(CNN) -- Matthew and Beth Mandolesi told their doctor that they would be happy with a boy or a girl but wondered if there was a way to increase the odds that it would be a boy.Five years later, they are the parents of two boys, Antonio and Angelo.The Mandolesi family is part of a growing trend called "family balancing" that allows couples to choose their baby's gender, fertility doctors around the country say."A few years ago I had a couple of clients asking every month; now it's at least two or three a week asking seriously about it," said Dr. Kevin Winslow of the Florida Institute for Reproductive Medicine.There are three methods of gender selection. The cost, technology and price vary.The first and the oldest type is sperm separation, which has been used since the 1970s. The method that Matthew and Beth Mandolesi chose gave them about a 60 percent chance of having a boy, according to their fertility doctor.A sample of Matthew's sperm was spun in a centrifuge. The spinning separates the Y sperm that creates a boy from the X sperm that creates a girl. The Y sperm was used to fertilize Beth's egg.The couple paid $250, in addition to the cost of an in vitro fertilization procedure. The average sperm sorting costs $400 to $600 today, Winslow said.A more sophisticated type of sperm sorting is based on staining and separating sperm. MicroSort, from the Genetics & IVF Institute of Fairfax, Virginia, has been in clinical trials since 1995, hoping to gain approval from the Food and Drug Administration. It claims 76 percent accuracy for boys and 91 percent accuracy for girls.Right now, couples are enlisting in the trial and paying around $2,500 to use this unapproved technology.The newest and most controversial method is called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD, and is based on embryo examination.This method requires in vitro fertilization. It's 99 percent effective and costs up to $19,000, said Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg of the Fertility Institutes, whose clinics in Los Angeles, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Mexico provide sex selection through various methods, including PGD.PGD was first developed and is used primarily to find genetic mutations linked to about 200 genetic diseases such as Tay-Sachs and cystic fibrosis.Eggs are taken from the woman and fertilized with sperm to form an embryo. Doctors then take one cell out to analyze its DNA. The healthy embryos are selected, and then female or male embryos can be chosen.Some ethicists and doctors say they are troubled by PGD being used for elective, nonmedical reasons.Dr. Mark Hughes, a pioneer in PGD and director of the Michigan-based Genesis Genetics Institute, says that 70 percent of patients who are using PGD for gender selection wouldn't have needed in vitro fertilization in the first place.That means healthy, fertile couples are choosing this higher risk, expensive, sometimes painful process when they could conceive otherwise, Hughes said.Just like the controversy associated with embryonic stem cell research, there are concerns over what happens to the unused embryos created by PGD."It probably isn't an ethically good thing to do because you're creating embryos when you know you won't use half of them," said Winslow of the Florida Institute for Reproductive Medicine.Bioethicists say they also are concerned about the use of the technology as an instrument of gender discrimination."In China now, there are 117 boys for every 100 girls. In parts of northern India, it's 140 boys for every 100 girls," says Michael Sandel, a Harvard University professor and member of the President's Council on Bioethics.Bioethicists say they are concerned the preference of one sex over the other, in this case boys over girls, will create a future imbalance of population and power.Many European countries and Canada have banned sex selection in cases unrelated to any health purpose for some of the same concerns. The American Society of Reproductive Medicine has, in past statements, discouraged the use of PGD solely for sex selection.Most reproductive endocrinologists will not provide PGD unrelated to any medical purpose. It's only available at a small number of fertility clinics around the country.Despite the ethical concerns and the relatively limited availability, the use of PGD for sex selection continues to grow."We've just been handed a road map to the human genome, and what we're doing is taking a ride through the city learning about the terms and intricacies of where we want to go," said Steinberg of the Fertility Institutes, who waives concerns about sex discrimination, saying a little more than half of his clients request boys.Matthew and Beth Mandolesi said they are happy with their decision."At the time we did it, we didn't really think about the ethical part ...," Matthew said. "We've heard both sides since then. ... If we had to do it all over again, we would do it again."

ELIZABETH, Pennsylvania (AP) -- An elementary school principal resigned after parents denounced her for parading an 8-year-old girl from class to class after a classmate falsely accused her of stealing $5.Marlene Whitby, principal at William Penn Elementary School in the Pittsburgh suburb of Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, submitted her resignation Wednesday, and the district's school board accepted it unanimously.Whitby and the school's administration came under fire this month when the parents of third-grader Katie White protested that Whitby had not been punished for the September incident.After the classmate accused the girl of stealing the $5, Whitby took her from room to room, calling her a liar and thief. The other child later recanted the story.The girl's father, Ryan White, said that when he spoke to Whitby she acknowledged that she didn't look at a school bus video or talk to the bus driver to verify the theft accusation.He said Superintendent Paul Mueller and Whitby agreed that the principal would publicly apologize, but parents said the apology wasn't clearly worded and their children didn't understand what Whitby was saying. Whitby was also suspended for three days with pay.Whitby earlier declined to comment. No telephone listings in her name could be found this week.Police had to be called to Wednesday's board meeting because some in the crowd of about 70 people became upset when board President Lowell Meek said there would be no public comment on a personnel and discipline matter.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Tinkering again with enforcement of the No Child Left Behind education law, the government plans to let some states fundamentally change how they measure yearly student progress.In an experiment that's been months in the making, up to 10 states will be allowed to measure not just how students are performing, but how that performance is changing over time.Currently, schools are judged based only on how today's students compare to last year's students in math and reading -- such as fourth-graders in 2005 versus fourth-graders in 2004.Many state leaders don't like the current system of comparing two different years of kids because it doesn't recognize changes in the population or growth by individual students.Education Secretary Margaret Spellings was announcing the "growth model" policy on Friday to a gathering of state school chiefs in Richmond, Virginia, The Associated Press learned."We're open to new ideas, but we're not taking our eye off the ball," Spellings said in remarks prepared for delivery to the state school officials.The latest shift in enforcement of the President Bush's No Child Left Behind law is significant politically. Frustrated states have been pleading for permission to measure growth by students, which may make it easier for schools to meet their goals and avoid penalties.Spellings has promised to be flexible in enforcing the law, one that is central to Bush's domestic agenda and often faces criticism in statehouses and schoolhouses.Other recent changes have dealt with testing, teacher quality and students with disabilities. Yet student progress is the cornerstone of the law.How it is measured has big implications.New measurement standardsSchools that receive federal poverty aid but don't make "adequate yearly progress" for at least two years face mounting penalties, from allowing students to transfer and providing tutoring to poor children to eventual restructuring of the school and its staff.Spellings said it makes sense to give schools credit for progress that students make.The states that win approval for the new flexibility, however, must do more than show growth. They still will have to get all children up to par in reading and math by 2014, as the law requires, and show consistent gains along the way.The Education Department, eager to show it is not weakening the law, will require states to take many steps before they can qualify for the "growth" option.States must have data systems to track individual students, close achievement gaps between whites and minorities, and prove they have at least one year of baseline testing.The law requires yearly testing in grades three through eight and once in high school.The department has not chosen the 10 states that will be part of the experiment. In practical terms, many states won't qualify because they don't have the kind of data systems to track individual students across grades. And others may not find the change helpful.To start, states that gain approval to measure student growth will also be required to chart progress the old way, comparing this year's students with last year's. The Education Department wants to see that data to help determine whether charting growth is a fair, accurate measure.Patricia Sullivan, director of the independent Center on Education Policy, praised federal leaders for showing flexibility and clearly outlining what states must do to get it.A growth model could benefit not just struggling students but also gifted ones who may be challenged anew to show their own yearly progress, beyond the school's standard benchmark."This is clearly what states have been asking for," Sullivan said. "It makes a lot of sense to measure growth. It's so discouraging for teachers when students make tremendous gains but don't get the credit because they don't get all the way over the bar."