WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the House Republican campaign committee is urging fellow GOP leaders to drop plans for Social Security legislation this year, citing potential repercussions in the 2006 elections, officials said Thursday. In the latest blow to the White House on the issue, Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., conveyed his views Wednesday in…

PATTERSON, La. (AP) — Imagine building a city from scratch. Now, imagine doing it in just a few months — dozens of times over. That’s the challenge facing federal officials as they scramble to house up to 300,000 people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The solution is mind-boggling in its scope…

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush is urging Congress to approve a massive reconstruction program for the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast and promising that the federal government will review the disaster plans of every major American city. The government failed to respond adequately to Hurricane Katrina, Bush said Thursday night from storm-damaged New Orleans as he laid…

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) — R.J. Sanders listened to President Bush on a radio at the shelter that has been his home for more than two weeks, waiting for promises of help to become more than words. Wife Jackie, like most of the 145 residents of Harrison Central Elementary School, didn’t bother. “I just have doubts…

JACKSONVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Baby food from Israel. Blankets from Egypt and India. Tents from Russia. UNICEF school supplies sent via Denmark. Generators from China. Rice from Thailand. Bottled water and detergent from Tunisia. The Little Rock Air Force Base has become the U.S. clearinghouse for an extraordinary international outpouring of relief supplies for Hurricane…

KENNER, La. (AP) — Merlene Maten undoubtedly stood out in the prison where she has been held since Hurricane Katrina. The 73-year-old church deaconess, never before in trouble with the law, spent two weeks among hardened criminals. Her bail was a stiff $50,000. Her offense? Police say the grandmother from New Orleans took $63.50 in…

By CHRISTY LEMIRE / AP Movie Critic In happier, saner times — when he’s alive, in flashbacks — