[Diva Betsy Ross]

Good news!

Coach Faris al-Hassan, a former Davis Cup player who was jailed for 10 days in the late 1980s because he lost a match to Algeria, presides over seven courts of powdery, pebble-strewn clay and uneven surfaces. Despite the war, Iraq will play in Group Four of the Davis Cup in Jordan in April, and new officials have taken over the Iraqi tennis federation.

One club player is 18-year-old Ali Jwad, the nation's top-ranked junior player. When Jwad hits a flashy winner, he pumps his fist and yells "C'mon!" with the verve of Australian star Lleyton Hewitt. But he says his hero is American Todd Martin, the elder statesman of tennis, because he has a "fighter's heart."

Freedom!More good news here

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks, DBR, for the "good news" report.