(CNN) -- The white coats of cardiologists are a regular fixture for heart patients, but more and more, the furry coats of man's best friends might become a common sight.Researchers at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, found that a 12-minute bedside visit with a dog can help ease anxiety levels by 24 percent in heart failure patients, compared to a 10 percent drop when patients had a visit from a human volunteer, and no drop in patients who had no visit.Results of the 76-patient study were presented last week at the American Heart Association's annual Scientific Sessions in Dallas, Texas. The study was funded by the Pet Care Trust Foundation, a non-profit organization which promotes human-animal interaction and bonding.In the study, effects of dog and volunteer visits were compared with those of volunteers only, and with patients who had no visits and remained at rest.Heart pressures indicating cardiac function and stress hormone levels were monitored and patients answered an anxiety assessment questionnaire before and after the visits. Although levels of the stress hormone norepinephrine and critical pressure measures also decreased, suggesting improved cardiac function, the most marked response was seen in anxiety levels."The first thing you notice is that the patient's facial expression changes to a smile and the stress of the world seems to be lifted off their shoulders," study author Kathy Cole said.Feelings of depression and helplessness are common among heart patients, Cole said, and just three nights in a hospital is enough to make some patients feel anxious and unsettled.During the visit, the furry friend is allowed to lie on the bed next to the patient with its head within two feet of the patient's. Most patients petted the dog, while others engaged human volunteers in conversation about the dog.Canines used in the study are specially trained animal-assisted therapy dogs that undergo a series of trainings, evaluations and certifications to qualify as therapy dogs. Dog breeds varied: Researchers used everything from Bernese mountain dogs to miniature schnauzers.However, a dog doesn't have to be specially trained to have a calming effect on its human counterparts. In fact, the animal doesn't even have to be a dog in order to help."As long as the animal has meaning to the patient, or a relationship with the animal, it can help calm the patient," Cole said.The latest study falls in line with previous research in the field of animal-assisted therapy which has shown that the therapy reduces blood pressure in both healthy and hypertensive patients, and that it aids in the recovery of cancer patients as well.The study also supports the well-documented phenomenon that the greater a person's level of networking and social support, the more likely that person is to have healthier heart function, with or without heart disease.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A judge threw out a lawsuit Wednesday that sought to block the No Child Left Behind law, President Bush's signature education policy. The National Education Association said it would appeal.The NEA and school districts in three states had argued that schools should not have to comply with requirements that were not paid for by the federal government.Chief U.S. District Judge Bernard A. Friedman, based in eastern Michigan, said, "Congress has appropriated significant funding" and has the power to require states to set educational standards in exchange for federal money.The NEA, a union of 2.7 million members and often a political adversary of the administration, had filed the suit along with districts in Michigan, Vermont and Bush's home state of Texas, plus 10 NEA chapters in those states and Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Utah.The school districts had argued that the law is costing them more than they are receiving in federal funding.The law requires states to revise academic standards and develop tests to measure students' progress annually. If students fail to make progress, the law requires states to take action against school districts.Reg Weaver, president of the NEA, said his group would appeal."Parents in communities where school districts are financially strained were promised that this law would close the achievement gaps," he said. "Instead, their tax dollars are being used to cover unpaid bills sent from Washington for costly regulations that do not help improve education."The lawsuit alleged that there was a gap between federal funding and the cost of complying with the law. Illinois, for example, will spend $15.4 million annually to meet the law's requirements on curriculum and testing but will receive $13 million a year, the lawsuit said.Friedman said that the law "cannot reasonably be interpreted to prohibit Congress itself from offering federal funds on the condition that states and school districts comply with the many statutory requirements, such as devising and administering tests, improving test scores and training teachers."Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said, "This is a victory for children and parents all across the country. Chief Judge Friedman's decision validates our partnership with states to close the achievement gap, hold schools accountable and to ensure all students are reading and doing math at grade-level by 2014."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(CNN) -- It's the season of giving, but all your kid seems interested in is taking. When they are bombarded with ads about the year's hot toys, it's natural for kids to want to be on the receiving end of gift-giving. But how do you handle the seasonal outbreak of the "gimmes"?Financial, parenting and education experts offer advice for turning the holiday season into a time that helps kids learn financial responsibility and the importance of giving."Fifty-three percent of parents agree that their child thinks money grows on trees," says Rosetta Jones, vice president of Visa USA, which conducted a survey of parents. She encourages parents to use the holiday season to teach their children good personal finance practices.For young children who expect presents from Santa, it's fine to preserve the magic of the season while taking the time to start very general discussions about money, with questions like "Where does money come from?" and "Why do Mommy and Daddy go to work?"Older children can learn about the family's gift-giving budget and, with help, set similar budgets of their own. Jones suggests that older kids earn their gift-giving funds to further help them develop healthy, realistic perceptions about money.Since kids learn by example, Jones says, parents should take advantage of everyday opportunities to engage them. "Managing money is not rocket science," she says. "It's just a matter of taking the time to use everyday experiences, like holiday shopping, to bring that education home and make it real for the child."Dr. Istar Schwager, founder and president of CreativeParents.com, agrees. She urges parents to help kids become savvy about consuming all through the year, by teaching them to look at packages to determine what's included in them, as well as comparison shop.She suggests that parents take their kids to the store to see if the toy they want is truly as appealing in person as it is in the ads. If a friend's child has the toy, ask if your child can try it to see if he or she really likes it. Sometimes boredom sets in faster than you think.Schwager says that although parents are under a lot of pressure from their kids, they have a responsibility to sift through what their kids are asking for and have a "reality list."If parents object to a toy because it's unsafe, is not age-appropriate or doesn't meet their values, they need to say so.Kids learn from the way parents talk to them, Schwager says, and can be surprisingly realistic if they are included in the loop and spoken to honestly and sensitively. "There are nice ways of saying 'no,' and often kids are more understanding than parents may realize."She's also a big believer in toys that have stood the test of time -- board games, riding toys, dolls and stuffed animals, blocks, puppets and other toys that challenge kids to use their imagination and play with others.Schwager reminds parents that not everything of value has to be bought, and asks them to send the message that there's more to the season than buying things. Handmade gifts, time spent together and helping others in need make the season more meaningful for kids and offer rewards of their own.At Lewis Elementary in Kennesaw, Georgia, the emphasis is on helping others before the holidays even start. Guidance counselors are made aware of families in the community who are going through tough times. The Student Council organizes and leads a canned and dry goods drive, followed by a new clothing drive for essentials, like socks and underwear, to help these families.The school adorns a "Giving Tree" with paper ornaments that bear the names of gifts on the wish lists of children from the families. Students' families buy the items and the school's guidance counselors make sure they are delivered. Many other schools have similar initiatives.Mariann Dolnick, a veteran educator at Lewis Elementary, says that this school-wide initiative is one way students learn about the rewards of giving versus receiving."It helps to take the focus off 'what I want,'" says Dolnick.She's aware of the pressures parents face as they work to earn money to provide their children with material possessions, but says she has seen many students who have lots of "things" with little knowledge of the real world.Dolnick urges parents to take time to talk to and interact with their kids."Give your kids real life experiences and fewer material things. There has to be a balance."

