News Desk

A new USA Today/Gallup Poll out today shows Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in a statistical tie in New Hampshire. Both candidates were the picks of 32 percent of voters surveyed; John Edwards came in a distant third, at 18 percent. On the Republican side, John McCain is slowly chipping away at Mitt Romney's lead: Romney now leads McCain by only 7 points, 34 to 27 percent.

At least 50 people were killed in Sherpao, Pakistan, today when a suicide bomber attacked a throng of worshipers at the home of former Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao. With hotly contested parliamentary elections in less than three weeks, Pakistani officials worry that the attack will further destabilize the country's fragile political situation.

Demonstrators in New Orleans rallied outside City Hall yesterday to protest a vote by the City Council that will allow the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to tear down nearly 4,500 units of public housing. New Orleans police used stun guns and chemical spray to keep protesters from entering the building.

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American forces discovered a torture center in the Diyala province in northern Iraq, the military announced today. The center, located next to a grave where 26 bodies were found, still had blood-spattered walls and a metal frame bed connected to an electrical shock system. Al Qaeda in Iraq is thought to be responsible.

Cancer patients without medical insurance are nearly twice as likely to die within five years as those with coverage, a new study suggests. In addition, those without proper medical insurance often do not get the required cancer screenings, and by the time cancer is caught, the disease has already spread. This research is being published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians in partnership with the American Cancer Society. The society's president called for plugging the holes in the healthcare system.

Recently, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has become the man to beat and beat up in the Republican presidential race. The former Baptist preacher who has topped the polls in Iowa is now taking heat from rivals for his record in Arkansas. Huckabee is being criticized by Fred Thompson and others because of a law he signed as governor that gave some methamphetamine offenders more credit for good behavior.

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The House will vote today on a spending bill that includes provisions for $70 billion in aid to support the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. After months of wrangling between Democrats and the president, the bill is now expected to pass, dealing a year-ending blow to antiwar Democrats.

An executive at a top private-equity firm yesterday bought one of the world's most important historical and legal documents. At a much anticipated Sotheby's auction, David Rubenstein, cofounder of the Carlyle Group, bid $21.3 million on a sealed, 710-year-old copy of the Magna Carta.

Parts of Alaska were hit by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake yesterday, although there were no immediate reports of damage or injury. The quake's epicenter was about 125 miles west of the small town of Adak, in the notoriously volcanic Aleutian Islands.

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About 300 Turkish soldiers crossed the border into Iraq last night and remain there hunting for Kurdish rebels.  At the same time, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Kirkuk, also in the Kurdish portion of northern Iraq.

Late night TV's Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien have decided to come back on air without their joke writers, who have been on strike. The two NBC hosts will return January 2 with new episodes. O'Brien said he would continue to show his support for the writers. "Of course, my show will not be as good," he said in a statement. "In fact, in moments it may very well be terrible."

The Commerce Department has issued a depressing new report showing that housing construction in November dropped to a 16-year low for new single-family homes. The report also shows that applications for new building permits are at their lowest levels since 1993.

Two space station astronauts made history this morning by taking the 100th spacewalk from the orbiting station. Commander Peggy Whitson and Daniel Tani went on a fact-finding mission to inspect two defective mechanisms.

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