Group 2-Tom Editor

Backers of California same-sex marriage ban are out-fundraising opponents

By Dan Morain and Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

SACRAMENTO -- The campaigns for and against Proposition 8 have raised a combined $30 million, with donations given in support of the proposed ban on gay marriage running considerably ahead of those to the opposition.
LA Times

Brazilian woman finds fame as McCain's old flame

Fabio Guimaraes / EPA

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- A former model and ballerina is making headlines across Brazil after being identified as John McCain's lover 51 years ago.
LA Times

Iran president blames Wall Street turmoil on U.S. 'military engagement'

By Richard Boudreaux, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

NEW YORK -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Monday that the turmoil on Wall Street is rooted in part in U.S. military intervention abroad and voiced hope that the next American administration would retreat from what he called President Bush's "logic of force."
LA Times

Stock prices and U.S. dollar plunge as oil soars

By Walter Hamilton, Ron White and Elizabeth Douglass, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

NEW YORK -- This wasn't the reaction to his $700-billion rescue plan that Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson was hoping for.

Stock prices and the dollar plunged Monday -- and oil and other commodities soared -- on fears that the proposed bailout of the financial system could require a massive increase in government borrowing, push up interest rates and unleash new inflationary pressures. The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled almost 375 points.
LA Times

Pakistan, Afghanistan discuss joint border force

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pakistan and Afghanistan are discussing a possible joint force to combat militants on both sides of their border near Pakistan's tribal region, which has become a safe haven for al Qaeda and other groups, a senior Afghan official said on Monday.
Yahoo News

5 arrested in Carmichael on drugs, gang charges

From M.S. Enkoji:

Five people have been arrested on drug charges at a Carmichael apartment complex, investigators said.
Sacramento County probation officers on Friday found crystal methamphetamine, body armor, ammunition for assault rifles and $3,000.
Sacramento Bee

Cool invention helps tired players bounce back

Julian Guthrie, Chronicle Staff Writer

Players for the San Francisco 49ers trotted off the field during Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions and grabbed for the requisite towels and Gatorade. A few went for something else on the bench, slipping their hands into a coffee-pot-like contraption that stops cramping and overheating.
San Francisco Gate

Obesity may diminish a man's fertility

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Being obese may dim a man's chances of becoming a father, even if he is otherwise healthy, a new study suggests
Yahoo News

Markets volatile as investors await bailout plan

By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK - Volatility again swept the financial markets Monday as investors grew nervous about an amorphous government plan to buy $700 billion in banks' mortgage debt.
Yahoo News

Gunman kills 9 at school in Finland, shoots self

By MATTI HUUHTANEN, Associated Press Writer

HELSINKI, Finland - A gunman whose violent YouTube postings made police bring him in for questioning opened fire Tuesday at his trade school in western Finland, killing nine people before shooting himself, authorities said.
Yahoo News

Illinois woman accused of bartending in the buff

DELHI, Ill. - Here's a tip: Bartending nude can get you arrested.
Yahoo News