CAIRO, Egypt — Osama bin Laden appeared for the first time in three years in a video Friday released ahead of the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, telling Americans they should convert to Islam if they want the war in Iraq to end.

The 30-minute video was obtained by the SITE Institute, a Washington-based group that monitors terror messages. American officials said the U.S. government had obtained a copy earlier and intelligence agencies were studying the video to determine whether it was authentic.

In the video, which was broadcast to the Arab world by Al-Jazeera television, bin Laden sits as he talks, wearing a white robe and turban and beige cloak seated behind a table while reading an address to the American people from papers in front of him.

His trimmed beard is shorter than in his last video, in 2004, and is fully black _ apparently dyed, since in past videos it was mostly gray. He speaks softly, as he usually does, and has dark bags under his eyes but appears healthy.

The footage gives a rare look at the al-Qaida leader, who has likely avoided appearing in videos as a security measure. His emergence comes at a time when terrorism experts believe his terror network is regrouping in the lawless Pakistan-Afghanistan border region.

General wants Iraq troop buildup to last until spring; suggests modest withdrawal then

WASHINGTON — Previewing a widely anticipated report to Congress, the top U.S. commander in Iraq says some troop withdrawals may be possible next spring, and the troop buildup of recent months has failed to yield political reform in Baghdad.

"It has not worked out as we had hoped," Gen. David Petraeus wrote U.S. forces in a letter Friday summarizing the results of the troop increase President Bush ordered last winter.

Petraeus wrote that U.S. military forces have chalked up significant gains in recent months. "In fact, the number of attacks across the country has declined in eight of the past 11 weeks, reaching during the last week in August a level not seen since June 2006."

At the same time, he told the men and women under his command they "operate against a backdrop of limited Iraqi government capacity, institutions trying to rebuild and various forms of corruption."

The letter dovetailed with an e-mail message to the Boston Globe, in which Petraeus said he expects that some troops scheduled to return home in the spring of 2008 could leave Iraq without replacements.

Missing 4-year-old Madeleine McCann's mother named as suspect in disappearance

PRAIA DA LUZ, Portugal — In a shocking twist, the mother of a 4-year-old British girl missing since May was named a suspect and called in for questioning Friday by police along with the child's father, after traces of blood were found in their rental car.

The girl's aunt said police suggested Madeleine McCann might have been killed accidentally and offered the mother a plea deal if she confessed.

Kate McCann was questioned for more than four hours in a second straight day of interrogation into the disappearance of Madeleine in southern Portugal.

Her husband, Gerry McCann, followed her into the police station in the southern Portuguese town of Portimao for a separate round of questioning. Friends and relatives said the mother told them she had been named a formal suspect and was offered a deal if she confessed, and that Gerry McCann was told he would likely also be named a suspect.

"They tried to get her to confess to having accidentally killed Madeleine by offering her a deal through her lawyer — 'If you say you killed Madeleine by accident and then hid her and disposed of the body, then we can guarantee you a two-year jail sentence or even less,'" Gerry McCann's sister, Philomena, told ITV news.

CIA chief defends detention of terrorism suspects; says U.S. has held fewer than a hundred

NEW YORK — CIA director Gen. Michael Hayden praised the U.S. government's much-criticized program of detaining and interrogating prisoners Friday, crediting it for most of the information in a July intelligence report on the terrorist threat to America.

He also said the CIA has detained fewer than 100 people at secret facilities abroad since the capture of Abu Zubaydah in 2002, and even fewer prisoners have been secretly transferred to or from foreign governments.

In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, Hayden defended the government's policy of extraordinary rendition, criticized the media for publishing stories about the government's intelligence activities, and warned that al-Qaida is trying to plant operatives in the United States.

Extraordinary rendition refers to the interrogation policy involving the secret transfer of prisoners from U.S. control into the hands of foreign governments, some of which have a history of torture. The U.S. government says it does so only after it is assured that transferred prisoners will not be subjected to torture.

The use of extraordinary rendition for terror suspects _ some of whom were later released, apparently because they were innocent _ was revealed by news media in 2005.

Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego to pay $198M to settle 144 claims of abuse by clergy

SAN DIEGO — The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego said Friday it has agreed to pay $198.1 million to settle 144 claims of sexual abuse by clergy, the second-largest payment by a diocese. The agreement caps more than four years of negotiations in state and federal courts.

Earlier this year, the diocese abruptly filed for bankruptcy protection just hours before trial was scheduled to begin on 42 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse. Bankruptcy could shield the diocese's assets, but a judge recently threatened to throw out the bankruptcy case if church officials didn't reach an agreement with the plaintiffs.

