Hurricane experts are throwing cold water on an idea backed by billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates aimed at controlling the weather. Gates and a dozen other scientists have raised eyebrows by submitting patent applications for a technology to reduce the danger of approaching hurricanes by cooling ocean temperatures. It's a noble idea, given the horrible memories from Hurricane Katrina, which slammed into the Gulf Coast four years ago this week. The storm, which rated a frightening Category 3 when it ...

It is midday and girls are flooding out of school, but Nujood Ali is not among them. We find her at the family's two-room house in an impoverished suburb of the city where Nujood is angry, combative and yelling. Tension surrounds the home like a noose. After much arguing with family members, Nujood finally grabs her veil and agrees to sit down with CNN. Her presence is grudging, although CNN had got permission in advance to see how the girl ...

The FBI in Denver is on the lookout for a serial bank robber dubbed the "Shaggy Bandit" for his resemblance to cartoon canine Scooby-Doo's human sidekick. Zoinks! Investigators say he is responsible for 13 robberies in the Denver area and one in Arizona since June 24. He has yet to use a weapon in any of the robberies, but the FBI says it is taking him very seriously. "We don't know what he is capable of," said Special Agent ...

Janet McBride had to send someone to fetch lunch for her Saturday. The cheerful auto dealer receptionist didn't dare leave her switchboard during the waning hours of the federal government's "Cash for Clunkers" program. "Our phones have been ringing off the hook," said a giddy Pete Richards, general manager of Ed Voyles Honda in Marietta, Georgia. "... It's been great. Phenomenal." McBride was compiling a list of customers for swamped salespeople to call back. "I try to keep it ...

The following five sites have proven the most consistently useful for the editors of Budget Travel, who do thousands of searches a year. Dohop.com Strictly for booking plane trips entirely outside of the U.S., such as a flight between Paris and Rome. The site runs simultaneous searches of multiple airports serving the same city -- five airports in London, for instance -- and it retrieves fares from no-frills independent carriers like EasyJet and Ryanair, which many better-known travel sites overlook. ...

The son of a Florida couple known for adopting special-needs children was in his parents' room when they were slain in a home invasion last month, according to documents released by prosecutors. A nurse who works with special-needs children interviewed the boy, who has autism and speech issues, regarding the deaths of Byrd and Melanie Billings. The nurse told police that the child said "two bad men" were wearing black masks when they knocked on the door. They woke Byrd ...

By measure both of blood and of treasure, the war in Afghanistan is a costly business. To date, 782 U.S. troops have been killed there, and the conflict is costing Washington $4 billion a month. Is that a good investment? Some suggest it may be a lot more cost-effective to simply pay those currently earning their keep as gunmen for the Taliban to stay out of the fight. The notion may have ...

As the U.S. jumps on board the cash-for-clunkers bandwagon, the Obama Administration would do well to pay attention to what is happening in Hamburg's sprawling harbor. The seaport city is one of the busiest ports in the world: nearly every car — new or used — passes through its docks on the way out of Germany. And this week, the police charged with patrolling the harbor released evidence showing that Germany's hugely popular cash-for-clunkers program may have some unintended ...

Michael Jackson's estate should gain "close to $100 million" through contracts negotiated since the pop star's death, Jackson's brother told CNN's Larry King. A Los Angeles judge is expected to approve a series of agreements Monday, including a deal for a movie to be released this fall about Jackson's final days before his June 25 death. Jermaine Jackson, in a wide-ranging interview taped for broadcast Friday night on CNN's "Larry King Live," said his mother, Katherine Jackson, has not decided ...

Jim Nicholson could've just handed over the cash. Instead, he gave the would-be robber a run for his money -- and paid for it.