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Earlier this week, President Barack Obama banned the sale of certain military-style equipment to police departments. Brian Kilmeade reported tonight on "The Kelly File" that Obama also thinks that police officers should have "softer looking" uniforms. Kilmeade explained that Obama thinks that police officers are "making things worse" when they show up to inner city communities wearing military-style equipment and riot gear. "They're concerned about the helmet. They're concerned about the shield. It's sending the wrong message," Kilmeade stated. "I used to think from the civilian point of view that that would be a reason not to riot, because the...

BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sought to soften earlier comments that American troops can leave "any time they want," saying Monday that Iraq's security force was on the road to taking over from U.S. troops — but it's not there yet. Al-Maliki told reporters Saturday he was confident that Iraq's army and police are capable of maintaining security "if the international forces withdraw any time they want." Those comments landed squarely in the middle of Washington's battles over Iraq policy. The U.S.-backed prime minister appeared to undermine the White House's contention that the 155,000 American troops must remain in...

CANBERRA (Reuters Life!) - Australians, long regarded as a nation of beer drinkers rivaled only by the Germans, seem to be turning soft, or sober. After 113 years, the country's biggest selling beer, Victoria Bitter, or VB, is to be produced in a mid-strength version to keep pace with the country's fast-changing beer tastes. VB, with its distinctive green label, has since 1894 been a staple of hard-drinking backyard barbecues, student revels and football games, not to mention healthy overseas exports. Now brewer Foster's has decided for the first time to produce the beer in a weaker yellow-label version with...

Democrats eye softer image on abortion Leaders urge more welcome for opponents By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff December 19, 2004 WASHINGTON -- Leading Democrats, stung by election losses, are signaling they want the party to embrace antiabortion voters and candidates, softening the image of the party from one fiercely defensive of abortion rights to one that acknowledges the moral and religious qualms some Americans have about the issue. House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat who is one of the most ardent supporters of abortion rights in Congress, has encouraged Tim Roemer, a former representative with a strong voting...

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