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By The Associated Press

Former Yonkers mayor John Spencer arrives at the New York state Republican Convention in Hempstead, N.Y. Former first lady, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, looks to be cruising toward a second term and has already raised $22 million while Spencer, her challenger, has the baggage of of having fathered two children with an aide, while married to another woman.

Photo by: The Associated Press

More blunt than usual, intelligence analysts see a need for policy shifts

WASHINGTON - National Intelligence Estimates are notorious for being watered down, partly because analysts spread across 16 different spy agencies often have difficulty settling on just the right words.

That's what makes the tough language in this week's terrorism analysis all the more striking. And it has left many puzzling over why the White House decided to release it.

To almost any reader, the assessment of trends in global terror for the next five years looks grim. It warns that most jihadist groups "will use improvised explosive devices and suicide attacks" on "soft targets." It cautions that extremists still seek chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons. And it contemplates whether other types of leftist or separatist groups, such as anti-globalism factions, could adopt terrorist methods.



House approves U.S. authority to prosecute terrorism detainees

WASHINGTON - The House approved legislation Wednesday giving the Bush administration authority to interrogate and prosecute terrorism detainees, moving President Bush to the edge of a pre-election victory with a key piece of his anti-terror plan.

The mostly party-line 253-168 vote in the Republican-run House came shortly after senators agreed to limit debate on their own nearly identical bill, all but assuring its passage on Thursday.

Republican leaders are hoping to work out differences and send Bush a final version before leaving town this weekend to campaign for the Nov. 7 congressional elections.

For nearly two weeks the GOP have been embarrassed as the White House and rebellious Republican senators have fought publicly over whether Bush's plan would give him too much authority. But they struck a compromise last Thursday, and Republicans are hoping approval will bolster their effort to cast themselves as strong on national security, a marquee issue this election year.

House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, all but dared Democrats to vote against the legislation.



Majority of Iraqis back attacks on U.S. troops

WASHINGTON - About six in 10 Iraqis say they approve of attacks on U.S.-led forces, and slightly more than that want their government to ask U.S. troops to leave within a year, according to a poll in that country.

The Iraqis also have negative views of Osama bin Laden, according to the early September poll of 1,150.

The poll, done for University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes, found:

-Almost four in five Iraqis say the U.S. military force in Iraq provokes more violence than it prevents.

-About 61 percent approved of the attacks - up from 47 percent in January. A solid majority of Shiite and Sunni Arabs approved of the attacks, according to the poll. The increase came mostly among Shiite Iraqis.



GOP to hold 2008 presidential convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul

WASHINGTON - Republicans will hold their 2008 presidential convention in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul, choosing a location in the politically pivotal Midwest.

Party and state officials announced the selection Wednesday. The convention is slated for Sept. 1-4, 2008.

"This is fantastic news," Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty said. "We're very, very pleased."

Losing out were New York City, Cleveland and a joint bid from Tampa and St. Petersburg, Fla., other cities that had sought the convention.

The four-day event will be held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., a concert venue and the home of the National Hockey League's Minnesota Wild.



Clinton's challenger accuses her, husband of timeworn theatrics

ALBANY, N.Y. - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's underdog Republican challenger accused the former first lady and her husband on Wednesday of engaging in timeworn theatrics with their criticism of President Bush's handling of the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

"Once again, President Clinton is wagging his finger with righteous indignation and once again, Hillary Clinton is rushing to his defense," said former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer. "This act is getting old and the American people realize it."

The broadside from Spencer, with its reference to the Clintons' behavior during the early stages of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, came as the political world buzzed about the former president's testy interview with Fox News' Chris Wallace that aired Sunday.

In the exchange with Wallace, the former president contended that, unlike him, the newly installed Bush administration ignored bin Laden until the Sept. 11 attacks.

"They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight months to try; they did not try," he said. He also attacked Wallace for a "conservative hit job" by asking about his administration's failure to get bin Laden.



Diabetes treatment produces mixed results

A few diabetics have been able to give up their daily insulin shots after getting transplants of pancreas cells, according to the broadest study of this experimental treatment. But for most patients, the results fell short of the cure researchers have been seeking.

Nearly half of the 36 patients who received the cell transplant achieved insulin independence by one year after the treatment. The benefits were mixed for the others, and about three-quarters of the whole group relapsed and needed insulin injections again.

The patients had severe cases of Type 1 diabetes, the less common form once known as juvenile diabetes, which is not linked to obesity.

Experts said the treatment, involving pancreas cells from donated cadavers, holds promise and they believe it won't be long before doctors figure out how to extend the benefit to more diabetics. Researchers, reporting their findings in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine, said they did not know why it worked in some people and not others.

"For a select few, this represents a major alternative in their quality of life," said Dr. Robert Goldstein, chief scientific officer for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.



Dow ends up 21, Nasdaq gains 2

NEW YORK - Wall Street advanced for a third straight session Wednesday, although the Dow Jones industrial average fell just short of touching its record high close after a jump in oil prices stifled investors' enthusiasm.

Falling crude oil prices and an increase in new home sales had helped investors shrug off a weak durable goods report earlier in the session, putting the Dow just 2.21 points away from the closing record of 11,722.98 it set on Jan. 14, 2000.

"I think most of the activity is this push to make a close at all-time highs," Ryan Larson, senior equity trader at Voyageur Asset Management, said of much of Wednesday's early movement. He contends Wall Street's expectation that it would surpass the record drove stocks before investors grew wary in part by the rise in oil prices.

"I think it was a little bit exhausted," he said of the idea of a record-breaking day. He said, however, that the market's gains shouldn't be ignored and that optimism remains.

The Dow closed up 19.85, or 0.17 percent, at 11,689.24, its second-best close ever. The Dow has gained 181.14 over the past three sessions.



Naomi Campbell a no-show for NYC court date in maid's alleged assault

NEW YORK - Supermodel Naomi Campbell, accused of assaulting her maid with a cell phone, failed to show up in court Wednesday, puzzling the judge who asked for but never got a reason for her absence.

Manhattan Criminal Court Judge James Gibbon responded by issuing a bench warrant for Campbell's arrest, but then decided not to put it into effect after Campbell's attorney explained that he and the prosecutor had an agreement.

Defense attorney David Breitbart told Gibbon the prosecutor knew Campbell was going to be absent and had agreed not to seek her arrest. Gibbon said he would stay the warrant - not put it into effect - until the next court date, Nov. 15.

Outside court, Breitbart said only that the British fashion model's absence was not related to work. He noted that she had not appeared in the New York and Italian fashion shows but declined to say why.

Breitbart also said he has been considering a plea offer from the Manhattan district attorney's office. He wouldn't say what the offer was.

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