USA

August 8, 2006

New Orleans began reopening its public schools Monday, with about 4,000 students getting an early start at eight schools in the vanguard of a hoped-for rebirth of the city's school system. Forty more schools are scheduled to open by mid-September. Altogether, enrollment is expected to reach 30,000, or about half what it was before hurricane Katrina shut down the poorly regarded system a year ago.

President Bush on Monday said he anticipates that Hizbullah and Israel will not agree with all aspects of a Mideast cease-fire resolution but said "we all recognize that the violence must stop." The president said the US and its allies were pressing for a comprehensive solution that would restore Lebanon's sovereignty and provide a lasting peace.

The United States is reviewing whether to withdraw longtime trade benefits for India, Brazil, and 11 other advanced developing countries, US trade officials said Monday. The decision follows the recent collapse of world trade talks, which many members of Congress blame on the reluctance of large developing countries like India and Brazil to open their markets to more foreign goods.

South Dakota's American Indian tribal leaders met Sunday with Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to ask for federal protection from the impacts of commercial development near the sacred Bear Butte. Thousands of bikers have descended on the area for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

Cindy Sheehan, a leading antiwar protester whose oldest son was killed in Iraq, led a group of more than 50 demonstrators Sunday in resuming a vigil outside President Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch.

Teenagers who watch pro wrestling on TV are more prone to behave violently than those who don't, according to a study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics. Research conducted by Harvard University's School of Public Health showed that girls were more influenced than boys and more likely to start fights while on dates.