From Greg Clary
CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Sen. John McCain Tuesday rejected the idea that success in Afghanistan is dependent upon stability in Pakistan.

"This notion that you can't succeed in Afghanistan without a success in Pakistan, I don't subscribe with it. We need a strategy for both countries but we also need a separate strategy in regards to Pakistan by itself," the Arizona Republican said in remarks to the Foreign Policy Initiative.

The former GOP presidential candidate said achieving victory in Afghanistan is vital to American national security. "We will and can and must succeed, but it's not going to be easy," McCain said.

President Barack Obama announced a troop increase Friday of 4,000 for Afghanistan, in addition to the 17,000-troop increase previously announced. The president said those forces will be used to help train the Afghan army and police.

While McCain said he supports Obama's renewed efforts in Afghanistan, he also said he would increase the Afghan army beyond the president's planned levels.

By Drew Griffin and Kathleen Johnston
CNN Special Investigations Unit

MOSS POINT, Mississippi (CNN) - In this Gulf Coast town hit hard by Hurricane Katrina, Mayor Xavier Bishop has a problem that he can't untangle: mountains of red tape.

Pummeled by the ferocious hurricane nearly four years ago, this town of 15,000 has tried to rebuild with the millions of disaster-relief dollars appropriated by the federal government. But each contract must go through so many different agencies - each with their own set of rules and regulations - that work is often brought to a crawl.

Some projects have yet to begin. In some cases, crews have been forced to start all over again with a different federal agency, the mayor said.

Now, Moss Point and other towns like it are slated to receive more money from the Obama administration's economic stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. But that money will come with a new string attached - any project must be "shovel-ready."

After more than three years of trying to navigate the post-Katrina bureaucracy, Bishop and another Gulf Coast mayor, Connie Moran, have this advice for their colleagues: Be prepared for a lot of frustration.

(CNN) - In an order issued late Tuesday afternoon, the three judges presiding over the saga that has become the Minnesota U.S. Senate race announced they will review and possibly count 400 absentee ballots.

The panel and officials from the secretary of state's office will convene in open court Tuesday, April 7, and open the ballots from the November 4 election between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken.

The order can be seen as a setback for Coleman because his team of lawyers had initially hoped that about 1,300 ballots would be counted. Since that pool has dwindled significantly, it will be tougher for Coleman to overcome Franken's post-recount lead of 225 votes.

Franken lawyer Marc Elias said he was "very pleased" with the order and felt fairly confident Franken would remain on top. "The math is going to be very difficult for former Sen. Coleman and his legal team at this point," Elias said.

Coleman attorney Ben Ginsberg said he was "disappointed" with the order and said the court was "wrong." He added the Coleman team is more than likely to lose at the trial level and will appeal.

By Arthur Brice
CNN

(CNN) - Protesters in the Dominican Republic angry over a lack of government services shut down businesses and street traffic near the national university for about an hour Tuesday, news reports said.

Students were prevented from traveling in or out of the campus during the protest, they said.

It was the latest in a long series of demonstrations by protesters who want the government to increase spending for roads, highways and utility services. Many Dominicans have grown weary with frequent power outages and other disruptions to their daily lives.

"They have had a protest somewhere every day for the last couple of months," said Heather Berkman, an analyst with the Eurasia Group consulting firm. "It's a reflection of the government's delay in addressing the impact of the global economic downturn."

The nation's economy is suffering from decreased tourism, falling remittances from relatives abroad, a drop in exports and the closure of several mining projects, Berkman said. Unemployment has been rising.

"We're starting to see some growing social tension," she said.

Power blackouts are fairly common and some last 18 hours or more, said Chris Kimble, an analyst with Washington-based iJet Intelligent Risk Systems, which helps companies assess and deal with dangers abroad.

The small group of masked protesters Tuesday set tires on fire and threw rocks and garbage on the street, the Listin Diario newspaper said on its Web site. Even after the protest ended, Listin said, few cars dared travel on nearby streets for fear of more rock-throwing and possible broken windshields and windows.

Fidel Santana, a spokesman for a Dominican group called Alternative Social Forum, told El Nuevo Diario newspaper that the demonstrations serve to avoid greater confrontation because people can blow off steam.

Kimble said he expects the protests to continue for a while.

"A long-term solution is probably not going to happen overnight," he said.

President Leonel Fernandez promised when running for a third four-year term last year that he would pump money into public works, education and other social projects "but nothing has really come of it," Berkman said.

Since then, she said, the economy has soured and "the government has been continually on the defensive about what they're going to do."

Comment from the Dominican government was not immediately available Tuesday. The nation's embassy in Washington did not answer the telephone at two numbers given on its Web site.

But a top presidential aide said last week on the president's Web site that the protesters are trying to destabilize society and sow chaos and disorder. They are just aggravating the situation, said presidential aide Cesar Pina Toribio.

Despite the global economic situation, Pina said, the government is looking for solutions that can be reached through dialogue and consensus and is working hard to fix the problems.