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Massachusetts (AP) -- He was as adept at drawing a charging brigade of Civil War soldiers as he was painting outdoorsmen scouting a mountaintop view in the Adirondacks.And the seascapes illustrated from his vantage point on the rocky Maine coast captured an uneasy balance between the violence of whitecapped ocean waves and the tranquility of a sunrise over the Atlantic's horizon.Winslow Homer was a chronicler of American times and a recorder of the country's landscapes, a mostly self-taught artist who did not have to wait for a posthumous nod from critics and collectors who called him one of the most important artists of the 19th century.A sweeping exhibit of Homer's works on display through January 16, 2006, at the Clark Art Institute showcases the artist's diversity of subjects and the mediums he chose to illustrate them."Winslow Homer: Making Art, Making History," displays about 170 works from the Clark's extensive collection of Homer's engravings, etchings, watercolors and oil paintings, collected by Robert Sterling Clark between 1916 and 1955. The show will not travel elsewhere."In all these realms, he achieved not only the highest levels of quality, but he altered what it meant to work in these mediums," said Marc Simpson, the Clark's curator of American art.The wood engravings he did as a freelancer for magazines like Harper's Weekly cast the mass produced images as works of fine art. The works marked the start of the Boston native's career as an artist and display his talent of being able to create realistic scenes from his imagination.Although he was often commissioned to illustrate Civil War battle scenes, he never witnessed a confrontation between Union and Confederate soldiers. Not all his journalistic work focused on the war. Several prints from his wood engraving drawings show the pleasant and bucolic side of America, with men and women gathered at social engagements and lumberjacks working on a winter day.Homer started painting with oils when the war ended, and his works in the late 1860s and 1870s reflect a shift in the country's focus from the ravages of war to the escapism of leisure activities.He found plenty of inspiration in the mountains of the Northeast, where he painted a woman on horseback at the top of New Hampshire's Mount Washington and a pair of woodsmen stopping along an Adirondack trail.Homer's compositions draw in the viewer to see things from his subject's perspective.In "Two Guides," Homer's outdoorsmen stand at the center of the canvas. A glint of light reflects from the older man's ax blade, first attracting the viewer's eye and then leading it to follow the guide's outstretched hand and the gaze of his younger companion.But the painting leaves one nagging question: What are they observing?In 1873, Homer began working with watercolors, a medium that gave his work a looser feel. In "An October Day," he frames a deer swimming across a mountain lake with the glowing colors of fall's foliage reflecting off the water."He's letting serendipity work its way throughout the image," Simpson said.He also tried his hand at etchings, doing some of the work of which he was most proud. But after devoting most of his time to the medium after two years, he stopped doing etchings because they weren't selling.By the mid-1880s, Homer had moved to Prout's Neck on the coast of Maine and produced some of the nautical images with which he's most commonly associated.In "West Point, Prout's Neck," Homer's sea splashes in the foreground as the sun casts a blaze of orange over the horizon.While the Clark's exhibit spans the shifts in Homer's work, it also captures the museum founder's fascination with the artist. Clark began collecting Homer's illustrations in 1916, six years after the artist died. He acquired more than 200 of Homer's works between then and his last purchase in 1955."His collection of Homer is the best collection assembled by anyone since the artist's death," Simpson said.While the exhibit doesn't display all the museum's holdings, it gives viewers an overwhelming sense of the scope of Homer's work.Pamela Allen, an art conservationist visiting the museum from Yorkshire, England, said she was surprised by the etchings and drawings she never associated with Homer."Much of what I'm seeing here is completely different from what I had expected from a Homer exhibit," she said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(AP) -- Each year, families set out on the country's interstate highways risking frayed nerves, cramped legs and juice-stained upholstery to share a few days of holiday cheer with far-flung relatives.But do road trips really have to turn into your customized sequel to "National Lampoon's Vacation"? Not necessarily, say parents who've mastered the carefully orchestrated mix of creativity and gadgetry that can make long car trips not only bearable, but also fun.Strategies for success vary widely, but one theme is consistent among experienced road-trippers: Plan ahead. While most people think of preparing for the vacation itself, parents with young children also need to map out the way they'll spend time on the road.That's what Vicky Cusick did when her three kids were younger. "We would plan the trip, breaking it down," says Cusick, of Nashville, Tennessee, who makes several interstate car trips each year with her family.The Cusicks would leave home around 5 a.m. "and bank on the kids sleeping for three hours." When they awoke, Vicky would hand out pre-packed cups of cereal while her husband drove. "Finally we got smart and we'd make them go to sleep in their clothes the night before. Because in their pajamas, they'd wake up wanting to stop and get dressed."That's just the sort of planning recommended by Michael H. Popkin, psychologist and author of "Doc Pop's 52 Weeks of Active Parenting," who advises getting plenty of rest before you leave so that parental tension and crankiness doesn't rub off on the children.Dr. Popkin also suggests frequent breaks. "Stop every two hours for a five-minute break," he says. "And bring a ball or a Frisbee."Just about everyone who's done the family road trip or studied it has a tip for smoothing the ride:Combine breaks with meals to save travel time -- and choose places that have play areas. "Let them run, burn off some steam, and then take the food in the car and risk the mess," says Jeanne Murphy, an author of child-care books and program director of the iParenting Media Awards.Burn up travel time by preparing for a meal or snack in the car, eating it, then having the kids pitch in with clean-up.Fill a bag with a mix of new toys and older ones that are awaiting rediscovery, especially for kids below school age. Carla Lev of Chicago, who has traveled across states and oceans with her three school-age daughters since they were born, suggests plundering the dollar store for gifts to wrap up and dole out gradually. "Every hour it's, 'Look what's in the grab bag this hour!"' she says.Read to the kids or play books on tape, then talk about the stories, imagining alternate endings and discussing how characters might have felt at certain moments.Build in special stops that will capture the kids' imaginations. That's Elizabeth Lasseter's solution. "We're going to do our first leg and try to make it to Louisville," says Lasseter, of Birmingham, Alabama, who is planning a car trip to Wisconsin with her two sons. "The Louisville Slugger baseball museum and factory are there."Making the most of 'forced togetherness'But success often depends on children's temperaments. Some families find that brief stops create more stress than they relieve, and prefer simply reaching their destination as fast as possible.Some opt to drive at night. That was the solution for Stephanie Werren of Canton, Ohio, a mother of triplets who wanted to get them to Florida painlessly. "We'd leave at 5 p.m., stop for dinner at eight and they were asleep by 10," she says. "By the time they woke up in the morning, we were there by 10 a.m."The overnight drive can be peaceful, but it can also be exhausting. After a sleepless night, parents may have little energy left to handle their well-rested children.Now that Werren's children are 7, the family no longer drives overnight. But on recent back-to-back trips to New York, Massachusetts and Michigan, they stopped only for a few quick bathroom breaks. Her secret weapon? Consumer electronics."It was so different when we were kids. I came from a family where it was too expensive to fly, so we drove. And my mom would get so mad at us, she wouldn't be talking to us halfway down," Werren says. "But if we'd had a DVD or Gameboys -- they are just amazing."Others, like Lasseter, haven't been helped much by DVDs: Her kids fought over movies and refused to take turns. Besides, movies don't necessarily help families make the most of the hours together."If your goal is to just make the trip not negative, then the DVD is great," says Wendy S. Grolnick, whose research at Clark University, in Worcester, Massachusetts, explores children's ability to manage their emotions. "But if your goal is to make it especially positive and even educational, then you may not want to go in that direction."Many families also turn to an old standard: word games -- searching out letters of the alphabet on license plates or naming state capitals. That can be a great way to sneak in a bit of education amid the entertainment.On last year's Thanksgiving road trip, Vicky Cusick made paper turkeys with her kids before leaving. "The feathers said all the things we were thankful for. We saved some of it to do in the car," she says. And on the way home, after passing through Washington, D.C., she suggested a poetry contest to occupy her restless kids. "This took them hours, writing and rewriting and trying to win."It may seem like extra work, but the dividends can be enormous."In this busy world that we have, it's forced togetherness," Grolnick says. "These are things your kids are going to remember: a joke-telling contest or a 20 Questions ritual or an 'I'm Going on a Picnic' game. They remember that more than they'll remember the trip."