife and their unborn son -- usually get checks for $10 or $20, Williams receives checks for $500 or $1,000 at a time. Becnel said people who appreciate Williams' work send him money.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- It's not like Bob Woodward, arguably the most famous American newsman of all time, needed another "Deep Throat" to bolster his fame -- but that may very well be what he has.Speculation abounds -- again -- over Woodward's secret source. This time, though, instead of Watergate, the source involves the leaking of CIA operative Valerie Plame's name to the media.Plame's name was first publicly dropped in a July 2003 article by syndicated columnist and CNN contributor Robert Novak. Like Woodward, Novak has consistently refused to divulge his source.Woodward apparently learned Plame's name a month before Novak's column was published, but that is the bulk of the scant information released by the Washington Post ace and his superiors, who say Woodward has not been relieved of his pledge to keep the source confidential. (Watch Woodward's statement -- 2:15)Though he won't talk publicly, Woodward did give a deposition on Monday to special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who is investigating the leak. Woodward granted the deposition after his source told Fitzgerald about the conversation.But Fitzgerald, as he has been for the entirety of the two-year probe, is just as reticent as Woodward. "I'm not going to comment on news reports. I don't comment on ongoing investigations, and I don't comment on pending trials other than at court," said Fitzgerald, who already has orchestrated the indictment of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, on charges of perjury, making false statements and obstruction of justice. (Full story)Woodward has hinted that his source is an unnamed Bush administration official. The public may never learn his source, as Woodward, now an assistant managing editor at the Post, has a solid track record of keeping his sources confidential.In July, Vanity Fair magazine revealed that the former No. 2 man at the FBI, W. Mark Felt, was "Deep Throat," the source whose leaks to Woodward and fellow Post reporter Carl Bernstein unveiled the Watergate scandal and ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974. Legal experts have speculated that Woodward's source in the Plame affair came from within the White House, State Department or CIA, but White House officials have ruled out President Bush; his Chief of Staff Andrew Card; Bush's counselor, Dan Bartlett; and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley.Woodward, too, has said it wasn't Card. It wasn't Libby, either, he said. (Full story)White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove is out, too, according to his spokesman. Rove is known to have talked to other reporters about Plame and remains under investigation in the matter.A spokeswoman for former Secretary of State Colin Powell said he was not the source, and a spokesman for then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage had no comment.Spokesmen for then-CIA Director George Tenet and former CIA Deputy Director John McLaughlin, now a CNN security analyst, said neither man was Woodward's source.So who is Woodward's new "Deep Throat?" Considering Woodward's history, it may be 30 years before anyone finds out.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Legislation to fund many of the nation's health, education and social programs went down to a startling defeat in the House Thursday, led by Democrats who said cuts in the bill hurt some of America's neediest people.The 224-209 vote against the $142.5 billion spending bill disrupted plans by Republican leaders to finish up work on this year's spending bills and cast doubt on whether they would have the votes to pass a major budget-cutting bill also on the day's agenda.Democrats, unanimous in opposing the legislation, said it included the first cut in education funding in a decade and slashed funds for several health care programs. "It betrays our nation's values and its future," said House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland. "It is neither compassionate, conservative nor wise."Republicans said they may have lost votes because this year's bill, down $1.5 billion from last year, included no special projects or earmarks for lawmakers. "You take those out and you lose the incentive," said Rep. Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican, who voted for the bill.Twenty-two Republicans voted against the measure, many of them moderates who also are swing votes on the budget-cutting legislation.Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, said one factor in the bill's defeat was the drop in the president's popularity and his inability to maintain unity among the GOP ranks. He also noted that the Republican Party misses the vote-gathering powers of Rep. Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican who has stepped aside as majority leader because of legal problems, replaced by Rep. