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(CNN) -- Gas prices across the Southeast and Midwest soared over the weekend, and while many would blame Hurricane Ike, human nature may be a more likely scapegoat. iReporter Stacy Haynes said this Harriman, Tennessee, station was selling regular gas at $5.09 a gallon Saturday. Experts say that when a perception exists that gas is limited -- warranted or not -- consumers flock to the pumps even if officials implore them to stay calm. It's a combination of fear, desire, distrust and protectionism, experts say. "When you have a perceived scarcity of any product, research shows the attractiveness of that product goes up," said Dr. Rao Unnava, marketing professor at Ohio State University. Grocery and department stores are keenly aware of the phenomenon, Unnava said, which is why sale flyers often declare things like, "limit three items per customer" or "price valid only through Friday." Research shows that such advertisements can actually double or triple sales of a product, Unnava said. "People don't feel comfortable with scarcity," he said. With gasoline, scarcity is a false perception, Unnava said. There is ample gas in the United States, even after Ike delivered 110-mph winds to Galveston and Houston, an area that's home to a significant portion of the nation's oil refineries. Gov. Rick Perry announced Monday that Texas' oil and gas industry "dodged a bullet" and that "some of those refineries are actually back in operation as we speak." This isn't to say human nature alone drove the spike in gas prices; the oil market's supply side certainly played its part. Refineries, pipeline and oil platforms are still being assessed after Ike, but the damage apparently isn't as severe as predicted, said Gregg Laskoski, spokesman for the southern region of the American Automobile Association. Despite the rosier-than-expected outlook, prices spiked all over the nation after Ike struck the Gulf Coast -- about 6 cents a gallon Saturday, another 6 cents Sunday and about 5 cents Monday. Particularly hard hit was the central and eastern United States. From Sunday to Monday alone, 23 states saw the average price of gas jump about a nickel or more a gallon, according to AAA. iReport.com: Send, see photos of gas prices . In Tennessee, the price jumped about 17 cents to $4.12 Monday. In Georgia, the price climbed about 14 cents to $4.16. Michigan saw an almost 13-cent increase, and Indiana's gas went up 12 cents a gallon. See gas prices state by state » . Several factors drive these fluctuations, Laskoski said, including the method in which gasoline is delivered to a state. In Florida, he said, the price went up nominally (about 5 cents) from Sunday to Monday because the Sunshine State relies more heavily on gas shipped on boats out of Louisiana and Mississippi, he said. Though Georgia abuts Florida, it doesn't have as many ports and relies more on tanker trucks to deliver gas from the Galveston-Houston area, Laskoski said. Hear how man ran out of fuel looking for gas in Atlanta, Georgia » . Another factor, Laskoski said, is that Ike prompted many oil companies to shut down operations ahead of the storm. It could take up to two weeks to get some refineries operational again because it's not as simple as flipping a switch, he said. The hiatus in oil production has ripple effects, and retailers often raise prices in anticipation of gas shortages. Gas station owners earn only a few pennies of profit on each gallon of gas, Laskoski said, explaining that proprietors essentially use gas to lure consumers into convenience stores to buy cigarettes, beer and potato chips -- items that draw better profits. When supply is low and retailers are uncertain when they'll receive their next gas shipment, some proprietors actually raise their gas prices so they can keep their gas supply longer and maintain profits from their snacks and sundries. But while diminished refinery capacity helps drive prices upward, there is also an element of "consumer behavior that goes beyond the norm," Laskoski said. "When you have consumer behavior that's irrational, it's hard for retailers to schedule it," he said. Dr. Lars Perner, assistant professor of clinical marketing at the University of Southern California, said natural disasters often spawn irrational behavior. The media can also compound fears, he said. "As soon as somebody starts running for the gas pumps, that's where the TV cameras go, so it does become a vicious cycle," Perner said. Even though everyone would be better off if consumers continued their normal patterns, people don't always trust their neighbors to cooperate. This is especially true with an "emotional commodity" like gas, Perner said. "Because you can't count on other people doing that, your best bet is to go ahead and fill up yourself," he said. "If people get excited, rationality tends to be reduced somewhat." Perner and Ohio State's Unnava both note that consumers are often reluctant to trust government officials so an appeal to remain calm might be met with suspicion rather than acquiescence. Memories -- whether they're of the calamitous response after Hurricane Katrina or of the gas shortages of the 1970s -- also play roles in a consumer's reaction to an event, the professors said. According to Unnava, "It's all perception -- what you conclude from what you see around you -- that quickly sets up these behaviors."

Perception of limited gas sends more people to the pumps, experts say . Gas prices spiked across the nation after Hurricane Ike hit Gulf Coast . Reduced supply after storm plays part, but so does consumer rush . Professor: Consumers' fears, TV coverage lead to "a vicious cycle"

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- There are few things in the world shrouded with as much secrecy as the super-yacht industry. Maritime mysteries: the design and building processes for super-yachts are tightly guarded secrets. The boats are built and kept in exclusive locations, they're owned by the notoriously inaccessible super-wealthy, and for most of us the closest we'll get to them is in the pages of glossy magazines. In a bid to gain a stronger insight into the super-yacht world I've organised an interview with Dr William Collier, the owner of Liverpool's G.L. Watson & Co - the oldest yacht design company in the world. The company formed in 1873 and in its time has produced four America's Cup yachts and more presidential and royal yachts than any other yacht designer. It seems the logical business to profile. But, there's a catch. In this industry 'loose lips' really do 'sink ships'... or at least destroy business, anyway. Collier can't tell me anything about the projects the company is working on, the people he's working for, or how much these ocean-going beasts cost to produce. "We enter into very strict confidentiality agreements with our clients. We find it frustrating at times because we would like to approach people about doing a project because we have done a similar project - but we can't mention it. "These guys can get into the press whenever they want. Unfortunately in the United Kingdom due to the nature of the press they have nothing to gain from having their personal property displayed for all to see," Collier told CNN. And when most of G.L. Watson & Co's business comes from client referrals, the company is wise not to jeopardize confidentiality agreements. Collier confirmed the company would have less than 100 clients on its books and it tries to manage several projects on differing scales at the one time. He said a usual workload was to have one 200-feet plus project, one around 100-150 feet and a few smaller projects on the go simultaneously. The 'smaller' vessels Collier refers to are often in the range of 60-80 feet long. Just tiny. Though Collier declines to comment on the net worth of his clients, I infer from the discussion that most of them are multi-millionaires, if not billionaires. This is certainly not a place for someone with shallow pockets. He said the current 'credit crunch' hitting many consumers was unlikely to have too much impact on his business. "They would be generally insulated from that. Budget is always an issue for people but that is more because people don't like change. A lot of what we do is to protect the client's interests - to make sure they don't pay too much," he said. Collier said the company had two major strands: design and owner representation. While the first aspect is self-explanatory, the second involves the full management of entire building or restoration projects from the owner's point of view. The full process of building or restoring a boat usually took between three to five years and became quite an intimate affair, he said. "We have a very close relationship with the clients. Inevitably because we are designing someone's ideal home we are finding out a lot about them and what they like and don't like. You get to know them very well." However, it's not all fairytales. The privileged position his job places him in also has its downfalls. "Anyone who says these things go smoothly is lying," he laughed. Collier said although he had not experienced any disappointed clients, he had heard of cases where multi-million dollar vessels had not been to the satisfaction of the buyer. After buying the company in 2001 at a time when he had been personally working towards restoring a G.L. Watson & Co original, Collier -- a passionate sailor himself, said the market was changing. The company worked on both sailing and motor-powered yachts, and he said it was going back to the future in some respects. "The company originally came very much out of a racing sailing design. From the 1880s it became more involved in cruise yacht design. What we are doing now is getting back into that big yacht market." He said there was a trend towards creating replicas or restorations with as many of the original materials as possible. "People for many years have been restoring sailing yachts and in many instances they tend not to use original materials. But, people are becoming more educated in this market. "Now, if people are going to do something in this market they want to do something special, something worthwhile," he said. One of the projects which Collier does detail is the Nahlin, a 296-foot 1930s G.L. Watson & Co original, which is set for restoration. After being returned to British waters only in 1999, Collier said the vessel would have a complete overhaul based on the company's archives of the original design, and it would become the "biggest restoration project ever". Collier said the company also planned to expand the range of services it provides to clients. Although there's plenty to look forward to at G.L. Watson & Co and business is flourishing -- Collier drops in a strong reminder that the job of pleasing wealthy clients does not open the door to excessive levels of wealth for himself. "We are not yacht owners - we don't own these. We are here to produce them for orders." In fact, for one of the most glamorous industries in the world, Collier said there was plenty of hard graft done behind-the-scenes, and for him, a lot of travel to and from his Liverpool base. "We don't always need to be in the Mediterranean! The lifestyle isn't always attractive."

G.L. Watson & Co. is the oldest yacht design company in the world . The company is bound to tight confidentiality agreements about its projects . The restoration of 1930s vessel 'Nahlin' will be the biggest of its kind . Most yachts take three-to-five years to complete .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Police have launched an investigation after a young disabled sportsman traveled to Switzerland to commit suicide, UK media report. Daniel James, who played rugby for England under-16s, was paralyzed during match practice last year. Daniel James, 23, from Sinton Green in western England was paralyzed from the chest down in March 2007 when a rugby scrum collapsed on top of him during match practice, dislocating his spine, the UK's Press Association has reported. Worcestershire Coroner's Service, which is conducing an inquest into the circumstances of his death, states on its Web site that James died on September 12 after he "traveled to Switzerland with a view to ending his own life. He was admitted to a clinic where he died." The inquest was adjourned on September 19 for reports. West Mercia police say that a man and a woman are helping the force with their enquiries. Assisting someone to commit suicide is illegal in the UK, as it is in most other European countries. What do you think of assisted suicide? James, who played rugby for England under-16s, was a university student at the time of his injury last year. He is believed to be the youngest person from the UK to have traveled to Switzerland to commit suicide. In a statement Friday, reported by PA, James' parents said that he had attempted to kill himself several times already. Watch why James opted for suicide » . "His death was an extremely sad loss for his family, friends and all those that care for him but no doubt a welcome relief from the 'prison' he felt his body had become and the day-to-day fear and loathing of his living existence, as a result of which he took his own life. "This is the last way that the family wanted Dan's life to end but he was, as those who know him are aware, an intelligent, strong-willed and some say determined young man," PA reported James' parents as saying. "The family suffered considerably over the last few months and do wish to be left in peace to allow them to grieve appropriately." James' parents added that their son, "an intelligent young man of sound mind," had never come to terms with his condition and was "not prepared to live what he felt was a second-class existence". Adrian Harling, the family solicitor, would not comment on the investigation, PA reported. More than 100 people from the UK who have committed suicide in Switzerland have traveled to the Dignitas Clinic in Forch. It is not known if James attended the clinic. Switzerland, along with Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, are the only European countries where authorities will not prosecute those who assist with suicide.

Young rugby player, paralyzed after accident, commits suicide in Switzerland . Police interview man and woman about the death of Daniel James, 23 . It is illegal in UK and much of Europe to assist with suicide . Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg .

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MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- Eight people were killed and 101 were wounded in two explosions during a celebration of Mexico's independence day Monday night, a Mexican official said Tuesday. Wounded people get help after blasts Monday night during an independence day event in Morelia, Mexico. Two people remained in grave condition, said Roman Armando Luna Escalante, secretary of health in Michoacan state. Eleven of the wounded were children, Luna Escalante said. None of them are gravely injured. The explosions occurred around 11 p.m. near the governor's residence in Morelia, the capital of Michoacan. The second blast happened shortly afterward a few blocks away. Officials would not say if they have any suspects or if any group has claimed responsibility. Some experts pointed to drug cartels or insurgents. "It could be a warning to the federal government, which has put a lot of money and manpower to deal with drugs, which are very powerful there," said Peter Hakim, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank on Western Hemisphere affairs. "It could be leftist guerrilla groups that occasionally throw a bomb. "The problem is that this is part of a real wave of violence that is consuming Mexico." Last week the bodies of 24 people, bound and shot execution-style, were found in Atlapulco, a town just south of Mexico City. Those killings Friday came roughly two weeks after tens of thousands of Mexicans marched on the nation's capital, calling for greater government action against the wave of violent crime. Non-governmental groups estimate there have been more than 1,500 killings in Mexico this year linked to organized crime. In late August, Mexican President Felipe Calderon met with the country's 32 governors to develop a plan to battle the rise in violent crime. Calderon, who was born in Morelia, condemned the attacks and said federal officials will redouble efforts to help state authorities investigate. More than 1,500 soldiers and federal police were maintaining order Tuesday, which marks the 198th anniversary of what Mexicans regard as their independence day. Festivities typically start the night before because on September 16, 1810, shortly before dawn, a priest in a village in the state of Guanajuato rang a church bell and called on Mexicans to fight for independence from Spain. The celebration in Morelia on Monday night was one of hundreds nationwide to celebrate that call for independence, which Mexico formally achieved in 1821.

NEW: Death toll rises to eight in two blasts, official says; more than 100 wounded . NEW: Mexican president says federal officials will help investigate . Explosions occurred during independence day celebration in Morelia .

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(CNN) -- An animal rescue group on Sunday picked up a U.S. soldier's adopted dog from Iraq, ending the soldier's weeks-long struggle to send the animal to her Minnesota home. Sgt. Gwen Beberg adopted Ratchet after soldiers rescued him from a burning pile of trash in May. Operation Baghdad Pups, which said the U.S. military prevented its first attempt to take Ratchet the dog on October 1, picked up the animal in Baghdad with military clearance and flew it to Kuwait on Sunday. The dog is expected to be flown to Washington on Monday, and if a veterinarian determines it is healthy, sent to Sgt. Gwen Beberg's home state on Wednesday, Baghdad Pups publicist Larry Garrison said. Beberg, who adopted the dog after soldiers rescued it from a burning trash pile in May, tried to have the group fly Ratchet to the United States on October 1 as her deployment neared an end. But the military, which prohibits soldiers from adopting pets abroad and bringing them to the United States, confiscated the animal after Beberg put it on a convoy bound for Baghdad Airport, according to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which runs OBP. Ratchet and Beberg, 28, drew the attention of thousands of people who signed two online petitions -- linked through the SPCA's Web site -- urging the military to let Ratchet go to the United States. The military cleared OBP to take Ratchet on Wednesday, but not in time for the group's flight from Baghdad that day, the SPCA said. On Sunday, private security contractors took Ratchet from a base to the airport, where OBP -- which works with soldiers to help them bring adopted animals home -- put Ratchet on the charter flight to Kuwait, Garrison said. Northwest Airlines will donate the flights from Kuwait to Minnesota, Garrison said. The SPCA said Ratchet helped Beberg deal with her Iraq deployment, which started in September 2007 and is scheduled to end in November. "She was absolutely miserable in the war and was really struggling to keep going every day. Ratchet turned it around for her," SPCA spokeswoman Stephanie Scroggs said last week. Beberg's mother, Patricia Beberg, in a statement released by the SPCA, said Ratchet "was the savior of her [daughter's] sanity" in Iraq. SPCA representatives said the military euthanizes some animals that it confiscates, and that Gwen Beberg worried that Ratchet would be killed. Beberg was thrilled to hear last week that the military would let OBP take Ratchet, the SPCA said. "Your persistence and amazing work has astonished me throughout this whole thing," Gwen Beberg said in an e-mail to the SPCA, according to the society. Scroggs said one of Beberg's friends helped spread the news about Ratchet through blogs. One of the petitions, which had more than 65,000 signatures as of Sunday night, was started by a blogger, Scroggs said. The SPCA says although active-duty soldiers aren't allowed to adopt animals in the Middle East, many soldiers befriend animals in the course of their service there. Garrison said the program relies on donations, saying it generally costs $3,000 to $4,000 to bring a servicemember's animal to the United States. "This isn't a one-time story This is a program making a difference for our soldiers," Garrison said.

U.S. soldier adopted dog in Iraq; military prohibits such adoption . Military took dog during soldier's first attempt to send it home, group says . Dog helped soldier cope with her deployment, group says . Animal could be in Minnesota by Wednesday .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Negative attacks are as American as apple pie. Since the early days of the republic, candidates attacked with a vigor that contemporary strategists would admire. In the 1800 presidential election, for example, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams criticized one another with a stunning ferocity on everything from foreign and domestic policy to private character and personal behavior. Later campaigns weren't much better. Critics of Andrew Jackson in 1836 accused him of murdering Indians. In 1884, Grover Cleveland was ridiculed for fathering an illegitimate child. William Jennings Bryan was characterized as a dangerous radical in 1896 who would ruin the economy. Despite these historical precedents, the 2008 campaign has reached all-time lows in the use of misleading and inaccurate political appeals. Even Karl Rove, the architect of negative ads in previous campaigns, has complained about the tenor of this year's campaign. John McCain broadcast an ad taking Barack Obama's words out of context and suggesting Democrats were trying to compare GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin to a pig. The McCain campaign ran another spot erroneously claiming Obama favored comprehensive sex education for kindergarteners. Democrats have not been above reproach either. After McCain secured the GOP nomination this spring, outside groups falsely claimed the Republican supported a 1,000-year war in Iraq and therefore was not worthy of the presidency. These misleading appeals suggest voters must remain vigilant about candidate, party, and group claims. Generally, the most misleading commercials have come from independent groups uncoordinated with the candidates. These organizations feel free to run emotional and inaccurate content designed to play on voter's fears and anxieties. Some of the worst ads in recent memory, such as the Willie Horton ad in 1988, have been broadcast by these kinds of groups. In past years, the only upside of attack ads was that they generally contained more issue content than other types of ads. Since reporters police campaign appeals, the ads generally stick to the issues and rely on factually-accurate information. Ad sponsors and candidates realize they will be held accountable for unfair ad content. However, commercials run this year represent a break with this general pattern. Attack ads broadcast in recent months have twisted the truth, lied about personal background, taken statements out of context, and clearly sought to manipulate voter sentiments. Most worrisome from a factual standpoint is McCain's claim that Obama will raise taxes on the middle class. Although Obama has pledged to increase income taxes on those earning more than $250,000, he has been careful not to make proposals that would raise taxes on the middle class for fear of being labeled a tax-and-spend liberal. McCain's tax claims have been condemned by leading editorial boards and surely will attract considerable attention in upcoming debates. With all the factual inaccuracies that have taken place, voters need to protect themselves from efforts at political manipulation. Non-partisan Web sites such as www.factcheck.org represent one source of unbiased information. They analyze ads and compile factual information in support of or in opposition to ad claims. Other trustworthy fact-checkers include ad watches and reality checks run by leading news organizations. These features dissect candidate claims in regard to accuracy, strategy, and impact. But the best thing for voters to do is to watch the candidate debates and judge for themselves. Study the statements and the factual bases of policy claims. Pay attention to how the candidates speak and what they say. Find out what non-partisan groups think and see what they have to say regarding the major issues. By the time the campaign is over, the presidential candidates are expected to have spent 55 percent of their overall budget on ads. Strategists put together spots very carefully and pre-test major messages on small groups of voters. Most of this money will be devoted to television spots. But increasingly amounts are being targeted on radio, direct mail, and Internet appeals. In the end, voters are going to have to decipher competing charges and counter-charges amid considerable noise from all sides. The 2008 election is unusual in having so many big issues on the agenda: the economy, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, health care, taxes, immigration, education and climate change. It is an election that truly matters because of the stark differences between the parties and the closeness of the campaign. Voters need to pay serious attention to the facts in order to make a wise choice. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.

Darrell West: Negative attacks have long history in U.S. politics . This year's ads have hit new lows for distorting the truth, West says . Ads against McCain and Obama have twisted their words, he says . West: Voters should use fact-checking resources in media and on the Web .

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(CNN) -- "At this time, we need a leader." "I would try to stop the war in Iraq because I think they should have a talk with them, not a big war." Trevor Dougherty is too young to vote, but is doing everything he can to make sure others do. "I'd probably go for the drilling in Alaska. Nuclear power, I'd keep that in mind." These Americans sounding off on the issues and the 2008 presidential election have a lot to say, but they won't be saying it at the ballot box -- they're all too young to vote. In fact, most won't be voting for quite a few years. But that doesn't mean that they have no interest in the race for the White House between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain. As evidenced in videos posted at iReport.com, they care a great deal. Several of these videos were put together by school classes, like Matt MacFarlane's 7th and 8th graders at Templeton Middle School in Templeton, California, who made a short video on the importance of voting. The students called for a "person with integrity who knows right from wrong", "a person of vision who not only knows what is but also what can be," "a person with a moral compass to help [set] a course for our nation," and "a person who has the ability to unite and inspire us as we face challenging times." MacFarlane's students urged voters to consider their decisions carefully on November 4. "What's at stake in this election?" asked one student. "Everything. We're counting on you." iReport.com: Watch the full video from Mr. MacFarlane's class . Some children took to portraying the candidates, complete with clothes and wigs, like the students of Cabot Middle School in Cabot, Arkansas. All of the presidential and vice presidential "candidates" gave speeches, with Secret Service, prospective first ladies and family members in tow. Most members of Gov. Sarah Palin's family were present, including a baby doll portraying Trig. This video was just a part of their learning experience about presidential elections. Library media specialist Jill Weir, who submitted the video to iReport.com, said that the students also participated in mock-campaigning, voter registrations, precincts and exit polling. iReport.com: The 'candidates' speak . A church youth group in Winter Haven, Florida, took a more humorous approach, putting together campaign ads from "John McHinkle" and "Barack Yo Mama," featuring cameos from "Sarah Mailin'" and "Joe Hidin'". It was still a learning experience, though, said Pastor James Blewett, who posted two videos to iReport.com in which the pretend candidates teach lessons about dating and parental conflicts. iReport.com: Watch the campaign ad spoofs . Some iReporters decided to ask children directly what they thought about the election. "I have a 6-year-old and he watches the debates with me," Vijay Sureshkumar of Seattle, Washington, said. "He's interested in what's going on and that's what triggered me. Why don't I go around the neighborhood and ask the kids?" The responses he got were both funny and thought-provoking. Some children saw the war as a major issue, one wanted more funding for education, and another said he was in favor of drilling for oil in Alaska. Some children seemed to be in favor of Obama, some for McCain, at least one liked both, and two of them started yelling at each other over which candidate was better. When asked about the candidates' families, one boy could easily name Obama's wife and daughters' names. When asked about McCain, he was a little fuzzier. "He's been around for a long time. Like he's been around, [since] like 1966." iReport.com: Kids sound off on the election . Tony Stampalia of Utica, New York, had a similar idea, asking students in an elementary school class whom they would vote for, based purely on the pictures of the candidates. Stampalia said that it was a tie between McCain and Obama, with one child for Ralph Nader. Obama "voters" in the class voted for their candidate because "he has a cool suit," "because he has the hair," "because he has a nice smile." One Obama voter mistook him for President Bush, while another wore an Obama button but said she was supporting Sen. Hillary Clinton. McCain "voters" in the class liked his blue shirt and tie, and thought he was "cute." One liked his "white hair." Another one found that McCain "made people do good stuff," but admitted that Obama did the same. All the children seemed to agree that "your vote counts." iReport.com: Children pick their favorite candidate . Of course, this is not quite the first election in which children were asked about their choice for president. The Scholastic Election Poll has been doing that for at least 68 years. Poll takers said their poll has reflected the outcome of the actual election all but twice since 1940. A quarter of a million students participated in the poll. This year, Obama won with 57 percent to McCain's 39 percent. In many videos on iReport.com, children and teenagers speak out for their candidate of choice. In one case, a 4th grader named Liam Coakley of Long Beach, California went the extra mile by setting up a lemonade stand for Obama. iReport.com: Lemonade stand for Obama . Trisha Prabhu, 8, of Naperville, Illinois, was so excited about Obama's candidacy that she told her mother Bhanu to make a video of her giving reasons to vote for him. iReport.com: Watch Prabhu's video . Trevor Dougherty of Ithaca, New York, said in a video: "I'm 16 years old and in this presidential election, I cannot vote. That's why I'm begging you this November, if you can, to get out this November and vote." Trevor has been following the election very closely, and first submitted an iReport while en route to the Democratic National Convention. As part of the "Voter Vlog Tag" movement, Dougherty went out and registered voters in his hometown, then submitted the video evidence to iReport.com. "Getting other people registered is a way to express myself and allow other people to be heard. iReport has helped me do all of this." iReport.com: Watch Dougherty register people to vote . Dougherty has iReported about many aspects of this campaign: the conventions, the debates and everything in between. He also rallied together a dozen members of the iReport community to speak about the importance of voting. iReport.com: Dougherty, iReporters urge others to vote . Although these young people aren't able to vote, the decisions made by the next president could certainly affect them.

iReports show how interested young Americans are in the campaign . iReports range from serious issues to silly spoofs . Does your kid have something to say about the election? Tell us at iReport.com .

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(InStyle.com) -- The co-star of "27 Dresses" discusses his personal style. "I just feel dirty," says James Marsden. Not to be alarmed: There's nothing indecent going on here. James Marsden talks about his favorite kind of clothes and how his style has changed over the years. The 34-year-old is explaining what it feels like to be sporting facial hair for a film he's working on with Cameron Diaz. Yet even the newly grown whiskers can't hide the finely chiseled features of an actor who seems to have cornered the Hollywood market on hottie-who-loses-the-girl roles ("Enchanted," "Superman Returns" and, of course, "The Notebook.") But the Oklahoma-bred star doesn't mind his wholesome image. "That's really me," he says. "I'm a little dorky -- awkward." However, his onscreen luck could be changing with his latest film, "27 Dresses," a romantic comedy co-starring Katherine Heigl. Scruffy or not, we'll be watching. You've played a prince in "Enchanted" and the superhero Cyclops in the "X-Men" movies. Is that a big deal to your kids and their friends? My daughter, Mary, is only 2, and my son, Jack, is 7. He has a Cyclops action figure, but he's really into Spider-Man and Pixar movies -- Buzz Lightyear is his guy. No "Superman," no "X-Men." I think he just assumes that everyone at his school has a dad who's a big superhero. You also played Corny Collins, the TV dance-show host in "Hairspray." What were you like in high school? That's when I came out of my shell and became more social -- people thought I was funny. I got into a whole preppy thing -- Duck Head shorts and Dockers. How would you describe your style now? Functional comfort. For a guy, it shouldn't ever look like you thought about it too much, like the clothes are wearing you. Whose clothes do you like? Paul Smith off the rack -- it's a slim cut, and I don't need to have it tailored. I always feel like an 8-year-old when I dress up in a suit, like, when can I take this thing off? But I wore a black Dolce & Gabbana suit to the première of "Hairspray" that was like, OK, now I know what a great suit is. Classic, clean lines -- sharp, sharp, sharp. Do you change your style from coast to coast? In L.A. it's too easy to throw on a pair of American Apparel sweats, a T-shirt and running shoes and just wear those for days. In New York, I actually like looking nice. Maybe I'm just getting older, but young guys need to pull their pants up. Do you ever shop for your wife? I love shopping for dresses, and I actually do a pretty good job. When I was in New York, I went into J. Crew in Soho and got her a cool fifties type dress with tiny polka dots. Style-wise I'm good, but figuring out sizing is a different story. What do you find sexy on a woman? I like spaghetti straps for my wife -- she has great shoulders and a great neck. I love when she puts her hair up, because I can see the back of her neck, so delicate and vulnerable. It's the vampire in me. Or my obsession with cheerleaders -- their hair up in a ponytail. When I was young, I could never have that. Never got the cheerleader? Eventually -- my wife was a cheerleader. What does your wife find sexy on you? A button-front shirt with [baby] spit-up on the shoulder. That means a guy is taking care of the kids and is a good father -- that's sexy to a woman. The adult version of rose petals and champagne is if I let my wife sleep in and I get up to change the baby's diaper, feed the kids, and do the dishes. Who inspires you? Paul Newman. My middle name is Paul, and my grandfather once said I was going to look like Paul Newman. That stuck with me. Beyond being a good-looking guy, Newman is a great actor with a long career, and he's got a life. He's married with kids and lives in Connecticut, sells popcorn and marinara sauce, and gives the money to charity. Anyone else? George Clooney dresses like Gary Cooper might have. Cary Grant. "A Streetcar Named Desire"-era Marlon Brando. They all made it look effortless. Their clothes framed their personalities really well -- comfortable, classic, but sharp. These guys could pull off a great suit, or jeans and a T-shirt. Don't you agree that guys have it easy -- they are considered "distinguished" as they grow older? I don't think it's guy-specific. As women get older, they become more comfortable with themselves. Susan Sarandon is the poster woman for that. A lot of guys fantasize about being with women who are in their forties or fifties. So your advice is ...? Act your age. Dress your age. Look your age. That doesn't mean you can't have fun. And isn't it time you got the girl in one of your movies? There are a couple of things I need to do [onscreen]: One, get the girl; two, pack a gun. Don't you love my career philosophy? E-mail to a friend . Get a FREE TRIAL issue of InStyle - CLICK HERE! Copyright © 2008 Time Inc. All rights reserved.

In high school Marsden showed off his preppy side . While it's easy for him to throw on sweats, Marsden likes to dress up . Actor says he is inspired by Paul Newman . Marsden: I can shop style for women, but size is a different issue .

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GALVESTON, Texas (CNN) -- Rescuers in Galveston, Texas, were going door-to-door Saturday to check on the estimated 20,000 people who failed to flee Hurricane Ike, which has slowed to tropical storm status. Park benches are strewn about in downtown Houston Saturday during Hurricane Ike. As of Saturday afternoon, the Galveston Fire Department had taken 27 people to a shelter in a high school on the coastal island, which was without electricity or water pressure. No casualties had been discovered so far in the search and rescue efforts, which have been hampered by heavy flooding and scattered debris. Galveston had ordered evacuation of the island, but Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc said about 40 percent of the city's 57,523 residents chose to stay. LeBlanc said the island would be closed while authorities assess damages, including to the causeway, which was in "bad shape" because of debris and road damage. "The road buckled in a number of places," LeBlanc said. "Even if we opened it up you couldn't get through." LeBlanc said 17 buildings on the island had been destroyed by fires, potent winds and a strong storm surge. "We are in a recovery mode," Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said in a press conference Saturday afternoon. "This eye came right over us, stayed a while and went on, but it brought a lot of damage to our city." Ike was downgraded Saturday to a tropical storm 11 hours after it crashed ashore as a Texas-sized hurricane that walloped southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana. In its wake, Ike -- which smashed into the coast as a Category 2 hurricane -- left four people dead, millions without power and destroyed homes and businesses along the Gulf Coast with powerful winds, rain and floodwaters. President Bush declared 29 Texas counties and parts of Louisianans major disaster areas, making federal funds available for recovery from the storm. View images of places hit by Ike » . Many people, like D.J. Knight of Pearlman, Texas, decided to ride out the storm at home, despite voluntary and mandatory orders issued across the region. "The windows looked like they would explode," said Knight, a mother of two. "It just wouldn't stop." Now, without electricity and surrounded by flooded roads and wreckage, Knight wonders whether it was worth enduring a sleepless night as the storm shook her home, located about halfway between Galveston and Houston. "I didn't think it would be as bad as it was," she said. "It was horrible." Knight is one of thousands waiting for assistance as the state rolls out the largest search and rescue operation in Texas history. See pictures of the storm's destruction » . Gov. Rick Perry dispatched a 1,000-strong search and rescue team, including state troopers, pilots and members of the National Guard. Lines of National Guard trucks and ambulances were deployed from San Antonio even as officials are trying to grasp the extent of damage and the number of Texans stranded by the storm. However, flooding and debris have impeded rescue efforts in some areas, adding to the uncertainty about how many Texans actually survived the storm. "We're obviously concerned that there may be people we find who didn't get out and who are going to be in the rubble of what we uncover," said Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff. "We hope for the best, but I do want to prepare people for the fact they we may have some fatalities." Chertoff said 40,000 Texans were in 250 shelters, and that food and water would be distributed in about 20 coastal locations as rescue efforts continue. In Galveston, which bore the brunt of the storm, floods filled the historic district with 7 feet of water at the storm's peak, said Galveston County official Margaret Bunch. Watch how a spunky little girl braved the storm » . A foot of water flooded the city's main courthouse, where many people rode out the storm, she said. Wanda Collins' garage filled with 5 feet of water, ruining everything inside, including a 2002 pickup truck, two Harley-Davidson motorcycles, a freezer and a washer and dryer. "I have never in my life seen water like this," the 30-year Galveston resident said. Burle and Jamie Holmes also refused to leave their Galveston home despite a grim warning from the National Weather Service. Ike forced the couple and their dog, Trouble, into the attic, tossing their furniture like toys across the house. "We lost everything," Jamie Holmes. Curfews are in place in Galveston until dawn Monday and in Houston's Harris County until 6 a.m. Sunday. Houston Mayor Bill White said his city appears to have avoided loss of life, but streets blocked by floodwaters, downed trees and power lines hampered efforts to determine the full extent of the damage. Authorities shut down downtown Houston, where the streets were littered with traffic lights and glass, for cleanup and damage assessment. The city's tallest skyscraper, the 75-story JP Morgan Chase Tower, was missing many of its windows. See iReporter's images of destruction » . White advised residents to drink bottled or boiled tap water as a precaution after a power outage reduced water pressure, but he said nothing indicated that the water supply was contaminated. Brennan's, a popular restaurant in downtown Houston for almost four decades, burned down Friday night as Ike battered the city. North of Houston, a 10 -year-old boy died when a falling tree limb hit him in the head, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said. The boy's father was cutting down a dead tree in the family's yard in preparation for Ike's heavy winds early Saturday. Nearly 2.6 million customers in Texas and Louisiana lack power because of Ike, the U.S. Energy Department said on Saturday. In Brazoria County, emergency management officials said the main power line for the Texas/New Mexico grid was down. CenterPoint Energy said 90 percent of its customers were without electricity and it could take a month or more to get power restored to all of them. iReporter Jackie Hensler of Houston said her apartment building's power was restored quickly on Saturday morning after a stormy night. "There are lots of trees down; they've been uprooted or snapped," she said after venturing outside. "There's lots of debris in the streets, like boards and plywood from homes." Watch how the roof peeled off a building » . Hurricane Ike proved to be a huge storm system, 900 miles across at its largest. It remained a hurricane hours after crashing ashore over Galveston at 2:10 a.m. Its maximum sustained winds were near 80 mph, with higher gusts. It was expected to continue to weaken and move into western Arkansas by Saturday night. Track the storm » . The storm surge, however, was smaller than forecast. The greatest surge, of 15 feet, happened at Sabine Pass, near the Texas-Louisiana line. Authorities had predicted surges of 20 to 25 feet. Authorities in Orange County, Texas, on the Louisiana line, were using large dump trucks Saturday to rescue residents trapped on their roofs by massive flooding, a county judge told CNN. The city of Orange and the town of Bridge City were flooded, Beaumont emergency official Brad Peneffon said. Watch the storm surge in Beaumont » . Rescuers fanned out in boats Saturday in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, after the storm surge flooded 1,800 homes. Gas prices soared across the country amid fears the storm would disrupt fuel supplies. Ike hit a region that is home to about 25 percent of the United States' oil refining capacity, and the storm's progress across the Gulf of Mexico shut down crude oil collection from Gulf oil fields. The U.S. Department of Energy said 14 refineries were closed by the storm, along with two Texas strategic petroleum reserve sites. In Knoxville, Tennessee, Sean Kennedy expressed dismay at the difference a day made to gas prices. iReport.com: Evacuees, San Antonio mayor talk about Ike . "I filled up my tank yesterday morning on the way to work for $3.59 a gallon," he said. "This morning, gas prices at the same station were $5 a gallon for regular and $5.25 for premium." The Coast Guard said early Saturday that 22 people aboard a freighter that was adrift in the Gulf of Mexico were safe after the storm. Some good news came out of the region Saturday. About 175 miles west of Houston, a storm evacuee delivered a baby in the ladies' bathroom at a shelter in New Braunfels. "The credit goes to the mother," said Dr. Mark Burns, who helped deliver the baby. "She did a beautiful job with her delivery." CNN's Jeanne Meserve, Rusty Dornin, Sean Callebs, Rob Marciano, Gary Tuchman, Arthur Brice, Deb Krajnak and Elise Miller contributed to this report.

NEW: Wreckage impedes rescue efforts, adding to uncertainty about survivors . Texas woman wonders whether it was worth it to ride out storm in home . Four deaths in Texas attributed to Ike, now a tropical storm with 45 mph winds . 2.6 million affected by power outages, U.S. Energy Department says .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- John Darwin's wife said her husband faked his own death to avoid mounting debts and holed up in the family home for years, hiding from his own sons, according to UK media reports. Anne Darwin said her husband, believed by police and his sons to have been lost at sea five years ago, recently returned to the UK, faking amnesia, because he missed his now-adult children, according to The Daily Mirror. "I didn't think he would get away with it but he had had enough of being dead," she is quoted as saying. John Darwin, 57, is being questioned by police in northeastern England following his arrest on suspicion of fraud, a spokesman for Cleveland, England, police said. Darwin walked into a police station in London last weekend -- five years after he was thought to have died after the remains of a canoe he paddled into the North Sea, off northeastern England, washed up on shore. Darwin was declared dead by a coroner in 2003, 13 months after his disappearance in March 2002. His wife, the paper reported, described how the prison officer and former teacher discussed faking his death just before he disappeared because of mounting debts. When John Darwin vanished she said she thought he was dead -- until, she is reported to have said, he turned up on the doorstep of the family home at Seaton Carew, northeastern England, one year later. "I didn't even recognize him at first," Anne Darwin told the newspaper, adding that her husband looked thin, dirty and smelled dreadful. "I was relieved he was alive, of course. But I was also very angry with him." She said that her husband stayed at the home on and off before he got a one-room apartment in another part of the large house so he could vanish if friends or family arrived, also disguising himself with a hat or limp when he went outside. But hiding away began to take its toll, Anne Darwin reportedly said, and the pair decided to leave Britain. Her husband traveled on a false passport to look at property in Cyprus and inquire about buying a catamaran in Gibraltar, she said, before they finally settled in Panama. She went to live there six weeks ago. She is believed to be in the United States after leaving Panama on a flight late Thursday, a Panamanian immigration representative has told CNN. Anne Darwin, the newspaper said, stated that it was always her plan to repay two insurance policies in her husband's name: one, a life insurance policy, for £25,000 ($50,000); and another for £130,000 ($265,000), which was paid to their home loan company to pay off the mortgage in the event of her husband's death. The newspaper said she was not paid for her story and accepts she is likely to be arrested upon her return to Britain. Following his reappearance last weekend, John Darwin was initially reunited with his two sons, who released a joint statement saying their father claimed to have amnesia dating back to June 2000. But in a statement released by Cleveland police Thursday, the sons, Mark, 31, and Anthony, 29, said they were in an "angry and confused state of mind" and they wanted no further contact with their parents. After media reports Thursday that Anne Darwin had confessed to knowing her husband was alive, the sons said: "If the papers' allegations of a confession from our mam are true, then we very much feel that we have been the victims in a large scam." "In the short space of time following our dad's appearance in London on Saturday, we have gone through a rollercoaster of emotion," the statement said. "From the height of elation at finding him to be alive to the depths of despair at the recent stories of fraud and these latest pictures," it added. "How could our mam continue to let us believe our dad had died when he was very much alive? We have not spoken to either of our parents since our dad's arrest and at this present time we want no further contact with them," the statement said. E-mail to a friend .

Reports: Wife says he faked his death to avoid debts, hid in their home for years . John Darwin, 57, thought to have drowned at sea off northeastern England in 2002 . Reappeared last week; being questioned on suspicion of fraud . Sons of the couple say they are in an "angry and confused state of mind"

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Eric Hahn thought his financial situation was set after he was approved for a private student loan with an 8 percent interest rate to supplement his federal education loans. Eric Hahn, 21, estimates he will be in debt for the next five to seven years for his undergraduate tuition. Just a few weeks later, Hahn, 21, was forced to cash in his savings and investments so he could make his rent and tuition after finding out that the lender, MyRichUncle.com, had suspended its private student loan program. "Due to continued disruptions in the capital markets, combined with the continued demand we have experienced this year, we are reaching funding capacity limits," a message on his cell phone said, mimicking a statement on the company's Web site. The sudden news left Hahn, a senior-year finance major, scrambling to find additional funding after maxing out his borrowing options from the federal government. Eventually, the country's leading student loan provider, Sallie Mae, approved him for a private loan at 12 percent. After he graduates, Hahn estimates it will take him anywhere from five to seven years to repay about $30,000 he will have borrowed by then. "Money isn't cheap," said Hahn, who transferred to Georgia State University in Atlanta from the University of Connecticut last year because the tuition was less expensive. "The process is time-consuming, and there's also the stress of having to liquidate my investments and wonder where I'm going to find money." About 8 percent of student borrowers rely on private loans, which tend to be costlier and stricter than federal loans, said Robert Shierman, executive director of the Institute for College Access and Success. In doing so, Hahn and others like him are getting a crash course in market volatility and its effects on the consumer's ability to find money. Watch how the current economic troubles affect consumers » . MyRichUncle.com is the most recent lender to suspend its private student loan program, joining the ranks of major financial institutions like Wachovia and Bank of America and companies specializing in student loans such as College Loan Corporation and Campus Door, which was backed by Lehman Brothers. MyRichUncle's president and co-founder, Raza Khan, told CNN: "We are currently working with a number of investors so we can resume loan origination as soon as possible. "Meanwhile, students and parents should not lose sight of the value of education. Funds do remain available -- we encourage families to do all the homework and research, and to make prudent decisions on borrowing," he added in a written statement. Since August 2007, 33 lenders have suspended private loans programs, according to the Web site FinAid.org, which tracks activity in the student loan market. Unlike federal lending programs, private loans rely on liquidity from investors. Even though private loans are considered strong by industry standards, they are feeling the effects of a turbulent capital market. "The only reason lenders had to stop making the loans was that they ran out of liquidity," said financial aid expert Mark Kantrowitz, who created FinAid.org. "It's a contagion effect of the sub-prime crisis," said Kantrowitz. "It's an overreaction that has affected the student loan market." With their strong resemblance to consumer loans, where lenders set the terms based on your credit score, financial advisers often recommended private loans as a means of last resort. But with rising tuition and increased enrollment putting a squeeze on the student aid market -- which disbursed about $60 billion in federal funds and $17 billion in private loans last year -- students are turning to private loans after they've exhausted all other avenues, or for expenses that federal aid won't cover. In response, Congress passed legislation this year to increase the maximum amount of federal loans that students can obtain. "With federal student loan limits increasing, you can borrow now more than last year, regardless of income, assets, collateral or income," said Martha Holler, vice president of corporate communications of Sallie Mae. Despite the uncertainty in the capital market, many lenders, including Sallie Mae, are still able to offer private student loans by securing lines of credit and raising liquidity on their own. Holler says other options also exist, from scholarships for skills as random as skateboarding, to tuition payment plans -- an interest-free option that allows borrowers to make payments in monthly installments. But students like Hahn remain on the fringe. Even after being awarded an out-of-state tuition waiver, which lets him pay the same tuition as a resident from Georgia, he says he has borrowed all he can in federal loans. His parents, who are facing their own financial struggles, can't co-sign for a loan with a lower interest rate or better terms. Nevertheless, Hahn has accepted his fate. As school begins, he is returning his focus to his studies. "It's a pain in the neck, but it is what it is," he said in a telephone interview in between classes Wednesday. "The reason this all happened is due to the credit crisis and the housing crisis. So I guess the lesson is don't hop on what everyone else is doing." CNN's Taylor Gandossy contributed to this report .