The San Diego diocese initially offered about $95 million to settle the claims. The victims were seeking about $200 million.

"The diocese has always been committed to resolving this litigation in a way that fairly compensates these victims of abuse and would still preserve the ongoing ministries and programs of the church," Bishop Robert Brom said in a press release Friday.

"We pray that this settlement will bring some closure and healing to the years of suffering experienced by these victims."

'A Wrinkle in Time' author and Newbery Medal winner Madeleine L'Engle dies at 88

HARTFORD, Conn. — Author Madeleine L'Engle, whose novel "A Wrinkle in Time" has captivated generations of schoolchildren and adults since the 1960s, has died, her publicist said Friday. She was 88.

L'Engle died Thursday at a nursing home in Litchfield, said Jennifer Doerr, publicity manager for publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

The Newbery Medal winner wrote more than 60 books, including fantasies, poetry and memoirs, often highlighting spiritual themes and her Christian faith.

For many years, she was the writer in residence and librarian at the Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City.

Although L'Engle was often labeled a children's author, she disliked that classification. In a 1993 Associated Press interview, she said she did not write down to children.

"In my dreams, I never have an age," she said. "I never write for any age group in mind. ... When you underestimate your audience, you're cutting yourself off from your best work."

Scientists say most of world's polar bears will be killed off by 2050 due to thinning sea ice

WASHINGTON — Two-thirds of the world's polar bears will be killed off by 2050 _ including the entire population in Alaska _ because of thinning sea ice from global warming in the Arctic, government scientists forecast Friday.

Only in northern Canada and northwestern Greenland are polar bears expected to survive through the end of the century, said the U.S. Geological Survey, which is the scientific arm of the Interior Department.

USGS projects that polar bears during the next half-century will lose 42 percent of the Arctic range they need to live in during summer in the Polar Basin when they hunt and breed.

Polar bears depend on sea ice as a platform for hunting seals, which is their primary food. They rarely catch seals on land or in open water. But the sea ice is decreasing due to climate change _ and the latest forecasts of how much they are shrinking are, if anything, an underestimate, scientists said.

"There is a definite link between changes in the sea ice and the welfare of polar bears," said USGS scientist Steven Amstrup, the lead author of the new studies. "As the sea ice goes, so goes the polar bear."

Nude photo emerges of squeaky-clean `High School Musical' star Vanessa Hudgens

NEW YORK — Brainy Gabriella of "High School Musical" would no doubt blush at the idea that a nude picture of young actress Vanessa Hudgens was circulating on the Internet. The problem for the Walt Disney Co. is that Hudgens plays Gabriella.

Hudgens' publicist confirmed Friday that the photograph is indeed the 18-year-old star of Disney Channel's wildly successful "High School Musical" franchise. It shows a coquettishly smiling Hudgens posing naked in a bedroom with a red curtain behind her.

"This was a photo which was taken privately," said Jill Fritzo, Hudgens' publicist. "It is a personal matter and it is unfortunate that this has become public."

She wouldn't say anything about who took the picture and how it slipped out onto the Internet.

The Disney Channel (part of the Walt Disney Co.) denied a published report that Hudgens will be dropped from the upcoming feature film "High School Musical 3." That movie is in development and negotiations with the stars are incomplete.

Mortgage lender Countrywide to cut as many as 12,000 jobs as loan originations slow

LOS ANGELES — Struggling lender Countrywide Financial Corp. said Friday it will cut as many as 12,000 jobs as it struggles to deal with challenging conditions in the mortgage industry.

The company said the cuts, amounting to as much as 20 percent of its workforce, are needed because it expects mortgage originations to fall about 25 percent in 2008 from this year's levels.

"We are taking decisive action to ensure that Countrywide continues to be well-positioned for further success," said Angelo Mozilo, chairman and CEO.

Reports: Ankiel and Glaus linked to pharmacy at center of performance-enhancing drugs probe

NEW YORK — Comeback kid Rick Ankiel and former World Series MVP Troy Glaus received performance-enhancing drugs from a Florida pharmacy under investigation for illegally distributing prescription medications, according to a pair of reports.

Ankiel, who has hit nine homers since rejoining the St. Louis Cardinals last month, received eight shipments of human growth hormone from January to December 2004, the Daily News reported Friday.

Glaus, a four-time All-Star now with the Toronto Blue Jays, received multiple shipments of Nandrolone and testosterone between September 2003 and May 2004, SI.com reported.

Major League Baseball doesn't test for HGH, and the sport didn't ban human growth hormone until 2005. But a player who possessed it or used it after it was banned could be suspended for 50 games.