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people was a muddy wasteland of collapsed houses and columns of coconut and banana trees felled by Bopha's ferocious winds.
• Outside a town gymnasium, several mud-stained bodies were laid side-by-side, covered by cloth and banana leaves and surrounded by villagers covering their noses to fight the stench. A man sprayed insecticide on the remains to turn away swarms of flies.
• ___

• TBILISI, Georgia (AP) -- It is a battle of egos that could not be more visible: The shining palace of the president and the lavish glass villa of the new billionaire prime minister vie for attention on hills overlooking the capital of Georgia, a U.S.-allied former Soviet republic in the throes of a leadership shakeup.
• And in a graphic symbol of President Mikhail Saakashvili's fading glory, the outdoor lights that illuminate his official residence will soon go off because his nemesis, Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, has refused to keep paying the bill.
• Ivanishvili, who became prime minister after his Georgian Dream coalition unseated Saakashvili's party in this fall's parliamentary election, has set out to further weaken his rival with a series of arrests of top officials and moves to cut funding to the presidency and curb Saakshvili's powers.
• Both men are colorful figures. Saakashvili, 44, is a bear of a man who exudes energy. He was once memorably caught on camera nervously munching on his tie while waiting to do a BBC television interview.
• Ivanishvili, 56, is small and lean but no less eccentric. Until entering politics a year ago, he was known mainly as a reclusive philanthropist and for his collection of exotic animals, including zebras and flamingoes. Saakashvili dubbed him "The Count of Monte Cristo" after the mysterious hero of the 19th century French novel by Alexandre Dumas.
• ___

• ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- A security video showing the abduction of an Alaska barista is unnerving on its own, but it only hints at the horror ahead for the 18-year-old woman.

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