DAVIS, West Virginia (AP) -- At the summit of Salamander Slope, Tom Blanzy kills the engine and hops off his six-wheeled all-terrain vehicle into ankle-deep snow. Gray clouds have dimmed the panoramic view from the top of Herz Mountain, elevation 4,268 feet, but the silence is nothing short of astounding.Starting in December, skiers will come to this spot and pick a path, from a beginner trail like the meandering two-mile Salamander, to the double black-diamond slope, suitably named Off the Wall. Cross-county skiers might venture just beyond the tree line and into the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area."You can strap on some skis, follow the upward elevation and just hear your heart beat," says Blanzy, general manager of Timberline Four Seasons Resort.Timberline and its nearby competitor, Canaan Valley Resort & Conference Center, are the main attractions in Davis, a little-known skiing and outdoor sports paradise that the November issue of Men's Journal declares one of the "10 Coolest Mountain Towns" in North America."Like redneck in-laws, serious snow is a secret many Southerners would prefer to keep," the magazine says. "But with 150-plus annual inches, Davis is the Dixie darling for skiers who'd rather drive to the Appalachians than fly to the Rockies.""I'm surprised the word hasn't gotten out sooner," says Laird Knight, owner of Granny Gear Productions, which stages mountain bike races. "I've lived here 23 years and I would have thought by now, the place really would have been discovered."It's everything that an urban refugee would look for," he says. "It's everything a city isn't."Davis is an old lumber and coal mining town, tapped by industrialists in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and named for former U.S. Sen. Henry Gassaway Davis, who paid between $5 and $15 an acre for land.But it is location, more than history, that makes it special.Davis sits at the edge of the highest mountain valley east of the Rockies, a 14-by-3-mile trough with an average snowfall of 160 inches. At 3,200 feet, Canaan Valley is drained by the Blackwater River, which occupies anglers and rafters alike. It is ringed by mountains perfect for hiking, biking and skiing, and it is filled with distinctively northern trees like red spruce and balsam fir.And with fewer than 700 full-time residents, it's a place that Claire Martin says often goes overlooked by Northeasterners in ski season."It was on our radar, but we realized it wasn't necessarily on the radar of the rest of the country," says Martin, deputy editor of Men's Journal. "We've all been to Vermont and seen the Green Mountains, and seen the White Mountains of New Hampshire, but not very many outdoor enthusiasts -- even in the know -- have been to West Virginia.""I tell ya, people in Virginia don't know about West Virginia," says Chip Chase, owner of a cross-country skiing company called White Grass Touring Center."We don't reach out to a national audience, but when people in the know do come, they really get off on it," he says. "I've been here 25 years, and I've never had a boring day."'Antithesis of commercialization'The ski stats speak for themselves.Timberline has a vertical drop of 1,000 feet, 37 slopes and trails and 94 percent snowmaking. Canaan has a vertical drop of 850 feet, 37 slopes and 85 percent snowmaking.This year, Timberline has improved its snowmaking capabilities, while Canaan is reaching out to families with a program allowing children under 12 to stay, eat and ski for free.Also new at Canaan is a high-tech form of sledding that spokesman Bryan Brown says only a half-dozen resorts in the country offer. Airboards are inflatable, lightweight, steerable sleds about 4 feet long, with a grooved surface that allows for quick turns and stops. Airboarders will have their own terrain at Canaan, just like snowboarders and tube-riders.But Brown says Canaan has lost none of the solitude and scenery that guests treasure."It's not overcommercialized," he says. Then he laughs. "It's not commercial at all. It's the antithesis of commercialization."When it comes to stores, well ... there aren't many."If they're after the Aspen experience, they're not going to get it here," says Roger Lilly, owner of Blackwater Bikes. "If the husband wants to be outdoors and the wife wants to shop, that's going to be a problem."In Davis, shopping is limited to antiques, a gourmet food store, an herb shop and an art gallery."It's not an area if you're looking for frills," Lilly says. "There are some really good small restaurants, but no big fancy dining experiences. And we'd like to keep it that way."Davis' few eateries include Muttley's steakhouse, the Flying Pigs Cafe, Blackwater Brewing and Sirianni's Cafe, a rustic pizza joint whose tantalizing aromas fill the still, cold air.Michael Goss manages Sirianni's, where the walls are decked with ski posters, some autographed by extreme skier and occasional visitor Glenn Plake. Plake's decadent "Extreme Garlic Chips" are featured on the menu, essentially a crispy pizza crust smothered with handfuls of fresh chopped garlic and gooey cheese, then cut into small squares."Every big city has its little communities, but they don't have the quaint, small-town charm," Goss says.That's why he believes most visitors return. Locals remember their faces and greet them at every sighting."We make them feel welcome," Goss says. "Here, they have a mountain they can call their own."Clare Ferguson and Andy Norton, Londoners now living in Takoma Park, Maryland, found Davis after less than a month in the United States. Clare's mother, Wendy Ferguson, was visiting from France for 10 days, so the family packed up and rented a cabin in the woods."We wanted to take my mom somewhere nice. We wanted to find someplace with beautiful trees, and arts and crafts," Clare says. "It's beautiful. Lovely."After lunch, the Fergusons head for the neighboring town of Thomas, where there are slightly more shops and the MountainMade Artisan Gallery, a showcase of West Virginia workmanship. Thomas also offers some hard-to-find nighttime entertainment, with live music at The Purple Fiddle Coffeehouse.Susan Moore, owner of the Bright Morning Inn, worked in the advertising business for years and says she always felt she could be honest about places like Davis."It is wild and wonderful," she says. "This is the closest real wilderness for lots of people who live in the mid-Atlantic. ... You can really feel totally lost and totally away from everything, and that's harder and harder to find."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- Starting next year, art lovers won't have to cross the Atlantic to see sculptures and paintings at one of the world's finest art museums. The Louvre in Paris plans to display some of its renowned collections in the United States, but only at one museum -- Atlanta's High Museum of Art.It will mark the first time in the Louvre's 212-year history that the museum has agreed to share entire collections with another museum for an extended period.The "Louvre in Atlanta" project will be launched in January with an exchange of high school students between Atlanta and Paris followed by the display of some Louvre exhibits at the High Museum starting in the fall of 2006.The arrangement breaks new ground in the international art world and scores a diplomatic success among tense Franco-American relations."On France's part, this is more than a gesture," French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres told The Associated Press in an interview from Paris. "It's an attitude that demonstrates that we are solid allies and friends."As part of a goodwill tour in the United States that also took him to New Orleans, Donnedieu de Vabres traveled to Atlanta this month to award High Museum Director Michael Shapiro one of France's top cultural honors -- a knighthood in the Order of Arts and Letters -- for putting together the unique collaboration.While it is routine for one of the world's most complete encyclopedic museums to lend works of art to traveling exhibits, they rarely leave for more than three months. The Louvre-High collaboration will last for three years, which is a first, de Vabres and Louvre officials said.For decades, museums of all sizes have struck short-term international partnerships -- including FRAME, a program matching smaller French and U.S. museums -- but not such an extensive one, said Ed Able, president of the American Association of Museums.For the High, which has been building an international reputation through popular exhibits and its Renzo Piano designed expansion that opened November 12, the partnership means hosting works of the caliber usually seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York or the Art Institute of Chicago.Large Louvre collections -- including the Greco-Roman antiquities of Napoleon's wife, the royal collection of prints and drawings and contemporary still-lifes -- will be on view in Atlanta, complemented by smaller exhibits such as one on the late 18th-century sculpted portraits by Jean-Antoine Houdon.For the Louvre, the collaboration means a new step in making its art more accessible to visitors, and learning more about American fund-raising techniques.Since 2002, a New York-based group, American Friends of the Louvre, has helped fund the museum's efforts to better serve visitors who don't speak French through bilingual informational pamphlets, labels and the Web site, said the group's director, Sue Devine.About 1.2 million Americans visit the Louvre each year, accounting for nearly 20 percent of the museum's visitors. Most come to see Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa painting -- which can't travel because it's too fragile and is the museum's top draw.Americans also open their pocketbooks for the Louvre well beyond the $10.50 admission price. About five donors in Atlanta gave more than $1 million apiece to pay loan fees for the Louvre in Atlanta programs, Devine said.The Louvre plans to use the nearly $10 million it is getting for the project to restore its galleries housing 18th-century decorative arts, Lerolle said.The connection between the French government and the High started more than 40 years ago in tragedy. In summer 1962, 106 members of the Atlanta Art Association -- the group behind the High Museum's founding in the early 1900s -- died in a plane crash outside Paris. In response, France sent several masterpieces to be shown in Atlanta.More recently, in 1999 and 2002, the directors of the High and Louvre collaborated on organizing two impressionism exhibits at the High.While both credit their personal relationship with the Louvre's choice of the High for the partnership, the unprecedented Louvre partnership and de Vabres' recognition signal that the arts make a good bridge over the trans-Atlantic divide created by the war in Iraq, which continues to loom wide while the French lead Europe's desire for more independence from the United States."There is a growing understanding in the U.S. government of the importance of cultural diplomacy," said Karl Hofmann, second in command at the U.S. Embassy in Paris. "This is something we strongly support.""This is a magnificent initiative because it is very important to build and enlarge the links between Americans and Europeans," de Vabres said. "Through cultural and artistic links, people can discover one another's attractions."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) -- The Galeras volcano in southeastern Colombia shot fire early on Thursday in a small eruption, prompting the government to step up evacuations of about 9,000 people living nearby."There was an eruption," said government volcano expert Martha Calvache. "People saw a sudden blaze from the volcano that was stronger than recent activity we saw in August and September."People around the town of Pasto were urged to leave as pressure in the volcano grows.Evacuations started last week in Narino province when scientists first warned an eruption was possible. Some residents said they were reluctant to abandon their farms and livestock.Galeras had a small gas and ash eruption a year ago that started forest fires but caused no injuries. An eruption of the volcano in 1993 killed at least 10 people.