Johnson victorious in `Dance' finale By SUSAN BULLINGTON KATZ, For The Associated Press

Johnson victorious in `Dance' finale By SUSAN BULLINGTON KATZ, For The Associated Press
37 minutes ago



LOS ANGELES - Sabra Johnson was named "America's Favorite Dancer" and won the $250,000 first prize on Fox's hit talent show "So You Think You Can Dance."

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"I can't take the smile off my face, and it's hurting so bad," the 20-year-old from Roy, Utah, told The Associated Press after learning she won Thursday.

Four finalists had remained at the beginning of the finale: Neil Haskell, Lacey Schwimmer, Danny Tidwell and Johnson. Johnson emerged as the viewers' choice.

Show host Cat Deeley said a record-setting total of 16 million viewers called in votes for their favorite contestants after Wednesday's show.

"She's only been dancing for four years, and that's got to be inspirational for anybody out there watching this program and thinking, `Should I begin dancing?'" said Nigel Lythgoe, the series' executive producer and one of its judges.

Next up for the top 10 dancers is a 50-city tour. But what happens after that for America's Favorite Dancer?

"So I'm just hoping that now it kind of puts me where I want to be with choreographers knowing me and maybe getting shows that I wouldn't have otherwise gotten, because now people have seen what I can do," Johnson said.

This was the third season for the Emmy-nominated show. Judges narrowed the field to 20 after auditioning thousands of would-be contestants in Chicago, Atlanta, New York and Los Angeles.

Much like "American Idol," judges evaluated the dancers' routines, then viewers called in votes for their favorites.

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On the Net:

http://www.fox.com/dance/

Will Wall St. woes lead to recession? By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer

Will Wall St. woes lead to recession? By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer
32 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - The stock market is on a stomach-churning ride, the nation's once high-flying housing market is sinking deeper into gloom, and credit, the lifeblood of the economy, is drying up. If consumers get nervous enough, many economists believe, all of these troubles could become the perfect storm that will plunge the country into a recession.

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And the odds seem to be increasing with every new turbulent day on Wall Street. Since setting a record close of 14,000.41 just a month ago, the Dow Jones industrial average has shed 1,154.63 points in a string of triple-digit losing days that have raised anxiety levels not just on Wall Street but on Main Street.

The markets have been pummeled by a rapidly spreading credit crisis that began with rising defaults in subprime mortgages — home loans made to people with weak credit histories. Now the problems are spreading to other borrowers.

Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's largest mortgage banker, was forced to borrow $11.5 billion on Thursday so it could keep making home loans. It was a move that rattled investors who have watched a number of smaller mortgage companies go under because of credit problems.

The shockwaves have extended to giant Wall Street investment firms such as Goldman Sachs, which announced earlier this week that it was pumping $2 billion into one of its struggling hedge funds. BNP Paribas, France's largest bank, last week froze three funds that had invested in the troubled U.S. mortgage market.

The Federal Reserve and other central banks, responding to the widening credit problems, have infused the banking system with billions of dollars in an effort to keep short-term interest rates from surging and making credit even more difficult to obtain.

However, those billions have not succeeded in calming investors who are worried about which big hedge fund or mortgage company will be the next to announce serious problems. For that reason, investors have become fearful to supply money through credit markets to companies even if they have strong credit records.

"There is just a lot of fear out there," said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's in New York. "Right now people are so scared that we are losing liquidity even on safe securities."

The credit crunch and market turmoil have increased the chances of a recession, many economists believe, from about one in six just a few weeks ago to one in three now.

"The risks of a recession have risen considerably and they will keep rising with each day that financial markets remain in turmoil," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com.

The concern is that not only non-conforming mortgages, those that don't meet the standards set by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, will become hard to obtain but money for regular conventional mortgages will be tough to find as well. And the credit crunch could also spread to other types of consumer loans such as auto loans and credit card debt.

Since consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the gross domestic product, the economy could quickly loose altitude if consumers find it more difficult to borrow the money they need to buy cars, appliances and clothes.

There is also a fear that the credit crunch could harm business borrowing, forcing companies to scale back on their plans to expand their operations, resulting in job layoffs throughout the economy, not just in the construction industry, which has already been struggling with the slowdown in housing.

The unemployment rate ticked up a notch to 4.6 percent in July and many economists believe it will hit 5 percent this winter, a figure that could go higher if economic growth suffers more than is now expected.

Rising unemployment would represent another blow to consumer confidence, which is likely to be rattled by the recent troubles on Wall Street. Worried consumers tend to grow more cautious and spend less, yet another blow.

Housing, where all the troubles started, will continue to be the hardest hit sector. The government reported Thursday that new home construction fell in July to the lowest level in a decade. Economists believe that the housing slump, already the worst in 16 years, will deepen in coming months, trimming economic growth further.

The economy, which had rebounded to growth of 3.4 percent in the April-June quarter, is likely to slow to below 2 percent in coming quarters, analysts at Global Insight are forecasting.

Growth at such subpar levels raises the risk that some unforeseen event, such as a further spike in energy prices, or more financial market turbulence, could push the country into a full-blown recession.

By one rule of thumb, a recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of declining economic output as measured by the gross domestic product.

While those are the threats economists see, they also believe the government has the power to stave off a downturn. Many believe the Fed should move not just to supply temporary reserves to the banking system, which it is doing now, but to cut interest rates, something Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues have so far been reluctant to do because of concerns about inflation.

However, reports this week showed prices outside of energy at both the wholesale and retail level were well-behaved, an indication that the Fed may now have the leeway to cut rates.

President Bush, whose approval rating for his handling of the economy was at 41 percent in August, according to the latest AP-Ipsos poll, near the low-point for his presidency, tried last week to calm market fears. After meeting with his economic team, Bush told reporters that he believed financial markets would be able to achieve a "soft landing."

