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Mystery writer Julie Smith offers a tour of the hauntingly Gothic city she calls home. New Orleans, says Smith, is a great place to write mysteries — not because of the city's crime, but because of its secrets.

When the votes came in for Prospect magazine's list of the top 100 public intellectuals, at No. 1 was Turkish Sufi cleric Fethullah Gulen. Prospect Magazine editor Tom Nuttall says Gulen's global network of supporters propelled him to the top spot.

Critics of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac say the mortgage giants are too big and far too willing to take risks. They also say the companies have too close a relationship with Washington lawmakers, and that the entities shielded themselves from tighter regulation.

Congress this week passed — by a veto-proof margin — legislation to cancel a 10.6 percent pay cut to doctors who care for Medicare patients. But President Bush says he'll veto it anyway, because the bill also reduces funding to private insurance plans that participate in Medicare.

The Senate has approved and sent to the White House a bitterly contested rewrite of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. The bill overhauls disputed rules on secret government eavesdropping. It also shields phone companies from lawsuits for their role in the administration's warrantless eavesdropping program.

Drummer Martin Atkins spent the 1980s and 90s touring the world with bands that have both packed stadiums and struggled to fill the tiniest of clubs. His new book and DVD, Tour: Smart, is a guide to modern-day touring for the rock musician.

The three American military contractors who were among the 15 hostages rescued from Colombian leftist rebels have returned home safe. The rescue operation was assisted by quick thinking, acting skills and Che Guevara T-shirts.

When James Lacy was growing up, his father prospered by running a general store in rural Texas. But the merchant lost everything in the economic collapse of 1929. Though his dad spent decades paying off debts, Lacy says, he was rich in other ways.

Colombia told the U.S. about the raid to rescue hostages from FARC rebels two weeks ago, Pentagon sources say. The U.S. was asked to provide help in the form of surveillance aircraft to eavesdrop on rebels. No Americans were on the ground.

The young singer, part of a wave of British female pop stars finding success in the U.S., has been compared to Dusty Springfield and sparked rumors that her father is fellow Wales native Tom Jones. She talks about the tiny town where she grew up, and recording her first demos on a karaoke machine.