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The article describes the recent increase in the number of private-equity group buyouts in the American corporate sector. The article describes the shift in public perception of private-equity groups and the effects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 on public firms. The article discusses concerns of insider trading and conflict of interest by England's Financial Services Authority and the United States' Securities and Exchange Commission.

Discusses how the television show "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" has impacted real life. How many Americans, stoked by the technical wizardry they see on TV, are disappointed when they encounter the real world of law and order; Jurors who increasingly expect forensic evidence in every case, and expect it to be conclusive; How police and prosecutors are waking up to he need to cater to a jury's heightened expectations; Crime labs which are understaffed and often do not receive all of the relevant physical evidence from a crime scene; How juries tend to belive forensic experts and the evidence they provide, even when they shouldn't.

Presents a special report on the scandal over the oil-for-food program in Iraq. Investigations into who is responsible for more than $4 billion in illegal kickbacks on Iraqi oil sales and goods from supplier exporting food, medicine and other materials to Baghdad; Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker who is conducting the investigation for the United Nations; Original goals of the program which was to protect the Iraqi people from economic sanctions imposed by the world community against Saddam Hussein; Mismanagement which was so severe that Saddam and his cronies were able to pocket millions for themselves; Details of evidence uncovered so far; Evidence that committee members were shown proof of the wrongdoing and did not respond; Further investigations.

Offers a look at the abuse of prisoners by United States soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Testimony of Army Captain Donald Reese regarding his time as warden of part of the prison; Discussion of the investigation into the abuses; Involvement of military intelligence officers in some of the interrogation techniques used in the prison; Testimony given by Brigadier General Janis Karpinski regarding the management of Abu Ghraib; Report that Abu Ghraib was not the only prison where abuses took place in Iraq; Problems with rioting in the prisons; Lack of food supplies at the prisons; Friction between intelligence and military police commanders at Abu Ghraib. INSET: SHINING A LIGHT IN A REAL DARK PLACE.

Profiles former Broadway actress turned war photographer Jana Schneider, and her struggle with mental illness. Biographical and career details; Why she left a successful career acting in the theater; Her aggressiveness as a war photographer; Her experience in Sarajevo; Schneider's depression; How Schneider ended up in Bellevue's psychiatric ward; Comments of Schneider.

Reports the claims of a former United States Marine, Carl Lamb, who served in the Korean War that North Korean prisoners of war were massacred in Seoul. Memories of the veteran about the alleged American war crime; How the memory has tormented Lamb; His search for the truth; Details of the 2001 investigation by the Marine Corps' Office of Inspector General; Background on Lamb as a soldier in Fox Company of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment and as a civilian; Details of the battle at Seoul; Memories of Charles N. Garabedian and other veterans; Honorable discharge of Lamb in 1951 with "battle fatigue"; Efforts to publicize the war with his books; Critical piece of evidence the Marine Corps investigators ignored; Difficulty in reconstructing the events; Possible misdiagnosis of Lamb's mental health by investigators that would impact his credibility.

Focuses on the deaths and injuries of Iraqi civilians in the 2003 Iraq War. Deaths of Iraqis who failed to stop at a U.S. checkpoint; How civilians have been caught in firefights and injured by U.S. and British fire; Argument of some U.S. marines that the enemy's unfair tactics put Iraqi civilians at risk; Attitudes of U.S. soldiers and their commanders; Lack of hospital supplies to treat the injured.

Reports on the end of the Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. Failure of Hussein's Special Republican Guard to make a stand in Baghdad; Reactions of Iraqis; How celebrations dissolved into looting and anarchy; Challenges facing the U.S. military; Comments of U.S. President George W. Bush and U.S. commanders; Outlook for a post-Hussein Iraq; Concerns of military planners; Violence in Baghdad; Role of the Bush administration; Hunt for Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction.