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican. "Not every blunt instrument is a hammer," Frank said, referring to DeLay's nickname of "The Hammer."The defeat upsets Republican plans to finish up nearly all the spending bills before leaving for the Thanksgiving recess. Rep. Ralph Regula, an Ohio Republican and manager of the bill, said it may now get thrown into a year-end "omnibus" over which members have little control.The bill -- a compromise with the Senate covering labor, health and education programs -- is one of the biggest of the 11 spending measures Congress must pass every year and generally one of the more difficult.It includes $63.4 billion for Health and Human Services programs, down almost $1 billion from fiscal 2005; $56.5 billion for the Department of Education, down slightly from a year before; and $11.6 billion for the Labor Department, down $430 million.Republicans argued that it was the best they could do in a year of tight budgets. Rep. Jim Walsh, a New York Republican, said the bill represented more spending than the entire budgets of Russia or China. "It's a pretty remarkable commitment to our nation and to our citizens," he said.Rep. Jack Kingston, a Georgia Republican, said the budget for the National Institutes of Health, up $250 million from last year to $28.6 billion, has doubled since Republicans took over control of Congress.But Democrats provided a long list of programs that will be cut or face little or no increase, including President Bush's landmark No Child Left Behind education program, rural health care, Pell grants for higher education and heating assistance for low-income families. They insisted the attempted budget cuts were the result of GOP-driven tax cuts.The vote was "a tremendous defeat" for the Republicans, said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. "It had the wrong priorities."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

HONOLULU, Hawaii (AP) -- The Navy intercepted and destroyed a warhead as it separated from its booster rocket during a test Thursday off Hawaii -- the first time a ship at sea has shot down a multi-stage missile.The guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie fired an interceptor missile and knocked out the rocket's warhead about 100 miles (160 kilometers) above the Pacific, the Missile Defense Agency said in a statement.The achievement is considered significant because medium- and long-range ballistic missiles typically have at least two stages. Intercepting such missiles after they separate is difficult because sensors must be able to distinguish between the body of the missile and the warhead.All previous tests of the sea-based missile defense system involved short-range missiles that stay intact.The military's ground-based missile defense system in Alaska has successfully intercepted separating targets in five out of eight attempts."This test is very important and I'll go as far as to say historical," said Rear Adm. Kathleen K. Paige, program director of the sea-based missile defense project. "It verifies ballistic missile defense is real, that it is available today operationally at sea."Senior representatives from the navies of Australia, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and Spain watched the test with Paige on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.The Missile Defense Agency plans to conduct three more sea-based tests next year.The Lake Erie is equipped with technology that allows it to detect and track intercontinental ballistic missiles. Since last year, U.S. warships the ICBM tracking technology have been patrolling the Sea of Japan, on the lookout for missiles from North Korea.North Korea shocked Tokyo and other nations when it test-fired a ballistic missile over northern Japan in 1998. Analysts say North Korea is developing long-range missiles capable of reaching Alaska, Hawaii or perhaps America's West Coast.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- One of the leading House Democrats on defense issues on Thursday called for a swift U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, drawing strong criticism from Republicans and escalating the debate over President Bush's war policies."U.S. and coalition troops have done all they can in Iraq," said Rep. John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat who has been in Congress for 31 years. "It's time for a change in direction."Murtha warned that other global threats "cannot be ignored."Murtha, a retired Marine colonel who earned a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts for his service in Vietnam, said he believes all the forces could be redeployed over a six-month period. (Watch Murtha's take on 'flawed policy wrapped in illusion' -- 8:11)Understanding that Murtha is considered hawkish on defense issues and is influential with both parties, administration officials said they take solace that moderate Democrats have not raced to join Murtha's call.The White House initially said Bush "respectfully disagrees" with Murtha.But a statement issued Thursday night by Bush spokesman Scott McClellan compared Murtha with anti-war filmmaker Michael Moore and echoed earlier statements by House GOP leaders in accusing him of "surrender."And Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, blasted Murtha for his comments."It is clear that [House Minority Leader] Nancy Pelosi's top lieutenant on armed services, Rep. Murtha, and Democratic leaders have adopted a policy of cut-and-run," Hastert said in a statement. "They would prefer that the United States surrender to the terrorists who would harm innocent Americans."Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Republican from California and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, described calls for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq "a mistake," arguing that leaving Iraq would make it appear that the United States cannot sustain prolonged military operations.A respected voice"Now is the time for endurance," Hunter said. "We're changing a very strategic part of the world in such a way that it will not be a threat to the United States and, in fact, will be an ally in the global war against terror."Murtha's call could have a significant impact on the debate over the future of the Iraq war, because both Democrats and Republicans seek his advice on military and veterans issues.So far, about two dozen Democrats and just three Republicans in the House have put their names to measures demanding a withdrawal from Iraq. Only one senator, Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold, has openly advocated a U.S. pullout, though others have urged President Bush to develop a timetable for an eventual U.S. withdrawal. "A man of the stature of John Murtha -- that's a pretty heavy hit, I don't mind telling you," said North Carolina Republican Rep. Walter Jones, sponsor of the House resolution that calls for a timetable for withdrawal. "He ... gives a lot of weight to this debate." Jones said this will make "some Republicans think about their responsibility as relates to the war in Iraq" and that "this is a week that will help further the debate -- ignite the debate."Another Democrat who voted for the war, Rep. Harold Ford of Tennessee, said he had heard of Murtha's comments and wouldn't endorse his call for immediate withdrawal.But, Ford said, "It's a powerful statement coming from arguably the most respected voice in the Congress," and it will be hard for the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney to dismiss these comments as easily as other Democratic criticisms on the war.Presence 'uniting enemy against us'Murtha is the senior Democrat and former chairman on the Defense Appropriations Committee and voted in favor of the Iraq war. Now, he said, the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is "uniting the enemy against us." (Watch Jeff Greenfield's comparison of Iraq and Vietnam -- 4:07)"Our military has accomplished its mission and done its duty," he said. "Our military captured Saddam Hussein, captured or killed his closest associates, but the war continues to intensify."He said the redeployment will give Iraqis the incentive to take control of their country.The statement comes amid increasingly heated debate over the Iraq war and the intelligence leading up to the March 2003 invasion. A recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll also found the public increasingly dissatisfied with the Iraq war. The poll, released Monday, found that 60 percent of Americans said the war was not worth fighting, while 38 percent said it was worthwhile. (Full story) Monday's poll found that 19 percent of Americans want to see the troops come home now and 33 percent said they wanted them home within a year. Only 38 percent said they should remain "as long as needed." On Tuesday, the Senate also voted 79-19 for an amendment "to clarify and recommend changes" to U.S. policy in Iraq. The vote was seen as a reflection of the increasing bipartisan dissatisfaction over the war's progress.On Wednesday, Vice President Dick Cheney dismissed Democratic critics, calling allegations that the administration misled the country as "dishonest and reprehensible charges." (Full story)'Flawed policy'Murtha took issue with the administration's counter-criticism."I like guys who've never been there who criticize us who've been there," Murtha said. "I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and sent people to war and then don't like to hear suggestions that what may need to be done." Cheney avoided military service in the 1960s with a series of draft deferments, and Bush served stateside in the National Guard during Vietnam."I resent the fact that on Veterans Day, they criticized Democrats for criticizing them," Murtha said, referring to a speech Bush gave in Pennsylvania. (Full story)"This [the war] is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion. The American public knows it, and lashing out at critics doesn't help a bit," Murtha said. "You've got to change the policy. That's what's going to help the American people."Murtha -- who recently visited Iraq's Anbar province -- said it is Congress' responsibility to speak out for the "sons and daughters" on the battlefield, and he relayed several emotional stories from soldiers recovering at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland."I tell you, these young folks are under intense activity over there, I mean much more intense than Vietnam," he said. "You never know when it's going to happen."CNN's Dana Bash and Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report.