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) -- A few decades from now, space travelers living on Mars may think the Pilgrims had it easy.The pioneers who make the 80-million-mile, three-year journey to Mars and back will probably not have the just-add-water-and-heat packaged foods that are aboard the international space station, where the crew orbiting Earth will prepare a Thanksgiving dinner Thursday of turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans and cherry-blueberry cobbler.During the six- to eight-month trip to Mars, space travelers will grow lettuce, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, green onions, radishes, bell peppers, strawberries, herbs and cabbage aboard their spacecraft.And when they arrive at the Red Planet for a stay of about a year and a half, they will cultivate potatoes, soybeans, wheat, rice, peanuts and beans in soil-less hydroponic chambers, according to NASA's food scientists."We will have to grow the vegetables up there because there is no way you can bring fresh, aroma-filled, crunchy vegetables and have it last," said Michele Perchonok, a food technologist at NASA's Johnson Space Center, which is working on a project to send humans back to the moon, and from there to Mars.The wheat will most likely be processed and made into bread or pasta. Syrup could be extracted from sweet potatoes and used to sweeten cookies. And the rice could be cooked or used in drinks."I sort of explain it as an 1800s kitchen with some automation," Perchonok said. "You are going to have to make your peanut butter. If you want a salad dressing, you are going to have to make your salad dressing."The packaged meals astronauts eat in space now do not have a long enough shelf life to be safe for consumption during the entire length of a Mars mission. They also add weight and create waste -- something NASA is going to great lengths to prevent.In fact, NASA wants to recycle just about everything -- even turning the astronauts' sweat and urine back into drinking water.Some studies are looking into the use of fish -- specifically tilapia -- as a way to recycle shower water, toilet waste and the water clothes are washed in. Tilapia eat human waste and are safe for human consumption afterward, said Vickie Kloeris, who manages the Space Food Systems Laboratory at Johnson Space Center.Some crew members are leery of turning urine into drinking water. But Kloeris noted that water-treatment systems on Earth do that already."So in real life you are drinking somebody else's urine instead of your own," she said. "So I'm not sure psychologically which is worse. I think I'd rather drink my own."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(CNN) -- Dr. Andrew Weil is arguably America's foremost practitioner of alternative medicine, or as he likes to call it, integrative medicine. He believes the key to a long and healthy life lies in staying active, eating more fruit and grains, and practicing massage and meditation in order to shed stress.Weil's new book is "Healthy Aging," a subject he discussed recently with CNN correspondent Heidi Collins. Here is an edited version of their discussion.COLLINS: Can you make me live longer?WEIL: I don't know. Possibly by reducing your risks of the age-related diseases, especially cardiovascular disease. But, my emphasis is not on life extension. It's on healthy aging. So, I'm trying to keep you healthy as long as possible.COLLINS: So, what is the key to longevity?WEIL: I think the key to longevity is delaying the onset and reducing the risk of age-related disease. Age-related disease are these big categories of illness that become more common after age 60 and that account for a great deal of premature death and disability. So, the big ones are cardiovascular disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease and its relative. So, I think the emphasis is on preventing those, showing you how to reduce the risk or delay the onset. And if you came to me as a patient, I would look at your family history, personal history to see where your greatest risks were. And then I would concentrate the preventive efforts in those areas.COLLINS: So, I mean, this isn't all that complicated?WEIL: I don't think it's all that complicated. It just means doing some work, though. It means doing some homework and then learning the information that you need then applying it. And it's applying it really in all areas of your lifestyle. It means looking at how you eat, how you use dietary supplements, how you exercise, how you handle stress, how you sleep, how you rest, how you deal with your mind. You know, you really need to work in all those areas to ensure healthy aging.COLLINS: So, if I breathe, if I put flowers in my house, if I get massaged by love, if I have spiritual health, if I walk, dance, golf, and couple other things, I am going to feel better longer?WEIL: Yes, probably. But, if you ... COLLINS: I forgot eat fruits and vegetables.WEIL: Correct. But, if you are smoking also, I probably can't do much for you. And if you're not paying attention to weight and not paying attention to your cholesterol and not paying attention to other medical risks that you may have, you know, you can put all the flowers you want in your house and it's not gonna help. So, you know, we have to attend to that part of you as well.COLLINS: What's the bottom line with stress? How do we learn to maintain nonstress?WEIL: There's lots of ways of doing that. Everything from doing yoga to listening to relaxing music to getting massaged. My favorite techniques are breathing methods because they're so cost efficient and time efficient. And these mostly come from the yoga tradition. But, they're simple. I mean, there's a relaxing breath that I teach that takes all of two minutes a day to practice that has a remarkable effects if you do it regularly over time.COLLINS: How much of being healthy and living longer is really up to the individual?WEIL: Well, I think most of it's up to the individual. You know, a lot of people ask me how much is genetics and how much is environment and lifestyle? I think it's always both. My way of thinking of this is that we're all dealt a certain hand of genetic cards, some good, some bad. But, it's up to us how we play them.COLLINS: Okay. So, we'll keep this one simple. But if you were to give me the sort of outline to walk away with today, diet-wise.WEIL: Eat fewer foods of animal origin; more fruits and vegetables; more plant-based protein from soy foods, for example. Make sure you've got omega-3 fatty acids in your diet, either from oily fish, or fish oil supplements. Try to reduce consumption of quick-digesting carbohydrate foods, which are the ones made from any kind of flour, sugar, high fructose corn syrup.And try to eat more of the slower-digesting carbohydrate foods, which are beans, whole grains, packed grains, winter squashes, sweet potatoes. Really learn the differences between good fats and bad fats. Use olive oil as a main cooking oil. Include nuts, seeds, avocados, in your diet.Take a good multivitamin, multimineral supplement. Add things to the diet, like green tea and dark chocolate and red wine, in moderation, if you want their antioxidant effects.COLLINS: Should we have dogs?WEIL: I can't imagine life without dogs. It doesn't have to be dogs. There's very interesting medical research showing to people who have pets recover faster from illness. They get out of the hospital faster if they have surgery. So I think there's a lot of benefits to being involved with, you know, other things than yourself.COLLINS: Anything else?WEIL: Well, I think aside from eating right, you want to maintain physical activity throughout life. And that doesn't mean you have to run marathons, or go to aerobics classes. Walking is a perfectly good physical activity if you do enough of it regularly enough. You want to learn some method of stress management. You know, as I said, I like breathing exercises. But, you know, anything you can do. You want to really try to identify negative thought patterns that lead to negative behavior, and see how you can change them.I think you want to keep your mind active, whether that's by learning another language, or changing your computer operating system frequently. You want to stay connected and involved with life. I think you really want to try to focus on the positive attributes that come with aging, as well as the negative ones.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Cranberries, known for their ability to help thwart urinary tract infections, may also help prevent tooth decay and cavities, new research shows.The same sticky compounds in the small red fruit that help keep bacteria at bay in the bladder also appear to help prevent bacteria from clinging to teeth, dental researchers reported in the January issue of the journal Caries Research.They also found it seemed to help ward off plaque, a gooey substance formed from bits of food, saliva, and acid that can harbor bacteria and eventually irritate the gums."There's potential to find compounds there that prevent dental cavities," Hyun Koo, an oral biologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, told Reuters in an interview this week.The ultimate goal is to extract the berry's protective properties and add them to toothpaste or mouthwash, he said, but it is still unclear exactly why the fruit is so effective.In the meantime, Koo warned people against drinking or eating excessive amounts of cranberry-containing products."The biggest problem with any cranberry product is the (food) industry -- they add sugar," he said. "Sugar is the main enemy in causing cavities."The fruit is also loaded with natural acid that can strip away essential minerals in teeth, he added."At this stage you have the other negative factors ... that prevent us from saying 'go ahead and swish with cranberry juice,'" Koo said.During the study, researchers coated a synthetic material that acts like tooth enamel, called hydroxyapatite, with cranberry juice. They then applied the cavity-causing bacteria streptococcus mutans, plaque, or glucan -- a type of enzyme that builds plaque.The results, which took about seven months to obtain, showed cranberries were about 80 percent effective in protecting teeth, Koo said. More laboratory tests are needed to try to isolate the active compounds before clinical trials with patients can be considered, he added.Koo's study is part of series of projects sponsored by the National Institutes of Health to study cranberries' health benefits. The agency is also studying the fruit's impact on urinary tract infections and how it is processed by the body.Tooth decay is one of the most common conditions among Americans, second only to the common cold, according to the NIH.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Got a political perspective? Grab a camera and make a statement. With today's technology, we can all be part of a new cinematic dialogue.When Robert Greenwald made a movie to show how Wal-Mart shortchanges its employees, Ron Galloway whipped together his own response, about how Wal-Mart workers love the mega-chain. Both debuted in mid-November.By the time Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" hit video stores in October, 2004, three rebuttals were competing for shelf space.Through the use of digital technology and Internet distribution it is now easier than ever for filmmakers to push their points of view. Movies can be made quickly and cheaply, then burned onto DVDs and disseminated worldwide on the Web."You couldn't do these films with the old technology," says Greenwald. "It's tremendously exciting for the way it continues to democratize the process, from making the films to distributing them."Greenwald shot "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" with digital video cameras and edited the footage with Final Cut Pro, a Macintosh home editing system. He used the Internet to market the movie and arrange more than 7,000 community screenings.Technology also made it possible to quickly and affordably produce his previous documentaries, "Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War" and "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism."Digital video cameras start at less than $1,000. The latest version of Final Cut Pro sells for $999.Without digital technology, Galloway never could have finished his film, "Why Wal-Mart Works & Why That Makes Some People Crazy," in time to compete with "The High Cost of Low Price." Galloway was preparing a book on the inner workings of Wal-Mart when he learned in June about Greenwald's project. He decided to turn the book into a film and timed its release to coincide with Greenwald's."We did a trailer in about two hours," Galloway said. "We cut it in the car while driving down the New Jersey Turnpike."Galloway certainly isn't the first filmmaker to use technology to rush production of a cinematic rebuttal.When Jeff Hays saw Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" in July of 2004, he walked out of the theater determined to craft a response."It needed to be done and if I wasn't going to do it, I was afraid of who might," he recalls.He spent 