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in an interview Thursday in The Wall Street Journal that while the turmoil "will extract a penalty on the growth rate" he believed the country will be able to avoid a recession.

Republicans seeking to hold onto the White House in next year's presidential contest certainly hope that forecast comes true.

"If the country goes into a recession now, it means the economy will still be flat on its back next year before voters go to the polls," said Lyle Gramley, senior adviser at Schwab Washington Research Group. "I don't think the administration wants that."

Asian markets fall; Tokyo down 5.4 pct. By YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business Writer

Asian markets fall; Tokyo down 5.4 pct. By YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business Writer
27 minutes ago



TOKYO - Asian shares tumbled again Friday, with the Tokyo benchmark nose-diving 5.4 percent, as the region showed little sign of staging a recovery amid a global sell-off over U.S. credit fears. European stocks, meanwhile, were mixed in early trade.

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The dollar's decline that worsened earnings prospects for Japanese companies added to the battering Tokyo's benchmark has been taking in recent sessions, sending the Nikkei 225 index crashing 874.81 points, or 5.4 percent, to close at 15,273.68, its lowest close in a year.

Hong Kong's blue chip Hang Seng Index was down as much as 5.2 percent midafternoon, and the Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 3.19 percent after dropping 6.9 percent the previous session.

In early European trade, Britain's FTSE is up 1.1 percent, France's CAC 40 index is up 0.6 percent and Germany's DAX is down 0.25 percent.

Some Asian markets had tried to buck the trend on early bargain-hunting but quickly began falling across the board, continuing a worldwide sell-off that has hit recently over the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis.

"The fear factor has overtaken people," said Song Sen Wun, regional economist at CIMB-GK Research Pte. Ltd., adding that people could realize that the fears are overblown as quickly as Monday.

"Whether this is a case of blind panic remains to be seen," he said by telephone from Singapore.

Taiwan main stock benchmark fell 1.4 percent to a three-month low at 8,090.29. Philippine 30-company stock index closed at a new low for the year, losing 2 percent to its lowest level since Dec. 27.

New Zealand's NZX-50 index shed 1.6 percent in a rush of selling in the last hour of trading. Shares were also down in Australia, India, Malaysia, Singapore and China.

Credit Suisse Chief Strategist Shinichi Ichikawa said any bad news ahead, such as a bank abroad faltering, could worsen the market jitters.

"The next couple of weeks will be a very tough time for global financial markets," he said.

Earlier Friday, Japan's central bank injected $10.5 billion into money markets — the third injection this week and triple the amount it injected the day before — in a bid to curb rises in key interest rates.

Central banks in the U.S., Europe, Australia and Japan have injected tens of billions of dollars into money markets since Aug. 9, when stocks tumbled because of worries over U.S. subprime mortgage problems. So, far the extra money, meant to ease concerns about a credit crunch, has been unable to halt the global sell-off.

In Japan, a further fall of the dollar against the yen led stocks lower. A weak dollar hurts Japan's giant exporters like Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony Corp. by reducing the value of their overseas earnings when converted into yen. A weak dollar also makes Japanese exports more expensive abroad.

The dollar slid to 111.80 yen by late afternoon, down from 113.11 yen late Thursday in New York. That's the dollar's lowest level since June 2006, and breaks an overnight low of 112.01.

The Japanese yen has gained sharply this week as investors buy the currency to pay back low-interest yen loans they had used to invest in emerging markets.

The Dow Jones industrial average Thursday closed down just 16 points after falling more than 340 points during the day, pulling off a dramatic late-session turnaround on massive bargain-hunting.

Thompson is sparse on policy positions By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer

Thompson is sparse on policy positions By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer
56 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - Republicans rushing to embrace Fred Thompson's would-be presidential candidacy might have trouble figuring out what he would do if he actually won the White House.

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On most public policy issues, the former Tennessee senator and "Law & Order" actor has offered few, if any, specifics. Even on the dominant issue of the 2008 campaign — the war in Iraq — Thompson has carefully stopped short of wading into what he would do about the conflict should he inherit it, although he has generally backed President Bush.

And while not yet offering a broad foreign policy vision, some of Thompson's statements on the subject border on the impolitic, including comments maligning the Mexican, French and Russian governments.

What few clues there are about the direction a Thompson administration might take come from his growing body of online writings, a smattering of recent speeches and statements, and a somewhat sparse eight-year Senate record.

Thompson, who is expected to enter the presidential race formally in September, but plans to campaign in Iowa on Friday, was not known as a big-ideas guy and was hardly a heavy-hitter when it came to legislation during his Senate career from 1994 to 2002. Still, he was considered a reliably conservative vote on economic, security and social issues alike. He backed Bush's tax cuts, a prohibition on a late-term abortion procedure and voted to give the president the authority to invade Iraq.

More prominently, he established a reputation for working to limit the role of the federal government and protect states rights — an issue that remains very important to him and, perhaps, is an indication of what may lie at the root of his candidacy.

Broadly, he favors a strong federalist approach that emphasizes personal liberties and fiscal conservatism.

"Centralized government is not the solution to all of our problems and, with too much power, such centralization has a way of compounding our problems," Thompson wrote in a recent column on his Web site. "This was among the great insights of 1787," when the Constitution was adopted, "and it is just as vital in 2007."

He adds: "How we draw the line between federal and state roles in this century, and how we stay true to the principles of federalism for the purpose of protecting economic and individual freedom, are questions we must answer."

Thompson also:

_Splits with Bush on immigration, opposing the president's comprehensive immigration law overhaul bill and, instead, argues for increased border security as well as full enforcement of current federal immigration laws. The issue has divided the GOP, and Thompson is seeking the support of Republicans who object to illegal immigrants getting a path to U.S. citizenship.