Lender My Rich Uncle suspended its private student loan program on Friday . The move left Eric Hahn, 21, scrambling to find alternative funding sources . The company says it is working to resume loaning money as soon as possible . Financial advisers say investors are pulling out even though loans considered strong .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States Agency for International Development, USAID, on Monday urged the Cuban government to think again about its refusal of direct U.S. assistance for hurricane victims. "We call on the Cuban government to reconsider their decision on the United States offer, which we made with no preconditions and whose only objective was to get relief to people in dire need." USAID administrator Henrietta Fore said in a Monday afternoon conference call with reporters. Fore said the United States over the weekend had offered to begin relief flights as soon as Tuesday to Cuba, on civilian aircraft, delivering plastic sheeting, blankets and hygiene kits. The first flight would have brought aid worth $349,000. "And while we wait for the Cuban government's reconsideration of the United States offer we will continue to implement other components of our $5 million assistance package," Fore added. The United State will immediately obligate approximately $1.5 million in emergency humanitarian assistance to reputable international relief organizations and nongovernmental organizations. Fore said she will be in Honduras on Tuesday to inspect hurricane damage and review aid needs there. Earlier in the day, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack gave the first information that United States had made a weekend offer -- and the Cuban government had refused -- of $5 million in hurricane relief. The United States on Saturday "informed the Cuban government that the U.S. government is committed to providing up to $5 million in relief assistance to Cuban hurricane victims and that we could fly emergency relief supplies to Cuba as soon as the Cuban government authorized such assistance," McCormack said at his daily briefing. "On the 14th of September, just yesterday, the Cuban government informed us they would not accept a donation from the United States," he said. The United States has temporarily suspended some restrictions on private aid groups, sending assistance and money to Cuba. And McCormack said Monday he United States had in recent days licensed agricultural exports to Cuba worth $250 million, including lumber for reconstruction.

U.S. State Department says Cuba rejects $5 million in aid . Island nation reeling from storms, including hurricanes Ike and Gustav . U.S. temporarily suspends some restrictions on groups sending aid to Cuba .

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Editor's Note: Reese Witherspoon, the Academy Award-winning actress, is honorary chairman of the Avon Foundation and is employed by Avon Products as its global ambassador. Reese Witherspoon says she wants to banish the myth that young women are not at risk for breast cancer. (CNN) -- Every three minutes in the United States, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer. As a woman, a mother, and a daughter, I find that statistic terrifying. I was never naïve about breast cancer, but hearing this statistic put it all into perspective. Women close to me have battled the disease and are now soldiers in the greater fight against it. But the moment I heard "every three minutes," I felt vulnerable and scared as I realized that anyone is susceptible. The only way for me to ease my fears was to take action. I needed to educate myself and others on this disease. As the Honorary Chair for the Avon Foundation, I had resources at my fingertips. I had access to an entire organization that is dedicated to giving back to women and educating people. So I started asking, "What do I need to know?" It was through that curiosity that I found out the most important fact in breast cancer: Early detection saves lives. According to the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade, there is a 97 percent five-year survival rate when breast cancer is caught before it spreads to other parts of the body. When breast cancer first develops, there are usually no symptoms, which is why women need to perform self-exams regularly and contact their doctor upon noticing even the smallest change. Of course talking about breast cancer and breast health is a personal thing. I too am a private person but encourage all women to break through their reservations and talk to their doctors and physicians. We must also banish the myth that young women are not at risk for breast cancer. At the Avon Walk in Washington, I met young survivors who were diagnosed in their 20s, an age when most women are graduating from college and just starting their lives as full adults. Watch Reese and Larry at the Avon Walk » . Women in their 20s and 30s should have a clinical breast exam by a health professional at least once every three years and women 40 and older should have an exam every year. I am passionate about fighting this devastating disease. I fight for my mother, myself, my children and future generations of women, so one day we will not have to be afraid of breast cancer. I began my fight by learning important first steps in breast cancer detection, and will not end my fight until every woman can stand together saying we are breast cancer free. More than anything else, I have faith -- faith we will find a cure. I saw this commitment in the faces of the women in Washington -- in the faces of the women walking and the women and men who stood on the sidelines encouraging the 3,500 participants to the finish line. I was cheering right along with them, screaming for action to find a cure. Avon's next walk will take place in New York City on October 4 and 5.

"Every three minutes" statistic made Witherspoon feel "vulnerable" and "scared" Oscar-winning actress: Young women are not exempt from the disease . Witherspoon emphasizes importance of early detection and regular screenings .

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Editor's note: Join Roland S. Martin for his weekly sound-off segment on CNN.com Live at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. If you're passionate about politics, he wants to hear from you. A supporter of Sen. Barack Obama, Martin is a nationally syndicated columnist and Chicago, Illinois-based radio host. He is the author of "Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith" and "Speak, Brother! A Black Man's View of America." Please visit his Web site. Roland S. Martin urges the candidates to stop with the lofty talk and simplistic solutions and be specific. (CNN) -- If you are a member of America's middle class in this presidential year, you are sort of like a blue-chip football recruit, lavished with praise, attention and adoration from fawning coaches and alumni who would love nothing better than to land the prized player to win the national championship. For "Coach" John McCain and "Coach" Barack Obama, the title to win is president of the United States, and like the big-time football coaches, they will say and do anything to make it happen. Tax cuts? Oh, absolutely, we don't want you to feel any more pain. Let the rich -- and the poor -- deal with carrying the burden. You want more jobs? Sure, we're going to force companies that send jobs overseas to make them stay at home because we know you need those long disappearing and high-paying manufacturing jobs that helped build this nation. Can't afford to send your kids to college? Don't sweat it. We've got tax credits, Pell grants, super-duper loans and all kinds of other options to make this a reality. Are they cutting back on health care at your job? No big deal. Coach McCain says he's got some nifty tax credits lined up to tickle your fancy and ignite your soul. Coach Obama? He's going to go for the whole enchilada by pushing for virtual universal health care. Oh, these guys are wonderful with their sales pitches. They have the ability to make every single one of you feel so special and loved; no one else is more important to them -- at that moment. I must admit, the pathetic pining and pandering for middle-class votes has turned so moronic that at times it drives me nuts. First, who in the world are we even talking about? If you listen to the candidates and their campaigns, those in the middle class could make upward of $200,000 a year, while some suggest middle class means earning as little as $20,000. I moderated a panel Tuesday for the National Black MBA Association and heard descriptions of the lower middle class, the middle class and the upper middle class. Someone even suggested that it's really about a "state of mind." That's right. It boils down to how we feel and think. If that's the case, then you can have $5 million in the bank, but if you love your family, go to church and share the same values as others around you, you're middle class. Please, can we just stop with lofty talk and plain-spoken and simplistic solutions and be as specific as possible? There are really four fundamental issues affecting middle-class voters. Jobs . We've seen a loss of 600,000 jobs under President Bush, so how exactly will McCain and Obama create jobs? Is there anything in their past that shows they have the ability to do just that? I've heard "drill, drill, drill!" from McCain, and Obama says we're going to turn the old textile and steel mills into a green machine by targeting wind and other sources of energy. Housing . Congress is providing a backstop for Wall Street -- making billions available if cash is needed. What will McCain and Obama actually do to keep folks from losing their homes? Oh, I know a lot of people suggest that these middle-class folks should have read the fine print and not gotten in over their heads, but if something is good for Wall Street, why not Main Street? Health care . This is no joke, and a primary reason why Americans file for bankruptcy. I know. My appendix ruptured in 2000 while covering the Democratic National Convention, forcing me to spend five days in a Los Angeles hospital and accruing more than $70,000 in hospital bills. Yep, I didn't have health insurance. I was just a 29-year-old never-been-sick freelancer stuck out in the cold. The pressure of that led to falling behind on my mortgage, and the start of foreclosure proceedings. Bankruptcy was the only thing that saved me, and by the grace of God, my finances turned around, and this month, I'm making my final payment. McCain says a $5,000 tax credit for health care will help, but the problem with that is you have to pay the dough upfront, and then claim it on your taxes. But what happens when they want the money now? Obama says the answer is his health care plan, but that switch won't be flipped immediately. So what happens while the laborious debate takes place? I just wait for my MRI until Washington finishes debating and the special interests pick the plan to death? Education . For many Americans, education is a ticket to the middle class and beyond. Much of the time the candidates talk about vouchers. Look, that's not going to solve the education problem. What we should be hearing them talk about is the inequity of the school systems. Children living in wealthy school districts get tons of money and the best qualified teachers, while poorer districts are forced to make do with less qualified teachers and without computers or even basic amenities. The bottom line . Remember those blue-chip players? Today, they are telling a coach: If you want me to sign, promise that I'll start. No play, no sign. That's what middle-class Americans must tell the candidates. If you are unwilling to put your personal credibility and integrity behind your campaign pledges, then you don't get my vote. And if you give away your vote just because someone is a Democrat or Republican, or a man or a woman, or black or white, and you end up getting screwed in the end, you have no one to blame but yourself. So use the most powerful thing you have to demand real answers to your real problems from McCain, Obama, Joe Biden and Sarah Palin: your vote. The power is literally in your hands. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.

Roland S. Martin: Candidates offer anything and everything to snag middle class . Martin: "Pathetic pining and pandering for middle-class votes ... moronic" Martin: Jobs, housing, health care, education are the big middle-class issues .

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(CNN) -- iReporters have a message for Richard Wright: Shine on, you crazy diamond. Jessica Schuette's tattoo reminds her of her late friend, who was a big fan of Pink Floyd. Wright, a founding member of epic rock group Pink Floyd, died Monday. The keyboardist had been battling cancer and succumbed at his home in Britain. Wright is credited with writing some of the band's most well-known hits, such as "The Great Gig in the Sky" and "Us and Them." Pink Floyd has thousands of devoted fans across the world, and the news of Wright's death inspired many of them to write into iReport to share how Richard Wright and the rest of the group touched and changed their lives. Jessica Schuette shared a photo of her Pink Floyd-inspired tattoo: a shimmering diamond above the words "shine on." She got the tattoo in 2005 in memory of her best friend, who died in a car accident. "This was her favorite song. I got this tattoo to remember her," Schuette said. "If that doesn't say something about the impact that this band has had on people, I don't know what will." Pink Floyd touched the lives of Schuette and her friend even though they were never able to see one of the band's legendary live shows. Schuette, who is a dedicated Pink Floyd fan herself, pointed out that she's only 21 -- born 13 years after they released the epic album "Dark Side of the Moon," and too young to have seen the band live when they were touring. iReport.com: Read more of Schuette's thoughts . Omar Pelea of Miami, Florida, hopes the tragedy of Wright's death will give Schuette and other fans their long-awaited chance to see the group live. He hopes the death will inspire the other members of Pink Floyd to begin touring again. Pink Floyd has not toured with lead singer and songwriter Roger Waters since 1981, although Rogers reunited with the band in 2005 for a concert at Live 8 in London. "Now would be a good time for the remaining members to contemplate the fact that a reunion is running short on time," he said. "There are bigger things in life than their differences. Perhaps they should put those differences aside and play for the world one last time." "To me, Pink Floyd is the greatest band ever to play on this Earth," he added. iReport.com: Pelea compares Wright to the late George Harrison . Long-time Pink Floyd fan Pamela Keenan had the chance to perform some of the group's greatest works herself. She is a member of Endicott Performing Arts Center, a theatre company in Endicott, New York, that has performed its own adaptations of "The Wall" and "Dark Side of the Moon." "We had a band on the stage with us. We had images and films projected on the back of the stage and we had full choreography and vocals for all the songs from each album," she said. "I listened to all of the music over and over again as a teen, but to be able to perform it in my 30s brought a new respect for the lyrics and the sheer musical genius." iReport.com: See a Pink Floyd-themed bike ride . Keenan described Pink Floyd as "one of the greatest bands that's ever been in existence," but thinks the group is underrated by mainstream society today. "Children aren't exposed to it anymore," she said. "My kids are exposed to it because we did the shows -- and they love it." iReport.com: Keen recalls Pink Floyd stage show . "I credit Pink Floyd for being a big part of my imagination," said Dean Spiegal, who creates psychedelic videos inspired by the group's music. "Floyd was not a band, it was an experience. They did not make music for the people, they made music for their minds." iReport.com: Watch Spiegel's video tribute . And Eric Beck put it simply: . "It changed my life. It changed my life," he said of "Dark Side of the Moon." "Rick Wright made a major contribution to my life. And I will forever be so grateful to him and the rest of the band." iReport.com: Beck shares his memories via webcam .

Pink Floyd fans shared their memories of late keyboardist Richard Wright . iReporters include theater company member who paid tribute to the band . Jimi Lee remembers the first time he heard "Dark Side of the Moon" Share your memories of Pink Floyd and Wright at iReport.com .

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(CNN) -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain is just holding on like a boxer before he gets knocked out, comedian Chris Rock says. Comedian Chris Rock told Larry King he's proud of Barack Obama's character. Rock, an avid supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, spoke with CNN's Larry King on Thursday. He said Obama is more grounded with your average American -- not somebody like McCain with "12 houses." "The other guy [McCain] can lose five houses," Rock said. "I'll go with the guy with one house. The guy with one house is scared about losing his house." Watch Chris Rock describe a beaten up McCain » . King began the interview by asking Rock about Thursday's economic bailout talks when Obama and McCain went to the White House for discussions with the nation's top leaders. KING: Obama and McCain at opposite ends of the table. What do you make of it? ROCK: What do I make of it? If this was a boxing match, McCain would be holding. KING: Holding on? ROCK: Yes. It's like he got hit really hard in the stomach like, 'OK. I can't let him go. He's going to knock me out.' So that's what appears to be going on right now. Just a hold. KING: Has the financial crisis affected you? ROCK: Larry, I drove a cab over here tonight. When it's over, I'm going to try to pick up some more fares. I'm losing everything, Larry. KING: Really downtrodden? ROCK: Yes, it's real bad. KING: Have HBO paid you already? ROCK: They have paid me, but the money is worthless now. Haven't you heard? Your money's worth nothing. KING: You must be ... proud that at this stage in our history a black man is running for president on a major ticket. ROCK: Um, you know what? I'm proud Barack Obama's running for president. You know? If it was Flavor Flav, would I be proud? No. I don't support Barack Obama because he's black. KING: I said just as a proud feeling. That's normal. ROCK: There's a proud feeling because of the character of the man. You know, I was -- I supported John Kerry and, you know -- and what's my man? Al Gore. KING: Al Gore. ROCK: But this guy seems to be a little bit more. He seems to have watched other peoples' mistakes and, you know, seems to have a little bit more going on. KING: From a comedic stand point, who is funnier, McCain or Obama? Seriously. Is Obama not -- it's hard to be funny about Obama? ROCK: No, no. It's weird. People ask me that all the time. ... McCain jokes are just easy jokes, like I don't want a president with a bucket list. That's like a McCain joke. Those jokes are easy. It's like you basically, you know, you know, take the dust off your Reagan jokes and tell them again. You know? But Obama, oh, this is a whole new set of jokes. I got to find a whole new move to the basket here. So I kind of hope he wins. KING: Didn't you introduce Obama at a rally? ROCK: I introduced Obama at the Apollo Theater not too long ago. I think Obama would be great. I mean, just look the big thing right now is the economy. And people are going broke. And here: The choice isn't Republican or Democrat. The choice is you got a guy that's worth $150 million with 12 houses against a guy who's worth a million dollars with one house. KING: Well -- . ROCK: The guy with one house really cares about losing a house, because he is homeless. The other guy can lose five houses and still got a bunch of houses. Does this make any sense? Am I the only one that sees this? KING: It's unique way of ... ROCK: I'm just saying, John McCain could lose half his houses. KING: You got a point. ROCK: And sleep well. KING: You and Bill Clinton were on Letterman on Tuesday. You had some problems with the tone of his endorsement of Barack Obama. ... Do you think Bill is hesitant about Barack Obama? ROCK: You know what? You know, he did a great speech in Denver. And Hillary's been on the campaign trail. Just at that moment, if you watched what happened on David Letterman, it appeared he was holding back. And when you tell a joke and everybody laughs, it is not because they disagree with what you're saying. So -- . KING: They get it? ROCK: Yes, they get it. The whole audience was in on it. But, you know, hey, the guy's in a weird position there. His wife ran for the thing and she didn't win. KING: The next night, on "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart asked Clinton about the Letterman appearance and Clinton suggested that Obama supporters who questioned commitment are missing the point. ROCK: It was great. It was great. And you're right, [Obama] does need to get some of the votes that went to Hillary and all that. I don't understand any Democrat that voted for Hillary that doesn't support Obama. Because their views are pretty similar. You know what I mean? ... I understand people supporting Mr. McCain. But a Democrat that's going to just be mad is -- there's something kind of really messed up about that. KING: Have you always done political humor? ROCK: You know -- . KING: When you started, did you do politics? ROCK: I'm interested in the world. Jon Stewart does political humor. Bill Maher does political humor. I talk about stuff the way guys would talk about it at the barber shop. I don't belong on any panel on this show. You know what I mean? I don't deserve to be near Roland Martin and Anderson Cooper and all these guys. I try to talk about politics in a way a guy that works at UPS would understand. KING: You did a lot of Brooklyn stuff. ROCK: I do all sorts of stuff, Larry. All sorts of stuff. You know, I hope Obama wins just because, you know, the country needs it. The country needs a change. We kind of seen what this whole McCain thing is. And I'll go with the guy with one house. The guy with one house is scared about losing his house. KING: I never thought of it that way. ROCK: It is that simple.

Chris Rock tells Larry King that McCain is on the verge of getting knocked out . "I hope Obama wins just because ... the country needs it" Rock says he can't support a guy like McCain with "12 houses" Says vote for the guy with one house, cause he's scared of losing it .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Some experts are skeptical that anything could have stopped Robert Hawkins from going on a murderous rampage at an Omaha, Nebraska, shopping mall on Wednesday. A police car sits outside the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, on Thursday. "This is not something that anybody can reasonably anticipate," said Don Greene, a former FBI agent who has written a book on mall security. "If the people closest to him didn't see any indicators or signs that he was going to go off so drastically ... how is some public safety officer supposed to recognize this person?" Greene asked. In fact, security at Omaha's Westroads Mall did find Hawkins' behavior suspicious before the shooting, Omaha Police Chief Thomas Warren said Thursday. Mall surveillance initially flagged Hawkins "based on his actions" when he entered the mall through the Von Maur store's main entrance on the second floor, Warren said. He said Hawkins exited quickly after entering, then re-entered within six minutes and appeared to be concealing something in a balled-up sweatshirt. He then went up the elevator to the third floor, and when he got there, he immediately began firing, Warren said. "It doesn't appear as though there was an opportunity for intervention," he said. Shopping malls around the country were expected to review their emergency plans and consider additional security measures in light of Wednesday's shooting, which killed eight. Watch what experts say about keeping malls safe » . "There is always a fear of copycats when something like this happens," said Malachy Kavanaugh, spokesman for the International Council of Shopping Centers. He said malls would be considering whether to close some entrances, bring in additional officers, and make security more visible. There are 1,200 enclosed malls in the United States and about 50,000 shopping centers. Although some include police substations, most are patrolled by unarmed private mall and store security guards. Should these private security guards be armed? "Absolutely not," said Greene. Greene said if a security officer were to pull a gun on an armed individual in a mall, it could result in "the gunfight at the 'OK corral,' and then we might have 23 people killed instead of eight." "These random events are very challenging to prevent and difficult to deal with when they occur. Law enforcement and security prevention measures, no matter how good, cannot forestall a tragedy such as this from happening," said a statement issued Wednesday night by the Simon Property Group, which operates regional and outlet malls across the United States. "We do not disclose or discuss our enhanced security measures and/or procedures that we have in place or may institute at any given time, some of which are visible to the public, with others intentionally less noticeable," the statement said. "Disclosure of such information could potentially compromise our efforts to provide a safe and secure environment." Security expert Lou Palumbo told CNN one useful strategy was having trained law enforcement personnel watching people as they enter the mall. "You start to observe the people coming into the mall area," he said. "To let them in your door and then try to figure out what they're doing, you know, it's not as effective as catching them as they're coming in the door." The International Council of Shopping Centers has conducted focus groups with shoppers to test how they would react to even tighter "airport style" security measures, including bag checks and magnetometers. According to Kavanaugh, the results have shown that shoppers would accept the measures only if the national threat advisory system was raised to its highest level, red. Such extreme measures are "in the mall industry playbook ... but it is something no one wants to do," said Kavanaugh. While some mall owners have increased training of security personnel and have upgraded their emergency systems, many security experts believe more should and can be done. Those experts suggest it's a matter of money. They say until shoppers start staying away, mall owners will not make significant changes. There are no national standards for security guards, and according to a 2006 study by the Police Foundation, only a few states require background checks, minimum hiring standards, or training. The study also notes that drills to test security staffs' knowledge of what to do in an emergency, when done at all, "are seldom rigorous, seldom done with first responders, and are usually done without clear standards to measure their success." The report goes on to say that "many malls do not even have plans to limit access to sensitive areas in times of heightened alert." Since that report was written, the International Council of Shopping Centers, in conjunction with George Washington University, has developed a DVD to train mall security guards. According to Kavanaugh, about 6,000 of the nation's estimated 20,000 mall security guards have participated in the course, including 10 at Westroads Mall, where Wednesday's shootings took place. The FBI and other federal agencies have reached out to private security firms to share information on best practices. The FBI also sends out alerts regarding possible threats to the private sector -- but warnings of possible terrorist plans are clearly of no help in anticipating an attacker like Hawkins. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Jeanne Meserve, Eliott McLaughlin and Kelli Arena contributed to this report.

Malls expected to assess security arrangements in wake of Wednesday shooting . Gunman at Omaha, Nebraska, mall killed 8 people and himself . Some security experts say such incidents are impossible to anticipate . Study by Police Foundation says training drills for mall guards are inadequate .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United Kingdom has MI-5, which roots out spies and terrorists in the British Isles. The RAND Corporation said one option would be for domestic intelligence to operate under the FBI. Canada has CSIS -- the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Now Congress is asking: Should the U.S. have its own domestic intelligence agency? On Monday, at the request of Congress, the RAND Corporation outlined the pros and cons of establishing a domestic intelligence agency. It also discussed different ways to organize a new entity, either as part of an existing department or as a new agency. But there's one thing you won't find in the report -- a recommendation on what to do. "We were not asked to make a recommendation, and this assessment does not do so," the report says. Instead, says RAND's Gregory Treverton, the report provides a "framework" for policymakers to use when deciding whether and how to reorganize counter-intelligence efforts at home. RAND is a nonprofit think tank seeking to help improve policy and decision making through objective research and analysis. Collecting intelligence domestically always has been a sensitive issue, at least partially because of episodic abuses by the government, notably against civil rights leaders, unions, antiwar organizations or even communists and hate groups. But the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks renewed calls for increased domestic intelligence to prevent future attacks. Critics said that in the lead-up to the attacks, the FBI devalued counterterrorism agents and failed to heed signs that an attack was imminent. "If you didn't carry a gun, you didn't count so much," Treverton said. After the attacks, the FBI moved to transform its primary mission from law enforcement to counterterrorism intelligence and prevention. It now focuses on terrorism through its National Security Branch and the National Counterterrorism Center. The RAND report focuses on two options to the current system. In one, a new agency would be created using intelligence agencies from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and intelligence community. A second option is to create an "agency within an agency" in the FBI or DHS. The first option would result in an organization with a clear, unambiguous mission, and might be able to draw on a more diverse recruitment pool, such as linguists and historians who are not normally attracted to law enforcement. On the flip side, such massive reorganizations typically involve political compromises that could affect its performance. The second option -- an "agency within an agency" -- could involve less short-term disruption, but could be hindered by a "lack of clarity of a single mission," the report says. RAND also suggests a range of actions short of reorganization that could improve domestic intelligence gathering, such as increasing resources, improving leadership and changing bureaucratic cultures. The report does not assess the FBI's performance since 9/11, Treverton said, but he believes Congress should seek an independent assessment. A panel of experts that RAND convened guessed that the probability of a terrorist attack had decreased about one-third since the September 11, 2001. But "they were not enthusiastic about alternatives" to current counterterrorism organizations. In a cautionary note, the report says that while public acceptance of domestic intelligence activities is imperative, public attitudes about what is considered acceptable "can both be fragile and shift significantly over time." "Public demand for domestic intelligence is driven by the perceived threat, and those perceptions can change much more rapidly than the threat itself," the report says. For instance, immediately after the 9/11 attacks, 49 percent of people surveyed were worried "a great deal" about more attacks. Two years later, that had dropped to 25 percent.

Nonprofit think tank RAND outlines pros and cons at request of Congress . Group says government could create new agency specifically for domestic intel . Other option includes agency operating under Homeland Security or FBI . September 11 attacks renewed calls for domestic intel to help prevent future ones .

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Founded in 1805 in Geneva, Pictet & Cie is today one of Switzerland's largest private banks, and one of the premier independent asset management specialists in Europe. Moreover, it is considered one of the leading independent asset management banks in Europe. Pictet & Cie is a partnership owned and managed by eight general partners with unlimited liability for the bank's commitments. "Banque de Candolle Mallet & Cie" was founded on 23 July 1805. It was run by two partner-managers, Jacob-Michel François de Candolle and Jacques-Henry Mallet, and three limited partners, Jean-Louis Mallet, Paul Martin and Jean-Louis Falquet. Following a period of relative stagnation, marked by two world wars and the economic depression of the 1930s, Pictet & Cie began to develop extensively from the 1950s on. Despite the negative outlook in the aftermath of war, the western world experienced a period of prosperity and economic growth. Geneva became one of the world's leading diplomatic and financial centres. Since the turn of the millennium, the Pictet Group has experienced some significant changes and events, such as its continued strong growth, the Bank's Bicentennial in 2005 and, the following year, the inauguration of its new headquarters in Acacias, Geneva. The company boasts more than CHF 430 billion ($390 billion) in assets under management and custody as at end-September 2007. The Group employs over 2,800 people in the following locations: Geneva, Lausanne, Zurich, Barcelona, Florence, Frankfurt, Madrid, Milan, Paris, London, Luxembourg, Rome, Turin, Montreal, Nassau, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo. E-mail to a friend .

Pictet & Cie is one of Switzerland's largest private banks, founded in 1805 . Managed by eight general partners with unlimited liability for its commitments . In 2007, Pictet boasts more than $390 billion in assets under management, custody .

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NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- More than a dozen trucks loaded with fruits, spices and other goods Tuesday crossed the line dividing Kashmir as India and Pakistan opened a symbolic trade route in the disputed region for the first time in more than 60 years. Kashmiris watch as Indian trucks cross into the border town of Chakothi in Pakistani-administered Kashmir. To cheers and band music, the first trucks rumbled from the Pakistani side across a white bridge to a brightly decorated trade center festooned . Apple-laden Indian trucks heading the other way were also warmly welcomed. It is hoped the move will ease tensions in the troubled Himalayan region, which has been a conflict flashpoint between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan who both lay claims to the territory. "Today, we have regained our lost market," said Ghulam Rasool Bhat, president of the Kashmir fruit growers' association. Watch more about the historic day » . "We are sending the sweet Kashmir apple as the first consignment. This is sure to sweeten the relation between the two neighbors. The beginning of the trade between the two Kashmirs will further improve the relations and lead to a peaceful resolution of the bitter problem," he said. The trucks were subjected to thorough security checks before they crossed the bridge, one of the few crossing points in the heavily militarized 742-kilometer (460-mile) Line of Control, the de facto frontier that divides the region. Kashmir has been a major source of dispute between India, and Pakistan since the two countries were partitioned at the end of British rule in 1947. Muslim Kashmiris sided with Pakistan to the north, while the Hindu south joined India. For the past 18 years, Kashmir has been wracked by a bloody separatist campaign. Authorities say up to 43,000 people have died, but rights groups and non-governmental organizations put the death toll at twice that. Violence had dropped off since the countries began a peace process in 2004, but it surged after the state government in Indian-controlled Kashmir announced plans in June to donate land for a Hindu shrine. Muslim protests following the decision prompted a government U-turn that triggered Hindu demonstrations calling for it to be restored. Subsequent violence left 40 dead and hundreds wounded. It is hoped Tuesday's route opening will bolster the peace agreement and combat lingering mistrust between India and Pakistan. A bilateral cease-fire has been holding in the region for more than four years. A bus service connecting the divided Kashmir began amid much fanfare in 2005 but struggled under the weight of elaborate security checks and stifling bureaucracy. "This is a great emotional moment, as it brings to mind my grandfather, who used to drive lorries on this road," said Muzhar Hussain Naqvi, who drove the leading Pakistani truck. CNN's Sara Sidner and Mukhtar Ahmad contributed to this report .

Trade route between the two sides the first in six decades . A heavy military presence occupies strip of land known as the Line of Control . Kashmir a source of bitter dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 . Trade meant to bolster a 2004 peace accord between the South Asian rivals .

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(CNN) -- Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin vowed on Tuesday to use her executive experience to tackle government reform and energy independence if she and Sen. John McCain win this year's presidential election. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks with CNN's Drew Griffin Tuesday. "It's going to be government reform because that, that is what I've been able to do as a mayor and as a governor, you, you take on the special interests and the self-dealings. Yep, you ruffle feathers and you have the scars to prove it," Palin said Tuesday in an interview with CNN's Drew Griffin. "You have to take that on to give the American people that faith back in their own government. This is their government and we've got to put it back on their side," she said. Palin said she and McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, discussed the possibility of her working on the issue of energy independence if she becomes vice president. Watch Palin talk about potential plans for the vice-presidency » . "That's been my forte as the governor of an energy producing state and as a former chair of the, of the energy regulator -- entity up there in Alaska," she said. "[I] look forward to that and that's a matter of national security and, and our economic prosperity opportunities." Palin also said helping families with special needs children and cleaning up Wall Street were among the other "missions" she and McCain had discussed. Palin emphasized her executive credentials as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, and governor of Alaska, contrasting them with what she said was Sen. Barack Obama's lack of leadership experience. "We don't like to toot our own horn so we don't," Palin said. "But, I have, I do have more experience than Barack Obama does. You know, he had served for his 300 days before he became a presidential candidate and that wasn't in, in executive office." Watch Palin say she has more experience than Obama » . Palin also apologized Tuesday for any misunderstanding caused when she referred last week to the patriotic values of "the real America" and "pro-America areas of this great nation." Democrats and others criticized Palin for seeming to imply that some parts of the country are more patriotic than others. Palin denied that was her intention in an interview with CNN on Tuesday. "I don't want that misunderstood," Palin said. "If that's the way it came across, I apologize." The Alaska governor made the remarks at a fundraising event in North Carolina last week. "We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard-working, very patriotic, very pro-America areas of this great nation," she told the crowd. On Tuesday, Palin also addressed Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden's comment that Sen. Barack Obama would be tested from the very beginning of his time in office. At a fundraiser Sunday night, Biden said that after taking office, "it will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. ... We're going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy." Palin told Griffin that the comment points to the dangers of electing a relatively inexperienced person . "We need to thank Joe [Biden] for the warning," Palin said. Watch Palin say the media gave Biden a pass » . Biden's point, according to a statement issued later, was that "we need steady leadership in tumultuous times, not ... the stubborn ideology of John McCain." Palin stopped short of labeling Obama a socialist Tuesday, although she and others have previously called his tax policies socialist. "I'm not going to call him a socialist, but as 'Joe the Plumber' has said, it looks like socialism to him," she said of Joe "the plumber" Wurzelbacher. The GOP ticket and their supporters have invoked Joe the Plumber numerous times ever since the Ohio man confronted Obama about his tax policy in an impromptu campaign moment. Palin said Wurzelbacher is representative of "Jane the engineer and Molly the dental hygienist and Chuck the teacher." Obama defended his decision to raise taxes on couples earning more than $250,000 a year while cutting taxes for people with lower incomes, telling Wurzelbacher that "when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody." Palin said the policy was "not good for the entrepreneurial spirit that has built this great country," the economy or small businesses. Watch the entire interview with Gov. Sarah Palin » . Obama brushed off McCain and Palin's characterization on Sunday in Fayetteville, North Carolina. "John McCain thinks that giving these Americans a break is socialism," Obama said. "Well, I call it opportunity, and there is nothing more American than that."

NEW: If elected, Palin says she will address energy issues, government reform . NEW: Palin says she has more executive experience than Sen. Barack Obama . Palin says she did not intend to imply that parts of America more patriotic than others . Palin made the controversial remarks at a rally in North Carolina last week .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Getting "out of this world" with civilian space travel is not quite as simple as you may think. Ready for launch: video game programmer Richard Garriott shown in training for his space flight in October. Aside from the obvious financial limitations which restrict space tourism to the rich and the ridiculously rich, there are also significant training programs and testing to be completed before proceeding to lift-off. To gain a better insight into this training, well-known video game programmer and designer Richard Garriott, who is preparing for his own space adventure in October, is detailing in a blog what he and others have to go through in order to make it into orbit as a space traveler. Garriott has been in training since the beginning of the year and told CNN the first major thing to surprise him was the intensity of preparations. "When I first came here in January, I thought nine months to get trained for this is going to be plenty of time. Of course, very quickly, I realized that I had signed up for a very complex task, something much more difficult that I had anticipated. I immediately knew that nine months was going to be a lot of work to get everything prepared for the flight. "And now that I am so close to the flight, I am still feeling the pressure, I definitively have been working very long days and most nights," Garriott said. The training regime has three major strands: physical training, which includes preparation to acclimatize to the space environment; practical training for day-to-day living in space; and like any flight, be it 10 minutes or 10 days, training in safety procedures for emergency situations. Trainees generally spend nine months or more on and off-site to complete the requirements, which include everything from flight simulations to learning how to use the toilet. Eric Anderson, president and CEO of Space Adventures, the company sending Garriott into space, told CNN the training program is extensive, but does not exclude people from making the flight. "Their total training program is a few months, but we tend to spread it out so they can fit it around their normal lives. They are not training to the same degree as the professionals." As long as space hopefuls are in reasonable health, they can usually go ahead with their adventure, he said. "There's some fitness involved. There are certainly [medical] things that are not allowable in space, but they are generally more serious conditions." He said the major fitness issue with space travel was preparing for the change in "Gs." "The body is designed to live on one 'G,' so when you expose it to higher 'Gs' it has an effect. With the training and given the [short] length of the visits there's a minimal effect on the body." In his blog on the training process, Garriott said one part of the training was indisputably the worst. "Hardest of all was the 'Spinning Chair of Ultimate Sickness.' I can't imagine that I will ever again voluntarily sit in a device designed to make you sick, or ride it as long as I can. Ugh, this is definitely my least favorite part of training!" Despite such disturbing preparations, Anderson said much of the training, which takes place at Space Adventures' base in Star City, Russia, is centered upon general living in space. "There's a few requirements about what you need to know to live in the space station ... how to eat, how to drink, and how to use the restroom, for example," he said. "There's also a lot of simulation you go through ... there's preparation to acclimatize you to the space environment." Garriott said many of the procedures for living in space, or for emergencies, are very complex. "There are a lot of technical details behind all the different systems we need to understand ... fire detection and alarms, plus procedures and equipment for dealing with fire emergencies; protective breathing apparatus in case of chamber decompression or malfunction; the toilet (everybody's favorite piece of space trivia!), including powering up the can for suction and waste removal; and lastly, onboard water sources." He admits the learning requirements had him preparing for exams by "cramming like any good college kid." And the most fascinating part of the training? In Garriott's opinion, it was running in a hypobaric chamber, where the altitude was set at 10,000 meters (about 2,000 meters higher than Mount Everest). "I felt no physical or mental problems, but I did notice an odd physiological issue that is quite hard to describe. Basically, it was possible to make a tennis ball-sized pocket in my mouth, but one which had no air in it as it was just a vacuum! "By that I mean try to imagine creating a cavity inside your mouth without any air bubbles and by letting in no air through your lips or throat -- it's basically impossible at sea level because the air pressure outside your mouth pushes the air pocket closed," he said. "However, at 10,000 meters the air is so much thinner that you can pull off this oral stunt without a hitch! Weird." It truly is.

Richard Garriott will fly with Space Adventures into space in October . Training involves physical, practical and safety preparation . Garriott says the toughest part is a spinning chair designed to make you vomit . Learning to go to the toilet in space is part of the training .

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(CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama will take a break from campaigning Thursday so he can visit his ailing grandmother in Hawaii, an Obama spokesman said Monday. Sen. Barack Obama will take a break from campaigning so he can visit his ailing grandmother. "Sen. Obama's grandmother Madelyn Dunham has always been one of the most important people in his life," spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. "In the last few weeks, her health has deteriorated to the point where her situation is very serious. It is for that reason that Sen. Obama has decided to change his schedule on Thursday and Friday so that he can see her and spend some time with her," Gibbs said. The interruption will cause Obama to cancel Thursday events in Madison, Wisconsin and Des Moines, Iowa. He will do an event in Indianapolis, Indiana, Thursday morning before leaving and will return to the campaign Saturday, Gibbs said. Michelle Obama will fill in for her husband on Friday at previously scheduled events in Columbus and Akron, Ohio, his campaign said. Obama speaks about his grandmother often on the stump, describing her as an integral figure in his youth who struggled against the glass ceiling in to make a better life for him. "She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life," he said in his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in August. "She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well." He and his family traveled to Hawaii in August to visit her. The Obama team made the announcement after a busy day of trading attacks with Sen. John McCain on the Democratic presidential hopeful's readiness for office. Monday also marked the first time that Obama appeared with Sen. Hillary Clinton during the general election season. Clinton went to Florida, a state she won in the primary but whose delegates she could not claim, to urge her supporters to turn out for Obama on Election Day. Clinton called Orlando and central Florida "the battleground of the battleground" and practically begged the crowd to vote early. "We are 15 days from the finish line and we cannot falter, we cannot stop, we cannot take a single vote for granted," Clinton said Monday. "I am asking you to work as hard for Barack as you worked for me. If you made phone calls for me, make them for Barack. If you walked streets for me, make them for Barack. If you talked to your friends and neighbors for me, do it again for Barack. We cannot risk four more years of the same failed Republican policies." Earlier in the day, McCain told a crowd in Belton, Missouri, that the next president "won't have time to get used to the office." He was addressing comments made Sunday by Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, in which he said Obama would be tested within the first six months of his presidency. "We don't want a president who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars," McCain said. "What is more troubling is that Sen. Biden told their campaign donors that when that crisis hits, they would have to stand with them because it wouldn't be apparent Sen. Obama would have the right response. The Obama-Biden campaign released a pre-emptive response after reading McCain's scheduled remarks. "With our nation facing two wars and 21st century threats abroad, Sen. Biden referenced the simple fact that history shows presidents face challenges from day one," Obama spokesman David Wade said. "After eight years of a failed foreign policy, we need Barack Obama's good judgment and steady leadership, not the erratic and ideological Bush-McCain approach that has set back our security and standing in the world." Earlier Monday, Obama denounced the "say-anything, do-anything politics" of McCain's camp, but said "careless, outrageous comments" won't distract him from addressing the nation's ills. Obama added that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain's running mate, rejected some of the tactics when she spoke out against a flood of automated phone calls tying Obama to former radical William Ayers. The calls were reported in several battleground states. "It's getting so bad that even Sen. McCain's running mate denounced his tactics last night," Obama said at a campaign event in Tampa, Florida. "As you know, you really have to work hard to violate Gov. Palin's standards on negative campaigning." Sunday night, Palin told reporters traveling with her that if she had her way, the McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee would not be flooding battleground states with the automated phone calls, which she said the Obama campaign was using too. Over the next 15 days, Obama said Monday, he will continue his quest for the Oval Office while disregarding the divisive politics that he said McCain is endorsing "to keep us from working together." The McCain campaign, meanwhile, continued its weekend assault on Obama's tax plan, which it called an attempt to "spread the wealth." iReport.com: Send your questions for Sen. John McCain . Speaking at a campaign event in St. Charles, Missouri, a chorus of boos rang out as the Arizona senator described his take on the plan. "He believes in redistributing wealth -- not in policies that grow our economy and create jobs and opportunities for all Americans. Sen. Obama is more interested in controlling who gets your piece of the pie than in growing the pie." In Colorado Springs, Colorado, Palin also continued her line of attack from the weekend, but softened her tone in that she didn't call Obama's plan socialism. Watch Palin say Obama sounds like a socialist » . Over the weekend, Palin and Sen. Mel Martinez, a Cuban-American GOP senator from Florida, called Obama's plan socialism. Martinez compared the plan to the tax structure in communist Cuba. McCain has taken a softer tone. On Sunday, he dodged a question from Fox News' Chris Wallace about whether Obama was a socialist, but said his rival's tax plan was an effort "to spread the wealth." "That's one of the tenets of socialism," McCain said. Watch Obama defend his plan » . Obama's tax plan calls for tax relief for 95 percent of workers and their families. Though nonpartisan tax policy organizations agree that 40 percent of Americans don't pay income tax, many of those are lower-income earners who file payroll taxes through their employers. See the fact check . After receiving an endorsement from Colin Powell, a former Republican secretary of state and retired Army general, Obama asked if Powell and billionaire Warren Buffett -- No. 2 on Forbes magazine's 2008 list of richest Americans -- would have extended their backing if he was a socialist. Watch Obama explain Powell's influence » . Obama said he simply wants to give the middle class a tax cut. Powell came to Obama's defense after endorsing the senator from Illinois. Powell said he had grown tired of McCain's negative campaigning and that the American people would prefer to focus on issues like education, infrastructure and the economy. He specifically slammed Palin's allegation that Obama's tax plan is socialist, calling it misleading. iReport.com: What do you think about Powell's endorsement? "For us to say that makes you a socialist, I think, is an unfortunate characterization that isn't accurate."