28 days shooting his film, "Fahrenhype 9/11," which was released the same day as the "Fahrenheit" DVD. He calls it "the free-market answer."Hays' latest work, "On Native Soil: The Documentary of the 9/11 Commission Report," made the initial cut for 2005 Oscar consideration.Politics and "righteous indignation" motivated Michael Wilson to make his movie, "Michael Moore Hates America," out of his apartment with borrowed cameras. Technology allowed him to share footage with an editor through a common server, so shooting and editing could happen simultaneously.It was also technology, and the national response to "Fahrenheit 9/11," that inspired David Bossie to try filmmaking as a political tool. A first-time filmmaker, he made his "Fahrenheit" rebuttal, "Celsius 41.11," in just eight weeks."Digital technology made all the difference in being able to produce and distribute this film in an affordable way," Bossie said.Bossie, whose latest work, "Broken Promises: The United Nations at 60," was released November 11, intends to change minds with his movies."Documentaries that make people think and open people's minds to a conservative political standpoint are going to have a great impact on the political process," he says. "I may not agree with some filmmakers, but the more who do it, the more acceptable and popular it becomes as a way to influence public policy."Actually, nonfiction films that espouse a political perspective are nothing new, says Malcolm Spaull, a film professor at Rochester Institute of Technology. "All documentaries reflect a point of view," he says. "What's different now is the availability of technology to everyone."Also, Spaull adds, the genre has been shaped by technology throughout its history. Portable film cameras inspired the "direct cinema" fly-on-the-wall approach to filmmaking that began in the late 1950s, he notes. Video cameras also had an impact on documentaries, but the quality was lacking."Now the technology is so ubiquitous, and it's good enough quality, that anyone who can pick up a camera and hit the trigger can start filming and making so-called documentaries," he says. "Technology is taking documentaries into the next phase."That's good news for Greenwald, who feels "democracy is not a spectator sport.""Film is the language people use today," he says.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP ) -- The Anti-Defamation League on Wednesday demanded an apology from Michael Jackson after ABC aired what was said to be a telephone answering-machine message in which the pop star referred to Jews as "leeches"The message was supposedly recorded two years ago and has now surfaced in connection with a lawsuit against the pop star."Michael Jackson has an anti-Semitic streak and hasn't learned from his past mistakes," ADL director Abraham H. Foxman said in a statement. "It seems every time he has a problem in his life, he blames it on Jews."Jackson infuriated Jewish groups in 1995 when his song "They Don't Care About Us" included the lyrics "Jew me, sue me, everybody do me, kick me, kike me." Jackson apologized, saying the lyrics were meant to demonstrate the hatefulness of racism, anti-Semitism and stereotyping. He then changed the lyrics.On Tuesday, ABC's "Good Morning America" aired portions of a 2003 voice message that Jackson was alleged to have left for a former adviser, Dieter Wiesner.A transcript provided by the office of attorney Howard King quotes Jackson as saying: "They suck them like leeches. ... They start out the most popular person in the world, make a lot of money, big house, cars and everything and end up penniless. It's a conspiracy. The Jews do it on purpose."Jackson spokeswoman Raymone K. Bain said Wednesday the singer had no comment. A call to Jackson's attorney Thomas Mesereau was not immediately returned.The message was among about a dozen released by King, who represents Wiesner and another former adviser who are locked in business disputes with the pop star and are suing him for millions. King said he released the messages to keep Jackson from appearing sympathetic in court.Jackson, now living in the Persian Gulf kingdom Bahrain, was acquitted in June of molesting a boy at his Neverland ranch.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NEW YORK (AP) -- There's security in anonymity, as anonymous as someone can be whose job requires singing in arenas filled with thousands of people.That explains a little of Neil Diamond's wariness in response to the strong reviews he has received for "12 Songs," his back-to-basics disc produced by musical guru Rick Rubin.He's happy, to be sure, but a little frightened."There's quite a bit of pressure off if you realize that not everybody is listening, just your fans are listening," he said. "In this case, I realized that a lot of other people outside my fan base are listening. Critics are listening for the first time, and that makes it scary."Relax, Neil. Rolling Stone gave it four stars, Entertainment Weekly an "A." People magazine's Chuck Arnold said, "Let's just put it right out there: You will be blown away by the new Neil Diamond CD."If such praise seems as unlikely as Paris Hilton clutching an Academy Award, consider that it never would have happened if Diamond hadn't -- finally -- returned Rubin's phone calls."I've always loved his songwriting and I feel like he's one of the great American songwriters," said Rubin, the famed hard rock and hip-hop producer who also guided Johnny Cash's breathtaking final series of discs. "I liked the fact that he never really fit into any category. He didn't fit anywhere -- he was rock 'n' roll and not rock 'n' roll. He was a force unto himself."Rubin had been a fan of the old Diamond, of "Solitary Man" and "Sweet Caroline." That singer had long since disappeared behind the sequins and material that made him a punch line for serious music fans.It wasn't until three years ago that Diamond, after being prodded by friends in the industry, agreed to a meeting.Rubin had first called a decade ago.New perspectives"I was doing what I wanted to do," Diamond explained. "I was making the records I wanted to make where and when I wanted to do them. I wasn't looking aggressively for someone to come in and give me some new and fresh perspectives on my stuff. I was pretty happy with it and perfectly willing to continue as long as I could on that path."Their first meetings, at Rubin's house or studio, they were like two teenagers. They sat and listened to music together, talking about what they liked.Rubin played Diamond some of his old records, things he hadn't heard in years, and they talked about what it was like making them."His reputation preceded him," Diamond said. "But man to man, I just liked him a lot."Diamond started writing songs, supervised by Rubin."He brought the chops right from the beginning," Rubin said. "What I pushed for was for him to go beyond, in terms of continuing way beyond where he normally would."The writing continued until Diamond had between 30 and 40 songs done. Some of his new album's standouts, "Delirious Love" and "Hell Yeah," vindicated Rubin's prodding, since they were among the last things he wrote before recording began.The similarity to Rubin's work with Cash lies in the album's intimacy. Diamond's voice and acoustic guitar are the centerpieces, with other instrumental embellishments strictly secondary. You're forced to focus on the songs, mostly a 64-year-old man's ruminations on relationships come and gone.The tone is immediately set by the haunting, hypnotic "Oh Mary," with an untraditional song structure and Diamond repeating the title.Diamond said he realized that during his career, "the recordings became bigger than the songs, which I came to understand is a backwards way of doing it. The songs have to come first and inspire everything else. If Rick did anything for me, he did that. He brought my focus back to the songs and made me feel comfortable about not worrying about how the recording of that particular song would be."'He was right'Diamond's acoustic guitar became a symbol of that journey. He hadn't played guitar on record since the 1960s and, insecure about his abilities, wasn't about to start now. But Rubin insisted upon it.Because Diamond had to concentrate on the chords he was playing, it actually helped his singing, he said."He sang differently when he was playing the guitar," Rubin said. "There was a purity to the vocal that was more natural and less of a performance. He was less able to think about what he was singing and it sounded better."They fought about it virtually every day in the studio, Diamond said, and he gave in every time."Guess what?" Diamond said. "He was right."Rubin's approach of stripping songs down to their core sounds remarkably simple. In reality, it's like the difference between putting on a Broadway play with two or three characters or participating in a big production -- the former is much more difficult, Diamond said.The one exception here was a version of "Delirious Love" where Brian Wilson was invited to turn it into a Beach Boys-style raveup. "It sounded like a thousand angels coming into this music," Diamond said. "I called him up and said, 'I love this. Would you like me to come over and clean your house or something?"'He's very pleased with how "12 Songs" (it's actually 13 songs, and 14 recordings) came out and said his longtime fans are, too. They feel vindicated. He's incorporating the new material into an acoustic set on his ongoing concert tour.Diamond is already planning to work with Rubin on a follow-up. For now he's enjoying the praise and success: "12 Songs" debuted at a personal-best No. 4 on the Billboard album chart."It's definitely a good feeling," he said. "I'll take it over the alternative any day."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Being a Hollywood power player may be glamorous, but today it's anything but. Your studio is deeply in the red. Your most bankable actor is throwing a tantrum, your most bankable actress is drinking away the very big raise you just gave her. You're thinking of putting her in rehab; too bad your most bankable director is already there.Such is life in "The Movies," the new PC game from Activision and Lionhead Studios. "The Movies" is a simulation game in which you build and guide your own fictional studio to fame and fortune -- or failure and bankruptcy. Like the best-selling "Sims" simulation games, "The Movies," which retails for $49.99, puts you in charge of a vibrant virtual world in which you control the destinies and moods of somewhat free-thinking characters -- in this case, actors, directors and crew members. You commission your own scripts. You cast, shoot and release the movies. And you cross your fingers on opening weekend and hope that the reviews are kind and the box office numbers are big."The Movies" starts you off in the silent-film era of the 1930s. You have to literally build your studio from the ground up. You decide the layout, from the placement of your production offices and sets right down to the details of the landscaping.But make your building decisions carefully; you're going to be stuck with them for a few virtual decades. You have to steer your studio through years of changing audience tastes, economic turmoil, and advances in moviemaking technology.With a few clicks and drags of the virtual people who show up at your new studio, you hire actors, directors and screenwriters to make your movie magic. They each come to the table with his or her own talents, abilities and personality quirks, which are represented by status meters you can easily check by clicking on each character. Some characters are moody. Some are bored easily. And some have a taste for drink. Whatever the particular quirk, you have to manage it carefully because it can affect that person's performance -- and ultimately your bottom line.Before you know it, you're cranking out movies with DreamWorks-like efficiency. Over time, you'll find yourself charting a creative direction for your studio.Because "The Movies" really is all about the movies, this game eventually gives you the option of making them yourself. In the game's moviemaking mode, you can have total control of your films, right down to the weapon your serial killer uses in your horror blockbuster. When you're done, you can post your movies online for the world to see.As close as "The Movies" comes to emulating real-life Hollywood, it isn't 100 percent accurate. Mild alcoholism is the worst actor-related scandal you'll have to deal with. And you don't have to worry about being fired because your last few movies bombed. Still, as real-life Hollywood -- and "The Movies" -- prove, make-believe can be more fun than the real thing.

