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NEW DELHI: Muslim activists and opinion-makers on Sunday widely approved of President Barack Obama's remarks on jihad without hiding their reservations about the US policy towards the current turomil in the Islamic world. They sought to draw a line between the real meaning of `jihad' and the current spell of violence targeting the innocent. In their opinion Obama's comments on jihad at Mumbai's St Xavier's College earlier in the day was a clear attempt at separating the violent campaign from the basic concept of jihad.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 24% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-four percent (44%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -20 (see trends). Forty-eight percent (48%) of Democrats Strongly Approve while 75% of Republicans Strongly Disapprove. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 12% Strongly Approve and 52% Strongly Disapprove.

If Americans are divided about how their congressman should vote on the health-care bill, the same can't be said for their views on Congress. According to the new NBC/WSJ poll, whose full results will be released beginning at 6:30 pm ET, only 17% approve of Congress' job. What's more, given the opportunity, half (50%) say they would vote to defeat every single member of Congress, including their own representative.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Tuesday urged Congress to adopt a sweeping overhaul of the nation's immigration laws and challenged critics to offer a better alternative. The Arizona senator criticized his leading rivals, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, when a reporter asked about their opposition to a Senate compromise brokered earlier this month. "Anyone who says we shouldn't pass this legislation, I would ask for their proposal," McCain said. "I have not heard their recommendation." McCain said the U.S. cannot afford to continue allowing an estimated 12 million people to live in...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Legislators hoping to avoid a federal takeover of California's overcrowded prisons approved a $7.3 billion plan on Thursday to add beds and beef up rehabilitation programs. The bill, negotiated by Democratic and Republican leaders, passed unanimously in the Assembly but barely got the required two-thirds majority in the Senate with a 27-10 vote. The plan, which now goes to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, would add 53,000 beds for inmates, including 13,000 at county jails. It would also boost rehabilitation programs, including education and job training, and let the governor continue to transfer thousands of inmates out of state....

<p>WASHINGTON - An order from President Bush authorized a series of U.S. raids against Iranians in Iraq as part of a broad military offensive, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday.</p> <p>Bush issued the order several months ago, Rice told The New York Times as she prepared to visit the Middle East. She said the president acted "after a period of time in which we saw increasing activity" among Iranians in Iraq "and increasing lethality in what they were producing."</p>

Boren opposes, Republicans support possible troop increase in Iraq Reaction among Oklahoma's congressional delegation to President Bush's proposed troop increases in Iraq - which he discussed in a nationally televised address Wednesday night - fell mostly along party lines. Rep. Dan Boren of Muskogee, the only Democrat among Oklahoma's seven-person delegation, said he opposed Bush's plan to add 21,500 more troops, saying such an increase "does little to encourage the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future." But four Republicans in the delegation said that such troop increases will help speed the process of helping Iraqi forces to secure...

Students who came to the country illegally could apply for state financial aid when they attend California colleges and universities under legislation approved Tuesday by the Assembly in a party-line vote. Supporters said immigrant children who have graduated and completed at least three years of high school in California should not be penalized for their parents' decision to bring them to the U.S. illegally. "It is one small measure to help these kids that are working their butts off to live the American dream," said Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate. The bill would build upon existing state law...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Legislators have approved $155.3 million to lure yet another California biotechnology institute to Florida. The Burnham Institute for Medical Research, based in the San Diego area, now is deciding whether to build its 175,000-square-foot facility in Port St. Lucie or Orlando. "This is the beginning of us becoming the premier research state in the nation, if not the world," state Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, said Thursday after the Legislative Budget Commission's approval of the funds. The commission meets periodically when the Legislature isn't in session to make certain state financial decisions that can't wait until the...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Voters approved ballot measures to ban handguns in San Francisco and urge the city's public high schools and college campuses to keep out military recruiters. The gun ban prohibits the manufacture and sale of all firearms and ammunition in the city, and makes it illegal for residents to keep handguns in their homes or businesses. Only two other major U.S. cities _ Washington and Chicago _ have implemented such sweeping handgun bans.

SAN FRANCISCO – Oil refineries will have to cut the air pollution they generate while burning gases under a groundbreaking rule approved by smog regulators. The rule, which the Bay Area Air Quality Management District adopted Wednesday, is the first of its kind in the nation. Air quality officials throughout the country are closely monitoring it, and regulators in Southern California aim to impose similar restrictions later this year. Community groups in Richmond had long complained about flares, which occur when refineries burn excess gases. Air quality officials found that flaring spewed out eight tons of pollution a day, including...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - With uncharacteristic dispatch, the state Legislature approved California's $117.5 billion budget on Thursday, sending Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger the same agreement he struck earlier this week with legislative leaders. The vote was 64-13 in the Assembly and 34-4 in the Senate, a show of support far greater than the two-thirds vote required for passage in both houses. The governor is expected to sign the spending plan early next week. It would mark the earliest date California has approved a budget in five years. The compromise spending plan - negotiated by Schwarzenegger and leaders from both parties over...

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment Tuesday to ban gay marriage, the first such vote since the historic ruling in Massachusetts last year that legalized same-sex weddings there. Although the ban was widely expected to pass in conservative Missouri, experts said the campaign served as a key barometer for which strategies work as the gay marriage battle spreads to ballot boxes around the nation. At least nine other states, and perhaps as many as 12, will vote on similar amendments this year. The amendment had garnered 70 percent of the vote with 91 percent...

Dutch MPs approve asylum exodus The issue of asylum seekers has divided Dutch society The Dutch lower house of parliament has approved a controversial bill from the centre-right government to expel 26,000 asylum seekers. The plans would force the failed applicants, many of whom have lived in the Netherlands for years, to leave over a three-year period. About 2,300 others will be given leave to stay. The new policy is bitterly opposed by large sections of the traditionally tolerant society. DUTCH ASYLUM APPLICATIONS 2000: 43,560 2002: 18,670 2003: Estimated 10,000 Sources: Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics & Dutch Refugee Council...

<p>CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Democratic lawmakers declared victory after they managed to outmaneuver Republicans to cement a record $836 million tax increase that hits businesses, casinos and others to fund schools and the state's biannual budget.</p> <p>The deadlock that gripped the Legislature for months ended just before midnight when at least two-thirds of both houses approved the tax plan - averting what one lawmaker called a potential "constitutional crisis." Senators voted 17-2 for SB8, and the Assembly gave final approval with a 28-14 vote less than an hour later.</p>

<p>Civic leaders in the South Bay historically have been in the forefront of campaigns to give voters more flexible tools in funding infrastructure. For example, the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group recently announced plans to take an initiative to the ballot to lower the vote threshold for special purpose taxes. The California Legislature is considering similar proposals.</p>