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(NBC) - Donald Trump says he regrets retweeting an unflattering photo of the wife of rival Ted Cruz, a rare move for the Republican front-runner more known for his boasts than backtracking. "Yeah, it was a mistake," Trump told New York Times. "If I had to do it again, I wouldn't have sent it." The retweet set off a war of words between the two candidates, and gave fresh fuel to Democratic candidates and other critics who marveled at a Republican presidential race that had descended into a fight over the candidates' wives. Trump retweeted the photo compilation showing an...

The actress and activist has been a powerful surrogate for Sanders on the campaign trail over the past few months, and during an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes Monday night, she said she doesn’t know if she can bring herself to vote for Clinton if it comes down to it. “I think, in certain quarters, there’s growing concern that the folks that are into Bernie Sanders have come to despise Hillary Clinton or reject Hillary Clinton and that should she be the nominee which is as yet undetermined, they will walk away,” Hayes said. “Tha’'s a legitimate concern,” Sarandon replied,...

Jimmy Carter asked the Jewish community for forgiveness for any stigma he may have caused Israel. Carter speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem in June. In a letter released exclusively to JTA, the former US president sent a seasonal message wishing for peace between Israel and its neighbors, and concluded: "We must recognize Israel's achievements under difficult circumstances, even as we strive in a positive way to help Israel continue to improve its relations with its Arab populations, but we must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel. As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom...

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday passed legislation requiring that undocumented youth be turned over to federal immigration officials for possible deportation only after they're convicted of a felony - not upon their arrest. The 8-2 vote, enough to override an expected veto from Mayor Gavin Newsom, prompted loud cheers from scores of immigrant rights advocates, clergy and high school students who packed the board meeting - but the jubilation may not last long.

1. Freedom to choose what's in your plan... 2. Freedom to be rewarded for healthy living, or pay your real costs... 3. Freedom to choose high-deductible coverage... 4. Freedom to keep your existing plan... 5. Freedom to choose your doctors...

Sarah Palin’s baby shower included a surprise guest: her own baby. He had arrived in the world a month early, so on a sunny May day, Ms. Palin, the governor of Alaska, rocked her newborn as her closest friends, sisters, even her obstetrician presented her with a potluck meal, presents and blue-and-white cake. Most had learned that Ms. Palin was pregnant only a few weeks before. Struggling to accept that her child would be born with Down syndrome and fearful of public criticism of a governor’s pregnancy, Ms. Palin had concealed the news that she was expecting even from her...

"In response to requests for even easier access to the Binary Formats, Microsoft has agreed to remove any intermediate steps necessary to get the documentation. They're going to just post it, making it directly available as a download on the Microsoft web site. Microsoft will also make the Binary Formats subject to its Open Specification Promise by February 15, 2008. They're even planning to include an Open Source converter implementation."

Former Department of Labor Secretary during the Clinton Administration and and current University of California at Berkeley Public Policy professor, Robert Reich, is calling for a tax cut: With the economy heading for recession, all eyes are on Ben Bernanke and the Fed, and the question everyone is asking is how much the Fed will cut short-term interest rates to stimulate the economy. But a Fed rate cut won't stimulate the economy. That's because lending institutions, fearing their portfolios are far riskier than they assumed several months ago, won't lend lots more just because the Fed lowers interest rates...So if...

<p>BREAKING NEWS -- Divided three-judge D.C. Circuit panel holds that the District of Columbia's gun control laws violate individuals' Second Amendment rights: You can access today's lengthy D.C. Circuit ruling at this link.</p> <p>To summarize, we conclude that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. That right existed prior to the formation of the new government under the Constitution and was premised on the private use of arms for activities such as hunting and self-defense, the latter being understood as resistance to either private lawlessness or the depredations of a tyrannical government (or a threat from abroad). In addition, the right to keep and bear arms had the important and salutary civic purpose of helping to preserve the citizen militia. The civic purpose was also a political expedient for the Federalists in the First Congress as it served, in part, to placate their Antifederalist opponents. The individual right facilitated militia service by ensuring that citizens would not be barred from keeping the arms they would need when called forth for militia duty. Despite the importance of the Second Amendment's civic purpose, however, the activities it protects are not limited to militia service, nor is an individual's enjoyment of the right contingent upon his or her continued or intermittent enrollment in the militia.</p>