NEW: Sen. Hillary Clinton urges Floridians to back Obama in appearance with him . Obama will leave campaign trail Thursday after Indiana stop and return Saturday . Rest of Thursday events canceled; Michelle Obama will stand in on Friday . McCain references Biden comment that Obama will be tested with early crisis .

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(CNN) -- The parents of a Tennessee preacher shot to death by his wife convinced a judge to keep the convicted killer at home, but they couldn't keep her off the air. Mary Winkler describes her troubled marriage during a taped segrment of "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Seven months in custody wasn't a long enough sentence for what she did, Mary Winkler said Wednesday in an exclusive, pre-recorded interview with Oprah Winfrey. "There's no amount of time I think you can put on something like this. I was just ready for them to lock the door and throw away the key," she told Winfrey. Winkler had sought permission to travel to Chicago, Illinois, to appear live on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," but the judge who presided over her trial would not give her permission to travel. Her in-laws, who are suing Winkler for wrongful death and are seeking to revoke her parental rights, also fought the television appearance. Watch Winkler's interview with Oprah » . Winkler was convicted earlier this year of the shotgun slaying of her husband, Matthew, at the time the minister of the Fourth Street Church of Christ in Selmer, Tennessee. She told Winfrey that she killed her husband following years of abuse, including physical violence and being forced to dress "slutty" for undesirable sex acts. All she remembers, she said, is the "boom" as the shotgun went off. Winkler's account on the show was virtually identical to her testimony during her trial earlier this year. A jury of 10 women and one man found her guilty of voluntary manslaughter. Prosecutors had been pushing for a first-degree murder conviction. She was released last month from a Tennessee mental heath facility. Winfrey said on the show that Matthew Winkler's parents did not respond to requests for an interview. Dan and Diane Winkler, who have filed a $2 million wrongful-death suit against Mary Winkler, are pitched in a bitter custody battle over the couple's three daughters. The grandparents are trying to terminate her parental rights and adopt the three girls. Mary Winkler's attorney, Steve Farese, said a hearing in the case is scheduled for next week . During the trial, Diane Winkler chastised Mary for never apologizing to them or his children. Mary Winkler told Winfrey she is sorry she killed her husband and she would like a chance to sit down with her in-laws, whom she loves, misses and prays for every day. Asked by Winfrey what she would say to them, Winkler said she couldn't hone it down to two or three sentences. "Just when that time comes, my heart will tell me what to say," she said. In her interview with Winfrey -- for a show titled "The wife who killed her minister husband" -- Winkler said tensions began when her husband tried to put their crying 1-year-old daughter, Brianna, back to sleep by "covering her mouth and nose." "I don't think he had intentions of killing; he just tried to get her to pass out," Winkler said, recounting the events just prior to her husband's March 2006 death at the church parsonage in Selmer, Tennessee. Winkler, then 31 and a mother of three, said she was used to his temper, saying, he often "would just get irate with the baby monitor and Brianna crying." "That's just something that would set him off," she told Winfrey. After putting Brianna to bed, she returned to the bedroom where Matthew was "and I just wanted to talk to Matthew. And there's just that awful -- awful sound," she said, referring to the shotgun blast. Asked what she wanted to say to her husband when she went back to the bedroom, Winkler said, "Just to stop. Be happy. He had to be miserable the way he acted and to just stop being so mean and just relax and enjoy life." She said she doesn't remember retrieving the shotgun from the closet, but she remembers thinking the gun was not loaded and that she "never in a million years would've dreamed that there would've been something in that." "I was so afraid," she said, adding that she feared for her life and it was "not realistic" to try reasoning with her husband. She doesn't know if she was using the gun to intimidate him or to get his attention, she said. "When I heard the boom, I just thought that it would've hit the ceiling, the window. And I just thought, 'Oh my goodness, he's going to think I meant to do that on purpose' and so I took out of there and took off running," she said. "At some point, I just realized he wasn't chasing me and I just had to go back in and face the realization." The realization was that the shotgun blast had sent 77 pellets into her husband's back. An autopsy report indicated he survived for a few minutes, said Winfrey, who grilled Winkler on what she did next. "He was bleeding and it was just instinct to wipe his mouth, but it just kept coming. I didn't know how he was hurt. I couldn't see anything wrong with him," she said. "When you actually see somebody that's just died, they just change appearance in a matter of seconds. It was just terrible." Winkler told Winfrey she had never fired a shotgun before she killed her husband, but he had turned the weapon on her in the past. He also had threatened more egregious violence, she said. "Did he say he would chop you up?" Winfrey asked. "Yeah, he would do it himself," Winkler replied. "He would do what?" "Chop me into a million pieces" Winkler never stood up for herself, nor did she tell anyone about her husband's allegedly abusive behavior, she said, because she wanted to maintain the image of a perfect couple. She used makeup to cover up bruises. Her father, Clark Freeman, recalled to Winfrey a time he confronted her about her injuries. She just hung her head and said, "Everything's all right. Everything's all right." Freeman said. Her husband also sexually abused her, Winkler said. He made her wear platform shoes and wigs and made her perform "sexual acts that I didn't want to do." She said she regrets never standing up for herself, she said. "That's where I will always grieve the fact that I failed Matthew in not bringing it to his attention how bad it was," she said. E-mail to a friend .

NEW: Wife says sentence for shooting preacher was too short . Judge wouldn't allow woman to travel for show; taped segment airs . Mary Winkler convicted of manslaughter in shotgun slaying . She is battling her in-laws for custody of her three daughters .

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BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Graphic footage of death and destruction has been shown on China's state-run news networks in the days following the massive earthquake that hit southwest Sichuan province earlier this week. Such telling video has rarely been shown by domestic media so extensively and so quickly after a national disaster. CCTV, China's state-run television network, as well as some local TV stations, have interrupted their regular programming to provide 24-hour coverage of the disaster. Field reporters give live reports of search-and rescue operations. News about China's deadly earthquake is being updated around the clock -- tallying death tolls, the horrendous damage and the government's swift response. Footage shows Premier Wen Jiabao surrounded by grieving villagers, his arms tightly holding two young girls. "Your sorrow is our sorrow," he assures them. "As long as people are still alive, we can start all over again." Premier Wen traveled to the disaster areas within hours of the massive earthquake. Chinese television covered his movements while leading rescue operations and comforting people in distress. Wearing a hard hat, he was shown standing on rubble and consoling trapped survivors through a loud speaker. The message is compelling: This disaster is terrible but the government is doing everything it can. Such swift reaction and extensive news coverage has not been seen in previous disasters. When the Great Tangshan earthquake struck 32 years ago, the Chinese media kept the information secret for a long time, even though over 240,000 people were killed. In the early stages of the 2003 SARS outbreak, domestic media downplayed reports on the deadly epidemic, even as it spiraled out of control and spread globally. More recently, severe snowstorms hit southern China during Spring Festival, the nation's most important holiday. Local media initially downplayed the crisis, following the government's cue; Premier Wen Jiabao was later forced to apologize for the government's slow response. With the Beijing Olympics just three months away, China is in the spotlight. Wenran Jiang, acting director of the Chinese Institute at the University of Alberta, believes the nation has drawn lessons from its past experiences with disaster. "China made mistakes before. They seemed to have learned their lessons from the earlier episodes and this one -- they probably want to manage it as well as they can." Watch latest report on rescue efforts » . Why China's new approach? Jiang notes that "the media follow-up is quite transparent," in part because it "is politically less sensitive covering such a natural disaster." Besides, Chinese officials see tangible benefits in allowing media transparency. By showing the leaders helping people and coordinating search and rescue efforts, he explains, "the result is that the whole [of] China is being mobilized. The disaster has now become a rallying point of the country." Experts in the region note the stark contrast between China's open response in the aftermath of the earthquake and Myanmar's defensive, clumsy response in the aftermath of a deadly cyclone earlier this month. Unlike its southern neighbor, China appears open to accepting international help and providing accurate information. Chinese officials say they welcome offers of sympathy and international assistance. Aid groups have been on standby, ready to help as soon as the Chinese government gives the green light. Officials say that will come "when the time is ripe." Today's more open, quick and aggressive reporting is a stark departure from China's poor performance in recent years.

Graphic footage of death, destruction has been shown on state-run networks . TV stations have interrupted regular shows to provide 24-hour coverage . Swift reaction, extensive news coverage not seen in previous disasters . When earthquake struck 32 years ago, Chinese media kept information secret .

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(CNN) -- The Rev. Rick Warren, often called America's most influential pastor, will be hosting Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain for what's being called the civil forum on the presidency. Rick Warren will be hosting the civil forum on the presidency . Warren, who heads up the country's fourth largest church, is also an author whose books have sold more than 30 million copies. The candidates will appear together at Warren's 20,000-member Saddleback mega-church in southern California where they each will be interviewed for an hour. Warren spoke with John Roberts on CNN's American Morning about what he hopes to accomplish at the forum. John Roberts: What do you want to hear from candidates Saturday night? Rick Warren: You know, John, we're going to look at four different segments. One is a segment on leadership. What is the personal character, competence, and experience of each of these guys. One section will be on what I call stewardship -- the role and responsibility of presidency, what they believe about the constitution, the role of America. We're going to look at a section on world view -- all of the minefield questions that no matter how you answer them, somebody's not going to like it. Then we're going to look at America's role internationally. How we've been a blessed nation and how should we bless others. Roberts: Are you going to ask them about issues like abortion and same-sex marriage? Pro-life advocates are hoping you do. There has been some criticism in some corners you have been soft-pedaling political issues that are central to evangelicals. Warren: I think everybody will be surprised. I'm going to ask all of the tough questions. I just intend to ask them in a civil way. This is called a civil forum, which means you can disagree without demonizing the opposition. I think everybody wants to hear questions not just about those "moral issues," but also about a lot of other things, too. I'm trying to stake out a common ground for the common good. Roberts: When you take a look at the evangelical vote in 2004, George Bush captured more than 75 percent of people who identify themselves as either born again or evangelical. Our recent polling, CNN Opinion Research Corporation polls, found when it comes to John McCain, only 67 percent of evangelicals say they'll support him. Are you surprised at the shift? Warren: It's interesting to me. Both of these men have been around for some time. Obama's written two books. Still a lot of people say, I'd like to know the real person. What are they really like? I'm hoping that'll happen in this forum. Evangelicals have never been a monolithic voting base. Never. And the people who try to predict which way they're going to go in this election I think may be surprised after Election Day. You don't really know. I don't know, and I don't think anybody knows. Roberts: As you know, John McCain in 2000 during the primaries ran afoul of evangelicals when he criticized Pat Robinson. He's tried to repair the relationship. Has he gone far enough? Warren: The religious right, fundamentalists and evangelic evangelicals aren't synonyms for each other. I think John may have been talking about certain groups that he was worried about at that time. But he certainly rebuilt bridges among them today. It's just a question of whether they're going to vote on his issues or if they're going to vote on Obama's, and we'll see. Roberts: As for you yourself in the most recent edition of Time magazine on which you're the cover, they've suggested you're evolving into the "superpolitical." Others have suggested you're becoming a spiritual entrepreneur. What do you make of the titles people are ascribing to you? Warren: When you try to line out a middle ground -- common ground for the common good of America -- you get pot shots from both sides. If I were just the left, I'd only get it from the right. If I were just the right, I'd only get it from the left. Because I believe in the monogood and don't happen to think either party gets it right all the time. I don't think anybody bats 1,000. I get it from both sides. That's to be expected.

Those who think they can predict the evangelical vote may be surprised, Rick Warren says . Pastor plans to ask candidates about America's role internationally . Warren: Forum won't just focus on "moral issues," but try to find a middle ground . Tough questions will be asked, but in a civil way, pastor says .

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(CNN) -- Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama on Friday called for an economic plan for working families, saying, "We cannot only have a plan for Wall Street. Sen. Barak Obama speaks at a campaign rally in Coral Gables, Florida, Friday. "We must also help Main Street," he said. While "tough new regulations on financial institutions" are needed, the Illinois senator called for an emergency economic plan for working families. Obama spoke after meeting with his economic advisers in Coral Gables, Florida. Watch Obama call for help for Main Street » . Obama on Friday also backed administration and congressional leaders' efforts to develop a "a more stable and permanent solution" to the U.S. financial crisis. Watch Obama talk about how working Americans need help in this economy . Obama's statement came after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox met with congressional leaders to discuss a plan that would allow banks to get rid of bad mortgage-related assets that have been a drag on their balance sheets. "What we're looking at right now is to provide the Treasury and the Federal Reserve with as broad authority as necessary to stabilize markets and maintain credit," Obama said. "We need a more institutional response to create a system that can manage some of the underlying problems with bad mortgages, help homeowners stay in their homes, protect the retirement and savings of working Americans." After meeting with his economic advisors, Obama said his team would not present a detailed economic plan at this time, "given the gravity of this situation, and based on conversations I have had with both Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke." Obama said he would not present his plan until the Treasury and Federal Reserve have presented theirs. "It is critical at this point that the markets and the public have confidence that their work will be unimpeded by partisan wrangling, and that leaders in both parties work in concert to solve the problem at hand," Obama said. Later, Obama held a rally, at the University of Miami, which was disrupted by protesters who held up signs saying "Blacks against Obama" and "Obama endorsed by the KKK." Obama said the protesters could stay and hold up their signs if they stopped shouting, but they were later escorted out after they continued to disrupt the rally. Obama spoke after Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain said Friday morning that he would establish a new agency to deal with the U.S. financial crisis that many experts say is the worst since the Great Depression. Watch McCain blast Washington corruption » . That agency, a Mortgage and Financial Institutions trust, would work with the private sector and regulators to identify institutions that are weak and fix them before they go broke. "The underlying principle of the MFI or any approach considered by Congress should be to keep people in their homes and safeguard the life savings of all Americans by protecting our financial system and capital markets," McCain told the Green Bay Chamber of Commerce in Wisconsin. McCain said the agency would be an early intervention program to help financial institutions avoid bankruptcy, expensive bailouts and damage to their customers. Obama, at the rally in Florida, lashed out at McCain's plan. "This morning Sen. McCain gave a speech in which his big solution to this worldwide economic crisis was to blame me for it. "This is a guy who spent nearly three decades in Washington and after spending the entire campaign saying I haven't been in Washington long enough ... he apparently now is willing to assign me responsibility for all of Washington's failure," he said. Wall Street witnessed the federal government take unprecedented steps this week to stabilize the economy, including the takeover of the insurance giant American International Group Inc. in exchange for an $85 billion loan from the Federal Reserve. In his speech, McCain blamed the crisis on "the corruption and manipulation of our home mortgage system" and blasted Congress and the administration for not addressing the problems at the two mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which he said "led our housing system down a path where quick profit was placed before sound finance." McCain also blasted his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, for not working to clean up the "corruption" at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Fact Check: Did Obama 'profit' from Fannie and Freddie? "We've heard a lot of words from Sen. Obama over the course of this campaign. But maybe just this once he could spare us the lectures and admit to his own poor judgment in contributing to these problems. The crisis on Wall Street started in the Washington culture of lobbying and influence peddling, and he was square in the middle of it." Although action must be taken to avoid future panics, the Arizona Republican said that ultimately, the economy would have to grow to get through "this tough time for America." McCain touted his economic plan, which includes tax cuts, and again said Obama would increase taxes on Americans who make as little as $42,000. McCain's charge that his opponent would raise taxes on those making $42,000 is misleading, however. The McCain campaign cites Obama's vote for a nonbinding 2008 budget resolution that outlines budget priorities through 2013 and assumed that President Bush's tax cuts would expire in 2011. Fact Check: Does Obama want to raise taxes? The Obama campaign says its economic plan would raise taxes only on those making over $250,000. The economic crisis has given Obama and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, the opportunity to go on the offensive. Most Americans see Obama as more capable than McCain when it comes to the economy, polls indicate. The two campaigns have traded shots all week, most recently over the government takeover of AIG. As the economy has dominated the headlines, Obama has widened his lead over McCain, according to CNN's latest "poll of polls." Obama gains in national polls .

NEW: Sen. Obama says any recover plan must help workers and homeowners . McCain repeats misleading charge against Obama on taxes . John McCain calls for agency to help weak financial institutions . McCain blasts Barack Obama for not working to fix Freddie Mae, Freddie Mac .

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(CNN) -- A tugboat on Saturday reached a disabled freighter carrying 22 people, hours after the ship rode out Hurricane Ike without power, Coast Guard spokesman Mike O'Berry said. O'Berry said the tugboat Rotterdam arrived shortly before 2 p.m. (3 p.m. ET). Repairs will be made aboard the Antalina, which has a broken fuel pump, while at sea, O'Berry said. The tugboat will then tow the ship to Port Arthur, Texas, where it will undergo additional repairs and eventually offload more of its cargo -- petroleum coke, a petroleum byproduct -- O'Berry said. The crew members aboard the Antalina, a Cypriot-flagged freighter, are all in good health, said Coast Guard Cmdr. Ron Labrec. The freighter suffered no major damage from the storm, said Darrell Wilson, a spokesman for the company that manages the ship. Aircraft from the Coast Guard and Air Force were sent Friday afternoon to try to rescue the crew of the freighter, which is loaded with petroleum coke, a petroleum byproduct. But high winds forced the military to abort the rescue, O'Berry said. The Coast Guard then instructed the freighter to contact it each hour. It also told told the crew to turn on the ship's emergency radio beacon so its position could be monitored, O'Berry said. Watch the Coast Guard conduct a rescue operation » . Onshore as well, rescuers found it too dangerous to respond to calls for help. In Liverpool, Texas, south of Houston, a family called for help around 1 a.m. Saturday when a tree crashed into their house, but authorities concluded that strong winds made it too dangerous to respond, said Doc Adams, Brazoria County's emergency management coordinator. "You want to take care of people, and when you can't, it's tough," Adams said. "Unfortunately, someone has to make the decision about whether the risk is worth the benefit. Are you willing to risk three or four lives to save one? It's not easy." Adams said he didn't know if anyone in the house was hurt. "As far as I know, they're still there in the house with a tree over it," he said at about 3:40 a.m. The stranded freighter had been headed south through the Gulf of Mexico from Port Arthur, Texas, but "lost main propulsion 90 miles southeast of Galveston" and was unable to steer, the Coast Guard said. The Coast Guard received a distress call from the vessel at 4 a.m. Friday. The Antalina was "basically adrift, at the mercy of the wind and sea currents," Coast Guard Petty Officer Tom Atkeson said at the time. "We are in hell," one of the men aboard the freighter told CNN on Friday before the rescue was called off. The man said the winds around the ship were strong but that the freighter still had power. On Friday before the storm hit, authorities picked up more than 120 people stranded by rising seas along the southeast Texas coast. Most of the rescues occurred in Galveston County, where rising water and other effects of the storm began hours before landfall early Saturday. Stranded residents were airlifted from Crystal Beach, Bolivar Peninsula and other communities in the Galveston area. Many of those rescued were motorists stranded on flooded roads. In Surfside Beach, police waded through chest-high rushing water to rescue five people trapped in their homes. One man refused to leave, said Surfside Beach police Chief Randy Smith. "Some of them took convincing, some of them didn't," Smith said. Police also rescued five other people who waded out to meet the officers. About half of those rescues were done by helicopters out of bases along the coast, said Coast Guard Petty Officer David Schulein. Three HH-65C helicopters from Coast Guard Air Station Houston rescued more than 20 people and continued to fly rescue missions until weather grounded them Friday evening, said Petty Officer Renee Aiello, a station spokeswoman. Some 37,000 people may need to be rescued in the aftermath of the hurricane, a U.S. military official estimated Friday. Texas already has asked for help, and the active-duty military has 42 search-and-rescue helicopters on standby, the official said.

NEW: Tugboat reaches stranded freighter . Ship's crew of 22 endures night without power in Gulf of Mexico . Coast Guard, Air Force had to abandon rescue because of poor conditions . Authorities onshore find it too dangerous to respond to calls for help .

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Editor's Note: Republican strategist Alex Castellanos was a former campaign consultant for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign and has worked on more than half a dozen presidential campaigns. Castellanos is a partner in National Media Inc., a political and public affairs consulting firm that specializes in advertising. He has produced many Republican political ads and has clients such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Alex Castellanos says Barack Obama's change theme has buckled to "top-down liberalism." (CNN) -- In theater, they say the second act is the hardest to write. It requires relentless focus and discipline. The writer must give himself fearlessly to one central idea and never waver, though temptation is the opposite: There are many paths a story can take. So it is in politics, as Barack Obama's campaign is learning. The clear campaign of change ran into trouble in Act II when it was tasked with explaining what change actually meant. Obama, as they say in show business, "ran out of script." The wind in his sails stalled in the hot calm of August and he has yet to recover. After John McCain's improbable resuscitation to seize the GOP nomination, the Arizona senator's top aides briefed him about his exacting challenge: He would go into the conventions trailing Obama by at least 8 percentage points and then battle back through the fall to parity. Yet, as cooler days and hotter rhetoric mark the start of the fall finale, it is Obama who finds himself clawing back, forced to attack, launching uncharacteristic partisan and personal attacks against a McCain who has "lost track" of and is "confused" about how many houses he owns. How did the soaring campaign of change become grinding politics-as-usual and crash so thunderously to earth? The Obama campaign's clear message in the primaries was a bottom-up, organic populism that cast voters themselves as the agents of change. "We are the change we have been waiting for," Obama told his supporters during the primaries. In return, they sang, "Yes we can." This heady mix of populism and change swelled his campaign into a cause. In marketing terms, it is called "voter as hero." Obama empowered his supporters, telling them they, not the old political establishment, could achieve anything. Bottom-up politics is one thing, however. Bottom-up government, another. When Barack Obama became the nominee of the national Democratic establishment, the candidate of hope ran into political reality: His party's canons of governing are the opposite of change. Barack Obama may believe "change doesn't come from the top down, it comes from the bottom up," but the leadership of his party doesn't. The national Democratic establishment, from the Daily Kos and MoveOn.org to Pelosi and Reid in Congress, still believe in top-down big-government from Washington, especially if they get to run the factory. Politically, they are industrial-age dinosaurs . They believe the era of big government is back, not over. They would keep money and power in their hands, not devolve it to the average American. That was not something the Denver Democrats were eager to confess. Instead, they advocated a sly European-style socialism that would not speak its intent. "Decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege," the Democrats offered during the first night of their convention. A big-government health-care factory run by Washington? That's change? Why not the same for food, clothing and shelter? But relax, Joe Lunchbucket, an even bigger public-sector industrial plant will impose no cost on your family. Obama's party promises not to tax you, just business -- the people who sell you your groceries and gasoline and sign your paychecks. As Fred Thompson noted in his GOP convention speech, "They won't take any water out of your side of the bucket. Just the other side." This is not "voter as hero" but, instead, "voter as victim." A heroic Washington has all the money, the power, and the answers. Same old, same old. So the candidate of change fell silent. And he sang change never again. Barack Obama could have spoken truth to power. He could have pledged to confront the Democratic Party establishment. He could have brought a more natural, organic era of bottom-up government, not just bottom-up politics, to a dated party clinging to a decaying philosophy of authority. But when the irresistible force of Obama's bottom-up politics met the immovable object of Democratic Party power, it was the dream, not the power, that conceded. "Yes we can" turned out to mean not "Yes the people can", just "Yes Washington can." Too bad. It would have refreshed the Democratic Party and the country. This movie is not new: The candidate who runs to change the establishment doesn't. Instead, we see it change him. The hope for real change in Washington has been suffocated by an older generation's embrace. Now, Barack Obama finds himself trapped without a post-partisan message. Instead of challenging politics-as-usual, he sells the usual partisan politics: "Bush-McCain", he shouts from rooftops, sounding like every other Democrat in the chorus, pretending partisanship is fresh. The story? Bottom-up change ran into top-down liberalism. Old-fashioned liberalism won. That's Act II. Stand by for the play's end. This opinions in this commentary are solely those of the writer.

Alex Castellanos: Obama's message was populism and bottom-up change . Obama campaign taken over by Democratic establishment, he says . Castellanos: Democratic party champions big government and opposes change . "Yes we can" turned into "Yes Washington can," Castellanos says .

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NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- India launched its first lunar mission on Wednesday, with hopes of achieving high-resolution images of the moon's topography and diving into the international space race. The spacecraft carrying India's first lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1, lifts off in Sriharikota on Wednesday. The unmanned lunar orbiter Chandrayaan-1, or "moon craft" in ancient Sanskrit, came at 6:20 a.m. Wednesday (8:50 p.m. ET) from the Sriharikota space center in southern India. The two-year mission seeks high-resolution imaging of the moon's surface, especially the permanently shadowed polar regions, according to the Indian Space Research Organization. It will also search for evidence of water or ice and attempt to identify the chemical breakdown of certain lunar rocks, the group said. Despite the numerous missions to the moon over the past 50 years, "we really don't have a good map of the moon," said Miles O'Brien, CNN chief technology and environment correspondent. "The goal is to come up with a very intricate, three-dimensional map of the moon." The Chandrayaan-1 is carrying payloads from the United States, European Union countries Germany, Britain, Sweden and Bulgaria, and India plans to share the data from the mission with other programs, including NASA. Watch the launch of India's first lunar mission » . ISRO said on its Web site that the mission would lay the groundwork for future lunar missions and "probe the physical characteristics of the lunar surface in greater depth than previous missions by other nations." "It will also give us a deeper understanding about the planet Earth itself or its origins," a statement on the Web site said. "Earlier missions did not come out with a full understanding of the moon and that is the reason scientists are still interested. This will lay the foundation for bigger missions and also open up new possibilities of international networking and support for planetary programs." Until now, India's space launches have been more practical, with weather warning satellites and communiations systems, The Associated Press cited former NASA associated administrator Scott Pace as saying. To date, only the U.S. Russia, the European Space Agency, Japan and China have sent missions to the moon, according to AP. Critics of the mission have questioned its $80 million price tag, saying the money should have been spent by the government to improve education and fight poverty. But, "there are scientists that would argue that there are plenty of things we don't know about the moon ... and India might have the know-how" to find answers, said CNN's Sara Sidner in New Delhi. The United States and the Soviet Union dominated the field of lunar exploration from the late 1950s. The United States is preparing for its own mission slated for next spring -- the first U.S. lunar mission in more than a decade, according to NASA. Soviet spacecraft were the first to fly by, land on and orbit the moon. Luna 1, launched on January 2, 1959, and sped by the moon two days later. Luna 2 was launched on an impact mission on September 12, 1959, striking the surface two days later. Luna 9 launched on January 31, 1966, becoming the first craft to successfully land on the moon and send back data, touching down on the surface on January 31, 1966, and transmitting until February 3, 1967, when its batteries ran out. Luna 10 was launched March 31, 1966, entered lunar orbit on April 3, and operated for 56 days. But the United States' Apollo missions were the first manned missions to reach the moon, culminating with six missions that set down on the surface. The first, Apollo 11, left earth on July 16, 1969, and landed astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin on the lunar surface on July 20 while command module pilot Michael Collins orbited above. The astronauts returned safely to earth on July 24. Most recently India's fellow Asian nations, China and Japan, put lunar orbiters in place. Japan launched the Kaguya orbiter in October 2007, followed by China's launch of the Chang'e mission a few weeks later. Watch what is shaping up to be a new space race » . "Each nation is doing its own thing to drive its research technology for the well-being of that nation," AP quoted Charles Vick, a space analyst for the Washington think tank GlobalSecurity.org, as saying. Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

NEW: Chandrayaan-1 is carrying payloads from the U.S., EU and Bulgaria . Two-year mission seeks high-resolution, 3-D imaging of the moon's surface . Chandrayaan-1 follows Japan and China's missions to the moon . Chandrayaan means "moon craft" in ancient Sanskrit .

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- More than 1,300 pounds of explosives were packed into a construction truck that detonated outside an Islamabad hotel, killing 57 people, including two Americans and a diplomat, officials said Sunday. A truck burns at the gate to the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad before a larger, deadly explosion Saturday. Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the Saturday attack at the Marriott Hotel "is the biggest attack, volume-wise" in Pakistan in seven years. Two American military personnel who worked for the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad were among those killed, the U.S. military said. A Lithuanian and the Czech Republic's ambassador to Pakistan, Ivo Zdarek, also were among the fatalities, police superintendent Sheikh Zubair said. The suicide truck blast injured 266 people, including 11 foreigners, according to Malik. Watch guards scatter after an explosion » . British Airways temporarily suspended its flights to Islamabad as a result of the security situation, according to an airline spokeswoman who did not want to be named. A Sunday night flight has been canceled, and the airline is reviewing its operations for later in the week. British Airways operates at least three flights a week to the Pakistani capital out of London's Heathrow Airport. At a news conference in Islamabad on Sunday, Pakistani authorities released security video of the blast, showing a small explosion inside the truck before the larger, deadly explosion. Watch the truck bomb caught on tape . In the video, a large truck crashes into the security gate, sending one security officer scurrying for safety. Then, as security guards approach the truck, the top of the vehicle explodes and the security guards flee. A small cloud of smoke appears above the truck, which is engulfed in flames minutes later. One of the security guards tries to put out the fire with a hand-held extinguisher, to no avail. The guards then walk away, and the camera freezes on the burning truck. Pakistani officials said the blast apparently disrupted electricity to the area, causing the closed-circuit television camera to malfunction. No arrests have been made in connection with the attack, Malik said Sunday, adding that militants in Pakistan's tribal regions are suspected of orchestrating the attack. "I am not in a position to tell you who has done it, but [in] all the previous investigations, all the roads have gone to South Waziristan," he said. South Waziristan is one of Pakistan's seven tribal areas where Taliban and al Qaeda militants are active. At the bombing site, video showed a deep crater in the pavement where the bomb detonated. More than a dozen cars were reduced to twisted steel. The crater was 24 feet deep and nearly 60 feet wide, Malik said. The blast also caused a natural gas leak that set the top floor of the five-story, 258-room hotel on fire, police said. The blaze quickly engulfed the entire structure. Watch a witness describe walking over bodies » . Most of the fatalities appeared to be drivers, who were waiting with their cars outside the Marriott, and hotel security guards, Geo TV's Hamid Mir said. The hotel, where a standard room costs more than $300 per night, is near the compound that contains the Parliament building, the prime minister's house, the Supreme Court and the presidency. The blast occurred about 7:50 p.m., after the breaking of the fast during the holy month of Ramadan, Malik said. Trees were felled by the explosion, which occurred hours after newly elected President Asif Ali Zardari addressed a joint session of Parliament and promised to root out terrorism. Watch the scene the morning after the blast » . A few hours after the attack, Zardari addressed the nation on television, saying he knows the pain of terrorism after his wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was killed in December on the campaign trail. "My heart cries tears of blood. I can understand your pain. I want to ask you to turn this pain into your strength," he said, describing extremism as "a cancer, which we will finish." "In the holy month of Ramadan, no Muslim can act in this way. These people are not Muslims," he said. "I appeal to all democratic nations to help us get rid of this menace." The Marriott, a Western brand-name hotel, has been the site of attacks in the past. See where the attack occurred » . Malik said authorities had received a threat against Parliament two days ago. "We had taken all security measures," he said. "There was heavy security in the city." Located near the diplomatic section of the city and heavily guarded by police and the military, the hotel is popular among tourists and had been packed Saturday night. Any vehicle entering the facility is searched, its underside checked for bombs, before it is allowed to pass through heavy steel gates. Watch bombing victims rushed into hospital » . The British High Commission in Islamabad said six British nationals -- five adults and one minor -- were injured in the attack, including three commission members. A Pakistani staff member of the commission was also injured, it said. A spokeswoman for the German Foreign Ministry said six Germans in the hotel were slightly hurt in the attack, and that all embassy personnel were accounted for. CNN's Zein Basravi and Reza Sayah, and journalist Tomas Etzler contributed to this report.

NEW: Truck loaded with more than a half-ton of explosives, official says . U.S. military says two Americans assigned to embassy among dead . Pakistani president says of perpetrators: "These people are not Muslims" Police: Ivo Zdarek, Czech Republic's ambassador to Pakistan, died in hotel bombing .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A mother suspected of killing her four children, whose decomposing bodies were found in her home, told police they were possessed by demons, according to court records. Banita Jacks, 33, is charged with three counts of felony murder and one count of first-degree murder while armed. The victims, who range in age from 5 to 17 years, are thought to be her daughters. Their bodies were found when U.S. marshals served an eviction notice at Jacks' apartment in southeast Washington, D.C. Court documents say Jacks identified the victims as her daughters Brittany Jacks, 17; Tatianna Jacks, 11; N'kiah Fogle, 6; and Aja Fogle, 5. Earlier Thursday, Mayor Adrian Fenty said the bodies' decomposition has hindered their identification, although they were believed to be Jacks' children. Marie Pierre-Louis, Washington's chief medical examiner, said all four of the girls had been dead for at least 15 days. Jacks is being held without bail. Her next court appearance is scheduled for February 11. If convicted, she could receive a maximum sentence of life in prison. Jacks told police that her daughters were possessed by demons and that each died in her sleep during a seven- to 10-day period, court documents said. Aja died first, she told police, then N'kiah, Tatianna and Brittany. "She said that as the first three younger children died, she placed them side by side in the room in which they died," according to court documents. She reported that all the deaths occurred sometime before the electricity in her house was disconnected, which records show was September 5, 2007, documents said. Jacks said she never tried to call authorities to remove the bodies "because she didn't trust either agency and because she thought if she notified emergency personnel, that would cause her more problems," the documents said. She also said she had not fed her daughters food "for a substantial period of time prior to their deaths." No one besides herself or the children had been in the home since May 2007, Jacks said. Pierre-Louis ruled the deaths homicides, according to a court document. Watch Pierre-Louis describe the condition of the bodies » . Preliminary findings are that Brittany was stabbed to death and that Aja died from blunt-force impact to the back of her head and possible ligature strangulation. Both Tatianna and N'kiah also had "apparent ligature evidence" on their necks that was "somewhat more defined than that noted on Aja Fogle's neck," court documents said. However, the documents said, further tests are needed to confirm the causes of the deaths. All four children were wearing white T-shirts and were discovered in unfurnished bedrooms -- three in one and a fourth in another, the documents said. "What appeared to be a metal steak knife" was found next to the fourth. Also, the fourth body was found in a bedroom with hardwood floors, and a T-shirt with duct tape was found at the bottom of the bedroom door, filling the gap between the floor and the bottom of the door when it was closed. A witness told police they saw Jacks treat Brittany differently from her other children, sometimes withholding food from her while feeding the others, court documents said. In addition, the witness said Jacks once drove Brittany to Jacks' mother's home in Waldorf, Maryland, and left her there. Jacks' mother was not home, the witness said, and Brittany was left on the porch unattended for more than 10 hours. City officials are trying to determine how the children could have been dead for at least two weeks without anyone noticing their absence. Fenty said the city had determined that Jacks' children were "in and out of the public school system" and that the child welfare caseworkers and the metropolitan police had each had at least "one contact" with the family. Watch Fenty explain how a "routine" eviction became a death investigation » . "There may be other contacts with the government ... in the case of the Jacks family," he said. He did not divulge further details. "Somebody should have known that these young people were not in school or someplace," Councilman Marion Barry said Wednesday. The former Washington mayor represents the ward in which the bodies were found. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Larry Lazo contributed to this report.

NEW: One child appeared to be stabbed to death, another strangled . Mother Banita Jacks, 33, told police her children died in their sleep . Jacks faces 3 counts of felony murder, 1 count of first-degree murder while armed . Officials trying to determine how kids' deaths, absences went unnoticed .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Navy is having hundreds of its older F/A-18 fighter jets inspected, including some flying operations over Afghanistan, for cracks in part of a wing assembly, officials said Friday. Inspectors looking at F/A-18 fighter jets have found 15 with stress crack problems on the wings. Some 636 F/A-18 A through D model Hornets in both the Navy and the Marine Corps are being inspected for stress cracks on a hinge connecting the aileron to the flaps on the back side of the wings, according to Navy spokesmen. Inspectors started looking at the planes Thursday and have found 15 aircrafts with the problem. A panel on the wing can be swapped out with a new one to get rid of the problem. The Navy is still looking at the hinge in question to see whether the problem is severe enough to ground the Hornets and come up for a permanent fix for the hinge. Navy officials said there are no immediate plans to ground the 636 planes. This month, a post-flight inspection of one F/A-18 found a crack, and it was determined to be systemic enough to warrant an inspection of the older F/A-18s, according to Navy officials. The Navy also flies the Super Hornet, a newer version of the F/A-18. That plane is not part of this inspection. Navy flight operations around the world will not be interrupted because of the inspections, officials said.

636 F/A-18 A through D model Hornets being inspected for stress crack . Inspectors started looking at planes Thursday and have found 15 with problem . Navy officials said there are no immediate plans to ground the planes .

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SHANGHAI, China (CNN) -- Natalie Williams, a 21-year-old Special Olympics basketball player from Kentucky, says she's never really been treated like a true athletic star. But that was before she came to the Games in China, which has undergone a major change in its treatment of the mentally disabled. Hong Kong's Special Olympics team marches into the stadium during last week's opening ceremony. "They are able to accept special needs people in a way that maybe some other countries do not," Williams says. Last week, organizers rolled out the red carpet for athletes arriving at the Special Olympics in Shanghai, China. Never before in the 39-year history of the Special Olympics has there been such an extravagant, star-studded opening ceremony. And everywhere in this city, there are billboards with the smiling faces of the mentally disabled promoting the Games. China spent millions ensuring the 7,500 competitors are cared for -- and more importantly accepted. Watch 'This is a highlight to their lives' » . That's quite a turnaround for a country whose leadership, less than 20 years ago, refused to even acknowledge any of their citizens were intellectually disabled. At the time, former Prime Minister Li Peng was quoted as saying, "Mentally retarded people give birth to idiots." "There's a long way to go -- there's a long way. But the good news is we're moving," says Tim Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics. China's transformation is so far mostly from the top down, beginning with no less than President Hu Jintao whose presence at the Opening Ceremony was particularly notable. See photos of the opening ceremony » . Also notable was the president's visit to one of Shanghai's "Sunshine Homes" this month. The shelters are a direct result of this city winning the rights five years ago to host the Special Olympics. Back then, officials quickly realized their treatment of the city's 70,000 mentally disabled was woefully inadequate. Now there are 240 Sunshine Homes spread across this sprawling city, caring for about 15,000 of those most in need, like 25-year-old Chen Xiaohan. She still struggles to speak with strangers, but her parents boast of her many achievements since enrolling a year ago. Xiaohan can make her own bed, walk to school and is learning piano. But more notable, says her father, Chen Zhixiang, is the change in recent years in the way his daughter is treated by neighbors. "If in the past you looked down on them and now you still look down, it only proves your thinking is bad. Now when our neighbors see her, they're very nice. They ask, 'Chen Xiaohan, how are you today?' There isn't any more discrimination." The Special Olympics may have been a watershed moment for China's mentally disabled, but perhaps a breakthrough came a few years earlier, when Special Olympian Judy Yang appeared in a splashy spread on the front cover of a mainstream teen-age magazine. Photogenic and well-spoken, Yang has been an unofficial ambassador of sorts and, after her magazine debut, she noticed a real shift in how the Chinese related to the disabled. "A lot of people are accepting now. They're willing to be friends, to let their children play with one another, and they can learn from each other as well." That may be true in China's biggest, richest and most Western city, Shanghai, but in the countryside not much appears to have changed. Intellectually disabled children that are hard to manage are often locked in caged rooms. Humanitarian officials say stories of doctors recommending disabled children be killed at birth are common. In addition, programs like Sunshine Homes are almost unheard of outside of Shanghai and caring for the almost 13 million intellectually disabled in China remains a major challenge. Earlier this year, authorities exposed a human trafficking ring selling young men, many of them intellectually disabled, to work in brick kilns. "Neglect and discrimination is still quite prevalent. People tend to be ashamed of children with disabilities. They tend to hide them away. They tend not to let them have access to schooling or education," says Yin Yin Nwe, the head of UNICEF in China. But Nwe is optimistic. As China's economy grows, she said she thinks the government will continue to devote more resources to the country's weakest and most vulnerable. E-mail to a friend .

China has undergone major change in attitude toward intellectually disabled . Shanghai is hosting the Special Olympics to great fanfare . City has opened special homes to help care for some of city's mentally disabled . Helping China's remaining 13 million intellectually disabled remains challenge .

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TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Bolivian President Evo Morales arrived Monday in Iran on his first official visit to the country, the Iranian Press TV reported. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right, greets Bolivia's leader, Evo Morales, on Monday in Tehran. Morales is expected to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to "review issues of mutual interest" between the Islamic republic and the leftist South American nation, according to the national news agency IRNA. The Bolivian leader arrived in Tehran from Libya, where he met with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Morales has described Iran and Bolivia as "two friendly and revolutionary countries," Press TV said. "The two countries are both energy producers and are staunchly opposed to U.S. hegemony." Morales, a former labor organizer and the country's first indigenous president, was elected in 2005. Like Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, with whom he maintains strong ties, Morales has sought to improve his relationship with Tehran.