In one online column, he says: "Federal law must be enforced, or our neighborhoods will continue to be the scene of chilling and lurid crimes committed by those who broke the law in the first place to come to America."

_Appears to take a hard-line approach to foreign policy. He criticizes the United Nations, saying the world body "seems to oppose human freedom rather than promote it." And, in one particularly incendiary commentary for ABC radio in April, he carried on about the perception of the U.S. around the world and its relationships with certain countries.

He assails Mexico on immigration, arguing that leaders there "apparently have an economic policy based on exporting their own citizens while complaining about U.S. immigration policies that are far less exclusionary than their own." He adds: "The French jail perfectly nice people for politically incorrect comments, but scold us for holding terrorists at Guantanamo."

Thompson saves his most aggressive comments for Russia, contending that ex-KGB agents "apparently" run the country, use their oil wealth to engage in blackmail, and dispose of people who cross them. "Oppose the Russian leadership, and you could trip and fall off a tall building or stumble into the path of a bullet."

_Emphasizes individuals' right to keep and bear arms, as well as the right to own and keep property. He suggests in one online piece that the Virginia Tech massacre could have been deterred had those who were at least age 21 and met certain criteria been allowed to carry concealed weapons on school grounds. In the Senate, Thompson voted against requiring criminal background checks for purchases at gun shows.

In a recent commentary, he assailed a 2005 Supreme Court decision giving local governments broad power to seize private property to generate tax revenue.

_Calls Bush's tax cuts a "success story" that helped grow the economy and says: "Letting them expire would amount to a tax hike of historic proportions." He also says the president should hold the line on spending.

Thompson already ranks in the top-tier of the GOP field in national polls and is in strong contention as well in early voting states. But he significantly lags his top long-running rivals in organization and money.

_On Iraq, Thompson said recently in London: "We need to do everything possible to avoid the appearance of utter weakness."

To some degree, his lack of detail is a legal matter. The law under which he is "testing the waters" of a presidential run limits activities that would make it appear he was doing more than simply weighing a bid. Talking about what he would do as president could violate that threshold.

Politics also comes into play. Going into detail now could invite attacks from opponents and force Thompson to engage in the presidential race before he's ready.

"Noncandidates don't need to have a message because they're noncandidates. Now the moment that he announces, people are going to want to know exactly what he stands for," said John Geer, a Vanderbilt University political science professor.

"If he comes out of the gates with a clear compelling message then he's going to look very strong," Geer said. "If he doesn't, he's going to stumble."

___

On the Net:

Thompson campaign Web site: http://www.imwithfred.com

Princeton tops U.S. News rankings, again By JUSTIN POPE, AP Education Writer

Princeton tops U.S. News rankings, again By JUSTIN POPE, AP Education Writer
19 minutes ago



Princeton holds the top spot in the latest U.S. News & World Report college rankings, the eighth straight year the private, New Jersey school has either tied or held the top slot outright.

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Just like last year, Princeton was followed by Harvard at No. 2 and Yale at No. 3 in the controversial rankings. As usual, a few schools moved up or down a slot, but there were no major changes. Stanford was No. 4, followed by Cal Tech and the University of Pennsylvania tied for fifth.

Williams and Amherst were the highest-ranked liberal arts colleges.

The rankings, which hit newsstands Monday in the magazine's annual "America's Best Colleges" guide, are facing particularly vocal complaints this year from a group of colleges and educators working to develop an alternative to the system.

So far, the group led by education activist Lloyd Thacker hasn't formally enlisted any of the top-ranked schools. But the magazine has responded to one complaint: that the rankings punish schools for enrolling low-income students. For the first time this year, U.S. News is factoring the percentage of students receiving Pell Grants into its calculation of a school's "graduation rate performance."

Also new this year: The magazine has included the service academies. The U.S. Naval Academy is ranked No. 20 in the liberal arts college category, and the U.S. Military Academy is No. 22. The U.S. Air Force Academy leads the list of "Best Baccalaureate Colleges" in the western region.

The formula for the rankings includes variables such as graduation and retention rates, faculty and financial resources, and the percentage of alumni donating money to their alma mater. The biggest single variable — and the most controversial — is a reputation assessment by peer institutions.

The top 10 national universities were:

1. Princeton University

2. Harvard University

3. Yale University

4. Stanford University

5. California Institute of Technology

University of Pennsylvania (tie)

7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

8. Duke University

9. Columbia University

University of Chicago (tie)

___

On the Net:

http://www.usnews.com

Heat wave kills 37 in South, Midwest By BETH RUCKER, Associated Press Writer

Heat wave kills 37 in South, Midwest By BETH RUCKER, Associated Press Writer
31 minutes ago



NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Residents across the South and Midwest were hopeful that the weekend would bring some relief from brutal temperatures that have killed more than three dozen people and set records for power demand.

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Forecasters expected temperatures in Memphis and other parts of the Mississippi Valley on Friday to drop slightly, into the 90s, a relief from several consecutive days of triple digits.

In Tennessee, the Shelby County medical examiner's office confirmed Thursday that heat caused the death of a 53-year-old man found in his apartment the day before, bringing the death toll in Memphis alone to eight.

In all, 37 deaths in the South and Midwest have been confirmed as heat-related, and heat is suspected in 10 more, authorities said.

The Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation's largest public utility, shut down one of three units at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant in Athens, Ala., on Thursday because water drawn from the Tennessee River was exceeding a 90-degree average over 24 hours.

"We don't believe we've ever shut down a nuclear unit because of river temperature," said John Moulton, spokesman for the Knoxville, Tenn.-based utility.

The shutdown posed no safety threat, but it came as TVA hit records for power consumption in the last two weeks in its service area covering most of Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

The utility will compensate for the loss of power by buying it elsewhere.