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (AP) -- So many deer inhabit the area around Pig's Eye Lake just east of St. Paul that one frustrated local official has compared them to unwanted vermin.In a recent aerial survey of the 11-square-mile, mostly residential area, county biologists expecting to find about 100 deer instead counted more than 500. Some of the hoofed creatures have been wandering into town, showing up at places like the emergency entrance of Regions Hospital and in front of the pro hockey arena.Most notably, a big buck broke several windows at the state Capitol before bounding just a few feet away from Gov. Tim Pawlenty and his startled security detail."They're just everywhere. You see them every day," said Kathy Lantry, a city councilwoman who represents the area Pig's Eye Lake area. "They've become like rats."The problem of deer encroaching on cities and suburbs is not new, with some communities considering everything from hiring sharpshooters to deer contraception to cut down the populations.Earlier this month, a man in Bentonville, Arkansas, struggled with a deer for nearly 40 minutes after it crashed into his daughter's bedroom, ultimately killing it with his bare hands. A few days earlier, authorities in Helena, Montana, killed four deer that had harassed a newspaper carrier.Deer flourish in forest areas where there is development but no sport hunting or natural predators and food is plentiful in the form of weeds and residential landscaping.John Moriarty, natural resource manager for St. Paul's Ramsey County, said residents of deer-heavy areas usually start out liking their hoofed neighbors because it seems a little exotic."For a long period of time, people were willing to tolerate a little bit of damage, but then you hit people's breaking point," he said. "Then they become the bad, nasty deer that everyone wants to get rid of."Deer wander on to highways and get hit by cars, 15,000 a year in Minnesota alone. They also damage gardens, lawns and crops, spread Lyme disease and disrupt habitat for species ranging from nesting songbirds to forest vegetation."You can't plant anything. They eat it all," said Ann Mueller, who until recently lived near Pig's Eye Lake. At certain times of the year she said she saw deer daily.Later this month, a sharpshooter hired by Ramsey County will take to the woods to thin the herds around Pig's Eye Lake, a Mississippi River backwater. The goal is to kill about 200 does to both bring down current numbers and reduce future reproduction.There will be little sport to what Tony DeNicola, president of Connecticut-based White Buffalo Inc., will do when he carries out the project.For several weeks, he will drop bait at the same time each day to train deer to come to areas where can safely shoot them. He said he typically shoots from a tree or vehicle.If 200 deer are killed, that means about 10,000 pounds of venison for local food shelves, Moriarty said.But some oppose this means of thinning the deer population.In Columbia Heights, a Minneapolis suburb, residents a few years ago formed the "Coalition to Save Our Deer" after the state Department of Natural Resources proposed letting bow hunters into a fenced-off reservoir where a herd of deer had been trapped by post-September 11 security measures.Hoping to avoid controversy, states like New York and Ohio have had some success shooting does with darts charged with contraceptives. Animal rights groups have advocated wider use -- but that in turn has prompted criticism."It just takes forever and it's expensive," said DeNicola. "You contracept a deer and it's still out running around in the field, it can still get hit by a car."However, John Hadidian, director of urban wildlife programs for the Humane Society of the United States, said he believes the strongest opposition to deer birth control has come from hunters who are afraid populations will decline too much."That gets enabled by state fish and game agencies that depend on hunting license revenue for their operations," Hadidian said.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.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The antiflu drug Tamiflu is safe, federal health advisers said Friday, after finding no direct link between the drug and the deaths of 12 Japanese children who had taken it."If we ever have a pandemic of avian flu, which is a debatable point, people want to know that they have a drug that will not cause more (harm) than the flu itself," said Dr. Robert Nelson, chairman of the Food and Drug Administration's Pediatric Advisory Committee. "There is no evidence that this will."The committee reviewed Tamiflu as part of a routine safety check of drugs whose original uses had been extended to cover children.Interest was raised, however, because the drug is key in the arsenal of treatments for pandemics caused by bird flu or another superflu strain.The committee voted unanimously that no change was needed in the label to reflect the deaths of the Japanese children or other adverse affects. But it did say that information should be added to the label about serious skin reactions.The FDA is not bound by its advisory committee recommendations, but usually follows them.Nelson said the FDA should still be vigilant in going forward despite the finding that there was reason for concern about the drug at this point.The committee asked the FDA staff to provide an update in about a year on any adverse reactions associated with Tamiflu. A full-report should be made in two years, the committee said."Influenza is a serious disease. Kids die of influenza, both in Japan and the United States, and if you give a drug to people who are at risk of dying, there will be people who die who got the drug," Nelson said. "There is no signal the drug is doing it as opposed to the disease."There have been no reports of deaths linked to Tamiflu in the United States or Europe.Melissa Truffa, of the FDA's Office of Drug Safety, told the panel earlier Friday that they found no direct link between the use of Tamiflu and the deaths in Japan.The FDA staff said Tamiflu is used much more often in Japan than in the United States -- 11.6 million prescriptions for children in Japan between 2001 and 2005, compared to about 872,000 during that same period in the United States.An official with the drug maker Roche Holdings AG told the commission that there are 10 times the number of adverse reactions to the drug in Japan than in the United States and about 10 times the number of prescriptions. He said that studies show no higher mortality rates for users of Tamiflu versus nonusers."The absolute numbers are in the opposite direction," said Joseph Hoffman, a vice president at Roche.In addition to the deaths, briefing material prepared by the FDA staff also includes reports of 32 "neuropsychiatric events" associated with Tamiflu, all but one experienced by Japanese patients. Those cases included delirium, hallucinations, convulsions and encephalitis.Roche said several studies in the United States and Canada had shown that the incidence of death in influenza patients who took Tamiflu was far lower than in those who did not.The company also has supplied the FDA with two additional studies it commissioned that evaluated the safety of Tamiflu in pediatric patients.Complicating the issue is that many of the Japanese death and adverse reaction reports list symptoms commonly associated with the flu, Dr. Murray Lumpkin, deputy commissioner of the FDA, said prior to the meeting."It is very difficult, when the underlying disease causes what it is being reported, to figure out: Is it the underlying disease? Is it the drug?" he said.The popularity of Tamiflu in Japan may explain in part the number of reports from that country: Of 32 million people treated with Tamiflu since its approval in 1999, 24 million were in Japan, according to Roche.Japan's Health Ministry warned last week that Tamiflu may induce "strange behavior" after reporting that two teenage boys died shortly after taking the medicine.The Japanese distributor of the Roche-patented drug told health officials it could not rule out a link between Tamiflu and the deaths.However, Roche said earlier this week that it "carefully reviewed these events and has concluded that a causal link cannot be established."The U.S. labeling for Tamiflu lists nausea and vomiting as its most serious side effects. Its labeling in Japan includes any adverse effects that have been reported -- including impaired consciousness, abnormal behavior and hallucinations -- regardless of whether they can be attributed to the drug, according to Roche.Tamiflu is one of the few drugs believed effective in treating bird flu, which health officials fear could spark a pandemic should it mutate into a form easily passed from human to human.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SARASOTA, Florida (AP) -- More than a year after the abduction of her 11-year-old daughter was captured on a grainy video tape, Susan Schorpen wept as the juror read the verdict: Joseph Smith, a mechanic with a long criminal record, was guilty of murder."Thank you," she said quietly before jurors left the courtroom.Smith was convicted of kidnapping, raping and strangling Carlie Brucia, whose body was found outside a church more than four days after the sixth-grader disappeared in while walking home from a friend's house in February 2004. (Watch Smith react to the verdict -- 1:52)"I can never hold her again. Where's the closure?" Schorpen said outside the courthouse. "I've lost one of the most precious things to me in my life because of an animal, a disgusting, perverted animal."Jurors planned to reconvene November 28 to sentence Smith, 39, who could receive the death penalty. His attorney, Adam Tebrugge, said he would argue for a life sentence without parole.Smith's friends and co-workers testified that he was the tattooed man pictured in a surveillance video from a car wash security camera who grabbed Carlie's wrist and led her away.His brother, John Smith, also testified that Smith confessed to having "rough sex" with the girl and killing her, and told him where the body was. Prosecutors played taped jailhouse conversations Smith made with his brother and others in which Smith talked of being on drugs while committing the crimes.An FBI code breaker translated an encrypted letter Smith wrote his sibling saying he had left Carlie's clothes and backpack in four trash bins.DNA analysis connected him to a stain on Carlie's shirt, and strands of hair from Smith's vehicle were found to match the girl's hair.Smith's lawyers raised questions about the reliability of the FBI lab where the evidence was analyzed and challenged the motives of his brother, suggesting he was interested in the reward money.Jurors also looked at graphic photos and a video from the crime scene and Carlie's autopsy, images that have become the center of a public records battle.A federal appeals court ruled Thursday in favor of two media outlets -- the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and TV station WFLA -- that want to review the crime scene and autopsy photos and videotapes. Attorney General Charlie Crist quickly filed an emergency motion to block the ruling.Before Carlie's slaying, Smith had been arrested at least 13 times since 1993, mostly on drug offenses. In one case, he was charged with kidnapping a 20-year-old woman, but was acquitted. He pleaded no contest in another case in which a woman said he hit her in the face with a motorcycle helmet. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail.At the time of the slaying, Smith was in violation of his probation on a cocaine charge because he failed to pay $411 in fines and court costs. But a judge declined to put him in jail, saying Florida does not have a "debtor's prison."Carlie's killing spurred the introduction of federal and state legislation to crack down on probation violators.Rep. Katherine Harris, a Florida Republican, introduced a bill called Carlie's Law that would increase the offenses that could send a convicted criminal on federal probation back to prison. A version limited to sex offenders ultimately passed. Smith had not been convicted of sex offenses before Carlie's death.After another Florida girl was killed, allegedly by a convicted sex offender, Florida passed a law establishing a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life behind bars for people convicted of certain sex crimes against children 11 and younger, with lifetime tracking by satellite after they are freed.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald said he will have to bring more information before a new grand jury in the CIA leak probe, adding that his work is not complete.In a new court filing, Fitzgerald said sensitive information from his investigation still needs to be protected, especially since proceedings will involve a different jury than the one that indicted former Lewis Libby, chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney. The panel hearing that part of the inquiry expired that day.Fitzgerald does not say that new charges definitely will be brought. Instead, the filing discusses what rules govern disclosure of information to the media regarding evidence in the case against Libby.Libby faces five charges, including obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements. He resigned his position on Cheney's staff October 28, the same day he was indicted.For the last two years, Fitzgerald has been investigating the leaking of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame to the media. On Monday, Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward gave a sworn deposition to Fitzgerald about three Bush administration officials he interviewed for his 2004 book on the run-up to the Iraq war, "Plan of Attack." One of those sources identified Plame, the wife of former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson, as a weapons of mass destruction analyst for the CIA, Woodward said. (Full story)Wilson wrote an opinion piece in July 2003 in the New York Times that accused the Bush administration of "exaggerating the Iraqi threat" in order to justify war. Shortly after that, his wife's role with the CIA was revealed publicly.Woodward's revelation of his involvement has only deepened the mystery of the person behind the leak.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A lawyer who worked with high-powered Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, is expected to testify against him as part of a plea bargain with the Justice Department, two government sources have told CNN.Michael Scanlon will plead guilty Monday after being charged with one count of conspiracy on Friday as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation of the two men's lobbying activities, the sources said.The developments came after the prosecutors filed a "criminal information" in U.S. District Court, alleging that Scanlon conspired to "corruptly offer and provide things of value, including money, meals, trips and entertainment, to federal public officials in return for agreements to perform official acts" benefiting Scanlon and his lobbyist partner.The partner is identified in the court documents only as Lobbyist A and is not facing charges. One government official told CNN that lobbyist is Abramoff.Prosecutors also allege Scanlon was trying to "devise a scheme and artifice to defraud" lobbying clients.Justice Department officials would not comment on any possible plea deal and would say only that a Monday hearing on the case is planned.Prosecutors also detail a "stream of things of value" given to an unnamed congressman, identified in the court documents as Representative No. 1, including a "lavish" trip to Scotland to play golf, tickets to sporting events, and campaign contributions to the representative and his political action committee in exchange for a series of actions by that representative.In the court documents, prosecutors allege Scanlon and Lobbyist A, "together and separately, sought and received Representative No. 1's agreement to perform a series of official acts, including but not limited to agreements to support and pass legislation, ... meetings with Lobbyist A and Scanlon's clients, and advancing the application of a client of Lobbyist A for a license to install wireless telephone infrastructure into the House of Representatives."Officials would not identify Representative 1.Among the high-profile clients of Scanlon and Abramoff were Indian tribes, which hired them to gain political access in Washington."It was a purpose of the conspiracy for Scanlon and Lobbyist A to enrich themselves by obtaining substantial funds from their clients through fraud and concealment and through obtaining benefits for their clients through corrupt means," the complaint states.The government alleges the conspiracy lasted from January 2000 through at least April 2004.A phone call to Scanlon's lawyer seeking comment was not immediately returned.Prosecutors allege Scanlon and the lobbyist "would falsely represent to their clients that certain of the funds were being used for specific purposes, when in fact, Scanlon and Lobbyist A would use those funds for their own personal benefit and not for the benefit of their clients."CNN Correspondent Kelli Arena and Producer Ted Barrett contributed to this report.

(CNN) -- Hollywood loves biographical films, and movies about country music stars are almost a genre within that genre, from "Coal Miner's Daughter" (Sissy Spacek gives an Oscar-winning performance as Loretta Lynn) to "Great Balls of Fire" featuring Dennis Quaid's sweat-drenched performance) to "Sweet Dreams" (the fine Jessica Lange as Patsy Cline).It makes a lot of sense: Country music, by its nature, features themes of heartache, survival, and love lost and won, and the musicians -- who usually suffered all the above -- make for great drama.Now, with "Walk the Line," the life of Johnny Cash and his wife June Carter Cash has been put under the microscope. Their story, and the film, does not disappoint.The late June Carter Cash -- she died in May, 2003, and a heartbroken Johnny followed her just five months later -- said her husband had two personalities: Cash the wild, dark man and John the honest and vulnerable man. He was a boy whose father blamed him for his brother's tragic death, and a man who battled fierce demons.Thanks to Joaquin Phoenix's terrific performance, "Walk The Line" captures this dual persona brilliantly. Phoenix -- who had never even played guitar before getting this role -- doesn't imitate Cash. He just gets Cash, in ways great and small. When he steps up to the microphone and says, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash," you believe him. This performance will undoubtedly win him an Oscar nomination.The same can be said for Reese Witherspoon, who plays June. Director James Mangold made a bold move in casting the petite blonde actress mainly known for lightweight comedy, and she delivers.June Carter Cash's profile was much lower than her husband's, so Witherspoon had a little more leeway in terms of portraying this strong woman, who in many ways was just as complex as her husband. But what she does with a glance, with a line, with a look at the man who would be her husband -- the little things say so much. June met Johnny when they were both married to other people and stuck with him through his drug addiction and wrenching emotional ups and downs.This role should make Hollywood sit up and notice there is more to Witherspoon than meets the eye.The supporting performances are just as good: Robert Patrick as Cash's bitter, bile-spewing father; Dallas Roberts as Sun Records founder Sam Phillips; Shooter Jennings playing his father, Waylon.Equally astounding is the music -- not just the songs themselves, but the fact that the actors do their own singing and playing. Producer James Keach and Mangold were both adamant that whoever played the Cashes would do their own singing. If you wanted to hear Johnny and June Cash sing, you could buy a CD, they believed. It was a gutsy move, but it's instrumental in making a very good movie into a great one.Phoenix growls and Witherspoon purrs and their duets are absolutely wonderful. T Bone Burnett ("O Brother, Where Art Thou?") was the executive music director; he deserves plenty of credit for making the music work.Mangold's direction is excellent, and the script -- by Mangold and Gil Davis -- captures the complex characters without relying on biopic clich�.Bottom line: Get in line to see "Walk the Line."

