NEW YORK — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad questioned the official version of the Sept. 11 attacks and defended the right to cast doubt on the Holocaust in a tense appearance Monday at Columbia University, whose president accused the hard-line leader of behaving like "a petty and cruel dictator."

Ahmadinejad smiled at first but appeared increasingly agitated, decrying the "insults" and "unfriendly treatment." Columbia President Lee Bollinger and audience members took him to task over Iran's human-rights record and foreign policy, as well as Ahmadinejad's statements denying the Holocaust and calling for the disappearance of Israel.

"Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator," Bollinger said, to loud applause.

He said Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust might fool the illiterate and ignorant.

"When you come to a place like this it makes you simply ridiculous," Bollinger said. "The truth is that the Holocaust is the most documented event in human history."

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Bush administration says social security facing $13.6 trillion shortfall

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration said in a new report Monday that Social Security is facing a $13.6 trillion shortfall and that delaying needed reforms is not fair to younger workers.

A report issued by the Treasury Department said that some combination of benefit cuts and tax increases will need to be considered to permanently fix the funding shortfall. But White House officials stressed that President Bush remains opposed to raising taxes.

The Treasury report put the cost of the gap between what Social Security is expected to need to pay out in benefits and what it will raise in payroll taxes in coming years at $13.6 trillion.

It said delaying necessary changes reduces the number of people available to share in the burden of those changes and is unfair to younger workers. "Not taking action is thus unfair to future generations. This is a significant cost of delay," the report said.

In another key finding, the report said: "Social Security can be made permanently solvent only by reducing the present value of scheduled benefits and/or increasing the present value of scheduled tax increases."

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AP Interview: Ahmadinejad says Iran will not attack other countries

NEW YORK — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday that Iran would not launch an attack on Israel or any other country, and he does not believe the U.S. is preparing for war against Iran. "Iran will not attack any country," Ahmadinejad told The Associated Press, when asked if his country would ever strike first against Israel.

Iran has always maintained a defensive policy, not an offensive one, he said, and has "never sought to expand its territory."

He said he did not believe the U.S. was preparing for war.

"I believe that some of the talk in this regard arises first of all from anger. Secondly, it serves the electoral purposes domestically in this country. Third, it serves as a cover for policy failures over Iraq."

Ahmadinejad dismissed statements by U.S. military officers and intelligence reports that Iran secretly provides weapons to insurgents fighting against U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, particularly the shaped projectiles that have harmed U.S. troops in roadside attacks.

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Bush says Clinton will defeat Obama

WASHINGTON — President Bush, breaking his rule not to talk about presidential politics, says he believes Hillary Rodham Clinton will defeat Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential primaries. Bush also predicts that Clinton will be defeated in the general election by the Republican nominee.

"I believe our candidate can beat her but it's going to be a tough race," the president said.

It has been difficult for Bush to remain silent about the 2008 president race, despite his promises not to be the "prognosticator in chief." He has been talking about the race and handicapping candidates during off-the-record chats with visitors to the White House.

He finally went public with his Clinton prediction in an interview for a book by journalist Bill Sammon.

"She's got a great national presence and this is becoming a national primary," Bush told Sammon. "And therefore the person with the national presence, who has got the ability to raise enough money to sustain an effort in a multiplicity of sites, has got a good chance to be nominated."

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Officer run over as 2 inmates escape Texas prison

HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Two inmates working in a prison field overpowered a female guard Monday and killed her when they ran her over in a stolen pickup truck as they fled, prison officials said.

One of the prisoners, John Ray Falk, was recaptured within the hour. The second, Jerry Martin, was found several hours later hiding in a tree after a manhunt that included a police helicopter, Stetson-hatted lawmen on horseback and bloodhounds.

Martin and Falk were working outside the Wynne Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice just north of Huntsville when they overpowered the officer about 10:30 a.m. along Interstate 45, took her weapons and stole a Huntsville city truck that was nearby, corrections department spokesman Jason Clark said.

"They ran over the officer," Clark said. "We can confirm she did die."

The guard, Susan Canfield, 59, had been a corrections officer for seven years, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons said.

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Researchers find that acupuncture works for back pain

CHICAGO — Fake acupuncture works nearly as well as the real thing for low back pain, and either kind performs much better than usual care, German researchers have found.

Almost half the patients treated with acupuncture needles felt relief that lasted months. In contrast, only about a quarter of the patients receiving medications and other Western medical treatments felt better.

Even fake acupuncture worked better than conventional care, leading researchers to wonder whether pain relief came from the body's reactions to any thin needle pricks or, possibly, the placebo effect.

"Acupuncture represents a highly promising and effective treatment option for chronic back pain," study co-author Dr. Heinz Endres of Ruhr University Bochum in Bochum, Germany, said in an e-mail. "Patients experienced not only reduced pain intensity, but also reported improvements in the disability that often results from back pain and therefore in their quality of life."

Although the study was not designed to determine how acupuncture works, Endres said, its findings are in line with a theory that pain messages to the brain can be blocked by competing stimuli.

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UW scientists discover rare albino ratfish

SEATTLE — There may never be a campaign to save the Puget Sound ratfish; no one really loves the ugly fish with rodent-like front teeth. But when a rare albino ratfish was found during a marine survey this past summer, scientists decided it was time to educate the public about the most abundant fish in local waters.

The cartilaginous cousin of skates and rays is usually brown or black with white spots so it can blend in with the bottom of the sound, where it uses its rat-like teeth to crush clams, crabs and worms scooped up from the sand and mud.

"They're pretty ugly," said Jon Reum, a University of Washington doctoral student who spent his summer working on the marine survey. "They've got this gnarly spine on their backs, they bite, and they're just a pain to work with."

One drizzling and cold day, researchers off Whidbey Island had just pulled up another net loaded with the bottom dwellers and Reum spied the pearly white ratfish. The foot-long female was estimated to be 2 or 3 years old, making her a teenager in the ratfish world.

"This animal would just stand out like a beacon," says UW fisheries professor Ted Pietsch. "I don't know why it wasn't eaten long before."

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Jennifer Garner says daughter Violet is 'pretty awesome'

NEW YORK — Jennifer Garner, who stars in the upcoming film, "The Kingdom," says she's grateful that she can balance her career with motherhood.

"My job is great to have as a mom," she tells Marie Claire magazine in its October issue. "I get to take long breaks and then work hard in a really concentrated way."

Garner wed Ben Affleck in June 2005. Their daughter, Violet, will be 2 on Dec. 1.

"She's pretty awesome. We're in that sweet spot before the 'terrible twos,"' the 35-year-old actress says. "We definitely wonder what it would be like to have another — hopefully, knock on wood, someday."