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LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe gains access to a reported £20 million ($41.1 million) fortune as he turns 18 on Monday, but he insists the money won't cast a spell on him. Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" To the disappointment of gossip columnists around the world, the young actor says he has no plans to fritter his cash away on fast cars, drink and celebrity parties. "I don't plan to be one of those people who, as soon as they turn 18, suddenly buy themselves a massive sports car collection or something similar," he told an Australian interviewer earlier this month. "I don't think I'll be particularly extravagant. "The things I like buying are things that cost about 10 pounds -- books and CDs and DVDs." At 18, Radcliffe will be able to gamble in a casino, buy a drink in a pub or see the horror film "Hostel: Part II," currently six places below his number one movie on the UK box office chart. Details of how he'll mark his landmark birthday are under wraps. His agent and publicist had no comment on his plans. "I'll definitely have some sort of party," he said in an interview. "Hopefully none of you will be reading about it." Radcliffe's earnings from the first five Potter films have been held in a trust fund which he has not been able to touch. Despite his growing fame and riches, the actor says he is keeping his feet firmly on the ground. "People are always looking to say 'kid star goes off the rails,'" he told reporters last month. "But I try very hard not to go that way because it would be too easy for them." His latest outing as the boy wizard in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is breaking records on both sides of the Atlantic and he will reprise the role in the last two films. Watch I-Reporter give her review of Potter's latest » . There is life beyond Potter, however. The Londoner has filmed a TV movie called "My Boy Jack," about author Rudyard Kipling and his son, due for release later this year. He will also appear in "December Boys," an Australian film about four boys who escape an orphanage. Earlier this year, he made his stage debut playing a tortured teenager in Peter Shaffer's "Equus." Meanwhile, he is braced for even closer media scrutiny now that he's legally an adult: "I just think I'm going to be more sort of fair game," he told Reuters. E-mail to a friend . Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe gets £20M fortune as he turns 18 Monday .
Young actor says he has no plans to fritter his cash away .
Radcliffe's earnings from first five Potter films have been held in trust fund .
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Doctors removed five small polyps from President Bush's colon on Saturday, and "none appeared worrisome," a White House spokesman said. The polyps were removed and sent to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, for routine microscopic examination, spokesman Scott Stanzel said. Results are expected in two to three days. All were small, less than a centimeter [half an inch] in diameter, he said. Bush is in good humor, Stanzel said, and will resume his activities at Camp David. During the procedure Vice President Dick Cheney assumed presidential power. Bush reclaimed presidential power at 9:21 a.m. after about two hours. Doctors used "monitored anesthesia care," Stanzel said, so the president was asleep, but not as deeply unconscious as with a true general anesthetic. He spoke to first lady Laura Bush -- who is in Midland, Texas, celebrating her mother's birthday -- before and after the procedure, Stanzel said. Afterward, the president played with his Scottish terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley, Stanzel said. He planned to have lunch at Camp David and have briefings with National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, and planned to take a bicycle ride Saturday afternoon. Cheney, meanwhile, spent the morning at his home on Maryland's eastern shore, reading and playing with his dogs, Stanzel said. Nothing occurred that required him to take official action as president before Bush reclaimed presidential power. The procedure was supervised by Dr. Richard Tubb, Bush's physician, and conducted by a multidisciplinary team from the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, the White House said. Bush's last colonoscopy was in June 2002, and no abnormalities were found, White House spokesman Tony Snow said. The president's doctor had recommended a repeat procedure in about five years. A colonoscopy is the most sensitive test for colon cancer, rectal cancer and polyps, small clumps of cells that can become cancerous, according to the Mayo Clinic. Small polyps may be removed during the procedure. Snow said on Friday that Bush had polyps removed during colonoscopies before becoming president. Snow himself is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer that began in his colon and spread to his liver. Watch Snow talk about Bush's procedure and his own colon cancer » . "The president wants to encourage everybody to use surveillance," Snow said. The American Cancer Society recommends that people without high risk factors or symptoms begin getting screened for signs of colorectal cancer at age 50. E-mail to a friend .
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Five small polyps found during procedure; "none worrisome," spokesman says .
President reclaims powers transferred to vice president .
Bush undergoes routine colonoscopy at Camp David .
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BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- A key rebel commander and fugitive from a U.S. drug trafficking indictment was killed over the weekend in an air attack on a guerrilla encampment, the Colombian military said Monday. Alleged cocaine trafficker and FARC rebel Tomas Medina Caracas in an Interpol photo. Tomas Medina Caracas, known popularly as "El Negro Acacio," was a member of the high command of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia and, according to Colombian and U.S. officials, helped manage the group's extensive cocaine trafficking network. He had been in the cross-hairs of the U.S. Justice Department since 2002. He was charged with conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States and manufacturing and distributing cocaine within Colombia to fund the FARC's 42-year insurgency against the government. U.S. officials alleged Medina Caracas managed the rebel group's sales of cocaine to international drug traffickers, who in turn smuggled it into the United States. He was also indicted in the United States along with two other FARC commanders in November 2002 on charges of conspiring to kidnap two U.S. oil workers from neighboring Venezuela in 1997 and holding one of them for nine months until a $1 million ransom was paid. Officials said the army's Rapid Response Force, backed by elements of the Colombian Air Force, tracked Medina Caracas down at a FARC camp in the jungle in the south of the country. "After a bombardment, the troops occupied the camp, and they've found 14 dead rebels so far, along with rifles, pistols, communications equipment and ... four GPS systems," Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said at a news conference. "The death of 'El Negro Acacio' was confirmed by various sources, including members of FARC itself." Medina Caracas commanded FARC's 16th Front in the southern departments of Vichada and Guainia. Established in 1964 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party, FARC is Colombia's oldest, largest, most capable and best-equipped Marxist rebel group, according to the U.S. Department of State. E-mail to a friend . Journalist Fernando Ramos contributed to this report.
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Tomas Medina Caracas was a fugitive from a U.S. drug trafficking indictment .
"El Negro Acacio" allegedly helped manage extensive cocaine network .
U.S. Justice Department indicted him in 2002 .
Colombian military: He was killed in an attack on a guerrilla encampment .
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- White House press secretary Tony Snow, who is undergoing treatment for cancer, will step down from his post September 14 and be replaced by deputy press secretary Dana Perino, the White House announced Friday. White House press secretary Tony Snow will step down from his post on September 14. President Bush told reporters Friday that he will "sadly accept" Snow's resignation. Flanked by Snow and Perino in the White House press room, the president spoke warmly of his departing press secretary. "It's been a joy to watch him spar with you," Bush told reporters. Watch the announcement about Snow leaving » . Bush said he was certain of two things in regard to Snow. "He'll battle cancer and win," Bush said, "and he'll be a solid contributor to society." Turning to Snow, the president then said: "I love you, and I wish you all the best." Snow, speaking after Bush at the start of the daily White House news conference, said he was leaving to earn more money. He took a big pay cut, he said, when he left his previous jobs as anchor and political analyst for Fox News. According to The Washington Post, Snow makes $168,000 as the White House spokesman. His family took out a loan when he started the job, "and that loan is now gone." "This job has really been a dream for me, a blast. I've had an enormous amount of fun and satisfaction," Snow said. He said he would continue to speak out on issues, and would do "some radio, some TV, but I don't anticipate full-time anchor duties." Snow said he's received great satisfaction from talking to people about his illness. Snow's cancer was diagnosed for the first time in February 2005. His colon was removed, and after six months of treatment, doctors said the cancer was in remission. Perino announced March 27 that Snow's cancer had recurred, and that doctors had removed a growth from his abdomen the day before. Sources told CNN two weeks ago that Snow was planning to leave his job, possibly as early as September. Bush tapped Snow to replace Scott McClellan in April 2006. Snow had been an anchor for "Fox News Sunday" and a political analyst for the Fox News Channel, which he joined in 1996. He also hosted "The Tony Snow Show" on Fox News Radio. On Thursday, Snow told CNN his health is improving, citing two medical tests this month that found the cancer has not spread. "The tumors are stable -- they are not growing," Snow said of the results from an MRI and a CAT scan. "And there are no new growths. The health is good." The press secretary, whose hair has turned gray during chemotherapy treatment, said his black hair is expected to grow back in about a month. "I'm also putting on weight again," he said after returning from a 10-day vacation. "I actually feel very good about" the health situation. Snow said on Friday he was to see his oncologist, and they will decide on some minor forms of chemotherapy to start as maintenance treatment. E-mail to a friend .
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President Bush says Tony Snow "will battle cancer and win" Job of press secretary "has been a dream for me," Snow says Snow leaving on September 14, will be succeeded by Dana Perino .
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(CNN) -- Police and FBI agents are investigating the discovery of an empty rocket launcher tube on the front lawn of a Jersey City, New Jersey, home, FBI spokesman Sean Quinn said. Niranjan Desai discovered the 20-year-old AT4 anti-tank rocket launcher tube, a one-time-use device, lying on her lawn Friday morning, police said. The launcher has been turned over to U.S. Army officials at the 754th Ordnance Company, an explosive ordnance disposal unit, at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, Army officials said. The launcher "is no longer operable and not considered to be a hazard to public safety," police said, adding there was no indication the launcher had been fired recently. Army officials said they could not determine if the launcher had been fired, but indicated they should know once they find out where it came from. The nearest military base, Fort Dix, is more than 70 miles from Jersey City. The Joint Terrorism Task Force division of the FBI and Jersey City police are investigating the origin of the rocket launcher and the circumstance that led to its appearance on residential property. "Al Qaeda doesn't leave a rocket launcher on the lawn of middle-aged ladies," said Paul Cruickshank of New York University Law School's Center on Law and Security. A neighbor, Joe Quinn, said the object lying on Desai's lawn looked military, was brown, had a handle and strap, and "both ends were open, like you could shoot something with it." Quinn also said the device had a picture of a soldier on it and was 3 to 4 feet long. An Army official said the device is basically a shoulder-fired, direct-fire weapon used against ground targets -- a modern-day bazooka -- and it is not wire-guided. According to the Web site Globalsecurity.org, a loaded M136 AT4 anti-tank weapon has a 40-inch-long fiberglass-wrapped tube and weighs just 4 pounds. Its 84 millimeter shaped-charge missile can penetrate 14 inches of armor from a maximum of 985 feet. It is used once and discarded. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Carol Cratty, Dugald McConnell, and Mike Mount contributed to this report.
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Empty anti-tank weapon turns up in front of New Jersey home .
Device handed over to Army ordnance disposal unit .
Weapon not capable of being reloaded, experts say .
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- A chronology of bombings and attempted bomb attacks in the mainland UK since the 1970s: . Police close off streets around Haymarket, in London's busy theater district. June 29, 2007: Police defuse a bomb consisting of 200 liters of fuel, gas cylinders and nails found in an abandoned car in Haymarket, central London. A second car packed with gas and nails was later found to have been parked just a few hundred yards from the first, before it was towed away by traffic wardens in the early hours of Friday for violating parking restrictions. Police say two vehicles clearly linked. July 21, 2005: Two weeks after the deadly 7/7 bombings, four men are alleged to have attempted to carry out a second wave of attacks against London's transport network at three London underground stations and aboard a bus. But their alleged rucksack bombs fail to explode. July 7, 2005: Four suicide bombers detonate themselves aboard three underground trains and a bus in a morning rush hour attack against London's transport network, killing 52 people and injuring around 700 more. Al Qaeda claims responsibility in a video statement. August 2004: Anti-terrorist police disrupt a plot by Islamic militants to blow up targets including the Ministry of Sound nightclub and the Bluewater shopping center in southeast England using explosives packed into limousines and large vehicles. Seven men are convicted in May 2007 and sentenced to up to 26 years in prison. March 2001: A car bomb explodes outside the BBC's London headquarters, wounding one man. Police blame the Real IRA, a republican splinter group opposed to the IRA's cease fire. April 1999: Three people die when a nail bomb explodes in the Admiral Duncan pub in London's gay district -- the third in a spate of series of nail bomb attacks also targeting immigrant areas of the city that left dozens injured. A 23-year-old self-declared "Nazi", David Copeland, is sentenced to six life terms. June 1996: A massive IRA bomb explodes in a shopping center in central Manchester, injuring more than 200 people. February 1996: Two people die as IRA terrorists detonate a bomb in London's Docklands area, causing damage estimated at around $170m and ending the group's 17-month cease fire. April 1993: An IRA truck bomb devastates part of London's financial district, killing one and wounding 44. March 1993: Two boys aged three and 12 are killed and dozens are injured by two bombs left in litter bins in Warrington, northern England. The IRA admits planting the bombs. April 1992: A huge IRA car bomb in London's financial district kills three people and wounds 91. February 1991: IRA terrorists launch a mortar attack at Prime Minister John Major's Downing Street offices. No-one is injured. September 1989: Eleven people die and 22 are wounded when an IRA bomb explodes at a Royal Marine music school in Deal, southern England. December 1988: A Pan Am airliner explodes over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing 259 aboard and 11 people on the ground. Libyan agent Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, convicted of the attack in 2001, was this week granted the right to mount a fresh appeal. (Read about Lockerbie bomber) October 1984: Five people die in an IRA bomb attack on a hotel in Brighton, southern England, where Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet are staying for the Conservative Party's annual conference. December 1983: An IRA bomb at London's Harrods department store kills six people. July 1982: Two IRA bomb attacks on soldiers in London's parks kill 11 people and wound 50. October-November 1974: A wave of IRA bombs in British pubs in Birmingham and Guildford kill 28 people and wound more than 200. February 1974: A coach carrying soldiers and families in northern England is bombed by the IRA, killing 12 and wounding 14. E-mail to a friend .
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Two cars loaded with gasoline and nails found abandoned in London Friday .
52 people killed on July 7, 2005 after bombs exploded on London bus, trains .
British capital wracked by violence by the IRA for years .
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BREMEN, Germany -- Carlos Alberto, who scored in FC Porto's Champions League final victory against Monaco in 2004, has joined Bundesliga club Werder Bremen for a club record fee of 7.8 million euros ($10.7 million). Carlos Alberto enjoyed success at FC Porto under Jose Mourinho. "I'm here to win titles with Werder," the 22-year-old said after his first training session with his new club. "I like Bremen and would only have wanted to come here." Carlos Alberto started his career with Fluminense, and helped them to lift the Campeonato Carioca in 2002. In January 2004 he moved on to FC Porto, who were coached by José Mourinho, and the club won the Portuguese title as well as the Champions League. Early in 2005, he moved to Corinthians, where he impressed as they won the Brasileirão,but in 2006 Corinthians had a poor season and Carlos Alberto found himself at odds with manager, Emerson Leão. Their poor relationship came to a climax at a Copa Sul-Americana game against Club Atlético Lanús, and Carlos Alberto declared that he would not play for Corinthians again while Leão remained as manager. Since January this year he has been on loan with his first club Fluminense. Bundesliga champions VfB Stuttgart said on Sunday that they would sign a loan agreement with Real Zaragoza on Monday for Ewerthon, the third top Brazilian player to join the German league in three days. A VfB spokesman said Ewerthon, who played in the Bundesliga for Borussia Dortmund from 2001 to 2005, was expected to join the club for their pre-season training in Austria on Monday. On Friday, Ailton returned to Germany where he was the league's top scorer in 2004, signing a one-year deal with Duisburg on a transfer from Red Star Belgrade. E-mail to a friend .
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Werder Bremen pay a club record $10.7 million for Carlos Alberto .
The Brazilian midfielder won the Champions League with FC Porto in 2004 .
Since January he has been on loan with his first club, Fluminense .
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Vice President Dick Cheney will serve as acting president briefly Saturday while President Bush is anesthetized for a routine colonoscopy, White House spokesman Tony Snow said Friday. Bush is scheduled to have the medical procedure, expected to take about 2 1/2 hours, at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, Snow said. Bush's last colonoscopy was in June 2002, and no abnormalities were found, Snow said. The president's doctor had recommended a repeat procedure in about five years. The procedure will be supervised by Dr. Richard Tubb and conducted by a multidisciplinary team from the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Snow said. A colonoscopy is the most sensitive test for colon cancer, rectal cancer and polyps, small clumps of cells that can become cancerous, according to the Mayo Clinic. Small polyps may be removed during the procedure. Snow said that was the case when Bush had colonoscopies before becoming president. Snow himself is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer that began in his colon and spread to his liver. Snow told reporters he had a chemo session scheduled later Friday. Watch Snow talk about Bush's procedure and his own colon cancer » . "The president wants to encourage everybody to use surveillance," Snow said. The American Cancer Society recommends that people without high-risk factors or symptoms begin getting screened for signs of colorectal cancer at age 50. E-mail to a friend .
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President Bush will have a routine colonoscopy Saturday .
While he's anesthetized, his powers will be transferred to the vice president .
Bush had last colonoscopy in 2002, which found no problems .
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SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- A magnitude 4.2 earthquake shook the San Francisco area Friday at 4:42 a.m. PT (7:42 a.m. ET), the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The quake left about 2,000 customers without power, said David Eisenhower, a spokesman for Pacific Gas and Light. Under the USGS classification, a magnitude 4.2 earthquake is considered "light," which it says usually causes minimal damage. "We had quite a spike in calls, mostly calls of inquiry, none of any injury, none of any damage that was reported," said Capt. Al Casciato of the San Francisco police. "It was fairly mild." Watch police describe concerned calls immediately after the quake » . The quake was centered about two miles east-northeast of Oakland, at a depth of 3.6 miles, the USGS said. Oakland is just east of San Francisco, across San Francisco Bay. An Oakland police dispatcher told CNN the quake set off alarms at people's homes. The shaking lasted about 50 seconds, said CNN meteorologist Chad Myers. According to the USGS, magnitude 4.2 quakes are felt indoors and may break dishes and windows and overturn unstable objects. Pendulum clocks may stop. E-mail to a friend .
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2,000 customers without electricity, power company says .
Magnitude 4.2 quake set off home alarms, says Oakland police dispatcher .
"It was fairly mild," police say, no immediate reports of injuries, damage .
It was centered two miles east-northeast of Oakland, about 3.6 miles deep .
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(CNN) -- At least 14 people were killed and 60 others wounded Thursday when a bomb ripped through a crowd waiting to see Algeria's president in Batna, east of the capital of Algiers, the Algerie Presse Service reported. A wounded person gets first aid shortly after Thursday's attack in Batna, Algeria. The explosion occurred at 5 p.m. about 20 meters (65 feet) from a mosque in Batna, a town about 450 kilometers (280 miles) east of Algiers, security officials in Batna told the state-run news agency. The bomb went off 15 minutes before the expected arrival of President Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika. It wasn't clear if the bomb was caused by a suicide bomber or if it was planted, the officials said. Later Thursday, Algeria's Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni said "a suspect person who was among the crowd attempted to go beyond the security cordon," but the person escaped "immediately after the bomb exploded," the press service reported. Bouteflika made his visit to Batna as planned, adding a stop at a hospital to visit the wounded before he returned to the capital. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing. Algeria faces a continuing Islamic insurgency, according to the CIA. In July, 33 people were killed in apparent suicide bombings in Algiers that were claimed by an al Qaeda-affiliated group. Bouteflika said terrorist acts have nothing in common with the noble values of Islam, the press service reported. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.
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Bomb victims waiting for presidential visit .
Blast went off 15 minutes before president's arrival .
Algeria faces Islamic insurgency .
Al Qaeda-affiliated group claimed July attacks .
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(CNN) -- Football superstar, celebrity, fashion icon, multimillion-dollar heartthrob. Now, David Beckham is headed for the Hollywood Hills as he takes his game to U.S. Major League Soccer. CNN looks at how Bekham fulfilled his dream of playing for Manchester United, and his time playing for England. The world's famous footballer has begun a five-year contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy team, and on Friday Beckham will meet the press and reveal his new shirt number. This week, we take an in depth look at the life and times of Beckham, as CNN's very own "Becks," Becky Anderson, sets out to examine what makes the man tick -- as footballer, fashion icon and global phenomenon. It's a long way from the streets of east London to the Hollywood Hills and Becky charts Beckham's incredible rise to football stardom, a journey that has seen his skills grace the greatest stages in world soccer. She goes in pursuit of the current hottest property on the sports/celebrity circuit in the U.S. and along the way explores exactly what's behind the man with the golden boot. CNN will look back at the life of Beckham, the wonderfully talented youngster who fulfilled his dream of playing for Manchester United, his marriage to pop star Victoria, and the trials and tribulations of playing for England. We'll look at the highs (scoring against Greece), the lows (being sent off during the World Cup), the Man. U departure for the Galacticos of Madrid -- and now the Home Depot stadium in L.A. We'll ask how Beckham and his family will adapt to life in Los Angeles -- the people, the places to see and be seen and the celebrity endorsement. Beckham is no stranger to exposure. He has teamed with Reggie Bush in an Adidas commercial, is the face of Motorola, is the face on a PlayStation game and doesn't need fashion tips as he has his own international clothing line. But what does the star couple need to do to become an accepted part of Tinseltown's glitterati? The road to major league football in the U.S.A. is a well-worn route for some of the world's greatest players. We talk to some of the former greats who came before him and examine what impact these overseas stars had on U.S. soccer and look at what is different now. We also get a rare glimpse inside the David Beckham academy in L.A, find out what drives the kids and who are their heroes. The perception that in the U.S.A. soccer is a "game for girls" after the teenage years is changing. More and more young kids are choosing the European game over the traditional U.S. sports. E-mail to a friend .
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Beckham has agreed to a five-year contract with Los Angeles Galaxy .
New contract took effect July 1, 2007 .
Former English captain to meet press, unveil new shirt number Friday .
CNN to look at Beckham as footballer, fashion icon and global phenomenon .
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(CNN) -- A virus found in healthy Australian honey bees may be playing a role in the collapse of honey bee colonies across the United States, researchers reported Thursday. Honey bees walk on a moveable comb hive at the Bee Research Laboratory, in Beltsville, Maryland. Colony collapse disorder has killed millions of bees -- up to 90 percent of colonies in some U.S. beekeeping operations -- imperiling the crops largely dependent upon bees for pollination, such as oranges, blueberries, apples and almonds. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says honey bees are responsible for pollinating $15 billion worth of crops each year in the United States. More than 90 fruits and vegetables worldwide depend on them for pollination. Signs of colony collapse disorder were first reported in the United States in 2004, the same year American beekeepers started importing bees from Australia. The disorder is marked by hives left with a queen, a few newly hatched adults and plenty of food, but the worker bees responsible for pollination gone. The virus identified in the healthy Australian bees is Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) -- named that because it was discovered by Hebrew University researchers. Although worker bees in colony collapse disorder vanish, bees infected with IAPV die close to the hive, after developing shivering wings and paralysis. For some reason, the Australian bees seem to be resistant to IAPV and do not come down with symptoms. Scientists used genetic analyses of bees collected over the past three years and found that IAPV was present in bees that had come from colony collapse disorder hives 96 percent of the time. But the study released Thursday on the Science Express Web site, operated by the journal Science, cautioned that collapse disorder is likely caused by several factors. "This research give us a very good lead to follow, but we do not believe IAPV is acting alone," said Jeffery S. Pettis of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Bee Research Laboratory and a co-author of the study. "Other stressors on the colony are likely involved." This could explain why bees in Australia may be resistant to colony collapse. "There are no cases ... in Australia at all," entomologist Dave Britton of the Australian Museum told the Sydney Morning Herald last month. "It is a Northern Hemisphere phenomenon." Bee ecology expert and University of Florida professor Jamie Ellis said earlier this year that genetic weakness bred into bees over time, pathogens spread by parasites and the effects of pesticides and pollutants might be other factors. Researchers also say varroa mites affect all hives on the U.S. mainland but are not found in Australia. University of Georgia bee researcher Keith S. Delaplane said Thursday the study offers a warning -- and hope. "One nagging problem has been a general inability to treat or vaccinate bees against viruses of any kind," said Delaplane, who has been trying to breed bees resistant to the varroa mite. "But in the case of IAPV, there is evidence that some bees carry genetic resistance to the disorder. This is yet one more argument for beekeepers to use honey bee stocks that are genetically disease- and pest-resistant." Bee researchers will now look for stresses that may combine to kill bees. "The next step is to ascertain whether IAPV, alone or in concert with other factors, can induce CCD [colony collapse disorder] in healthy bees," said Ian Lipkin, director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Besides the Columbia and USDA researchers, others involved in the study released Thursday include researchers from Pennsylvania State University, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, the University of Arizona and 454 Life Sciences. E-mail to a friend .
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Colony collapse disorder has killed millions of bees .
Scientists suspect a virus may combine with other factors to collapse colonies .
Disorder first cropped up in 2004, as bees were imported from Australia .
$15 billion in U.S. crops each year dependent on bees for pollination .
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LONDON, England -- Savers at a leading UK mortgage bank lined up for a second day to empty their accounts Saturday, a day after the lender was bailed out by the Bank of England after heavily slashing profit forecasts. Fearful customers line up to withdraw cash from a Northern Rock branch in southeast London on Friday. Long lines formed before counters opened at the Northern Rock building society, one of the UK's top five lenders, as worried customers ignored reassurances from the bank and the government. Customers are believed to have already withdrawn about £1 billion ($2 billion) since the bank's woes were revealed, prompting speculation that the global credit crunch made raising funds through commercial borrowing difficult. Shares in Northern Rock dropped up to 30 percent in Friday trading, with problems spilling over the European banking sector . The British Bankers' Association has urged customers to "calm down," according to the UK Press Association. It said: "Northern Rock is a sound and safe bank and there is absolutely no reason for either mortgage customers or savers to worry." Meanwhile, finance minister Alistair Darling said the Bank of England had stepped in "to create a stable banking system". He said: "People can use their accounts in the usual way, they can carry on making their mortgage payments in the usual way. Northern Rock will be able to carry on its business." Northern Rock chief executive Adam Applegarth said yesterday that the bank had yet to draw on the emergency cash, which he called "a backdrop in case we need to use it", according to PA. E-mail to a friend .
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Savers at leading UK mortgage bank lined up to empty their accounts .
Northern Rock was bailed out by the Bank of England a day earlier .
Reassurances that banks was safe have gone unheeded by many .
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LAGOS, Nigeria (Reuters) -- Nigeria's television survival show has been suspended after a contestant drowned in preparation for the program, said Dutch brewer Heineken's local unit which is sponsoring the show. Anthony Ogadje, 25, and nine other contestants had gone to Shere Hills Lake in Nigeria's hilly Plateau State to prepare for the "Gulder Ultimate Search," which sets a variety of physical challenges for participants. A statement from Nigerian Breweries on Monday said Ogadje died suddenly and he was thought to have drowned. "All attempts to revive him by the attendant medical team and the lifeguards, including his fellow contestants, failed," said Nigerian Breweries, which is majority-owned by the Dutch giant. Broadcasting had been due to start on Thursday. In the show, the weakest contestants are evicted one by one until a winner emerges. The prize money is a big attraction in a country where most people live in extreme poverty and benefit little from Nigeria's oil wealth. The winner was to get 5 million naira (about $39,000) in cash, a four-wheel drive jeep and another 500,000 naira (about $3,900) to buy clothes. The winner could also have expected to become an instant celebrity, attracting sponsorship deals. The Ultimate Search, which started in 2004, gets high ratings. E-mail to a friend . Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Anthony Ogadje, 25, reportedly drowned in Shere Hills Lake .
He was preparing for the show, "Gulder Ultimate Search"
Dutch brewer Heineken's local unit sponsors the program .
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LONDON, England -- Chelsea are waiting on the fitness of John Terry ahead of Wednesday's Champions League match with Valencia, but Frank Lampard has been ruled out. John Terry tries out his protective mask during training for Chelsea on Tuesday. Center-back Terry suffered a broken cheekbone during Saturday's 0-0 draw with Fulham, and Chelsea manager Avram Grant will see how he fares during training on Tuesday before making a decision on his availability. Terry trained at Valencia's Mestalla stadium with a face mask on after surgery on Sunday. "John Terry wants to play which is very good. Now we need to wait for training and then we will speak with the medical department and decide," said Grant. Grant has confirmed that Lampard will definitely sit the game out though as the midfielder continues to recover from his thigh injury. Midfielder Michael Essien, who scored a last-minute winner for Chelsea to knock Valencia out of last season's Champions League, has also been battling a leg injury but he took part in training on Tuesday and is expected to play. E-mail to a friend .
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Chelsea are still waiting on the fitness of England captain John Terry .
Terry trained in a face mask ahead of the Champions League tie in Valencia .
The central defender underwent surgery on a broken cheekbone on Sunday .
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LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- "To insure or not to insure?" It isn't Shakespeare, but it is the dramatic question Hollywood filmmakers are asking about Lindsay Lohan following her legal troubles this week. Lindsay Lohan may still get work after her legal problems are settled, but the cost will be high. It is an important question, too, because whether companies insure Lohan's future movies may determine whether she will quickly fall off Hollywood's A-list. But Lohan fans have little to fear because no actor is uninsurable, say underwriting experts. While some producers may balk at conditions for hiring problematic stars, experts say that unless an actor is serving time in prison, even the most volatile can be covered -- albeit at a high cost. "For a price, anything can be done, although an insurance carrier can make things so unpalatable that at times the makers of the film just won't be interested," said Ross Miller, partner with insurance brokerage D.R. Reiff & Associates Inc. Lohan's arrest this week in Los Angeles on suspicion of drunken driving and cocaine possession has left Hollywood wondering if the actress, who shot to fame as a child in Disney films like "The Parent Trap," is too risky to cast in a film. Timeline: Lindsay Lohan's troubles » . It remains to be seen whether her latest relapse and brush with the law will cost her a role in "Poor Things," a film produced by and starring Oscar-winner Shirley MacLaine. See a gallery of Lohan's films » . A statement was expected early next week on whether the movie, already delayed this spring due to an earlier rehab stint by Lohan, will proceed with or without her. Insurance experts say the industry has long dealt with similar situations, although they may seem more frequent with the recent heavy media scrutiny of Lohan and fellow troubled party girls Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. "I don't think it (a problematic artist) is any more of an issue," said Wendy Diaz, entertainment underwriting director at Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., the leading film underwriter. "It's pretty standard year to year." But Diaz did say the terms for covering Lohan would likely be "serious at this point." She said Fireman's Fund, in such a case, would likely put in higher deductibles, or ask the star to put their salary into escrow to pay for any losses if production was disrupted. Last July, a producer on Lohan's last film, "Georgia Rule," scolded her publicly for repeatedly showing up late on the set, costing the movie's makers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Brian Kingman, a managing director with entertainment insurance broker Aon/Albert G. Ruben said covering situations like Lohan's required a lot of calculation and risk management. Insurance rates for errant actors can range anywhere from 1 percent to 3 percent of a movie's production budget, which can range from $5 million to $100 million or more, he said. "Filmmakers fall in love with certain actors for certain roles and my job is to find risk-takers to take on the risk," Kingman said. He said actors were always required to undergo a medical exam before getting insurance. In certain circumstances, drug screening is conducted and actors are required to provide blood and urine samples. In cases of known drug abuse, "minders" are sometimes required on set to keep an eye on the actor. Kingman said he had even helped craft policies for actors in the event they risked the possibility of incarceration. "I have been successful in finding and creating incarceration coverage for certain actors on probation which can be revoked if they break certain rules," he said, citing the case of Robert Downey Jr., another high-profile star with a history of legal, drug and alcohol problems. E-mail to a friend . Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Because of troubles, Lindsay Lohan likely difficult to insure .
Lohan supposed to appear in Shirley MacLaine film "Poor Things"
Insurance rates may cost 1 to 3 percent of film's production budget .
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ROME. Italy -- Italy and Roma striker Francesco Totti has threatened to quit the Italian Players Association, in a row over the starting date of the next Serie A season. Roma striker Totti has complained that the Italian players are never listened to. The row began last month, when the Italian Football League, which is run by the presidents of clubs in the country's top two divisions, voted to start the season on August 26. In doing so, they ignored a request by Italy coach Roberto Donadoni to play the first round of matches midway through the month, to give his players time to gain match-fitness ahead of Euro 2008 qualifiers against France and Ukraine in early September. "I'm ready to leave the Italian Players Association. We are the principal actors, but also the people who are never listened to," Totti was quoted as saying in Italian football magazine Dieci. "This is the moment in which we must make our voice heard. We wanted to start on August 19, to have an extra week's rest at Christmas and allow the national team to come into the big matches in September better prepared. "Those who decided (on August 26) didn't care at all about Donadoni's needs." Serie A is one of the last major European leagues to start next season. The opening round of English Premier League matches is scheduled to start on August 11, while the French Ligue 1 will kick off on August 4. E-mail to a friend .
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Francesco Totti threatens to quit the Italian Players' Association .
The Italy and Roma striker is upset over the early start to the new season .
He says: We are the principal actors, but ... are never listened to."
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Allegations that Blackwater USA -- whose operations were suspended after 20 Iraqi civilians were shot to death last weekend -- was "in any way associated or complicit in unlawful arms activities are baseless," the company asserted Saturday. Blackwater employees patrol Baghdad by air in a February 2005 photograph. Federal prosecutors are investigating allegations that employees of Blackwater illegally purchased weapons and sold them in Iraq, according to U.S. government sources. A U.S. government official has said the U.S. attorney's office in Raleigh, North Carolina, is in the early stages of an investigation that focuses on individual company employees, and not the firm. Blackwater, which is based in Moyock, North Carolina, is a security firm hired by the State Department to guard U.S. staff in Iraq. "The company has no knowledge of any employee improperly exporting weapons," the Blackwater statement said. "When it was uncovered internally that two employees were stealing from the company, Blackwater immediately fired them and invited the ATF to conduct a thorough investigation." Watch a report on Blackwater's response to the allegations » . The first public hint that an investigation was under way came earlier this week in a statement from State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard after he was accused of blocking fraud investigations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Krongard said the State Department has been cooperating with the prosecutors in the Blackwater probe. "In particular, I made one of my best investigators available to help assistant U.S. attorneys in North Carolina in their investigation into alleged smuggling of weapons into Iraq by a contractor," Krongard's statement said. Blackwater resumed normal security operations in Iraq on Friday, the State Department said, after a brief hiatus following the lethal incident last Sunday. The Iraqi government was outraged by the shootings and disputes the U.S. and Blackwater's claim that the guards were responding to an attack. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Elise Labott and Kelli Arena contributed to this report.
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Two employees bought, sold weapons on their own, company says .
Company fired workers, turned them in to ATF, says source .
Feds investigating claims Blackwater employees made illegal arms deals .
Blackwater in spotlight after shootings last weekend that killed 20 Iraqis .
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(CNN) -- A Marine convicted for his role in the death of an Iraqi civilian was sentenced Friday to a reduction in rank and will be discharged. Cpl. Trent D. Thomas was found guilty Wednesday of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit several offenses -- including murder, larceny, housebreaking, kidnapping, and making false official statements -- for his involvement in the April 2006 death in Hamdaniya, Iraq. Thomas will be demoted to the rank of entry-level private and will receive a bad-conduct discharge. The 25-year-old was among seven Marines and a Navy medic who were charged in connection with the death of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52. The Marines accused in the case were members of Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. They reported at the time that Awad planned to detonate a roadside bomb targeting their patrol. But several residents of Hamdaniya, including relatives of the victim, gave a different account, prompting a criminal investigation. Prosecutors accuse the group's squad leader, Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III, of dragging Awad from his home, shooting him in the street and then making it look like he had planned to ambush American troops. Hutchins has pleaded not guilty to murder, conspiracy and other charges in the case. He faces a sentence of life in prison if convicted. Thomas changed his plea from guilty to not guilty in February, arguing that he had merely followed orders. He told his attorneys that after reviewing the evidence against him, he realized "that what happened overseas happened as a result of obedience to orders, and he hasn't done anything wrong," defense attorney Victor Kelley said. Thomas said in January, shortly after entering his guilty plea, that he was "truly sorry" for his role in the killing. He could have been sentenced to life in prison under his original plea. E-mail to a friend .
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Cpl. Trent D. Thomas found guilty this week of conspiracy to commit murder .
Marine gets rank of private, will be discharged for role in death of Iraqi civilian .
Group's leader awaits trial on murder and conspiracy charges .
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's declaration that France had to prepare for the possibility of war against Iran over its nuclear program was not conventional diplomatic behavior. But then Kouchner was never expected to be a soft-soaper on the diplomatic scene. French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner has a reputation for challenging convention and authority. A surprise appointment from the Socialist ranks to Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative government, the founder of Medicins Sans Frontiers has always challenged convention and authority. The former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali once called Kouchner 'an unguided missile' and the man himself has been known to declare: "To change the law you sometimes have to break the law". He was in his youth one of the leaders of the students revolt in France in May 1968. Kouchner is a humanitarian as well as a patriot, with a strong commitment to human rights. Unusually for a man of the Left, he supported the US-led intervention in Iraq (while criticizing the aftermath). But he did so on the grounds of Saddam Hussein's denial of human rights, not his possible possession of weapons of mass destruction. His and President Sarkozy's concern for human rights lies behind their eagerness to join Gordon Brown's Britain in a new push for action in Darfur. Bernard Kouchner did not come to his position with any of former President Chirac's instinctive distrust of the United States. Washington, which has been critical of some European states for their weakness in confronting Teheran, will have been delighted by his 'get serious' warning to Teheran. But the plain-speaking Kouchner is unlikely to be deterred by fears of upsetting the White House when he has criticisms to make of US policy. How much should be made of his words on Iran remains unclear at this stage. They were scarcely on the same scale as President Chirac's threat when he was still in office to retaliate with nuclear strikes against any state found to be responsible for a large-scale terrorist attack on France. But they are all of a piece with France's new high-profile style under the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy. Mr Kouchner, for example, became the first French Foreign Minister to visit Iraq since 1988, insisting that there could only be a political solution to the country's problems, not a military one, and offering France's services as a mediator and 'honest broker' between Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. On Iran he is, in a way, merely echoing the words of his President who declared in a speech last month that a nuclear-armed Iran would be 'unacceptable' and describing the stand-off over its nuclear program as 'undoubtedly the most serious crisis before us today'. Certainly Mr Kouchner is making clear that France no longer takes the view once expressed by President Chirac that a nuclear-armed Iran might be inevitable . In continuing to ratchet up the rhetoric over that threat and to underline the West's resolution on Iran's nuclear enrichment program Mr Kouchner is supplementing his president's warnings. Neither is saying that military intervention against Iran is imminent or inevitable. Neither has yet confirmed that France would be part of any such military action. But both are stressing the risks which are piling up as a result of Teheran's brinkmanship. Perhaps the strongest lesson though from Mr Kouchner's intervention is his underlining that the new administration in France is not a knee-jerk anti-American one -- and that France is in the business of reclaiming a role at the top diplomatic tables. E-mail to a friend .
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French FM Kouchner has told France to prepare for possibility of war with Iran .
Was a surprise appointment to Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative government .
Also the first French Foreign Minister to visit Iraq since 1988 .
Founder of Medicins Sans Frontiers, also French student leader in May 1968 .
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PHUKET, Thailand (CNN) -- Relatives of the 89 people killed in Sunday's plane crash in Phuket continued to arrive in the Thai resort town on Tuesday to try to identify their loved ones' remains. A Buddhist monk blesses the wreckage of One-Two-Go airline's MD-82 jet at Phuket airport on Tuesday. Most of those killed were foreign nationals, and about 36 of the bodies still have yet to be identified, according to Thailand's state-run Thai News Agency (TNA). All of the unidentified victims were foreign nationals, it reported. The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok said that five Americans were among those killed when the One-Two-Go jet crashed in bad weather as it landed at Phuket's airport on Sunday. U.S. officials had previously confirmed that four Americans died in the crash, and one survived. Eight British nationals are believed to have died, according to Foreign Secretary David Miliband. He said three were still in hospital, with one in a critical condition. Thailand's Public Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla said that of the 41 survivors who remain hospitalized, 38 were in stable condition and three in critical condition, according to TNA. Flight 269 was carrying 123 passengers and seven crew members when it left Bangkok for Phuket on Sunday afternoon. Nationalities of the survivors include British, American, Swedish, Iranian, Austrian, Australian, Thai, German, Irish, Italian, Israeli and Dutch, authorities said. Watch a survivor recall the fiery horror » . One man who arrived in Phuket on Tuesday from Paris described a frustrating process of trying to communicate with Thai officials in his effort to locate the remains of his brother. For some families, DNA testing may be the only way to positively identify their relatives. Meanwhile, Buddhist, Christian and Muslim leaders gathered outside Phuket's airport on Tuesday to remember those killed. The investigation into what caused the crash continues, but the strong winds and rain are a suspected factor. U.S. officials are aiding in the investigation because the aircraft -- a Boeing MD-82 -- was manufactured in the United States. One air traffic controller at Phuket airport said pilots were warned of possible wind shear, which is dramatic changes in wind speed and direction. Airport officials said that the wind at the time of the crash was 17 kilometers an hour (11 miles an hour) with stronger gusts, but no planes were delayed or diverted because of the weather conditions. The decision to land was the pilot's alone, according to Phuket's airport manager. "Air traffic control would give weather information to pilot and warning information but the final decision is dependent on the pilot," Pornchai Eua-Aree said. One-Two-Go officials would not speculate on what may have happened, saying they will wait for the findings of the investigation. But they did say their aircraft were regularly checked and maintained, and denied some media reports that questioned whether the discount airline employed more inexperienced pilots for lower salaries. One-Two-Go is one of about 40 low-cost airlines operating in Asia, and the industry will be watching closely for the results of the investigation into the crash. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Andrew Stevens contributed to this report .
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Relatives of the 89 people killed in Thai air crash are still arriving in Phuket .
About 36 of the bodies have yet to be identified, according to Thai authorities .
U.S. Embassy in Bangkok confirms that five Americans were among the dead .
The investigation into what caused Sunday's crash is still continuing .
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(CNN) -- Filmmaker Michael Moore, whose new documentary "Sicko" takes on America's health care system, faced off Tuesday with CNN chief medical correspondent and practicing neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Michael Moore and CNN's Sanjay Gupta argued Tuesday about Gupta's report on Moore's film "Sicko" Moore criticized a report Gupta did on CNN Monday on "Sicko." "He said the facts were fudged," Moore said, referring to Gupta, on CNN's "Larry King Live." "That's a lie. None of the facts are fudged." Moore and Gupta shouted and argued over data Gupta used and data Moore used. Moore said his staffers backed up the film's facts to Gupta before the report aired and that Gupta aired it knowing his facts were wrong. Gupta disputed that. Watch Moore, Gupta make their points » . "We try and look for some of the best sources we can possibly find," he said. "Michael has a lot of different numbers. ... You're sort of cherry-picking data from different reports." Both agreed, however, on the basic premise of "Sicko": Problems abound in America's health-care system and need to be fixed. "I thought it was a good movie, and I wanted to say that," Gupta said. "I think it strikes at the irrefutable fact -- it's broken. We get it." He praised Moore for raising awareness of the issue. However, Gupta said he was concerned that the movie -- which notes that other developed nations such as France and Canada have universal health care --suggests that health care in those countries is free. While patients may not pay for services at the doctor's office, they do pay high taxes to fund such a system, something Gupta said he was concerned that "Sicko" audiences might not realize. Moore responded by saying Americans pay more in copays, deductibles and insurance premiums. "We [America] have a system built on profit," the moviemaker said. He asked Gupta if the current system, which requires him to receive approval from an insurance company before performing some procedures, is cumbersome to him. "It's a shameful system, especially when I'm dealing with some of my patients," Gupta said. But he questioned Moore's apparent solution -- putting health care in the hands of the Bush administration, which Moore fiercely criticized in the past, particularly in his film "Fahrenheit 9/11." "The government actually used to do things right," Moore said in response. "The problem is who we put in power." Moore has adamantly opposed the war in Iraq and said the government should reprioritize -- a position he took many years before skepticism of the war's success abounded in Washington. "I am sorry we've taken so much time trying to correct [Gupta's] facts here tonight instead of talking about the real issue" -- the ailing health care system, Moore said. E-mail to a friend .
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Moore criticized a report Gupta did on CNN Monday on "Sicko"
Gupta's report questions some of the movie's numbers and solutions .
Gupta: "I thought it was a good movie, and I wanted to say that"
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Twelve-year-old Mohammed Rasoul, his right leg severed below the knee, maneuvers on crutches over the dirt and loose stones through the Falluja graveyard. Mohammed Rasoul sitting with his mother, Jinan Khalifa, eagerly awaits his trip to the United States. Row after row of headstones stand as the deadly reminder of the tragedy the city went through as insurgents battled for control of the city. Mohammed stops at his cousin's grave. "I feel an ache when I think of her. Every time I remember her, I cry," he told CNN at a visit to the grave a few months ago. As he spoke, he poured water on a tree he planted next to it. The headstone reads: "Martyr 643, the child Hajer Ismael Khalil, 13 October 2006." Clutching her photograph, Mohammed says, "My cousin died on the scene. I still remember her screams." The same explosion cost him his leg and his childhood. "A car came out of nowhere. My cousin was playing with her friend," he says. "I remember [the car] was green. It detonated." Watch Mohammed tell his story » . His mother, Jinan Khalifa, remembers that day all too well. She was in the kitchen when she heard a deafening explosion. "There was shattered glass from the windows falling all over us. I went outside and saw my son covered in blood from head to toe," she says. Her son endured 11 operations before doctors amputated his leg below the knee. Khalifa says her son put forward a tough face, but when he finally went back home the shock hit him. "That's where his personality started to change. He stopped laughing," she says. "It was tearing me up," Mohammed says "It was hard for me to watch others play. And I couldn't, I couldn't walk, it agitated me." CNN first broadcast his story in May where it caught the attention of an American charity, the Global Medical Relief Fund, which offered to help. "I cannot put my feelings into words," Khalifa says. "An entire book would not be enough. They gave my son his hope back. The America we knew was one that came, bombed, harmed. But when this organization came forward, we saw another face of America." The Global Medical Relief Fund, a small charity based in New York that helps children of war and natural disasters, has arranged for surgery and treatment at the Shriners Children Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Elissa Montanti, the founder and director of the organization, says she was inspired to act when she first heard of Mohammed's tragic story. "I said, 'Oh, please, let me help this boy.' " Mohammed will arrive in the United States on Thursday afternoon. He will be fitted for a prosthetic leg in coming weeks and examined to see if he needs additional surgery. Montanti said her organization has a list of other young Iraqi children in need of help. "The word needs to get out." Asked how it makes her feel to help Mohammed, she says, "It makes me cry with joy." Mohammed, too, is ecstatic. "I didn't think this act of human kindness would be presented to me," he says. "I didn't have hope in Iraq -- hope that I would ever get my hope back. I didn't have a future." He adds, "I want to go to America and meet this person that gave me my future back." When he comes back home, he wants to help rebuild Falluja, starting with his school, which was bombed during the 2004 Falluja offensive. "I will never leave school and, God willing, I will continue my education and become an architect and build all the schools," he says, standing on his crutches. But first, he says, he wants to walk to water the tree he planted next to his cousin's grave. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Wayne Drash contributed to this report from Atlanta.
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Boy, 12, lost leg to car bombing in Iraq; cousin was killed by blast .
He is now heading to the United States to get a prosthetic leg .
Boy: "I want to ... meet this person that gave me my future back"
Charity director says helping the boy makes her "cry with joy"
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NEW DELHI, India (Reuters) -- India has elected its first female president, official results show, in what supporters are calling a boost for the rights of millions of downtrodden women, despite a bitter campaign marked by scandal. Pratibha Patil, 72, is India's first elected female president. Pratibha Patil, the ruling coalition's 72-year-old nominee for the mainly ceremonial post, easily beat opposition-backed challenger and vice president, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, in a vote by the national parliament and state politicians. "This a victory of the people," Patil told reporters after official results were announced Saturday. "I am grateful to the people of India and the men and women of India and this is a victory for the principles which our Indian people uphold." Patil won about two thirds of the electoral college votes. There had never been any doubt she would win, given support from the ruling coalition. The governor of the northwestern desert state of Rajasthan, she emerged on the national stage when the Congress-led coalition and its communist allies failed to agree on a joint candidate. "This is a very special moment for us women, and men of course, in our country because for the first time we have a woman being elected president of India," Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi, India's most powerful politician, said. Supporters hoped Patil's candidacy would help bring issues that plague women in India, like dowry-related violence, into the public spotlight. A woman is murdered, raped or abused every three minutes on average in India. Her presidency also reflects the growing power of some women in India, where an increasing number are taking part in the workforce and in schools and hold senior positions in corporations. After the results, Patil supporters took to the streets, singing and dancing as others lit fire crackers and beat large brass drums. India has had a number of female icons in the past -- most famously Sonia Gandhi's mother-in-law, Indira, who was one of the world's first female prime ministers in 1966. But hope Patil's presidency would spark only positive talk about women's influence in India evaporated when it emerged the bank for women she helped established was closed in 2003 because of bad debts and amid accusations of financial irregularities. The employees' union has taken Patil and others to court, claiming loans meant for poor women were instead given to her brother and other relatives and not returned. She was also accused of trying to shield her brother in a murder inquiry. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has dismissed accusations against her as "mud-slinging", said on Saturday her victory was "a vote against the politics of divisiveness". "All the allegations against me are motivated and have already been answered," Patil said in a statement last week. Her campaign was marked by other mishaps as well. She managed to offend many minority Muslims, and anger some historians, by saying Indian women first veiled their heads as protection against 16th century Muslim invaders. Then she dismayed modern India by claiming she had experienced a "divine premonition" that she was destined for higher office from a long dead spiritual guru. Critics also dug up a comment she was said to have made as Maharashtra's health minister in 1975, saying people with hereditary diseases should be sterilized. E-mail to a friend . Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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India elects first female president, official results show Saturday .
Pratibha Patil's supporters are calling victory a boost for women's rights .
Bitter election campaign was marked by scandal .
72-year-old Patil was the ruling coalition's nominee for mainly ceremonial post .
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SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- More than 100 homes in an upscale San Diego community were evacuated after a landslide about 60 yards wide pulled the earth from beneath a three-lane road and some of the multimillion-dollar homes that adorn it. Gina Yarbrough sent this picture of the road that collapsed in Wednesday's landslide. Mayor Jerry Sanders declared a state of emergency, asking California and the federal government to help the La Jolla community recover from the Wednesday landslide. As of Thursday morning, he had already received offers of aid from legislators, the governor's office and the White House, he said. Officials warned for at least two weeks that the ground was shifting beneath the hillside community along Soledad Mountain Road. Holes were drilled into the unsettled hillside to investigate the cause and magnitude of the shift, which earlier ruptured a water line, and according to some media reports, began cracking Soledad Mountain Road in July. On Wednesday, a 20-foot-deep chasm opened beneath the road and homes. Holli Weld told San Diego's KGTV that she was walking her son to preschool when the street collapsed. Watch a resident recall how he had to grab his dogs and run » . "The street was sinking before our eyes," she said. Authorities told KGTV that most residents were at work and only seven people were in their homes when the landslide occurred. Evacuated homeowner Russell Moore told CNN he remembers hearing the earth "groan" in what he called a "slow avalanche." "The asphalt that should be under my feet was 8 feet in the air," Moore said. "We watched the trees snapping and cracking and more boulders come down to our feet and we were witnessing this move." See photos of the hole the landslide left in La Jolla » . At least 111 homes were evacuated, but Sanders said residents would be allowed to return to 75 of those houses by early Thursday morning. Several homes were damaged and at least one was destroyed, according to media reports. Nine homes are "red tagged," meaning no one is allowed to enter them, and 27 more are "yellow tagged," which means residents can return for necessities, but cannot stay, Sanders said. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the landslide downed power lines and caused a minor gas leak. More than 2,400 customers were briefly left without electricity, but most residents had their power restored by Thursday, KGTV reported. The Red Cross opened a shelter at La Jolla High School. Deputy city engineer Robert Hawk told the Union-Tribune that the hillside has slowly been slipping for years because the soil is unstable. Landslide incidents in the neighborhood date back to the 1960s, Hawk told the newspaper. Pat Abbott, a retired geological sciences professor at San Diego State University, told the Union-Tribune that Mount Soledad is made up of weak layers of rock and that the culprit in the landslide is nature. "Gravity pulling on the incline is pulling down masses of earth and those masses of earth have houses on top of them," Abbott told the paper. "It's a geologically bad site and should not have been built on to begin with." E-mail to a friend .
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San Diego mayor declares state of emergency; White House, governor offer aid .
Officials were investigating the shifting earth in the area for weeks .
Residents can return to 75 of the 111 evacuated homes Thursday, mayor says .
"We watched the trees snapping and cracking," says one evacuated resident .
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MOGADISHU, Somalia (CNN) -- An enraged crowd dragged the body of an Ethiopian soldier through the streets of Somalia's capital Thursday after gun battles with Islamic insurgents killed 19 people, witnesses reported. In a brutal echo of a 1993 battle involving Somali militias in which the bodies of U.S. troops were dragged through the streets, crowds Thursday shouted "God is great" as they pulled the bruised, bullet-riddled corpse through a dusty Mogadishu neighborhood. The body was bound hand and foot with wire and wrapped in a sheet of plastic when insurgents pulled it out of a car and left it with the crowd in the northern Mogadishu neighborhood of Suqa Holaha, witnesses reported. Nine Ethiopians are reportedly part of the 19 dead. Another battle broke out on the city's south side Thursday morning between Ethiopian troops and insurgents armed with heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. The fighting drove hundreds more people from their homes, on top of the tens of thousands aid agencies say have fled in recent weeks. "Ethiopians will launch violent attacks on us, for some of their comrades have been killed today," said Rahma Nor Omar, an elderly woman in the capital. "They will be like wounded animals." Witnesses put the death toll from the day's clashes at 19, including Ethiopian troops, insurgents and civilians. Ethiopian troops arrived in Somalia in December 2006 to help a weak Somali government drive the Islamic Courts Union out of Mogadishu and restore a U.N.-backed transitional government after a decade and a half of near-anarchy. The Islamists responded by launching an insurgency against Somali government and Ethiopian troops that has lasted nearly a year. The United States accused the ICU of harboring suspected al Qaeda figures, including three men wanted in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, and raised no objections to Ethiopian presence in Somalia. Washington has long been concerned that Somalia could turn into a safe haven for terrorists, but ICU leaders denied harboring al Qaeda suspects. E-mail to a friend .
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Ethiopian soldier dragged after battle with Islamic insurgents killed 19 people .
The body was bound hand and foot with wire and wrapped in a sheet of plastic .
Incident recalls 1993 dragging of U.S. soldier through streets of Mogadishu .
Washington is concerned Somalia could turn into a safe haven for terrorists .
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QUEBEC, Canada -- Third seed Julia Vakulenko will face comeback queen Lindsay Davenport in her first WTA Tour final at the Bell Challenge on Sunday. Julia Vakulenko will seek her first victory on the WTA Tour at the Bell Challenge in Quebec. The Ukrainian battled through with a 6-1 4-6 7-5 victory over American qualifier Julie Ditty in the semifinals. The 24-year-old, who reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open, had previously twice lost at the last-four stage this year in Las Vegas and Berlin. She reached a career high of 33rd in the world rankings back in May, but is now 36th. "Sometimes you play your best and win easy, but sometimes you don't play your best and really have to fight hard," said Vakulenko, who squandered points for 5-3 leads in both the second and third sets. "I'm just going to try my best -- I've never played her and I'm looking forward to it." Former world No. 1 Davenport is seeking her second win in three tournaments since returning from a one-year hiatus to have a baby. The 31-year-old, who is unseeded after accepting a wild-card to enter the Canadian tournament for the first time, also had to battle to beat Russian second seed Vera Zvonareva 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 in the semifinals. The three-time Grand Slam winner has surged back up the rankings from 234th to 126th after winning her comeback tournament in Bali and then reaching the last four in Beijing. The American has now beaten Zvonareva in all six encounters between the two players. "I played well in the first set and had some chances early in the second set, but I didn't quite capitalize on them. I was able to come back but at 4-4 and 5-5 I just didn't return well enough," Davenport said. "I was happy I was able to regroup in the third set. Physically I feel good. There are lots of positives I can take from it, especially beating a really good player and now being in the final. "I want to be the one on the offensive and not the defensive, and that's what I'm going to try to do. "I was trying to watch the first semifinal and see if that helped, but I play so much differently than Julie Ditty that it was hard to get anything from it." E-mail to a friend .
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Julia Vakulenko has reached her first final on the WTA Tour at Bell Challenge .
The Ukrainian third seed will face Lindsay Davenport after beating Julie Ditty .
Former world No. 1 Davenport defeated Russian second seed Vera Zvonareva .
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(CNN) -- The chief operating officer of the National Children's Museum was arrested Tuesday and is charged with distributing child pornography over the Internet, authorities said. Robert A. Singer is accused of sending images depicting child pornography to people he believed to be a 12-year-old girl and her 33-year-old mother, according to a statement issued by U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia of the Southern District of New York. In reality he was communicating with an undercover detective for the New York Police Department. Some of the pornographic images were sent from Singer's computer at the museum, according to an affidavit filed in support of the charges by a special agent who investigates child pornography and child exploitation for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. The Washington museum posted a message on its Web site saying officials there are "horrified" by news of Singer's arrest. They reported that he has been suspended from his post, effective immediately, and is barred from the property. Singer, 49, was arrested at his home in Falls Church, Virginia, by federal agents, according to the prosecutors' statement. Authorities allege he engaged in several instant messaging "chats" and e-mail communications with the undercover detective, posing as the woman and her daughter, from August to September. He is charged with five counts of distributing child pornography in interstate commerce. If convicted on each count, he would face a sentence of up to 140 years in prison -- up to 20 years for the first count and up to 40 years for each additional count, prosecutors said. Singer allegedly initiated contact with the undercover detective, posing as the mother, in an America On Line chat room called "Cuties." The chat room attracts people who "are known to trade in pornographic images, including child pornography," according to an affidavit filed in the case by a special agent who investigates child pornography and child exploitation for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "On five separate occasions in August 2007, Singer sent several images of child pornography over the Internet to the mother and the daughter, including images depicting sexual acts between minors and adults and images depicting known victims of child exploitation," prosecutors said. In his communications with the supposed daughter, Singer pretended to be a 15-year-old boy, authorities said. In August 2007, he sent her two images featuring child pornography, according to the affidavit, with the instruction, "just delete it when you are done." A search of Singer's AOL account activity showed that from July to September, he sent about 80 images featuring child pornography to people including the detective, authorities said in the statement. Also, the search revealed that he had received about 10 images and one video depicting child pornography. Singer was expected to appear before a U.S. magistrate judge later Tuesday. He is identified in the complaint as a spokesman for the National Children's Museum, but a spokeswoman who asked not to be identified said he was promoted to chief operating officer within the past few months. He has been employed by the museum for four years, she said. In a written statement, the museum said it was notified by the Department of Homeland Security and ICE of Singer's arrest. "We are horrified by the charges," the statement said. "This news is deeply upsetting to the National Children's Museum family." "As its essence, the National Children's Museum is about enriching the lives of children," the statement said. "We are educators, child advocates and parents. Anyone who does anything that might endanger the welfare of a child has no place here. Harming children is against everything we stand for as an organization and as individuals." The museum, formerly known as the Capital Children's Museum, has been closed to the public since 2004, and operates from administrative offices, the statement said. A new facility is being built and is scheduled to open in 2012. E-mail to a friend .
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Robert A. Singer is accused of e-mailing child porn to 12-year-old girl .
12-year-old girl was actually undercover New York City detective .
Singer was identified in court document as National Children's Museum spokesman .
Washington museum officials say they are "horrified" by the charges .
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(CNN) -- With his hands and feet shackled and his face obscured by his long hair, Chester Arthur Stiles made his initial court appearance in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Wednesday morning on charges stemming from the videotaped rape of a 2-year-old girl. Chester Stiles appears Wednesday in a Las Vegas, Nevada, courtroom. Stiles, 37, was taken into custody Monday night after a Henderson, Nevada, police officer pulled over the white Buick Century he was driving. Prosecutors added a couple more charges before Wednesday's hearing, bringing the total to 23 felony counts, including a charge of lewdness with a minor, sexual assault and the use of a child in the production of pornography, according to a statement issued by the Clark County, Nevada, court. One of the lewdness charges stems from a 2004 incident, while the others are related to the videotape, the court said. Judge Deborah Lippis set November 19 as the date for the preliminary hearing. After the hearing, Stiles' court-appointed attorney said his client was overwhelmed by the public opinion in the case. "I think he's a little out of it," public defender Jeff Banks said. Jerry T. Donohue, the attorney for the girl's mother, told CNN that the child on the videotape was younger than 3 when the abuse occurred. The girl, who is now 7, was found last month after a nationwide search. The girl's mother said on "The Dr. Phil Show" Wednesday that she was "relieved" about Stiles' arrest, although it would have been "better if they found him dead." The woman said she will testify against Stiles if the case goes to court. She told Phil McGraw that her daughter remembers nothing about the videotaped assault and that she recently had a conversation with the girl about inappropriate touching. She said her daughter told her that if someone touched her inappropriately, the girl would scream and tell her mother. But, she told McGraw, "I don't trust anybody now." Although she is in a relationship with a man her daughter calls "Dad," she said, "I don't feel comfortable leaving her with him, nor with anybody else. ... I just cry and blame it on myself." Eight-and-a-half months pregnant, she said the incident has placed a lot of strain on her. Asked if she would rather not have known about the assault, she said, "Yes, I could have lived without knowing it." A former girlfriend of Stiles' said that, before the arrest, she lived in fear after going to police to identify the suspect after seeing enhanced photos from the videotape on the local news. "I've had my share of nightmares," Elaine Thomas told CNN's Nancy Grace. Thomas said she screamed when she recognized the photos on television and had no choice but to contact police about the man she had thought was a "weapons enthusiast" with only a minor criminal record. Watch Thomas say how she felt when she saw the photos » . "How could I not tell them who that man was? That little girl suffered unimaginable things, and I knew for a fact it was him," Thomas said. Another former girlfriend of Stiles', Tina Allen, said this month she thinks she is the reason Stiles came in contact with the girl and is "mortified" by the allegations against him. "He said he'd been in the Navy and, you know, I was looking for a strong guy to represent to my sons what I thought they needed to be," Allen said. Allen said she took Stiles to a crowded apartment where her son and daughter lived. Also living in the apartment were a family friend and her daughter, the alleged assault victim. Todd Allen, Tina Allen's son, said he recognized his old apartment from scenes in the video. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Ed Payne and Ted Rowlands contributed to this report.
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NEW: Accused pedophile Chester Arthur Stiles gets additional charges .
NEW: "I think he's a little out of it," his attorney says .
Suspect's ex-girlfriend: "I've had my share of nightmares"
Stiles, 37, arrested following a routine traffic stop .
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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- South African fast bowler Dale Steyn took a career-best five for 34 as the Proteas took a tight grip on the first test against New Zealand in Johannesburg. Steyn's career-best 5-34 was his fourth five-wicket haul in 14 tests. New Zealand were bowled out for 118 in reply to South Africa's 226 and the home side piled on the agony by reaching 179 for two in their second innings. Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis shared an unbeaten stand of 159 as South Africa stretched their lead to 287. South Africa's bowlers excelled to bring their side back into the game after their disappointing first innings. They snapped up five wickets in the morning session when the Kiwis could only muster 56 runs. Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming made 40 but the next best score was new cap Ross Taylor's 15. Fleming was struck on the right forearm by Steyn and did not field during the afternoon. Coach John Bracewell said he had gone for precautionary X-rays but there was only bruising. New Zealand, 41 for two overnight, lost nightwatchman Shane Bond, bowled by a Steyn yorker, before Makhaya Ntini claimed the crucial wicket of Fleming, who was well caught by AB de Villiers diving to his left at third slip. Scott Styris and Taylor scraped 19 runs in 10 overs before more wickets tumbled. Steyn's figures bettered his previous best of five for 47 against the same opponents at Centurion two seasons ago. It was his fourth five-wicket haul in 14 tests. Ntini took three for 47 and Kallis two for 11. South Africa made an uncertain start to their second innings with openers Herschelle Gibbs and captain Graeme Smith out cheaply, but Amla and Kallis blunted the attack and then took charge. They batted together for 205 minutes, Amla facing 230 balls and hitting 13 boundaries in his 85 while Kallis hit 12 fours off 122 deliveries in reaching 76. The Kiwis were left to regret Brendon McCullum's failure to hold a chance from Amla off Shane Bond, when the batsman had only scored two. "The ball was hard and new and we were trying to get momentum. It cost us a lot," said coach John Bracewell. E-mail to a friend .
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South Africa lead New Zealand by 287 with 8 wickets standing in the 1st test .
The Proteas reach 179-2 in their second innings after the Kiwis are 118 all out .
South African paceman Dale Steyn takes a career-best 5-34.
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(CNN) -- After weeks of controversy over Michael Mukasey's views on waterboarding, the Senate late Thursday approved the former judge's nomination for attorney general by a 53-40 vote. Waterboarding threatened to derail the approval of President Bush's nominee to lead the Justice Department. President Bush nominated Mukasey to replace longtime ally Alberto Gonzales, who resigned in September. The nomination had been considered at risk after a number of Democratic senators opposed Mukasey because of questions that arose from his views on the terror interrogation technique known as waterboarding and the president's power to order electronic surveillance. Mukasey, a former federal judge in New York, told senators he considers waterboarding "repugnant," but he could not categorically say whether the technique amounts to torture, which U.S. and international law bans. Waterboarding is a technique that involves restraining a suspect and pouring water on him to produce the sensation of drowning. Mukasey's confirmation was all but assured last week when two key Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee -- Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California and Chuck Schumer of New York -- said they would vote in favor of Mukasey despite the controversy. "The Department of Justice, once the crown jewel among government institutions, is adrift and rudderless," Schumer said Tuesday -- the same day the committee voted 11-8 to send Mukasey's nomination to the Senate floor. "It desperately needs a strong and independent leader at the helm to set it back on course and I believe Judge Mukasey is that person." Schumer said that in a meeting Friday the nominee said that Congress would be within its rights to pass a law that bans waterboarding across all government agencies and that the president "would have absolutely no legal authority to ignore" it. Schumer said he believed Mukasey would be more likely to find waterboarding illegal than an interim attorney general. "Indeed, his written answers to our notices have demonstrated more openness to ending the practices we abhor than either of this president's previous attorney general nominees have." But Mukasey's pledge to enforce such a law rang hollow with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, the Judiciary Committee's chairman. "Some have sought to find comfort in Judge Mukasey's personal assurance that he would enforce a future, new law against waterboarding if this Congress were to pass one," Leahy said Tuesday. "Unsaid, of course, is the fact that any such prohibition would have to be enacted over the veto of this president." However, the committee's ranking Republican, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, said he believed Mukasey would enforce a law banning waterboarding. "He could have said a lot of things which would have given me more assurances," Specter said earlier. "But he is intelligent; he's really learned in the law. He's strong, ethical, honest beyond any question. He's not an intimate of the president." A majority of Americans consider waterboarding a form of torture, but some of those say it's OK for the U.S. government to use the technique, according to a poll released Tuesday. Asked whether they think waterboarding is a form of torture, more than two-thirds of respondents, or 69 percent, said yes; 29 percent said no. Asked whether they think the U.S. government should be allowed to use the procedure to try to get information from suspected terrorists, 58 percent said no; 40 percent said yes. The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. telephone poll of 1,024 American adults was carried out over the weekend and had a sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. E-mail to a friend .
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President Bush nominated Mukasey to replace Alberto Gonzales .
Mukasey is a former federal chief judge in New York .
Some Democratic senators opposed nominee due to views on waterboarding .
Human rights groups consider waterboarding a form of torture .
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ORME, Tennessee (CNN) -- The drought in the Southeastern United States means more than just brown lawns to the folks in Orme, Tennessee. Water flows from their taps for just three hours each evening. A 1961 firetruck loads up with water from a hydrant in Alabama to haul back to Orme, Tennessee. The mountain spring that supplies water to the town usually dries up at the end of summer, but just for a few days. This year it dried up early, on August 1, and hasn't revived, leaving the town's 145 residents high and dry and relying on water trucked in from the next state. Every day at 6 p.m., Orme Mayor Tony Reames turns a big valve to release water from the town's tank. When he turns the crank again at 9 p.m., taps in the town run dry. "When they cut it back on we jump for joy," Orme resident Debbie Cash said. "And then you only have it for three hours." Three hours to do all the laundry, bathing, dishwashing and animal watering that has to be done. Watch how Cash copes » . The old mining town could be the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the region. Just 150 miles to the southeast, the 4.5 million people who live in and around Atlanta, Georgia, are nervously watching water levels go down at their major reservoir. The drought has highlighted an ongoing struggle between Georgia, Alabama and Florida over rights to water from the Chattahoochee River. "All of these people that are on the river systems better take note, because once your streams and tributaries to the river start drying up, the river isn't far behind," Reames said. See photos of a Atlanta's shrinking Lake Lanier reservoir » . Volunteers take turns three days a week driving a tanker truck or Orme's diesel-belching 1961 fire truck to a hydrant near Bridgeport, Alabama, 2½ miles down the road. Making several round trips, they haul about 25,000 gallons of water back to Orme each day. Bridgeport, which gets its water from the Tennessee River, doesn't charge its neighbor. Stevenson and New Hope, Alabama, also help out, occasionally bringing trucks full of water to the hydrant, where it's transferred to the Orme trucks. See where Orme has to go for water » . But things are looking up in Orme. A pipeline from Bridgeport is nearly complete, built with the help of a $378,000 grant from the federal government. "With this new water coming in, then we'll have it made," Cash said. "Now we won't have to worry about it no more." In addition, an Austin, Texas, company called H2O Guard is planning to donate water-saving sink aerators, shower heads and toilet valves to everyone in Orme on November 17, company spokesman Robert Easter said. "We think we're going to get another 90 gallons' savings per day per household," Easter said. "That'll make that little water tower in that town go from three hours to four hours without any change in anyone's habits." Reames said residents have found creative ways to conserve, flushing toilets with condensation water from air conditioners and undrinkable water from swimming pools that were filled early in the summer. It's a lesson for everyone. "Cherish the water you got and be kind of careful with it," Cash said, "because you never know if you will be out of water." E-mail to a friend . CNN's Jim Kavanagh contributed to this report.
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Orme, Tennessee, has running water from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Town's spring ran dry in midst of Southeast drought .
Donated water is trucked in from Alabama .
Completion of pipeline will solve problem for good .
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(CNN) -- China has suspended exports of the Aqua Dots toys contaminated with a chemical that can convert to a powerful "date rape" drug, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported Saturday. The toys have caused some children who swallowed the craft toys to vomit and lose consciousness. China suspended exports of the Aqua Dots toys that contain a chemical that converts into a "date rape" drug. The agency said that the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine (AQSIQ) has ordered an investigation by quality control agencies and will release results as soon as they are available. The AQSIQ did not reveal the name of the toys' producer, Xinhua said. U.S. safety officials voluntarily recalled about 4.2 million of the Chinese-made toys Wednesday. Scientists have found the highly popular holiday toy contains a chemical that, once metabolized, converts into the toxic "date rape" drug GHB (gamma-hydroxy butyrate), Scott Wolfson, a spokesman with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), told CNN. "Children who swallow the beads can become comatose, develop respiratory depression or have seizures," a CPSC statement warned. The arts-and-craft beads, which have been selling since April at major U.S. retail stores under the name "Aqua Dots," have also been distributed in Australia under the name "Bindeez Beads." The Bindeez toys were recalled Tuesday by Melbourne-based Moose Enterprise Pty. Ltd. after three children in Australia swallowed large quantities of the beads and were hospitalized. "I was so frightened because I thought she wasn't going to make it," Heather Lehane told CNN affiliate Network 7 of her 10-year-old daughter, Charlotte, who was hospitalized in Australia after ingesting some of the beads. In the United States, the Washington-based safety commission said it has in recent days received two reports detailing the severe effects of the digested beads, which are part of a craft kit aimed at kids 4 years and older. The CPSC said a boy nearly 2 years old "swallowed several dozen beads. He became dizzy and vomited several times before slipping into a comatose state for a period of time." The commission said the toddler was hospitalized and has since "fully recovered." The second incident involved a child who vomited, fell into a coma and was hospitalized for five days. It was not immediately clear whether the child had made a full recovery. Toronto-based toy distributor Spin Master Ltd. stopped shipping the Aqua Dots toys and asked retailers to pull them off their shelves, where they were previously sold for $17 to $30. Anyone with Aqua Dots at home should return the product to the company, CPSC spokeswoman Julie Vallese said. The toy had been named toy of the year in Australia and recently crested Wal-Mart's list of top 12 Christmas toys. Wal-Mart on Thursday listed the toys on its Web site as "out of stock online" and had removed them from their top toy list as well. This latest recall is part of a larger batch of recalls of Chinese-made toys that have swept across the country. Last month alone, U.S. government safety officials and retailers voluntarily recalled at least 69,000 Chinese-made toys over concerns of excessive amounts of lead paint, which can cause hazardous lead poisoning. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Janine Brady, Jason Carroll, Laura Dolan, Julie O'Neill and Leslie Wiggins contributed to this report.
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State-run news agency: China orders an investigation by quality control agencies .
Children who swallow the beads can become comatose or have seizures .
Toys are sold as Aqua Dots in the U.S., as Bindeez Beads in Australia .
Three children were hospitalized in Australia after swallowing large quantities .
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(CNN) -- Tens of thousands of Congolese refugees fled camps Tuesday in the Democratic Republic of Congo as rebel troops attacked government forces in the area, the U.N. refugee agency said. Refugees move along a road Tuesday in Mugunga, near Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A press release from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said it didn't appear rebels had targeted the camps, but it reported some were looted after camp residents, classified as internally displaced persons, fled. Roads to Goma, about 10 miles from the camps, were crowded with refugees and local residents fleeing the fighting, the UNHCR reported. Torrential rain made the movement even more difficult. "The main road toward Sake was crowded with people; we had difficulties getting through," UNHCR field safety adviser Pierre Nazroo was quoted as saying in the agency's release. "Internally displaced people are moving from site to site, direction Goma." UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said, "They have been living in extremely difficult conditions anyway. Now they have nothing but what they can carry." Redmond added, "These are people in poor health; they are soaking wet because of the torrential downpours. They need shelter, they need water, they need a lot of assistance so we're going to have to move quickly to get that help to them because a lot of them are already in a weakened state." While the Congolese government accused troops under rebel general Laurent Nkunda of staging the attack, a Nkunda spokesman denied the allegation, according to a report from the Integrated Regional Information Networks, a U.N.-affiliated news service. The spokesman, Bwambale Kakolele, said Rwandan Hutu rebels who also operate in the area were behind the attack, that report said. A spokesman for the U.N. military mission in the Congo said it was uncertain which group attacked the Congo army outpost near the village of Kishangazi, according to the U.N.-affiliated news service. "We think it could have been insurgents close to Nkunda who attacked, but we cannot rule out the [Rwandan rebels]," spokesman Col. Pierre Cherayron was quoted as saying. The UNHCR identified the affected camps as Mugunga I, Mugunga II, Lac Vert and Bulengo, saying about 28,000 had abandoned the first three camps and about 2,000 had left Bulengo. The UNHCR said 375,000 Congolese in North Kivu province have been forced from their homes in the past year. In the past two months alone, 160,000 have fled their homes amid the fighting between renegade troops and government forces, the agency said. North Kivu is in eastern Congo near the borders of Rwanda and Uganda. Congolese President Joseph Kabila has tried to gain a cease-fire with the rebels in the area under Nkunda, but fighting continues as hard-liners among the rebels and in the government have blocked reconciliation efforts, according to the International Crisis Group, an nongovernmental organization looking for solutions to conflicts. E-mail to a friend .
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NEW: Congo rebels blame Rwandan Hutus for attack, report says .
Internally displaced Congolese flee as rebels attack government troops .
Torrential rain makes refugee movement difficult .
U.N. refugee agency: Some 375,000 have been forced from homes in past year .
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(CNN) -- Authorities in Azerbaijan recently uncovered a radical Islamic terror plot against the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Baku, prompting the facility to close its doors to the public Monday, Azerbaijan and U.S. officials told CNN. The Bibi Heybat Mosque, just outside the capital Baku. As a precaution, Britain also shut its embassy in Baku to the public on Monday "following security concerns nearby," Britain's Foreign Office said. The terror plot was unraveled after a weekend raid outside Baku that netted several suspected members of the radical group, two U.S. officials who asked not to be identified and a spokesman for Azerbaijan's National Security Ministry told CNN. U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack stressed that the details "are still unfolding," and the threat "may or may not be" linked to the Saturday raid. "There were some specific and credible threat information concerning the embassy and plans by militants to in some way do harm to individuals in and around the U.S. Embassy there," McCormack said, noting that no specific individuals were targeted. Several days ago, an Azerbaijani army officer who had connections to a radical Islamic group seized four assault rifles, a machine gun and 20 hand grenades from his military unit and hid them in the outskirts of Baku, the ministry spokesman and U.S. officials said. Government security forces tracked down the group and arrested several members during a sweep on Saturday in the village of Mastaga, about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Baku, the spokesman said. One suspected member of the militant group resisted arrest and was killed in the sweep, the spokesman said. Several others are still at large, he added. He said the terror plot also targeted Azerbaijani government buildings. The U.S. Embassy in Baku issued a warden message warning Americans in Azerbaijan to take precautions. "While there is no information at this time that other American or Western interests in Azerbaijan are being targeted, the U.S. Embassy encourages Americans to maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to bolster their own personal security," it said. Azerbaijan is a former Soviet republic that borders the Caspian Sea, and lies just north of Iran. McCormack said U.S. authorities are working closely with their counterparts in Baku and will determine when normal embassy operations will resume. He said he expects the embassy to limit its operations on Tuesday, as well. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Igor Malakhov in Moscow, Zain Verjee in Washington and Roger Clark in London contributed to this report .
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Authorities uncover a radical Islamic terror plot against the U.S. embassy in Baku .
The United States has reduced its embassy's operations .
Britain also shut its embassy in Baku to the public on Monday .
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PARIS, France (CNN) -- Interpol on Monday took the unprecendented step of making a global appeal for help to identify a man from digitally reconstructed photos taken from the Internet that it said showed him sexually abusing underage boys. This moving image shows how police used software to unscramble the image. (Source: Interpol) The man's face was disguised by digital alteration, but the images were capable of being restored, according to a bulletin from Interpol -- the international police agency based in Lyon, France. Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said the pictures have been on the the Internet for several years, but investigators have been unable to determine the man's identity or nationality. "We have tried all other means to identify and to bring him to justice, but we are now convinced that without the public's help this sexual predator could continue to rape and sexually abuse young children whose ages appear to range from six to early teens," Noble said. He said there is "very good reason to believe that he travels the world in order to sexually abuse and exploit vulnerable children." Interpol has determined the photos were taken in Vietnam and Cambodia. "The decision to make public this man's picture was not one which was taken lightly," said Kristin Kvigne, assistant director of Interpol's Trafficking in Human Beings Unit. The suspect's photo and more information can be seen online at Interpol's Web site. E-mail to a friend .
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Man posted photos on the Internet of himself sexually abusing underage boys .
Computer experts managed to undo digital masking to reveal the man .
Man abused 12 boys in Vietnam and Cambodia .
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Reuters is a global information company providing material tailored for professionals in the financial services, media and corporate markets. Its information is trusted and drives decision making across the globe. In October 1851 Paul Julius Reuter, a German-born immigrant, opened an office in the City of London which transmitted stock market quotations between London and Paris via the new Calais-Dover cable. 18 months earlier he had used pigeons to fly stock prices between Aachen and Brussels, a service which operated for a year until the gap in the telegraph link was closed. Reuters, as the agency soon became known, eventually extended its service to other European countries. It also expanded the content to include general and economic news from all around the world. In 1865 Reuters was first in Europe with news of President Lincoln's assassination in the United States. As overland telegraph and undersea cable facilities developed, the business expanded beyond Europe to include the Far East in 1872 and South America in 1874. In 1883 Reuters began to use a "column printer" to transmit messages electrically to London newspapers and in 1923 pioneered the use of radio to transmit news internationally. In 1927 it brought in the teleprinter to distribute news to London newspapers. Today Reuters has over 16,900 staff in over 94 countries across the globe, and is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, with 196 bureaux serving approximately 131 countries. In 2006 Reuters filed over two and a half million news items, including 656,500 alerts, from 209 countries around the world, published in 18 languages. Although Reuters is best known as the world's largest international multimedia news agency, more than 90% of its revenue derives from its financial services business. Some 370,000 financial market professionals working in the equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, money, commodities and energy markets around the world use Reuters products. The company supplies news -- text, graphics, video and pictures -- to media organizations across the globe. It also provides news to businesses outside the financial services sector, as well as direct to consumers. E-mail to a friend .
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Reuters was founded in 1851 by Julius Reuter, transmitting market quotations .
The company was first in Europe with news of President Lincoln's assassination .
Today Reuters has 196 bureaux serving approximately 131 countries.
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(CNN) -- Six of the seven college students killed in a massive house fire Sunday morning in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, attended the University of South Carolina, a university official said Sunday. "This is a very sad day for the University of South Carolina family," Dennis A. Pruitt, the vice president for student affairs, told reporters. The seventh fatality is believed to be a Clemson University student, he said. The six survivors -- who were treated and released from Brunswick Community Hospital -- are also USC students, he said. Pruitt said the bodies were being sent to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for identification. Watch home video showing the house in flames » . "It is difficult to ascertain exactly who was in the house and who was not," Pruitt said, explaining that several area houses were filled with college students visiting for the weekend. Newspaper deliveryman Tim Burns was aghast when he first saw the inferno early Sunday morning. He tried to approach the door but the flames were too intense, he told the Associated Press. "When I was going up to the entryway, you could hear the windows above me explode," Burns said. "When I knew the flames had taken over, I don't think I've ever felt as helpless in my life." The USC students were affiliated with the Delta Delta Delta sorority and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, Pruitt said, although he stressed that the weekend was not an official Greek function. "It just so happens, as on many university campuses, that certain sororities and certain fraternities hang around together," he said. One person described as "unaccounted for" was later confirmed dead, Ocean Isle Beach Mayor Debbie Smith told CNN. "We suffered a terrible tragedy at Ocean Isle this morning," Smith said in a news conference. "Nothing like this has ever happened at Ocean Isle Beach, and we hope it never will again." She said officials had not yet contacted all the victims' families, and that they were not yet releasing their names. The mayor said one of the 13 people in the house was related to the house's owner. Smith said the house was fully "engulfed" in flames around 7 a.m. when the fire department arrived on the scene, about five minutes after the fire department was notified. She said the house had working smoke detectors, AP reported. Officials are investigating the cause of the fire, Smith said. "We ran down the street to get away," Nick Cain told the AP. The University of North Carolina student was staying at a house about 100 feet away. Some of his friends had met several people staying at the house that burned down. "The ash and the smoke were coming down on us. We were just trying to get away," Cain told the AP. Ocean Isle Beach is a popular resort destination along the southern coast of North Carolina. The 7-mile-long island's year-round population is about 425, while the summer season population is about 25,000, according to the town's Web site. E-mail to a friend .
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Six of seven dead in fire were University of South Carolina students .
Official: Six treated at hospital and released were also USC students .
Mayor Debbie Smith said one of 13 at house is related to owner of house .
Victims' names not being released until families are notified .
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Attacks are down 75 percent in recent months in a perilous stretch of neighborhoods in northeastern Baghdad, prompting a U.S. military officer to proclaim Monday that security there is "dramatically improving." Concerned citizens have helped troops improve security in parts of Baghdad, a military official says. People line the streets, cars congest them, trash collectors and other city workers have returned, local leaders are holding community meetings again and "markets have come back like gangbusters," said Army Col. Don Farris, commander of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. He added that the largely Sunni al Qaeda in Iraq presence has been "crushed" since the beginning of May. However, there are still dangers, most notably the threats posed by Iranian-backed Shiite militants, Farris said. Speaking to Pentagon reporters via video link from Baghdad, Farris cited several factors he said contributed to the improving security situation. Among them is the "surge," the additional U.S. troops deployed earlier this year. Watch how old rivalries have been posing problems » . Also helping improve the security situation are the cease-fire by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army and the development of a program that employs "concerned local citizens" to assist U.S. and Iraqi forces, Farris said. Some of those citizens are members of local Sunni "awakening councils," comprised of former militants -- often armed -- who create neighborhood watch groups to root out the insurgent elements in an area. Especially in the last six weeks, Farris said, civic and religious leaders have seen outsiders operating in the area and troops have made arrests, two Iranian operatives among them . "From my foxhole, in our sector, it is working," he said of the improving security in the area. "I can only speak to what I see in my sector and I am encouraged." Farris' sector -- which includes the Sunni-dominated district of Adhamiya and Sadr City, the Shiite slum where militants have demonstrated a strong presence -- has seen a "remarkable turnaround," he said. Many of the communities in his area have been wracked with sectarian warfare and terrorized by insurgents and death squads. Despite improvements in the security situation, Farris warned that "we still have a lot of work to do" because there doesn't appear to be any sign that Shiite extremists with links to Iran are halting their activities. Farris said troops also are still finding explosively formed penetrators, which are often delivered or manufactured by Iran. Nine such bombs were found in late October, he said. There are intelligence reports indicating weapons and money are still flowing into Sadr City, he said. There are also problems returning refugees and displaced people to their homes in the area, Farris said, because "essential services" like water and electricity are not yet up to snuff. Though a "trickle" of families has returned home and many are asking when they can return, Farris said he believes residents will return en masse only when basic services are in better shape. Paul Folmsbee, a State Department provincial reconstruction team leader, said at the same news conference that his personnel was handling development issues involving law, governance, economic development and essential services. Farris' Monday remarks echo a string of similar assertions made by U.S. and Iraqi military officials over recent weeks. The military officials say they are seeing signs of Sunni-Shiite reconciliation. At a press conference earlier Monday in Baghdad, Brig. Gen. Ed Cardon, deputy commander for support of Multi-National Division-Center, discussed a "definite period of progress" in his region on the southern Baghdad outskirts. E-mail to a friend .
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Official: Streets bustling, workers returning, markets "back like gangbusters"
Troop surge, citizens groups, Mehdi Army cease-fire all help security situation .
Iranian weapons, fighters still posing problems in northeastern Baghdad .
Commander says more families will return when basic services fully restored .
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(CNN) -- Officials are searching for the driver of a white truck seen on Santiago Canyon Road on Sunday, near the time the Santiago fire started, Orange County authorities said Friday. Chief Chip Prather holds a photo of a white truck similar to the one seen on Santiago Canyon Road. "These people are not suspects at this time," Orange County Fire Authority Chief Chip Prather said. "They are persons of interest who were seen near the fire in a vehicle like this." The vehicle is a white, 1998 to 2004 Ford F150 pickup with chrome tubular running boards. Prather said the information came from a lead called into the investigation's tip line. A $250,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the blaze. Watch how residents feel about arsonist » . The Santiago fire, now 27,000 acres and still burning, was deliberately set, officials said Thursday. Several mandatory evacuations remain in place for the Santiago fire, which has destroyed 14 homes and various other structures. Late Friday afternoon, the blaze moved into Silverado Canyon, authorities said. Sheriff's deputies were evacuating residents in the fire's path. Watch the Santiago flames rage » . Authorities also suspect arson in the Rosa fire in San Diego County, which burned more than 400 acres before being fully contained. There was no information on the investigation. Elsewhere, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office filed arson charges Friday against a 41-year-old Sun Valley man who witnesses said set a fire in the West Hills neighborhood and walked away. Catalino Pineda is one of five people who have been arrested in arson investigations this week, but none of them has been linked to the major wildfires raging across Southern California. Pineda was arrested Wednesday after witnesses said they saw him lighting a fire on a hillside, police said. The fire was quickly extinguished. The witnesses followed Pineda to a nearby restaurant and called police, who arrested him. Pineda was expected to be arraigned in Van Nuys Superior Court Friday, Deputy District Attorney Steven Frankland said. He is charged with one count of arson of a structure or forest. Pineda is being held on $75,000 bail and faces up to six years in prison if convicted. In San Bernardino, east of Los Angeles, John Rund, of Hesperia, was arrested Wednesday on arson charges after a witness reported seeing him in brush near the starting point of a fire Tuesday, the sheriff's department said. That fire was quickly put out by passers-by. Investigators are trying to determine if Rund, 48, may have ties to other wildfires. He is being held on $750,000 bail. The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office on Thursday filed arson charges against Anthony Riperti, 47, of Redlands. A statement from the office did not say when or where Riperti is accused of setting a fire. He is being held on $250,000 bail. In San Diego County, the sheriff's department this week arrested an adult and a juvenile allegedly seen by an anonymous tipster starting a fire in Vista in the northern part of the county. In a written statement, the sheriff's department identified the adult as Gorgonio Nava. The Vista fire Department extinguished the blaze before it grew out of control, the statement said. Investigators have determined that the Grass Valley fire in San Bernardino County was not caused by arson, and a preliminary investigation into the cause of the 11,675-acre Slide fire seems to indicate arson was not a factor, sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beaver said. More than 1,600 homes have been destroyed in the past week by Southern California wildfires. E-mail to a friend .
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NEW: White truck seen on Santiago Canyon Road near time fire started .
Charges filed against man who allegedly set small fire and walked off .
Catalino Pineda one of five arrested in arson investigations this week .
Arson investigations continue across multiple California counties .
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(CNN) -- The partnership started as a single shop on Oxford Street in London, opened in 1864 by John Lewis. Today the partnership is an organization with bases throughout the UK, with supermarkets and department stores, employing approximately 67,100 people. All 67,100 permanent staff are Partners who own 26 John Lewis department stores, 183 Waitrose supermarkets, an online and catalogue business, John Lewis Direct a direct services company - Greenbee, three production units and a farm. Every Partner receives the same scale of bonus, based on a fixed percentage of their annual wage. The bonus for 2006 was 18% equivalent to 9 weeks pay, which was rolled out for every employee. Chairman Sir Stuart Hampson retired at the end of March 2007, his successor is Charlie Mayfield. Hampson's salary for January 26, 2006 to January 26, 2007 was $1.66 million which included the partnership bonus of $250,000. John Lewis' consolidated revenue for the last financial year was $11.4 billion. E-mail to a friend .
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John Lewis Partnership began as a shop on London's Oxford street in 1864 .
All 67,100 employees are partners in the organization and own shares .
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(CNN) -- The company was founded in 1985 by seven communications industry veterans -- Franklin Antonio, Adelia Coffman, Andrew Cohen, Klein Gilhousen, Irwin Jacobs, Andrew Viterbi and Harvey White. One of Qualcomm's first products was OmniTRACS, introduced in 1988, which is currently the largest satellite-based commercial mobile system for the transportation industry. Today, Qualcomm's patent portfolio includes approximately 6,100 United States patents and patent applications for CDMA and related technologies. More than 130 telecommunications equipment manufacturers worldwide have licensed QUALCOMM's essential CDMA patents. Qualcomm is among the members of the S&P 500 Index, Fortune 500, and a winner of the U.S. Department of Labor's" Secretary of Labor's Opportunity Award." The company has been listed among Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For in America" for nine years in a row and the magazine's list of" Most Admired Companies." Qualcomm's Annual revenue for 2006 was $7.53 billion, with a net income of $2.47 billion. E-mail to a friend .
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The company has become a huge name in communications in just 20 years .
Qualcomm has a portfolio of approximately 6,100 U.S. patents .
Fortune lists the company as one of the 100 best places to work in the U.S.
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(CNN) -- A girl who was shown on a videotape being sexually assaulted in Las Vegas has been found and is safe, officials in Nye County, Nevada, said Friday. Chester Arthur Stiles, 37, is being sought as a suspect, police say. "We have found the child, Madison. She's safe. The detectives say she is in good condition," Nye County Sheriff Tony De Meo said. The girl, now 7, was shown in a sex video made four years ago, Detective David Boruchowitz said at a news conference Friday night. She was found Friday with family in Las Vegas after thousands of tips poured in, thanks to an appeal by police to the news media to show the girl's picture. CNN and other news organizations did so until the child was found, when De Meo asked them to stop showing the picture. "The mother has cooperated with us," De Meo said. "We believe that the mother was not aware of anything that went on with this young girl," he said. "It was very sad for her to find this out." A former Las Vegas animal trainer, Chester Arthur Stiles, 37, a resident of Pahrump, Nevada, has been identified as a suspect and is being sought in the case, De Meo said. Pahrump is about 60 miles west of Las Vegas. Watch what's known about Stiles » . Stiles was a distant friend of the girl's family, De Meo said. Someone close to Stiles has told investigators that Stiles is a "survivalist type" and always carries a weapon, Nye County District Attorney Bob Beckett said. De Meo addressed Stiles directly: "Turn yourself in to your local law enforcement agency," he said. "Understand this: Law enforcement not only has a long arm, but a long memory. You will not be forgotten by members of this agency or any other law enforcement agency." The FBI is also seeking Stiles on state charges of sexual assault and lewdness with a minor under the age of 14 in a separate matter, De Meo said. Police, who had called Stiles a person of interest, began calling him a suspect late Friday. There appeared to be physical similarities between Stiles and the man in the videotape, De Meo said. "Nothing that I have seen in my career comes close to what this girl has gone through. Whoever this person is is a predator that, as far as I'm concerned, belongs in custody and, if successfully prosecuted, in jail for as long as the law allows," De Meo said earlier. Detectives said the child showed little emotion during the rapes, indicating she may have been brutalized before. Nevadan Darren Tuck recently gave police the videotape, saying he found it in the desert, De Meo said. Police said the tape was in his possession at least since May before he handed it over to authorities. He is being sought on a parole violation for failure to pay child support, but police -- who want to question him further -- have been unable to locate him. Tuck, who also allegedly showed the tape to others before giving it to police, faces a possible 10-years-to-life sentence for exhibiting pornography and another one to six years for possession of child pornography, De Meo said. Harry Kuehn, Tuck's attorney, said this week on CNN's "Nancy Grace" that Tuck was "racked by indecision" about what to do with the tape once he realized what it was. Asked why, Kuehn said, "He's explained that to us, and at this point, we're not going to share that, because it goes to the defense of the matter." "You have to consider what kind of concerns my client had; He's previously dealt with the sheriff's office in Nye County; it was previously unsatisfactory," the attorney said. E-mail to a friend .
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Stiles described as "survivalist type" who carries a weapon .
Mother has cooperated with police, sheriff says .
Girl on tape, now 7, found safe with family .
Tape shows man sexually abusing the girl 4 years ago .
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PARIS, France -- AC Milan's Brazilian midfielder Kaka has been named European player of the year, lifting France Football's Ballon d'Or award. Kaka has already claimed all of the game's major prizes. His success comes two years after his fellow countryman, Barcelona's Ronaldinho, claimed the award . The 25-year-old Kaka was a major factor in AC Milan's triumphant Champions League campaign. The runner-up was Manchester United's Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo with Barcelona's Argentinian midfielder Lionel Messi finishing third. "This is very special for me - it culminates an astonishing year for me," Kaka said. "It's the top prize around and the only way to win something like this is to play for a team like AC Milan. It's great to be part of a team that wins." At 25 years old, he has already won all the game's major prizes, individually and collectively. He was part of Brazil's 2002 World Cup winning squad, although he was limited to just 19 minutes as a substitute against Costa Rica. He was top scorer in last season's Champions League, helping Milan to avenge their loss to Liverpool in the 2005 final. He won the Italian domestic title in his first season at Milan having joined from Brazilians Sao Paulo for$ 8.5 million, a sum that Milan president Silvio Berlusconi then described as peanuts. E-mail to a friend .
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Brazilian Kaka is named European player of the year .
The AC Milan player is chosen ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester Utd .
Argentine Lionel Messi of Barcelona finishes third .
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(CNN) -- BUPA is an international health and care company with bases on three continents and more than eight million customers. BUPA began as The British United Provident Association in 1947 to preserve freedom of choice in health care. It believed that with a National Health Service being introduced a year later, there would still be a need for a complimentary service enabling people from all walks of life to afford the benefits of choice in where, when and by whom they were treated. Led by the growing public demand for health care and a lack of quality private accommodation BUPA initiated the Nuffield Homes Charitable Trust - later renamed Nuffield Hospitals. BUPA's biggest and original business is health insurance in the UK, both for individuals and corporations that want to look after the health of their employees. More than half of the UK's top companies are BUPA customers. The company's UK care homes offer specialist care to residents who include the elderly, the mentally ill, young people with physical or learning disabilities and people with conditions such as Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases. BUPA is a leading healthcare company in the UK, Spain, Australia, Ireland, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malta and Saudi Arabia. BUPA International supplies health cover to expatriates in over 180 countries. Sanitas, the BUPA business in Spain, has one million insured customers who have access to a network of 18,000 medical professionals and 450 medical centres. E-mail to a friend .
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BUPA was founded in 1947 in response to plans to establish the NHS .
The company's biggest base is in the UK but has customers in three continents .
BUPA care homes cater for a number of conditions, including Parkinson's .
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- The head of Britain's intelligence services has warned that children as young as 15 are becoming involved in terrorist-related activity. Jonathan Evans, the chief of MI5, also said that at least 2,000 people in Britain pose a threat to the country's security because of their support for al Qaeda-inspired terrorism. "As I speak, terrorists are methodically and intentionally targeting young people and children in this country. They are radicalising, indoctrinating and grooming young, vulnerable people to carry out acts of terrorism," he told a gathering of newspaper editors in Manchester. Evans said the figure of 2,000 -- an increase of 400 since November 2006 -- only included those the intelligence services knew about and that the actual number could be double. He said there had been 200 terrorist convictions in Britain since the September 11 attacks. The MI5 head added that over recent years much of the command and inspiration for attack planning in the UK had come from al Qaeda's remaining core leadership in the tribal areas of Pakistan. However, he said in the last 12 months terrorist plots on British soil were increasingly inspired by al Qaeda cadres in other countries, including in Iraq and East Africa. "There is no doubt now that al Qaeda in Iraq aspires to promote terrorist attacks outside Iraq. There is no doubt that there is training activity and terrorist planning in East Africa -- particularly in Somalia -- which is focused on the UK," he told the Society of Editors meeting. According to Evans, there had been "no decrease" in the number of Russian covert intelligence officers operating in Britain since the end of the Cold War. He said that resources that could be devoted to counter-terrorism were instead being used to protect Britain against spying by Russia, China and others. "A number of countries continue to devote considerable time and energy trying to steal our sensitive technology on civilian and military projects and trying to obtain political and economic intelligence at our expense," he said. E-mail to a friend .
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UK intel chief says children as young as 15 involved in terrorist-related activity .
Jonathan Evans: At least 2,000 people in Britain who pose threat to security .
MI5 chief said the actual number could be double that .
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SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- You must know what's really driving the immigration debate. It's the culture, stupid. Ruben Navarrette Jr.: Some opponents of immigration, even the legal kind, fear changes in local culture. Immigration restrictionists -- and by that, I mean those who want to limit all immigration, even the legal kind -- like to pretend they're so high-minded. Yet they can't help themselves. They always take the low road and harken back to the nativism that greeted earlier waves of immigrants. The restrictionists insist that what bothers them are merely practical concerns: that our borders aren't secure, that so many immigrants are coming into the country illegally, and that the new arrivals are burdening schools and draining social services once they get here. Really? If that's the extent of it, then why does the conversation quickly turn to the impact -- both real and perceived -- that immigrants have on American culture through everything from taco trucks to Spanish-language billboards. That seems to be the issue in North Dakota, where, according to a recent article in USA Today, towns facing tough economic times are nonetheless resisting a cultural transfusion that could save them. In Cooperstown, the locals opposed efforts to bring in a hog plant and a dairy, because those kind of dirty and hard jobs are likely to attract ... guess who? American kids who work at Starbucks? Nope. The article quotes Orville Tranby, a local community leader in Cooperstown, who says that some residents have told him "face to face" that such facilities might attract Hispanic immigrants who could change the local culture. You'll find the same fear in Lewisburg, Tennessee. Not long ago, an employee at a local library came up with the radical idea of a bilingual story time where children could hear tales read to them in Spanish. Townspeople wanted no part of that. They demanded that all books purchased by the library, or even donated, be in English-only. These stories are ridiculous, but they're also helpful. They illustrate what some people are really concerned about with immigration, and it goes well beyond words like "legal" or "illegal." It's the perception that the country is becoming more Hispanic, that Spanish is replacing English, that Hispanic immigrants are weakening American identity, and that Main Street is turning into Little Mexico. A leader of the vigilante Minuteman movement moronically called it the "colonization" of the United States. This sort of rhetoric is all about fear -- that those who thrive in the dominant culture are losing their primacy, that the mainstream is being polluted by foreigners, and that our children are going to live in a world where they're going to have to work a lot harder to keep up. It conjures up the alarm bells that Benjamin Franklin set off about German immigrants in the late 18th century, who he insisted could never adopt the culture of the English, but would "swarm into our Settlements, and by herding together establish their Language and Manners to the Exclusion of ours." It popped up in the mid-19th century amid worries that Chinese immigrants were "unassimilable," which led to Congress approving the explicitly-named Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. And it helped welcome the 20th century when Massachusetts Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge warned that immigrants (read: the Irish) were diluting "the quality of (U.S.) citizenship" and others complained that Italian immigrants were uneducated, low skilled, apt to send all their money to their home country and prone to criminal activity. Where have we heard that before? And when will we hear it again? After all, Hispanics may be the latest group to find themselves in a culture war with nativists. But they won't be the last. Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a member of the editorial board of the San Diego Union-Tribune and a nationally syndicated columnist. You can read his column here. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer. E-mail to a friend .
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Navarrette: Opponents see Hispanic immigrants as weakening U.S. identity .
One town demanded all library books be in English, Navarrette says .
Hispanics the latest to find themselves at center of culture war .
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ROME, Italy -- Mauro Camoranesi scored with 13 minutes left to earn Juventus a 1-1 home draw with Serie A leaders Inter Milan on Sunday. Julio Cruz is mobbed by team-mates after giving Inter the lead in their 1-1 draw at Juventus. Camoranesi picked up a headed knock-down from substitute Vincenzo Iaquinta before seeing his shot deflect off defender Walter Samuel to leave goalkeeper Julio Cesar helpless. Inter took a first-half lead when Argentine striker Julio Cruz broke Juve's offside trap and latched onto Brazilian midfielder Cesar's through ball before firing past Gianluigi Buffon. The result means Inter retain their unbeaten record this season, despite injury problems that saw the likes of Patrick Vieira, Francesco Toldo, Marco Materazzi and Dejan Stankovic ruled out. The defending champions are now two points clear of Fiorentina at the top of the table, with Roma a point further behind and Juventus in fourth place. Earlier in the day, Roma missed out on the chance to close the gap on Inter when a late collapse saw them throw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Empoli. First half goals from French winger Ludovic Giuly and Matteo Brighi had put the visiting Romans in charge and for more than an hour they looked set to cruise to victory. But with 23 minutes remaining Ighli Vannucchi reduced the deficit and Sebastian Giovinco snatched an injury time equaliser to deny Luciano Spaletti's injury-depleted team. Siena snatched a share of the spoils from Parma in a 2-2 draw as Daniele Galloppa scored in the last minute while Napoli needed an injury time goal from striker Ezequiel Lavezzi to deny rock-bottom Reggina their first win of the season, forcing them to settle for a 1-1 draw in the south. E-mail to a friend .
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A Mauro Camoranesi goal earns Juventus a 1-1 draw with leaders Inter Milan .
Argentine striker Julio Cruz had given injury-hit Inter the lead in the first half .
The result maintains Inter's unbeaten record and moves them two points clear .
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(CNN) -- One Australian soldier, three civilians and Taliban militants were killed early Friday during heavy fighting in southern Afghanistan, according to information from Australian and NATO officials. Four Australian troops have now died in the conflict in Afghanistan. The incident occurred in Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan province, where Taliban militants killed an Australian commando, the Australian Defence Ministry said. The 26-year-old commando -- Pvt. Luke Worsley of Sydney -- served with the Special Operations Task Group. This is the fourth Australian troop to die in the Afghan conflict. "The action in which Private Worsley died only concluded in the last few hours and was characterized by heavy, close quarter fighting. The SOTG was conducting an operation to clear an identified Taliban bomb making facility in Uruzgan province, when the soldier was hit by small arms fire," Chief of the Defence Force Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said. NATO's International Security Assistance Force said "a significant number of Taliban insurgents were killed or captured as part of the operation. Taliban insurgents initiated the firefight which lasted several hours." Gen. Carlos Branco, ISAF spokesman, said it is not known how the civilians, two women and a child, died. "However, we do know that the insurgents fired upon ISAF soldiers from the compound in which the Afghan civilians (two women and one child) were found after the fight. ISAF makes all effort to prevent losses of innocent civilian lives." E-mail to a friend .
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Taliban militants kill Australian commando in southern Afghanistan .
He was shot during operation to clear Taliban bomb making facility in Uruzgan .
This is the fourth Australian soldier to die in the conflict in Afghanistan .
Several militants killed and a coalition troop injured in other fighting in southeast .
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LONDON, England -- France coach Raymond Domenech has again omitted striker David Trezeguet from his squad for this month's friendly against Morocco and the Euro 2008 qualifier against the Ukraine. Happier times: David Trezeguet celebrates after scoring for Juventus against Torino. Trezeguet has scored scored 10 goals in 11 Serie A matches for Juventus this season -- including two hat-tricks -- but has failed to win his way back into the 24-man party. The 29-year-old, who last played for France in the 1-0 home defeat by Scotland in September, was furious after being dropped for the games against Lithuania and the Faroe Islands. He played no part as Domenech's team overtook the Scots at the top of Group B with comfortable victories last month. The coach said: "David is having a great start to the season with Juventus, but he's in competition for a place. If we qualify, the Euro 2008 will be in eight months. A lot of things can happen in between. "I hope David will help Juventus win the Italian league title and that he will be at the Euro 2008 with us, and that he will find his form again for France." Domenech has again included young Lyon forward Hatem Ben Arfa, who made his debut as a substitute against the Faroes and scored the final goal in a 6-0 victory. Ben Arfa is joined in the squad by club-mate Karim Benzema, while Bolton's Nicholas Anelka is also among the forwards named despite still recovering from an injury. Captain Patrick Vieira is ruled out due to injury, but the Inter Milan midfielder will join up with the squad anyway. "A player of Patrick's dimension is going to be missed, but we just have to accept it and get on with it. Pat should be coming to see us because he's a leader, and he's the captain," Domenech added. France face the Moroccans on November 16 and then travel to the Ukraine on November 21. Domenech's team will qualify for the finals if Italy beat Scotland at Hampden on November 17. If the Glasgow game ends in a draw, France will need at least a point in Kiev to book their ticket. France squad: Goalkeepers: M Landreau (Paris St Germain), S Frey (Fiorentina), U Rame (Bordeaux). Defenders: E Abidal (Barcelona, P Evra (Manchester United), W Gallas (Arsenal), B Sagna (Arsenal), L Thuram (Barcelona), S Squillaci (Lyon), F Clerc (Lyon). Midfielders: A Diarra (Bordeaux), L Diarra (Arsenal), M Flamini (Arsenal), C Makelele (Chelsea), J Rothen (PSG), J Toulalan (Lyon), S Nasri (Marseille). Strikers: N Anelka (Bolton), H Ben Arfa (Lyon), K Benzema (Lyon), S Govou (Lyon), T Henry (Barcelona), F Malouda (Chelsea), F Ribery (Bayern Munich). E-mail to a friend .
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David Trezeguet omitted from France squad to play Morocco and the Ukraine .
The Juventus striker last played for his country in the 1-0 defeat by Scotland .
He was dropped for the wins against Lithuania and the Faroe Islands .
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(CNN) -- As part of an effort to share the best practices of modern business among organizations across the globe, CNN is talking to some of the world's top executives. In line with this, CNN will be hosting three events looking at modern strategies in today's business arena. The first of these master classes will be based at the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai and will be aired November 10 and 11. One of the guests at the event will be Howard Schultz, chairman of the international coffee shop chain Starbucks. He will be part of a live discussion at the master class and will take questions that you, the CNN audience, put to him. As the head of a coffee empire that now boasts over 12,000 stores and recorded revenues in 2006 of $7.8 billion, Schultz is well equipped to tackle questions on the best ways to succeed in today's business world. The CNN Boardroom Master classes will take place in the homes of the world's largest stock markets -- Shanghai, New York and London. It airs on November10 at 2115 and November 11 at 0115 & 1615 HKT. E-mail to a friend .
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CNN will host three Boardroom Master Classes with business experts .
The first event will feature Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz .
Schultz will take e-mail and video questions from the CNN audience .
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MADRID, Spain -- Lionel Messi scored for the sixth game in a row as Barcelona defeated big-spending Atletico Madrid 3-0 to stay in touch with Primera Liga leaders Real Madrid. Messi (left) is congratulated by Ronaldinho after scoring again in Barcelona's 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid. Barcelona had thumped Atletico 6-0 on their own ground last season and the visitors were out for revenge -- but conceded twice in four minutes. After 15 minutes, Italian goalkeeper Christian Abbiati let a routine Messi cross slip out of his hands and Deco rolled home into the empty net. Four minutes later Messi played a great one-two with Ronaldinho and rifled a shot past Abbiati for his sixth goal of the season and Xavi added a third late on. "It was a deserved victory against a rival that we have had problems with in the past," explained Barca coach Frank Rijkaard. "We scored twice in quick succession and then we controlled the match using aggression and with the team attacking and defending as a unit." "Conceding two early goals inside four minutes is not easy to turn around especially against Barcelona," admitted Atletico coach Javier Aguirre. It was Barcelona's fourth straight league win but they still trail Real Madrid by two points after the champions beat Recreativo Huleva 2-0. Dutch international Ruud van Nistelrooy, the league's top-scorer last season, scored on 72 minutes before Gonzalo Higuain netted in the final minute to keep Real at the summit. Luck deserted them when Wesley Sneijder hit the post but Van Nistelrooy scored in the final quarter hour before Higuain struck to keep them two points clear at the top. Real have made their best start since 1991 but coach Bernd Schuster's rotation policy has been questioned with the German chopping and changing his team. "It was an important victory because it is the final match before we go away on international duty," said Dutch winger Arjen Robben. "We are now top for the next two weeks and can build on that when we return." Villarreal, now four points behind Real, lost for only the second time in 15 matches with a 3-2 reverse against Osasuna. Sevilla, third last season, are in a crisis after losing their fourth league game in a row with a goal from Riki handing Deportivo La Coruna a surprise 1-0 win. Sevilla have just six points from their first six matches and are 13 points behind Real. Levante's Abel Resino became the first Spanish league coach to be sacked this season, after their 3-0 home loss to Real Zaragoza. . The 47-year-old Resino, a former goalkeeper at Atletico Madrid, joined Levante in January as a replacement for Juan Ramon Lopez Caro. The Valencia-based club are bottom of the table with only a point from seven matches. E-mail to a friend .