Bolivian leader to "review issues of mutual interest" with Iran's president . Bolivian President Evo Morales has sought to improve ties with Iran . Bolivia, Iran "staunchly opposed to U.S. hegemony," Morales says . Morales met with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi before Iran trip .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- The family of a British soldier serving in Afghanistan has been forced from their home after a poisonous spider hitched a ride back with him and apparently killed their pet dog. The camel spider's bite is not deadly to humans but can kill small animals. Lorraine Griffiths and her three children, aged 18, 16, and 4, moved out of their house in Colchester, southeast England, and are refusing to return until the spider is apprehended, the UK Press Association reported. Griffiths told the East Anglian Daily Times that the spider appeared after her husband, Rodney, returned from a four-month tour of duty in Helmand province, the arid southern Afghan frontline in the fight against Taliban extremists. "My son Ricky was in my bedroom looking for his underwear, and he went into the drawer under my bed, and something crawled across his hand," she told the paper. She said their pet dog Cassie confronted the creature, which they identified on the Internet as a camel spider, but ran out whimpering when it hissed at her. Watch the family that has been terrorized by the spider » . "It seems too much of a coincidence that she died at the same time that we saw the spider," she said. The desert-dwelling camel spider, actually an insect rather than an arachnid, can run up to 25 kilometers (15 miles) an hour and reach 15 centimeters (6 inches) in length. Its bite is not deadly to humans but can kill small animals.

UK family forced from home as poisonous insect hitches in from Afghanistan . Camel spider believed to have stowed away in soldier's luggage . Family blames creature for death of pet dog Cassie .

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BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Officials on Monday announced the death of a second child who consumed contaminated milk powder. More than 1,200 others have been sickened, according to China's Health Ministry. Of that number, 340 infants are hospitalized and 53 are considered to be in serious condition. Government inspectors are testing baby formula around China and plan to release their results on Tuesday, said Li Changjiang, head of the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, according to the Xinhua news agency. The manufacturer, Sanlu Group, has recalled more than 8,200 tons of the tainted formula following reports of babies developing kidney stones, Xinhua said. Watch what Sanlu has done » . Sanlu, one of China's leading dairy producers, has also sealed off more than 2,100 tons of contaminated product, and another 700 tons still need to be recalled, the news agency said. It is not the first time Sanlu has been connected to a scandal involving tainted milk powder, according to China Daily. In 2004, at least 13 infants in the eastern Anhui province died of malnutrition after drinking milk powder that had little to no nutrition. The illegally manufactured milk was falsely labeled with the Sanlu brand, according to the paper. More than 170 other babies were hospitalized as a result of drinking the cheap milk powder. Chinese police have questioned 78 people -- including dairy farmers and milk dealers -- about the most recent contamination, a Chinese official told Xinhua Saturday. Sanlu would not say whether its employees are being investigated, Xinhua said. Testing by Sanlu found tripolycyanamide, also known as melamine, in 700 tons of its product, said Zhao Xinchao, the vice mayor of Shijiazhuang, the news agency reported. Zhao told the news agency that the suspects added water to the milk they sold to Sanlu to make more money, then added the chemical so the diluted milk could still meet standards. Inspectors found the chemical in Sanlu infant formula produced by one of the company's partner producers in northwest Gansu Province, an official said Sunday. Two of 12 samples randomly selected from the Sanlu milk powder produced by the Haoniu Dairy Company in Jiuquan City tested positive for melamine, said Xian Hui, the vice-governor of Gansu. Health experts say ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones, urinary tract ulcers, and eye and skin irritation. The chemical is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, fabric coatings, ceiling tiles and flame retardants. Hundreds of Wal-Mart and Carrefour stores in China are pulling the Sanlu milk powder from their shelves, Xinhua said. This episode marks the latest in a string of tainted products produced in China. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recalled more than 150 brands of cat and dog food last year after finding that some pets became ill or died after eating food tainted with melamine, the same chemical found in the powdered milk. Two Chinese businesses, a U.S. company and top executives of each were indicted by a federal grand jury in February in connection with tainted pet food, which resulted in deaths and serious illnesses in up to thousands of U.S. pets, federal prosecutors said. In October 2007, regulators and retailers in the United States recalled at least 69,000 Chinese-made toys over concerns of excessive amounts of lead paint, which can cause hazardous lead poisoning. In November, shipments of the popular toy Aqua Dots were found to have been contaminated with a toxic chemical that turned into a powerful "date rape" drug if swallowed, causing some children who ate the craft toys to vomit and lose consciousness. And in February, a Maryland candy distributor pulled Pokemon-brand Valentine lollipops from store shelves after bits of metal were found in the sealed treats, authorities said. Officials on Monday announced the death of a second child who consumed contaminated milk powder. Of the more than 1,200 others who have been sickened, 340 infants were hospitalized, and 53 considered to be in serious condition, according to China's Health Ministry. Government inspectors were testing baby formula around China and plan to release their results on Tuesday, said Li Changjiang, head of the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, according to the Xinhua news agency. The manufacturer, Sanlu Group, has recalled more than 8,200 tons of the tainted formula following reports of babies developing kidney stones, Xinhua said. Sanlu, one of China's leading dairy producers, also has sealed off more than 2,100 tons of contaminated product, and another 700 tons still need to be recalled, the news agency said. Chinese police have questioned 78 people, including dairy farmers and milk dealers, about the contamination, a Chinese official told Xinhua Saturday. Sanlu would not say whether its employees were being investigated, Xinhua said. Testing by Sanlu found tripolycyanamide, also known as melamine, in 700 tons of its product, said Zhao Xinchao, the vice mayor of Shijiazhuang, the news agency reported. Zhao told the news agency that the suspects added water to the milk they sold to Sanlu to make more money, then added the chemical so that the diluted milk could still meet standards. Inspectors found the chemical in Sanlu infant formula produced by one of the company's partner producers in northwest Gansu Province, an official said Sunday. Two of 12 samples randomly selected from the Sanlu milk powder produced by the Haoniu Dairy Company in Jiuquan City tested positive for melamine, said Xian Hui, the vice-governor of Gansu. Ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones, urinary tract ulcers, and eye and skin irritation, health experts said. The chemical is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, fabric coatings, ceiling tiles and flame retardants. The chemical was also involved in the massive pet food recall last year. Hundreds of Wal-Mart and Carrefour stores in were pulling the Sanlu milk powder from their shelves, Xinhua said.

Government inspectors plan to release test results Tuesday; 2nd death announced . Sanlu is one of China's leading dairy producers . Melamine found in 700 tons of Sanlu's product, Xinhua cites mayor as saying . Ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones, eye and skin irritation .

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(The Frisky) -- Everybody has a "type." Personally, I like a man with a big schnozz -- bonus points if he's got a collection of acne scars a lá Tommy Lee Jones. The "OverEater" is one of the nine types of men that women should avoid. My pal Annie likes preppy men -- but only after they've gone to seed and become a little bloated in the process. Suzanne has a weakness for thin Japanese guys who like indie rock music, while Maddy adores bike messengers of all shapes and sizes. But there are certain types of guys who should be NOBODY'S type. These guys are distinguished by one thing -- an overabundance of one or more very bad qualities. Here's your guide to boys to avoid: . 1. The OverSharer: The current Overshare Poster Boy is Phillip Nobel, who wrote a highly hide-chapping account of his extramarital affair for Elle. The Oversharer will broadcast intimate episodes from your relationship to his mother, your mother, his blog readers and anyone else he can rope into paying attention. 2. The OverThinker: One of the great things about dating men is that you aren't subjected to long, excruciating interrogations over what you really meant when you reassured him that no, he didn't look fat in those pants. However, though they're rare birds, there are guys who will want to spend hours dissecting even the most innocuous comment, examining it for tone, content and what you might've been implying. 3. The OverTalker: Your friends say they've never known you to be so quiet. That's because this man does enough talking for both of you (and then some). When you do finally eke out a sentence or two he interrupts and talks over you anyway. You have two choices -- accept the fact that you will never speak again or tell him goodbye. Your call. 4. The OverDresser: This dandy makes Gossip Girl's Chuck Bass look sloppy and mismatched. That he takes longer than you to get ready is strike one against him, but the fact that he matches his socks to his underwear and to his ascot drives him out of the park. 5. The OverEater: It's an irritating fact that men can eat more than women. The overeater doesn't care. Food is his first love and he'll push cannolis and baked ziti on you like a crazed Italian granny. Unless you don't mind a future spent in stretch-pants, you might want to give this dude a pass. 6. The OverReactor: Remember when Russell Crowe threw a phone at that hotel clerk who somehow displeased him? That's this guy. From the old lady who accidentally bumped into him at the grocery store, to the SUV that cut him off on the highway -- everyone in his path will hear his wrath. You, most of all. Do not walk away -- run. 7. The Over-The-Topper: He's the life of the party and thinks nothing of driving his motorcycle through the bar if he thinks it'll get a laugh. He's certainly cute, but he just never stops. He's always on. And that, will quickly turn into a turn-off. 8. OverAchiever: Picture the male version of Tracy Flick in the movie "Election" in perfectly fitted jeans, a crisp white oxford shirt and a copy of his (perfect, naturally) SAT scores in his wallet. Now imagine making love to him. You can't, can you? 9. The OverCompensator: Maybe he was the homeliest kid in his eighth-grade class, but that doesn't mean you need to sit through a monologue about how much money he makes, how jealous his friends are over his new BMW, and how he totally could date supermodels if he wanted to. Next! TM & © 2008 TMV, Inc. | All Rights Reserved .

There are certain types of men who should be nobody's type . Run from the "OverReactor" -- you and everyone in his path will hear his wrath . The "OverCompensator" brags about how much money he makes . The "OverTalker" does enough talking for both of you .

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(CNN) -- Russia announced Monday it might hold joint military maneuvers with Venezuela in the Caribbean, and the United States said it is scrapping a once ballyhooed deal with Moscow on nuclear technology. The declarations come in the wake of increased tension between Russia and the United States over Russia's invasion last month of the former Soviet republic of Georgia, a U.S. ally that aspires to join NATO. Russian ships will make a port of call in Venezuela later this year and the two nations could hold joint naval exercises for the first time, both sides said. Russia denied there was any link between Monday's announcement and the conflict in the Caucasus, although Russia has criticized U.S. support for Georgia, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has long antagonized Washington. "This is a planned event unrelated to the current political situation and Caucasian developments," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Monday. "The exercises will not be targeted against any third party." The agreement on the Russian visit to Venezuelan ports was reached long before the conflict in the Caucasus broke out, he said. But he appeared to suggest Monday that Russia had proposed the joint naval maneuvers. "If the Venezuelan side finds the proposal interesting and an agreement is reached, Russia and Venezuela may hold joint naval exercises in line with international practice," he said. Several hours later, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Washington is canceling the proposed "123 Agreement" with Moscow, which would have cleared the way for more trade of nuclear technology, services and goods between the two countries. He denied the pullout was directly linked to Moscow's actions in the Caucasus. "Over a period of time, we've had some deep concerns about Russian behavior. And quite clearly the president has taken this action looking at the facts," he said. Both countries had accepted the agreement and it was awaiting congressional approval. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned in an exclusive interview with CNN last week that Russia would not be pleased at the collapse of the 123 Agreement, which is named after a section of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act of 1954. "This would effectively kill any possibility for our cooperation to promote the Bush-Putin initiative on nuclear nonproliferation -- which is important for the entire world," he said. "As I said, it wouldn't be our choice, but if the United States does not want to cooperate with us on one or another issue, we cannot impose ourselves on Washington." But experts say Congress was unlikely to have given the deal a green light, and that the White House was making the best of a bad situation. "I think [the administration is] making a virtue out of a necessity" by pulling out, said Russia analyst Jon Wolfsthal of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, last week. On the possibility of Russian-Venezuelan naval exercises, Latin America expert Wayne S. Smith warned against reading too much into the proposal. "The Russians have complained about U.S. warships operating in the Black Sea, which is an area of intense interest to them. It would not be surprising if they returned the favor by having joint exercises in the Caribbean," said Smith, a 25-year foreign service veteran who ended his State Department career as chief of the U.S. Interest Section in Havana. "It's a way of saying: 'Two can play at this game. If you think you can send ships into the Black Sea without response, you are mistaken.' " But he said the mere fact of Russian ships operating in the Western hemisphere would not necessarily be dangerous. "The act itself is not. Having naval exercises? Fine, as long as both sides take it for what it is. It's not a threatening gesture, it's a message." Frank Mora, a Latin America expert at the National Defense University in Washington, said the announcement could be part of a complicated bargaining process, depending on whether relations improve between Moscow and Washington. "Something tells me that soon enough something will happen to tone this down, and possibly this exercise with the Venezuelans could be used to pull back on this issue," Mora said. "If things improve [the Russians] could pull back as a sign of commitment to improving the relationship. If tensions remain I see the possibility that this kind of exercise would occur." He said the Venezuelans have little to contribute to a military alliance with Russia. "They have a couple of destroyers, a couple of old submarines, and frigates that can launch surface-to-air missiles -- not anything sophisticated or robust. This would not be a robust exercise. It would be more about indicating strategic cooperation." But he suggested that if the exercise does go ahead, it would be a sign of increased Russian confidence vis-a-vis the United States. "They feel they are strong enough and bold enough to do something in our sphere of influence," he said. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman appeared to shrug off the announcement. "We exercise all around the globe and have joint exercises with countries all over the world; so do many other nations," he said. Chavez said Sunday that Caracas was prepared to receive the Russians in late November or December, according Venezuela's ministry of communications. But he indicated Venezuela might not be prepared for military exercises by then. "We're only in the planning phase. We're not ready yet for the visit and the probable maneuvers to happen in September or October, or even November. So it could happen, if not at the end of November, then at the beginning of December," he said. Nesterenko said the Russian flotilla will include "the heavy nuclear-propelled missile cruiser Pyotr Veliki and the large anti-submarine ship Admiral Chabanenko." The announcement comes only days after a U.S. Navy command ship, the USS Whitney, arrived in the Georgian port town of Poti in what the United States called a humanitarian mission. The ship reached Poti on Friday. Russia said the fact that a military vessel is being used in a relief mission raises concerns. Russia has become a major supplier of arms to Venezuela since 2001. The two countries signed a series of deals worth $3 billion in 2006, including fighter aircraft, transport and attack helicopters, and assault rifles, according to Jane's, the defense intelligence publication. Chavez visited Moscow in July for his first meeting with new Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. CNN's Maxim Tkachenko and Matthew Chance in Moscow and CNN State Department producer Charley Keyes in Washington contributed to this report.

NEW: Pentagon downplays development, says cooperation happens across globe . Move comes amid U.S.-Russian tensions over ex-Soviet republic of Georgia . Russian official denies link to "political situation and Caucasian developments" Russia and Venezuela may hold joint naval exercises, both countries say .

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BEIJING, China (CNN) -- The head of China's quality watchdog is reported to have resigned over the tainted baby milk scandal that has killed four children and sickened nearly 53,000 others. The official Xinhua News Agency said Li Changjiang had quit with the approval of China's State Council. Li's agency is responsible for ensuring that China's food supply chain is safe. Monday's resignation came hours after the World Health Organization said the scandal had highlighted flaws in the country's entire food supply chain. The chemical melamine blamed for causing kidney stones and kidney failure has been detected in formula milk powder from 22 dairies across China. The crisis was initially thought to have been confined to baby milk powder, but tests have found melamine in samples of liquid milk taken from China's two largest dairy producers, Mengniu Dairy Group and Yili Industrial Group, as well as Shanghai-based Bright Dairy. WHO China representative Hans Troedsson said on Monday quality issues could occur anywhere from the farm to the retail outlet. He said "it's clearly something that is not acceptable and needs to be rectified and corrected," according to The Associated Press. Troedsson said the WHO was discussing with officials how to strengthen China's food quality system. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has called milk manufacturers "heartless" and promised stricter laws to protect the public. China's Health Ministry said Sunday that about 13,000 children were hospitalized, while another 40,000 had undergone outpatient treatment for illnesses related to suspected melamine-tainted milk products. The scandal has spread beyond the mainland with melamine being found in three Chinese-made dairy products in Singapore. The country's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said tests on "White Rabbit Creamy Candy" showed that it was contaminated with melamine and it ordered stores to remove the product from shelves. Taiwan announced Monday it was banning the importation of all dairy products from China because of melamine contamination in milk supplies on the mainland, Taiwan's Health Ministry said Monday. And a second child in Hong Kong has been diagnosed with a kidney stones after drinking the tainted milk as worried parents continued to take their children for health checkups, the government said Monday, AP reported. The 4-year-old boy was in hospital in a stable condition, the Hong Kong government said in a statement. A three-year-old girl was sickened by a suspected melamine-tainted milk over the weekend -- the first known illness outside of mainland China. The Chinese premier visited Beijing hospitals and a supermarket Sunday to show his concern for the crisis. "What we need to do now is to ensure that nothing like this happens in the future, not only in dairy products, but in all foods," he said. "Manufacturers and owners of dairy companies should show more morality and social responsibility in these cases. They are heartless, so we have to create strict law and legislation. I'm sorry." Investigators arrested two brothers who sold milk used to produce the contaminated baby milk powder last week. They could face death if convicted, according to China Daily, a state-run newspaper. The raw milk had been watered down and the chemical added to fool quality checks, the newspaper said. Melamine is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, fabric coatings, ceiling tiles and flame retardants. Watch CNN visit the company at the center of the scandal » . But anger has been directed not just at the producers accused of adulterating their milk to increase profits, but also at government regulators, Time magazine reported. "Xinhua was quick to blame the dairy industry for their skewed rules, but what it didn't say was that the government also played a part in that ugly game," the magazine quoted a blogger, identified as sadmoon109, as saying. Health experts say ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones, urinary tract ulcers, and eye and skin irritation. It also robs infants of much-needed nutrition. Thousands of tons of the tainted milk powder have been recalled. Melamine is the same industrial contaminant from China that poisoned and killed thousands of U.S. dogs and cats last year. The chemical, a byproduct of plastic manufacturing, can be used to mimic high-protein additives. Learn more about the chemical melamine » . A senior dairy analyst said Chinese farmers were cutting corners to cope with rising costs for feed and labor. "Before the melamine incident, I know they could have been adding organic stuff, say animal urine or skin," Chen Lianfang of Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultant told Time. "Basically, anything that can boost the protein reading." Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

Head of China's quality watchdog resigns over tainted baby formula scandal . WHO representative said scandal shows up flaws in China's food supply chain . Four infants in China dead, 53,000 reported ill from tainted milk powder .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- They first met in the autumn of 1979; she playing the role of the lovelorn terrorist, he dressed as a rather sloppy Ayatollah Khomeini. Pamela Stephenson first met Billy Connolly on the set of a comedy show in 1979. They married in Fiji in 1990. It may not have been love at first sight on the set of British comedy show "Not the Nine O'Clock News," but love, marriage and children eventually followed. Australian comedienne, now psychotherapist, Pamela Stephenson, describes being captivated by Billy Connolly's wildman looks, his mane of grey hair and devil-may-care demeanor. She tells CNN's Revealed about her first impressions of her husband, his unique ability to keep audiences entertained and what she learnt about his addictions and childhood abuse while writing his best-selling biography, "Billy." CNN: Take us back to the beginning. How did you meet Billy Connolly? Pamela Stephenson: I'm not quite sure what Billy's version of how we met is like because he was very drunk. I met him when I was a performer on "Not The Nine O'Clock News" and he was a guest. He was just shaggy and some kind of terrible beastie. But I was attracted to him immediately, maybe because he was so unusual. I think what I picked up on was his dichotomy -- that beastiness and the underlying sensitivity that he has. I think that's something that audiences relate to, you're aware of all the toughness, but underneath you just know that there's philosophy and this poetic, Celtic nature that speaks to people. Also his pain, his underlying sadness and the pain of his childhood ... when I first met him I think I connected with that. He played the Ayatollah Khomeini in a scene on "Not The Nine O'Clock News" and I played a demented fan singing a love song to him, it was in days when you could do stuff like that, I suppose. And then we did an interview, I pretending to be British TV personality Janet Street-Porter, with giant fake teeth which kept falling out. Of course, he could never keep a straight face; I thought he was dreadfully unprofessional because he just kept laughing, especially when my teeth fell out -- my fake teeth -- fell out. CNN: What's it like being married to him? PS: People always think that being married to Billy means that I get non-stop Billy Connolly concerts. It's not nearly as exciting as that, although he's adorable. But it's boring sometimes and he would say the same. There are moments when I wish he would go and make me a cup of tea, which he does very often. Actually, Billy is quite a quiet person. He's a little reclusive and I don't think it's necessarily his personality. With the highs he experiences on stage he needs to be very quiet when he's not. Billy Connolly takes CNN's Revealed on a tour of his home » . CNN: What made you write a biography of his life? Was it the first time he opened up about his childhood? PS: When I wrote "Billy," it was the first time that Billy really looked at his childhood in a chronological order and with depth. It was a painful process, but cathartic. The book gave me the opportunity to understand a lot more about him. Just putting some of this together, the sexual abuse, for example, that he received from his father, the physical abuse he received from his aunts, helped me understand why there's a part of him that's very closed off. Watch Billy recall his troubled childhood » . His learning disability was never understood. Now we'd call it an attention disorder. In those days, he had difficulty concentrating, for which he was beaten and taunted at school. People told him he was stupid and to this day there's a part of him that thinks that's he's not as clever as other people and yet he is absolutely brilliant. He's incredibly well-read and very erudite. CNN: Can you tell us about Billy's problems with alcohol and drugs and how you helped him? PS: Billy was extremely famous in Scotland, and you know what happens, especially with people who don't think they are very worthy. As with Billy, they don't handle fame because they don't feel they deserve it and they'll turn to alcohol and drugs. It became very serious and by the time I met him he was on a very self-destructive path. At first, that was appealing to me, but later I realized I can't be with somebody like that because I don't want to watch him destroy himself. I didn't tell him, "You've gotta clean up your act," I just said I can't deal with this. I discovered you can't make anyone stop drinking or stop taking drugs, you have to just protect yourself and if they want to jump on the good train, they will. Fortunately it worked. CNN: How would you describe Billy's style of comedy? PS: Billy doesn't have a style, because to have a style it would mean that there have to be other people with a similar way of working. He goes on stage and it's like he's got these comedy angels whispering in his ear. He makes this extraordinary connection with the audience, and of course he's very astute and funny about politics. He sees the funny side of all kinds of things -- human nature, human behavior, world events, politicians. He'll talk about that with such passion. It's what many of us think but don't want to say. Billy will see something on television or notice something on the street or he'll just think something and it'll go into his computer of a brain and it'll stumble out when he's on stage. See Billy Connolly perform on a recent tour of Ireland » . CNN: Is he the same person on and off stage? PS: He's honest and real. He's a man of the people, a working class hero. It's a cliché, but people know that he has struggled; they know he's come from the tough part of Glasgow. Billy just loves an audience, he loves speaking to people if they're nice to him, and they usually are. When he's finished his show, he doesn't go home. He stays in his dressing room and people will come and see him and he'll talk to them for another hour. CNN: He says he's getting more and more nervous when he goes on stage -- have you noticed a change? PS: I don't think he's getting more nervous. At his age, maybe he thinks that it should have become easier -- well, it's not going to become easier. It's incredibly tough to go on stage in front of four or five thousand people and sustain [their interest] by yourself. And one thing that really impresses me, again as a psychologist, is that I think he is really healing. I think that people really have the opportunity to just laugh like that and it's so good for you. I feel fantastic when I go to one of his shows and come out and I'm just sick with laughter. CNN: How does he feel when he comes off stage? He says it can be tough and envies the audience. They can go home and forget about it. PS: Most performers struggle with the letdown after a show, and Billy's no exception. It's tough because it takes time for adrenalin to leave the system. That's actually one reason why a lot of comedians turn to alcohol, because it's a depressant and takes you down. Now that Billy doesn't drink he's found another way -- he goes back to his hotel and stays quiet. Sometimes he likes to eat after the show but not very often. He will just want to veg out, watch TV. Playing his banjo is a great way for him to relax. Watch a rare performance of Billy on banjo » . He doesn't like me being around when he's touring because he just likes to do his thing. I want to have some food or go and do something. He becomes a bit of a hermit, and that's appropriate for someone who expends that amount of energy and brainpower on stage. CNN: Billy says he finds the routine of touring increasingly tough -- do you think he will stop soon? PS: When Billy's touring, he'll say, "Oh I don't want to tour anymore, I've had enough it's too hard on the road." But the truth is, when he's not touring, he wants to go back. It's probably his happiest time. I have been a comedian so I know a little bit about what it's like to be on stage and know that when things are working fantastically, and you're getting that appreciation from the audience. It is an incredible high. It's pretty hard for me as a wife or us as a family or any of his fans or friends to match up to that kind of adulation and so, you know, he deserves it and I have to remind him that it is a lot of fun for him. CNN: How would you describe his dress sense? PS: Billy is a fashion maven. He spends most of his time in New York now so, you know, the New York "Black is the new black" is ... that's got to him a bit. He's influenced by Rock 'n' Roll and Vivienne Westwood and edgy stuff. But he just puts it together in his own unique way. He also takes great pride in his body. His closet is still extremely fun. It's far more colorful than mine. I have grey and black suits and things for work -- he loves colorful shirts. It will be a shame if he tones himself down, but I don't think that will happen. He borrows my clothes sometimes, if he sees something particularly mad. We used to say, "First up, best dressed," which is the Glasgow expression for a particularly fun brooch or hat.

Pamela Stephenson talks about marriage to Scottish comedian Billy Connelly . They met on the set of British comedy show "Not the Nine O'Clock News" She says writing his biography, "Billy," helped her understand him better . Stephenson: "It's like he's got these comedy angels whispering in his ear"

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(CNN) -- A diamond unearthed in the southern African nation of Lesotho could yield one of the largest and highest quality round polished diamonds, according to a statement Monday from company that found it. A mining company unearthed this 478-carat diamond in the southern African nation of Lesotho. Experts in Antwerp, Belgium who analyzed the 478-carat stone determined it to be of the highest color grading available for a white diamond, said a statement from Gem Diamonds Ltd., the company that found the stone. "What makes it more remarkable is the color and quality of this stone," said diamond consultant Neil Buxton. "It's a D color, which is the highest possible graded color you can get, and we believe there is a chance -- a very good chance -- of getting a 100-carat plus" round stone with the highest color and clarity rankings. The company said such a stone would "to the best of our knowledge" be "the first one in history." Watch more on the diamond » . The diamond, which was found in September, ranks as the 20th largest rough diamond ever found, but is not the biggest ever taken from the Letseng Mine, which is co-owned by Gem Diamonds Ltd. and the Kingdom of Lesotho, a country of 2.1 million that is surrounded by South Africa. Two bigger stones -- 603 and 493 carats -- were found in the mine in 2006 and 2007, respectively, the company said. A 601-carat diamond was mined there in 1960, it said.

Diamond could yield one of the largest and highest quality round polished stones . 478-carat stone determined it to be of the highest color grading available . Diamond found in Letseng Mine, in Lesotho .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Formula One is about putting on a 90-minute show every other weekend at locations the world over. McLaren's huge 'brand center' motorhome dominates the F1 paddock at all European grands prix. But getting that show on the road -- and in the air and on the sea -- is a remarkable feat of well-oiled logistics and organization. With an F1 team clocking up around 100,000 miles (160,000 km) between tests and grands prix, the need to have moving and packing down to a fine art is imperative. "Once the calendar is released, we sit down with all the different departments," explained Toyota team manager Richard Cregan. "We look at the dates for the freight, the dates for the trucks leaving, when we want to have the people there and when we want to have all the equipment there. Then we go away and arrange it." As F1 moves further away from its European heartland, more races -- such as next week's title shootout in Sao Paulo, Brazil -- are what are known as 'flyaways.' They are the responsibility of Formula One Management. Freight company DHL has specialized units in England and Italy to coordinate the transport of cars, equipment and fuel to all F1 tracks around the world by air, sea and land. Around 300 tonnes or 20,000 individual items of F1 material -- from race cars, replacement parts, pit equipment, TV equipment and the furnishings of the VIP Paddock Club -- are moved for each grand prix. Each team is allowed 22-24 tonnes of freight, plus their cars, which is packed in specially designed pods at a UK-based team's HQ and transferred to Stansted airport by road. Three chartered Boeing 747 freighters then fly to the destination and the next time the team sees its freight is at their allocated garage at the circuit. At the end of the race the process starts again in reverse, with a team packed up by around 10pm. Read more about F1 at The Circuit. If there are two weeks between races, as is the norm, the cars will return to the UK to be painted, re-built and polished. 'Double-headers,' races that take place only a week apart, rule this movement out -- then getting the cars from one circuit to the next is the sole focus. While last-minute deliveries can be made in under 24 hours, it takes seven weeks for equipment to travel by sea from Europe to Melbourne, Australia for the traditional season curtain-raiser. Cheaper sea freight has become more popular to move bulkier items such as heavy electrical cables. Bridgestone, the grid's tire supplier, are among those who have increased their shipping in recent years. "We send about five-and-a-half tonnes by sea and we send this three months in advance of each race," said Williams race team coordinator Paul Singlehurst. "It costs around $9,000 to send it by sea -- that's a fraction of the air freight cost. We've made some huge savings by doing this." The European races are a little more straightforward. Up to four $2m team-liveried articulated lorries are driven to continental grands prix, carrying up to 37 tonnes of equipment each for around 18,600 miles (30,000km) per year. Three trucks will also go to a two-car test session. They carry all the kit the team needs for the weekend, including the cars, engines, parts, tools, computers and radios. It takes two days to fully load the trucks after cleaning and maintenance checks, using an 80-page checklist. Nothing is left to chance. They leave a week before the next race, get to the circuit late on a Monday and by Thursday, the team's working area is ready for the drivers. It takes eight hours just to fit out the team's pit area at the circuit. Motorhomes, the standard of which is set by McLaren's gargantuan 'brand center', also travel to European races. They provide a place for drivers to debrief with their engineers, team members to refuel and corporate guests to be entertained. Renault's race team includes 15 engineers, 35 mechanics/technicians, 15 'truckies', 11 motorhome/catering personnel, two logistics personnel, 10 marketing and PR staff, three drivers, two managers and two physios. This is why motorhomes supply around 1,250 meals for the team and its guests during a race weekend. "Obviously our sponsors' backing is crucial. It's not just a matter of having their name and logo on the car -- we have a marketing team that helps to service their needs," added Singlehurst. Occasionally, at places like Turkey, where the traffic between the circuit and downtown Istanbul is horrific, drivers can also spend their nights in the motorhomes. But normally, a fleet of about 20 vehicles is required to ferry team personnel between their hotel -- block-booked months in advance -- and racetrack all weekend. As far as Cregan is concerned, how a team performs during a race weekend can be influenced by its logistical set-up. "Quite often you have very long days, you have people working late into the evening and it's an important part of our responsibility to create the atmosphere for people to be able do their job," he added. It takes a Herculean effort and millions of dollars to make sure 20 cars circulate for 90 minutes every two weeks. But you would never know it.

F1 uses air, sea and land to transport huge amounts of freight to each race . Teams must meticulously coordinate their shipping plans each season . Team trucks carrying cars and equipment cover almost 19,000 miles per year .

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(CNN) -- People along the Texas coast were leaving home or planning to evacuate Thursday as Hurricane Ike churned toward them, slowly intensifying on its march west. Forecasters say the storm could slam into the Texas coast -- south of Galveston -- as a powerful Category 3 storm late Friday or early Saturday. Mandatory and voluntary evacuations were planned or underway in at least seven coastal counties. Aransas County, on the eastern coast of Texas, has ordered a mandatory evacuation of all nonessential government employees, becoming the latest county in the state to urge residents to flee. In Galveston, city officials ordered mandatory evacuations for part of the island town beginning at 7 a.m. Thursday. The rest of the town will be under a voluntary evacuation order. Only residents will be required to evacuate on the western end of the island. Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas defended that, saying current models call for Galveston to be hit with winds and rain only equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane. "We do not intend to evacuate Galveston Island," she said. "It's the last thing we want to do. Our job is to protect lives and property, [and] right now we feel that sheltering in place is the best action for our citizens to take." Farther up the Gulf Coast and closer to where the National Hurricane Center predicts a direct hit, Brazoria County ordered a mandatory evacuation to begin at 8 a.m. Thursday. Some other Texas localities have ordered mandatory evacuations, while others have left the decision to depart up to residents. As of 5 a.m. ET Thursday, the Category 2 storm -- with top sustained winds near 100 mph -- was about 620 miles east of Brownsville, Texas, and about 285 miles southeast of the Mississippi River, the hurricane center said. Track the storm » . Hurricane-force winds extended out up to 115 miles from the storm's center, and tropical storm-force winds extended out up to 255 miles forecasters reported. About 15,000 residents were leaving Galveston's Brazoria County Wednesday after a mandatory evacuation order was issued at 10 a.m. CT (11 a.m. ET) governing one ZIP code -- 77541 -- and residents throughout the county with special needs. Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc issued a warning to residents of the city's West End, citing forecasters' estimates that the area could get tides of 6 feet above normal if the storm arrives there. The West End is the area of Galveston most susceptible to flooding, LeBlanc said. Other Brazoria residents were being allowed to remain as of 6 p.m. ET. In Matagorda County, southwest of Galveston, officials ordered a mandatory evacuation for all areas except the cities of Bay City and Van Vleck. The evacuation must be completed by at 6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) Thursday. Galveston is likely to experience a high tidal surge, officials said, urging people living in low-lying areas or mobile homes to get out soon. "One of the things that the public has to understand if they decide to stay, there will be a period of time during this storm when they will absolutely be on their own," Brazoria County Sheriff Charles Wagner said. "There will be no medical services; there will be no fire department; there will be no law enforcement, groceries, gasoline, drugs, electricity." The center issued a tropical storm warning from the Mississippi River's mouth to Cameron, Louisiana, and a hurricane watch from Cameron to Port Mansfield, Texas, about 60 miles south of Brownsville. Tropical storm warnings mean winds of 39 to 73 mph (63 to 118 kmh) are expected within a day, and a hurricane watch means winds of 74 and higher are expected within 36 hours. "Hurricane Ike is now in the Gulf of Mexico and making its approach toward our coast," Gov. Rick Perry said in a statement. "The next few days will be crucial for residents to follow the direction of local leaders and to take the necessary steps to protect themselves and their families." Perry put 7,500 National Guard members on standby this week, his office said, and issued a disaster declaration for 88 counties. About 1,350 buses, several ambulances and paramedic buses were available to support evacuations. The vehicles were positioned near Houston, Matagorda County, Nueces County and Victoria County, the governor's office said. President Bush declared an emergency in the state, making federal funds available for the state to prepare for the storm. Corpus Christi officials also began the evacuation process for residents with special needs, supplying buses to transport them out of town. Voluntary evacuations were issued in San Patricio and Victoria counties and parts of Jackson County, according to the governor's office. More than 1,300 inmates from the Texas Correctional Institutions Division's Stevenson Unit in Cuero were being evacuated to facilities in Beeville and Kenedy, Perry's office said, and 597 were transferred from the substance abuse Glossbrenner Unit in San Diego, in south Texas, to Dilley. Naval air stations in Texas also began to prepare for Hurricane Ike's expected arrival. Naval Air Station Kingsville was to begin moving about 50 aircraft to El Paso, San Antonio and Fort Worth on Wednesday afternoon, the public affairs office there said. Naval Air Station Corpus Christi will also move about 75 aircraft to other Texas locations, its public affairs office said. Evacuations appeared to have saved lives in Cuba when Ike slammed into the island. Four deaths were reported from the storm, according to the Cuban government. The Cuban Civil Defense brought buses or trucks to take people to shelters. See the damage from the storm » . Cuban state television reported that two people were killed when they tried to remove an antenna, The Associated Press said. One man died when a tree crashed into his home, and a woman died when her home's roof collapsed, according to the AP. The storm shredded hundreds of homes and caused some dilapidated buildings in Havana's older areas to collapse, the AP reported. Watch as winds and waves pound Cuba » . The United States, which provided $100,000 in emergency aid to communist-run Cuba through private aid agencies after Hurricane Gustav hit the island August 30, said Tuesday that it was considering additional emergency aid for Cuba because of Ike. Also, the United States said it will lift restrictions on cash and humanitarian assistance sent to Cuba for the next 90 days. The move will allow nongovernmental organizations to provide assistance and cash donations. The storm pounded Grand Turk Island in the Turks and Caicos chain, putting a strain on the British territory's tourism industry. Watch houses lie in heaps on Grand Turk » . Flooding and rains from Ike's outer bands have been blamed for 70 deaths in Haiti. Watch the devastating aftermath » . CNN's Mike Mount contributed to this report. Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

NEW: Ike could swell to Category 3 when it hits Texas coast Saturday . Mandatory evacuations ordered for residents with special needs in one county . Hurricane-spawned tornado causes damage in Key Largo, Florida . Texans in low-lying areas and mobiles homes urged to get out .

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(The Frisky) -- Don't you just hate the type of person who smugly informs you, "I don't watch TV," like that's something to be proud of? They think they're so great with all their fancy book learning. What they don't realize is that TV isn't for dummies -- there's tons of educational programming available -- you just need to know what to watch. I mean, you can learn your ABCs with "Sesame Street's" Grover, how to make gnocchi with Mario Batali, and the ins and outs of prettying up your home with any number of programs on HGTV. Television is also a great romance resource. Think of all the great TV twosomes we've seen over the years -- Lucy & Ricky Ricardo, Judy & George Jetson, Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag ... but not all TV personalities set such a sincerely loving example. It's also a good place to learn which type of guy you should avoid. Here are a few examples: . Chuck Bass ("Gossip Girl"): Few men can pull off lavender argyle, but Chuck Bass is definitely one of them. Moody and sinister, when Chuck Bass Types (CBTs) like you, it's as though you've been inducted into a secret society of two. It's you against the world and the CBT will bring out a dark side you might not have even realized you possessed. Whip smart with a caustic wit, he'll charm you all the while tucking away your secrets for use at a later date. And use them he will. Because when a CBT tires of you, he won't just say "see ya," he'll decimate you. Hank Moody ("Californication"): Some boys take longer than usual to grow out of their Charles Bukowski-wannabe phase. Exhibit A is Hank Moody. Actor David Duchovny, playing what the tabloids would have you believe is an autobiographical role, has managed to hang onto his Bukowski-phase well into his forties. Drinking, partying, and resisting monogamy, Hank still manages to attract more ladies than hotter men half his age. Of course the only women drawn to Hank are either damaged girls with daddy issues or the type of dame who doesn't feel complete unless she has some mess to clean up after. If you see yourself dating a Hank Moody type, do not walk -- run -- to your nearest mental health professional. Vince Chase ("Entourage"): Those big blue eyes and that floppy mop o' hair... you can forgive him for making a stinker like "Medellin," can't you? Sure, but do you really want to deal with someone who lives in a dude cocoon? Not only does he live with his brother and two best friends, he can't make any decisions without polling the group. On the upside, he's rich! On the downside, he's famous, which means other women are throwing themselves at him constantly. Vince might be fun for a fling, but forget about bringing him home to mama. Don Draper ("Mad Men"): Why is it when unattractive people are quiet we just assume they're stupid and/or boring, but verbally challenged hot people get pegged as mysterious and smoldering? Mad Men's smokin' hot Don Draper actually is mysterious (and smoldering!), so I don't know what point I was trying to make (because I'm all distracted from the photos on his IMDB page)... oh, wait! The point I'm trying to make is that while Draper is indeed mysterious, he's also a liar, a cheat and a cad. So if a DDT tries to slip you his number, just say no and send it to me. What? Strictly for research purposes. TM & © 2008 TMV, Inc. | All Rights Reserved .

Learn about men NOT to date by studying male characters on TV shows . "Gossip Girls" Chuck Bass is charming type who decimates women . "Mad Men" Don Draper is a smoldering liar and cheat Aging party boy Hank Moody of "Californication" attracts damaged women .

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HIMACHAL PRADESH, India (CNN) -- Amar and Kundan Singh Pundir are brothers. Younger brother Amar breaks rocks in a mine for a living. Kundan farms their small piece of inherited land. They live in a beautiful but remote hillside village in the clouds of Himachal Pradesh, India. Kundar Singh Pundir, left, and his brother Amar, right, share Indira Devi, centre, as their wife. Both aged in their forties, the two brothers have lived together nearly their whole lives. They are poor and share just about everything: Their home, their work and a wife. "See we have a tradition from the beginning to have a family of five to 10 people. Two brothers and one wife." Kundan says. They practice what is known as fraternal polyandry -- where the brothers of one family marry the same woman. Why? Tradition and economics. Life is hard here. The village is precariously perched on the side of a very steep hill about 6,000ft up. Most of the villagers survive off tiny plots of cropland. In this difficult terrain there isn't enough land to go around. So, instead of finding separate wives and splitting up their inherited property, the brothers marry the same woman and keep their land together. Wife Indira Devi says life with two husbands isn't easy. "We fight a lot." But like any married couple they fight mostly over mundane stuff, except there are three spouses instead of two. "Usually it's about chores, why didn't you do this? Why didn't you do that?" she says. Watch Sara Sidner's interview with the brothers » . One thing they agreed on was the need to have children; They have three. So how does a married trio deal with sex? "We make shifts, change shifts and sleep on alternate days. We have to make shifts otherwise it won't work," Kundan says. "To run our families we have to do this, overcome the hurdles as well and then we have to control our hearts from feeling too much," Amar adds. To outsiders their arrangement may seem odd, but in the village of about 200 it is the norm. Typically the marriages are arranged and women have two husbands. But some wives have three or four depending on how many brothers there are in a family. Polyandry is illegal in India but socially acceptable here. No one from the government seems to bother the villagers about the law. "It's been going on for ages. My sister in law has two husbands, my mother in law also has two husbands," Indira says. And as to the question of which husband is the biological father of the children -- the Pundir's don't know and don't care. "For me everyone is the same, my mother and my fathers are the same. My mother and my fathers are like God to me," 17-year old daughter Sunita Singh Pundir says. Even as modern society arrives in this ancient village through satellite dishes and mobile phones, the Pundirs say they want their age-old tradition to continue with their children. "Absolutely," eldest son Sohna says. He and his younger brother have already discussed it and will marry the same woman. Daughter Sunita isn't so sure. "I would like one husband," she says. But when asked if she will marry for love or tradition, Sunita's answer makes it clear the tradition of marrying more than one man will continue with the next generation. "I will never leave our tradition even if I have to forgo love. I will never spoil my parents' reputation and my brothers.'"

