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The positive impact of the GOP convention on polling indicators of Republican strength is further seen in the operation of Gallup's "likely voter" model in this survey. Republicans, who are now much more enthused about the 2008 election than they were prior to the convention, show heightened interest in voting, and thus outscore Democrats in apparent likelihood to vote in November. As a result, Republican candidates now lead Democratic candidates among likely voters by 5 percentage points, 50% to 45%.

WASHINGTON - The terrorist network Al-Qaida will likely leverage its contacts and capabilities in Iraq to mount an attack on U.S. soil, according to a new National Intelligence Estimate on threats to the United States. The declassified key findings, to be released publicly on Tuesday, were obtained in advance by The Associated Press. The report lays out a range of dangers — from al-Qaida to Lebanese Hezbollah to non-Muslim radical groups — that pose a "persistent and evolving threat" to the country over the next three years. As expected, however, the findings focus most of their attention on the gravest...

NEW YORK - Anti-gay bias has flared up in Hollywood and pro basketball recently, and soon the topic will be thrust dramatically into a new forum — a reshaped Congress likely to pass the first major federal gay-rights bills. Wary conservative leaders, as well as gay-rights advocates, share a belief that at least two measures will win approval this year: a hate-crimes bill that would cover offenses motivated by anti-gay bias, and a measure that would outlaw workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. Also on the table — although with more doubtful prospects — will be a measure to be...

PARIS - The world's leading climate scientists said global warming has begun, is "very likely" caused by man, and will be unstoppable for centuries, according to a report obtained Friday by The Associated Press. The scientists — using their strongest language yet on the issue — said now that world has begun to warm, hotter temperatures and rises in sea level "would continue for centuries" no matter how much humans control their pollution. The report also linked the warming to the recent increase in stronger hurricanes. "The observed widespread warming of the atmosphere and ocean, together with ice-mass loss, support...

Sydney warned more beach riots are likely Phil Mercer in Sydney Sunday October 1, 2006 The Observer (UK) Australia's biggest city is bracing itself for more racial violence on its beaches this Christmas. Sydney witnessed a wave of unrest at the seaside suburb of Cronulla last December when 5,000 people - most of them young white men - gathered at the beach to protest at alleged intimidation by Lebanese gangs. The demonstration quickly degenerated into drunken violence, and anyone of Mediterranean or Arabic appearance was forced to hide in hotels or restaurants. The following day groups of men from Middle...

LOS ANGELES Ray Watson figured the ban on carrying liquids onto flights that forced thousands of travelers to discard cosmetics and other items would prove a boon for one industry: makers of toiletries. "I can't imagine all the millions of dollars that the Colgate-Palmolives are going to reap from this," said Watson, 40, of Denver, as he waited to pick up his luggage at Los Angeles International Airport. "The Dumpsters in Phoenix were filled with shampoo and toothpaste." U.S. authorities banned the carrying of nearly all liquids onto flights Thursday after British authorities arrested 24 people in an alleged plot...

WASHINGTON, July 5, 2006 – The new al Qaeda in Iraq leader is an explosives expert who could opt to increase insurgent attacks using car and truck bombs, a senior U.S. military officer said in Baghdad today. Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, a spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, told reporters that it would be prudent to expect a rise in attacks with such devices in light of Egyptian Abu Ayyub al-Masri's reputation. Masri's predecessor as the head of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed June 7 during a U.S. aerial bombing raid. Caldwell said security is...

Founded in 1929 to unite the country after Mexico's revolution, the PRI ruled by accepting all ideologies. It catered to unions, the rich, the poor -- anyone who would support it. Its platform was maintaining power." - Associated Press, Sunday, June 25, 2006 I've been thinking the past few weeks about the conservative movement and the idea of winning versus merely staying ahead -- a strategy seemingly employed at the national level to ensure that the Republicans maintain the majority. Notice none of the political pundits are talking about Republicans trying to pick up seats this election cycle. They're merely...

After early hopes that California might have its first on-time budget in 20 years, lawmakers Wednesday failed to bridge differences over funding health care for the children of illegal immigrants and settle on a plan to pay down state debt. Lawmakers from both parties said they plan to continue negotiating Thursday - the constitutional deadline to pass the budget - but no vote on the proposed $131 billion spending plan is scheduled. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, criticized Republicans for the delay, saying the party had gone looking for reasons to hold up a vote. Republicans' attempt to block...

FORT HUACHUCA — Come July, Col. Jonathan Hunter doesn’t know if he will have even half the money he needs to run the garrison for the last three months of the current federal fiscal year. The garrison commander does know about $16 million is needed for July, August and September. “We’ll be lucky if we get half,” he said. The situation is so dire that temporary and term civil service employees in the garrison are being cut, civil service people are being offered voluntary early retirement, and vacant positions are not being filled. Term and temporary employees have no guarantee...

