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El Salvador gets nearly six feet of rainfall each year, but clean water is in short supply. Contaminated water kills thousands there every year. But simple projects that build deep wells are beginning to succeed where expensive, modern water systems have failed.

Mark Twain once said, "I never let school interfere with my education." That's just one example of an aphorism from a new collection of the handy sayings gathered and annotated by author James Geary in The World in a Phrase.

Last March, Indonesia saw its first polio case in 10 years. Now, 300 children have been crippled and 60,000 infected. Before health officials can stamp polio out, they'll have to win over parents distrustful of the vaccine.

Engineers testify before the Senate that downtown New Orleans should not have flooded during Hurricane Katrina. The flooding occurred because walls along canals had faulty foundations and collapsed. The investigators said it's unclear whether the walls were poorly designed or shoddily constructed.

One of the most clandestine kitchens ever was created by an inmate in solitary confinement in Louisiana's Angola State Pentitentiary. Over three decades, Robert "King" Wilkerson perfected a recipe for pralines, which he made in a makeshift kitchen in his tiny cell.

New reports from the Pew Hispanic Center conclude that low-income Latino students are the most segregated, ill-served group in the country's public high schools. The reports detail high school conditions for Hispanic students in the United States.

Teddy Roosevelt's greatest adventure came in 1914 when the former president visited South America. He barely escaped after agreeing to survey an uncharted river in the heart of the Amazon jungle.

I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide, pleads not guilty to charges against him in a case probing who revealed the identity of a covert CIA agent. He was arraigned in federal court in Washington, D.C., on charges of obstructing justice, perjury and making false statements.

Hurricane Wilma creates severe flooding and a great deal of damage in the Yucatan Peninsula, where the huge storm lingered for more than 24 hours. Wilma battered the region's strip of beachfront resorts.

Peter Manseau's mother is a former nun; his father is a priest who remains under suspension. Manseau tells of their marriage — and his upbringing — in a new memoir, Vows.