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Sarasota, Fla. (AP) -- Newt Gingrich has staked his presidential bid on the idea that he's best positioned to defeat President Barack Obama. Yet even some supporters seem to be struggling to buy that claim, an indication that efforts by chief rival Mitt Romney to undercut him may be working. "Beating Obama is more important than everything else," Patrick Roehl, a 51-year-old computer software engineer, said at a Gingrich rally inside a Sarasota airport hangar this past week. "Can Newt win? I'm not sure. He's got a lot of high negatives. The elections are won and lost in the middle....

This is the terrifying moment a woman was attacked by a polar bear after jumping into its zoo enclosure. The 32-year-old leapt over bars at Berlin Zoo during the bears' feeding time yesterday. Despite six zookeepers' efforts to distract the four predators kept in the enclosure, the woman was bitten several times on her arms and legs. The brave keepers eventually managed to push the bear away and pull the woman to safety. She was bitten by one of the four older polar bears in the enclosure and not by the famous Knut, who took Germany by storm as a...

A US radio station has fired 10 staff after a stunt resulted in a woman dying from water intoxication in a bid to win a games console. Jennifer Lea Strange, 28, from California, was one of 18 people who competed last week for the prize of a Nintendo Wii by seeing how much water they could drink without going to the toilet. The Morning Rave DJs - who were all sacked yesterday when the show was scrapped by the KDND-FM station - called the contest "Hold your wee for a Wii".

(CBS13) SACRAMENTO A radio contest participant may have died of water intoxication, a press release from the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office said Saturday. The woman was discovered unresponsive by relatives in her home in Rancho Cordova Friday afternoon. 28-Year-Old Jennifer Lea Strange was declared dead by Sacramento Metro Fire Paramedics. Strange had reportedly competed in a contest held by local radio station 107.9 ‘The End’ earlier Friday that required contestants to drink large amounts of water without being able to go to the bathroom. The preliminary investigation revealed no life threatening medical conditions to explain her sudden death. While the...

Man Fined for Allegedly Using Foul Bills BURLINGTON, Iowa - A psychiatrist who police say smeared excrement on dollars bills used to pay a parking ticket has been fined $250. Ronald Preston McPike, 52, of Bonaparte, was charged with harassment of a public official after officials received an envelop in July labeled "Foreign brown substance on bills." The envelope contained several dollar bills and a parking ticket made up to McPike, police said. Tests indicated the brown substance was fecal matter that had been smeared on the bills. McPike told police the money fell into a toilet and was retrieved...

Seattle man sued in alleged day-trading scheme By Maureen O'Hagan Seattle Times staff reporter A Seattle man has been sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly using stolen identities to open day-trading accounts and using those accounts to make a profit for himself. The man, a day-trader named Suheil M. Judeh, allegedly made $95,000 in seven months using the phony accounts. SEC officials believe the case is the first of its kind for the agency. "We do think the identity-theft angle is quite novel," said Pauline Calande, assistant administrator of the agency's Pacific region. A criminal investigation...

Pakistan is being slowly Talibanised Musharraf has handed over the border regions to al-Qaida allies Isabel Hilton Wednesday December 11, 2002 The Guardian Akram Khan Durrani is not a politician likely to loom large on the world stage. But in his own pond, Mr Durrani is a very large fish. And his pond - Pakistan's North West Frontier Province - has, since September 11, become a place of strategic interest. It is of more than passing concern, then, that when Mr Durrani was sworn in as the new chief minister of NWFP, he banned the sale of alcohol, put an...

Ron Snyder of Central Concrete sprays water in an effort to prevent concrete from setting on a car that was driven into a section of Fourth Street that was being repaired yesterday afternoon. The car, driven by Remy Wagner of Columbia, had to be winched out by a tow truck. Her dog Buddy was the only passenger. The concrete set while the car was stuck in it, and the section had to be replaced.

NEW YORK -- On Thursday, competitive eating made a lot of progress in proving that it is indeed a sport. Like the NFL, NHL and NBA, it apparently needs instant replay. Takeru Kobayashi, center, won the title with 50½ hot dogs, while Eric Booker, right, finished second with 26. Japanese professional speed-eater Takeru "The Tsunami" Kobayashi destroyed the competition for the second consecutive year at the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July international hot dog eating contest, scarfing down 50½ hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes. The 24-year-old Kobayashi, who weighed 113 pounds before the contest and almost 120 pounds...