WASHINGTON - With the demise of charismatic terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida will be looking for a new sales approach in its worldwide fundraising campaigns. Al-Zarqawi had become a key part of al-Qaida's marketing: He was a terror operator who stole headlines with jarring, gruesome attacks carried out by a network of foreign and Iraqi fighters. For more than three years, he evaded an international manhunt. Counterterrorism officials have said al-Zarqawi served as a worldwide jihadist rallying point and a fundraising icon. "The terrorist celeb, if you will," said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., a former FBI agent who serves...

June 1, 2006 — Military sources told ABC News that there are likely to be charges filed against officers up the chain of command in connection with the killing of 24 civilians by U.S. Marines in Haditha, Iraq, in November 2005. Those who could be charged include senior officers who were not on the scene at the time of the killing but should have known something wrong had happened and done something about it. Today the White House confirmed that it was nearly three months after the Haditha killings that an investigation began, only after Time Magazine showed a video...

WASHINGTON - A prominent congressional opponent of sweeping immigration legislation conceded Friday the measure is likely to pass next week, adding "The Senate should be ashamed of itself." At the same time, Sen. Jeff Sessions (news, bio, voting record), R-Ala., predicted that without significant changes, no final compromise would emerge from House-Senate negotiations this year. Sessions indicated little chance of a filibuster, a tactic that would require supporters to amass 60 votes to prevail. The Alabama Republican made his remarks at the end of a week of maneuvering on the Senate floor that left the fundamental provisions of the legislation...

The Capitol's state-budget dance has begun, and the governor hopes that this year it will be a quick two-step. First, resolve the bonds to face voters in November. Then, flush with new money from a strong economy, approve a 2006-2007 spending plan of perhaps $127 billion. Above all, keep the bonds and budget separate. "That's because the budget bill is a leverage point that the Legislature can use against the governor on the bonds. It gives the Legislature control because of the timing," says Bill Leonard, a Republican and former legislative leader who served in both the Assembly and the...

The proposed budget Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled Tuesday is an election-year document that seeks to appease his enemies while doing as little as possible to offend his allies. The problem is that Schwarzenegger is out of political capital. He has little clout to impose his will on anyone, even if he cared to do so. And clearly, at least when it comes to the budget, he does not even want to try. Although the governor likes to talk about how so much of the budget is out of his control because of state laws and constitutional provisions, he did have...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12, 2005 – The senior U.S. military commander in Iraq will likely conduct a force-level assessment sometime after the Dec. 15 elections, a senior defense department official said here today. However, chief DoD spokesman Lawrence Di Rita cautioned Pentagon reporters that Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., commander of Multinational Force Iraq, may not provide a recommendation for Iraq force-level changes along with his assessment. "I would expect fully that he'll come back and give an assessment of where he thinks he is," Di Rita said. "I don't know - I simply don't - whether that will include...

A lawyer for San Diego's retirement system determined in May 2004 that board members likely had broken the state conflict-of-interest law – a conclusion reached in private one year before prosecutors brought charges against six current and former pension trustees. In a May 13, 2004, memo, Michael A. Leone wrote that it was "probable" that a court would find that the law was broken when the trustees voted to adopt a city proposal to continue underfunding the pension system while simultaneously enhancing future benefits for city workers. The memo is one of 60,000 documents and e-mail messages released last week...

BALTIMORE - The mayor of Baltimore is expected to announce his bid later this week for the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich after spending several months considering a run for higher office. Mayor Martin O'Malley's campaign said he would "make a major announcement concerning the future of Maryland and his political future" on Wednesday. O'Malley, who was re-elected to a second term as mayor last year with 87 percent of the vote, has touted Baltimore's "comeback" during recent appearances throughout the state. "I have enjoyed visiting each part of our great state, learning from the thousands of...

Breast cancer more likely in left-handers By Duncan Gardham (Filed: 26/09/2005) Women who are left-handed are more than twice as likely to contract breast cancer before the menopause as right-handed women, research has found. Scientists believe the cause may lie in the exposure to high levels of sex hormones before birth which can induce left-handedness as well as changes in breast tissue. Epidemiologists in the Netherlands looked at more than 12,000 healthy middle-aged women as part of their research, published in the British Medical Journal today. "Although the underlying mechanisms remain elusive, our results support the hypothesis that left-handedness is...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Americans are far more likely than the Japanese to expect another world war in their lifetime, according to AP-Kyodo polling 60 years after World War II ended. Most people in both countries believe the first use of a nuclear weapon is never justified. Those findings come six decades after the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The war claimed about 400,000 U.S. troops around the world, more than three times that many Japanese troops and at least 300,000 Japanese civilians. Out of the ashes, Japan and the United States forged...