Amar and Kundan Singh Pundir are brothers who share a wife . The brothers have married the same woman to ensure their land isn't divided . Practice is illegal in India but common in their mountain village .

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MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Barack Obama sometimes gets ribbed for his outsized ideas, like the massive stage built in Denver, Colorado, to accept the Democratic presidential nomination. But an artist in Barcelona, Spain, may be about to outdo the candidate himself. Large-format sketches have long been a focus of artist Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada's work. The artist plans to create a gigantic face of Obama sculpted from gravel and sand, which will cover nearly 2.5 acres (1 hectare) of Barcelona beachfront before the U.S. elections. "The size of the piece is intrinsic to its value," the artist, Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada, said Saturday. He hopes it will be big enough to be seen on Google Earth. "Obama's personality -- his youth, personal history and message of a new politics -- has fused with the historical moment to create someone larger than life," says the artist's dossier about the work, titled "Expectation." The huge size also alludes "to the global impact of this election," the dossier adds. iReport.com: What do you want to ask Sen. Obama? Rodriguez-Gerada, 42, is a Cuban-born American who grew up in North Plainfield, New Jersey, near New York, and now lives in Barcelona. The artist, who has long focused on large-format sketches and other designs, said he had been planning to put an anonymous face on Barcelona's Mediterranean beachfront but shelved the idea. Then, six weeks ago, he decided it should be Obama's face. "Everybody's doing work about Obama," he said. "I was talking to my wife about the importance of this election internationally. It all came together." The idea, that is. The execution of the project is still a work in progress, but with a lot of help pouring in. The artist has created what he calls a "vectored image" from different photos of Obama, showing the candidate's face looking left over his shoulder. He will use 500 tons of material -- mainly gravel but also sand and possibly some soil in black, brown and white tones -- to create the image on a flat piece of land slightly raised and overlooking the Mediterranean, near downtown Barcelona. The artist and a Barcelona newspaper say the city has temporarily ceded use of the land for the project. The portrait of Obama's face will be 445 feet long by 264 feet wide (139.28 by 82.67 meters) and the artist hopes to have it done by late next week or no later than November 3, the day before the U.S. elections. The materials have been donated, along with bulldozers and their drivers. The crews will initially spread the materials along white lines, and other markers that will be laid out according to the sketch. Then, the artist's technical team will direct volunteers with garden rakes to put the final touches on the materials, making sure the various colors are spread properly on the ground in order to depict Obama's eyes, hair, cheeks and collar, according to the plans. Rodriguez-Gerada said he'll need to raise about $18,700 (15,000 euros) for other costs, such as rakes and gloves for volunteers, documentation, even portable toilets for the crew. He said it's his "biggest work ever, in scale and complexity." He's a self-described political independent until recently, when he joined Democrats Abroad in Spain. But he added that the art project is his alone, without help from any political organization or campaign, and he won't be paid for it. Rodriguez-Gerada said this project also aims to address the issue of "trying to find heroes with empathy for the problems of the world. We really need empathy from Barack Obama. There's a need to do positive things for the future." Obama's giant face would be environmentally friendly, with all natural colors, so the materials could be recycled, the artist said. Rodriguez-Gerada's not sure how long the face would remain in place in Barcelona, because the site is slated to be used for a new municipal building. But even if the face isn't permanent, it might be the start of outsized artistic images of Obama. Barcelona journalist Matt Elmore contributed to this report.

Cuban-American artist plans to finish work before U.S. elections . 500 tons of material will cover 2.5 acres of beachfront . Democratic presidential candidate is "larger than life," artist says . Project also aims to address issue of "trying to find heroes"

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani authorities have arrested four men in connection with the suicide truck bombing of a Marriott Hotel last month in Islamabad that killed more than 50 people, officials said Friday. More than 50 people died in last month's attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. The men appeared Friday before a magistrate in an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi, police and Pakistan Federal Investigation Agency investigators said. Although they have not been charged, the magistrate is allowing police to hold them for a week while the investigation continues. The magistrate ordered them back to court on October 31. Authorities have not said how they believe these men are connected to the September 20 bombing. The men -- one of whom is a doctor -- were arrested at different times in different places, authorities said, but gave no additional details. They identified them as: Dr. Muhammad Usman and Tehseen Ulla Jaan, both from Peshawar; Ilyas Rana Muhammad, from a village near Faiselabad in Pakistan's Punjab province; and Hameed Afzal Muhammad, from Toba Taik Singh district, also in Punjab province. In addition to the dozens killed, some 250 people were wounded in the suicide truck attack, which sparked a fire that left the hotel in ruins. The hotel, located near the diplomatic section of Islamabad, had been popular among tourists visiting Pakistan. It was crowded the night of the bombing.

Four arrested on suspicion of involvement" in hotel blast in Pakistani capital . More than people died in September 20 attack on Marriott hotel, 250-plus injured . Authorities have not said how they believe the men are related to the blast .

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- U.S. and Pakistani troops exchanged fire Thursday along the Pakistani-Afghan border minutes after the Pakistani military fired shots at two American helicopters that were providing cover for the troops, a U.S. military spokesman said. Pakistan says it shot at two U.S. OH-58D helicopters like this one pictured in a U.S. Army photo. The U.S. Army OH-58D Kiowas, part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan, were patrolling the Pakistani-Afghan border when the Pakistani military fired on them, NATO and U.S. officials said. The Pakistani military said the fire was warning shots, and President Asif Ali Zardari said it was flares. Both Zardari and the Pakistani military said the helicopters had crossed into Pakistani territory -- a charge U.S. officials denied. Rear Adm. Greg Smith of U.S. Central Command said the helicopters were providing cover for a small U.S. military unit accompanying an Afghan border police unit on a routine patrol. After the shots were fired at the helicopters, Smith told CNN, the U.S. troops fired "suppressing rounds" into a nearby hill to get the Pakistanis to stop. That prompted the Pakistani troops to stop firing at the helicopters and fire instead in the direction of the troops, he said. The U.S. troops then returned fire, Smith said. No injuries were reported in the five-minute incident. Smith and other U.S. officials said the helicopter crews did not fire back. But the Pakistanis disagreed, asserting in a written statement that the helicopters "returned fire" after the initial shots were fired. "The helicopters passed over our border post and were well within Pakistan territory" at the time that "security forces fired anticipatory warning shots," the Pakistani statement said. After the shots were fired, "the helicopters returned fire and flew back." The Pakistani statement did not mention exchanging fire with ground troops and did not identify the shots as flares, as Zardari did in New York in an appearance with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "They are flares," he said in response to a question asking why the Pakistani military was firing on NATO helicopters. "Just to make sure that they know they crossed the border line." Asked if such warnings will continue, he replied, "Sometimes the border is so mixed that they don't realize that they crossed the border." Rice, off camera, agreed that "the border is very unclear" and "inhospitable." Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman reiterated the United States' stance that the two helicopters were over Afghan territory. "The Pakistanis need to provide the U.S. a reason to why this took place," he said. The ISAF issued a news release saying that "ISAF helicopters received small-arms fire from a Pakistan military checkpoint along the border near Tanai district, Khowst." "At no time did ISAF helicopters cross into Pakistani airspace." The ISAF did not mention ground troops or say whether the helicopters returned fire. Both the ISAF and Pakistani military said they are working to resolve the issue. Last week, Zardari said Pakistan would not allow foreign nations to violate its sovereignty to pursue terrorists. "We will not tolerate the violation of our sovereignty and territorial integrity by any power in the name of combating terrorism," he said in his first speech to Parliament as president. His remark followed a similar declaration from Pakistan's military chief, Gen. Parvez Kayani, who said this month that Pakistan's territorial integrity "will be defended at all cost, and no external force is allowed to conduct operations." A senior defense official in the Pentagon said the Pentagon is trying to determine the details of Thursday's incident. "What we don't know if this was just a case of trigger-happy members of the Frontier Corps," the official said, "or whether in fact the Pakistani military does have orders to fire on our helicopters." "We are confident our helicopters were on the Afghan side of the border, and we have no report they fired back," the official added. Top U.S. commanders will be talking to the Pakistani military about the incident to determine if there was a misunderstanding and to ensure it doesn't happen again, a U.S. official familiar with details of the incident said. The official said this is the first verified incident of U.S. troops being fired upon by Pakistani forces. There were at least two previous reports in recent days out of Pakistan about similar incidents, but the United States has said neither of those reports was true. Reza Sayah in Pakistan, CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr and CNN senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre contributed to this story.

NEW: U.S. says it returned fire after Pakistanis fired shots at American copters . Pakistani president says military fired only flares . Attack comes after president, general warned foreign troops to stay out . Pakistani, U.S. officials say they are working to resolve the issue .

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(CNN) -- Billionaire hedge fund manager T. Boone Pickens spoke about the beleaguered U.S. economy, a prospective bailout and natural gas Thursday, a day after reports that his energy-related hedge funds lost $1 billion this year. Billionaire T. Boone Pickens has reportedly lost about $270 million this year. Speaking to CNN's John Roberts, Pickens said he concurred with President Bush's Wednesday assessment that a "distressing scenario would unfold" in the U.S. economy without immediate intervention. The U.S. economy needs a quick solution, and the U.S. Treasury -- while capable in its own right -- could use help from someone like Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reportedly invested $5 billion this week in Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street investment bank. Roberts: By some estimates, your energy fund lost $1 billion. Personally, you may have lost almost $300 million. A lot of people say, "Well, T. Boone Pickens has got a lot of money," but by some accounts, that's 10 percent of your net worth. That was a real hit. Pickens: That's a good hit. That's right. Watch Pickens discuss his, America's problems » . Roberts: What happened? Pickens: I turned the wrong direction, is what it was. You know, you win some and lose some. Some are rained out, you know. You wish this one had been rained out, but it wasn't. Roberts: I'm sure you saw the president's address last night, or at the very least you heard about it. The secretary of the treasury wants all the money up front. The government wants safeguards on it. They want to make sure there's protection for taxpayers. They want to limit executive compensation. Are you on board with all that? Pickens: I'm ready to go. I'd give [Treasury Secretary Henry] Paulson the money and tell him get it fixed. Roberts: You believe that his plan will work? Pickens: I do. I think it will work, yes. But I think it needs to work quickly. I think you've got to move on with it. I liked Warren Buffett's play into Goldman Sachs. Roberts: Five billion dollars the other day. Pickens: That's right. That showed good confidence and all. So that's another leadership opportunity. Roberts: In fact, you have said, Boone, that you would like to see Warren Buffett handle a lot of these illiquid assets that the government buys up in terms of their disbursement. Pickens: Can you imagine anybody better? Sure, that'd be great if he'd do it. I don't know whether he would or not. But you need to get somebody like Warren to do it. Roberts: You don't think they have the expertise at the Treasury Department to do it? Pickens: Oh, they do have. They may need some help. And that kind of help -- you can't pay for that kind of help. Watch Bush explain the government's plan » . Roberts: Let me turn to the energy issue. ... We've talked about your plan to wean America off of foreign oil, use natural gas, you know, get wind power going. You're also -- correct me if I'm wrong -- but you're going to be launching another series of ads here encouraging the presidential candidates to come forward with a plan to wean America off its dependence on foreign energy. Don't they already have a plan? Pickens: No. Neither one of them has a plan. The plan I want is to reduce imports of foreign oil. And we can do that one way. Natural gas is a resource we have in America. It is cleaner, it's cheaper, it's abundant and it's ours. So every gallon of natural gas you put in a tank, you will reduce foreign oil by one gallon. So it's a one-to-one trade-off every time. We could reduce foreign oil by 30 percent. I think we could do it in five to 10 years. Roberts: So what you've heard from them so far doesn't go far enough down the road? Pickens: No. Roberts: But also at the same time, Boone, you are heavily invested in natural gas and there are some people out there who say you're just promoting your business here. Pickens: Well, actually, John, I don't have any natural gas production to speak of. I mean, it's small. It's very small. Now, when I was with [Mesa Power LLP], Mesa was a big natural gas producer. But Boone Pickens is not a big natural gas producer. But I am in natural gas fueling on the West Coast. But all of that, every time you use a domestic fuel, you reduce foreign oil. It's that simple. And we can do it. And this is cheaper. Can you imagine, cheaper, cleaner, abundant and ours? You couldn't pick a better description of what you want to use.

T. Boone Pickens on losing a reported $270 million: "I turned the wrong direction" Pickens: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's bailout plan will work, but do it fast . Natural gas better than oil -- it's "cheaper, cleaner, abundant and ours," he says . Pickens says he has only a "very small" stake in natural gas production .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- This month the U.S. government has introduced major changes that will affect millions of travelers to the U.S. who do not need a visa. Instead of filling in the green visa waiver form en route, short-term visitors must register their details online at least three days before they depart. The measure is designed tighten security and make it harder for terrorists who are citizens of the participating countries to easily obtain entry to the U.S. The new system, known as the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), does not become compulsory until January 12, 2009. But travelers are urged to prepare for the new rules in advance. ESTA applies to citizens from the 27 Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries that includes most of western Europe in addition to New Zealand, Japan, Brunei and Australia. Visitors are recommended to submit applications no later than 72 hours before departure in case further inquiry is necessary. But the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has assured travelers that the system can handle last-minute and emergency requests. Applications can be made at any time, even if travelers have no specific travel plans. And if itineraries change, information can be easily updated on the ESTA Web site. Once travelers are authorized, they can travel for up to two years or until their passport expires, whichever comes first. From mid-January, travelers who have not received approval may be denied boarding, delayed processing, or denied admission at a U.S. port of entry. Passengers must submit the same information that is currently required in the I-94 immigration form. This includes biographical data, travel information as well as questions regarding communicable diseases, arrests and convictions. Registration is possible through the U.S. government ESTA Web site. In most cases, eligibility for travel will be approved immediately. Applicants who receive an "Authorization Pending" response will need to check the Web site for updates. Applicants whose ESTA applications are denied will be referred to Travel.State.Gov for information on how to apply for a visa. ESTA does not change the rules for citizens from countries that require visas. But the U.S. is due to extend the visa waiver program and has signed agreements with eight countries including the Czech Republic, Hungary and South Korea. Travelers are advised that ESTA does not guarantee entry into the United States. The final decision rests with the immigration official at the port of entry.

New rules require visa-free visitors to the U.S. to register details before departure . The process could take 72 hours but last-minute applications are possible . The system, introduced this month, will become compulsory next January . Once authorized, travelers can travel for up to two years or until their passport expires .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States is expelling the Venezuelan ambassador to the United States in response to a similar move by Venezuela, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday. "We have informed the Venezuelan ambassador to the United States that he will be expelled and should leave the United States," McCormack said. Separately, the U.S. Treasury Department accused Friday two senior Venezuelan intelligence officials -- Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios and Henry de Jesus Rangel Silva -- and one former official -- Ramon Rodriguez Chacin -- of assisting leftist rebels in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, with narcotics trafficking. "Today's designation exposes two senior Venezuelan government officials and one former official who armed, abetted and funded the FARC, even as it terrorized and kidnapped innocents," said Adam J. Szubin, director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, in a statement. The action freezes assets the three men may have under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits Americans from conducting business with them. The U.S. decision to expel the Venezuelan ambassador, Bernardo Alvarez Herrera, is the latest move in an escalating diplomatic battle that pits the United States against two of Latin America's leftist leaders. It comes a day after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that he was expelling the U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, Patrick Duddy. Chavez also said he was recalling the Venezuelan ambassador from the United States. "He has 72 hours, from this moment, the Yankee ambassador in Caracas, to leave Venezuela," Chavez told a crowd of supporters. "When there's a new government in the United States, we'll send an ambassador. A government that respects Latin America." The president said he was making the moves "in solidarity with Bolivia and the people of Bolivia." Bolivian President Evo Morales on Thursday accused the United States of fomenting a coup d'etat by rich eastern department landowners against him, and he called for the U.S. ambassador to leave for allegedly encouraging those protesters. For the past two weeks, the demonstrators in the country's richer eastern lowlands have been protesting Morales' plans to redistribute the country's natural gas revenues. "Without fear of anyone, without fear of the empire, today before you, before the Bolivian people, I declare the ambassador of the United States persona non grata," Morales said Wednesday of Ambassador Philip Goldberg in a nationally televised speech. The United States called the allegations baseless and kicked out the Bolivian ambassador Thursday. The Bolivians "made it very clear what their intention was and we took them at their word," McCormack said Friday. "We take President Chavez at his word in this particular case, and we have reacted appropriately." Before expelling the U.S. diplomat from his country, Chavez also said Thursday that he had uncovered a U.S.-backed plot to remove him from power. "It's the empire that's behind this," he told supporters in a televised address. "They go around looking for a way to stop our revolution and, with it, to strike all the processes of change that are occurring in our Americas, in the Caribbean, in Central America." Chavez then played a four-minute tape of what he said were conversations among current and retired members of the Venezuelan military discussing whom they could count on to support a movement against the presidential palace. He said also that the presence of two Russian warplanes on Venezuelan soil for a training exercise "is a warning" to the rest of the world that Venezuela's allies include Russia.

U.S. move on Venezuelan ambassador follows similar action by Caracas . Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez expelling the U.S. ambassador to Venezuela . U.S. Treasury Department also accuses Venezuelans of aiding Colombian rebels . U.S. in escalating diplomatic battle with Venezuelan, Bolivian leaders .

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Four alleged Venezuelan agents have been arrested in the U.S. and charged with trying to persuade a U.S. citizen to keep quiet about a growing international election scandal. Miami businessman Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson . The U.S. Justice Department said the four wanted to prevent Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson, a businessman from Miami, Florida, from talking to authorities. On August 4, Antonini Wilson flew in a privately chartered aircraft from Caracas, Venezuela, to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where customs officers discovered $800,000 in cash in his possession. The U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday the four men charged wanted to stop Antonini Wilson from revealing the origin of the $800,000. "The complaint filed today outlines an alleged plot by agents of the Venezuelan government to manipulate an American citizen in Miami in an effort to keep the lid on a burgeoning international scandal," Kenneth Wainstein, assistant attorney general for national security, said in a written statement. The agents, who worked for the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, wanted to ensure Wilson did not disclose "the source and destination and the role of the government of Venezuela in the attempted delivery of the approximately $800,000," the statement said. The Justice Department statement does not say Chavez personally knew of the transaction, but says the office of the vice president and members of the Venezuelan Intelligence Directorate were aware of the matter. U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta in Miami said: "Today's complaint alleges an effort by the agents of Venezuela to travel to the U.S. for the purpose of coercing our citizens to help conceal the true nature of a growing international scandal." Although documents did not identify which candidate was to receive the donation, federal law enforcement officials confirmed the funds were intended for the campaign of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who went on to win the election. The four men -- three Venezuelans and one Uruguayan -- made an initial court appearance in U.S. District Court in Miami on Wednesday afternoon. Those named in the complaint are identified as Moises Maionica, 36; Antonio Jose Canchica Gomez, 37; Rodolfo Edgardo Wanseele Paciello, 40; Franklin Duran, 40; and Carlos Kauffmann, 35. Officials said Gomez remains at large. After Argentine customs found the $800,000 on Antonini Wilson, they seized the cash and sent him to Miami. Later, however, an Argentine judge issued an order for him to appear in court and, at the request of the Argentine government, Interpol issued an international wanted notice for him, U.S. State Department officials said. The officials said that on August 31, the Argentine judge requested Antonini Wilson's extradition. The request was delivered to the State Department on September 4, and Justice and State are currently reviewing the extradition request. The U.S. officials said they do not expect to take any further action while the Justice Department is pursuing its investigation and prosecution of the Venezuelan and Uruguayan nationals arrested in Miami. Antonini Wilson is not in custody, they added. E-mail to a friend .

Alleged agents accused of trying to stop a U.S. citizen from talking to authorities . Miami-based Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson tried to enter Argentina with $800,000 . Cash is believed to have been for Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner election campaign .

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(CNN) -- U.N. gunships battled rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday, according to U.N. spokesman Michele Bonnardeaux. U.N. vehicles on Monday pass between lines of civilians fleeing fighting north of Goma, Congo. U.N. helicopter gunships, supporting national army forces on the ground, fired on rebels from the Congress for the Defense of the People in an effort to halt their advance on the village of Kibumba. CNDP is the French acronym for National Congress for the Defense of the People, a Congolese rebel group under renegade general Laurent Nkunda. The village of Kibumba is the location of a U.N.-administered internally displaced peoples camp, just 12 ½ miles (20 kilometers) north of the provincial capital, Goma, Bonnardeaux said. Renewed fighting erupted Sunday when the CNDP seized a major military camp and gorilla park, according to U.N. and park officials. The U.N. brokered peace accord in the area in January. On Monday, thousands fleeing Kibumba spurred violent demonstrations in front of the U.N. compound in Goma. The group was angry that a 17,000-person U.N. security force has been unable to protect them from renewed bouts of violence in the country, a U.N. spokesman told CNN. A U.N. spokesman said the U.N.'s mission in Congo was "under attack" on Monday. A mission staff member inside the U.N. compound, who did not want to give his name for security reasons, said U.N. security forces had returned fire in an attempt to disperse angry crowds near the U.N. compound. Gunshots could be heard as he spoke on the phone. He said the attack had resulted in several deaths. U.N. officials confirmed one dead in Goma as a result of Monday's demonstrations. The assault died down later in the day, a U.N. spokesman said, but people continued to pelt the building. It was unclear who was attacking, but the staff member told CNN the people were from a village that had been taken over by the CNDP, a Congolese renegade group led by Gen. Laurent Nkunda that seized a major military camp and gorilla park in a renewed bout of heavy fighting Sunday. Thousands of civilians were reportedly fleeing the fighting. Pictures from the region showed long lines of people walking along roads carrying their belongings. Watch how refugees line roads to get away » . Soldiers who abandoned the military camp were retreating in vehicles on a main road outside of Goma on Monday, angrily honking their horns at civilians who got in their way, The Associated Press reported. Bertrand Bisimwa, a spokesman for the rebels, told the AP that rebel fighters had moved to within 7 miles (11 kilometers) of Goma. The latest fighting comes after the collapse on Sunday of a tenuous week-old U.N.-brokered cease-fire between rebels and government forces. According to U.N. spokesman Nick Birnback, thousands of displaced civilians in the city of Goma were throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails, angry that a 17,000-person U.N. security force has been unable to protect them from the violence. "The situation in Goma is very volatile," he said. "But MONUC is taking all available measures to stabilize the situation." Watch more about the fighting » . The U.N. mission -- known by its French acronym, MONUC -- is in Goma, which is along Congo's border with Rwanda. Although the civil war in Congo -- once known as Zaire -- officially ended in 2003, recent fighting in eastern Congo between government forces and CNDP rebels under has caused tens of thousands to flee their homes, according to U.N. spokesman Michele Bonnardeaux. Watch ranger describe the violence » . The conflict and humanitarian crisis in Congo have taken the lives of 5.4 million people since 1998, and 45,000 people die there every month, according to an International Rescue Committee report in January. A senior U.S. State Department official said the United States is pushing hard for cooperation among Rwanda, Uganda and Congo over the situation in eastern Congo. The official said all countries, especially Congo and Rwanda, "need to work together" to rein in "militia groups and other negative forces." Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer will travel to Congo and Rwanda to urge both governments to take action, the official said. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement Monday calling on all parties "to make every effort to restore calm among the affected populations." The attacks also coincided with the resignation of the U.N. military commander in Congo, Lt. Gen. Vicente Diaz de Villegas y Herreria. A U.N. statement on Monday indicated he stepped down for "personal reasons." CNN's Carolina Sanchez contributed to this report. Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

NEW: U.N. helicopters attack rebels north of Goma to stop advancement . U.N. military commander in Congo resigns for "personal reasons" Thousands of protesters attack U.N.'s eastern Congo HQ with rocks, stones . The attack has resulted in several deaths, an official said .

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(CNN) -- Evidence consistent with human decomposition was found in the trunk of a car belonging to a Florida woman charged with killing her 3-year-old daughter, according to a forensic report released Friday. Caylee Anthony, 3, disappeared in mid-June but wasn't reported missing until a month later. "Both odor analysis and LIBS results appear to be quite consistent with a decompositional event having occurred in the trunk of the vehicle," said the report from Tennessee's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, noting that the results were preliminary. Testing indicates that the decomposition could be human, the report adds. Casey Anthony, who drove the car, was arrested this month and charged with first-degree murder and other charges in the disappearance of her daughter, Caylee. Caylee was last seen in mid-June, but Casey Anthony waited about a month before telling her family the child was gone. LIBS is laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, one of the techniques used in chemical analysis. Testing was conducted on air and carpet samples from the vehicle. The tests indicated "the presence of the five key major compounds associated with human decomposition," the report said. The tests also found "an unusually large concentration of chloroform" in the trunk, according to the Oak Ridge report. Chloroform can be used to render someone unconscious. However, trace amounts of chloroform were also found on a control carpet sample, the report said. Watch Nancy Grace report on the chloroform discovery » . The report also says evidence of possible decomposition was found on a hair located among debris in the trunk. The hair is "microscopically similar" to one recovered from Caylee's hair brush, the report said, but "a more meaningful conclusion cannot be reached as this is not a suitable known hair sample." The report was released by prosecutors as part of the case's public record. Prosecutors said they would not comment further on them. Todd Black, a spokesman for Casey Anthony's attorney, Jose Baez, said the evidence does not link Casey Anthony to any criminal behavior. "There's nothing in those reports that links Casey Anthony to any wrongdoing with her daughter, Caylee," he said. Casey Anthony was arrested October 14 in a traffic stop after a grand jury indicted her on seven counts of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and four counts of providing false information to police. If convicted of the capital murder charge, she could face the death penalty or a life sentence. Police and prosecutors have said little about the case, but hundreds of pages of documents and investigative reports have been released. They indicate that Casey Anthony went to nightclubs, entered "hot body" contests and text-messaged her friends while her daughter was missing. Copies of cell phone and text records released to the public show that she hardly ever mentioned Caylee during the time just before and after the girl was reported missing. And in May, just before Caylee disappeared, her mother referred to the girl as "the little snot head." Casey's mother, Cindy Anthony, called the sheriff in Orange County, Florida, on July 15, saying her daughter wouldn't tell her where Caylee was. Casey's brother, Lee Anthony, also pleaded with his sister to tell him where Caylee was, according to police documents. She told him she hadn't seen the child in "31 days." When questioned, Casey Anthony gave conflicting statements to police, including some that were later disproved, accounting for the charges of providing false information. She claimed that she dropped Caylee off with a baby-sitter, but when police checked out her story, they learned that the address Casey Anthony supplied belonged to an apartment that had been vacant for weeks. The woman Casey Anthony named as her baby-sitter told police she did not know her. Investigators have said cadaver dogs picked up the scent of death in Casey Anthony's car and her parents' backyard. A neighbor told police Casey Anthony had asked to borrow a shovel. Preliminary air quality tests conducted by the FBI found evidence consistent with human decomposition and chloroform in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car, investigators previously said. Further analysis of Casey Anthony's computer found that she had visited Web sites discussing chloroform, as well as Internet searches of missing children. CNN Headline News' Natisha Lance contributed to this report.

Preliminary lab tests say decomposition evidence could be human, report says . Tests also find "unusually large concentration of chloroform" in trunk . Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in daughter's disappearance . Lawyer's spokesman says evidence doesn't link Casey to any wrongdoing .

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani authorities have arrested four men in connection with the suicide truck bombing of a Marriott Hotel last month in Islamabad that killed more than 50 people, officials said Friday. More than 50 people died in last month's attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. The men appeared Friday before a magistrate in an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi, police and Pakistan Federal Investigation Agency investigators said. Although they have not been charged, the magistrate is allowing police to hold them for a week while the investigation continues. The magistrate ordered them back to court on October 31. Authorities have not said how they believe these men are connected to the September 20 bombing. The men -- one of whom is a doctor -- were arrested at different times in different places, authorities said, but gave no additional details. They identified them as: Dr. Muhammad Usman and Tehseen Ulla Jaan, both from Peshawar; Ilyas Rana Muhammad, from a village near Faiselabad in Pakistan's Punjab province; and Hameed Afzal Muhammad, from Toba Taik Singh district, also in Punjab province. In addition to the dozens killed, some 250 people were wounded in the suicide truck attack, which sparked a fire that left the hotel in ruins. The hotel, located near the diplomatic section of Islamabad, had been popular among tourists visiting Pakistan. It was crowded the night of the bombing.

Four arrested on suspicion of involvement" in hotel blast in Pakistani capital . More than people died in September 20 attack on Marriott hotel, 250-plus injured . Authorities have not said how they believe the men are related to the blast .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Officials in the United States are looking into the recent arrest of an Iranian-American student in Tehran who was working on a research project on women's rights in Iran. Esha Momeni was arrested October 15 in Tehran, Iran, officials said. Esha Momeni, a graduate student at California State University-Northridge, was arrested October 15 in Tehran for unlawfully passing another vehicle while driving, according to Change For Equality, an Iranian women's movement. "We're seeking additional information about this case," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Wednesday. "We stand with all those in Iran who are working for universal human rights and justice in their countries." Momeni, who was born in Los Angeles, California, is a member of Change for Equality's California chapter. She arrived in Tehran two months ago to work on her masters thesis project on the Iranian women's movement, according to the group, which is in touch with Momeni's family in Iran. Momeni is being held in a section of Tehran's notorious Evin Prison that is managed by the Intelligence Ministry, the group said. Evin Prison houses many Iranian dissidents and political prisoners, and it is where four Iranian-Americans were held for several months last year. All have been released. Iranian officials had promised Momeni's family that she would be immediately released if the news of her arrest was not published, the organization said. "While Esha's friends and colleagues were insistent about announcing the news of her arrest immediately, based on requests from her family this news was announced with delay," Change for Equality said on its Web site. Momeni's parents decided to release the information after they went to Iran's Revolutionary Court on Sunday -- five days after her arrest -- to inquire about her case, and they were told not to return until the investigation into her case has been completed, according to Change for Equality. The Momeni family returned to Iran after the 1979 Islamic revolution, but Esha had gone back to the United States several years ago to study for her masters degree, according to a blog post from her journalism professor, Melissa Wall. A separate blog calling for her release (for-esha.blogspot.com) has been established and includes an interview with Wall, who describes her student as "an exceptionally bright person, very creative and artistic." She calls herself "shocked" to hear of Momeni's arrest. "I'm aware that such things happen in Iran, but I'm confident that they have nothing to fear from Esha's research project," Wall said. "It is simply an academic exercise, not meant for publication outside of academic circles. I cannot image why she should be held in detention." On her personal blog, Wall said, "She is a videographer who was simply interviewing Iranian women. She has broken no laws, has not done anything wrong."

Esha Momeni was was working on her thesis on women's rights in Iran . She was arrested for unlawfully passing another vehicle while driving October 15 . Momeni is being held in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison . News of arrest withheld because family was told she would be released .

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DECATUR, Georgia (CNN) -- Police quietly wait by the front door of the small, brick suburban Atlanta home as investigators tell 48-year-old Lajuana Robinson, a mother of nine, "I'm going to have to put you in handcuffs." Investigators take a woman from her Decatur, Georgia, home after her arrest in a truancy case. She's charged with violating her parole in a truancy case because three of her younger children have missed hundreds of days of school combined. While students have always suffered the consequences of playing hooky, parents in DeKalb County, Georgia, are facing one of the more aggressive anti-truancy programs in the country, one where punishment can include time behind bars. DeKalb's program is one of a growing list targeting truancy in U.S. schools, said Jodi Heilbrunn, senior research and policy analyst at The National Center for School Engagement. "Ten years ago, there weren't too many anti-truancy programs, but now they are springing up like rabbits," Heilbrunn said, and "they come in many varieties." In some communities, a single school takes on its own problem. In others, like Jacksonville, Florida, and Niagara Falls, New York, the battle is system wide. And New Jersey is about to institute a statewide system, targeting six cities with the worst truancy problems. The DeKalb County program, started in May 2006, was designed to get children from the age of 6 to 16 back in class. If a child has 10 or more unexcused absences from school, parents are referred to an intervention program where they sign a contract agreeing to make sure their children get to class. If they fail to do that, they face the judge. According the county solicitor general's office, around 300 families have gone to court so far. Watch how a Georgia mother ends up in handcuffs » . Most of the parents who are cited are charged with educational neglect, said DeKalb County Solicitor-General Robert James. Most of those charged plead guilty and get probation, he said. The probation usually involves parenting classes, counseling, and follow-up visits for progress and attendance reports. Parents who violate their probation run the risk of thousands of dollars in fines, and up to 30 days in jail per count. "We are putting parents in jail, or we are bringing them in orange jumpsuits not just because their children are not in school, but because they got a subpoena or summons to come to court, or to come to a diversionary program and they refused to do so. So this is more about accountability than anything," James said. James said it is critical in his county to keep kids in school. The Georgia Department of Corrections found that more than 60 percent of its inmates in 2007 didn't earn a high school diploma, and James quoted an internal survey that found 84 percent of inmates in DeKalb County's jail are high school dropouts. LaTara Tankersley-Jones and Craig Scott, investigators for the DeKalb County Solicitor-General's office, are tasked with locating "truant" parents and serving court-ordered summons. Jones and Scott, usually with assistance from local law enforcement, also must arrest parents who have not complied with a court-ordered probation or failed to show up to court in the first place. Scott said arrest is the least desirable option, but "the bottom line is, we have a warrant and even if the children are there, you're going to have to come with us." Robinson was no stranger to the investigators. The county had intervened on behalf of her children before, even providing Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas presents last year. The mother had been ordered to be sure her children went to school and to attend parenting classes herself. She had done neither, investigators said, earning herself a night in jail and a face-to-face with the judge the next day. Judge R. Joy Walker presides over the Educational Neglect courtroom. On a recent Friday in October, she handled each of the 80 or so cases before her in a fast, firm, and efficient manner. One by one, each parent, mostly women, has an opportunity to explain to Walker why they are in her courtroom. Investigators Jones and Scott are there as well. They say they hear the same excuses over and over again. "They can't get up, or they have so many things that are going on in their life that are preventing them from making sure that their kids go to school," Jones said. Walker agrees to probation for most of the parents in her court this day, including Angela Harris, who pleads guilty to 24 counts, one for each of the 24 days her child missed school. "I have never in my 48 years been in trouble, so this is all new to me," she tells the judge. "The state is offering you 24 months (of probation), but if you mess up I'm going to put you in jail," Walker replies. Walker has put 15 "truant" parents behind bars. Lajuana Robinson is released. But she'll have to return to court another day to explain why her children aren't in school. So far, the success of the DeKalb program has been limited. "We have seen some small results," James said. Attendance has increased by 2 to 3 percent over the past year. "I am not satisfied by that, but in a school system of over 100,000 kids, you are talking about 2,000 to 3,000 more children attending school than what we had the year before last," he said. James says that he has received some interest from neighboring counties about the program and he thinks it is only a matter of time before they adopt similar ones. "We have a lot of parents who feel we should not be intervening in family business, but it's the law. In Georgia, in DeKalb County, attendance is the law, and we plan to enforce it."

Georgia county operates aggressive program to keep kids in school . 300 families have gone to court in truancy cases . Fifteen "truant" parents have faced time behind bars .

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KAUHAJOKI, Finland (CNN) -- Police in Finland have identified the 10 victims in Tuesday's college shooting as eight female students, a male student and a male teacher. The bodies of the victims were also badly burned after being set on fire. The gunman -- identified by authorities as Matti Juhani Saari -- also died after turning the gun on himself. In addition, one woman was seriously wounded in the shooting. Finnish police had interviewed and released Saari a day before Tuesday's bloody rampage at a college in Kauhajoki in southwestern Finland, the country's interior minister said Tuesday. Finnish broadcaster YLE reported that police found a note at Saari's apartment saying he planned the attack since 2002 because he hated "people and the human race," according to Jari Neulaniemi of the National Bureau of Investigation. Neulaniemi told YLE that the shooting took place in a single classroom. Nine of the victims were found in the classroom and one in the corridor, the report said. Authorities say they became interested in the 22-year-old student after he posted four videos on YouTube. One of them showed him firing a pistol at a shooting range. Saari did not directly threaten anyone in the videos, so there were no grounds for further action, national police Commissioner Mikko Paatero told YLE. However, Interior Minister Anne Holmlund suggested the government will investigate how the police handled the case. Watch as the people of Kauhajoki mourn the victims » . "It's clear that we have to carefully go through what should have been done and if we could have avoided this situation in some way," The Associated Press quoted her as saying. Finnish President Tarja Halonen, speaking from the United Nations' annual General Assembly in New York, also raised concerns about the YouTube videos. "We, parents and elderly people, have a little bit of feeling about the Internet," she said during an impromptu TV interview. "It's like a strange planet for us. But it's not so. It's part of our world, so we have to step in." However she praised efforts by police, who she said "were already on board" by interviewing Saari. Authorities hoped that was enough to take care of any threat, but "now we see that it was not," she said. The massacre in Kauhajoki, 290 kilometers (180 miles) northwest of Helsinki, was Finland's second school shooting in less than a year and renewed calls for a review of the country's laws on gun ownership. Watch pictures from the scene » . "We must considerably tighten them," Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen told YLE during a visit to the town early Wednesday. "We should consider whether to allow these small arms for private citizens at home. They belong on firing ranges." MTV-3's Foreign Editor Risto Puolimatka told CNN that Saari was issued with a temporary gun license last month. It was the gunman's first license, Puolimatka said. Authorities learned about the videos Friday but could not reach Saari until Monday, Paatero told YLE. Police also searched his home, YLE reported. Four videos of a man firing a pistol at a shooting range were posted by a "Mr. Saari" from Kauhajoki, where the college is based, according to his profile on video-sharing Web site YouTube. The profile also included a video tribute to the Columbine High School shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, at the top of the man's favorites list. The videos were posted over a three-week period this month. None was posted in the last week. Watch more about the YouTube videos » . The account was suspended within hours of the shooting, which began about 11 a.m. local time (0800 GMT.) Jukka Forsberg, a maintenance worker at the school, told YLE that the gunman was wearing a ski mask and walked into the building with a large bag. About 150 students were on campus Kauhajoki city's School of Hospitality in southwestern Finland. Forsberg said, "I heard several dozen rounds of shots. In other words, it was an automatic pistol. I saw some female students who were wailing and moaning, and one managed to escape out the back door." Saari died Tuesday afternoon from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head at Tampere University Hospital, said medical director Matti Lehto. At least one other person suffered serious injuries in the shooting, he added. The incident comes almost a year after another school shooting left nine people, including the gunman, dead in the Finnish town of Tuusala. Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

Eight females, two males killed after gunman rampaged through college . PM calls for tighter gun controls after shootings in southern Finland . Gunman was issued with a temporary gun license last month . Govt. to probe the fact police interviewed gunman a day before the shootings .

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Editor's Note: Sarah Bliss is a writer for the Tufts Daily, the leading news source for Tufts University. This article was brought to CNN.com by UWIRE, the leading provider of student-generated content. UWIRE aims to identify and promote the brightest young content creators and deliver their work to a larger audience via professional media partners such as CNN.com. Visit UWIRE.com to learn more. SUNY at Canton in New York has provided a designated "pet wing," home to a variety of animals. (UWIRE) -- As university residence halls seek to transition into more homey environments -- with additions like full kitchens and single-stall bathrooms -- pet ownership is still forbidden for the majority of dorm residents. But several universities, including MIT, have now added some pets to the "acceptable" list of dorm possessions. According to a recent article published by The Boston Globe, students at MIT who reside in four of the school's 11 undergraduate dormitories can bring cats with them to school, thanks to a policy implemented several years ago in an effort to curb students from housing forbidden animals. Other schools have jumped on the four-footed bandwagon: Stephen's College, a women's college in Columbia, Missouri, allows for many household pets, including dogs, provided that they are vaccinated and under forty pounds. And the SUNY at Canton in New York has provided a designated "pet wing," home to a variety of small caged animals and cats since 1996. While animal companionship is largely viewed as a welcome addition to family homes, there are many roadblocks that have deterred Tufts from altering its pet policy. "We don't have a policy that allows for dogs or cats or ferrets or monkeys -- you name it -- and ... the main reason is so many people have allergic reactions to animal dander," Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman said. "It's one thing in a family, where everyone agrees that this is what they want and no one has an allergic reaction to the animal. But in a residence hall, where there is no such communication or agreement, it's hard and people are affected." While Tufts students are currently not permitted to have more than a small fish tank in the dorm setting -- in addition to service animals -- this has not always been the case. During a failed experiment that ended around a decade ago, faculty members, residence directors and graduate teaching assistants were allowed to own pets in an attempt to encourage residence. "We were trying to entice [people]to come live in the halls, and ... they wouldn't come unless you allowed the pets," Reitman said. "In order to pragmatically get [them] to come in, we said 'Okay, let's do this.' Then people said, 'No, this isn't fair, I can't live here.' Not many students complained, but enough did." According to Dr. Margaret Higham, medical director of Health Services, the prevalence of allergies and asthma on campus would make a more lenient pet policy problematic. In addition, dorm cleanliness would be noticeably impaired by the allowance of pets, she said. "Pets need to be taken care of ... Litter boxes need to be cleaned daily," Higham said. "The dorm rooms were not built with the need to ventilate for that type of situation. And what about fleas? Once they are introduced, they would spread rapidly through all of the furniture. I do not see students being able to care for animals adequately in the dorm setting." Even without canines currently roaming the quad, there has been a modest history of animal neglect that calls into question a student's ability to provide for an animal properly. "I think some fraternities in recent years did have animals," Reitman said. "There were concerns or complaints when spring break came along, because there is this animal, not cared for ...the animal activists came in here and said, 'That's no way to treat an animal,'" Reitman said. "A residence facility -- be it a sorority, fraternity or residence hall -- is not necessarily a good fit for the animal." Reitman said he had reservations about allowing pets in designated residence halls, like MIT does. "If you designate certain buildings as 'pet buildings,' you are taking that building, in essence, from people who don't want to live in that type of environment," Reitman said. "You can't do that with very popular halls that go first in the lottery, because there would be no end to complaints about that. You just get into this equity political-pragmatics issue pretty quickly." "Developing pet-specific dorms would be a huge logistical struggle," Higham said. "Once pets have been in a specific room, that room is 'contaminated' with pet dander and will be 'allergic' for extended periods." But a number of studies have been released touting the psychological benefits of owning a pet, arguing that the relationship serves as a daily de-stress mechanism and source of increased happiness. While Reitman viewed the calming influence of a pet-owner bond as beneficial, he associated the necessity of pet companionship with two distinct groups, neither of which includes college students. "I'll say the usefulness in ownership and responsibility for the aged and the young jumps off the page to me," Reitman said. "For older folks ... the companionship and presence of the animal is life sustaining in a lot of ways," Reitman said. "For young kids and teenagers, the responsibility of pet ownership is a great model for taking on a commitment. It's clearly needed, but probably a little less so in our middle years." Sophomore Kara Brown, who suffers from asthma, said it is a bad idea to allow pets in residence halls. "I wouldn't love it if cats were allowed just because being anywhere near them makes me sick ... My breathing tubes start to close," Brown said. "I also feel like people usually have too much going on to really take care of a pet, especially now in college when you are already doing so much that takes a lot of effort." "I don't think it's fair to other people who are living in the dorms because everybody needs to agree that they want an animal in their dorm," junior Jenny Hong said. "It's not only you and your roommate, but you're sharing a huge space with everyone else. It would also cause a lot of mess and possible destruction to school property." Still, Hong admitted that she wouldn't rule out the possibility of owning a pet if the policy changed. "I would consider bringing a pet, but I would only go for small pets -- maybe a hamster or gerbil," she said. "Never a cat, though, or a dog."