In north-central Arkansas, the temperature reached 112 degrees on Wednesday in a place called Evening Shade.

"It's miserable," said Sharp County Judge Larry Brown, the county's chief administrative officer. Road crews were working shorter hours, "coming in early and leaving at noon. By then it's already way over 100 anyway," Brown said.

At midafternoon Thursday it was 107, Brown said. "It's still like an oven," he said.

Emergency physicians warned that days of heat-related stress can lead to problems such as nausea, dizziness, headaches, cramps and vomiting for people who otherwise are healthy. Those symptoms are the first signs of heat exhaustion.

"It is a cumulative thing," said Dr. Franc Fenaughty, an emergency room physician in the Memphis suburb of Germantown. "After four or five or six days you are going to see more people get dehydrated. And, the big problem is dehydration."

Untreated, heat exhaustion can lead to heat stroke, which often causes death or disability. A fever of 101 degrees or higher, especially for older people, is cause for concern, and fever of 103.5 or more is considered an emergency.

"Every day the risk rises for those people who haven't had a break from the heat," said Dr. Mary Ellen McIntire, of the Baptist Minor Medical Centers.

There were nine confirmed deaths in Missouri, eight confirmed deaths in Illinois, four each in Arkansas and Georgia, two in South Carolina and one in Mississippi, as well as one death in Tennessee outside Memphis.

Last summer, a heat wave killed at least 50 people in the Midwest and East. California officially reported a death toll of 143, but authorities last month acknowledged the number may have been far higher. A 1995 heat wave in Chicago was blamed for 700 deaths

3 rescue workers killed at Utah mine By PAUL FOY, Associated Press Writer

3 rescue workers killed at Utah mine By PAUL FOY, Associated Press Writer
8 minutes ago



HUNTINGTON, Utah - A disastrous cave-in Thursday night killed three rescue workers and injured at least six others who were trying to tunnel through rubble to reach trapped miners, authorities said. Mining officials were considering whether to suspend the rescue effort.

It was a shocking setback on the 11th day of the effort to find six miners who have been confined at least 1,500 feet below ground at the Crandall Canyon mine. It's unknown if the six are alive or dead.

Six of the injured were taken to Castleview Hospital in Price. One died there, one was airlifted to a Salt Lake City hospital, one was released and three were being treated, said Jeff Manley, the hospital's chief executive.

The second dead worker passed away at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, said hospital spokeswoman Janet Frank. Another worker there was in critical condition with head trauma but was alert, she said.

The third death was confirmed by Rich Kulczewski, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Labor, but additional details were not immediately available.

No official cause of death has been given for any of the deaths.

Authorities said the cave-in was caused by a mountain bump, which commonly refers to pressure inside the mine that shoots coal from the walls with great force. Seismologists say such an event caused the Aug. 6 cave-in that trapped six men inside the central Utah mine.

Thursday's bump at 8:39 p.m. showed up as a magnitude 1.6 seismic event at University of Utah seismograph stations in Salt Lake City, said university spokesman Lee Siegel.

Family members of miners, many in tears, gathered at the mine's front entrance looking for news.

A mine employee, Donnie Leonard, said he was outside the mine when he heard a manager "yelling about a cave-in."

A woman who answered the phone at the mine said mine co-owner Bob Murray, chief of Murray Energy Corp., was not available for comment.

It was not immediately clear where those who were injured were working or what they were doing when they were hurt. Crews have been drilling holes from the top of the mountain to try to find the miners while others were tunneling through a debris-filled entry to the mine.

Underground, the miners had advanced to only 826 feet in nine days. Mining officials said conditions in the mine were treacherous, and they were frequently forced to halt digging because of seismic activity. A day after the initial collapse, the rescuers were pushed back 300 feet when a bump shook the mountain and filled the tunnel with rubble.

Before Thursday's incident, workers still had about 1,200 feet to go to reach the area where they believe the trapped men had been working.

The digging had been set back Wednesday night, when a coal excavating machine was half buried by rubble by seismic shaking. Another mountain bump interrupted work briefly Thursday morning.

"The seismic activity underground has just been relentless. The mountain is still alive, the mountain is still moving and we cannot endanger the rescue workers as we drive toward these trapped miners," Murray said earlier Thursday.

Murray had become more reticent to predict when the excavation would be complete. At the current rate, it was expected to take several more days.

On top the mountain, rescuers were drilling a fourth hole, aiming for a spot where they had detected mysterious vibrations in the mountain. That drilling was believed to be continuing after the latest accident, but the mine was evacuated and officials haven't decided whether to suspend the rescue effort, Kulczewski said.

Officials said Thursday that the latest of three holes previously drilled reached an intact chamber with potentially breathable air.

Video images were obscured by water running down that bore hole, but officials said they could see beyond it to an undamaged chamber in the rear of the mine. It yielded no sign the miners had been there.

Murray said it would take at least two days for the latest drill to reach its target, in an area where a seismic listening device detected a "noise" or vibration in 1.5-second increments and lasting for five minutes.

Officials say it's impossible to know what caused the vibrations and on Thursday clarified the limits of the technology.

The device, called a geophone, can pinpoint the direction of the source of the disturbance, but it can't tell whether it came from within the mine, the layers of rock above the mine or from the mountain's surface, said Richard Stickler, chief of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

The "noise," a term he used a day before, wasn't anything officials could hear, Stickler said. "Really, it's not sounds but vibrations."

Officials stressed that the motion picked up by the geophones could be unrelated to the mine, even as they drilled the new hole in an effort to uncover the source of it.

Together with the discovery of an intact chamber and breathable oxygen levels, the baffling vibrations offered only a glimmer of hope for rescuing the miners, but Murray had seized on the developments.