(CNN) -- I have enjoyed the magical charms of the Harry Potter franchise since the highly anticipated (and highly hyped) first film, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," cast its spell upon the big screen in November, 2001.My love affair with the residents of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry continued with "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," in 2002, and was sustained with "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" in 2004. I not only loved the films; I read the books too.Now, in the spirit of full disclosure, I did not read "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (life, somehow, just got in the way), the fourth in the series. Perhaps that is one reason that the new film based on the book didn't work its wizardry on this reviewer. Frankly, the entire film felt like the cinematic version of Hamburger Helper -- too little meat trying to do too much.I'm sure that the movie is true to J.K. Rowling's book -- she (or her fans) would allow nothing less. And I am aware that "Goblet of Fire" was darker and more sinister then the previous wildly successful books -- this is the first "Potter" film with a PG-13 rating -- but, still, I was a bit underwhelmed. (Watch a look at Harry's darker side -- 1:58)I'm not saying the magic is gone, but I've lost that loving feeling. Director Mike Newell and screenwriter Steve Kloves have attempted to make a movie that is part thriller, part action flick and part budding love story. None of the themes mesh together very well. The result feels somewhat clunky and disjointed."Goblet's" basic plot involves a competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. The contest, called the Triwizard Tournament, is being hosted at Hogwarts; the prize is the highly coveted Triwizard Cup.The boys from Durmstrang all look like throwbacks from a Hitler youth group and the girls from Beauxbatons, devoid of expression, float around like butterflies trying to escape a net.At the outset, the Goblet of Fire selects one student from each school to compete in three life-threatening tasks; all candidates must be 17 years or older. But after one name from each school is picked, the Goblet spits out one more nomination: that of 14-year-old Harry. Against his will -- and better judgment -- he resigns himself to playing the game, thereby risking his life. Not even Hogwarts' headmaster, the beloved Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) can save him from taking part.Love and Death EatersBut Harry has other problems: working up the nerve to ask his beautiful classmate Cho Chang (Katie Leung) to the annual Yule Ball. Yep, the kids are growing up and the hormones are kicking in. Adolescent romance is in the air -- and so is adolescent clumsiness. Ron Weasley is totally oblivious to the growing feelings of Hermione (Emma Watson) as she tries in vain to get him to ask her to the social event of the year.Even Hagrid is not immune to the love bug as he falls under the spell of the flamboyant Madame Maxime (Frances De La Tour), the Headmistress of Beauxbatons. I don't want to be nasty and say this character is amazingly unattractive; let's just say she's perfect for Hagrid.Hovering over all these events is the return of Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), who after 13 years is once again appearing in public and has unleashed his followers, the Death Eaters, to do his dirty work.The cast of Hogwarts instructors has mostly stayed the same, but there's one new -- and really interesting character -- in the mix. That would be Mad-Eye Moody, played by the excellent Irish character actor Brendan Gleeson ("Gangs of New York," "Cold Mountain"). He's asked by Dumbledore to keep his bright blue eye on Harry and help in any way he can during the tournament.But Mad-Eye is one of the rare sparks in "Goblet of Fire." Indeed, I guess my biggest beef with the film is that many of the other characters we have grown to love and hate -- Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton), his evil father Lucius (Jason Isaacs), Professor Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), Professor Minerva McGonagall (Dame Maggie Smith) and Hogwarts Academy itself (which has become a character just as much as the human cast) -- are all given short shift. Even the interaction between Harry, Ron and Hermione has been trimmed down to almost nothing.Newell, best known for directing "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Pushing Tin," is not necessarily the go-to guy for projects with computer-generated images, but he proves here that he's fast learner and does a commendable job of pulling off all the action needed to make a "Potter" film work. It's just that it would have been nice to give him more to work with.So I'm less than thrilled. No matter. Seeing a "Potter" film is generally worth it. There's much to appreciate here, and there will be many people to appreciate it. And now, there's always that fifth film to look forward to.What does Entertainment Weekly think? Click here to read the magazine's coverage."Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is a Warner Bros. film. The studio, like CNN, is a unit of Time Warner.

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.

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Prince Charles has launched legal action against a British newspaper group over the publication of details from one of his private journals, his office announced. A spokesman for the heir to the British throne said he had reluctantly taken the decision after extracts appeared in the Mail On Sunday. The journal contained Charles's trenchant views on the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese, including one comment describing Chinese diplomats as "appalling old waxworks." The prince's spokesman told CNN that the legal action related to previously published material but would also apply to any material the Associated Newspaper group planned to use in the future. A statement from Clarence House said: "The Prince of Wales has reluctantly decided to take legal action against Associated Newspapers following the publication of extracts from his private journals in the Mail on Sunday."The Prince of Wales's office has been advised by lawyers that the Mail on Sunday has breached both the Prince of Wales's copyright and confidentiality." Sir Michael Peat, Charles's Principal Private Secretary, said the breach had been made clear to the newspaper. "This is a matter of principle," he said."Like anybody else, the Prince of Wales is entitled to write a private journal without extracts being published. "This journal was copied and passed to the Mail on Sunday without permission. "We have made this clear to the Mail on Sunday on five occasions, both orally and in writing. "Nevertheless, the Mail on Sunday proceeded to publish these extracts despite the knowledge that it was a breach of the Prince of Wales's copyright and confidence." There was no immediate comment from the newspaper. The Mail on Sunday had reported that the prince often wrote journals concerning important world events he was involved in, sending copies to a select group of friends and influential people. The China journal -- entitled "The Handover of Hong Kong -- or The Great Chinese Takeaway" -- was disparaging about "Soviet-style" Chinese ceremonies and called a speech by then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin as "propaganda."British Prime Minister Tony Blair is also said to have been mentioned with the prince attacking papers produced by political advisers "none of whom will have ever experienced what it is they are taking decisions about."Details from the diary were published only days after an official visit to the UK by Chinese President Hu Jintao.The prince, a supporter of the Dalai Lama, was accused of boycotting the last state visit by a Chinese leader by failing to attend the official banquet. Charles side-stepped the issue this time by being out of the country on the night of the official dinner earlier this month, as he was travelling back from the United States with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. It is rare for a member of the Royal Family to take legal action. In November 2003, the queen launched a legal bid to prevent the Daily Mirror from publishing further revelations about journalist Ryan Parry's employment as a footman at Buckingham Palace. The legal row was settled in the High Court when the newspaper agreed to a permanent injunction banning it from publishing further material. The Daily Mirror had to contribute £25,000 ($42,800) towards the queen's legal costs. On Thursday Clarence House, announced Thursday that Charles was giving up polo, the equestrian sport he has played for more than 40 years.(Full story)A spokesman said Charles, who turned 57 this week, had "regretfully" decided not to return to the polo field next season.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, who has taken a hard line with Tamil Tiger rebels in the past, has won the race to become the island nation's fifth president.While thirteen candidates have vied for the presidency, the election became a tight race between the Freedom Party's Rajapakse and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.Rajapakse received 4.88 million votes, or 50.3 percent, compared to 4.70 million, or 48.4 percent, for Wickremesinghe, an election official told The Associated Press.The Prime Minister's Office appealed to the Sri Lankan people "to behave peacefully and celebrate the victory without harming opponents." The 60-year-old Rajapakse has held firm in his stance with the Tamil Tiger rebels -- who control the northern and eastern parts of the country -- while United National Party leader Wickremesinghe brokered the cease-fire with the Tamil separatists three years ago.He was seen by many as being in a position to achieve a lasting peace agreement with the Tamils, who make up just over 20 percent of Sir Lanka's 19 million people.The election commissioner put voter turnout at about 75 percent, despite most Tamils appearing to have boycotted the election.Sri Lanka's bourse plunged on the news that Rajapakse had claimed victory, falling nearly 7 percent, as traders think his hardliner Marxist allies will not be very market-friendly, according to Reuters reports.Grenade attacks and intimidation kept many monitory Tamils form the polls, with analysts telling Reuters news agency this may have helped swing the vote away from the moderate Wickremesinghe towards the hawkish Rajapakse.Police blamed the rebels for an explosion that killed two voters as they went to cast their ballots in the eastern coastal district of Batticaloa.A grenade apparently exploded in a home near a polling station, also injuring six people, authorities said on Thursday, as 13 million Sri Lankans headed to the polls.Police said two similar incidents took place Thursday in Batticaloa, injuring eight civilians, five policemen and two