WASHINGTON — Valerie Plame put a glamorous face and a personal story to Democrats' criticism of the Bush administration today, telling a House committee that White House and State Department officials "carelessly and recklessly" blew her CIA cover in a politically motivated smear of her husband.

Plame, the operative at the center of the leak scandal that resulted in last week's criminal conviction of a former top White House official, created more of a stir by her presence on Capitol Hill than by her testimony.

She revealed little new information about the case, which sparked a federal investigation and brought perjury and obstruction of justice convictions of Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. No one has been charged with leaking her identity.

Still, Plame's appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee was a moment of political theater that dramatized Democrats' drive to use their control of Congress to expose what they see as White House efforts to intimidate dissenters.

"My name and identity were carelessly and recklessly abused by senior officials in the White House and State Department," Plame testified in her first public comments about the case. "I could no longer perform the work for which I had been highly trained."

3 OFFICERS INDICTED IN NYC SHOOTING

NEW YORK — Three of the five policemen whose 50-bullet barrage killed an unarmed man on his wedding day were indicted today in a case that heightened racial tensions and renewed allegations that the city's officers are too fast on the trigger.

Attorneys for officers Marc Cooper, Gerscard Isnora and Michael Oliver said their clients had been indicted, but they did not know what offenses the officers had been charged with.

The three officers fired the most shots — Cooper, 4, Isnora, 11, and Oliver, 31 — in the Nov. 25 confrontation that killed 23-year-old Sean Bell and wounded two of his friends as they left Bell's bachelor party at a strip club in Queens.

The shooting stirred outrage around New York City and led to accusations of racism against police. Bell was black, as are two of his friends who were wounded in the shooting. Cooper and Isnora are black. Oliver is white.

District Attorney Richard A. Brown said only that the grand jury had reached a decision and it would be announced Monday. He gave no reason for the delay, but indictments are often kept sealed until attorneys and their clients are notified and arrangements can be made for the defendants to surrender.

IRAN PRESIDENT DISMISSES SANCTIONS

TEHRAN, Iran — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted today that new sanctions won't force Iran to give up its right to enrich uranium, and he blasted the U.N. Security Council as an instrument used by "bullying" Western nations against Tehran.

"We have achieved the nuclear fuel cycle. We won't give it up under pressure. You can't stop the Iranian nation from this path through meetings," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by state media.

But even as he reiterated Tehran would pursue the controversial enrichment program, he has asked to speak before the U.N.'s most powerful body on the day the Security Council votes on a new resolution on stepped up sanctions against his country.

On Thursday, the governments of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany agreed on a new package of sanctions against Tehran for failing to halt the enrichment which the West fears is used for nuclear arms making.

The resolution is likely to be approved unanimously after winning support of the five veto-wielding members. The full Security Council will consider the measures in coming days.

SENATORS SPEAK OUT ON ALLEGED DETAINEE ABUSE

WASHINGTON — Two senators who watched Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confess to planning the Sept. 11 attacks and other plots said today that his allegations of mistreatment by U.S. captors should be taken seriously and investigated.

"To do otherwise would reflect poorly on our nation," Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a joint statement.

At a closed military hearing last Saturday at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval prison in Cuba, Mohammed claimed responsibility for plotting more than 30 attacks and personally beheading American journalist Daniel Pearl.

He also gave military officials a written statement alleging mistreatment before arriving at Guantanamo Bay. He had previously been held by the CIA at secret facilities.

Levin and Graham acknowledged today that they watched the proceedings on a closed circuit television in an adjoining room. The public and press were barred from the session, and the senators' attendance had not been announced.

OFFICIALS WARN OF EXTREMISTS DRIVING SCHOOL BUSES

WASHINGTON — Suspected members of extremist groups have signed up as school bus drivers in the United States, counterterror officials said today, in a cautionary bulletin to police. An FBI spokesman said, "Parents and children have nothing to fear."

Asked about the alert notice, the FBI's Rich Kolko said, "There are no threats, no plots and no history leading us to believe there is any reason for concern," although law enforcement agencies around the country were asked to watch out for kids' safety.

The bulletin, parts of which were read to The Associated Press, did not say how often foreign extremists have sought to acquire licenses to drive school buses, or where. It was sent today as part of what officials said was a routine FBI and Homeland Security Department advisory to local law enforcement.