"The air is there, the water is there — everything is there to sustain them indefinitely until we get to them," he said.

Officials said results of air quality samples taken from the intact chamber, accessed by the third deep borehole, showed oxygen levels of roughly 15 to 16 percent.

Normal oxygen levels are 21 percent, and readings in other parts of the mine taken since the Aug. 6 collapse have registered levels as low as 7 percent.

At 15 percent oxygen, a person would experience effects such as elevated heart and breathing rates, Stickler said.

Video images from the same shaft showed an undamaged section complete with a ventilation curtain that divides intake air from exhaust air. Behind the curtain, in theory, the men might have found refuge and breathable air when the mine collapsed 10 days ago.

___

Associated Press writers Chris Kahn and Alicia A. Caldwell in Huntington, Ed White in Salt Lake City, and Jennifer Talhelm in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

Iraqi political leaders forge new pact By STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press Writer

Iraqi political leaders forge new pact By STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 2 minutes ago



BAGHDAD - Iraq's political leaders emerged Thursday from three days of crisis talks with a new alliance that seeks to save the crumbling U.S.-backed government. But the reshaped power bloc included no Sunnis and immediately raised questions about its legitimacy as a unifying force.

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The political gambit came as teams in northern Iraq tallied the grim figures from the deadliest wave of suicide attacks of the war and — in a rare moment of joy since Tuesday's devastation — pulled four children alive from the rubble.

"We didn't hear them calling out for help until moments before a bulldozer would have killed them as it cleared the rubble," said Saad Muhanad, a municipal council member in the Qahtaniya region, where four bomb-laden trucks turned clay and stone homes into tombs for hundreds belonging to a small religious group considered as infidels by hard-line Muslims.

Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said Thursday that at least 400 were dead — apparently all members of the ancient Yazidi sect that mixes elements of Islam, Christianity and other faiths. Some authorities outside the central government had said at least 500 people died and have not revised that figure downward.

The four small survivors were related, Muhanad said, but he did not know if they were siblings. No other details about the children were known. The freed youngsters began running through the streets begging for food and water.

"In a while, some of their families came and took them away," said Muhanad.

The mayor of the region pleaded for help, meanwhile, saying an even larger tragedy loomed if the shattered communities did not get food, water and medicine soon.

"People are in shock. Hospitals here are running out of medicine. The pharmacies are empty. We need food, medicine and water otherwise there will be an even greater catastrophe," said Abdul-Rahim al-Shimari, mayor of the Baaj district, which includes the Kurdish-speaking Yazidi villages hit by the suicide blasts blamed on al-Qaida in Iraq.

The region is in northwest Iraq, near the Syrian border — suggesting the extremist group could be pushing into new areas in northern Iraq after being driven from strongholds by U.S.-led offensives.

Qassim Khalaf, a 40-year-old government worker, was crying while he spoke by telephone from Qahtaniya.

"We call upon the United Nations to protect the Yazidis because the Iraqi government is in hibernation. Right now, I can see some bodies still partially buried under the rubble. Hundreds of local volunteers are still working in the rescue operations," he sobbed. "Eighty percent of the village was destroyed or damaged. Just a while ago, we pulled the body for a 7-year-old girl out of the debris."

Khalaf said five of his cousins were killed.

Barham Saleh, a Kurd and deputy prime minister, toured the area and ordered the Health and Defense ministries to immediately send tents, medicine and other aid. He also allocated $800,000 to provincial officials to distribute to the victims and relatives.

The U.N. Security Council condemned the bombings "in the strongest terms," saying they were aimed at widening the sectarian and ethnic divide in Iraq. Council members called for an end to sectarian violence.

In Baghdad, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki hailed the political agreement as a first step toward unblocking the paralysis that has gripped his Shiite-dominated government since it first took power in May 2006.

The new Shiite-Kurdish coalition will retain a majority in parliament — 181 of the 275 seats — and apparently have a clear path to pass legislation demanded by the Bush administration, including a law on sharing Iraq's oil wealth among Iraqi groups and returning some Saddam Hussein-era officials purged under earlier White House policies.

A crucial progress report by U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and commander Gen. David Petraeus is due in Congress in less that a month. But a senior American Embassy official hesitated to join in al-Maliki's enthusiasm since the new alliance of Shiites and Kurds failed to bring in Sunnis, who were favored under Saddam and are now crucial to efforts for future stability.

The U.S. official said "all three principle communities" in Iraq need to find ways to "make accommodations and compromises and ultimately reconciliation." The official spoke on condition he not be identified by name.

The key disappointment was the absence of Iraq's Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi and his moderate Iraqi Islamic Party. That portends even deeper political divisions, but al-Maliki called the agreement "a first step."

"It is not final and the door is still open for all who agree with us on the need to push the political process forward," he said.

Al-Maliki was joined at a news conference to announce the political grouping by President Jalal Talabani and fellow Kurd Massoud Barzani, the leader of the northern autonomous Kurdish region; and Shiite Vice President Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi.

They, along with the U.S. ambassador, were said to have wooed al-Hashemi intensely to join the new leadership bloc. But officials in the al-Maliki government said the Sunni vice president wanted too much.

Among his demands was that members of his Iraqi Islamic Party fill all the Cabinet posts vacated by a mass resignation by another party, the Sunni Accordance Front, according to the officials, who spoke anonymously because the information was too sensitive to attach to their names.

The officials said al-Hashemi also wanted one of his loyalists to replace Sunni Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie.

In Baghdad, a car bomb struck a parking garage in a central commercial district during the morning rush hour, killing at least nine people and wounding 17, police said. Smoke poured out of the seven-story concrete building, and food and merchandise stalls below were left charred.

On Thursday, the U.S. military also said three soldiers had been killed. Two soldiers died Wednesday and six were wounded in fighting north of Baghdad. The military said one soldier died Thursday in Baghdad of non-combat causes.