home guards.Tough taskRajapakse will be tasked with resolving the country's two-decade-long ethnic conflict with the rebels, which has resulted in more than 60,000 deaths.The rebels took up arms over what they say was discrimination against their group, most of whom are Hindu by the predominantly Buddhist Sinhalese majority.Rajapakse opposes power-sharing with the Tamils. After brokering a ceasefire deal with the Tamils, Wickremesinghe invited Norway to play the role of facilitator in the peace talks that followed.However, the rebels pulled out of the talks in 2003, leaving behind a shaky ceasefire. Since then, the two sides have continued to level allegations against each other over violations.Wickremesinghe has pledged, if elected, to resume talks and bring peace, and has sought a mandate from voters to form a national government with outgoing President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's Freedom Party.She is ending her second term as president, and the constitution forbids her from vying for a third term.But Wickremesinghe's party suffered a major blow November 10 when the rebels decided they would not back any candidate. They want to ask voters in areas under their control to boycott the elections, translating into fewer votes for the 56-year-old.The rebels say successive governments in the southern part of the country have not resolved their problems. Emissaries were heading to the rebel held northern town of Kilinochchi to plead their case.Tamil hard-linerThough from the Freedom Party, Rajapakse has angered his own President Kumaratunga over a number of election-related issues.One is his decision to enter into electoral pacts with the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), or the People's Liberation Front, and the Jathika Hela Urumaya, or National Heritage, a nationalist party of Buddhist monks.The JVP pulled out of Kumaratunga's United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in June, protesting over a mechanism she evolved with the Tiger rebels to share foreign aid for recovery after last December's devastating tsunami.This led to the UPFA becoming a minority government in parliament.Rajapakse has pledged to abolish the aid system and introduce a scheme where relief will not go directly to the Tiger rebels. This is after allegations the rebels were using part of the aid to rebuild their military infrastructure.He has also angered Kumaratunga by disregarding her policy of sharing power with the rebels, and pledged that such power sharing should be with the consensus of the people. This is in marked contrast to Wickremesinghe, who has vowed to introduce a federal system.Big messageOutgoing Kumaratunga has been openly critical of her prime minister and her party's candidate. She has said during public rallies that devolution of power for the Tamil areas was an essential prerequisite for peace.A big message awaits the winner of the November 17 presidential elections.On November 27, Tiger rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran will deliver his annual "Maveerar (Great Heroes) Day" address, where he will spell out his organization's plans for the coming year.Having built a formidable military machine during three and half years of ceasefire, including an airstrip and acquisition of aircraft, what Prabhakaran will tell the new president of Sri Lanka is highly anticipated.Whether he would be content with a settlement within a unitary Sri Lanka, a federal set up or demand more remains the critical question.Journalist Iqbal Athas contributed to this reportCopyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

BUSAN, South Korea (CNN) -- The leaders of 21 Asia-Pacific nations, including U.S. President George W. Bush, have begun their annual economic summit in South Korea with a call for the European Union to do more to break the impasse in talks on securing a global trade liberalization deal.The leaders are set to endorse a statement agreed upon earlier by APEC ministers that aims to foster progress in World Trade Organization talks set for next month in Hong Kong.It had been hoped an outline agreement would be reached at that meeting paving the way for a deal next year, but that is looking increasingly unlikely as differences persist on how much import tariffs should be lowered. The EU has been singled out for blame for refusing to improve its offer of tariff cuts of 38 percent on average on agricultural goods, and for the number of products it wants exempted from the cuts.South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon told a news conference that APEC would do its best to ensure the talks succeed, but that some leaders had said the EU must take a more "proactive and flexible" position."They are basically saying that now the ball is in Europe's court," he said.The APEC draft statement acknowledged "considerable divergences" and said "a clear roadmap" must be established if the current round of talks is to succeed."We call for breaking the current impasse in agricultural negotiations, in particular in market access, which will unblock other key areas, including non-agricultural products and services," Reuters quoted the statement as saying. (Ministers adopt plan)Speaking before the official opening of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, Australian Prime Minister John Howard was more direct."We are not going to get anywhere unless there is a significant matching of what the Americans have put on the table by the Europeans," he said.Mexican President Vicente Fox later said France and Spain were the most hardline opponents of further tariff reductions.Earlier this week, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, himself having faced pressure from the French on yielding too much in the negotiations, said some within APEC seemed more interesting in "orchestrating the media" than in orchestrating a deal.He said the 25-nation EU would stick to its current offer and called for negotiating focus to switch from agriculture to goods and services.Bilateral movesWith the WTO talks deadlock seeming ever more unbreakable, many countries are turning to securing bilateral deals instead."Dealing one-on-one, it's much simpler," said Andre Lemay, spokesman for Canada's APEC delegation.Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin meets Japanese counterpart Junichiro Koizumi on Saturday on the sidelines of the regional summit. They are expected to continue talks seen as a precursor to eventual free trade negotiations.Earlier Friday, the presidents of Chile and Mexico defended bilateral and regional free trade agreements as good for their economies, but emphasized that the ultimate goal remains a strong WTO-based multilateral trading system.China and Chile signed a free-trade agreement in Busan -- the first between the Asian giant and a Latin American country."It is essential that the leaders be able to put all of our political will and to instruct the negotiators that it is necessary to succeed," Chilean President Ricardo Lagos told a chief executives' gathering alongside the summit. Fox added that a free trade agreement for the Americas remained on track and that leaders would "keep hammering" to reach a concensus."It's not easy to reach a trade agreement, more so when you need 34 countries to agree. But we're getting closer." Varied agendaWhile APEC is designed to be primarily a forum on trade and economic matters, other issues are increasingly fighting for attention on the regional bloc's agenda. In their statement, the leaders will express strong concern about the threats of terrorism and bird flu, according to the draft seen by The Associated Press."Terrorism remains as a menacing threat to our world and we condemned terrorist acts that not only took thousands of lives but have also been aiming to destabilize the security of the region," the draft states.One member nation, Indonesia, has been the subject of a number of bombings, and officials in another, Australia, said a terror strike was recently thwarted.How to prevent the possible spread of bird flu into a human pandemic will also be a topic of discussion at the summit. In a speech Friday morning, Australia's Howard promised a "significant initiative" to help prevent the spread of the virus, also urging countries not to let national pride get in the way of combating the threat."The last thing that any nations can afford to do ... is to in any way hide or cover up the onset of the size of an outbreak," he said.According to the World Health Organization, at least 130 people in five APEC countries -- China, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia -- have been diagnosed with the H5N1 strain of the avian flu, and at least 67 have died.Also up for discussion at the summit is how to deal with North Korea's nuclear program. While North Korea is not a member of the group, five APEC countries have been involved in talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions -- Russia, China, Japan, South Korea and the United States.The summit ends on Saturday evening.CNN Correspondents Mike Chinoy, Dana Bash and Suzanne Malveaux contributed to this report.Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) -- Fire spread through a third-story apartment before dawn Friday, killing four children and injuring two others, authorities said.Fire officials got a 911 call shortly after midnight. "I need a life squad, a fire truck. It's a fire and there's babies in the apartment. There's fire rolling up out of the windows," an unidentified person outside the building said in the taped call.The apartment was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, Assistant Fire Chief Pete Trautwine said.Autopsies were still being done, but officials said the four victims apparently died from smoke inhalation.Garnett Moss, who said he was the children's great-uncle, said he didn't know where the parents were when the fire broke out. The victims, his niece's children, were two brothers and two sisters ages 6 to 9, he said."They were such good children. It's so hard," said Moss, 53, his voice breaking as he stared at the brick apartment building from across the street.A spokeswoman at Children's Hospital in Cincinnati declined to discuss the injuries to the children treated there, a 4-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl. Hamilton is about 20 miles north of Cincinnati.Deadly fires also broke out early Friday in Arkansas and Maryland.Three children -- ages 3, 5 and 6 -- were killed in a house fire in Forrest City, Arkansas, and their father was taken to a hospital with burns and cuts, officials said. The mother was apparently able to get out of the one-story wood house and summon help.Investigators suspect the fire was electrical, Fire Chief Dan Curtner said.In Baltimore, two people died in a four-story brick apartment building. An accelerant-sniffing dog detected traces of flammable liquid inside the apartment where the victims were, and a neighbor said she saw four people running out of the building shortly before the fire began.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