Some universities adding pets to "acceptable" list of dorm possessions . Students at MIT can bring cats, according to Boston Globe article . Allergens, fleas, mess listed as reasons for concern by one school dean . I feel students have too much going on to take care of a pet, student says .

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ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- The mother of missing Florida toddler Caylee Anthony was arrested and charged Friday with forgery, fraudulent use of personal information and petty theft, the Orange County Sheriff's Department said. Casey Anthony was taken into custody Friday night at her parents' home in Orlando, Florida. The charges relate to Casey Anthony's use of "some monies and checks in an account that did not belong to her and she knew that," Orange County Capt. Angelo Nieves said. Orange County Sheriff's Department officers ushered a handcuffed Anthony through a crowd of protesters that had gathered outside her parents' Orlando home. The protesters cheered as Anthony -- wearing a T-shirt with Caylee's picture and the words "Have you seen me?" -- was taken to a unmarked police car. The dramatic scene played out live on CNN Headline News' "Nancy Grace." Watch Casey Anthony being taken into custody » . Anthony had been out on bail after being charged with child neglect, making false official statements and obstructing a criminal investigation into her daughter's disappearance. On Thursday, a bounty hunter who had posted bond for Anthony said he planned to revoke the bond. Watch bounty hunter Leonard Padilla explain why he wants to revoke bond » . The new charges carry an initial $3,000 bail, Nieves said. Anthony reported her 3-year-old daughter missing in July, a month after the last known sighting of her. Law enforcement sources said DNA evidence suggested that a strand of hair in the trunk of a car linked to Casey Anthony was Caylee's. Nieves confirmed reports that tests had "indicated human decomposition was present and located in the defendant's vehicle." After holding onto "high hopes" that Caylee could be found alive, Nieves said Friday, "that hope is somewhat diminished." Anthony told police that a babysitter kidnapped Caylee, but police found inconsistencies in her story, according to police reports. Police learned of the car from Anthony's mother, Cindy Anthony. At that time, Cindy Anthony told authorities that it smelled as if a dead body had been in the trunk. Cindy Anthony has since said she believes that her granddaughter is alive.

Casey Anthony led out of parents' home Friday night past cheering crowd . She is charged with forgery, fraudulent use of personal information, petty theft . Anthony already accused of child neglect, making false statements, obstruction . She had been out on bail in disappearance of 3-year-old daughter, Caylee .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- DJ and pop star Boy George has been denied a visa to enter the United States, his Web site said Tuesday. In 2007, George spent five days cleaning the streets of New York to fulfill a community service sentence. U.S. immigration authorities denied the visa because George, 48, faces trial in November in London on charges of false imprisonment relating to an April 2007 incident, according to a statement from Boy George's management, posted on his site. "George is astounded at the decision and is having his lawyers here in the States look at it in the hope that someone will change their mind," the statement read. Boy George, whose real name is George O'Dowd, was charged in London last November with false imprisonment following a complaint from a 28-year-old man, police said. The incident happened in East London the previous April, police said. George is free on unconditional bail and is not barred from traveling as he awaits trial, his management said. His upcoming schedule includes a series of U.S. club dates in July and August. George is best known as the singer of '80s pop group Culture Club, with hits including "Karma Chameleon" and "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" He quit the band in 1987 and embarked on a short solo career before reinventing himself as a club DJ and launching a fashion label, B-Rude. In August 2007, George spent five days cleaning the streets of Manhattan to fulfill a community service sentence for falsely reporting a break-in at his New York home. George's management said the denial of his U.S. visa had nothing to do with that case.

48-year-old Boy George on trial in London in November . Performer faces charges of false imprisonment relating to 2007 incident . George is free on unconditional bail and is not barred from traveling . Due to play series of U.S. club dates in July and August .

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(CNN) -- Ten people were killed Tuesday when a gunman rampaged through a Finnish college, police officials said. Officials say Matti Juhani Saari began firing in a classroom at the college before shooting himself. Over the course of 90 minutes, Saari fired a few shots at police, Finnish broadcaster YLE said. Jukka Forsberg, a maintenance worker at the school, told YLE that the gunman was wearing a ski mask and walked into the building with a large bag. About 150 students were on campus Kauhajoki city's School of Hospitality in southwestern Finland. Forsberg said, "I heard several dozen rounds of shots. In other words, it was an automatic pistol. I saw some female students who were wailing and moaning, and one managed to escape out the back door." Smoke billowed from a building on campus, but officials could not immediately say what caused the fire. Watch pictures from the scene » . Tapio Varmola, who was visiting the school at the time, told CNN he was in a building about two blocks away when the shootings occurred. After the shootings, he said, he heard students shouting. Police came about 10 minutes after they were called, Varmola said. "It took two hours to get this situation ended," he said. Saari, 22, died Tuesday afternoon from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head at Tampere University Hospital, said medical director Matti Lehto. At least one other person suffered serious injuries in the shooting, he added. Police had interviewed and released Saari on Monday after he posted violent videos on YouTube, authorities said. As Saari did not directly threaten anyone in the videos, there were no grounds for further action, national police Commissioner Mikko Paatero told YLE. Authorities learned about the videos Friday but could not reach Saari until Monday, Paatero told YLE. Police also searched his home, YLE reported. Four videos of a man firing a pistol at a shooting range were posted by a "Mr. Saari" from Kauhajoki, where the college is based, according to his YouTube profile. The profile also included a video tribute to the Columbine High School shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, at the top of the man's favorites list. The videos were posted over a three-week period this month. None was posted in the last week. Watch more about the YouTube videos » . The account was suspended within hours of the shooting, which began about 11 a.m. local time (0800 GMT). MTV-3's Foreign Editor Risto Puolimatka told CNN that Saari was also issued with a temporary gun license last month. It was the gunman's first license, Puolimatka said. Finnish President Tarja Halonen expressed her condolences from the United Nations, where she is attending the annual General Assembly. She also commented on the YouTube videos. "We, parents and elderly people, have a little bit of feeling about the Internet," she said at an impromptu TV interview. "It's like a strange planet for us. But it's not so. It's part of our world, so we have to step in." She praised efforts by police, who she said "were already on board" by interviewing Saari. Authorities hoped that was enough to take care of any threat, but "now we see that it was not," she said. The school taught late teens and young adults, Jarkko Sipila of MTV 3 told CNN. "It's more or less like an agricultural or professional school where people teach how to make food or how to cook in big kitchen, in industrial kitchens," he said. Kauhajoki, with a population of about 15,000, is about 290km (180 miles) from the capital, Helsinki. The incident comes almost a year after another school shooting left nine people, including the gunman, dead in the Finnish town of Tuusala. Before that shooting, the gunman, 18-year-old student Pekka-Eric Auvinen, posted a video on YouTube titled "Jokela High School Massacre 11/7/2007," identifying the date and location of the attack. "All these memories are being brought back and people are asking the question, 'Why again?' " Sipila said. Finland enjoys a strong tradition of hunting and has a high proportion of gun ownership, with 2 million firearms owned in a nation of 5 million people.

Ten killed as gunman rampages through college in southwestern Finland . Suspected gunman dies in hospital after turning the gun on himself, officials said . Police say the shooter was a student, no motive established . Police probing videos posted on YouTube by alleged gunman .

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NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Police in India have charged 63 people with murder in the beating death of a company boss who fired them. Labor minister Oscar Fernandes was criticized for saying Chaudhary's death was warning to management. The 63 were among 137 people police had rounded up by Wednesday -- two days after a mob of fired employees attacked L.K. Chaudhary, the chief executive of an Italian car parts manufacturing company. The others were charged with disturbing the peace in the Monday incident in Noida, located in the outskirts of the capital New Delhi. More arrests are likely, said R. K. Chaturvedi, the senior superintendent of police in Noida. The former employees of Graziano Transmissioni had gone to meet with company management over their reinstatement, said Noida police Inspector Manoj Pathak. The meeting turned violent, and the mob attacked Chaudhary with iron rods, Pathak said. On Tuesday, India's labor minister, Oscar Fernandes, drew sharp criticism after he said Chaudhary's death should serve as a warning to management, according to CNN's sister network in India, CNN-IBN. "The workers should be dealt (with) with compassion and should not be pushed so hard that they resort to whatever that had happened in Nodia" CNN-IBN quoted Fernandes as telling reporters. The minister later apologized, telling CNN his comments had been taken out of context. He said the murder of the boss could never be justified. The Italian Embassy said the company had, for several months, been facing "violent forms of protest by self-proclaimed workers' representatives." "The situation had been repeatedly brought to the attention of the competent Indian authorities, both at central and local level," it said in a statement. Business groups condemned the killing with the Confederation of Indian Industry calling it "tragic, unwanted and gory." "Such instances of industrial violence cannot be a solution to any problem and must not be tolerated," said Salil Singh, chairman of the group that promotes industrial growth. Meanwhile, authorities sought to appease businesses that police were aggressively investigating the case. "The legal course will be followed and all culprits brought to book," Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said. "This stray tragic occurrence would not be allowed to mar India's position as an investment-friendly destination." CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.

Police in India charge 63 people with murdering company boss who fired them . Mob of fired employees attacked chief executive of Italian car parts company . India's labor minister apologizes for saying death is warning to management .

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MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- A Spanair MD-82 airliner was not on fire as it took off from Madrid's airport but lifted off slightly into the air, fell back to the ground and caught fire only after skidding off the side of the runway, a source familiar said Friday. The plane crash victims' bodies laid out at a makeshift morgue in Madrid. A total of 153 people were killed. Initially, there were indications that an engine might have caught fire as the plane was taking off, but the source said airport video shows the plane lifting off, veering sharply right and then dragging or skidding down the right side of the runway. There was a cloud of dust, the source said, followed by a fireball. Canary Islands regional President Paulino Rivero said after meeting with Spain's prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, that the latter had seen the video and described it as showing the plane using up all the runway as it tried to take off but then never reaching adequate altitude, The Associated Press reported. Eighty of the bodies recovered from the wreckage of Wednesday's fiery plane crash have been identified, Spanish authorities said Friday. Watch as Spain deals with tragedy » . Many of the bodies are so badly burned that fingerprint identification is impossible, and investigators will have to rely on DNA, officials said. Nineteen survivors remained hospitalized Friday. The plane was all but destroyed in the crash, a rescue worker said. When emergency crews arrived on the scene, "you couldn't distinguish that there was an aircraft there, apart from the remains of the tail," Ergivio Corral said. "If you didn't know it, you wouldn't have been able to say there was a plane." Watch moment of silence » . Authorities have handed over the remains of 35 victims to their families, officials said. Families of the victims are being housed in a hotel near the airport, and the government planned to brief them on the crash investigation Friday. The cause of the accident is still unknown, but Spanair spokesman Javier Mendoza said flight data recorders had been recovered. iReport.com: Share your photos, videos from the scene . "One of them seems to be... a little bit damaged, but [investigators] are confident they could use the information," Mendoza said. "But we have to wait for the downloading and the analysis" before any conclusions can be drawn, he said. Witnesses reported that the plane banked violently to the right as it attempted to take off before slamming back to the ground and coming to a rest in a gully just off the runway at Madrid's Bajaras airport. Watch as the wounded arrive at a hospital » . The plane's departure had been delayed for nearly two hours due to a technical problem with the aircraft, Mendoza said, but it was not clear whether that fault was related to the crash. "The heating problem was treated and corrected by Spanair maintenance personnel," he said. "We have reviewed the details on this faulty situation with the inspectors of our civil aviation authority," he said, "and we all come to the conclusion that was nothing abnormal in this resolution of that problem." Madrid observed five minutes of silence Thursday to honor the victims, and the country began three days of mourning. See a map of the airport » . The McDonnell Douglas MD-82 carried 162 passengers, four non-working crew members and six working crew members, Spanair said. The aircraft was also carrying seven passengers from Lufthansa Flight 2554 on a flight scheduled to take more than two hours, airline spokeswoman Henriette Ellekrog said. Spanair, a low-cost airline that has a flight-sharing agreement with Lufthansa, is owned by SAS Scandinavian Airlines. Twenty-two of the passengers were children, two of them infants, Spanair said. After contacting families, the airline published the names of those aboard on its Web site. It was the first fatal accident at the airport since December 1983, when 93 people were killed as two Spanish airliners collided while taxiing for takeoff. The airport, which sits eight miles (13 km) northeast of central Madrid, is Spain's busiest, handling more than 40 million passengers a year. CNN's Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman, Claudia Rebaza, Cal Perry and Kathleen Koch contributed to this report. Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

Video of Spanair MD-82 which crashed in Madrid shows plane got off the ground . Video shows plane bursting into flames after runway skid, source says . DNA tests will be used to identify victims from Madrid air crash . 153 people died when Spanair flight crashed Wednesday during takeoff .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The man who authorities allege carried out the 2001 anthrax mailings that killed five people sent himself an e-mail saying he knew the attacker's identity, according to court documents released Wednesday. Former biodefense researcher Bruce Ivins killed himself in July, authorities say. Bruce Ivins, who authorities say killed himself in July as the Justice Department prepared to charge him in the anthrax case, is alleged to have sent the e-mail to himself last September. An FBI agent quotes the message in an affidavit accompanying applications for search warrants for Ivins' e-mail accounts. "Yes! Yes! Yes!!!!!!! I finally know who mailed the anthrax letters in the fall of 2001. I've pieced it together! Now we can finally get this over and done with," the e-mail reads. In it, the former biodefense researcher says he plans on turning information over to his lawyer and that his lawyer would then give it to authorities. The e-mail does not say who Ivins believed was responsible. "I'm not looking forward to everybody getting dragged through the mud, but at least it will be over," the e-mail reads. "Finally! I should have it TOTALLY nailed down within the month. I should have been a private eye!!!!" The documents -- which the Justice Department says are the last Ivins-related search warrants that had yet to be released to the public -- also contain new details about allegations that Ivins wanted to kill his co-workers. The details are in an account of a July 9 group therapy session during which Ivins allegedly said he was a suspect in the anthrax investigation. According to an FBI agent's account, Ivins was "angry at the investigators, the government, and the system in general." "He said he was not going to face the death penalty, but instead had a plan to kill co-workers and other individuals who wronged him," the account reads. "He said he had a bullet-proof vest, and a list of co-workers, and added he was going to obtain a Glock firearm from his son within the next day, because federal agents are watching him and he could not obtain a weapon on his own." The FBI agent also alleges that Ivins said during the session that he had walked around the "ghetto" areas of Frederick, Maryland, near his home, late at night "hoping that someone would try to hurt him so that he could stab them with a sharp pen." That description is similar to something Ivins allegedly wrote on YouTube referencing a winner of the television game show "The Mole." Authorities said Ivins' YouTube message read: "The least someone could do would be to take a sharp ballpoint pin or letter opener and put her eyes out, to complete the task of making her a true mole!" General details of the therapy session have previously been reported. After the meeting, social worker Jean Duley contacted authorities and Ivins was taken into custody. He was released after being evaluated at two hospitals. Notes allegedly written by Ivins at the time of his hospitalization were found in the trash at his home after his death. According to the FBI, he wrote about the stresses in his life and the possibility of facing prison time. Ivins' attorney, Paul Kemp, maintains Ivins didn't carry out the attacks and says the new documents prove nothing. "There is simply nothing new here, nothing that is proof against Dr. Ivins," Kemp said Wednesday. The anthrax probe continues, Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said. "We are working to close the investigation soon," Boyd said, adding that "investigative efforts" and "administrative measures" need to be finished. The anthrax attacks occurred less than a month after the September 11, 2001, suicide attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. Letters filled with bacterial spores were sent to Senate Democratic leaders and news organizations. Those who died were Washington postal workers, a New York hospital worker, a supermarket tabloid photo editor in Florida and a 94-year-old woman in Connecticut. Scientists from inside and outside the FBI said they traced a strain of anthrax from the envelopes and victims to a batch of anthrax in Ivins' lab at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute in Fort Detrick, Maryland.

"I finally know who mailed the anthrax letters," Bruce Ivins allegedly wrote to himself . Court documents reveal more details about allegations he threatened co-workers . Ivins' attorney: Documents prove nothing . Authorities say Ivins mailed anthrax letters that killed five people in 2001 .

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LA PAZ, Bolivia (CNN) -- An air of anxiety clutches Bolivia this weekend amid high-stakes talks designed to end bloodshed and keep the country whole. Bolivian President Evo Morales says opposition leaders are trying to overthrow the government. The central government of leftist President Evo Morales, Bolivia's first leader from an Indian majority centered in the western highlands, is conducting talks with governors of largely white provinces in the east who want autonomy. Tension between the two sides erupted into violence that killed at least 30 people in September. In addition, differences about the country's future have threatened to split the country. Julian Torrico, a peasant leader, said he and other Morales supporters will storm the eastern city of Santa Cruz if the talks, which started Thursday, do not yield progress. "We will go into Santa Cruz and respond with force because they have (marginalized) us and massacred us, so we will massacre them and we will take their land away from them," he said. Watch protesters march in Santa Cruz » . "The fight here is between poor and rich. The government of Evo Morales took power by a majority and now these opposition governors don't want to let him govern," Torrico said. Anyelo Cespedes, president of the Santa Cruz Youth Union, which opposes Morales, said they don't want a dictatorship or a communist regime. "We have our way of life and we don't want that changed," he said. The central government and eastern governors are discussing topics that include the distribution of natural-gas revenues, autonomy for several eastern provinces and the president's plan for a new constitution. Those negotiations may offer one of the final chances to reverse Bolivia's slide toward violent instability, according to Gonzalo Chavez, an analyst. "This is probably one of the few opportunities that we're going to have to solve the problems of the country," he said. Four of nine provinces in Bolivia have declared autonomy from the central government in referendums this year. Morales, an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and former Cuban President Fidel Castro, said the moves could cause Bolivia to disintegrate. The eastern opposition leaders have long opposed a decision of the Morales government to divert some revenue from oil and gas produced in the region to pay for government programs for the elderly. They have also opposed his plans to revise the constitution to give greater rights to the indigenous majority. The differences flared into violence with opposition protesters occupying government buildings and energy installations. Morales has said the opposition leaders are trying to overthrow the government. He expelled U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia Philip Goldberg on the grounds that he urged anti-government protesters to get violent, an assertion the United States has denied. "This is a coup in the past few days by the leaders of some provinces, with the takeover of some institutions, the sacking and robbery of some government institutions and attempts to assault the national police and the armed forces," Morales has said. Opposition leaders said they merely want their demands met. Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza of the Organization of American States arrived in Bolivia on Friday to encourage dialogue. He expressed optimism based on the "preliminary results" from the talks. Representatives of the Organization of American States and the 12-nation Union of South American Countries are among a group of international observers that has come to Bolivia for the negotiations. Ivan Canelas, a government spokesman, said the talks provide a critical opportunity to break an impasse that has split the country for months. "We understand that making peace requires the suspension of all forms of pressure," he said. Gov. Mario Cossio of the eastern Tarija state said he and other opposition leaders hope to reach a final agreement. He said they hope "to build a national agreement that Bolivia needs, that the Bolivians want." He said the goal is to "give peace back to our country and give certainty to Bolivia." CNN's Karl Penhaul and Gloria Carrasco contributed to this story.

Bolivian leaders plan to hold talks designed to bring peace to country . Four provinces in Bolivia have declared autonomy from the central government . At least 30 people have died in September .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Pop star George Michael was cautioned by police in London after being arrested in public toilets on suspicion of possessing drugs, the UK's Press Association reported. George Michael has talked candidly about drug use in the past. In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said a 45-year-old man had been arrested in the Hampstead Heath area of London on Friday. He was later released with a caution for possession of class A and class C drugs. The statement did not name Michael, but other sources confirmed his identity. Reports Sunday said Michael had been arrested following a tip-off to police from a suspicious toilet attendant, PA said. The 45-year-old, who has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, has talked openly about his use of drugs in the past. In an inteview with the BBC last year he admitted: "I'm a happy man and I can afford my marijuana so that's not a problem." Last May he pleaded guilty to driving while unfit through drugs and was banned from driving for two years after being found slumped behind the wheel of his car.

George Michael cautioned after being arrested for drugs in London public toilet . Pop star was released with a caution for possession of class A, class C drugs . Press reports claim police were tipped off by a suspicious toilet attendant .

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BEIJING, China (CNN) -- The International Olympic Committee has asked gymnastics officials to look into whether China's women's gymnastics team used underaged competitors, an IOC spokeswoman said Friday. China's He Kexin kisses her gold medal last week after winning the Olympic women's uneven bars. The committee asked the International Gymnastics Federation to clarify the situation, said spokeswoman Giselle Davis. She said she wouldn't call it a formal investigation. The Chinese women's gymnastics team won a gold medal in a team competition at the Summer Olympics Games. Five members won medals in individual competitions. Yet commentators, bloggers and others have raised questions about whether about half the members of China's team were old enough to compete -- athletes must be at least 16 in the year the games take place. In women's gymnastics, younger teenage girls can have an advantage over older competitors due to their often smaller, more agile bodies and lighter frames. "We have asked the gymnastics federation to look into what have been a number questions and apparent discrepancies on this case," Davis said. A top Chinese Olympic official said questions regarding the ages of the athletes have been dealt with previously. "The eligibility of the athletes has already been investigated and authorized by the international federation and, if they hadn't been cleared, they wouldn't have participated in the games," said Wang Wei, executive vice president of the Beijing Olympic Committee. Chinese officials provided the Olympic committee with passports, showing that team members were of legal age, but numerous challenges have been made. The latest came from a blogger known as "Stryde Hax." The blogger claims to have uncovered proof that Chinese gymnast He Kexin is only 14. Watch bloggers question China's gymnasts » . In Internet searches, "Stryde Hax" allegedly uncovered Web pages showing lists complied by China's General Administration of Sport that show a 1994 date of birth for He. That would make her 14 -- too young to compete in the Olympic Games. CNN has not been able to independently verify the information, but snapshots of the Web pages appear to back up the claim. Other bloggers have joined the search and reported similar results. The New York Times conducted its own investigation, producing similar results that seem to implicate He and two other members of the team. The Times uncovered a 2006 biography on He that lists her birthday as January 1, 1994. "According to online sports registration lists in China, half the team - He Kexin, Yang Yilin, Jiang Yuyuan - would be under age," the Times reported in July. The International Gymnastics Federation, however, has said that those gymnasts were eligible and that the ages on their passports were correct. Chinese gymnastics coaches defended their team Friday. "Our athletes participating in these games all conform to the age regulations of the Olympics," said Huang Yubin, head coach of the men's and women's teams. "Asians have different figures than people from the West, so that's what caused their suspicion," Huang said, referring to media inquiries. "They shouldn't be suspicious." CNN's John Vause contributed to this story .

Probe into Chinese gymnasts' age sought by International Olympic Committee . Gymnasts must be at least 16 years of age to compete in Olympics . Chinese officials defend team, have shown passports proving athletes are eligible . Speculation intensified following team gold medal won by China's women .

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PARKER, Colorado (CNN) -- Matt Keil didn't wait for a call to serve his country. Six weeks after Tracy and Matt Keil married in 2007, he was hit by a sniper fire while serving in Iraq. He enlisted in the Army after graduating from high school in 2000, and when the Iraq war started, Keil volunteered to go. Because he was single, he wanted to take the place of a parent, wife or husband who would otherwise be sent. "I wanted to go over and serve my country," he recalled. After a year-long tour of duty in Iraq, Keil returned home to Colorado, where he met a young woman named Tracy who lived in the same apartment complex. He says he knew they were meant to be. "I woke up one morning, and my roommate was gone. I called him up and asked him what he was doing. He said he was down by the pool hanging out," Keil said. "I asked him if there were any hot girls down there, and he said, 'Yeah, there are.' " And the rest is history. Matt and Tracy began dating and fell in love, but he was soon told that his unit was being sent back to Iraq. Even though he knew redeployment was part of his job, this time things were different. He and Tracy were engaged to be married. Watch their story of love interrupted » . At the time, the enemy in Iraq was growing stronger, and Keil's unit was headed to Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province and a violent insurgent stronghold. Keil had been in Ramadi in 2004 and knew the mission would be dangerous. "They were definitely built up a lot more on our second tour," he said. "Fallujah had just ended, and a lot of fighters from Fallujah had fled to nearby cities, and that's what we were up against." Though their wedding plans were put on hold, Matt and Tracy decided to marry as soon as he could get a leave of absence. "He got one of the earliest leaves you could take and came home in January," Tracy Keil remembered. "The main reason we got married was, even though we planned on having a bigger wedding later, what if something happened?" On February 24, 2007, six weeks after their wedding, something did happen. Keil, an infantry squad leader, was part of a major offensive to reclaim a portion of the city. His squad was ambushed, leaving 11 men severely wounded. After helping evacuate his wounded men, Keil and his men entered an abandoned house. He went to the roof to look out for any potential danger. "I jumped up on the tallest part of the roof to lay a camel net on top of the stairwell to kind of hide us from sniper fire," Keil said. "That's when I got shot right in the right side of the neck. Hit me like a ton of bricks." It wasn't until he was back at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington that the couple realized the severity of his injury. Tracy was abruptly informed of his condition while Keil was heavily sedated. "A doctor came in, thought I knew and made a comment about being paralyzed from the neck down," Tracy Keil recalled. "He didn't know that nobody had sat down to tell me. ... I just collapsed." When Keil awoke, a doctor informed him that the bullet had hit his spinal cord and explained that he had a "Christopher Reeve-type injury." After the initial shock, Matt and Tracy began to understand the full implications. For Keil, who was independent and admits to being stubborn, that was hard to swallow. "Realizing that my wife was going to be helping me eat, cleaning me up, doing things like that, it was kind of devastating," he admitted. But the newlyweds stayed optimistic and started focusing on the next steps. One of the most urgent issues was figuring out where they would live once Keil was out of the hospital. Tracy and her mother would bring Keil house-hunting. "They would get me in a manual wheelchair and carry me up flights of stairs," Keil explained. But they quickly became frustrated by what they found. Every house they saw would have to be dramatically modified to meet Keil's needs. And that meant costs that he and Tracy could not afford. Then, in August 2007, when Keil was just a month away from being released from the hospital, his wife received news that would change this lives. This time the news was good. A friend of the couple's had submitted their story to Homes for Our Troops, an organization that builds specially adapted homes for disabled veterans. John Gonsalves, founder and president of Homes for Our Troops, and the organization had selected Matt and Tracy to receive a house built specifically to meet their needs. Best of all, it was free. "It's one of the most life-changing events that's ever happened to us, especially after being injured," Keil said. "We're going to be in this house that's fully accessible, has everything that it needs to take care of me, wide-open floor plan easy for Tracy to take care of me, and it's just an absolutely beautiful house." After breaking ground in April, Homes for Our Troops utilized hundreds of volunteers, donations and community outreach to build the house so it would be ready for the dedication ceremony September 27. Gonsalves, who started his career in construction, said he realized how many men and women would be returning home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with severe injuries and very specific needs. He wanted to volunteer with an organization that built homes designed for these disabled veterans. When he realized none existed, he started his own. He says he's frustrated by the lack of urgency in helping America's veterans. "It just seems like this time around, we weren't really asked to do anything. It was kind of 'go about your lives,' and I'm thinking, how can everybody just put it in the back of their mind and go about their daily lives when our sons and daughters and mothers and fathers are in a faraway place putting their lives on the line?" Gonsalves said. Homes for Our Troops spends an average of $250,000 on each home, and only 7 percent of the group's money goes to administrative overhead. The rest goes directly to helping disabled veterans. It gives people in the community an opportunity to give back through volunteering. The Keils' home is the 33rd project the organization has completed, and the group has 40 homes in the works. There are 3 million veterans receiving disability compensation, and more than 250,000 of those are 100 percent disabled, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. With two wars still being waged and hundreds of thousands of America's military men and women fighting, it's likely the need for these homes will increase. The home has given Tracy and Matt hope for their future together, and they look forward to giving back. "This gives us security for our life," Tracy Keil said. "This is where we can have our kids, and this is where we can raise our family." "We're going to live in this house for the rest of our lives, and eventually when it's our time to pass, we're going to find a family to donate it to that really needs it," Matt Keil said. "Our kids will be made well aware of that!"

Matt and Tracy Keil married after he was redeployed to Iraq . A sniper bullet hit Matt's spinal cord, paralyzing him from the neck down . Homes for Our Troops builds homes for disabled veterans to meet their needs . The Keils' home is 33rd for the organization, which has 40 more in the works .

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(CNN) -- Global activist and U2 frontman Bono attended the United Nations General Assembly in New York to push world leaders to join his ONE campaign in fighting disease, poverty, and hunger. He talked to CNN's John Roberts on "American Morning" about recent successes and what's next. Bono said politicians who love signing checks but not cashing hurt plans to help the world's poor. ROBERTS: All this talk has been about the economy collapsing, $700 billion bailout. Congress is absolutely absorbed with that. Did that in any way affect what you were trying to do this week? Are people more focused on this economy than in helping out developing nations? BONO: We got good news this week. I know normally I'm on your program with bad news -- the whingeing rock star -- but it's great. There's a disease, malaria -- it's 3,000 African kids die every day of mosquito bites. Sounds mad, but it's true. And people have committed and it looks like the funds are on the table so that that disease will be no more by 2015. That makes people like me punch the air and everyone who wears a ONE T-shirt and all our white band campaigners on college campuses all over the country -- it was a great day for them yesterday so we're celebrating that. I know it's extraordinary, that while you're having this meltdown on the markets, that people could even concentrate on this stuff, but I'm really grateful that they did. We had both [presidential] candidates make very powerful statements about the necessity for nonmilitary tools, for instance, in foreign policy. This is an America that both candidates want to show to the rest of the world -- the greatness of America. ROBERTS: So you're hearing what you want to hear from these candidates? BONO: Yeah. And you couldn't imagine a few years ago that you would have candidates so close to an election talking about this stuff, so yeah. Watch Bono say how he uses his star status on politicians » . ROBERTS: You were talking to Christine Romans outside the studio, who just did that piece for us a few minutes ago on what else could you do with $700 billion. What could you do with $700 billion? BONO: We wouldn't be asking for that kind of money. These are serious matters, people have lost their jobs. But I think the bill for the whole world -- so America would be like a third of it -- for $25 billion you could absolutely change the world. You could put kids in school, most kids in school. You could eradicate diseases like malaria, as we're saying. We could change the water supplies. But what's important is that people who want to change the world, want to see their country, they see it as a patriotic act to show the world innovation of America, technology of America, pharmacology of America. ROBERTS: For $25 billion, you could put every kid who's out of school in the world into school? That seems like a lot of people for $25 billion. Pretty good return on your investment. BONO: It's a great return on investment. You heard me on your program before talking about debt cancellation. Strangely Americans don't know that because of debt cancellation there are already an extra 29 million African children in school. That's incredible. Because people got out on the streets on the (RED) campaign and stuff like that, there's now 2.5 million Africans on AIDS drugs, which are expensive. So your country is turning for me in the right direction on these issues. ROBERTS: So you're hearing some of what you want to hear, particularly on the malaria issues. But the European Union had promised to increase aid by $50 billion between 2005 and 2010. It looks like they're going to fall $40 billion short. BONO: They are, but they're still ahead of America. That's the bad news. You don't want to get me into the ring. ROBERTS: Absolutely! Come on. BONO: We've had meetings with Sarkozy this week as well as talking with McCain and Palin and as well as always talking with the Obama campaign. We do keep up the pressure on the Europeans, but the Europeans are way ahead of America on aid, just to put it in context. But you're right. They're not coming through on all of it. We will torture them too. That's our job. ROBERTS: You talk a lot about these United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Let me go over a couple of those. It was supposed cut global poverty in half by the year 2015. Universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment by 2010. Begin to reverse the incidence of malaria by 2015. How far along that road are we? BONO: The Millennium Development Goals are in a bit of trouble. It is astonishing to me ... ROBERTS: Whose fault is that? BONO: You know, politicians. They love signing checks, but they don't like cashing them. They love the photograph. These G-8 meetings, you'll see myself and my partner Bob Geldof arm-wrestling with politicians up against the wall. ROBERTS: You're very effective at doing that. You get access to a lot of places. I remember I was on a trip with President Bush once, and you walked on Air Force One. BONO: It's the absurdity of celebrity. I don't consider myself a celebrity in this sense, I think I'm an activist who knows what I'm talking about. But yeah, we get access, and we use it. It's true that there was a very ambitious plan signed up in 2005 that further committed what was decided in the year 2000, that we could actually across eight goals completely change the face of poverty and hunger in the world. And there was a $25 billion bill by 2010 that would enable them to do that. They haven't come through on that. And another day I'll tell you why, but today I'm punching the air because malaria will be no more by 2015. And it's Americans, people from the private sector -- Peter Chernin, Ray Chambers, all kinds of people, Bill Gates, your mayor of this city, [Michael] Bloomberg, is an amazing guy. He's working on this stuff. I just want Americans to know that side of their country because I'm a fan of America. And, again, you would have candidates, you know, like John McCain taking time out this week to talk to us, Barack Obama before. This is fantastic. ROBERTS: I was reading your blog on financialtimes.com. You've been writing all week, doing a great job too. You mentioned in one of your pieces you've been writing some lyrics. And I'm wondering where the lyrics are going. BONO: Statistics don't rhyme. Songwriting comes from such a different part of my brain and such a different part of who I am. ROBERTS: Are you writing about all this? BONO: No, it's strange. It's very strange. I used to work in a garage when I was a kid pumping gas, and I used to dream when I was pumping the gas about getting to rehearsals on a Saturday so I could be with my band and write songs. The work that I'm doing now, as we say, we're working like a dog, living like a shih tzu. We're spoiled people. We travel well, but we work. On these issues, because you're working for the world's poor, we work like dogs. But I find myself at times, sometimes I just wake up in the morning, and I just want to be back with my band in a rehearsal room. ROBERTS: You will be soon. New CD coming out next year. BONO: I'm not complaining about the work. This is the most inspiring thing I've ever been involved in in my life, and it's working. It really is working. And that's why I'm on your show this morning. I just want to thank Americans. ROBERTS: Good luck on the new CD coming out next year. We're looking forward to it.

Bono says he's "punching the air" after plan to eradicate malaria won funding . Global activist says you can change the world with $25 billion investment . Campaigning is "most inspiring" work, but pop star also still loves playing with band .

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LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) -- A jury of nine women and three men -- none of them black -- was seated Thursday for the trial of O.J. Simpson on kidnapping and armed robbery charges. Judge Jackie Glass decided prosecutors had a "race-neutral" reason for dismissing the potential juror. The judge made no official mention of the jury's makeup, but prosecutors revealed in court that no blacks were on the jury. A black man and black woman, however, are among six alternate jurors. Defense attorneys had argued the prosecutors were deliberately trying to exclude blacks, but Judge Jackie Glass denied their challenges. Opening arguments are scheduled to begin Monday in the case against Simpson and a co-defendant, Clarence Stewart. Prosecutors say Simpson and five other men stormed into a Las Vegas hotel room on September 13, 2007 to recover sports memorabilia that Simpson said belonged to him. Prosecutors say at least two men with Simpson had guns as they robbed a pair of sports memorabilia dealers. If convicted on all counts, Simpson faces a possible sentence of life in prison. He has pleaded not guilty and has told CNN he was trying to get his property back. Four of five Simpson's original co-defendants have struck deals with the prosecution to testify against Simpson. One testified in a pre-trial hearing that "O.J. Simpson wanted me to have a weapon." Another testified that Simpson "wanted me to help him acquire some guns." An attorney for Simpson, Yale Galanter, has disputed that. "O.J. Simpson did not know that there were guns in that room," Galanter said.

NEW: Prosecutors revealed in court that no blacks were on the jury . NEW: Opening arguments are scheduled to begin Monday . Four of Simpson's original co-defendants have struck deals to testify against him . Simpson faces robbery, kidnapping charges .

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HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) -- The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has introduced a $1,000 note -- $10 trillion in the old value -- as the country battles to end cash shortages in the hyper-inflationary environment. Zimbabwe's currency is trading around Z$350 -- $35 trillion in the old value -- against U.S. dollar. However, analysts said the new note -- which can only buy a loaf of bread -- will not ease pressure on cash shortages because of the ever-increasing prices. "It will not make even a small impact. What we need in Zimbabwe is a clear change of policies, start production and then inflation will start easing up," said John Robertson, an economic consultant. "The zeros seem to be coming back no matter how often they slash them." In August, Zimbabwe slashed ten zeroes on the currency; two years earlier the country slashed three zeros. The zeroes keep bouncing back in the country that has an inflation rate of 11.2 million -- the highest in the world. Zimbabwe's agro-based economy has been on a free-fall for more than a decade now. The situation was exacerbated by the destruction of commercial agriculture in 2000 when President Robert Mugabe's government embarked on a violent land grab from white farmers and gave it to inexperienced black farmers. Mugabe denies that he is to blame for the country's economic collapse, citing economic sanctions that have been placed on Zimbabwe. Since 2000, Zimbabwe's currency has been depreciating against major currency. It is trading around $350 Zimbabwean dollars -- $35 trillion in the old value -- against the U.S. dollar.

Z$1,000 note can only purchase a loaf of bread . Zimbabwe's agro-based economy in free-fall for more than a decade . Robert Mugabe blames country's economic collapse on sanctions .

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(CNN) -- Comedian George Carlin, known for pushing the envelope with his use of profanity and for pointing out the silliness and hypocrisy of human life, died of heart failure Sunday. He was 71. iReporter Kevin Eckhoff met George Carlin at a show in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2004. iReporter Chris Sargent says, "He could play with words and phrases in ways that would put the most highly regarded English professors and linguists to shame." CNN.com invited readers to share tales of meeting Carlin, and the impact he had on their lives. Below is a selection of their responses, some of which have been edited for length and clarity. Melanie Phillips of Salem, Oregon: I met George Carlin in the early '70s at a performance he gave at Los Angeles Valley College. The large auditorium was filled to capacity so they closed the doors leaving about 40 people outside. When Carlin came up on stage he asked, "Who are all those people staring in the windows?" The host told him the fire marshal had locked them out. Carlin thought for a moment then asked, "How many people are allowed to be on stage?" The legal limit was 50. The comedian turned to the audience and said, "Forty of you people in the first few rows come up on stage and give those people outside your seats." My friend and I ran up on stage and we all gathered in a circle around him, like at a campfire. For the next 90 minutes, Carlin did his entire act by taking our requests, "Hippy Dippy Weatherman," "Seven Words ..." After the show was over, he passed through our little circle, shaking hands (including mine) as he quickly made his way off stage to avoid being swamped by fans. It was one of my most memorable experiences and a grand gesture for the 40 fans who had been locked out. Alexis Karlin of Boston, Massachusetts: When I was little my dad had this box car and one day he put a George Carlin tape in it and it got stuck. So for a year until the car died we listened to this George Carlin tape over and over and over again. ... I won't miss that car but I will miss George Carlin. Chris Sargent of Laurel, Maryland: Last night, the world's greatest comedian and champion of the First Amendment, George Carlin, died at the age of 71 from heart failure. He was one of the few things my father and I had in common, as I have fond memories of sitting in the living room with him, watching George on HBO, and laughing our a***s off. His gift was to make us think about everything. He could play with words and phrases in ways that would put the most highly regarded English professors and linguists to shame. Kevin Eckhoff of Jacksonville, Illinois: George was in classic form as he arrived for a show in late 2004 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center in St. Louis. This was my second time meeting George. He signed the photo from our first meeting, took this new photo, and then proceeded to begin signing my friend's albums. Before he started, he paused, fanned out the records, looked at each, and in his own special way said, "You know, I go from city to city and you guys (autograph collectors) always have my records in such great shape. Just where the **** do you get these records in such pristine condition?" We all busted out laughing. We'll miss you George! Thanks for a great memory.

CNN.com readers share their memories of Carlin, his comedy . Carlin once invited fans to sit on stage so more people could see his show . Alexis Karlin says for a year, a Carlin tape was stuck in her dad's car stereo . iReport.com: Share your tales, memories of comedy great George Carlin .

