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Two rescued koalas treated for a life-threatening disease will be released back into the wild by Queensland researchers as part of a project to help protect the threatened species and improve genetic diversity. The Living Koala Genome Bank project aims to address the increasing threat of local koala extinction due to habitat loss and disease. Dreamworld Wildlife Foundation General Manager and University of Queensland Adjunct Associate Professor Al Mucci said he was pleased to see successful results from the conservation effort. “Two animals have been cleaned, treated for chlamydia infection and vaccinated, and will be released back into the wild...

Ex-South Carolina Congressman Mark Sanford Announces Republican Primary Challenge to Trump 16:40 08.09.2019(updated 17:16 08.09.2019) In July, US President Donald Trump officially launched his re-election campaign for the 2020 presidential election during a rally in Orlando, Florida. Former South Carolina governor and congressman Mark Sanford stated Sunday that he would challenge current President Donald Trump during the Republican primaries for the 2020 presidential election. "I’m here to tell you now that I am going to get in," he told Fox News. ​The announcement comes a week after Sanford hinted that he could enter the presidential race. The lawmaker, however, will...

Britain’s influence in the European Union will be stronger if it votes to remain in the bloc in a June 23 referendum, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Sunday with the latest polls showing Britons almost evenly split over whether to stay or go. One poll published late on Saturday gave a two-point lead to supporters of “Remain” and the other showed those in favor of Brexit were one point ahead. In an interview on BBC television, Cameron — whose “In” campaign has been branded as scaremongering by pro-Brexit supporters for warning of the risks of quitting the 28-nation EU...

Failed GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney lamented that the demise of traditional media is empowering Republican “insurgents” and preventing establishment Republicans from compromising more with Democrats. As the Republican establishment is trying convince Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) 58% to run for House Speaker, Romney told David Axelrod on a recent “The Axe Files” podcast that the “extremes within our respective parties are having a louder and louder voice and demanding more attention” and “immediate action” as opposed to more “collaborative action.”

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) tells Don Imus this morning he thought ht would have been a "good President." In fact, he added, "a great President." Transcript below: DON IMUS: "I think you would have been a much better President than the guy we have now, don't you agree with that?" SEN. JOHN KERRY: "You've asked me that before. Every time I come on you try to get me to --" IMUS: "-- I'm not trying to get you to do anything. I'm trying to get you to be honest." KERRY: "I'm always honest." IMUS: "Well, you would've been a much...

This is a radical break from journalistic convention, I realize, but today I'd like to give credit where it's due — specifically, to President Obama. Quiet as it's kept, he's on a genuine winning streak. It's hard to remember that the inauguration was just 19 months ago. Expectations of the new president were absurdly high. If Obama had done backflips across the Potomac River, when he reached the other side he'd have faced probing questions about why it was taking him so long to cure cancer, solve the Arab-Israeli conflict and usher in an age of universal peace and prosperity....

You're lucky to live through big history. And you're living through it. The explosion of joy in large pockets of the country Tuesday night was beautiful to see, and moving. For me, at the end of the evening, looking at live shots of the throngs in Chicago's Grant Park, I flashed back to 1960 and how it felt, as a child, to see that the grown-ups had elected a Catholic president. I can't say we stood taller—we were Irish, we already stood tall—but yes, there was a wave of feeling: "What a country," "What a development!" The other day, when...

SACRAMENTO - A hotly contested bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California would spur a wave of new clean-energy technology, prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr predicted Wednesday. Entrepreneurs ``are going to go out and compete and innovate to bring enormous solutions to the market'' if the bill passes, Doerr, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, said at a news conference at the Capitol. He was joined by Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, and executives from several alternative-energy companies. Assembly Bill 32, sponsored by Núñez and Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, D-Woodland Hills, would mandate cuts in...

Poll: Liberals stop bleeding in Quebec Alexander Panetta Canadian Press July 25, 2005 OTTAWA -- The federal Liberals have nearly doubled their support in Quebec in recent months -- and they would still be relegated to also-ran status in La Belle Province if a vote were held today. Any public-opinion movement in Quebec is significant because several polls have suggested the Liberals could win a majority government if they rebuild their fortunes there. A new Decima Research survey suggests the Liberals, who were in the mid-teens in April, have clawed back from rock bottom and now stand at 28 per...

BOSTON — On the opening night of the Democratic National Convention, more than 250 well-dressed people strayed from the convention, enjoying bubbly drinks and appetizers such as tablespoon-sized shrimp salads at a party hosted by former Texas Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes. The Monday event, in a museum featuring works by Matisse, Manet and John Singer Sargent, was festive, but with a purpose — like dozens of semi-social occasions unrolling like a shadow convention to the on-camera doings in the FleetCenter. It's part of what organizers call "donor maintenance," basically efforts to reward big campaign givers with parties, campaign strategy sessions...

Mark Kegans for The New York TimesTHEY'RE QUIRKY, AND THEY VOTE A dome in Fairfield, Iowa, where residents meditate. They overwhelmingly support Dennis Kucinich, who leads Democrats there. AIRFIELD, IowaIn this little pocket of Iowa, houses are built to face the rising sun, something called yogic flying is a popular pastime and Dennis J. Kucinich is a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.Even as much of the country still struggles to pronounce his name (it's koo-SIN-itch), Mr. Kucinich has become a phenomenon in Fairfield, population 9,500. His proposals to promote world peace, universal health care and environmental sustainability...

The American republic died at Appomattox in 1865, replaced by a national government that has gradually evolved into an empire in a permanent state of war. Most of us don't pay much attention to such stuff as history and perspective. Certainly the news media don't. Nevertheless, there are consequences of living in a war state, both to our own individual freedom and to our pocketbooks. This past week, President Bush made a big deal about signing a military authorization bill with a $30 billion increase. Here we are, 12 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and without a...