Reports on the U.S. assault on Baghdad, the most dangerous and difficult battle of the war with Iraq. How the city is riddled with security forces, paramilitaries and militiamen--all fanatically loyal to Saddam Hussein; The success of Operation Iraqi Freedom; The Army's 3rd Infantry Division's capture of Saddam International Airport; Options for taking Baghdad; Rules of engagement which are being loosened to allow coalition forces to target sensitive sites that were formerly off limits; Hope that Baghdad residents will rise up against Baath Party rule after three decades of oppression.

Discusses the U.S. and British assault on Baghdad, Iraq despite Iraqi resistance. Effects of a sandstorm on the battlefield; Efforts of Iraq's Republican Guard to protect Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein; Consideration of the guerrilla tactics used by the Fedayeen militia; Iraqi civilian casualties to U.S. bombs; Hesitancy of U.S. air commanders to hit certain air-defense targets; Use of video images of successful strikes by precision weapons; Role of British troops in the war.

Examines the U.S.-led military campaign in Iraq. Highlights of the campaign; Focus on Baghdad; Early advances by Army and Marine forces; Land and air assault by U.S. and British marines and Navy SEALs; War strategy; Resistance by Saddam Hussein's regime; Role of General Tommy Franks, commander of the operation; Risks and dangers; Challenge of handling Iraqi prisoners; Risk of intertribal warfare; The Pentagon's psychological operations campaign. INSET: Where war is waged with a laptop.

Presents photos of the World Trade Center wreckage which was placed in the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island. Amount of debris that was brought from the lower Manhattan area of New York City after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack; Mention of some items found and the disposal of crushed vehicles; Reverence for the recovery effort.

Examines how the United States Federal Drug Administration (FDA) allows faulty, and sometimes dangerous, medical devices onto the market. Percentage of Americans who have some kind of synthetic body part; The rise in the number of manufactures of medical devices; Statistics regarding those medical devices which have caused chronic pain or killed people; View that the FDA allows devices to be market before full-scale clinical trials can be completed.

Discusses how hundreds of Americans have joined the jihad movement and ventured overseas to attack those they believe threaten Islam. Estimated number of American recruits by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation; The key roles some have played in terrorism; Web sites that spread the call to holy war; John Walker Lindh, the best-known American jihadist. INSETS: ABU MALIK;HIRAM TORRES;ISA ABDULLAH ALI;KHALID ABU AL-DAHAB

Discusses how the U.S. is on edge due to intelligence reports that warm of potential terrorist strikes. Compilation of intelligence about potential terrorist plots and activities by the Central Intelligence Agency's team at the Counterterrorism Center; Ominous warnings that have been released; Question as to how much is speculation and how much is based on solid intelligence regarding operations and plans; How the White House is being criticized for both withholding and giving out too much information.

Discusses how Roman Catholic Church officials have moved priests who sexually abused children from one country to another. Examples of accused priests and their whereabouts; Confidential nature of church personnel files that makes it difficult to learn where priests have moved; How the international cases could boost the efforts of lawyers suing the church hierarchy under civil racketeering statutes in the U.S.; Possibility that the true scope of clerical abuse may never be known.

Focuses on the impact of the revelation of several child sexual abuse cases involving priests on the morale of Catholics and the operations of the Catholic Church in the United States. Official response of the Church to these cases, including the reassignment of priests to other parishes; Public opinion of priests following these revelations; View of Catholics that the church must undergo reforms, including its policy of priestly celibacy; Changes made to the selection of seminarians. INSET: The geography of perversion.

Focuses on crimes in the U.S. committed by funeral homes and crematories, in light of the discovery of several hundred corpses at a Georgia crematory. Suspicions about the unburied bodies, body parts being sold for medical research, and other crimes by the cemetery industry; High number of lawsuits in Florida against death-care companies, including Service Corp. International; Problem of not enough regulation for mortuaries, cemeteries, and crematories; Effort for reforms.

Focuses on the hunt for Osama bin Laden, who was responsible for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. Videotape which featured bin Laden admitting responsibility for and delighting in the attacks; Possible role of Saudi Arabian radical Sheik Ali Ben Said al-Ghamdi; How the tape confirms preconceptions about Al Qaeda; Belief that bin Laden escaped from Afghanistan into Pakistan; Bombing of the caves of Tora Bora by the U.S.