The following is the third in a series of journal entries a member of the CareerBuilder.com community is writing about losing his job and searching for a new one. At his request, we are withholding his name so he can relay experiences with his former company and potential employers with impunity."Joe" (his nom de blog) is 45 years old and was let go from a management position at a major consumer products company. He had relocated with his family to take the job a little over a year ago.I wake up to the first official day of my new job: Finding a job. I set my alarm for 6 a.m. (Don't want to waste away a minute I could spend finding my great new position.) But there was no need; my sense of dread had me awake well before dawn.I spent most the night thinking about what role I may have played in having my nose forcibly removed from the grindstone. Was it my indignation at being crammed into a cube? Could the boss tell how disgusted I used to get when he'd spend the better part of our staff meetings bragging about how much he bench-pressed the day before? Or was it my aggressive lack of interest in the work itself?Enough soul-searching, I decide. Introspection has its place, but it will do nothing to salvage my current situation.I charge out of bed, put on a pot of coffee and make my way down to what I call the "War Room" -- actually the unfinished portion of our basement that I've commandeered from my wife. I pack up her glue gun and other craft supplies and set up my bunker: Computer, check... Extension cord, check... Cell phone, check. Let the day begin!I start calling everyone in my directory who may or may not have a lead. I tell them my plight -- well, at least my spin on it; I'm still technically employed for a few weeks before my three months of severance kick in, so I don't let on that I'm already fired and calling from my basement. No, I tell them my company is undergoing a lot of change and that I don't see much short- or long-term opportunity. I am ready for a new challenge.People listen. They're sympathetic; some even offer leads or names of recruiters to call. I talk to two co-workers who are at the office. In furtive whispers they tell me I'm lucky. They say how much it sucks that I'm no longer there -- and that it happened so close to the holidays. They reveal how the boss called a staff meeting to divvy up my accounts. They admit some colleagues have been circling like vultures and that even my cubicle has been picked clean of all supplies and accoutrements.Taking a page from Jerry Maguire, I call my former customers and let them know I'm on the market.I rework my r�sum� for the key accounts manager position open at our company's biggest competitor -- shamelessly inserting what I think are the keywords that will help it pass through the scanning software.I get a call back from a contract recruiter doing a search and e-mail my new r�sum� off to her, too.It's 3:30 p.m. I'm feeling pretty good about things, so I decide to rip open a bag of chips and burn a few CDs to celebrate. I am pleased with my progress, optimistic about my future and thrilled with my newfound flexibility. I begin to contemplate changing out of my pajamas and into some sweat pants when in walks my wife. By the look on her face, you'd think she'd caught me downloading porn or watching "General Hospital."I make a few more calls then put together my to-do list for the next day. The first item reads: Get dressed to avoid annoying working members of household.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Distressed by thoughts of war, terrorism and natural disasters? Maybe an uplifting movie will take the edge off.For its ninth annual celebration of cinema, the American Film Institute aims to uncover the "most inspirational films of the century.""When times are darkest, during war and depression, movies ... provide a remarkable way for us to find ourselves again," said Jean Picker Firstenberg, AFI's director and chief executive. "We need to feel good again, and that's how these movies make us feel."A list of 300 films deemed inspirational by AFI historians will be considered. Ballots went out this week to more than 1,500 actors, producers, writers and others in the industry.Among the suggestions: "The Passion of the Christ," "The Sound of Music," "It's a Wonderful Life" and "8 Mile."Tom Hanks and Henry Fonda each appeared in eight flicks on the list. Sidney Poitier, Gary Cooper and Denzel Washington have each been in seven of the suggested films.Voters have until December 16 to pore over the list. They can also write in titles AFI may have overlooked.Firstenberg has her favorites, but she'll only reveal them on the secret ballot. "The stories that these movies tell are a constant source of inspiration," she said.The top 100 uplifting films will be announced in "100 Years ... 100 Cheers" on CBS in June 2006.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- Tropical Storm Gamma -- the 24th storm of the busiest hurricane season on record -- formed Friday off the coast of Central America, and forecasters said it could threaten Florida by the beginning of next week, perhaps as a hurricane.Tropical storm warnings were issued for the coast of Belize and the Bay Islands of Honduras.Mexico issued a tropical storm watch for the eastern Yucatan Peninsula, which was hit hard in October by Hurricane Wilma. Six to 15 inches of rain were possible.The long-term track from the National Hurricane Center indicated that Gamma may take a path similar to Wilma's and head northeast toward the Florida Peninsula.Wilma sliced across the southern portion of the state Oct. 24, causing widespread power outages and more than 20 deaths.At 10 p.m. ET, Gamma's maximum sustained winds were near 45 mph and it was located about 45 miles north-northwest of Limon, Honduras, and about 175 miles east-southeast of Belize City, Belize, moving northwest at near 5 mph.The storm causing flooding and landslides in Honduras that killed at least two people and prompted the government to evacuate hundreds from coastal towns. President Ricardo Maduro said soldiers were bringing in food, water, medicine and blankets.In Belize, a small plane belonging to the exclusive Blancaneaux Lodge resort, owned by filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, disappeared Friday shortly after taking off with two passengers, whose names were not released. A search was also under way for five fisherman whose boat capsized.Gamma extended the Atlantic's record-breaking storm season. The previous record of 21 named storms had stood since 1933, and for the first time, officials had to turn to the Greek alphabet for names.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

VENTURA, California (AP) -- Pushed by fierce Santa Ana winds, a 2,000-acre wildfire crept toward about 200 large, ridge-top homes Friday, prompting a voluntary evacuation.At midmorning, a wall of flames as high as 30 feet snaked along hillsides, and by early afternoon a huge plume of whiskey-brown smoke carried ash to the nearby Pacific Ocean.The late-season blaze was first reported around 3:30 a.m. in School Canyon -- a hilly, rocky area between Ventura and Ojai, about 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Wind gusts of more than 50 mph helped the fire more than triple in size in just a few hours."We have a lot of crews up there and are making every effort to protect those structures," said Joe Luna, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department. "It's right in their backyard."Two nearby schools were closed and two Red Cross shelters opened to assist evacuees, though no one had gone to them as of early afternoon.Besides homes, the hills also have a number of oil pumps. Although the cause of the fire was under investigation, it started in "the area of an oil field facility," according to Ventura County Fire spokeswoman Rose Rigalado.About 1,000 firefighters and other personnel were at the scene, using bulldozers, water-dropping helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft in an effort to stop the blaze. One firefighter suffered minor injuries.High winds posed problems for the crews. Shifting gusts reached 64 mph at nearby Laguna Peak."When the winds die down it allows us to make better progress, but we expect to deal with it throughout the day," Luna said.Most of Southern California was under a red-flag warning, which advises of warm, windy and dry conditions that could lead to explosive fire growth.Fire officials said requirements that brush be cleared around homes were helping their efforts.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AURORA, Colorado (AP) -- Police used dogs to search for the body of a missing 6-year-old girl Friday, a day after authorities said they believe the child had been killed and that her father and his girlfriend were "persons of interest" in the case.Aaron Thompson reported his daughter Aarone missing on Monday, but police accused him of lying and said she may have been killed more than a year ago.The search for the missing girl was called off late Wednesday and became a homicide investigation after a tip that someone had killed Aarone at her home, interim Police Chief Terry Jones said.Aarone should be celebrating her seventh birthday in a couple of weeks, but she was not enrolled in school, and investigators could not find any pictures of her older than age 4, Jones said."Over a period of time -- up to possibly a year and a half ago -- Aarone Thompson may have been murdered," he said.While cadaver dogs were brought in Friday to search the property and possibly other sites, investigators were talking to the other children who lived in the home.Seven children, ages 6 to 15, were taken into protective custody, Jones said. Police also have been speaking with Aarone's grandparents and her mother, who lives in Michigan.Jones said investigators had not yet interviewed Aarone's father or his girlfriend, Shely Lowe, both of whom were described by police as "persons of interest."Attorney Leta Holden, identified by a family spokesman as the couple's lawyer, said she had agreed to assist the family but had not been retained as legal counsel."The family is deeply concerned about the well-being of Aarone and the efforts being made for her safe return home," Holden said Friday.Thompson has denied any involvement in his daughter's disappearance, according to the family spokesman, Sam Riddle. Riddle said he has "grave concerns" about the police handling of the case and questioned why the search for the girl was called off."This police chief better ... have a substantial body of evidence to back up this statement that Aarone was murdered," Riddle said.Thompson told police on Monday that Aarone had left after an event that upset her. That was a lie, Jones said, declining to elaborate."The investigation leads right back to this home," Jones said.After reporting his daughter's disappearance, Thompson had also asked the public for help, telling KMGH-TV: "I'm scared for her safety. ... If anybody has information, please contact the police to bring my baby girl home."Veronica Boivin, who lives a few houses from the home, surrounded by a neat yard in a cul-de-sac, said she rarely saw children outside except when they were going to and from school or doing yard work."I don't ever remember seeing that little girl. I remember older kids," she said. "They're always cooped up into their home."Nearby, someone had tied a handwritten sign to a fence. Beneath it were a candle and a stuffed white unicorn."Aarone we all miss you," the sign stated. "We all love you. Please come home."