NEW YORK (AP) -- A video game master from Kansas City, Missouri, won a $150,000 prize on Tuesday by besting a rival in the Cyberathlete Professional League World Tour Grand Finals.Johnathan Wendel, 24, who goes by the name "Fatal1ty" in the world of multiplayer games, beat Sander Kaasjager, a player from the Netherlands known as "fnatic.Vo0," for the competition's top prize."It took a lot of practice coming into this tournament, training about eight hours a day for the last two to three weeks," Wendel told AP Television News after the event. "To win $150,000 playing a video game -- that's the best."Wendel has been playing video games since around the age of 5, when his father gave him a Nintendo system and he first played Ikari Warriors. At 15, he started taking home prizes from local competitions. At 18, he entered his first professional tournament in Dallas.Wendel, who is -- for now, at least -- skipping college, has become the leader in titles and prize money in the world of professional gaming.The Cyberathlete Professional League, the first organization of its kind, was founded eight years ago.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- Jordan's King Abdullah II has appointed his national security adviser as the new prime minister, giving him a mandate to launch an all-out war against Islamic militancy in the wake of this month's triple hotel blasts.In a designation letter to newly appointed Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit, Abdullah said Thursday the November 9 attacks "increase our determination to stick to our reform and democratization process, which is irreversible.""At the same time, it reaffirms our need to adopt a comprehensive strategy to confront the Takfiri culture," Abdullah said, referring to the ideology adopted by al Qaeda and other militants who condone the killing those they consider infidels.Abdullah said the strategy should "not only deal with the security dimension, but also the ideological, cultural and political spheres to confront those who chose the path of destruction and sabotage to reach their goals."The king called for a "relentless war on all the Takfiri schools, which embrace extremism, backwardness, isolation and darkness and are fed on the ignorance and naivety of simple people."He said fatwas, or religious edicts, issued by such groups constitute a "threat on the society and its interests."Abdullah also called for a new anti-terrorism law to replace a general one that does not specify punishment for different terrorist acts and their perpetrators.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new political party registered Thursday morning under the name Kadima, Hebrew for "Forward."The party settled on Kadima after rejecting "National Responsibility" and "Hatikva" -- or Hebrew for "The Hope" -- as possible names, a party official said.The party announced that former Likud Knesset member Roni Bar-On will chair the party's Knesset faction.Kadima now numbers 16 members in the 120-member Knesset. The latest to join are ex-Labor Minister Haim Ramon and David Tal, a former member of Shas and One Nation.The Kadima party, which held its first meeting in Sharon's Tel Aviv office, plans to erect billboards Thursday with the slogans "Israel wants to march forward" and "Sharon, a strong leader for peace."Israeli President Moshe Katsav and parliament leaders have agreed that elections will be held March 28. (Full story)Overnight polls showed Tuesday that if the election were held immediately, Sharon's new party would be the election winner.On Monday, Sharon announced that he was quitting Likud, the right-wing party he helped found in the 1970s, and forming a new centrist party with the goal of moving the Middle East peace process forward based on the U.S.-backed road map for peace.In announcing his new party, Sharon said he fully embraces the road map and is prepared to make "painful concessions" to achieve peace with the Palestinians, if Israelis elect him to a third term as prime minister. Sharon asked Katsav on Monday to dissolve parliament, saying he was convinced that a majority of Knesset members backed his plans for achieving peace with the Palestinians.The refusal by many Likud Knesset members to back Sharon's plan to withdraw from Gaza forced him to join Labor to get his disengagement plan implemented. Since the Gaza withdrawal in September, so-called Likud "rebels," or opponents to Sharon, have refused to back his nomination of three new cabinet ministers.Kadima, with no historic debts to either the left or the right, will attempt to move peace negotiations forward with a new approach, Sharon's advisers have indicated.Political observers have said that Sharon's move is nothing less than an earthquake shaking the foundations of Israeli politics. (Full story)For years, Labor and Likud have been the leading parties in Israel, with Labor on the left and Likud, backed by settlers and Orthodox Jewish parties, on the right.However, with relations with the Palestinians apparently going nowhere, a majority of Israelis backed Sharon but told pollsters they were increasingly disenchanted with both Labor and Likud.Among those disenchanted voters are more than 1 million Russian Jews who have immigrated to Israel in the past few years. Conservative, they have voted with Sharon but dislike the Orthodox and settlers, who they feel get too many undeserved government benefits. Because the Russian Jews have just fled socialism in Russia, they are not comfortable with Labor, especially Labor's new leader, Amir Peretz.Peretz, a self-described socialist known for his fiery rhetoric and class-warfare style, has promised to take Labor back to its socialist roots.Sharon's new Kadima Party aims to attract those voters in the middle, while Peretz moves Labor to the left. As many as six Likud members, including former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, fight it out for control of Likud and will likely strengthen its ties to the right.Sharon adviser Eyal Arad told Britain's Guardian newspaper this week that "land for peace" had been a failure, and Sharon would now offer the Palestinians "independence based on security."Arad told the paper that Sharon has decided to abandon the "land for peace" formula on which the 1992 Oslo accords with the Palestinians were based.

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- Drivers eager to get out of town for the holidays may have caused a train wreck at a crossing in suburban Chicago, the acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.At least 10 people were injured in Wednesday's crash, including seven who already have been treated and released. Three others were initially in critical condition, but their conditions have been upgraded, said the NTSB's Mark Rosenker.The wreck happened during rush hour in Elmwood Park, about 10 miles west of downtown Chicago, when a Metra express train ran into five vehicles on the track, smashing them into 11 other automobiles. (Watch the aftermath -- 3:47)The initial investigation shows that the crossing gate and safety lights were activated about a minute before the crash, and the train's engineer initiated an emergency stop "as soon as he visually saw that his grade crossing was occupied by vehicles," Rosenker said."Unfortunately," Rosenker added, "there was nothing he could do."The train was moving at about 70 mph (113 kph) -- the legal speed limit on the track -- and the engineer applied the brakes about 450 feet before the crash, but the train slowed to only about 65 mph (105 kph) before it reached the cars. (Watch Metra's reaction to the accident -- 5:27)The normal rush-hour traffic, combined with the rush to get out of town for Thanksgiving, may have led to the wreck, Rosenker said, calling the idea of staying on the tracks with the crossing gate down "a recipe for disaster."To drivers on the tracks, Rosenker issued an admonition: "You shouldn't be there."About 26,300 vehicles cross the track at the crash location daily, and Rosenker said that drivers who routinely cross the tracks there may have thought they could beat the train. "Last night was different -- different because of the extremely crowded road, perhaps because of the Thanksgiving holiday, perhaps people weren't focusing, perhaps they were thinking about a Thanksgiving dinner with their family," Rosenker said. "We were very, very lucky last night. People could have died."Rosenker said investigators plan to interview the train's crew and witnesses, as well as study the crossing, highway factors and the railroad signals.Since 1976, he said, there have been 26 wrecks at the crossing, including two fatalities in 1983 and 1997.