On Friday, the military said a U.S. soldier was killed and another was wounded in fighting north of Baghdad. The Task Force Lightning soldier died of wounds sustained in enemy gunfire Thursday in Baghdad province, according to a statement. It said another soldier was treated for superficial injuries and had returned to duty.

At least 45 American troops have died this month.

___

Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.

China touts its food quality in paper By AUDRA ANG, Associated Press Writer

China touts its food quality in paper By AUDRA ANG, Associated Press Writer
44 minutes ago



BEIJING - China sought to shore up its battered reputation as a global exporter Friday, releasing a policy paper that touted its past food safety record and current campaign to crack down on poor — and potentially dangerous — food processing practices.

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The policy paper, issued by the information office of the Cabinet, the State Council, lists a series of achievements and planned measures, from establishing a national food recall system to increasing exchanges with quality officials in other countries.

Though the 39-page document breaks little new ground, its release underscores the communist leadership's drive to salvage the "Made in China" label, which has been tarnished by months of quality scares.

"China is a responsible country," said the State Council Information Office paper titled "The Situation of China's Food Safety Quality."

"The Chinese government has stepped up active measures in enhancing food quality and ensuring food safety to protect the interests of consumers in both China and other countries," it said.

Chinese exports have been under fire, especially in the U.S., China's most important export market. Regulators have turned up tainted pet food ingredients and seafood and toothpaste with potentially dangerous chemicals and drugs. Mattel Inc., the world's biggest toy company, this week issued its second recall of Chinese-made toys this summer because of lead-tainted paint and tiny magnets that could be swallowed by children.

While initially reluctant to acknowledge there was a problem — a common position by Chinese officials at all levels — authorities have since thrown themselves into the campaign to protect export industries and bolster the country's image for next year's Olympic Games in Beijing.

"China has not handled the crisis well so far, but its statements and actions show a desire for improvement," said Gene Grabowski, a senior vice president at a Washington-based public relations firm, Levick Strategic Communications, which works with large food and consumer goods companies.

In recent weeks, government leaders and agencies have almost daily announced stringent, severe measures to rectify the situation. The State Council last month took only one day to pass a new regulation on food safety mandating stronger supervision and hefty punishments for makers of dangerous goods — unusually swift passage in a country where laws and regulations can languish for years. The policy paper released Friday was also put together with noteworthy haste.

According to the policy paper, China exported 24 million tons of food last year to more than 200 countries, 13 percent more than in the same period in 2005. Seafood, vegetables and canned goods and among the most popular products, while Japan, the U.S. and South Korea are the three biggest importers, it said.

"For years, over 99 per cent of China's food exports have been up to standard," the paper said.

It also said that an average of 89.2 percent of food products in the country's 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities passed quality checks in the first six months of 2007.

The report gave a breakdown for different foods but gave no figures for how many inspections were carried out.

"After much effort, the level of China's food quality on the whole is steadily rising, food safety conditions are improving nonstop and the order behind food production and sales is getting significantly better," it said.

The paper outlined measures to protect food quality including increased random inspections, widespread closures of unlicensed manufacturers and restaurants, large-scale seizures of substandard goods and implementing a national recall system. Few details were given.

The Chinese government will adopt tougher measures to guarantee that no substandard food is exported overseas by improving surveillance in all steps of the production process and blacklisting violators, the paper said.

On Sept. 12, a ministerial-level China-EU food and consumer products safety conference will be held in Beijing and a China-US food safety conference will be held in the United States through Sept. 11-12, it said.

"China is very aware of the potential risks to its status as a trading partner and as host of the 2008 Olympics, as it should be," Grabowski said. "Changing public perceptions is essential."

U.S. attack in Tora Bora seeks Taliban By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer

U.S. attack in Tora Bora seeks Taliban By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 29 minutes ago



GHAZNI, Afghanistan - The U.S. military received "credible reporting" of a sizable Taliban force at Tora Bora in eastern Afghanistan, leading to the latest offensive in that area, a top American general said Thursday.

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Army Lt. Gen. Carter Ham, director for operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in Washington that the number of enemy killed or captured so far in the operation by coalition and Afghan troops was "in the teens."

He said he was not aware of any high-value Taliban targets being found in the area and said the intelligence report did not indicate the presence of al-Qaida fighters.

Ham added that the offensive had been hampered by bad weather so troops were still moving into position in the remote mountainous area, which was heavily bombarded in late 2001 as U.S. troops hunted Osama bin Laden and his associates after the Sept. 11 attacks.

A gunbattle between NATO soldiers and Taliban insurgents, meanwhile, left five civilians dead and three others injured in eastern Afghanistan, an alliance statement said Friday. The NATO troops were hit by a roadside bomb, then came under small-arms fire and mortar attacks, said the alliance, which did not disclose the exact location of the fighting. Two Taliban fighters were also wounded.

"Such incidents are regrettable, and our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those killed and wounded in this very unfortunate incident," the NATO statement said. "Every effort is being made to provide the best medical treatment to the injured Afghans."

On Wednesday, U.S. officials announced that hundreds of coalition soldiers had launched an offensive in Tora Bora targeting foreign fighters, whom they initially said included al-Qaida.

Asked about cooperation with Afghan neighbor Pakistan in policing the frontier, Ham said military leaders communicate with the Pakistanis but there is no close coordination. The Pakistanis are conducting their own operations, he said.

On Thursday, Taliban militants held a second round of face-to-face talks with South Korean officials on the fate of 19 captive church volunteers but there was no word of a breakthrough.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said the Korean delegation told militant negotiators they don't have the power to free eight Taliban prisoners held by Afghan authorities — a key Taliban demand. He said Taliban leaders would decide soon whether to continue the talks.