Fernandez held a public forum Sunday to listen to peoples' complaints and offer solutions, the president's site said.

But dialogue and forums may not be enough, the analysts said.

"With the economy deteriorating a bit, where is he going to get the money to do all this?" Kimble asked.

"There's no money for a lot of these initiatives," said Berkman.

The government at least will catch a break next week, Kimble said. Protesters said they will call off the demonstrations for Holy Week.

From Dan Simon and Scott Thompson
CNN

(CNN) - If one California lawmaker has his way, his cash-strapped state may have an arresting real estate listing on the market: San Quentin State Prison.

State Sen. Jeff Denham is proposing selling the 432-acre prison, which offers a breathtaking view of San Francisco Bay, to garner money for California.

"Our inmates just don't need an ocean view. Let's level it off," Denham, a Republican, told CNN. Denham estimates the property could sell for as much as $2 billion, even amid the current down market.

Opponents of the propsoal say a new prison would have to be built, eating up proceeds from the sale. State Sen. Mark Leno, who chairs the state's public safety committee, said the committee was holding the proposal under a policy that allowed lawmakers and citizens to give further thought to legislation that could exacerbate California's overcrowding in prisons.

Taber said it could be brought up again this year or next.

PARIS, France (CNN) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants a "real transformation" of international financial regulations out of this week's G-20 summit in London, a spokesman said Tuesday amid reports that Sarkozy will walk out of the gathering if he's not satisfied.

"President Sarkozy thinks that this summit is of the utmost importance for the whole world," Sarkozy spokesman Jean-David Levitte said Tuesday. "We cannot fail."

The G-20 - financial leaders from 19 nations and the European Union - begins meeting Thursday in London. The global monetary crisis is expected to be the central issue.

News outlets throughout Europe on Tuesday were reporting that Sarkozy would leave the summit or otherwise disrupt it if he doesn't feel members are seriously addressing business regulation, a crackdown on tax havens and other matters related to the world market.

(CNN) - A mass grave unearthed Tuesday in downtown Montgomery, Alabama, is believed to contain bodies from an epidemic of yellow fever that swept the city in the 1870s, police said.

Two buildings from the 1940s were torn down at the site, and maintenance workers grading the land in preparation for the construction of a new building uncovered the remains, said Montgomery police spokesman Maj. Huey Thornton.

The site is adjacent to a cemetery, he said, and "based on the information we have from historical documents kept by the actual cemetery ... it does appear that it may be remains from a yellow fever epidemic in the 1870s."

Officials from the Alabama Archaeological Society and the Alabama Historical Association were at the site and are expected to be able to confirm that, he said.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The House of Representatives easily passed legislation Tuesday to strengthen national community service efforts by boosting funding for thousands of volunteers in fields ranging from clean energy to health care and education.

The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, recently renamed to honor the Massachusetts senator's sponsorship of the measure, passed the House by a vote of 275-149. Democrats supported it almost unanimously; a strong majority of Republicans were opposed.

The Senate passed identical legislation Thursday by a vote of 78-20. President Barack Obama, who spent several years working as a community organizer, is expected to sign it into law shortly.

"At this time of economic crisis, we need service and volunteering more than ever. This bill will unleash a new era of service for our nation at a time of great need," Sandy Scott, a spokesman for the federally funded community service program AmeriCorps, told CNN.

By Ashley Broughton
CNN

(CNN) - A Maryland woman involved with a group described as a religious cult pleaded guilty in the starvation death of her son, but insisted the charges be dropped when he is resurrected.

The condition was part of Ria Ramkissoon's plea agreement at her insistence, officials said. She entered the plea Monday in Baltimore, Maryland, to a first-degree felony count of child abuse resulting in death, her attorney, Steven Silverman, told CNN Tuesday.

However, Ramkissoon - a member of a group called One Mind Ministries - believes her year-old son Javon Thompson will rise again, and as part of her plea agreement, authorities agreed to the clause.

"She certainly recognizes that her omissions caused the death of her son," Silverman said. "To this day, she believes it was God's will and he will be resurrected and this will all take care of itself. She realizes if she's wrong, then everyone has to take responsibility ... and if she's wrong, then she's a failure as a mother and the worst thing imaginable has happened. I don't think that, mentally, she's ready to accept that."

From Per Nyberg
CNN
(CNN) - A Polish navy aircraft on a routine training flight crashed Tuesday on Poland's northeastern coast, and the four service members aboard are feared dead, navy spokesman Lt. Gregory Lyko told CNN.

The crew of the Bryza twin-turboprop transport plane was practicing landing with only one engine, Lyko said.

The crash occurred around 5 p.m. (11 a.m. ET) near the Babie Doly navy airfield near Gdynia, Poland, about 185 miles north of Warsaw.

The rescue operation is currently ongoing and the Polish navy has launched an investigation into the cause of the crash, Lyko explained.