QAIM, Iraq (AP) -- Cpl. Brian Zwart set out his turkey, stuffing, corn and mashed potatoes on a makeshift picnic table -- the hood of a Humvee -- before heading out to patrol the Syrian border Thursday to watch for foreign militants sneaking in to join Iraq's insurgency."Serving my country is important, but losing friends makes me more thankful for what I have and for what I used to take for granted," the 20-year-old Marine from Fruitport, Michigan, said as American fighting men and women celebrated a third Thanksgiving in Iraq.U.S. troops around the world marked the holiday in a variety of ways, serving a traditional turkey meal to Serb schoolchildren in Kosovo, dining on food ladled out by senior officers in Afghanistan and staging a parade of makeshift floats in Kyrgyzstan.For many of the 140,000 U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines in Iraq, Thanksgiving Day was another day at work -- albeit with special holiday meals. Troops in Baghdad and elsewhere turned out for three-mile fun runs called "Turkey Trots" before resuming security patrols and other duties."We feel like we're protecting our friends, family and loved ones back home," said Lt. Col. Guy Glad, a military chaplain from Colorado Springs, Colorado. "On the other hand, the holidays can be a somber, sad day for soldiers away from home. Many young soldiers are away from home for the first time."There was no respite from violence. Two American soldiers were reported killed by a roadside bomb southwest of Baghdad and a car bombing south of the capital wounded four other soldiers. (Watch the bomb's aftermath -- :52)"I could be sitting on the couch at home watching football with my dad. Instead I'm driving in Iraq," said Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Maxwell, 21, of Petaluma, California, who spent his first Thanksgiving away from home serving in Qaim on Iraq's border with Syria.Hundreds of Marines along that frontier are living in new bases without hot food, showers or toilets."I miss not seeing my little daughter run around the Thanksgiving table," said Cpl. Chaz Wheeler, 22, of Columbus, Ohio, speaking of his 2-year-old girl, Amelia. (Watch as troops tell of a bittersweet Thanksgiving -- 1:52)In the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, a small choir sang religious songs before soldiers dined at tables decorated with candles and flowers. Soldiers also cut large cakes, including one shaped as a Bible with frosting verses and another in the shape of a cross."We give them the traditional dinner to make them feel a little better about where they are," said chef Baron Whitehurst, who spent a week preparing a Thanksgiving feast for about 5,000 people, mostly soldiers.In Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, soldiers set up a "fallen comrade" table for those killed, laying plates and lighting candles on a black tablecloth in front of several empty seats to remember the soldiers killed during their tour.At Forward Operating Base Speicher north of the capital, country singer Aaron Tippin performed for soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division.Senior officers served the holiday meal to the lower ranks at Bagram, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan. Soldiers, some with their weapons slung over their shoulders, lined up for turkey and the trimmings, pumpkin and custard pies and fresh fruit.At Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan, where 1,200 U.S. military personnel and 50 Spanish soldiers support refueling and cargo missions for operations in nearby Afghanistan, troops celebrated with a parade of military vehicles decorated as a turkey, a house and a satellite dish.The troops got a few extra hours off to contact their families and to enjoy meals that included shrimp cocktail, roast turkey, baked ham and mashed potatoes. (Watch troops' videotaped greetings for their families -- 1:59)At Camp Bondsteel, the main U.S. military base in U.N.-administered Kosovo, U.S. peacekeeping troops ate shrimp cocktail, roast turkey, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie in a dining hall adorned with red turkeys and orange, yellow and red streamers.Lt. Col. Clinton Moyer, a National Guardsman from Clearwater, Kansas, used his holiday time to give young ethnic Serbs in the snow-covered village of Vrbovac a taste of a traditional Thanksgiving meal."Boy, you're in for a treat!" Moyer told the 17 youngsters, who sat quietly at their school desks eating turkey, cranberry sauce, dried meat, nuts and cinnamon rolls served on blue plastic plates.Moyer, who is a teacher back home, talked about how Thanksgiving came to be celebrated, hoping to convey a message of unity in a province still bearing the scars of war and deep divisions between its minority Serbs and the ethnic Albanians who dominate."The Thanksgiving story was one of hope for the people of America because when they came to the New World it was a pretty rough place," Moyer said. "The people of Kosovo have to learn to live and work together and they have to help each other out."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- British pop star Elton John plans to marry his long term partner David Furnish on December 21, the first day that civil partnerships between gay couples will be possible in England.In an interview in Attitude magazine, which hits the newsstands on Friday, John said the ceremony would be a small, private affair involving only himself and Furnish and their parents acting as witnesses."Out of respect for their (our parents') support, we want to just keep it small -- not to make a ballyhoo of the ceremony," he told the gay lifestyle magazine."There will be a party somewhere, but the day will be very low key and we'll take our parents to lunch afterwards."The Civil Partnership Act allows British same-sex couples to effectively marry when it comes into force on December 5.Couples who want to wed under the act must post a notification at a registry office first, meaning that the first such ceremonies in England will take place on December 21.Attitude magazine said in a statement on Thursday that John and Furnish, who have been together for around 12 years, intended to marry on December 21. John's publicist, Gary Farrow, said December 21 was the "probable" date for the ceremony.John added: "I haven't thought so much about the emotional side of it yet, but I'm sure this is going to be an incredibly emotional day."The 58-year-old singer, one of the most successful solo artists in pop history with classics including "Your Song" and "Candle in the Wind", previously married Renate Blauel in 1984 but they divorced four years later.Canadian-born Furnish, 43, welcomed the legislation."It is one of the defining issues of our times. And I applaud Britain for embracing the diversity of our society," he said.John's publicist said earlier this year that one of the main reasons John and Furnish wanted to formalize their relationship was financial, with civil partnerships giving partners tax breaks available to married couples.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, who turned mid-level music careers into a Hollywood star-spangled marriage, have separated following months of persistent breakup rumors.The couple announced their separation Wednesday."After three years of marriage, and careful thought and consideration, we have decided to part ways," they said in a joint statement released by their publicists. "This is the mutual decision of two people with an enormous amount of respect and admiration for each other."Calls seeking further comment from publicists Meredith O' Sullivan and Rob Shuter were not immediately returned early Thursday.The couple have been dogged by rumors that their marriage was in trouble -- Us Weekly reported that they split in an Oct. 17 issue -- but Simpson, 25, and Lachey, 32, brushed the speculation aside and insisted they were still together.In the December-January issue of Teen People, which went on newsstands earlier this month, Simpson denied rumors that the marriage was kaput."Hopefully mine and Nick's story will continue for the rest of our lives, like what we vowed, through sickness and in health," said Simpson, who famously professed that she remained a virgin until she got married.The couple wed in October 2002, back when they were known simply as pop singers. But Simpson hadn't achieved the multiplatinum successes of peers Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, while Lachey was a member of the boy band 98 Degrees, which sold far fewer albums than such acts as 'N Sync and Backstreet Boys.The couple's reality show, "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica," which chronicled their daily lives in a new California home, turned them into stars. The show, which ran for three seasons, made Simpson infamous for her dippy-blonde moments, including the time she confused the tuna she was eating for chicken, or when she eschewed Buffalo wings because "I don't eat buffalo."Simpson's star status has begun to outshine Lachey's. She played Daisy Duke in this summer's hit movie "The Dukes of Hazzard," and she endorses "Dessert," a beauty line that includes flavored body creams. Lachey, whose solo album has had disappointing sales, appeared in some episodes of the sitcom "Charmed."Besides appearing in "Newlyweds," the couple entertained U.S. troops earlier this year in the ABC special "Nick & Jessica's Tour of Duty," and last year they hosted the ABC variety special "Nick & Jessica's Family Christmas." A coffee table book, "Jessica Simpson I Do: Achieving Your Dream Wedding," also was released last year.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NEW YORK (AP) -- "Let's do it."With those last words, convicted killer Gary Gilmore ushered in the modern era of capital punishment in the United States, an age of busy death chambers that will likely see its 1,000th execution in the coming days.After a 10-year moratorium, Gilmore in 1977 became the first person executed following a 1976 U.S. Supreme Court decision that validated state laws to reform the capital punishment system. Since then, 997 prisoners have been executed, and next week, the 998th, 999th and 1,000th are scheduled to die.Robin Lovitt, 41, will likely be the one to earn that macabre distinction next Wednesday. He was convicted of fatally stabbing a man with scissors during a 1998 pool hall robbery in Virginia.Ahead of Lovitt on death row are Eric Nance, scheduled to be executed Monday in Arkansas, and John Hicks, scheduled to be executed Tuesday in Ohio. Both executions appear likely to proceed.Gilmore was executed before a Utah firing squad, after a record of petty crime, killing of a motel manager and suicide attempts in prison. His life was the basis for a TV miniseries and Norman Mailer's book, "The Executioner's Song."While his case was well-known, most people today probably couldn't name even one of the more than 3,400 prisoners -- including 118 foreign nationals -- on death row in the U.S. In the last 28 years, the U.S. has executed on average one person every 10 days.The focus of the debate on capital punishment was once the question of whether it served as a deterrent to crime. Today, the argument is more on whether the government can be trusted not to execute an innocent person.Thomas Hill, an attorney for a death row inmate in Ohio who recently won a second stay of execution, thinks the answer is obvious."We have a criminal system that makes mistakes. If you accept that proposition, that means you have to be prepared for the inevitability that some are sentenced to death for crimes they didn't commit," Hill said.But advocates of the death penalty argue that its opponents are elitist liberals who are ignoring the real victims."Since 1999, we've had 100,000 innocent people murdered in the U.S., but nobody is planning on commemorating all those people killed," said Michael Paranzino, president of Throw Away the Key, a group that supports the death penalty.The race factorRace also is a key question in the debate. Since 1976, 58 percent of those executed in the U.S. were white while 34 percent were black, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. But non-Latino whites make up 75 percent of the U.S. population, while non-Latino blacks comprise just over 12 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.Some supporters say ending the death penalty would be harmful to poor minorities, who are disproportionately murder victims."Increasingly violent crime is primarily for the working class folks, poor people and people of color," Paranzino said.Opponents of capital punishment also point to the unfair role of class and race in death penalty cases. "The race of the victims has a lot to do with who winds up getting executed," said Barry Scheck, co-founder of the New York-based Innocence Project, a legal clinic that seeks to exonerate inmates through DNA testing. "There is tremendous arbitrariness to the death penalty."Death sentences nationwide have dropped by 50 percent since the late 1990s, with actual executions down by 40 percent, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Twelve