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(CNN) -- Sarah Palin did not visit troops in Iraq, a spokesperson for the Republican vice presidential nominee confirmed Saturday, as new details emerged about the extent of the Alaska governor's foreign travel. Gov. Sarah Palin's aide confirmed to CNN details of her foreign travel Saturday. In July of last year, Palin left North America for the first time to visit Alaskan troops stationed in Kuwait. Palin officials originally said her itinerary included U.S. military installations or outposts in Germany and Kuwait, and that she had visited Ireland. A Palin aide in Alaska had said Iraq was also one of the military stops on that trip. The Boston Globe, however, reported Saturday that in response to questions about the trip, Alaska National Guard officials and campaign aides said Palin did not go past the Kuwait-Iraq border. In addition, campaign aides also confirmed reports to CNN Saturday that Palin's time in Ireland on that trip had actually been a refueling stop. The Obama campaign -- which has increasingly accused the McCain campaign of deliberately lying in ads and on the stump -- was quick to highlight that story, along with a news report that explored whether the McCain campaign has been sending out wildly inflated crowd estimates. The McCain team has twice pointed to law enforcement as the source for those estimates -- but the same officials denied to Bloomberg News that they had provided the numbers cited by the Republican nominee's campaign. "The McCain campaign said Gov. Palin opposed the bridge to nowhere, but now we know she supported it," said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor in a statement. "They said she didn't seek earmarks, but now we know she hired a lobbyist to get millions in pork for her town and her state. They said she visited Iraq, but today we learned that she only stopped at the border. Americans are starting to wonder, is there anything the McCain campaign isn't lying about?" A Palin spokesperson also confirmed that the governor had visited Mexico on a personal vacation. She has also visited Canada. The Palin revelations Saturday are the latest in a series of barbs between the two presidential campaigns. McCain, appearing Friday on ABC's "The View," was aggressively pressed on Palin's qualifications to be vice president as well as his new campaign ads that several independent fact-check groups have called misleading. Co-host Barbara Walters asked about Palin's reformist credentials, noting McCain has served in Washington for more than two decades and asking repeatedly, "Who's she going to reform, you?" McCain answered by saying Democrats have controlled Congress for two years, but then Walters quickly interrupted: "But tell me who she is going to reform -- we aren't talking about the economy, we're not talking about housing; she was chosen to reform, who is she going to reform?" Appearing somewhat frustrated, McCain said, "The Democrat Party, the Republican Party, even an independent. She'll reform all of Washington." Walters, seeming somewhat exasperated, asked, "How? What will she do? What is she going to reform specifically, senator?" McCain said Palin had a strong record on vetoing earmark spending. Watch more of McCain's appearance on "The View" » . "The fact is she was a reform governor, she took on an incumbent governor of her own party and defeated him. She sold the airplane and fired the chef," McCain said, referring to Palin's efforts to put her predecessor's state jet up for auction on eBay and her dismissal of the governor's personal chef. "She sold the airplane at a loss," Walters interrupted. (The jet failed to draw sufficient bids on eBay and later was sold at a loss through an ordinary aircraft brokerage.) Also on Friday, both campaigns accused each other of engaging in lies, unfair attacks and gutter politics in a series of television ads and memos. McCain's campaign released a television ad, titled "Disrespectful," that accuses McCain's Democratic rival of launching desperate attacks and smears against Palin. In the McCain ad, the announcer says the Obama camp had "lashed out at Sarah Palin" and dismissed Palin as "good-looking" as the Democratic nominee's face appears on the screen. The announcer also says the Democrats had said Palin was doing "what she was told" and had "desperately" called her a liar. "How disrespectful," the announcer says. "And how Gov. Sarah Palin proves them wrong, every day." Obama never made any of the statements the McCain camp released to support the ad, and the comment that Palin was "good-looking" was made by the Democratic vice presidential nominee, Sen. Joe Biden, in a self-deprecating joke when he was asked what the obvious differences were between the two vice presidential nominees. Watch the McCain ad » . Biden repeatedly has said on the campaign trail that he respected Palin and that he thought she was qualified for the vice presidency. FactCheck.org pointed out the quote from an Obama adviser that Palin was doing "what she was told" was taken out of context. The quote is taken from the response of Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, in which he said Palin had misrepresented Obama's legislative record. "Maybe that's what she was told" about his voting record, Axelrod said. The Obama campaign, meanwhile, launched two television ads Friday. In one, the campaign paints McCain as being out of touch by showing pictures of him when he first entered the Senate in 1982 as disco music plays. The ad also highlights McCain's own admissions that he lacks computer skills and does not use e-mail. Watch the Obama ad attacking McCain » . In the second Obama ad, the candidate himself appears. "We've heard a lot of talk about change this year. The question is, change to what?" Obama asks. The ads come as Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, issued a tough memo to reporters that accused McCain and his campaign of turning to "smears, lies and cynical attempts to distract from the issues." CNN's Peter Hamby, Ed Hornick and Rebecca Sinderbrand contributed to this report.

New details emerge on Gov. Sarah Palin's foreign travels . Campaign now says she didn't visit troops in Iraq, only the border . Questions surround the crowd size of a McCain-Palin event in Virginia . John McCain gets grilled on "The View" while defending Palin .

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KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Ten French soldiers were killed Tuesday in fighting near the Afghan capital of Kabul after 100 insurgents attacked a patrol, authorities said. French soldiers patrol in Afghanistan in May 2008. French and NATO authorities confirmed the deaths and said 21 other soldiers were wounded in the fighting in the Sarobi area in Kabul province, about 30 miles northeast of the capital. The clashes began late Monday afternoon and continued into Tuesday, when the casualties occurred, French officials said. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said his "determination is intact" to continue "this battle against terrorism for democracy and liberty." "The cause is just. It is an honor for France and its armies to defend them," said Sarkozy, who will travel Tuesday night to Afghanistan, the Defense Ministry said. Last month, nine U.S. soldiers were killed in fighting in eastern Afghanistan. U.S., British, Canadian and Dutch troops have been engaged in much of the combat in Afghanistan. The United States has been urging other countries in the NATO-led alliance to help ease the burdens of those troops on the front lines. About 1,670 French troops serve in Afghanistan under NATO's International Security Assistance Force, according to ISAF's Web site. Before this incident, a total of 12 French troops had died in several incidents during the Afghan war, mostly in combat. As for the latest fighting, NATO said the initial patrol -- which included Afghan forces -- had been "reinforced with quick reaction forces, close air support and mobile medical teams." It said "a large number of insurgents were killed." Gen. Zahir Azimi, an Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman, said Tuesday that Afghan army forces rushed to the battle scene soon after the attack took place. He said 27 militants were killed and 14 were wounded in the fighting, and 13 of the bodies were recovered by the Afghan army. He said one of the dead militants was identified as a Pakistani national. The Taliban posted a Web statement saying its forces attacked an "American" convoy, killing 20 soldiers and destroying five military tanks. It also said foreign forces later Tuesday bombarded the region and killed five Taliban militants and several civilians. The fighting came after authorities tightened security on Monday in anticipation of militant attacks on the country's Independence Day. Several suicide bombers struck an American base about 12 miles from the border with Pakistan in Khost province on Tuesday, but U.S. and Afghan forces repelled the onslaught. Seven insurgents were killed in the attack on Forward Operating Base Salerno, including three suicide bombers who blew themselves up after forces from the base encountered them more than 3,000 feet from the base, ISAF said in a statement. U.S. and Afghan troops noticed the approaching militants by their "special behavior," the spokesman said. Helicopters flew in to attack them, the force said. ISAF said it suffered no casualties. Gov. Arsallah Jamal of Khost province said four commandos -- presumably Afghans -- were wounded when the militants struck late Monday. A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said 15 suicide bombers with small arms and machine guns entered the base and inflicted heavy casualties -- claims that the NATO-led force and Khost governor dismissed. That attack came after a suicide car bombing outside the same base killed 10 Afghan civilians and wounded 13 others Monday, the U.S. military said. Two other would-be bombers were killed before they could carry out attacks, Jamal said. Afghan forces stopped a second would-be car bomb near the base, performed a controlled detonation and detained a suspect, the NATO-led force said. This comes as a source from the Afghan Defense Ministry, who declined to be named, confirmed that Pakistani army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani arrived in Kabul on Tuesday morning to meet with Afghan and NATO military officials. In southern Afghanistan, a suicide bomber struck a Canadian foot patrol on Tuesday in the Kandahar province district of Panjwayee, local police said. The bomber and an Afghan interpreter for NATO forces were killed and a NATO soldier and a child were wounded, police said. The attack occurred as troops chatted with villagers in the district's main bazaar. The Taliban, in a Web statement, said 11 foreign soldiers were killed or wounded in the attack. CNN's Ben Brumfield and Journalist Farhad Peikar contributed to this report.

NEW: 'This cause is just,' French President Sarkozy says . NEW: Sarkozy to travel to Afghanistan Tuesday night . NEW: Officials dismiss Taliban claim of 15 suicide bombers entering base . 10 French soldiers killed as fighting flares around holiday .

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BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- A former Colombian congressman who was held hostage in the jungle for more than eight years has escaped -- with the help of a former captor. Oscar Tulio Lizcano was kidnapped on August 4, 2000 near the Colombian town of Riosucio. Oscar Tulio Lizcano, his hair disheveled, appeared too weak to stand for long when he met the news media Sunday, hours after stumbling onto a military patrol -- and freedom. Lizcano suffered from hunger and disease in captivity and endured isolation in the company of leftist rebels who often would not let him talk, he and Colombian authorities said. "Maybe my incoherence is for a lack of speaking," Lizcano told reporters. "I was unable to talk with the guerillas who guarded me." Lizcano said he had little to read in the jungle except "The Odyssey" by Homer. He suffered from malaria and other illnesses and once ate nothing but hearts of palm for six or seven days, said Juan Manuel Santos, the Colombian defense minister. "This is big news for the whole family," said Lizcano's sister, Amparo Lizcano. "We were waiting for the guerrillas to give our brother back alive before he died." The former congressman fled about three days ago with the assistance of one of his captors, a member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a leftist rebel force that has been fighting the government for more than 40 years in a war that also has involved right-wing paramilitaries and drug traffickers. Watch release of FARC hostage » . President Alvaro Uribe appeared on television Sunday with the ex-FARC rebel -- known by the alias "Isaza" -- and said the man will receive compensation and permission to resettle in France with his family. He said that's in keeping with a Colombian government policy that rewards rebels who desert and help hostages gain their freedom. Police officers and soldiers pinpointed the location of the FARC unit holding Lizcano several months ago, Santos said. They monitored the location for about five months and took steps to seal off possible escape routes, he said, as they planned a rescue operation using information gleaned help from a rebel who deserted October 2. Troops started that rescue operation Saturday -- only to discover that "Isaza" and Lizcano had decided on their own to escape. The two men wandered through the jungle for three days and nights before encountering a Colombian army patrol Sunday, said Santos, the defense minister. Lizcano was kidnapped on August 4, 2000 near the Colombian town of Riosucio. He and his former captor stumbled Sunday onto a patrol near the border of the states of Risaralda and Choco, in central Colombia, authorities said. The FARC holds an estimated 750 hostages in Colombia. Its members have justified hostage taking as a legitimate military tactic. The rebels have been battered this year by government raids that killed several top commanders, the death by apparent heart attack of their founder and a wave of desertions. Government commandoes tricked the FARC in July and freed their most prized hostage, the former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, in an elaborate ruse that also liberated three U.S. defense contractors and 11 other hostages. On Sunday, Lizcano offered words of encouragement to those hundreds who remain trapped in the jungle, captives of the FARC. "Hold on. Hold on," he said. "One day you will enjoy your freedom, too." -- CNN's Karl Penhaul contributed to this report .

Oscar Tulio Lizcano was kidnapped August 4, 2000 by Colombian leftist rebels . The ex-congressman fled about three days ago with help from one of his captors . The FARC holds an estimated 750 hostages in Colombia .

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BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- German federal police seized two suspected terrorists from a Dutch passenger aircraft at Cologne airport Friday shortly before it was due to take off for Amsterdam, officials told CNN. The arrests were made at Cologne's airport. A 23-year-old Somali national and a 24-year-old German citizen who had been born in Mogadishu were arrested on a KLM plane at 6.55 am local time (0455 GMT), a police spokesman said. Police said "farewell" letters had been found from the men that led them to suspect they were intending to carry out terror attacks. It was not revealed where the letters were found or how long the men had been under observation. Walter Roemer, press spokesman at Cologne-Bonn airport, said that the arrests had been "very unspectacular". He said federal police boarded the plane and arrested the two suspects, "without them showing any resistance." The two had been among 40 passengers en route to Amsterdam. All those on board were asked to disembark while the suspects' luggage was identified. The plane took off for Amsterdam after a delay of one hour and 20 minutes. She said everyone was then forced to leave the plane, and there was a "baggage parade" to see whose bags belonged to whom. Watch more details on the incident. » . Amsterdam's Schipol airport Web site listed flight KL 1804, the scheduled morning flight from Cologne to Amsterdam, as having arrived at 9.17 am local time, one hour and two minutes after it was due to arrive. In September 2007, German authorities arrested three suspected militants planning what were described as "massive" attacks on American targets in Germany. German media said at the time that potential targets could have included Ramstein Air Base, the U.S. military's main installation in Germany, or the major international hub of Frankfurt Airport. Terrorism expert Sajjan Gohel told CNN the arrest showed Germany faces a major threat from extremists. Watch Gohel explain details behind the arrests » . "This was a long term operation, there was a couple of individuals that the German intelligence agency was monitoring," he said. "The feeling was that they had come back specifically with the purpose of planning and plotting a terrorist attack." CNN's Diana Magnay in Berlin contributed to this report . Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

Police board KLM flight in Cologne early Friday to arrest suspects . Two suspects said to be Somali man, 23 and German born in Somalia, 24 . Police say "farewell" letters found from the men .

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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CNN) -- Ten South African ministers and the deputy president have resigned as President Thabo Mbeki prepares to leave office. South African President Thabo Mbeki announced his resignation in a televised address Sunday. His replacement, African National Congress Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, will be sworn in as South Africa's president Thursday. Mbeki announced he was resigning on Sunday, prompting threats from several Cabinet members to follow suit -- but the outgoing president urged them to stay in office, government sources said. The resignations, which include Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and Defense Minister Mosiuoa Lekota, will take effect Thursday when Mbeki steps down, a government statement said. "All the ministers have expressed their availability to assist the incoming administration in the hand-over process and any other assistance that might be sought from them," the statement said. The finance minister's assistant told CNN that Manuel is willing to serve in the new government, if needed. Three deputy ministers have also tendered their resignations, a government statement said. A spokesman for South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress, confirmed that it has named Motlanthe as its choice to succeed Mbeki. Motlanthe will stay in office until elections in the spring of next year, which ANC President Jacob Zuma is widely expected to win. Earlier this month, the ANC asked Mbeki to step down after a judge threw out the corruption, fraud and racketeering case against Zuma -- Mbeki's political arch rival. The judge called the case invalid and accused Mbeki's government of political interference. Mbeki -- who has been South Africa's president for nearly 10 years -- spoke of some of his achievements when he formally announced his resignation on Sunday during a televised address. Watch the significance of Mbeki "falling on the sword" » . "I depart this office knowing that many men and woman in South Africa have worked to achieve better lives for all," Mbeki said. Under his leadership the country has had the longest period of sustained economic growth in the South Africa's history and has reached out to indigent people in an unprecedented way, Mbeki said. Mbeki said the country still has economic, corruption and crime challenges to face in the future. And he gave his vote of confidence to the country's next leader without naming who that leader would be. Gwede Mantashe, secretary-general of the African National Congress, announced Saturday that the party -- which Mbeki has been involved with since his teens -- had asked him to leave before his term was up. Mbeki agreed to do so, he said. Mantashe said the ANC made the decision "for the citizens of South Africa, so there could be stability within the country" and so the ANC movement could remain "stable and unified." The case against Zuma -- who replaced Mbeki as ANC president last year -- was thrown out in September 2006, but the National Prosecuting Authority recharged him. Judge Chris Nicholson made no ruling on Zuma's guilt or innocence, and he could be recharged. Political observers doubted that would happen because of Zuma's popularity, particularly with the Communist Party and trade unions. Zuma has denied the charges. He said the case was politically motivated, and harmed his chances to become the ANC's presidential nominee. He could have faced at least 15 years in jail if convicted of accepting bribes from a company that got a contract in a multibillion-dollar arms deal. He also faced charges of having a corrupt relationship with his former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, who is serving a 15-year sentence for soliciting bribes for Zuma and using Zuma's political influence to benefit his businesses. Mbeki, 66, succeeded Nelson Mandela as South Africa's president in June 1999. Critics alleged he pushed for the corruption charges against Zuma. Mbeki recently brokered a power-sharing deal between Zimbabwe's political rivals, who signed the agreement on Monday in an effort to put aside the violent past and end the crisis that has paralyzed Zimbabwe since disputed national elections in March. Under it, longtime Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe remains president, while his perennial rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, has become prime minister and the coordinator of government affairs.

10 S. African ministers, deputy president resign with President Thabo Mbeki . Replacement, ANC Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, sworn in Thursday . Mbeki quit after court case collapsed against longtime rival Jacob Zuma .

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Editor's note: Join Roland S. Martin for his weekly sound-off segment on CNN.com Live at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday. If you're passionate about politics, he wants to hear from you. A nationally syndicated columnist, Martin has said he will vote for Barack Obama in November. He is the author of "Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith" and "Speak, Brother! A Black Man's View of America." Visit his Web site for more information. Roland S. Martin says Lifeway Christian Stores should be given hell for its actions against GospelToday. (CNN) -- In the 19 years that Teresa Hairston has published her magazine, GospelToday, she has never faced a major situation with Christian bookstores across the country that carry the publication. She's tackled any number of issues over the years,and has featured a number of celebrities and ministers, ranging from Yolanda Adams to Bishop T.D. Jakes to Kirk Franklin. But when the Atlanta, Georgia, entrepreneur decided to feature five female pastors on her cover this month, she says, Lifeway Christian Stores treated her like she had converted her Christian publication to something akin to the tastes of porn purveyor Larry Flynt. Apparently, the owner of Lifeway, the Southern Baptist Convention, wasn't too happy with Hairston telling the story of female pastors, because the women go against their 2000 decree that only men can serve in the role of reverend or pastor. According to Hairston, the Christian company didn't even give her the courtesy of a heads-up. "We got an anonymous tip," she told me Tuesday on The Tom Joyner Morning Show, and after checking it out, she discovered that the magazine had been removed from the shelves in all of Lifeway's 100-plus stores nationwide and had been placed behind the counter. "They have never called me," Hairston said. "Never sent an e-mail. Nothing. I had to go see my distributor to verify what they had done." The actions of Lifeway didn't stun me. I had seen this movie before. A few years ago, my wife was a longtime Lifeway teacher. She had taught at the company's teaching centers for years, but then one day, she was notified that she would have to take down her Web site and comply with their rules against female pastors or be dropped as a teacher. Her crime? Calling herself the Rev. Jacquie Hood Martin. It wasn't that she did so for the heck of it. She graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; was the first female staff pastor at Houston's Brookhollow Baptist Church/the Church Without Walls, a Southern Baptist Convention church; and has been leading folks to the Lord all over the country for 20 years. She was angered by Lifeway's decision but made it clear that she didn't serve the bookstore or even the Southern Baptist Convention. She made a commitment to serving Jesus Christ and was not about to back away from her call to ministry because a male-dominated organization decided that its interpretation of the Bible calls for a woman not to be in the pulpit. So she cut them off and kept on calling herself the Rev. Jacquie Hood Martin. Religious folks will quickly say that Scripture is clear that women can't be pastors and lead men, yet Hairston says that when she featured Pastor Paula White on her cover two years ago, Lifeway didn't take any action against the magazine. Anyone who has served in a church or been a member of any faith knows that there are those who have strict interpretations of their faith's writings, while others have a different interpretation. I've heard Brookhollow's pastor, the Rev. Dr. Ralph Douglas West Sr., preach several sermons stating that what Paul wrote in 2 Timothy with regards to only men preaching was specific to that church and not a blanket ban. Second, there were instances where Paul wrote that his views were his own and not mandates from God. That is a doctrinal fight that any of us can have any time (and I love it how these same Bible thumpers ignore the biblical story of Deborah, who was a judge in the Old Testament -- and was over men). But what is a greater issue is that Lifeway clearly has no respect for freedom of the press. Here is arguably the top Christian bookstore in the country making a decision based on their teachings and applying it to a magazine. A spokesman for Lifeway Resources, which runs the stores, was quoted in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week as saying of female pastors, "It is contrary to what we believe." So does Lifeway and, by extension, the Southern Baptist Convention, fight vigorously for freedom of religion, but it doesn't give a hoot about the other freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution? I now wonder whether Lifeway makes it its business to cull through any number of magazines and search for stories that go against its doctrine and pull them from the shelves. This is the kind of nonsense that drives more people away from religion. I suppose it's fitting that this story would come out the same time as Bill Maher releases his religious documentary, "Religulous," which skewers all the major religions for their dogma. I'm sure he feasted on positions of the Southern Baptist Convention. The conduct of Lifeway and the Southern Baptist Convention is shameful, and they owe Hairston an apology for their actions. Yet she's taken it in stride, saying that instead of giving the company hell, she'll "give them heaven." I say, give them a lot of hell for this, because they deserve it for actions. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.

Lifeway stores put Christian magazine behind counter . Magazine featured female pastors on its cover . Lifeway has no respect for freedom of the press, Martin says . Lifeway, Southern Baptist Convention should apologize, he says .

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(CNN) -- Former President Bill Clinton said Thursday he thinks that Barack Obama will win big in the upcoming presidential election. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama chat at Clinton's Harlem office. "I predict that Sen. Obama will win and win handily," Clinton said when asked his opinion on the state of the race. Obama smiled at Clinton's prediction, saying, "There you go, you can take it from the president of the United States. He knows a little something about politics." The two men chatted with reporters in a photo-op at Clinton's Harlem office before sitting down for a private lunch. According to CNN's average of national polls, John McCain currently holds a 1-point lead over Obama, 46-45 percent. iReport.com: Still undecided? The poll of polls, released Thursday afternoon, is composed of the following five national general election surveys: Fox News/Opinion Dynamics (September 8-9), NBC/Wall Street Journal (September 6-8), American Research Group (September 6-8), Gallup (September 8-10), and Diageo/Hotline (September 8-10). It does not have a sampling error. Clinton is scheduled to campaign for Obama in Florida once he wraps up some business with his Clinton Global Initiative. According to aides, the former president will do a mix of fundraisers and public appearances on behalf of the Democratic ticket throughout the fall. "We're putting him to work," said Obama. "I've agreed to do a substantial number of things, whatever I'm asked to do," Clinton said. Watch Clinton make his prediction » . The image of the two men meeting comes as a relief to many Democrats who have been hoping to put to rest the "Clinton-Obama rift" storyline. Both sides agreed a face-to-face meeting with the former president would go a long way toward putting the contentious primary season behind them. Hillary Clinton campaigned for Obama earlier in the week in Florida and will campaign in Ohio this weekend. Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, spoke Thursday with first responders in Parma, Ohio. He opened up the event by telling everyone he did not plan to talk politics. "Let's pull together, let's say together. This is nothing to do with Democrats, Republicans -- it's about Americans," he said. Obama and McCain also put aside politics Thursday to commemorate the September 11 terrorist attacks. The two appeared together at ground zero in New York City to lay roses at the 9/11 memorial and speak with first responders and family members of victims. They were joined by Cindy McCain and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. iReport.com: See photos from the scene . Later Thursday, Obama and McCain will share the stage briefly as they appear back-to-back at the ServiceNation Presidential Candidates Forum at Columbia University in New York. Meanwhile, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin headed home to Alaska after spending the week campaigning with McCain. The pair drew a crowd of more than 20,000 in the sturdily Democratic county of Fairfax, Virginia, on Wednesday. That was their largest crowd to date. After that event, Palin returned home so she could attend her son's deployment ceremony on Thursday. Track Palin enlisted in the U.S. army exactly one year ago. His brigade is going to Iraq. Watch more on Palin's return to Alaska » . Later Thursday, Palin will give her first television interview with a national media outlet since being named as McCain's running mate. The Alaska governor will spend two days with ABC's Charlie Gibson. The interview will be part sit-down, part walk-and-talk at various locations in Alaska. So far, Palin has taken no questions from reporters traveling with her on the campaign trail. An issue that could come up in the interview is the controversy that emerged this week over her per diem charges as governor. The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Palin had billed the state a per diem for 312 days she spent at home, and requested reimbursement for plane rides and hotel rooms for her husband and children, including a $707 room when her daughter accompanied her on a trip to New York to attend a Newsweek forum. The paper noted that officials said the claims were justified under existing state regulations. The McCain campaign said that Palin had reduced yearly travel expenses by roughly 80 percent of the amount spent by predecessor Frank Murkowski. Palin's spokeswoman Maria Comella said the governor's top priority was "creating accountability and transparency in government to root out waste and corruption." "Gov. Palin is obviously expected to travel frequently around the state for community events and to meet with Alaskans. This is part of her job, and it's reasonable that her travel expenses, which were reduced dramatically from the previous administration, would be covered," Comella said in a statement. Palin is expected to rejoin McCain on the trail early next week. CNN's Sasha Johnson, Dana Bash and Alexander Mooney contributed to this report.

NEW: Barack Obama, John McCain lay roses at ground zero . New polls show both candidates with slim leads in key battleground states . Biden speaks with first responders in Parma, Ohio . Sarah Palin back in Alaska for son's deployment ceremony .

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BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Chinese officials in the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reported the death of a fourth baby Thursday in the country's expanding contaminated infant formula case. The tainted milk powder has already sickened more than 6,200 babies. Earlier in the day, authorities announced the arrest of 12 more suspects in the investigation, provincial police said. The arrests bring to 18 the number of people detained, according to the Hebei Public Security Bureau. Twelve of those arrested are involved in the collection of milk and the production of milk products, authorities said. Authorities accuse the other six of illegally selling the chemical added to the milk. More than 1,300 infants are hospitalized, said Li Changjiang, China's director of quarantine and inspection, on Wednesday. Their conditions include malnutrition, kidney stones and acute renal failure. Inspectors have been deployed across the country to test producers' inventories. Of China's 175 baby milk powder production companies, 66 have stopped production, Li said. Watch parents scramble for safe milk » . Two brothers who sold fresh milk used to produce contaminated baby milk powder were arrested by Chinese investigators Monday. They could face death if convicted, according to China Daily, a state-run newspaper. The raw milk had been watered down and a chemical added to fool quality checks, the newspaper said. Investigators said the brothers confessed to watering down the raw milk and mixing in tripolycyanamide, also known as melamine. They said they did it to recover losses suffered when the factory rejected earlier milk shipments, the paper reported. Learn more about the chemical melamine » . The brothers are charged with producing and selling toxic and hazardous food, which carries a possible death penalty, the paper said. Health experts say ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones, urinary tract ulcers, and eye and skin irritation. The chemical is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, fabric coatings, ceiling tiles and flame retardants. Watch CNN visit the company at the center of the scandal » . Thousands of tons of the tainted milk powder have been recalled, including pullbacks by Mengniu Dairy Group, China's largest milk producer, and the Sanlu Group. Chinese investigators have found melamine in nearly 70 milk products from more than 20 companies, Li said Wednesday. Products made by Sanlu had the highest concentration of the chemical. It is not the first time Sanlu has been connected to a scandal involving tainted milk powder, according to China Daily. In 2004, at least 13 infants in the eastern Anhui province died of malnutrition after drinking milk powder that had little to no nutrition. The illegally manufactured milk was falsely labeled with the Sanlu brand, according to the paper. The vast majority of the tainted formula was consumed domestically, but it is known to have been exported to Taiwan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Yemen, Chad and Burundi, according to Li. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said no Chinese baby formula has been allowed on the market in the United States. In a statement on its Web site, the FDA said it had reached out to all five companies making formula in the United States and none has used formula or source materials from China. This episode marks the latest in a string of tainted products produced in China: . CNN's Yuli Yang contributed to this story.

NEW: 12 new arrests raises total number of people detained to 18 . 4 babies have died; over 6,200 infants now known to be ill . China's largest milk producer, Mengniu Dairy Group, recalls three batches of formula . Of China's 175 baby milk powder production companies, 66 have stopped production .

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(CNN) -- Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama engaged in a pointed exchange over al Qaeda in Iraq on Wednesday. Sen. John McCain questioned Sen. Barack Obama's way of handling the war in Iraq. McCain questioned whether Obama was aware of the al Qaeda base. Obama's response was: "There was no such thing as al Qaeda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain decided to invade Iraq." McCain was in Tyler, Texas, and Obama was in Columbus, Ohio. "I understand that Sen. Obama said that if al Qaeda established a base in Iraq that he would send troops back in militarily. Al Qaeda already has a base in Iraq. It's called al Qaeda in Iraq," McCain said. "It's a remarkable statement to say that you would send troops back to a place where al Qaeda has established a base -- where they have already established a base." McCain's comments come in response to remarks Obama made Tuesday night in a debate with Sen. Hillary Clinton. He was asked if the president would have the right to go back into Iraq in order to suppress an insurrection after downsizing the U.S. troop presence. Watch what Clinton and Obama said about the war » . "I always reserve the right for the president ... to make sure that we are looking out for American interests," Obama said. "And if al Qaeda is forming a base in Iraq, then we will have to act in a way that secures the American homeland and our interests abroad." A statement by McCain's press office Wednesday said, "Is Sen. Obama unaware that al Qaeda is still present in Iraq, that our forces are successfully fighting them every day, and that his Iraq policy of withdrawal would embolden al Qaeda and weaken our security?" Obama responded to the latest attacks from McCain, saying his comments were taken out of context. Obama said the question he was asked during the debate was a "big hypothetical." "I said, 'Well, I would always reserve the right to go in and strike against al Qaeda if they were in Iraq,' so you know, this is how politics works," Obama said at a rally in Columbus. "McCain thought that he could make a clever point by saying ,'Well let me give you some news Barack, al Qaeda is in Iraq,' like I wasn't reading the papers, like I didn't know what was going on." "I said, 'Well first of all, I do know that al Qaeda is in Iraq. That's why I've said we should continue to strike al Qaeda targets. But I have some news for John McCain, and that is that there was no such thing as al Qaeda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain decided to invade Iraq." Obama continued to blast Bush and McCain, saying, "John McCain may like to say he wants to follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell, but so far all he's done is follow George Bush into a misguided war in Iraq." McCain in his statement said "the Democratic presidential contenders deny progress and see only gloom and doom. Where is the audacity of hope when it comes to backing the success of our troops all the way to victory in Iraq? What we heard last night was the timidity of despair." The latest exchange comes as a new poll suggests McCain would pose a tough match for the eventual Democratic nominee. Obama is the front-runner for the Democratic nomination. Clinton trails by 97 delegates, but 370 delegates are up for grabs next Tuesday. Watch the shift in Clinton-Obama dynamics » . According to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll, McCain would be in tight races with either of the remaining Democratic presidential candidates. McCain is statistically tied with Obama, 44 percent to 42 percent, and ahead of Clinton by 6 points, 46 percent to 40 percent. The poll's margin of error was plus-or-minus 3 percentage points. The poll also showed McCain with a 61 percent approval rating, a number higher than both Clinton's and Obama's in past polls. The Arizona senator holds a clear advantage on dealing with the war in Iraq, according to the poll, and holds a 9 point advantage on economic issues over Obama, despite having acknowledged that area is not his expertise. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Chris Welch and Alex Mooney contributed to this report.

McCain questions whether Obama is aware of al Qaeda presence in Iraq . Obama says there was no al Qaeda in Iraq until Bush, McCain decided to invade . McCain statement: Comments during Democrats' debate were "timidity of despair" Obama: McCain has followed "George Bush into a misguided war in Iraq"

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(CNN) -- Millions of poor American children have untreated tooth decay, some of them because they cannot find a dentist willing to treat them, a federal report issued Tuesday said. Only 1 in 3 children in Medicaid received any dental care over a year time span, according to a new report. "Dental disease remains a significant problem for children aged 2 through 18 in Medicaid," the U.S. Government Accountability Office report concluded, referring to the federal/state health program for poor people. According to the report, which used data from 1999 to 2004, about 6.5 million children enrolled in Medicaid had untreated tooth decay in 2005 and were nearly twice as likely as children with private health insurance to have untreated tooth decay. The GAO report was ordered after widespread publicity of the case of Deamonte Driver, a 12-year-old boy boy who died last year in suburban Washington when an untreated infected tooth led to a brain infection. Driver "had extensive dental disease and his family was unable to find a dentist to treat him," the report said. The report said 14.8 percent of Medicaid recipients said their children had not gotten necessary dental care because their dentist refused to accept Medicaid, which typically pays providers less than private insurers. "Clearly, the oral health care system failed this young man," said Dr. Jane S. Grover, first vice president of the American Dental Association in testimony Tuesday to the Committee on House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Domestic Policy. "All of us -- practitioners, payers, parents and policymakers -- need to come together and make the system work for the most vulnerable among us," she said. The report found that, nationwide, only one in three children in Medicaid had received any dental care in the year before the survey was carried out, and one in eight reportedly had never seen a dentist. In comparison, more than half of children with private health insurance had gotten dental care during the prior year. "Fundamental changes to the Medicaid program are long overdue to prevent the possibility of future tragedies like Deamonte and to ensure that all low-income children have the same access to oral health care services enjoyed by the majority of Americans," Grover said. Efforts are under way to fix the problem. She cited plans to open eight dental schools in addition to the 57 currently in existence and said a new job -- community dental health coordinator -- has been created. The coordinators will be trained to work in clinics and schools to ensure emergency care is provided to children, she said. "If there had been a CDHC in the school that Deamonte Driver attended, we believe this tragedy could have been prevented," she said. "Through a routine exam, a CDHC could have spotted a simple cavity, filled the cavity with a temporary filling, and made arrangements for care by a dentist," she said. The CDHC will also help families enroll in Medicaid and get transportation to appointments, she said. But even if the numbers of dentists increase, Congress must act to increase fees for those participating in Medicaid to match private rates, she said.

About 6.5 million children enrolled in Medicaid had untreated tooth decay in 2005 . Last year 12-year-old Deamonte Driver died from complications of infected tooth . Dentists often refuse to accept Medicaid, which often pays less than private insurers . Many Medicaid recipients say it's difficult to get dental care using Medicaid .

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BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Consumers in Beijing's malls and shops are shunning the milk and poultry sections -- for good reasons. Poultry products, including eggs, may be contaminated with melamine through animal food. They are shocked and scared by the news headlines: some food produced in China is tainted with melamine. "Of course I'm worried," says a woman shopping in Nanxiaojie Market. Stop eating eggs? "That's not possible," she tells CNN. "If there's a problem with eggs, it should be solved fundamentally." Chinese premier Wen Jiabao says China will take steps to win back consumers. "We will use our actions and high quality of our food products to win the trust and confidence of Chinese people and people around the world," he told reporters at the end of a two-day summit of Asian and European leaders in Beijing last weekend. Watch more about the tainted food scandal » . "Three minister-level officials have resigned and a government investigation is going on. Whoever is responsible must be brought to justice. We need to protect the Made in China brand," said Chinese analyst Victor Gao. But the problem could be more pervasive. The state-run Nanfang Daily published an investigative story saying that adding melamine into animal feed has become an "open secret." The report said adding melamine into feed started in the aquatic farming industry five years ago, as a way of faking higher protein levels. Learn more about chemical melamine » . It then spread into other agro-industries such as poultry. Even more shocking is the allegation that the melamine added is from industrial waste material. CNN contacted the Ministry of Agriculture about the story, but got no immediate response. Two years ago, reports revealed pet food exported from China to the United States was spiked with melamine and had sickened and killed dogs. Several weeks ago, the food scandal spread to milk, biscuits and candies. Now, it is tainted eggs. So far, no illnesses or deaths have been linked to eggs. Tests in Hong Kong last week showed eggs exported by a Chinese company are contaminated with excessive levels of melamine. In recent days three other brands of eggs have also been found to contain the chemical. Small wonder egg sales at the Xinfadi, a wholesale market in Beijing, dropped by 10 percent this week, according to the state-run China Daily. Chinese officials say the source of the problem is melamine, an industrial chemical used to produce plastics and fertilizer. Melamine is high in nitrogen. Unscrupulous milk suppliers would water down milk and spike it with melamine -- but in amounts that allowed it to still pass quality tests. Agriculture experts speculate that eggs tainted with melamine may be the result of tainted feed given to hens. That begs the question: if melamine was in the animal feed, will it make into the meat, and into consumers' bodies? Ingesting melamine in large doses over an extended period of time could cause kidney stones and other illnesses, agriculture and health experts say. But taking in a small amount of melamine poses no such danger. "If it's taken over a long period of time, maybe, but if it's ingested only for short period of time it does not pose harm on animals," says He Jiguo, a professor of food science and nutrition at the China Agriculture University. He says the animals that end up being slaughtered do not live that long and do not actually ingest enough melamine for it to build up in their systems. The dogs and cats that were sickened in the United States were probably eating treats and meals tainted with melamine over a long period of time, he explains. Until the situation is resolved, worried grocery shoppers in Beijing say they'll just have to eat fewer eggs and more bean-products, like soybeans.

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao says China will try to win back consumers . Melamine is said to have been added to animal food products . Report: Adding melamine to feed started in aquatic farming 5 years ago . Some grocery shoppers say to eat fewer eggs and more bean-products .

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(CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama on Monday blamed lobbyists, special interests and "an ethic of irresponsibility" in Washington for the financial crisis that has swept the country in recent weeks. Sen. Barack Obama said Monday there needs to be more oversight in Washington. The senator from Illinois sided with congressional Democrats, who say a government bailout of the financial sector must include government oversight. "We cannot give a blank check to Washington with no oversight and accountability, when no oversight and accountability is what got us into this mess in the first place," Obama said. President Bush's top economic advisers this weekend presented a $700 billion plan to Congress to take control of "illiquid assets," including bad mortgages. Bush urged Congress to pass the plan as is, but Democrats on the Hill already are circulating a counterproposal. Sen. John McCain, Obama's Republican rival for the presidency, said Monday that the government's proposal puts too much power into the hands of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. In a conference call Monday with reporters, McCain's top campaign officials refused to say how the senator from Arizona would vote on the plan because it is not yet clear what the final version will contain. At a campaign event Monday in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Obama laid out the reforms he would pursue as president to avoid another economic crisis. Watch Obama talk about the crisis on Wall Street » . First, Obama said that he would reform "our special interest-driven politics." He said members of his administration would not be able to use their position as a steppingstone for lobbyist careers. Watch what Obama says about McCain's role in the situation » . Obama said he would make the government "open and transparent" and put any bill that ends up on his desk online for five days before he signs it. Secondly, Obama said he would "eliminate the waste and the fraud and abuse in our government." He pointed to fixing the health care system and ending the war in Iraq as ways to cut costs. Obama also said that he and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, would crack down on excessive spending from both parties and close loopholes for big corporations. Obama said he would pursue "updated, common-sense regulations" in the financial market. Earlier Monday, McCain told voters he was "greatly concerned" about the government's proposed rescue plan. "Never before in the history of our nation has so much power and money been concentrated in the hands of one person," McCain said at a town hall meeting in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Republican candidate said that while he admires and respects Paulson, "this arrangement makes me deeply uncomfortable." McCain said a high-level oversight board should be created to shepherd the government's proposed $700 billion bailout plan. McCain criticized Obama for not putting up a plan to address the financial situation. "At a time of crisis, when leadership is needed, Sen. Obama has simply not provided it," he said. Watch what McCain says about Obama's leadership » . Obama has said several times since the recent Wall Street crisis that, in meeting with top economists, he was encouraged to not roll out a specific plan for fear of overly politicizing the work of Congress on a government bailout of financial firms. He has, however, offered ideas for the plan -- including limiting pay for executives of businesses that are bailed out by the government and making sure the effort includes a specific plan for the money to be repaid. McCain on Monday proposed creating a bipartisan oversight board that would be able to "impose accountability and establish concrete criteria for who gets help and who doesn't." The Republican presidential candidate said the board should be made up of "qualified citizens who have no agenda." He pointed to Warren Buffett, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as potential board members. Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, supports Obama. Romney backs McCain, and Bloomberg is an independent. McCain also called for "transparency and accountability" on Wall Street and urged Congress to act quickly. The Bush administration's proposal to bail out the financial system is the centerpiece of what would be the most sweeping economic intervention by the government since the Great Depression. The plan would allow the Treasury to buy up mortgage-related assets from American-based companies and foreign firms with a big exposure to these illiquid assets. The aim is for the government to buy the securities at a discount, hold onto them and then sell them for a profit. The government's rescue plan follows a week of roller-coaster activity in the financial markets. In the lead-up to Bush's proposal, the country saw the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, a Bank of America buyout of Merrill Lynch and a government bailout of insurer American International Group Inc. CNNMoney.com staff contributed to this report.

NEW: Sen. Barack Obama lays out his plan to avoid another economic crisis . NEW: Obama: "We cannot give a blank check to Washington with no oversight" Sen. John McCain expresses reservations about government's rescue plan . McCain says there should be a bipartisan oversight board .

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates flew into Iraq on Monday to oversee a change of command of American forces. Robert Gates is greeted Monday at Baghdad International Airport by Army Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin. Gen. Ray Odierno will take over command Tuesday from Gen. David Petraeus, whose 20-month term in Iraq saw a significant decline in violence with the deployment of additional U.S. troops. U.S. forces are in "mission transition," Gates said Monday, with some troops going home and others backing up Iraqis. "There is no question we will still be engaged, but the areas in which we are seriously engaged will continue to narrow," Gates said during his flight to Iraq. "The challenge for Odierno is how do we work with the Iraqis to preserve the gains we've already achieved and expand on them even as the number of U.S. forces are shrinking." Odierno is expected to set the stage for an eventual U.S. withdrawal. Petraeus will become the new chief of U.S. Central Command, in charge of American forces in the Middle East and Afghanistan. Gates, who is making his eighth trip to Iraq, said Petraeus played a "historic role" during his tenure. "I think he would be the first to acknowledge that he has had a brilliant strategy," he said. "But it has been the brigade commanders and company commanders and the soldiers and Marines and others on the ground who have actually made it work. "We have lost a lot of lives, but it's really been an extraordinary effort of translations of a great strategy into a great success in a very difficult circumstance." At a dinner on the eve of the change-of-command ceremony, Gates presented Petraeus with the Defense Superior Service Medal. He also gave Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, the Distinguished Civilian Service Award -- the highest award given by the secretary of Defense to those not in uniform. "I have never seen a working relationship like this," Gates told the two men. "To find leaders to do what many considered impossible, you two are such men." Odierno will receive his fourth star on Tuesday in a separate ceremony ahead of the change-of-command ceremony. The defense secretary on Monday also met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and told the Iraqi leader that he has seen a notable improvement in security since his first visit to the country nearly two years ago, according to a statement released by the prime minister's office. Gates said the cooperation between Iraqi security forces and coalition forces was responsible for the improvement in security, according to the statement, and al-Maliki praised the successes of the Iraqi armed forces. The prime minister said the gains have brought about a greater sense of normalcy in the country, allowing many internally displaced Iraqis to return to their homes. They also have spurred the economy, he said. The situation in Iraq is far different from that in past years, the prime minister noted. As Gates arrived in Iraq, three bombings -- two in Baghdad and one in Diyala province's Balad Ruz -- provided a rude counterpoint to that message. Two car bombs went off in central Baghdad. The blasts killed 12 people and wounded 36 in the commercial area of the Karrada district, an Interior Ministry official said. The U.S. blamed al Qaeda in Iraq, but gave a lower death toll, saying two "possible" car bombs killed six people and wounded 27. In Balad Ruz, a female suicide bomber detonated explosives at the house of a former U.S. detainee, killing at least 22 people and wounding 33, according to a Diyala security official. The U.S. military also blamed al Qaeda in Iraq for a car bombing Friday in Dujail, north of Baghdad. The Interior Ministry said at least 30 people were killed and 45 wounded; the U.S. said 31 were killed and 40 were wounded. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh and Mohammed Jamjoom contributed to this report.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says U.S. troops in midst of "mission transition" Gen. Ray Odierno taking over command in Iraq from Gen. David Petraeus . Odierno expected to set stage for eventual U.S. withdrawal .