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Lionel Messi scores for the sixth game in a row as Barca defeat Atletico 3-0 .
Real Madrid stay top of the Primera Liga table after defeating Recreativo 2-0 .
Sevilla's crisis continues as they lose their four league match in succession .
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NYON, Switzerland -- Celtic have been fined $50,800 by UEFA and AC Milan's Dida has been banned for two matches after the incident which saw a pitch-invading supporter approach the Brazilian goalkeeper in last week's Champions League match at Celtic Park. Dida's theatrical over-reaction has resulted in UEFA suspending him for two matches. The incident occurred when the Scottish side beat Milan 2-1 in Glasgow. A fan ran onto the field in the 90th minute, soon after the home side scored their winning goal, and made what appeared to be minimal contact with Dida. The Milan goalkeeper turned to chase the supporter before dropping to the ground. He was carried off the field on a stretcher and replaced. Dida's theatrical over-reaction has cost him severely -- but Celtic may choose not to complain about their own punishment, with half of their fine suspended for two years. UEFA did have the power to change the result of the match, although that was always unlikely. UEFA's control and disciplinary body found Celtic guilty of charges of "lack of organisation and improper conduct of supporters", while Dida was found to have breached UEFA's "principles of loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship". Milan have pledged to appeal against the punishment, which as it stands means he will miss the club's Champions League games against Shakhtar Donetsk. "It's a suspension that is absolutely excessive," said Milan lawyer Leandro Cantamessa. "It seems to us a very, very unbalanced sentence. It turns Dida into the protagonist of the incident, whereas the protagonist was someone else, and that's not right from a logical point of view." Celtic acted swiftly to punish the 27-year-old supporter, who turned himself in and has since admitted a breach of the peace in court and will be sentenced next month. The club banned the fan for life from all their matches, home and away. Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell said: "As a club we feel this penalty is proportionate to the incident in question and a fair outcome." E-mail to a friend .
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AC Milan's Brazilian goalkeeper Dida is suspended by UEFA for two matches .
Dida was banned for his over-reacting to being touched by a Celtic supporter .
Celtic have been fined $50,800 for allowing the fan to run onto the field of play .
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House is blasting Congressional Democrats for not sending a bill that would fund veterans' care programs to the president's desk by Veterans Day. The White House's Dana Perino accused Democrats of holding veterans care funding hostage. "There's absolutely no reason that the veterans' bill could not have been signed by the president today, except for the political games that the Democrats decided to play with it," White House press secretary Dana Perino said Sunday in Crawford, Texas. Congressional Democrats had attached legislation funding veterans programs to a $150.7 billion bill that also funded a number of domestic priorities, including health, labor and education. Democrats also added $3.7 billion to what the president budgeted for veterans programs. The labor-health-education bill would increase funding by more than $10 billion over last year's funding for those programs. The president has threatened to veto the bill because of the added spending. The House passed a health-labor-education bill 269-142 last week with the veterans funding attached, but the Senate later voted to strip out the veterans funding and send the health-labor-education bill to the president. Perino accused the Democrats of "trying to hold hostage our veterans to extra domestic spending or increases in taxes." "The president wants clean legislation, a clean bill to fund the veterans," Perino said. On Saturday, the Democratic congressional leadership sent a letter to President Bush saying they welcomed a dialogue on spending, sayings disagreements over funding levels "have never been so great that we cannot reach agreement on a spending plan that meets the needs of the American people." "Key to this dialogue, however, is some willingness on your part to actually find common ground," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said in the letter. The leadership said last year's Congress, which was still under Republican control, had never passed a separate bill funding veterans programs. Congress also sent to the president legislation that would fund veterans care at the levels requested by the president through December 14, the leadership said. The current funding level "is still below the $3.9 billion extra that we passed," said Nadeam Elshami, spokesman Pelosi. "We are committed to getting the extra funding that the Congress already voted on the president's desk for his signature." The leadership blamed Republican members of Congress for stalling the funding for the veterans programs by blocking its inclusion in the larger spending bill. Perino, though, said the Democrats could still send a separate bill to the president funding the veterans program that passed both chambers of Congress. "The Democrats decided not to send the president this bill," Perino said. "That has to be laid at their feet." E-mail to a friend . CNN's Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report.
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White House accuses Democrats of holding hostage funding for veterans care .
Funding was attached to large health-labor-education bill .
White House says it wants a clean bill that only funds veterans programs .
Democrats call on White House to engage in a dialogue on spending levels .
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(CNN) -- Muddy but unhurt, three University of Texas students emerged from a cramped cave complex in Austin, Texas, after a day-long search Sunday. A rescuer at the entrance to Airman's Cave in Austin, Texas, Sunday. Lt. Matt Cox, an Austin Fire Department spokesman, said the students -- two women and one man -- were reported missing early Sunday after a trip into Airman's Cave, about four miles south of the university's campus. They were found about halfway down the 12,000-foot-long cave, which has few spaces big enough for an adult to stand upright and is explored primarily by experienced spelunkers. The students were located shortly before 5 p.m. (6 p.m. ET), about 30 hours after they entered. Their names were not released Sunday night. A friend called 911 to report them missing at 5 a.m. The group had told friends to call 911 if they were not back by midnight Sunday, according to Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services. Earlier reports that four students were in the cave were incorrect, Cox said. Authorities did not know Sunday evening why the students were in the cave for so long. But Cox said it would have been easy even for experienced cavers to get lost in Airman's, which he compared to the roots of a tree. "There are so many ways to go," he said. E-mail to a friend .
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Three Austin cave explorers are safe and are out of the cave, officials said .
The University of Texas students went into Airman's Cave Saturday .
The 12,000 foot long cave complex has tight twists and turns .
Unclear exactly how the students lost their way, but cave is complex, official said .
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. first lady Laura Bush -- in a rare foray into foreign policy -- called on Myanmar's military junta to "step aside," give up the "terror campaigns" against its people and allow for a democratic Myanmar in a commentary published in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal. U.S. first lady Laura Bush said the junta "should step aside to make way for a unified Burma." "Gen. Than Shwe and his deputies are a friendless regime," Bush said. "They should step aside to make way for a unified Burma [Myanmar] governed by legitimate leaders. "The rest of the armed forces should not fear this transition -- there is room for a professional military in a democratic Burma," Bush said, in keeping with the U.S. policy of still using Myanmar's former name. In Wednesday's commentary, Bush called on Myanmar's military leaders to release Aun Sung Suu Kyi and other opposition leaders so they can meet with and plan for a transition to democracy. "Meanwhile, the world watches -- and waits," Bush warns. "We know that Gen. Than Shwe and his deputies have the advantage of violent force. But Ms. Suu Kyi and other opposition leaders have moral legitimacy, the support of the Burmese people and the support of the world. "The regime's position grows weaker by the day. The generals' choice is clear: The time for a free Burma is now." The humanitarian rights situation in Myanmar has been a cause for the first lady in the past few months as the crisis there worsened. Myanmar state media has reported that 2,000 people were detained during the demonstrations and the crackdown against them -- under an emergency law imposed on September 25 banning assembly of more than five people -- and that 700 of those people have been released. The official death toll from Myanmar's leadership is at 10, but there are reports that hundreds were killed and thousands arrested in the wake of the demonstrations that peaked late September, which were led by Myanmar's Buddhist monks. On Tuesday morning, Bush received a phone call from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to update her on the efforts of his special envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari. A representative of the secretary general said the call was a follow-up to a conversation they had weeks ago. Gambari met last week with the military junta leadership as well as with Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest in Yangon. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, told reporters that Laura Bush and her husband's administration believe that there is a "need to start preparing for transition" for Myanmar. "We believe it is very important that progress be made and prisoners be released and conditions for Aun Sung Suu Kyi be improved [so] that she can prepare for participation for negotiations for a transition," he said. E-mail to a friend .
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Laura Bush calls on Myanmar junta to "step aside," allow for a democracy .
Military leaders must give up the "terror campaigns" against its people, she says .
Junta should release Aun Sung Suu Kyi and other opposition leaders, she says .
Her rare foray into foreign policy was published in the Wall Street Journal .
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PARIS, France -- France lock Sebastien Chabal has been cited for a dangerous tackle on England's Simon Shaw during Saturday's World Cup semifinal in Paris. Simon Shaw offloads despite being tackled by Raphael Ibanez, left, and Sebastien Chabal. The Sale Sharks forward will face a disciplinary hearing on Monday after his tackle on opposite second-rower Shaw was noted by citing commissioner Dennis Wheelahan. Chabal started the match on the substitutes' bench, but was brought on in the 26th minute to replace the injured Fabien Pelous during hosts France's 14-9 defeat. If he is suspended, then Chabal will miss Friday's third and fourth-place play-off match at the Parc des Princes. Meanwhile, France coach Bernard Laporte said that the defeat was tougher to take than England's 24-7 win in the 2003 semifinals. "In 2003, they were better then us. In fact they were better than everyone," said Laporte, who is leaving his role to take up the post of junior sports minister in the French government. "They were like the New Zealand of this tournament - the favorite, except they went all the way. This time it's harder because yesterday it was 50-50." Meanwhile, England -- seeking to become the first nation to defend the World Cup title -- revealed that star kicker Jonny Wilkinson again had problems with the match balls during the semifinal. The fly-half, who voiced his concerns after struggling with the boot against Australia, rejected a ball before kicking a vital three-pointer against France. "We didn't say it last week but a non-match ball got onto the field in Marseille which Jonny kicked," director of rugby Rob Andrew said. "He didn't think about it while he was kicking it. "The match balls are marked, numbered one to six. Last night they had 'World Cup semi-final England vs France' written on them. On match night, Jonny was vigilant when kicking for goal that they were actually match balls he was kicking. "The practice balls lose pressure and shape. The whole issue last week, the organizers accepted all six match balls should be used by both sides on the Thursday before game." E-mail to a friend .
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France lock Sebastien Chabal cited for a dangerous tackle on Simon Shaw .
Chabal faces disciplinary hearing on Monday after incident against England .
Sale forward will miss the third and fourth-place play-off is he is suspended .
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Previously unseen footage of Diana, Princess of Wales, taken just hours before she was killed in a car crash, has been shown to the jury at the inquest into her death. The footage showed Diana and Dodi step into an elevator at the Ritz Hotel. Images taken from a security camera at the Ritz Hotel in Paris show the 36-year-old smiling as she and her lover Dodi Fayed step into an elevator and later walk out of the hotel. Further footage shows Fayed visiting a jeweler's shop, images that could lend support to claims that he was buying an engagement ring. Earlier, a British coroner at the inquest said tt may never be known for certain whether Princess Diana was pregnant when she died in the Paris car crash. Lord Justice Scott Baker told the jury at the inquest into the deaths of the princess and her lover Dodi Fayed that scientific evidence might be unable to demonstrate "one way or the other" whether she was in the early stages of pregnancy. But he said they would hear "intimate" details of her personal life. Watch footage of Diana's last hours » . Baker told the 11 members of the jury -- six women and five men -- Diana may have been on the contraceptive pill and that evidence she was poised to get engaged to Dodi on the night she died was contradictory. On Tuesday the judge, who is acting as coroner in the case, told the jury that a famous image taken in summer 1997 showing Diana wearing a swimsuit could not be proof she was pregnant with Dodi's child as she had not started a relationship with him at that stage. The jury is set to hear "scene setting" evidence, including CCTV and a tourist video. The inquest to establish cause of death is expected to be a six-month process. Fayed's father, Mohammed Al Fayed, has contended from the start that Diana and his son were murdered because the royal family "could not accept that an Egyptian Muslim could eventually be step-father to the future king of England," referring to Diana's son Prince William. "I'm hoping for justice," Al Fayed said outside court. "At last, we're going to have a jury from ordinary people and I hope to reach the decision which I believe that my son and Princess Diana have been murdered by the royal family." Baker told the jury of Al Fayed's allegations, but again reminded them that they were responsible for deciding the facts of the case, but not to assign blame or guilt. "You have to decide four important, but limited factual questions: who the deceased were, when they came by their deaths, where they came by their deaths and how they came by their deaths," Baker said, according to inquest transcripts. "The first three questions are unlikely to give rise to any difficulty. The fourth is a rather wider question and is directed towards the means by which they died." Diana, 36, and 42-year-old Dodi Fayed were killed on August 31, 1997 when the Mercedes-Benz they were traveling in hit a pillar in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris. They were being pursued at the time by the paparazzi after leaving the Ritz Hotel. Driver Henri Paul, who was also killed, was drunk and driving at high speed. Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was the sole survivor. Next week, the jury is scheduled to travel to Paris to see the crash site, along the River Seine. They are also expected to hear testimony from the paparazzi who were present after the accident. In its evidence section, the Web site for the inquest has posted previously unpublished pictures taken by paparazzi of the limo before and immediately after the accident. One is a closeup -- looking into the front of the vehicle -- that shows Diana, Fayed, Paul and Rees-Jones minutes before the crash. E-mail to a friend .
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NEW: Jury shown new footage of Diana taken hours before her death .
Diana and Dodi Fayed inquest jury to hear "scene setting" evidence .
On Tuesday coroner outlined controversial claims, published new images .
Court will make final decision on what happened in car crash 10 years ago .
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- None of the 1,000-plus Iraqi detainees freed in recent weeks have broken a pledge not to return to the insurgency, according to the Marine general who oversees the U.S. detention centers in Iraq. A U.S. military panel reviews a detainee's case at Camp Cropper near Baghdad. Speaking in Arabic, Maj. Gen. Doug Stone on Wednesday reassured Iraqis about how the 25,000 detainees -- mostly Sunnis -- are treated after being taken into custody on suspicion of involvement in the insurgency. Stone described the detention system as "open and transparent," saying it makes the detainees better citizens and helps break the cycle of violence and poverty in the country. Stone said detainees get free medical care equal to what he gets as a general, food and water made to Islamic standards, educational opportunities, jobs skills and contact with families. The U.S. detention centers -- at Camp Bucca near the southern port city of Basra and in Camp Cropper near Baghdad -- are political sore points for Sunnis, who make up 83 percent of the detainees held. The main Sunni political coalition -- the Iraqi Accord Front -- cited the centers as one reason for quitting the government during the summer. Last month, the U.S.-led coalition launched Operation Lion's Paw in which between 50 and 70 detainees would be released daily during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan after taking a pledge not to rejoin the insurgency against the Shiite-led government. "This pledge is an Iraqi pledge, a pledge before an Iraqi judge, frequently with a family member present," Stone said. "I am pleased to tell you that in the more 1,000 that have gone through this program and taken the pledge, not one has returned to threaten Iraqi or coalition forces." Stone said the releases would continue at the same pace beyond Ramadan. Stone's description seems a far cry from the Abu Ghraib prison operated by the U.S. military in the first years after the invasion. That prison was closed down and razed in the wake of an international scandal over prisoner abuse. "There are no secrets that go on in detention," Stone said. "Our facilities are open to inspection by any agency that we in the federal government believe is credible. These agencies are welcomed because they are windows for the world." See what life's like inside Camp Cropper's walls » . By the time of their release, "detainees grow in terms of working in an inter-sectarian environment," he said. Each detainee has a chance to take classes up to a sixth-grade level, and high school classes are being planned, Stone said. About one-third -- or 8,000 -- are in school, with 7,000 having passed the fifth-grade level, he said. The 860 detainees who are 17 or younger are all in school, Stone said. The average stay for a detainee is 300 days, but some have been detained for two years or longer, he said. A review board interviews detainees to decide if they are a threat to security, he said. If they are deemed not to be, they are offered freedom in exchange for taking the pledge. Only 280 detainees are foreigners, mostly from Syria, Egypt, Iran, Sudan and Saudi Arabia, he said. Other developments .
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More than 1,000 freed detainees reportedly keep pledge not to rejoin insurgency .
U.S. general tries to reassure Sunnis that detainees face no abuse .
More than 80 percent of detainees are Sunnis .
U.S. airstrike kills 13 suspected terrorists west of Baghdad .
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(CNN) -- The Tennessee Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to modify or overturn a lower court's ruling allowing Mary Winkler, convicted of killing her minister husband, visitation rights with the couple's three daughters. Holding baby Brianna, Mary Winkler stands next to Matthew. In the foreground are Mary Alice and Patricia. Charles and Diane Winkler, parents of slain minister Matthew Winkler, had asked the court to intervene and either revoke Mary Winkler's visitation rights or allow them to proceed only under supervision of a counselor. The children -- Patricia, Mary Alice and Brianna -- have been living with their grandparents since their mother was arrested last year. Winkler has not seen the children in 15 months, said Kay Farese Turner, her attorney. She said her client was "absolutely elated about the news and believes this will be her best Christmas ever." Turner said she believes the visit may come before Christmas. A jury convicted Winkler earlier this year of voluntary manslaughter in the shotgun death of Matthew Winkler -- not the first-degree murder conviction prosecutors had wanted. She said the slaying came after years of abuse, including physical violence and being forced to dress "slutty" for undesirable sex acts. Winkler received a three-year sentence, but a judge required her to serve only 210 days, gave her credit for the five months she had already served and allowed her to serve the remaining 60 days in a mental health facility. She was released in August. At the time of their father's death in March 2006, Patricia was 8, Mary Alice was 6 and Brianna was 1. Charles and Diane Winkler have moved to terminate Mary Winkler's rights and have filed a $2 million wrongful death suit against her for their son's slaying. The termination issue has not been decided in court. Turner said the court may want to determine what, if any, bond Winkler has with her children before making a decision. Attempts by CNN to contact attorneys for the Winklers were not immediately successful Wednesday. In September, a lower court granted Winkler visitation with her daughters pending the outcome of the custody battle. The court specified the visits be supervised by a guardian ad litem appointed to represent the children's interests and supervised by members of the couple Winkler is living with or by her sister. A subsequent appeal by the grandparents was denied, leading to their Supreme Court appeal. The Winklers said if their former daughter-in-law got visitation with the children at all, it should be under the supervision of a professional counselor. At a September hearing, according to court documents, they said the children "exhibit fear and confusion" toward their mother "and her role in their father's death." One expert, in testimony, quoted Patricia as saying her mother had killed her father and, "I don't know if she will kill me. I want to ask her if she would do that to me. It scares me, kind of; if she did, well, I guess I would see my father." The Winklers also said that after telephone calls with their mother, the children experienced "urination accidents, sleeping problems, graphic nightmares and sleepwalking." They said the lower court erred by failing to appoint the guardian ad litem until after the September hearing. Turner, however, said she believes terminating Winkler's parental rights would not be in the children's best interest. "She has a faith rarely seen, and she loves those children," Turner said. After Matthew Winkler's death, Winkler fled with the girls to the Alabama coast, where she was arrested. She said during a September appearance on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" that she never expected to get away with killing her husband, but that she fled to be with her daughters and "have some good times." E-mail to a friend . CNN's Rusty Dornin contributed to this report.
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Mary Winkler convicted earlier this year of shooting her husband to death .
Winkler served time and was released; the couple had three children .
The children live with their grandparents, who oppose visitation .
Winkler has not seen her children in 15 months .
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LAHORE, Pakistan (CNN) -- Two Pakistani television networks that transmit from Dubai in United Arab Emirates were ordered off the air Friday at the request of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, officials from the networks said. Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has been under pressure to lift a state of emergency. GEO-TV and ARY Digital offer a variety of programming, including news, entertainment, sports and music. Both networks had been banned from Pakistan's cable television system -- along with other networks, including CNN and BBC -- since Musharraf declared a state of emergency on November 3. This latest action prevents the two Pakistani networks from broadcasting worldwide via satellite. "This was basically our window to the world, GEO President Imran Aslan said. "In Pakistan, we've been shut down since the 3rd." The action was not wholly unexpected, but surprising nevertheless, Aslan said. "We uplink from Dubai, never having had a license to uplink from Pakistan," he said. "Dubai is a media city which seemed to be a haven and a sanctuary." Aslan said network officials have been in discussions with Pakistani government officials and "it seemed very obvious that they were going to do this. We were ready for it to a certain extent." "Eventually they decided to put their feet on the pipe, as it were." The government has made numerous demands of the network, although none of them official, Aslan said. "It's done through intermediaries," he said. "[Dulling] down the content, not having certain anchors, some of the hosts of our programs and talk shows." Musharraf's emergency order put several restrictions on the media, preventing journalists from expressing opinions prejudicial to "the ideology ... or integrity of Pakistan." Journalists are also restricted from covering suicide bombings and militant activity and could face three-year jail terms if they "ridicule" members of the government or armed forces. Almost a dozen journalists have been arrested. Musharraf has denied that his restrictions bar criticism, saying they only ask for responsibility in reporting. But last week, Pakistan expelled three print journalists for using language in an editorial that a Pakistani official called offensive to Musharraf. The editorial criticized Musharraf and the United States and Britain for continuing to support him. While many Pakistani journalists have protested the restrictions, some smaller television channels have complied with the government's restrictions. GEO and ARY have refused. "It seems most of the other channels have kowtowed in order to survive," Aslan said. Musharraf has said the emergency order improves stability and will foster peaceful parliamentary elections, which he has said he would like to see take place before January 9. The exact date will be set by Pakistan's Election Commission. Opposition leaders have accused Musharraf of declaring emergency rule to keep his hold on power and avoid an expected court ruling that would have nullified his election victory in October. E-mail to a friend .
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NEW: GEO-TV president: "It seemed very obvious that they were going to do this"
Order comes on the request of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf .
GEO-TV and ARY Digital offer varied programming, including news .
Both networks transmit from the United Arab Emirates .
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JACKSONVILLE, Florida (CNN) -- Four people were killed and several injured after an explosion Wednesday at a chemical plant sent a thick plume of smoke over a section of Jacksonville, authorities said. A thick plume of smoke rises Wednesday at a chemical plant in Jacksonville, Florida. "Literally, it's a hellish inferno. There is no other way to describe it," said Fire Department spokesman Tom Francis. Fourteen people were hospitalized after the blast at the T2 Lab on Faye Road, in an industrial area on the waterfront in north Jacksonville, Francis said. Officials initially ordered an evacuation of nearby businesses, but by 4 p.m. the order had been lifted after tests of the air found no toxicity, Francis said. Firefighters were still battling hot spots, and the effort will be going on for "quite some time," he said. See an I-Report account about the blast » . Six of those injured were transported to Shands Hospital in Jacksonville, hospital spokeswoman Kelly Brockmeier said. A Shands official said the hospital incident command system had been activated -- something done to put the staff in high alert in anticipation of trauma patients. A woman who answered the T2 Lab's 24-hour facility emergency phone said the plant manufactures ecotane, a gasoline additive that reduces tailpipe emissions, according to the laboratory's Web site. See a map of the site of the explosion » . The billowing black smoke could be seen from the city's downtown, said Florida Times-Union reporter Bridget Murphy. Murphy said she talked to several workers as they walked out of the area, and they were "shaken to the core." "They described a hissing noise and then a sound wave," she said. Antonio Padrigan was trying to get in touch with his son, who works in a plant in the area, but was having no luck reaching him on his cell phone. "He was shook up when he called me, but I can't get through to him anymore," Padrigan said. "I don't know if he's in the hospital or what." CNN I-Reporters Jonathan Payne and his son Calvin, 16, shot pictures of the explosion. They felt the blast shake their home, about 15 minutes away, and went to see what was going on. Carlton Higginbotham, 63, was working at home on Townsend Boulevard in Jacksonville when a loud boom shook his house, he said. "It was a gunshot-type explosion; it wasn't a rumble," he said. Higginbotham, an insurance salesman, and his neighbor ran outside and noticed thick smoke billowing from the other side of the St. Johns River, which separates his neighborhood from the site of the blast. "The cloud that came out of it was white, some would say mushroom-shaped," Higginbotham said. "It was followed by dark, dark smoke." E-mail to a friend .
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NEW: Fire Department spokesman: 14 have been taken to area hospitals .
Firefighters still fighting hot spots Wednesday afternoon, official says .
"It's a hellish inferno," he tells reporters .
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(CNN) -- Nasser al Ansari is the CEO of Qatari Diar, a state-owned real estate investment company. Famous for its purchase of London's Chelsea Barracks, Qatari Diar was established in 2004 by the Qatar Investment Authority, to support Qatar's growing economy and to co-ordinate the country's real estate development priorities. It is now valued at $1 billion with 18 projects underway. Al Ansari is a graduate from the University of Miami and was responsible for high profile projects such as New Doha International Airport and the promotion of private sector investment through public sector privatization. Before being appointed as CEO of Qatari Diar, Al Ansari was at the office of the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs as technical advisor. He joins us on MME to talk about the vision for Qatar, how Qatari Diar fits into it and its investments outside Gulf in Morocco, Sudan, Syria, Egypt and Europe. With oil prices hitting $88 this week, John Defterios begins by asking Nasser al Ansari about the differences he sees now compared to the 1970s when oil prices were also high. Any lessons learned? Nasser al Ansari: I believe so. In the 1970s, local government here did not deal in a very sophisticated way with this wealth. But now we are fortunate with a high level of education and the reformations in government policies in this region. We now understand how to utilize this wealth and economical growth. JD: I don't think most people know that you sit on one of the largest natural gas fields in the world and will likely be the largest exporter by 2010. This must give you great cushion to expand the Qatari Diar model. NA: Although we have this and we are fortunate with this, Qatar has adopted a policy to diversify its portfolio from its natural resources to other investment opportunities and one of them is Qatari Diar. We are investing a lot in real estate, not just in Qatar but worldwide. JD: In fact very close in the neighborhood as well. It's almost foreign policy strategy to invest in the poorer countries in the region. Is this to help the neighborhood develop alongside Qatar? NA: I think with the knowledge and know-how that we have gained in this area of expertise, we would like to export it to other countries to help their economical reformations; to try to create business opportunities for their local businessmen and to create job opportunities for the people in that particular country. JD: It's quite a radical departure say from the International Monetary Fund or World Bank giving loans or grants for development. This is turning the world upside down in your region, it is not? NA: Yes, I would like to assure you at Qatari Diar we are not in the business of lending. JD: You want a hard return. NA: We want return but we always think of the people when we are investing in these countries. I mean we want to make sure that the investment we are making is there for the long-term. Qatari Diar has a policy: it's a long-term policy not short-term. JD: Give me some insight on why Qatari Diar feels as comfortable in London with Chelsea Barracks as in Cuba, for example, with some of the projects you're undertaking. What makes you think you can pull that off? NA: I think with the expertise that we have and with the strength that we have, we would like to showcase the strength of the people of Qatar and we want to pull the flag of the state of Qatar even across the Atlantic and we are determined to do so. We are a small country but with big ideas. E-mail to a friend .
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Nasser al Ansari is CEO of Qatari Diar, Qatar's state-owned investment group .
Its global projects are part of nation's attempt to diversify investment portfolio .
Investment also aims to bring expertise and jobs to neighboring countries .
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A day after New Jersey banned executions, newly released figures show that capital punishment dropped this year to a 13-year low. The Supreme Court will hold oral arguments January 7 about the constitutionality of lethal injection protocols. Forty-two people have been put to death this year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), a Washington-based group that opposes the practice. That figure is down 57 percent from what it was in 1999, when 98 inmates were executed. Next year's figures are expected to drop further. The Supreme Court is to hold oral arguments January 7 about whether lethal injection protocols in 36 of the 37 states with the death penalty are constitutional. See how the rates have dropped » . The justices placed a moratorium on executions in late September, when they decided to review a Kentucky case about whether the three-drug lethal "cocktail" of chemicals represents "cruel and unusual punishment," since it may cause excruciating pain to inmates unable to express discomfort. Stays of executions have been issued in several states until the larger constitutional issues are addressed. If the high court finds the procedures unconstitutional, it could take years before death-penalty states would meet legal standards necessary to resume lethal injection. And even if the method is declared acceptable, it would be months before new execution dates could be set. Ten states carried out executions this year. Outside the South, Arizona, South Dakota, Indiana, and Ohio together subjected six men to lethal injection. Learn about states' death penalty policies and statistics » . Texas continues to lead the nation, with 62 percent of executions nationwide this year. Overall, 86 percent this year were in the South. No more executions are scheduled this year. "The death penalty has been in a period of decline for many years," said Richard Dieter, executive director of DPIC. "Two thousand seven will be known as the year executions came to a temporary halt and as the year of concrete legislation reconsidering the death penalty." Death penalty supporters acknowledge that states outside the South have been reluctant to impose the punishment, even in the face of rising big-city crime rates. "I think the main problem is that the death penalty is not being imposed often enough in those urban jurisdictions," said Kent Scheidegger of the Sacramento-based Criminal Justice Legal Foundation. "I think people of the cities are not getting the quality of justice that people elsewhere receive. I think we need to build support for the death penalty and need to impose it more regularly where it is warranted." New Jersey's legislature voted last week to outlaw the death penalty -- the first state to do so in 42 years -- and Gov. Jon Corzine signed the measure into law Monday. At the same time, he commuted the sentences of the eight men on the state's death row. The move was largely symbolic, since no executions have occurred there since 1963. Similar bills in Nebraska, New Mexico and Montana failed this year in the legislature. State lawmakers in Maryland, Colorado, North Carolina, Tennessee and California are also considering abolishing the death penalty, but no bills have been introduced. The Supreme Court on January 4 will decide whether to review an appeal from Louisiana inmate Patrick Kennedy, sentenced to death in 2003 for raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter. The state's high court upheld the punishment as appropriate. The justices in 1976 banned capital punishment for rape, but 19 years later, Louisiana passed a law allowing execution for the sexual violation of a child under 12. State lawmakers distinguished the earlier high court case as pertaining only to "adult women." E-mail to a friend .
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Death Penalty Information Center: 42 people have been put to death this year .
That's down 57 percent from 1999 level, when 98 inmates were executed .
Figure partly due to states questioning the constitutionality of lethal injection .
Texas leads the nation in executions this year, according to DPIC .
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MOSCOW, Russia -- Zenit Saint Petersburg have clinched their first Russian title in the post-Soviet Union era with a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Ramenskoye on Sunday. Zenit captain Anatoly Timoshuk kisses the Russian Premier League trophy after their victory at Ramenskoye. The win means Zenit finish top of the table with 61 points, two points ahead of second-placed Spartak Moscow, who beat city rivals Dynamo 2-1. CKSA Moscow finished third on 53 points. Zenit went ahead in the 15th minute when Radek Sirl's shot from the edge of the box deflected off a Ramenskoye defender and beat goalkeeper Antonin Kinski. After the interval, the hosts poured forward seeking an equalizer and created several chances -- but Zenit held firm to secure their first championship since 1984 and make a hero out of Dutch coach Dick Advocaat. Nine-times champions Spartak took the lead midway through the first-half. Russian international striker Roman Pavyuchenko netted the opening goal in the 24th minute with a powerful shot from the edge of the six-yard box after a mix- up in the Dynamo defence. Brazilian striker Soares Welliton made it 2-0 seven minutes after halftime, heading home Pavlyuchenko's precise cross. Dynamo reduced the arrears in the 71st minute, when Spartak midfielder Radoslav Kovac scored an own goal. Meanwhile, Rostov and Krasnodar were relegated fronm the Premier League. E-mail to a friend .
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Zenit Saint Petersburg clinch the Russian Premier League title on Sunday .
They secure the title ahead of Spartak Moscow after a 1-0 win at Ramenskoye .
The title success is Zenit's first since 1984 and the first in the post-Soviet era .
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GLASGOW, Scotland -- Scottish Premier League leaders Celtic suffered another setback in their bid for a third successive title after being held 1-1 by managerless Hibernian on Saturday. David Murphy's goals have earned Hibernian four points against the Auld Firm this season. Gordon Strachan's team head the table by three points from Glasgow rivals Rangers, who have three games in hand ahead of Sunday's trip to Aberdeen. Visiting Hibernian, whose manager John Collins surprisingly resigned on Thursday citing a lack of financial backing from the Edinburgh side's board, took the lead in the 20th minute through left-back David Murphy. The Englishman played a one-two with Abdessalam Benjelloun before crashing a shot from the edge of the box past goalkeeper Mark Brown and in off the crossbar. Murphy's only other goal this season came in Hibs' 1-0 win at Rangers on October 6. Brown did well to keep out Merouane Zemmama's audacious shot from just inside the Celtic half soon after, and also tipped over Brian Kerr's looping header three minutes after half-time. Substitute Jiri Jarosik rescued Celtic from a first home SPL defeat this season in the 78th minute after being teed up by Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, who then headed against the post with two minutes to play. Hibernian held on despite having to play the final few minutes with 10 men, after Benjelloun was stretchered off with their three substitutes already used. The victory lifted the visitors up into fifth place, while Celtic have taken just six points from the last five games. Strachan, who confirmed he is hoping to sign Brazilian defender Coelho next month, said: "We need to cut out the silly mistakes because if you look at some of the goals we have let in away from home this season, they are silly mistakes. "We could have definitely done something with every one of them. I'm happy with the number of chance we've made in the last few weeks, but unhappy with individual mistakes. "It's not been great to look at, and we need to cut it out. We have honest lads walking in to the dressing room and saying, 'That was my fault.' "I said to them, 'It's very commendable lads but we can't keep doing this.' There has been a lot going right for us, but one or two things going wrong. We have to deal with that, and then I will look forward to the rest of the season." Third-placed Motherwell missed the chance to move above Rangers after being beaten 3-0 at home by Falkirk, who climbed to ninth with two goals in the second half to Michael Higdon and then another from Patrick Clegg on 65 minutes. Fourth-placed Dundee United failed to take advantage, losing 2-1 at home to bottom club Gretna -- whose only two wins this season have come against the Tangerines. Kenny Deuchar put the visitors ahead in the 12th minute before striker Noel Hunt leveled on 29, and Nicky Deverdics scored the eventual winner for the Borders outfit three minutes before half-time. Inverness Caledonian Thistle followed up last weekend's shock 3-2 victory against Celtic by also winning at Hearts by the same scoreline. The visitors led through Russell Duncan after 22 minutes and John Rankin made it 2-0 with a 53rd-minute penalty before Christophe Berra pulled one back on 62 and Lithuanian striker Andrius Velicka leveled from the spot (90). However, Graham Bayne scored a dramatic injury-time winner to lift Caley into the top six. In Saturday's other game, second-bottom St Mirren drew 0-0 at home to fellow strugglers Kilmarnock to be left seven points ahead of Gretna. E-mail to a friend .
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Scottish league leaders Celtic held 1-1 at home by managerless Hibernian .
Celtic now lead by three points, having taken just six from last five games .
Second-placed Rangers have three games in hand ahead of trip to Aberdeen .
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DALLAS, Texas (CNN) -- If you turn to the Bible -- Isaiah Chapter 35, Verse 8 -- you will see a passage that in part says, "A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness." Churchgoers in six states have held prayer sessions along the side of Interstate 35. Now, is it possible that this "highway" mentioned in Chapter 35 is actually Interstate 35 that runs through six U.S. states, from southern Texas to northern Minnesota? Some Christians have faith that is indeed the case. It was with that interesting belief in mind that we decided to head to Texas, the southernmost state in the I-35 corridor, to do a story about a prayer campaign called "Light the Highway." Churchgoers in all six states recently finished 35 days of praying alongside Interstate 35, but the prayers are still continuing. Some of the faithful believe that in order to fulfill the prophecy of I-35 being the "holy" highway, it needs some intensive prayer first. So we watched as about 25 fervent and enthusiastic Christians prayed on the the interstate's shoulder in Dallas. They chanted loudly and vibrantly, making many people in the neighborhood wonder what was going on. They prayed that adult businesses along the corridor would "see the light" and perhaps close down. They prayed for safety and freedom from crime for people who lived along the interstate. They prayed that all Americans would accept Jesus into their lives. Watch believers offer prayers » . The woman who came up with the concept of "Light the Highway" is a Texas minister named Cindy Jacobs. She says she can't be sure Interstate 35 really is what is mentioned in the Bible but says she received a revelation to start this campaign after "once again reading Isaiah, Chapter 35." Jacobs also points out that perhaps there is a link between the area near this highway and tragedies that have happened in history, such as the bridge collapse on I-35 in Minneapolis last August and the assassination of JFK 44 years ago near I-35 in Dallas. That's why prayer certainly can't hurt, she adds. Now, it's only fair to say most people, the religious and the non-religious alike, don't buy any of this, but none more than the owners of some of the adult businesses along I-35. At an adult go-go club, the owner tells us he resents people trying to impose their will on others. And he says his club holds fundraisers, food drives and toy drives to help the community. But on the side of the road, the prayerful aren't going to change their minds. Holy highways and nude clubs, they believe, are not a combination God has in mind. E-mail to a friend .
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Some see connection between the Bible and Interstate 35 .
Believers pray by the side of the highway, which runs through six states .
I-35 runs from southern Texas to northern Minnesota .
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