states do not have the death penalty, and at least two states -- Illinois and New Jersey -- have formal moratoriums on capital punishment, according to the center.An October Gallup poll showed 64 percent of Americans support use of the death penalty. But that is the lowest level in 27 years, down from a high of 80 percent in 1994.Still, some powerful political forces are looking to speed up the trying and executing of prisoners. Both houses of the U.S. Congress are considering bills that would lessen the ability of defendants in capital cases to appeal to federal courts.Proponents of the legislation say such appeals add up to 15 years to the process of executing a prisoner. Detractors say the law will not allow federal courts to review most cases and will result in innocent people being put to death.Executing the innocent?Since 1973, 122 prisoners have been freed from death row. The vast majority of those cases came during the last 15 years, since the use of DNA evidence became widespread. While there is no official proof an innocent person has been executed, opponents of the death penalty say the number of prisoners whose convictions have been reversed should fuel skepticism."I don't think any rational person seriously examining the evidence can have any confidence that an innocent hasn't already been executed," said Scheck.Using post-conviction DNA evidence, the Innocence Project has helped in more than half of the 163 cases vacated -- 14 of which were from death row. "We've demonstrated that there are too many innocent people on death row," Scheck said.But that argument does not impress Charles Rosenthal, district attorney for Harris County, Texas, which has sent more prisoners to the death chamber -- 85 -- than any other U.S. county and all but two states, Texas and Virginia, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice statistics."I don't know about every death penalty case in Texas, but I feel quite sure that no one that this office has had anything to do with was factually innocent," Rosenthal said.Scheck believes Rosenthal's claim is based "more on faith than fact." He noted that the police DNA lab in Houston has been shut down since 2002 because an investigation found problems with poor training and contaminated evidence."What kind of confidence can you have when the jurisdiction that executes more people than any other is fraught with unreliable testing results?" Scheck said.Questions raisedIn at least two cases, questions are being raised about whether an innocent person was put to death. In St. Louis, Missouri, Larry Griffin was convicted for the 1980 fatal shooting of a 19-year-old drug dealer, Quintin Moss. He was executed in 1995. His conviction largely rested on the testimony of a career criminal who was in the Federal Witness Protection Program. Now, a policeman whose testimony backed up the criminal's story says the man was lying, and Moss' own family thinks Griffin was innocent.In Texas, the case of Ruben Cantu, who was executed in 1993, also is receiving attention. Cantu was convicted in 1985 of killing a man and wounding another during a robbery attempt that happened the previous year, when he was 17. A decade after his execution, however, the only witness in the case and Cantu's co-defendant have both come forward to say he was innocent. (Full story)In St. Louis, City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce has led a review of 1,400 cases to see if DNA evidence can prove the guilt or innocence of those convicted. With only 12 cases left to review, evidence led to the exoneration of just three men, none of whom were on death row."Most of the time there is testing, it confirms the guilt of the defendant," Joyce said.Virginia Gov. Mark Warner is examining Lovitt's case, and could decide whether or not to grant clemency over the weekend. It would be the only likely way Lovitt could avoid execution. In October, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to reconsider the case.DNA tests on the scissors used in the stabbing were inconclusive, and the scissors were later thrown away because of a lack of storage space. One of his lawyers, former independent counsel Kenneth Starr, said though he supports the death penalty in principle, it should not apply to Lovitt for reasons "including -- above all right now -- the destruction of the DNA evidence."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. military is blaming a suicide car bomb for a deadly attack on a hospital in Mahmoudiya, 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Baghdad earlier Thursday. Thirty people, most of them Iraqi civilians, were killed, police said.In addition to the attack, a roadside bombing killed an Iraqi police official in Mahmoudiya Thursday afternoon. Also Thursday, gunmen assassinated a member of the Iraqi National Accord, whose chairman is Ayad Allawi, the former prime minister with the Iraq Interim Government. An official with Allawi's party confirmed the member as Adnan Khahtan al-Jarah.The U.S. military said the attack on the Mahmoudiya hospital occurred as Task Force Baghdad soldiers were conducting an assessment on upgrading the hospital. (Watch images of the aftermath -- :52)In earlier reports the military said 18 Iraqi civilians and six security guards with the Force Protection Services were killed. It said that 30 other civilians and four U.S. soldiers were wounded.Police, who customarily report only Iraqi casualties in such incidents, said 23 people were wounded. Some were taken to hospitals in Baghdad, police said."Task Force Baghdad officials said the target appears to have been the hospital, but the terrorist was unable to penetrate the security perimeter before detonating," the U.S. military said in a news release.Thursday evening a bomb went off in a crowded market in Hilla, south of Baghdad, killing three and wounding 13 others, Iraqi police said.Police accused the bomber of deliberately targeting civilians.The parked car bomb was remotely detonated in the city center, just 150 meters from police headquarters, a Hilla police official told CNN.The blast occurred around 6 p.m. (10 a.m. ET).The town, with both Sunni Arabs and Shiites, has been the frequent scene of insurgent attacks.The bombings punctuated a sober Thanksgiving for U.S. troops on patrol. (Full story)Two U.S. soldiers were killed when their patrol struck a roadside bomb southwest of Baghdad on Thursday, the U.S. military said. Their names were being withheld pending notification of next of kin. The Marines also reported the death of a U.S. soldier from wounds sustained in a roadside bomb attack Wednesday in the town of Hit. The soldier was assigned to the 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward). In addition, two soldiers assigned to Task Force Baghdad were killed by gunfire Wednesday southwest of Baghdad, the military reported. The deaths bring to 2,104 the number of U.S. troops who have died in Iraq.Three attacks within an hourEarlier Thursday, three Iraqi security officials were gunned down in three separate attacks within an hour, said an Iraqi police official with Baghdad emergency police. Maj. Muffaq Hassan, an officer with the Iraqi Army, died about 9 a.m. when gunmen opened fire at his car in southwestern Baghdad. His driver was also wounded, police said. About 30 minutes later, Mohammed Mustafa, an Iraqi police officer with the Interior Ministry, was shot to death while driving his private car to work in northern Baghdad. About 10 a.m. Ismaiel Mohammed, a police commissioner working with a major crimes unit, was gunned down near his home in northwestern Baghdad, the police official said.An hour later, three guards for the Industry and Minerals minister were shot to death at the tip of the airport road in western Baghdad, according to an Iraqi police official. They were driving in a car, but were not with the minister when gunmen opened fire, killing them immediately, police said. A bystander was wounded in the attack. The violence comes a day after gunmen dressed as Iraqi troops stormed the home of a senior Sunni leader, killing him, his three sons and a son-in-law. (Full story)Other developmentsEmployees of the Arabic news network Al-Jazeera Thursday protested a report that President Bush allegedly proposed to bomb its headquarters in Qatar. The White House has vehemently denied the report, and the British government has warned the media against publishing details of an alleged secret memo on which the report was based. (Full story)A top Iraqi government official urged Syria on Thursday to arrest insurgents who infiltrate its border from Iraq and hand them over to the Iraqi government. Laith Kubba, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, identified the insurgents as religious extremists and warned of increasing insurgent attacks ahead of the December 15 parliamentary elections.The trial of Saddam Hussein and his seven co-defendants is scheduled to resume Monday despite threats of a boycott by the former Iraqi leader's defense team, a U.S. official close to the court said. (Full story)A suspected lieutenant in the Jaysh al-Mujahideen insurgent group was among those captured October 23 in the raid of a suspected safe house in Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, coalition forces said Thursday. Ahmad Ni'mah Khudayyir Abbas, also known as Abu Shihab, oversaw the propaganda cell and was thought to have commanded several mortar and improvised explosive device cells, the military said.CNN's Arwa Damon and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Scott Peterson is attempting to halt publication of a book written by a lawyer who was kicked off his case for violating a judge's gag order.A Superior Court judge declined to grant a request for emergency relief during a hearing Wednesday, likely pushing the case before an appellate court next week, Peterson's attorney, Mark Geragos, said Wednesday night."We're seeking appellate relief to prevent a lawyer who was employed for the briefest of times from capitalizing on that employment and violating his oath as a lawyer," Geragos told The Associated Press.Matthew Dalton was employed with Geragos & Geragos during the early stages of the Peterson case. He was removed after violating a judge's order not to speak with the media. In an August 2003 conversation with reporters, Dalton floated a human-sacrifice theory in the killing of Peterson's wife, Laci.Peterson was sentenced to death for the 2002 murder of his pregnant wife and their unborn son. His lawyers did not pursue the human-sacrifice defense at trial. His case is on automatic appeal. (Full story)Dalton's book, "Presumed Guilty," is scheduled for publication December 13 by Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. The book's subtitle is "What the jury never knew about Laci Peterson's murder and why Scott Peterson should not be on death row."Messages left after hours for Dalton and Simon & Schuster officials were not immediately returned.Geragos said Dalton left before Peterson's preliminary hearing and has not seen many of the documents that were filed in the case. He also does not have permission to reveal any information about Peterson.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A helium-filled balloon taking part in New York's annual Thanksgiving parade hit a lamppost near Times Square on Thursday, causing a light to fall and injure two sisters from Albany, officials said.An 11-year-old girl suffered a head injury and her 26-year-old sister, who uses a wheelchair, suffered a shoulder injury, police said. Both were taken to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan.There, the two were treated for minor head injuries and released, hospital spokeswoman Kate McGrath said.During a press conference after the event, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the 11-year-old suffered a minor abrasion, and her sister required six stitches.The accident happened around 11:30 a.m., toward the end of the parade route. A police spokesman said a cable from the M&M's candy balloon became entangled with the lamppost. (Watch a spectator's video of the mishap -- 2:01)Before the parade, city officials considered -- and then decided against -- grounding parade balloons because of forecasts of strong wind. Mayor Bloomberg said the cause of the accident would be investigated, but a gust of wind may have been to blame.Winds "were well within the limits," Bloomberg said. They were gauged at 15 mph at the time, safely below the 23 mph limit for parade balloons to fly.During the 1997 Macy's parade, heavy winds caused The Cat in the Hat balloon to strike a lamppost, which toppled onto four people, leaving one woman with permanent brain damage.Since then, Macy's has implemented improved training techniques for the approximately 1,700 people who help handle and direct the massive balloons."The training is more extensive, the training has been upgraded, the training is very successful, and the training is monitored by the police department of New York City," said John Piper, vice president of Macy's Parade Studio, before Thursday's event.The M&M's balloon was 40 feet long, 30 feet wide and 50 feet tall and weighed 515 pounds when fully inflated with helium. It was towed by 48 handlers, according to Macy's."Only two of these people were doing this for the first time," said parade executive producer Robin Hall.Aerial video 20 minutes after the accident showed a broken lamppost light lying on a sidewalk and volunteers rolling up a deflated balloon.