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BEIJING, China (CNN) -- The head of China's quality watchdog is reported to have resigned over the tainted baby milk scandal that has killed four children and sickened nearly 53,000 others. The official Xinhua News Agency said Li Changjiang had quit with the approval of China's State Council. Li's agency is responsible for ensuring that China's food supply chain is safe. Monday's resignation came hours after the World Health Organization said the scandal had highlighted flaws in the country's entire food supply chain. The chemical melamine blamed for causing kidney stones and kidney failure has been detected in formula milk powder from 22 dairies across China. The crisis was initially thought to have been confined to baby milk powder, but tests have found melamine in samples of liquid milk taken from China's two largest dairy producers, Mengniu Dairy Group and Yili Industrial Group, as well as Shanghai-based Bright Dairy. WHO China representative Hans Troedsson said on Monday quality issues could occur anywhere from the farm to the retail outlet. He said "it's clearly something that is not acceptable and needs to be rectified and corrected," according to The Associated Press. Troedsson said the WHO was discussing with officials how to strengthen China's food quality system. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has called milk manufacturers "heartless" and promised stricter laws to protect the public. China's Health Ministry said Sunday that about 13,000 children were hospitalized, while another 40,000 had undergone outpatient treatment for illnesses related to suspected melamine-tainted milk products. The scandal has spread beyond the mainland with melamine being found in three Chinese-made dairy products in Singapore. The country's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said tests on "White Rabbit Creamy Candy" showed that it was contaminated with melamine and it ordered stores to remove the product from shelves. Taiwan announced Monday it was banning the importation of all dairy products from China because of melamine contamination in milk supplies on the mainland, Taiwan's Health Ministry said Monday. And a second child in Hong Kong has been diagnosed with a kidney stones after drinking the tainted milk as worried parents continued to take their children for health checkups, the government said Monday, AP reported. The 4-year-old boy was in hospital in a stable condition, the Hong Kong government said in a statement. A three-year-old girl was sickened by a suspected melamine-tainted milk over the weekend -- the first known illness outside of mainland China. The Chinese premier visited Beijing hospitals and a supermarket Sunday to show his concern for the crisis. "What we need to do now is to ensure that nothing like this happens in the future, not only in dairy products, but in all foods," he said. "Manufacturers and owners of dairy companies should show more morality and social responsibility in these cases. They are heartless, so we have to create strict law and legislation. I'm sorry." Investigators arrested two brothers who sold milk used to produce the contaminated baby milk powder last week. They could face death if convicted, according to China Daily, a state-run newspaper. The raw milk had been watered down and the chemical added to fool quality checks, the newspaper said. Melamine is commonly used in coatings and laminates, wood adhesives, fabric coatings, ceiling tiles and flame retardants. Watch CNN visit the company at the center of the scandal » . But anger has been directed not just at the producers accused of adulterating their milk to increase profits, but also at government regulators, Time magazine reported. "Xinhua was quick to blame the dairy industry for their skewed rules, but what it didn't say was that the government also played a part in that ugly game," the magazine quoted a blogger, identified as sadmoon109, as saying. Health experts say ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones, urinary tract ulcers, and eye and skin irritation. It also robs infants of much-needed nutrition. Thousands of tons of the tainted milk powder have been recalled. Melamine is the same industrial contaminant from China that poisoned and killed thousands of U.S. dogs and cats last year. The chemical, a byproduct of plastic manufacturing, can be used to mimic high-protein additives. Learn more about the chemical melamine » . A senior dairy analyst said Chinese farmers were cutting corners to cope with rising costs for feed and labor. "Before the melamine incident, I know they could have been adding organic stuff, say animal urine or skin," Chen Lianfang of Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultant told Time. "Basically, anything that can boost the protein reading." Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

Head of China's quality watchdog resigns over tainted baby formula scandal . WHO representative said scandal shows up flaws in China's food supply chain . Four infants in China dead, 53,000 reported ill from tainted milk powder .

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(CNN) -- The Beijing Olympics has lost one of its major attractions after Maria Sharapova pulled out of the tennis tournament with a shoulder injury. Sharapova has treatment for a shoulder injury that has ruled her out of Olympics. The Russian world number three sustained the injury in beating Marta Domachowska of Poland at the WTA tournament in Montreal and immediately underwent an MRI scan to determine the extent of the problem. The result was not encouraging and Sharapova told her official Web site of her disappointment. "I'm currently packing up real quick to hop on a plane to New York for a second opinion (on the injury) but I wanted to let you all know first that there is no chance of me competing in Beijing," she said. "The timing is so unfortunate and this makes me more sad than anything." It is another shattering setback for 21-year Sharapova who started the year with a brilliant victory at the Australian Open but has since been struggling with injury and loss of form. Wednesday's match in Montreal was her first since a disappointing exit from Wimbledon. "After the match I knew there was something seriously wrong with my shoulder," she added. Sharapova's appearance in the final grand slam of the season at the U.S. Open, which takes place almost immediately after the Beijing Games, must also be in serious doubt. Sharapova joins a growing list of Beijing casualties, including Athens silver medallist Amelie Mauresmo and fellow Frenchwoman Mary Pierce. Meanwhile, Vera Zvonareva will replace Sharapova in the Russian team for Beijing, spokesman Vladimir Kamelzon has confirmed.

Maria Sharapova withdraws from the Bejing Olympics due to a shoulder injury . Russian star aggravated the injury in three-set win at Rogers Cup Wednesday . Sharapova now a serious doubt for the final grand slam at Flushing Meadows .

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HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Unilever is recalling four batches of Lipton Milk Tea sold in Hong Kong and Macau after finding traces of the chemical melamine in the product, the company said Tuesday. Unilever Hong Kong Limited described it as a precautionary measure and said no other Lipton Milk Tea Powder products were affected. The announcement came a day after British confectioner Cadbury said it has recalled all of its Chinese-made candy products after preliminary tests showed they contained trace amounts of melamine. Some of the products were exported to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, Nauru and Christmas Island, according to the company. They are the latest companies to get caught up in China's tainted milk scandal, which began earlier this month when authorities discovered melamine in powdered infant formula. Watch how scare affects companies outside China » . Contaminated milk has sickened nearly 53,000 children in China, killing four. Countries around the world have since banned the import of Chinese products containing milk, or have withdrawn products that contain milk from China -- such as chocolates -- amid worries they contain melamine. Authorities have arrested 40 people in connection with the milk scandal, including two brothers who could face the death penalty if convicted. Investigators suspect people watered down milk in an attempt to sell more of it, and added melamine in order to fool quality checks, Chinese authorities have said. The toxic chemical is used to bolster apparent protein levels in diluted or poor-quality milk. Others arrested include 19 managers of pastures, breeding farms and milk-purchasing stations. Chinese authorities have said those arrested were involved in a network that made and sold melamine. Authorities have implicated 22 Chinese dairy companies in the scandal. Melamine is the same industrial contaminant from China that poisoned and killed thousands of U.S. dogs and cats last year. Health experts say ingesting melamine can lead to kidney stones, urinary tract ulcers, and eye and skin irritation. It also robs infants of much-needed nutrition. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said a company in Taiwan, the King Car Food Industrial Company, had recalled seven instant coffee and milk tea products that were sold in the United States under the Mr. Brown brand name. They contain a non-dairy creamer found to be contaminated with melamine. The FDA also recommends that U.S. consumers not eat White Rabbit Creamy Candy, which in China has been found to contain unacceptable levels of melamine. The candy's maker, Guanshengyuan, has recalled its exports of White Rabbit Cream Candy.

Unilever recalls four batches of Lipton Milk Tea sold in Hong Kong . Unilever Hong Kong describes it as a precautionary measure . Chinese milk products have been contaminated with melamine .

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(CNN) -- Elvis Presley may have left the building three decades ago, but he raked in more money last year than many living titans of the music industry . Singer Elvis Presley tops the Forbes list for the second year in a row, raking in $52 million last year. For the second year in a row, Presley topped the Forbes magazine's list of Top-Earning Dead Celebrities, hauling in $52 million last year. In comparison, the very-much-alive Justin Timberlake earned $44 million while another superstar, Madonna, made $40 million, the magazine reported Tuesday. The 30th anniversary of Presley's death boosted attendance and merchandise sales last year at his Memphis, Tennessee, home, Graceland. A long list of licensing deals, such as a Presley show on satellite radio, added to the earnings. The business magazine has been compiling its annual list of departed celebrities' earnings since 2001. Since 2003, the feature has coincided with Halloween. This year, the top 13 celebrities earned a combined $194 million in the last 12 months. The magazine says it talked to people inside the celebrities' estates and calculated their gross earnings from October 2007 to October 2008. Some celebrities are staples on the list, which is in its eighth year. Cartoonist Charles Schulz, who created Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the assorted cast of "Peanuts" characters, is second on the list. Schulz, who died in 2000, had posthumous earnings last year of $33 million, the magazine reported. He owes his constant presence to a steady revenue stream from the ongoing licensing of his characters, the magazine said. Schulz and Presley join Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel (this year's No. 6), Beatles legend John Lennon (No. 7) and actress Marilyn Monroe (No. 9) as the only entertainers to make the list every year since its inception. Physicist Albert Einstein, best known for his theory of relativity, is fourth on the list. It is his third consecutive year making the Forbes rankings. Though he died in 1955, a franchise bearing his name -- Baby Einstein -- made big bucks last year selling educational books, DVDs, CDs, toys and other products. It plans to expand into the young-adult market this year. Australian actor Heath Ledger, who died of an overdose in January, made his debut on the list in third place. The magazine estimated his earnings at $20 million, thanks to the success of the movie, "The Dark Knight," in which Ledger played the Joker. The movie grossed $991 million worldwide. Paul Newman, who died of lung cancer last month, also made his first appearance on the list, raking in $5 million. "His income still largely stems from residuals from his classic pictures, as well as more recent productions," the magazine said. The legendary actor's line of natural and organic food products, Newman's Own, earned revenues of $120 million last year, but the earnings were not considered in the tally because Newman donated all profits to charity while he was living, the magazine said. Several entertainers from last year's list failed to make this year's cut, including composer, producer and Beatles guitarist George Harrison, rapper/actor Tupac Shakur, "Godfather of Soul" James Brown, and reggae legend Bob Marley.

Presley earned more than Justin Timberlake ($44M), Madonna ($40M) last year . Cartoonist Charles Schulz, author Dr. Seuss still relevant among children . Beatles' John Lennon comes in at No. 7, but George Harrison drops off list . Heath Ledger debuts on list thanks to performance as Joker in "The Dark Knight"

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(Travel + Leisure) -- China can seem as impenetrable as it is imposing. Consider the numbers: it's the world's most populous nation (1.3 billion), where more than 100 cities have populations over a million. Fifty-six ethnic groups are spread across 22 wildly distinct provinces and five autonomous regions, in a landmass slightly larger than the U.S. The Tiananmen Gate at the entrance to the Forbidden City in Beijing . Its history seems limitless and its traditions just as deep. But here and now, change is the only real constant -- and it is accelerating at a dizzying pace. (One thousand new cars hit the streets of Beijing every day.) How do you begin to fathom a country of such extremes? The futuristic cities glittering above timeworn villages; the great rivers and vast empty deserts; the radical new architecture juxtaposed with millennia-old monuments; the ceaseless push-and-pull between Confucianism, Communism, and commerce. Where do you even begin? Have no fear. Start here with Travel + Leisure's suggestions for where to go and what to see. Beijing: 2--3 days . China's political, historical and cultural capital demands at least three days -- for the familiar landmarks of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, and also for Beijing's 21st-century architecture, such as the "Bird's Nest" Olympic National Stadium by Herzog & de Meuron and the glass-and-titanium dome that is the National Grand Theater. China's contemporary art scene finds its nexus in the galleries and cafés of the Dashanzi Art District, home to the new Ullens Center for Contemporary Art. Travel+Leisure.com: Tips for flying to China . Beijing's atmospheric hutong, or traditional alleyways, are fast disappearing; explore the bustling ones off Nanluoguxiang, near the 13th-century Drum and Bell towers. Then check out the Legation Quarter, a high-end restaurant, entertainment and cultural development set within the former American Embassy compound. And save a morning to stroll the manicured, 660-acre grounds of the Temple of Heaven, site of the circular Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the 15th-century apogee of Chinese ritual architecture. Travel+Leisure.com: Chinese taxi trips . The Great Wall . Numerous stretches of the Great Wall are easily accessible from Beijing (ask your hotel to arrange a car or bus tour). But avoid the tourist trap of Badaling and head to the slightly less trammeled Mutianyu section, a 90-minute drive northeast of the Forbidden City. Early morning is best; try Asia 1 on 1 for day trips. Travel+Leisure.com: Where to stay in China . Shanghai: 2--3 days . First stop: the riverfront promenade known as the Bund, with its Art Deco, Neoclassical, and Beaux-Arts façades, bars and shops, and views of the space-age towers of Pudong. In People's Park you'll find the Shanghai Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Weekdays are the best time to wander among the pine trees and ponds of the 16th-century Yuyuan Gardens. Xintiandi was the birthplace of the Chinese Communist Party; now this restored two-block district is defined by upscale shops and restaurants. The leafy, rustic French Concession is the favored destination for cutting-edge fashion and designs for the home. Shanghai's latest secret? Lane 248, a gritty, narrow street now inhabited by artsy cafés and intimate boutiques, hidden behind Taikang Road. Travel+Leisure.com: China shopping tips and strategies . Guilin: 2 days . (Two hours by air from Shanghai.) With its sheer limestone peaks jutting up from the Li River, Guilin is straight out of a traditional Chinese landscape painting, and remains one of China's most breathtaking sights. Take in the view from Solitary Beauty Peak and marvel at the formations of the Reed Flute Cave. Spring and fall are best; avoid the heat of July and the crowds of the holiday seasons. Xi'an: 2 days . (Two hours by air from Beijing.) China's ancestral capital is renowned for its "terra-cotta army," created during the Qin dynasty (221--207 B.C.): thousands of life-size clay warriors stand in formation as part of the funerary complex of China's first emperor, with much more yet to be excavated. You'll need at least two days here to take in the warriors, see the Shang dynasty bronze relics at the Shaanxi History Museum, walk along the Old City walls, and visit the Da Mai market. Datong: 2 days . (One hour by air or six hours by scenic train ride from Beijing.) Majestic Qing dynasty frescoes are the standout in the celebrated temple district. Nearby excursions include the awesome Buddhist sculptures in the Yungang Grottoes and the Hanging Temple of Mount Hengshan, which clings precipitously to the side of a cliff. Not far away are some especially beautiful eroded mud-brick ruins of the Great Wall. Hangzhou: 2 days . (Two hours by bullet train from Shanghai.) Fabled West Lake is the major draw here, with its elegant causeways, pavilions, gardens, and arched bridges. Hangzhou is also renowned as a culinary capital: local specialties include stuffed-beggar's chicken and fatty dongpo pork; sample both at the great Louwailou restaurant. Travel+Leisure.com: Must-try Chinese food . Suzhou: 1 day . (45 minutes by train from Shanghai.) Famous for its Ming- and Qing-dynasty gardens (don't miss the Garden of the Master of the Nets and the Humble Administrator's Garden), Suzhou was once called the Venice of the East for its canals. But smart travelers know the most picturesque waterways -- fringed by whitewashed houses and 1,000-year-old humpbacked bridges -- are in the village of Tongli, a 50-minute drive away. Kunming: 1 day . (Three hours by air from Shanghai.) This city is one of China's most pleasant, in climate-blessed Yunnan province. Visit the 15th-century Bamboo Temple and the 17th-century Golden Temple, stroll the pavilions and bridges of Green Lake, and savor the raucous energy of the Kundu Night Market. Dali: 1 day . (45 minutes by air from Kunming.) Like nearby Lijiang, Dali has a strong ethnic-minority flavor, a walled Old City with cobblestoned streets, and striking mountain scenery -- but without the same tourist mobs. Explore on foot, peek at the Three Pagodas, or go for a boat ride on Erhai Lake. Taiyuan: 1 day . (One hour by air from Beijing.) The capital of Shanxi province, Taiyuan is home to the Shanxi Provincial Museum, offering a superb survey of the region's 5,000-year history, and the Jinci Temple weaves a thread between Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. And 90 minutes southwest by car is Pingyao, a stunningly preserved walled city and veritable time machine that carries you back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. Planning a beach getaway? Don't miss Travel + Leisure's guide to Affordable Beach Resorts. Copyright 2008 American Express Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.

Explore the traditional alleyways off Nanluoguxiang in Beijing . From Beijing, visit the slightly less trammeled Mutianyu section of the Great Wall . Take in the view from Solitary Beauty Peak in Guilin .

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(CNN) -- A plane crash in eastern Guatemala on Sunday killed 10 people, including eight Americans, a Guatemalan official told CNN. A Cessna Caravan 208 carrying 14 people was en route from Aurora to El Estor when the pilot started making distress calls about engine failure about 45 minutes after takeoff, said Jose Carlos, Guatemala's director of civil aeronautics. The air traffic tower in Guatemala City lost communication with the plane at 9:45 a.m. The plane crashed in Zacapa, an agricultural hub about 115 kilometers (71 miles) east of Guatemala City, killing the pilot Monica Bonilla, co-pilot Luis Fernando LanFiesta and the Americans. Four other passengers were injured and taken to a local hospital. "It seems like the pilot tried her best to make a safe landing in a open field, but was not successful," said Ricardo Lemus, a Zacapa firefighter at the scene of the crash told reporters. "On impact, the aircraft was split into pieces." The charter flight was operated by Aero Ruta Maya.

Cessna Caravan 208 was en route from Aurora to El Estor . Pilot started making distress calls about 45 minutes after takeoff . Plane crashed in Zacapa, about 115 kilometers (71 miles) east of Guatemala City .

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(CNN) -- The credit crisis has transformed the global financial landscape, bankrupting established names and prompting unprecedented interventions by governments and central banks to save others from collapse as they buckle under the weight of "toxic debts." This timeline charts the key moments in that process. 2007 Feb. 7: HSBC announces losses linked to U.S. subprime mortgages. May 17: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said growing number of mortgage defaults will not seriously harm the U.S. economy. A trader at the New York stock exchange reacts to the fall of global stock markets . June: Two Bear Stearns-run hedge funds with large holdings of subprime mortgages run into large losses and are forced to dump assets. The trouble spreads to major Wall Street firms such as Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs which had loaned the firms money. Aug.: French bank BNP Paribas freezes withdrawals in three investment funds. Sept.: Crisis-hit UK bank Northern Rock admits financial difficulties as it asks Bank of England for assistance. Share prices fall as customers queue up to withdraw their money. Oct. 1: Swiss bank UBS announces losses liked to U.S. subprime mortgages. Oct. 5: Investment bank Merrill Lynch reports losses of $5.5 billion. Oct. 15: Cititgroup announces $6.5 billion third quarter losses. Oct. 24: Merrill Lynch announces losses to be over $8 billion. 2008 Jan: Swiss bank UBS announces fourth quarter losses at $14 billion. Jan. 11: Bank of America pays $4 billion for Countryside Financial. Jan. 15: Citigroup reports $18.1 billion loss in fourth quarter. Jan. 17: Merrill Lynch reports $11.5 billion loss in fourth quarter. Washington Mutual posts losses. Feb. 13: UK bank Northern Rock is nationalized. March: UK hedge fund Peloton Partners and U.S. fund Carlyle Capital fail. March 16: Bear Stearns, the U.S.'s fifth largest investment bank, collapses and is taken over by JP Morgan. April 1: German Deutsche Bank credit losses of $3.9 billion in first quarter. April 13: U.S. bank Wachovia Corp. reports big loss for quarter. May 12: HSBC writes off $3.2 billion in the first quarter linked to exposure to the U.S. subprime market. July 22: WaMu reports $3.3 billion loss for second quarter. Aug. 31: German Commerzbank AG takes over Dresdner Kleinwort investment bank. Sept 7: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac effectively nationalized by the U.S. Treasury which places them into "conservatorship." Sept. 9: Lehman Brothers shares plummet to lowest level on Wall Street in more than a decade. Sept 14: Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy. Stock markets plummet; Central banks inject billions of dollars into money markets. Bank of America agrees to buy Merrill Lynch. Sept. 16: AIG Corp, the world's biggest insurer, bailed out by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Morgan Stanley and Wachovia enter merger talks. Sept. 17: Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) to merge with UK bank Lloyds TSB in an emergency rescue plan. Sept. 18: Federal Bank and other central banks inject billions into global markets to help ease the crunch. Sept. 22: Japan's Nomura Holdings buys Lehman's Asian operations for up to $525 million. Sept. 25: WaMu sold to JP Morgan. Sept. 27: HSBC announces 1,100 job cuts worldwide. Sept. 29: - U.S. Congress rejects $700 billion plan to bail out the U.S. financial system. - UK's Bradford & Bingley nationalized. Santander to buy deposits for $38.2bn - German bank Hypo Real Estate to be bailed out by banks and government. - Citigroup, the world's largest bank, says it will buy Wachovia. - Belgian giant Fortis is bailed out by Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. - Royal Bank of Scotland shares lose a fifth of their value. - Iceland part-nationalizes Glitnir, one of its biggest banks. Sept 30: - Belgian bank Dexia bailed out by France, Belgium and Luxembourg. - Swiss bank UBS announces small profit in third quarter. - Irish government guarantees safety of bonds, debts and deposits. Oct 1: US Senate passes amended $700 billion bail-out plan. Oct 3: - US Congress passes $700 billion bail-out, President Bush signs it into law. - Swiss bank UBS to cut 2000 jobs. - Dutch government nationalizes banking and insurance activities of Fortis. Oct 4-6: - Proposed Hypo Real Estate bailout collapses. - Chancellor Angela Merkel announces new plan for Hypo bailout worth $69bn. - Merkel also announces guarantee of deposits in German banks. - UK raises limit on guaranteed bank deposits from £35,000- £50,000. - EU leaders meet in Paris for emergency summit to discuss financial crisis. - Battle rages between Citigroup and Wells Fargo over purchase of Wachovia. - French bank BNP Paribas takes 75% stake in Fortis . Oct 6: - Danish government announces plan to guarantee bank deposits - Wells Fargo and Citigroup agree to legal standstill in battle for Wachovia. - Bank of America reports 68% profit drop, stock sale to raise $10bn. Oct 7: Icelandic bank Landsbanki nationalized; Icesave, Landbanki's internet bank, freezes UK customers' accounts. Oct 8: - UK Treasury freezes assets of Landsbanki in the UK; threatens legal action - UK Treasury announces £500 billion bank rescue package. - U.S., UK, China, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland and ECB cut interest rates. - IMF forecasts "Major global downturn". Oct 9: Iceland nationalizes its biggest bank Kaupthing. Oct 10: Black Friday - G7 finance ministers meet in Washington and issue a five-point plan. - Nikkei falls almost 10%, biggest drop in 20 years. - FTSE falls more than 10%, closes at 8.85%; worst daily fall since 1987. - Oil prices fall to $80 a barrel. - Dow crashes nearly 700 points before regaining some lost ground. - Icelandic bank Kaupthing is nationalized. Oct 11- 12: - The Fed rubberstamps Wachovia takeover by Wells Fargo. - 15 EU leaders meet in Paris for emergency summit on crisis. - Gordon Brown urges them to adopt similar measures to UK bank rescue plan. - Leaders agree to guarantee loans between banks until end of 2009. - Germany, France and Italy to announce individual plans Monday. - Australia agrees to guarantee deposits for next 3 years. - New Zealand guarantees bank deposits for 2 years. Oct 13: - EU stock markets bounce back in response to EU leaders' bailout announcements. - UK bails out 3 banks: RBS, HBOS and Lloyds TSB at cost of $63 billion. - Bank of England loans $174 million to Icelandic bank Landsbanki to help repay UK depositors. Oct 14: - Iceland in talks with Russia to negotiate emergency loan of $5.44 billion after bank collapses. - U.S. follows UK lead by part-nationalizing banks. Oct 15: - European and Asian stock markets fall after initial upswing. - Southeast Asian nations agree to start fund to provide financial support to countries in crisis; World Bank commits $10 billion to the planned fund. - Russian stock market posts losses as RTS Index falls below 800 points. Oct 16: - Global markets fall on fears of global slowdown. - Citigroup delays merger of its Japanese brokerage units due to costs involved. - Swiss government bails out UBS with $59.2 billion. - Credit Suisse posts 1.3 billion-franc third quarter loss; raises $8.7 billion from investors. - Hungarian central bank gets cash injection from ECB to value of $6.7 billion. - EU leaders at Brussels summit call for complete overhaul of international financial system.

Banking crisis has transformed the world's financial landscape . Many established names bankrupted or bailed out as a consequence of bad debts . After inital upswing, world stock markets fall once more . EU leaders at summit call for overhaul of international financial system .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate approved a controversial nuclear deal with India on Wednesday, clearing the way for the United States to export nuclear know-how to India after a ban lasting decades. President Bush, who supports the deal, meets with India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week. Sen. Chris Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, said the deal would not only "set the stage for a stronger U.S.-India relationship," but also would promote stability in India's troubled neighborhood. "This agreement is indicative of a new era in Indian foreign policy, an era in which India will see all the world's powers as potential partners in efforts to address its own needs and the needs of others," Dodd said. "I believe that this new era will bring increased stability and progress in South Asia." India and Pakistan have fought several wars since they became independent in 1947, and both countries have tested nuclear weapons. Wednesday's vote was 86-13. Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, spoke against what he called flawed legislation before the vote. "If we pass this legislation, we will reward India for flouting the most important arms control agreement in history, the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and we will gravely undermine our case against hostile nations that seek to do the same," Harkin said. Before he voted against the bill, he said Congress had not debated the legislation properly. "It was hustled through [the House of Representatives] without any hearings and without a vote in the House Foreign Affairs Committee," he said. "Here in the Senate, the Foreign Relations Committee held just one hearing with just one witness who spoke in support of the agreement." Presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain voted for the bill. President Bush urged the Senate to pass the bill in a statement released before the vote. The bill "represents a major milestone in the transformation of our nation's important relationship with India," the statement said. One senator had anonymously been using parliamentary rules to prevent the bill from coming to a vote, but the leaders of the Senate announced Tuesday night the vote would go ahead. The House of Representatives passed the bill without debate on Saturday. The next step is for Bush to sign it into law. The Indian nuclear market is a rich prize, and the agreement could open the way for U.S. companies to earn billions of dollars building nuclear power plants in India. The French government clinched its own nuclear trade deal with India on Wednesday when President Nicolas Sarkozy signed an agreement in Paris. That puts French companies in the running for some of the same contracts U.S. companies want. In exchange for access to U.S. nuclear technology, India would allow international inspections of its civilian -- but not military -- nuclear power plants. It would also promise not to resume testing of nuclear weapons. The United States banned nuclear trade with India after India exploded a nuclear device in 1974 and refused to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. In an informal agreement between the two nations, the United States said it would halt any nuclear cooperation should India resume testing.

Deal could let U.S. businesses earn billions building plants in India . President Bush backs the deal; he's expected to sign it into law . U.S. banned nuclear trade with India in 1974 . Sen. Harkin, bill opponent: We're rewarding India for flouting nonproliferation pact .

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(CNN) -- While Sen. Barack Obama says he'll visit Iraq and Afghanistan before the election, he's staying consistent with his plans to start withdrawing U.S. troops almost immediately should he become president. Sen. Barack Obama says he'll go to Iraq and Afghanistan before November. Obama says the need to withdraw troops is twofold: . "One is to spur more action out of the Iraqis. ... But the second reason for withdrawal is the fact that we're spending $10 [billion] to $12 billion a month in Iraq," Obama said Monday while on a two-day swing through Michigan. "The people here in Flint, Michigan, who I'm going to be talking to, would like to see some of that investment made here at home." Obama also expressed concern that the Bush administration would rush to make some sort of status of forces agreement that would be binding to the next administration. The war in Iraq is a key issue for voters in the United States, and Obama and Sen. John McCain offer vastly different solutions for how to handle it. Obama supports a phased withdrawal of troops. He says he'd remove all combat brigades from Iraq within 16 months of taking office if he becomes president. McCain does not think American troops should return to the United States until Iraqi forces are capable of maintaining a safe, democratic state. He has been a strong advocate of the "surge" -- the 2007 escalation of U.S. troops -- and says troops should stay in Iraq as long as needed. McCain says Obama is wrong for opposing the increased troop presence, and Obama says McCain's judgment is flawed. Obama spoke Monday with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and told him he looked forward to seeing him in Baghdad before November. He also said he planned to visit Afghanistan before the election. Watch Obama say he's going to Iraq » . "I emphasized to him how encouraged I was by the reductions in violence in Iraq, but also insisted that it is important for us to begin the process of withdrawing U.S. troops, making clear that we have no interest in permanent bases in Iraq," Obama said. "I gave [Zebari] an assurance that should we be elected, an Obama administration will make sure that we continue with the progress that's been made in Iraq, that we won't act precipitously," he said. Obama said Zebari did not express concern about a withdrawal of American troops, saying, "He did emphasize his belief that we've made real progress and, I think, was eager to see political accommodations between the factions follow up in the wake of this progress." About the same time Obama was speaking to his traveling press corps, McCain told reporters at a press conference at his Arlington, Virginia, headquarters that Obama "is now is closing in on his 900th day since he visited Iraq." The Republican National Committee has a counter on its Web site that clocks the time since Obama's last visit to the country. "The whole debate in this campaign should be about whether we're going to allow that surge to continue to succeed or we're again going to do what Sen. Obama wanted to do, and that is to set a date for withdrawal long ago without giving the surge a chance to succeed," said McCain, again criticizing Obama for not meeting directly with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq. "I don't know how you can draw conclusions such as Sen. Obama has without even sitting down and talking with our commander on the ground," he added. McCain sat down with the visiting foreign minister one day before Obama. Watch McCain talk with Zebari » . The senator from Arizona said they had a "very good discussion about the challenges that have been overcome and the challenges that lay ahead," and he said there is "no doubt" that the surge has succeeded. There have been recent improvements in Iraq, where there are more than 150,000 U.S. troops. The number of deaths of U.S. troops there was at a five-year low last month, and Zebari said Saturday that the country has the lowest level of violence in the past four years. Military experts and Brookings analysts Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack triggered criticism last year when they returned from Iraq and argued that things were not as bad as they had seemed. Watch experts weigh in on Iraq » . "I do think that there was a sense among the Democratic Party that the war, and the failure of the war, was going to be a major election issue for them that they could use against the Republicans," Pollack said Sunday on CNN. "And so, when you had two Democrats coming back and saying, 'Look, there actually is progress there. This thing is not completely lost, and we ought to give it some more time' -- which is effectively all we were saying -- I think that this was a bombshell, because it wasn't what people had heard before." O'Hanlon said Sunday that they've seen continued progress, especially in the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces. He said Democrats are not rethinking their Iraq policy because, for many of them, "this is the symbol of the Bush administration's failed foreign policy." "This became the symbol of Bush administration arrogance and unilateralism. And then, for four years it went badly. So, given that backdrop, it's pretty hard for Democrats to come around to the idea that perhaps, by Bush finally letting professionals run this war instead of ideologues, that we have begun to rescue this situation. I think that's the simplest interpretation." CNN's Alexander Marquardt and Chris Welch contributed to this report.

Obama says he'll visit Iraq, Afghanistan before election . RNC Web site has counter clocking days since Obama's last visit . McCain, Obama offer vastly different strategies to deal with Iraq . Analysts see improvement on the ground in Iraq .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House of Representatives on Tuesday night passed an energy bill clearing the way for more oil drilling off U.S. coasts, but not nearly as much as Republican leaders wanted. The bill was passed by a vote of 236-189. Many Republicans opposed the bill because it would allow new oil drilling only between 50 and 100 miles offshore. Republicans generally want to allow new drilling starting 3 miles from shore. Republicans also objected to provisions repealing tax cuts for the oil industry and what they said was a lack of incentive for states to allow drilling on their land. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, told reporters Tuesday: "The American taxpayers have been ripped off for years on offshore drilling. This bill changes that." Before the vote, Pelosi said the bill presented a choice between "the status quo, which is preferred by Big Oil," and "change for the future to take our country in a new direction." Fifteen Republicans voted for the largely Democrat-backed bill. Thirteen Democrats voted against it. The Senate, meanwhile, could vote on various energy proposals, including more offshore drilling, as early as this week. The House bill would require states to give their permission for drilling on their land. It also would offer incentives for renewable energy, require the government to release oil from its emergency reserve, and force oil companies to drill on federal lands they already lease from the government. Democratic leaders had previously opposed Republican-led efforts to repeal a 1981 law barring most offshore drilling. But they changed course over the August recess, saying their new plans would allow some expanded drilling. See where U.S. offshore drilling is banned » . But Republicans say the House bill wouldn't expand offshore drilling enough. Before the vote, Rep. Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican, called the bill "a charade," denying it would do what its backers claim. "This is not 'yes' to drilling. This is 'yes, but,' " he said. "This is 'yes, but no drilling in Alaska, no drilling in the Eastern Gulf, no drilling inside 50 miles,' " Pence said. "This is 'yes, but no litigation reform that will prevent radical environmental attorneys from tying up leases even before a single shovel of dirt is turned.' " Democrats and Republicans traded harsh words on the House floor Tuesday in the debate over the bill. Rep. Anthony Weiner, a New York Democrat, said President Bush's "idea of an energy policy is holding hands with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, embracing him with a big smooch." When the Republicans "controlled Congress, [they] passed their own energy bill, signed into law by the president. We got into this mess," Weiner said. But Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican, shot back that the Democrats' bill is a "sham" and a "fraud." "This is a bill designed to ensure Democrats' re-election, not designed to ensure affordable energy in America," Hensarling said. Hensarling also complained about how the bill was brought to the floor: "No amendments, no substitutes, no committee hearings. Is this democracy? No."

NEW: Bill passes by 236-189 vote . Democrats' plan would expand offshore drilling, but Republicans not satisfied . Some Republicans fought proposal, saying too many areas still would be banned . Republican representative: "This is not 'yes' to drilling. This is 'yes, but' "

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BEIJING, China (CNN) -- The Chinese women's gymnastics team did not use underage competitors during this year's Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, the International Gymnastics Federation said Wednesday. Widespread reports claimed that gold medal winner He Kexin was only 14 years old. The federation said it has concluded its inquiry into the matter after it confirmed the gymnasts' ages through official documents that the Chinese Gymnasts Association provided. The documents included passports, identity cards and household registers. However, the organization intends to further investigate the ages of two gymnasts, Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun, who participated in the 2000 summer games in Sydney, Australia. The federation said it did not consider the explanations and evidence that Chinese authorities provided in regard to those athletes as satisfactory. The International Olympic Committee had asked gymnastics officials to clarify the situation after numerous commentators, bloggers and others questioned whether about half the members of China's team were old enough to compete. Watch tiny gymnasts work out » . Athletes must be at least 16 in the year the games take place. In women's gymnastics, younger girls can have an advantage over older competitors on account of their often smaller, lighter and more agile bodies. The Chinese women's gymnastics team won a gold medal in a team competition at the Beijing games, and five members won individual medals. One of the challenges came from a blogger known as "Stryde Hax." The blogger claimed to have uncovered proof that Chinese gymnast He Kexin is only 14. In Internet searches, "Stryde Hax" allegedly uncovered Web pages showing lists complied by China's General Administration of Sport that show a 1994 date of birth for He. CNN was not been able to independently verify the information, but snapshots of the Web pages appeared to back up the claim. Other bloggers joined the search and reported similar results. The New York Times conducted its own investigation, producing similar results that seem to implicate He and two other members of the team. The Times uncovered a 2006 biography on He that lists her birthday as January 1, 1994. The International Gymnastics Federation, however, has said that those gymnasts were eligible and that the ages on their passports were correct. Chinese gymnastics coaches also defended their team. "Asians have different figures than people from the West, so that's what caused their suspicion," said Huang Yubin, head coach of the men's and women's teams, referring to media inquiries. "They shouldn't be suspicious."

Athletes met age requirements, international commission concludes . Some writers, others suspected girls were younger than rules allowed . Chinese team won gold medal in Summer Olympics at Beijing . Passports, identity cards, household records examined .

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(CNN) -- British police were told in March this year that missing girl Madeleine McCann may have been kidnapped by a pedophile ring which followed her three days before her abduction, according to reports. Madeleine McCann went missing in May 2007 after being left at a holiday apartment in the Algarve region. Britain's Daily Telegraph and The Sun newspapers both reported Thursday that an email released this week as part of the documents compiled by the Portuguese investigators probing Madeleine's disappearance revealed the connection to the ring. Madeleine was 3 when she disappeared May 3, 2007, while she was on holiday with her family at the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz. Her disappearance prompted headlines worldwide. According to the newspapers, the email was sent on March 4 by a London-based Metropolitan Police intelligence officer to Leicestershire police -- Madeleine's home county -- who then forwarded it on to investigators in Portugal more than a month later. In the email, which both newspapers printed a copy of, the officer writes that "intelligence suggests that a pedophile ring in Belgium made an order for a young girl three days before Madeleine McCann was taken. "Somebody connected to this group saw Maddie, took a photograph of her and sent it to Belgium. The purchaser agreed the girl was suitable and Maddie was taken," the officer wrote. The Daily Telegraph reported the Portuguese police then asked Interpol to investigate. However, nothing appears to have come of the lead. Watch how Madeleine McCann may have been abducted to order » . Belgium has already featured in the case, with a reported sighting on the Dutch/Belgian border last August already discounted. The case files, released by the Portuguese investigators this week after they shelved the investigation for lack of evidence last month, have provided a raft of leads for the media to report. On Tuesday, the documents revealed a previously undisclosed sighting of Madeleine in the Netherlands shortly after her disappearance. The possible sighting of Madeleine in May 2007 stemmed from a report by a Dutch shopkeeper, who told authorities she encountered a little girl in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She said the child identified herself as Maddie and said she was taken from her mother while on holiday. "I start to ask where her mommy was," Anna Stam said. "She couldn't tell me that. I wanted to give her a balloon, but she didn't want that. She only wants her mommy, she said. And she said that these people took her from her mommy." At one point, authorities had named the girl's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, as "arguidos," or suspects, along with a British man living in Portugal, Robert Murat. But a spokesman for the Portuguese public prosecutor's office said authorities found no evidence of involvement by any of the three and were no longer considering them "arguidos." After closing the case, police turned their case file -- containing up to 30,000 pages -- over to attorneys and private investigators working for the McCanns. The McCanns have vowed to keep searching for their daughter. .

Portuguese police case file reveal more leads in Madeleine McCann disappearance . Email from British police suggests Madeleine taken by pedophile ring . Ring followed three-year-old girl before snatching her, reports claim .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- A neighborhood in east London was getting back to normal Saturday after British Army engineers detonated a large World War II bomb unearthed this week on a building site, officials said. Army engineers covered the bomb with sand to minimise the risk of an explosion. An Army bomb disposal team carried out a controlled explosion on the 2,200-pound German warhead at 5:55 p.m. (12:55 p.m. ET) Friday, London's Metropolitan Police said. Video of the blast showed brown dirt, debris and black smoke shooting into the air when the bomb went off. There were no reports of any injuries or damage to surrounding property after the blast, the police and Ministry of Defense said. The public was allowed back into the industrial neighborhood by Friday night, authorities said. Two subway lines and a rail line in the area, which were shut down after construction crews discovered the bomb Monday, were running normal service Saturday, transportation officials said. London's transit authority, Transport for London (TfL), said the police and army gave permission for its engineers to check the tracks less than an hour after the controlled explosion. The tracks were clear of debris and damage and services resumed at 7:13 p.m. (2:13 p.m. ET), TfL said. Contractors preparing a waterway near the site of the future Olympic Park discovered the bomb Monday. The Ministry of Defense said the bomb, which measured four feet by two feet, was the largest one found in the capital since 1975. The bomb was "enormous," said Simon Saunders, a spokesman for the British Army's London district. At one point during the week the bomb started ticking, which suggested a timing device, Saunders said. Disposal experts put strong magnets next to the bomb to shut down the clockwork and the ticking stopped, he said. It's not uncommon for World War II-era bombs to be unearthed in Europe. In London, which suffered the aerial bombardment of the Blitz, bombs are uncovered two or three times a year, Saunders said. The London Blitz lasted from September 1940 until May 1941. German bombers attacked the city every day or night for the first two months, but the worst night was the last -- May 10, 1941, when 3,000 people were killed in London, according to the Museum of London. Much of the Blitz focused on east London. In all, more than 20,000 people were killed in the Blitz, short for "Blitzkrieg," the German word for "lightning war."

British Army engineers detonate a large World War II bomb in London . Ministry of Defense: Bomb was the largest found in the capital since 1975 . Disposal experts used strong magnets to stop timer after bomb started ticking .

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