South Korean officials were not immediately available for comment.

The two sides talked for three hours at the offices of the Afghan Red Crescent in Ghazni. The International Red Cross helped facilitate the talks. The Taliban negotiators left in Red Cross vehicles without speaking to reporters.

The meeting came after Monday's release of two women who were among 23 South Koreans kidnapped by the militants July 19 as they traveled by bus from Kabul to the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar. Two males hostages had been slain earlier, meaning 14 women and five men remain captive.

The two freed women, Kim Gina, 32, and Kim Kyung-ja, 37, arrived home Friday after undergoing medical care in Afghanistan. They stood with grim expressions before a throng of journalists at Incheon International Airport outside Seoul.

"I want to thank the Korean government and the Korean people for their concerns and sincerely apologize for causing such worries," Kim Kyung-ja said. "I hope for the safe release of the rest of our team members as well."

"All I wish for is the release of the rest of our team members," said Kim Gina.

Two Taliban representatives first talked with South Korean officials on Friday and Saturday at the Red Crescent office after the Afghan government agreed to guarantee the safety of the militant delegation.

The Taliban want South Korea's government to pressure Afghan leaders to free eight imprisoned militants and will not harm the remaining Korean hostages while talks continue, Ahmadi said.

The Afghan government was heavily criticized in March for freeing five Taliban prisoners to win the release of an Italian journalist, and officials have ruled out any further such deals, saying they would encourage more kidnappings.

Ahmadi said the release of the two Korean women was a show of goodwill. South Korean officials have called for the unconditional release of the other hostages, while also urging Afghan authorities to show flexibility.

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Associated Press writers Lolita Baldor in Washington and Noor Khan in Kandahar contributed to this report.

Strong hurricane heads for Caribbean By HERVE BRIVAL, Associated Press Writer

Strong hurricane heads for Caribbean By HERVE BRIVAL, Associated Press Writer
3 minutes ago



FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique - Airports closed, coastal hotels were evacuated and tourists hunkered down in shelters as powerful Hurricane Dean bore down on the eastern Caribbean.

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The first hurricane of the Atlantic season was a large and dangerous storm, packing 100 mph winds late Thursday as it neared the islands of Martinique, Dominica and St. Lucia, where authorities urged people to stay indoors and out of danger.

In a region accustomed to rough weather, islanders stocked up on essentials and taped glass windows but conditions ahead of the storm were deceptively calm and even some locals said it was hard to believe that danger loomed out at sea.

Martinique resident Patrice Labamar who was camping on the beach with his wife and two children waited until the last minute to finally clear out, hoping the forecasters might be wrong about the storm's trajectory.

"Our vacation is over," Labamar said as they headed for safety.

The Category 2 hurricane, which had hovered far out a sea for days, was expected to begin passing over the islands of the Lesser Antilles early Friday, then intensify as it enters the warm waters of the Caribbean — heading toward Jamaica.

It was too early to tell whether the storm would eventually strike the United States, but officials were gearing up for the possibility of the season's most severe storm yet.

"It's so far out, but it's not too early to start preparing," said Katherine Cesinger, a spokeswoman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

St. Lucia's acting prime minister, Stephenson King, announced that the country's two commercial airports were closing Thursday night as the storm's outer bands began moving through the islands. Martinique's main airport was also closed.

"We may not be spared on this occasion as it appears that we are likely to experience the worst," King said.

About 300 American medical students from Dominica's Ross University were stranded at the island's airport Thursday until family members hired private planes, said Dr. Mauricio Gomez, from the UCLA Medical Center in California, whose fiancee was among the students. Most arrived in Puerto Rico to await flights on Friday bound for the United States, Gomez said.

Hotels in Dominica and Martinique moved tourists from seaside rooms.

At the Jungle Bay Resort & Spa, on Dominica's Atlantic coast, about 18 guests spent Thursday night in a reinforced steel-and-concrete shelter, hotel spokeswoman Laura Ell said.

"Everyone's very calm but taking it seriously," she said.

Martinique officials set up cots at schoolhouse shelters while residents lined up at gas stations and emptied supermarket shelves.

"It's the first time I've seen this, all our water supply completely gone in less than two hours," said Jean Claude, a supermarket manager.

The government also canceled commemoration events planned for the 152 Martinique residents who died in a plane crash a year ago.

In St. Lucia, radio and television advisories urged people to stock up on canned food and fill their cars with gasoline. Volunteers knocked on doors to make sure people knew about the storm.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Dean would likely be a dangerous Category 3 hurricane by the time it reaches the central Caribbean. Forecasters say it appeared to be heading south of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic and Haiti, which share the island of Hispaniola.

As it approaches the Mexican resort town of Cancun, on the Yucatan Peninsula, on Tuesday it could be an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane, the hurricane center said.

It predicted storm surge flooding at 2 to 4 feet above normal tide levels near the center of Dean as it passes over the Lesser Antilles and total possible rainfalls of 7 inches in mountainous areas.

At 2 a.m. EDT, Dean was centered 85 miles southeast of Martinique and 90 miles northwest of Barbados. It had top sustained winds of 100 mph, up from 90 mph earlier in the day.

Hurricane warnings were in effect for the islands of St. Lucia, Martinique, Dominica and Guadeloupe.

Tropical storm warnings have been issued for the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla and St. Maarten, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Water-logged Texas dealt with the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin, which dropped up to 7 inches of rain in parts of San Antonio and Houston. Officials throughout central and southern Texas braced for the possibility of 10 to 15 inches of rain by Friday morning.

At least two people died Thursday in Erin's thunderstorms.

Shell Oil Co. evacuated 188 people this week from offshore facilities in Erin's path and said Thursday it was already monitoring Dean.