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Millions of spectators turned out for the 79th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday, as its floats and giant balloons made their way through the streets of New York City.Before the event began, fears of fierce wind, rain showers and snowstorms had police and city officials considering grounding the giant balloons to avoid accidents.New York police Commissioner Ray Kelly said much attention was being paid to each balloon."We're very much concerned about it, and I think it's going to be a safe and very peaceful day," Kelly said.A cable from the M&M's candies balloon knocked a streetlight from a post near Times Square injuring an 11-year-old girl and a 26-year-old woman. The girl suffered a head injury and the woman suffered a shoulder injury, Bellevue Hospital said. (Watch balloon crash into lamppost -- 2:01)The extent of their injuries was not immediately known. (Full story)Weather has bungled balloons in the past, most notably in 1997, when heavy winds sent The Cat in the Hat balloon plowing into a lamppost that toppled onto four people. One woman suffered permanent brain damage.Since then, Macy's has implemented improved training for the approximately 1,700 people who help handle and direct the massive balloons. (Watch how balloon handlers train -- 2:05)The parade, which began in 1924, is expected to draw 2.5 million spectators and 44 million television viewers, according to the retailer. Shoulders and stepladdersShoulders and stepladders provided viewing perches for spectators."This is wonderful. It's part of New York," 85-year-old Ron Kahn told The Associated Press from atop a ladder.Temperatures were in the low 40s, with only a sprinkle of rain.Sayra Hernandez watched from a side street with her son, Lucas, 4, sitting on her shoulders, AP reported."It seems better on TV, maybe more glamorous, not this hectic," Hernandez, 30, told AP. "But the smile on my kid's face is priceless.""Look at the piggy, Lucas!" she said gesturing as a balloon floated past."Piggy!" Lucas squealed gleefully.This year's big balloons include Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer, the parade's first Latina balloon character, and Scooby-Doo, as well as Barney, Garfield, Big Bird and Charlie Brown.The balloons shared top billing with 10 marching bands, 27 floats and performers such as LeAnn Rimes, Aaron Neville and Kristin Chenoweth.Deployed U.S. troops give thanksFar away in Iraq, most of the more than 140,000 deployed U.S. troops got a traditional Thanksgiving meal of turkey and all the trimmings. (Watch how troops are celebrating the holiday - 1:52)American troops were visited in Baghdad by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.Huddling together in the cold, U.S. Marines of the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion spoke Thursday about missing family and friends back home for Thanksgiving. "Serving my country is important, but losing friends makes me more thankful for what I have and for what I used to take for granted," said Cpl. Brian Zwart, 20, of Fruitport, Michigan. (Full story)Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- Former FEMA Director Michael Brown, heavily criticized for his agency's slow response to Hurricane Katrina, is starting a disaster preparedness consulting firm to help clients avoid the sort of errors that cost him his job."If I can help people focus on preparedness, how to be better prepared in their homes and better prepared in their businesses -- because that goes straight to the bottom line -- then I hope I can help the country in some way," Brown told the Rocky Mountain News for its Thursday editions.Brown said officials need to "take inventory" of what's going on in a disaster to be able to answer questions to avoid appearing unaware of how serious a situation is.In the aftermath of the hurricane, critics complained about Brown's lack of formal emergency management experience and e-mails that later surfaced showed him as out of touch with the extent of the devastation. (Watch Brown is chosen as top 'political turkey' of the year -- 2:58)The lawyer admits that while he was head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency mistakes were made in the response to Katrina. He also said he had been planning to quit before the hurricane hit."Hurricane Katrina showed how bad disasters can be, and there's an incredible need for individuals and businesses to understand how important preparedness is," he said.Brown said companies already have expressed interested in his consulting business, Michael D. Brown LLC. He plans to run it from the Boulder area, where he lived before joining the Bush administration in 2001."I'm doing a lot of good work with some great clients," Brown said. "My wife, children and my grandchild still love me. My parents are still proud of me."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Chinese officials say they have warned Russia about a chemical spill that has disrupted life in the city of Harbin and will reach Russia in about two weeks.A toxic benzene spill has caused the stoppage of water service in Harbin and sparked widespread unease among its 9 million residents, mainly because of the length of time it took government officials to issue information regarding the potential health threat.The benzene was spilled into the Songhua River on November 13 by an explosion at a petrochemical plant in an adjacent city on the river. The blast killed five people and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of others.The 80-kilometer (50-mile) slick traveled down stream, and by Thursday was in Harbin. Benzene, used in gasoline, is a cancer-causing substance.The contaminated water reached Harbin's water supply inlet at about 5 a.m. Thursday local time (2100 GMT), and entered river sections across the city's urban areas, according to the Heilongjiang provincial environment protection bureau, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.Chinese officials said the polluted water would reach the Heilongjiang River, called the Amur River in Russia, on the Sino-Russian border in around 14 days judging from the current flow speed, Xinhua reported.Zhang Lijun, deputy director China's State Environmental Protection Administration, was quoted as saying that some of the 100 tons of pollutants had been absorbed because the density of the pollutants had dropped markedly.Zhang, addressing a press conference in Beijing Thursday, said a chemical plant run by the China National Petroleum Corp.'s Jilin Petrochemical Company should be held responsible for the pollution. CNPC deputy general manager Zeng Yukang apologized for the accident and said CNPC would help with the cleanup, Xinhua reported."China is very concerned about the possible hazards to Russia and has informed its neighbor several times of the pollution," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said at a press conference. "Both have pledged to cooperate closely to handle the pollution."Russian officials, however, have said China dragged its feet in communicating about the potential health hazard. Moscow has issued a statement to its neighbors asking them to communicate about matters potentially affecting Russia in a "timely manner."Harbin has cut off its water supply for at least four days, and has trucked in 700 tons of bottled water. New wells are being drilled to make up for the shortage. Schools in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, have closed and hospitals were put on standby to deal with any medical emergencies, although none were immediately reported.Besides the potential for an environmental disaster, the incident has turned into a public relations disaster as well for the Chinese government, which until the past two days had not given residents timely information about the approaching toxic chemicals. In an effort to appease the public, government officials, in a rare turnaround, began offering hourly updates.Officials have estimated the slick may pass Harbin in about 40 hours, but residents -- who scrambled to save water in pails and bathtubs as well as cramming grocery stores to stock up on bottled water -- remained worried about long-term health effects, and many were taking no chances."We promise to resume the water supply after four days," said Zhang Zuoji, provincial governor. "I think the quality will be no problem, because our monitoring department will take a close look at water quality."Zhang offered to drink the first mouthful of water himself, but concerns persisted that the threat could last longer than four days.Others worried about how the threat could affect Harbin's tourism industry. People flock each year to the city's Ice Festival to see sculptures carved out of ice.

HARBIN, China (AP) -- China's government defended its handling of a chemical plant explosion that sent a 80-kilometer-long (50-mile) toxic slick of river water coursing through a major city and blamed the disaster on a subsidiary of a state-owned oil company.The benzene slick on the Songhua River in northeast China flowed into Harbin days after the city of 3.8 million people shut down its water system, setting off panicked buying that cleared supermarket shelves of bottled water, milk and soft drinks. The government said it would take about 40 hours for the chemical to pass the city.A government official said Thursday that local leaders were warned of the chemical threat after the November 13 blast that killed five people, and no one was sickened."It was handled properly," Zhang Lijun, deputy director of the State Environmental Protection Administration, told a crowded news conference in Beijing. "Authorities acted that day, and not one person has been sickened."The government did not publicly confirm that the Songhua had been poisoned with benzene until Wednesday, 10 days after the explosion. But Zhang said local officials and companies stopped using river water immediately after being told.The disaster has highlighted the environmental damage caused by China's sizzling economic growth and the complaints that the secretive communist government is failing to enforce public safety standards. The government says all major rivers are dangerously polluted and many cities lack adequate drinking water.With its huge population, China ranks among countries with the smallest water supplies per person. Hundreds of cities regularly suffer shortages, and protests over water pollution have erupted in rural areas.Downstream from Harbin, authorities in the Russian border city of Khabarovsk complained they had not received enough information on the threat. The Songhua flows into the Heilong River, which flows into Russia, where it is called the Amur River.But Zhang said Beijing has shared information and might set up a hot line with Moscow. He suggested complaints were premature, saying the chemical would take two weeks to reach Russia. (Full story)The chemical plant, located in Jilin, a city about 200 kilometers (120 miles) southeast of Harbin, is operated by a subsidiary of China's biggest oil company, state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. Benzene is used in the manufacture of plastics, detergents and pesticides."We will be very clear about who's responsible. It is the chemical plant of the CNPC," Zhang said.Asked whether the company might face criminal charges or fines, he said that had not been decided.Environmentalists criticized the government for not taking action and informing the public sooner."The local government should have predicted the possible pollution, but they didn't," said Xue Ye, general secretary of the Chinese group Friends of Nature.Authorities noticed the chemical spill after a trail of dead fish was found in the Songhua, the official China Daily newspaper reported. It said a monitoring station found November 20 that benzene and nitrobenzene levels were far above state standards, with nitrobenzene at one point 103.6 times higher than normal.Zhang Lanying, director of the Environment and Resources Institute at Jilin University, told the official Xinhua News Agency that massive amounts of the toxin can cause leukemia.In Harbin, the city government tried to reassure the public by announcing it was trucking in millions of bottles of drinking water and digging 100 new wells. The city already has 917 wells serving hospitals and some residential areas.On Thursday, one shop owner, who would give only her surname, Jiang, said her sales had doubled to 25,000 bottles a day at 12 cents a piece. Authorities froze prices to prevent overcharging.Jiang, standing outside her shop in a brisk wind and subfreezing temperatures, said distributors were bringing in extra supplies."Whatever we need, we can get," she said.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.