WASHINGTON - Black Americans should end "victim-like thinking" and seize opportunities to help close gaps between the nation's rich and poor, NAACP president Bruce S. Gordon said Monday. snip Gordon's comments were part of his first keynote convention speech as head of the Baltimore-based civil rights group. The 97th annual meeting of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is meeting at a convention center through Thursday.

STRASBOURG, France - Turkey's prime minister urged the West on Wednesday to make a concerted effort to lessen tensions with Muslim societies, saying more tolerance is needed to mend a deepening rift with the Islamic world. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last year's angry protests over cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad reveal a need to discuss limits to free expression in some cases to keep extremists from exploiting growing polarization. "Islamophobia and xenophobia are gaining ground in the West. In the Muslim world, on the other hand, there is a widening perception that it is besieged and its values...

PRESIDENT BUSH was right to approve the declassification of parts of a National Intelligence Estimate about Iraq three years ago in order to make clear why he had believed that Saddam Hussein was seeking nuclear weapons. Presidents are authorized to declassify sensitive material, and the public benefits when they do. But the administration handled the release clumsily, exposing Mr. Bush to the hyperbolic charges of misconduct and hypocrisy that Democrats are leveling.

The Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is unhappy about last Thursday's column concerning the state's new gun-toting law. I know this because of an e-mail exchange I had with chapter spokesman Scott Henson, who chided: —"Your interpretation of House Bill 823 relies on an analysis by a handful of prosecutors who opposed the law, but not the bill language itself." —"It's true that some prosecutors are telling police to keep arresting people ... but they are raising a red herring. The law is really not unclear." —"The lawmakers wanted drivers to be able to have a stowed...

WOW! [John Podhoretz] Just now, Chris Matthews on "Hardball" went after New York leftist Mark Green for calling this a "corrupt" administration. To which Matthews shot back, "Any convictions? Can you name one conviction? One person in this administration who has been convicted of a crime?" To which Green mentions the indictments of DeLay and Jack Abramoff. "They don't work for the administration," says Matthews. "Can you name a single instance of proven corruption?" Green, as is his wont, hemmed and hawed and licked his lips. Ben Ginsburg, the Republican on the other side, just stayed silent. Props to Chris....

Bush deserves second term IN OUR OPINION Almost an entire presidential election season has been taken up with debate over a war occurring half a world away. Closer to home, there are a great many issues facing Tennesseans and the country as a whole. Based on his administration’s handling of the war against terrorism and values more in line with average Tennesseans than his opponent’s, The Lebanon Democrat endorses President George W. Bush for re-election. This election season has arguably been the nastiest and hardest fought in the history of American presidential politics. In truth, many of the issues brought...

<p>Jay Cutler threw four touchdown passes, two to Erik Davis, to help Vanderbilt snap the nation's longest conference losing streak at 23 with a 28-17 victory over Kentucky.</p> <p>Vanderbilt's last Southeastern Conference win came against Kentucky (4-6, 1-5), 24-20 in 2000, and it was the Commodores' first SEC home win since 1998, when they beat South Carolina 17-14.</p>

Film stars and intellectuals including Catherine Deneuve, Sophie Marceau, Pedro Almodovar and Jorge Semprun attended a soiree here supporting the Cuban people and hitting out at repression by leader Fidel Castro. Actress Deneuve opened the event organized by the association Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) at a theatre on the Champs-Elysees by reading from a speech made by Castro in Havana on January 8, 1959 just after the victory of the Cuban revolution. "Fooling the people will have the worst consequences ... I shall do everything in my power to resolve the problems without shedding a drop of blood,"...