It noted "recent suspicious activity" by foreigners who either drive school buses or are licensed to drive them, according to a counterterror official.

Foreigners under recent investigation include "some with ties to extremist groups" who have been able to "purchase buses and acquire licenses," the bulletin says.

SHIITE CLERIC URGES SUPPORTERS TO RESIST U.S.

BAGHDAD — A radical Shiite cleric today calling on his supporters to resist U.S. forces in Iraq, and a local militia commander blamed an attack against the mayor of Sadr City on a faction unhappy about cooperation with Americans.

"The occupiers want to harm this beloved (Sadr City) and tarnish its name by spreading false rumors and allegations that negotiations and cooperation are ongoing between you and them," Muqtada al-Sadr said in a statement read to worshippers by Sheik Haider al-Jabri. "I am confident that you will not make concessions to them and will remain above them. Raise your voices in love and brotherhood and unity against your enemy and shout 'No, no America.' "

The statement read in the main Shiite district in Baghdad came a day after gunmen opened fire on the convoy carrying Mayor Rahim al-Darraji in eastern Baghdad, seriously wounding him and killing two of his bodyguards, police and a local official said.

Al-Darraji was the principal negotiator in talks with U.S. officials that led to an agreement to pull Shiite fighters off the streets in Sadr City, a stronghold of the feared Mahdi Army, and a local commander said suspicion fell on a group of disaffected militiamen who are angry about the deal.

"This is a faction that enjoys some weight," the Mahdi Army commander said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

JAPAN STUDY FAVORS CPR ALTERNATIVE

Dropping mouth-to-mouth to focus on chest presses is better CPR, Japanese study suggests

Chest compression — not mouth-to-mouth resuscitation — seems to be the key in helping someone recover from cardiac arrest, according to new research that further bolsters advice from heart experts.

A study in Japan showed that people were more likely to recover without brain damage if rescuers focused on chest compressions rather than rescue breaths, and some experts advised dropping the mouth-to-mouth part of CPR altogether. The study was published in today's issue of the medical journal The Lancet.

More than a year ago, the American Heart Association revised CPR guidelines to put more emphasis on chest presses, urging 30 instead of 15 for every two breaths given. Stopping chest compressions to blow air into the lungs of someone who is unresponsive detracts from the more important task of keeping blood moving to provide oxygen and nourishment to the brain and heart.

Another big advantage to dropping the rescue breaths: It could make bystanders more willing to provide CPR in the first place. Many are unwilling to do the mouth-to-mouth part and become flummoxed and fearful of getting the ratio right in an emergency.

Sudden cardiac arrest — when the heart suddenly stops beating — can occur after a heart attack or as a result of electrocution or near-drowning. It's most often caused by an abnormal heart rhythm. The person experiencing it collapses, is unresponsive to gentle shaking and stops normal breathing.

FOX GAME SHOW A HIT, EMBARRASSES ADULTS

NEW YORK — How tough could this be? That's what Fox reality show guru Mike Darnell thought when the people pitching "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" asked him to answer six questions they would use on the game.

Three wrong answers later, a hit show was born.

The new game has passed some tests of its own on the way to humiliating adults and making kids across the country feel smug — the 12.2 million people who tuned in Thursday helped the family friendly show win its time slot.

Contestants try to answer questions from elementary school textbooks while real fifth graders stand by to offer help. Unless you're an accountant, the math is the most frightening: On one show, the pint-sized experts easily got the answer when host Jeff Foxworthy asked how many sides are there in a trapezoid.

Trapezoid? What the heck is a trapezoid?

"Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" premiered less than eight weeks after Darnell heard the initial pitch from Mark Burnett and Zoo Productions — a blink of an eye in television terms.

GAS, FOOD PRICES PUSH INFLATION UP

Gasoline and food prices push inflation up in February

WASHINGTON — Consumers paid more for energy, food and a host of other items in February as a sluggish economy failed to extinguish inflation pressures. But in a hopeful sign for growth, factory output posted a better-than-expected increase.

The Labor Department reported today that the Consumer Price Index rose by 0.4 percent last month, double the January increase, as energy prices shot up and adverse winter weather in Florida and California sent citrus prices soaring.

The increase was larger than the 0.3 percent rise analysts had expected, although core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose by just 0.2 percent, in line with forecasts.

But even there, economists saw problems with widespread increases in a number of categories including clothing, housing, education and medical care.