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LITITZ, Pennsylvania (AP) -- An 18-year-old man accused of kidnapping his girlfriend and killing her parents was videotaped discussing plans to conduct an armed raid on another family's home and kill people inside, according to court documents released Friday.David Ludwig's attorneys, meanwhile, said that videotape from surveillance cameras will show that the suspect did not kidnap the 14-year-old daughter of Michael and Cathryn Borden, who were gunned down in their home Sunday.An 18-minute video recovered from a laptop computer in Ludwig's house shows him and another teenager taking guns from his house to another home and discussing using the weapons to "shoot and kill family members inside of the residence," court documents said.It is not known whose house was targeted, but it was not the Bordens', investigators said. The court documents said Ludwig and Lohr abandoned the plan because there was too much traffic nearby.Authorities described the video in an affidavit for a search warrant issued Thursday for the seizure of computer and video equipment.Ludwig is being held without bail on murder and kidnapping charges after being flown back to Pennsylvania on Tuesday from Indiana, where he was captured by police. His girlfriend was with him when he was caught. (See map of teens' trail)Police say Ludwig shot the Bordens at their Lititz home after an argument over his relationship with 14-year-old Kara Borden. The two had been dating, apparently secretly, friends and witnesses said. (Watch what friends had to say -- 2:34Investigators have said that they are treating Kara as a victim -- rather than a willing participant in the crime -- but that the investigation is continuing.Ludwig's attorneys wrote in court papers Friday that their client told them that the way he and Kara Borden acted at various stops on their 600-mile drive "will serve to negate" allegations he kidnapped her.The filing by attorneys James Gratton and Merrill Spahn calls for investigators to preserve evidence such as receipts in Ludwig's wallet, so that surveillance video could be obtained. They also want information preserved from the teens' Web sites, cellular phones, computers and personal digital assistants.Gratton read a statement to The Associated Press in which he said, "We want to make sure all evidence of exactly what happened here is preserved." He declined to answer questions.A judge deferred action on the requests until Monday. Kara Borden's lawyer, Robert Beyer, declined to comment on the filing.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Former CIA chief Stansfield Turner lashed out at Dick Cheney on Thursday, calling him a "vice president for torture" that is out of touch with the American people. Turner's condemnation, delivered during an interview with Britain's ITV network, comes amid an effort by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, to pass legislation forbidding any U.S. authority from torturing a prisoner. McCain was tortured as a Vietnam prisoner of war. Cheney has lobbied against the legislation, prompting Turner to say he's "embarrassed that the United State has a vice president for torture. I think it is just reprehensible."Turner, a retired Navy admiral who headed the intelligence agency from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter, stood firm on his earlier remarks Friday and, in a CNN interview, scoffed at assertions that challenging the administration's strategy aided the terrorists' propaganda efforts."It's the vice president who is out there advocating torture. He's the one who has made himself the vice president in favor of torture," said Turner, who from 1972 to 1974 was president of the Naval War College, a think tank for strategic and national security policy.Cheney has fought McCain's legislation, pushing for an exception for the CIA in cases that involve a prisoner who may have knowledge of an imminent attack. (Read about McCain's anti-torture campaign)Torture diminishes the country's image and moral stature, forcing other nations to look at the United States "in a very different light," Turner said, adding that such tactics also open the door to retribution. "We military people don't want future military people who are taken prisoner by other countries to be subjected to torture in the name of doing just what the United States does," he said.Turner, who supported Sen. John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election, went on to say that "the vice president is out of tune with the American people, who don't want our country tarred with the label of being one that tortures."A statement from the vice president's office said that the United States "does not torture." It also stated that Cheney's views are "reflected in the administration's policy."Our country is at war, and our government has an obligation to protect the American people from a brutal enemy that has declared war upon us." (Watch special on Cheney's remarks over the years)The United States has enacted several intrusive procedures since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to protect the country from terrorists, but torture, Turner said, is an unacceptable method."Torture is beyond the pale. It is going too far," he said.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Republicans sought a showdown Friday with Democrats on a proposal by one of their most senior members to force an end to the U.S. deployment of troops in Iraq.Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, offered the resolution demanding a pullout. The GOP-run House was expected to reject it -- and make a prominent statement about where Congress stands on Iraq -- as the chamber scurried toward a Thanksgiving break."We'll let the members debate it and then let them vote on it," said Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, the acting majority leader.House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's office had no immediate comment.Murtha, a well-respected Vietnam veteran who voted for the Iraq war, called for the immediate withdrawal of troops Thursday, intensifying the already red-hot debate on Capitol Hill over President Bush's war policies. (Full Story)Murtha's resolution would force the president to withdrawal the nearly 160,000 troops in Iraq "at the earliest predictable date."Most Republicans oppose Murtha's plan, and even some Democrats have been reluctant to back his position. Republicans were seeking to force Democrats to stand with the respected 30-year congressman or go on the record against his proposal.Some members of the House and Senate, looking ahead to off-year elections next November, are publicly worrying about a quagmire there. They have been staking out new positions on the war that has grown increasingly unpopular with the American public, resulted in more than 2,000 U.S. military deaths and cost more than $200 billion.The House move comes just days after the GOP-controlled Senate defeated a Democratic push for Bush to lay out a timetable for withdrawal. Spotlighting mushrooming questions from both parties about the war, though, the chamber then approved a statement that 2006 should be a significant year in which conditions are created for the phased withdrawal of U.S. forces."Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency," Murtha, a longtime hawk on foreign and military affairs issues, said Thursday. "They are united against U.S. forces and we have become a catalyst for violence. The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion."A day after his comments, a U.S. field commander in Iraq countered the position of the usually pro-military congressman."Here on the ground, our job is not done," said Col. James Brown, commander of the 56th Brigade Combat Team, when asked about Murtha's comments during a weekly briefing that American field commanders routinely give to Pentagon reporters.Speaking from a U.S. logistics base at Balad, north of Baghdad, two days before his scheduled return to Texas, Brown said: "We have to finish the job that we began here. It's important for the security of this nation."Republicans pounced, chastising Murtha for advocating what they called a strategy of surrender and abandonment, and Democrats defended Murtha as a patriot, even as they declined to back his view."I won't stand for the swift-boating of Jack Murtha," Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, responded Friday. Also a Vietnam veteran, Kerry was dogged during the campaign by a group called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that challenged his war record."There is no sterner stuff than the backbone and courage that defines Jack Murtha's character and conscience," Kerry said.For his part, Kerry has proposed a phased exit from Iraq, starting with the withdrawal of 20,000 troops after December elections in Iraq. A Kerry spokesman said "he has his own plan" when asked if Kerry agreed with immediate withdrawal.As a Vietnam veteran and top Democrat on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee with close ties to many military officers, Murtha carries more credibility with his colleagues on the issue than a number of other Democrats who have opposed the war from the start.Bush administration officials have been cautious in responding to Murtha."We have nothing but respect for Congressman Murtha's service to his country," White House communications director Nicolle Wallace told NBC's "Today" show Friday. "And I think he spoke from the heart yesterday. We happen to have a real serious policy disagreement with him."Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, a 29-year Air Force veteran who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for nearly seven years, called Murtha's position unconscionable and irresponsible. "We've got to support our troops to the hilt and see this mission through," he said.With a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts, Murtha retired from the Marine Corps reserves as a colonel in 1990 after 37 years as a Marine, only a few years longer than he's been in Congress. Elected in 1974, Murtha has become known as an authority on national security whose advice was sought out by Republican and Democratic administrations alike.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.