Briefing

ALTOONA, PA. Obama ribbed over low score at a bowling-alley campaign stop

NEW DELHI India, on the brink of a food crisis, bans the export of nonbasmati rice

ERG ZNAIGUI, MOROCCO Grueling 243-km Sand Marathon begins

STONEHENGE Archaeologists start rare dig

WASHINGTON Bush booed as he throws Nationals' first pitch

DEFENSE SPENDING

The Cost of War

Waging battle is an expensive business--and it's getting more so. The U.S. Government Accountability Office's report on Pentagon spending details budget overruns on 72 vehicles and weapons systems owing to expensive redesigns or inefficient project management. As a result, the overall price tag of the military's investments in new technology is up about 50%, to $1.6 trillion. Some of the programs analyzed:

EFV The Marine Corps' Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, which will serve as a troop carrier, saw a 55% increase over seven years.

ORIGINAL COST $8.7 billion

LATEST COST $13.5 billion

Virginia-Class Sub

Project outlays for this attack submarine, which is able to operate in deep and coastal waters, rose 42% in 11 years.

ORIGINAL COST $57.4 billion

LATEST COST $81.3 billion

MQ-9 Reaper

Development of the Air Force's unmanned aircraft system had a whopping 219% overrun after three years.

ORIGINAL COST $690 million

LATEST COST $2.2 billion

V-22 Osprey

The Marines' troubled vertical-takeoff aircraft saw a 44% rise in program expenditures over 20 years.

ORIGINAL COST $38 billion

LATEST COST $54.8 billion

REFORM

Not Quite Cuba Libre

Almost two years after Raul Castro took over for his ailing brother Fidel, Cuba is launching a host of economic reforms. First came the right of ordinary Cubans to own cell phones, then to buy foreign electronics, rent cars and stay in tourist hotels. Now some private farmers can till their own land. A few questions about what it all means:

WHY NOW?

Early hopes that Raul might be a reformer gave way to frustration with continued poverty and social restrictions. The changes may help for a while.

IS CUBA ANY FREER? Not politically. In fact, critical blogs like Generacion Y say the government has slowed their sites down in recent weeks to cut off visitors.

WILL THERE BE MORE REFORMS AHEAD? Probably, but mostly economic ones. These moves seem to emulate the Chinese model: Give people more access to hard currency and free markets while keeping a lock on political dissent. But Raul has encouraged public debate on Cuba's system, and his recent agreement to allow in U.N. rights inspectors could prompt more.

EDUCATION

Learning How to Count Dropouts

THE STATISTICS Many U.S. cities have abysmal on-time graduation rates (25% in Detroit, 31% in Indianapolis, to name a couple), says a new report from America's Promise Alliance, an education nonprofit. What's worse, the news seemed to surprise low-performing school districts, in part because many have been underestimating their dropout rates: some marked as graduates those who promised to eventually take a GED, while others didn't record dropouts who left before the 12th grade.

A MORE HONEST TALLY On April 1, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced a mandatory federal standard for defining dropouts. Next step: keeping in school those most at risk.

REPORT CARD A Failing Peace

Condoleezza Rice's return to the Middle East highlighted the lack of progress since last year's peace summit:

ISRAELIS

Subject: Jewish settlements

GRADE: F

Settlements in Palestinian territories actually expanding

Subject: Removing roadblocks

GRADE: D+

Agreed to remove 50 in the West Bank, but 530 remain

Subject: Keeping the peace

GRADE: D

120 Palestinians killed in retaliatory attacks

PALESTINIANS

Subject: Security improvement

GRADE: C--

New Palestinian police force ineffective in halting militants

Subject: Clean government

GRADE: D

Official caught smuggling 3,000 cell phones in his limo

Subject: Keeping the peace

GRADE: D

Gaza rockets and withdrawal from peace talks not helping