___

Associated Press writers Guy Ellis in Castries, St. Lucia, David McFadden in Roseau, Dominica and Maura Axelrod in Fort-de-France, Martinique contributed to this report.

Relatives search bodybags in Peru quake By JEANNETH VALDIVIESO, Associated Press Writer

Relatives search bodybags in Peru quake By JEANNETH VALDIVIESO, Associated Press Writer
31 minutes ago



PISCO, Peru - Rescuers combed rubble for survivors and distraught relatives wept as they searched rows of bodybags for loved ones killed when a powerful earthquake devastated cities and sent a church's soaring ceiling tumbling down on hundreds of worshippers in southern Peru.

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Officials said the death toll across the region hit by the magnitude-8 temblor topped 500 late Thursday night.

In the gritty port city of Pisco, searchers at San Clemente church pulled at least 60 bodies out of the ruins and lined them up on the plaza. Doctors struggled to help more than 1,500 injured, including hundreds who waited on cots in the open air, fearing more aftershocks would send buildings crashing down.

Peru's fire department said the death toll from the magnitude-8 quake that devastated the southern coast had risen to 510, and rescuers were still digging through ruins of collapsed adobe homes in cities and hamlets.

Destruction from Wednesday's quake was centered in Peru's southern desert, near the oasis city of Ica and nearby Pisco, about 125 miles southeast of the capital of Lima.

Hundreds had gathered in the pews of the San Clemente church on Wednesday — the day Roman Catholics celebrate the Virgin Mary's rise into heaven — for a special Mass marking one month since the death of a Pisco man.

With minutes left in the Mass, the church's ceiling began to break apart. The shaking lasted for an agonizing two minutes, burying 200 people, according to the town's mayor. On Thursday, only two stone columns and the church's dome rose from a giant pile of stone, bricks, wood and dust.

Rescuers laid out the dust-covered dead beneath bloodstained sheets in the city's plaza. Civil defense workers then arrived and zipped them into body bags. But relatives searching desperately for the missing unzipped the bags, crying hysterically each time they recognized a familiar face.

Few in the traumatized crowds would talk with journalists. One man shouted at the bodies of his wife and two small daughters as they were pulled from the rubble: "Why did you go? Why?"

Pisco Mayor Juan Mendoza told Lima radio station CPN, sobbing: "The dead are scattered by the dozens on the streets. We don't have lights, water, communications. Most houses have fallen. Churches, stores, hotels — everything is destroyed."

As dusk fell, Health Minister Carlos Vallejos said finding survivors seemed increasingly unlikely.

"We keep losing hope of finding someone alive after 24 hours have passed" since the quake struck, Vallejos told The Associated Press outside of the church.

Felipe Gutierrez, 82, sat in his pajamas — his only clothing — in front of what was his Pisco home. The quake reduced it to rubble and he, his 74-year-old wife, their two children and three grandchildren sat staring at the ruins, a tangle of adobe, straw and all of their belongings.

"Yesterday we slept on a mattress, and now we'll have to set up a tent, because we have no where to live," he said.

The deputy chief of Peru's fire department, Roberto Ognio, presented a report late Thursday saying the death toll from the quake had risen to 510. The previous total had been 450 and he did not say where the additional deaths had occurred.

The earthquake's magnitude was raised from 7.9 to 8 on Thursday by the U.S. Geological Survey. At least 14 aftershocks of magnitude 5 or greater caused renewed anxiety, though there were no reports of additional damage or injuries.

President Alan Garcia flew by helicopter to Ica, a city of 120,000 where a quarter of the buildings collapsed, and declared a state of emergency.

Government doctors called off their national strike for higher pay to handle the emergency.

"There has been a good international response even without Peru asking for it, and they've been very generous," Garcia said during a stop in Pisco.

The help includes cash from the United States, United Nations, Red Cross and European Union as well as tents, water, medicine and other supplies. The U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort, equipped with a staff of 800 and 12 operating rooms, is in Ecuador and could quickly sail to Peru if asked, U.S. officials said.

In Washington, President Bush offered condolences and said his administration was studying how best to send help. One American died in the quake, according to the State Department.

Electricity, water and phone service were down in much of southern Peru. The government rushed police, soldiers and doctors to the area, but traffic was paralyzed by giant cracks and fallen power lines on the Panamerican Highway.

In Chincha, a small town near Pisco only 25 miles from the quake's epicenter, an AP Television News cameraman counted 30 bodies on a hospital patio. The face of one victim was uncovered, her eyes open. The feet of another stuck out from under a blanket.

Hundreds of injured lay side-by-side on cots on walkways and in gardens outside hospital buildings.

"Our services are saturated and half of the hospital has collapsed," Dr. Huber Malma said as he single-handedly attended to dozens of patients.

In Lima, 95 miles from the epicenter, only one death was recorded. But the furious two minutes of shaking prompted thousands to flee into the streets and sleep in public parks.

Scientists said the quake was a "megathrust" — a type of earthquake similar to the catastrophic Indian Ocean temblor in 2004 that generated deadly tsunami waves. "Megathrusts produce the largest earthquakes on the planet," USGS geophysicist Paul Earle said.

In general, magnitude 8 quakes are capable of causing tremendous damage. Quakes of magnitude 2.5 to 3 are the smallest generally felt, and every increase of one number on the magnitude scale means that the quake's magnitude is 10 times as great.

The temblor occurred in one of the most seismically active regions in the world at the boundary where the Nazca and South American tectonic plates meet. The plates are moving together at a rate of 3 inches a year, Earle said.

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Associated Press writers Monte Hayes, Edison Lopez and Leslie Josephs in Lima, Martin Mejia and Mauricio Munoz in Ica, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Alicia Chang in Los Angeles and Sarah DiLorenzo in New York contributed to this report.