Focuses on the United States military presence in Afghanistan. Advantages for the U.S. of having military bases at Bagram Airport and near the city of Kandahar; Efforts of American forces to locate al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden; Speculation regarding the ability of Taliban forces to hold out against U.S. military strikes; Outlook for the establishment of an interim government in Afghanistan.

Reports on the United States war in Afghanistan. Efforts to find Osama bin Laden and his inner circle of terrorists; Plans to destroy what remains of the Taliban militia and bin Laden's al Qaeda organization; Economic aid to rebuild Afghanistan; Exit strategies under consideration by U.S. officials; Speculation as to the whereabouts of bin Laden.

Focuses on the collapse of the Taliban forces in Afghanistan from the Northern Alliance and the United States in the war against terrorism. Description of their collapse; Efforts to track down terrorist Osama bin Laden; Details of fighting between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance; Way that Afghanistan will be rebuilt.

Focuses on concerns about the presence of anthrax in mail in the United States. How the U.S. Postal Service ordered anthrax testing at a number of mail centers along the East Coast and random checks around the country; Response of the White House to the attacks; Statement of Ari Fleischer that the anthrax sent to Tom Daschle must have been produced by a Ph.D. microbiologist in a well-equipped lab; Implications of a meeting of terrorist hijackers Mohamed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi with a pharmacist.

Reports on fears of anthrax in the United States. The effect of government warnings concerning bioterrorism and biological weapons preparedness on the public consciousness; Fear and hysteria concerning instances of anthrax exposure to major public figures; View that terrorists behind the anthrax delivery have succeeded in their goal to create fear.

Reports on bioterrorism in the United States. Envelopes containing white power sent to a Microsoft office in Reno, Nevada, National Broadcasting Co. Inc.'s offices in New York, and to American Media Inc. in Boca Raton, Florida; Difficulties in launching biological terrorism attacks. INSET: A once and future scourge.

Examines the hunt for evidence by the United States Justice Department following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. View by some that the U.S. is unable to use its counterterrorism resources effectively; How terrorist behavior and U.S. targets went undetected; The growing evidence that the U.S. should have been better prepared; The rush to improve U.S. intelligence capabilities. INSETS: Following the money;The plotlines for death and dying.

Reports on the ordinary lifestyles of the terrorists who carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. How the terror cells lived unnoticed, sometimes for years, dressing and acting like Americans; Background on the terrorists; Role of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation in tracking down operatives which financed them; Announcement of government measures against foreigners suspected of terrorism. INSET: A cell is formed.

Focuses on the popularity of technical products in the United States. How technological innovations claim to save time; Consumer demand for technology which is simple to use; Effect of the Internet on the technology sector.

Focuses on the confusion that surrounds the 2000 United States presidential election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. Thoughts on the Florida Supreme Court decision to continue to ballot recount process in three highly-Democratic counties; Speculation on whether the court decision will stand; How the Florida justices were all appointed by Democratic governors, with thoughts on the implication for them favoring Gore in decisions.

Reports on the contested 2000 United States Presidential election in Florida. Thought that U.S. Vice President Al Gore will continue a course of legal action; How Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris refused to extend a manual vote count deadline for Palm Beach County; Timeline of events in Florida.

Reports on the 2000 United States presidential election between Texas Governor George W. Bush and U.S. Vice President Al Gore. Suggestion that the violence in the Middle East and an unpredictable stock market has made the presidential race important; Details of the electoral vote count and the popular vote count; Strategy of Gore which is to attack Bush's record as governor of Texas; Thought that the candidates should take risks during their campaigns. INSET: Some topics are too dangerous to discuss.

Discusses the importance of women in the 2000 United States presidential election. Poll results indicating that single women favor Al Gore and married women prefer George W. Bush; Role that white, working, married mothers are expected to play in the election and their status as the key swing group in the election; Concerns of women, including the stresses of working and raising families simultaneously. INSETS: The character flaw;Dollars and sense;All about kids.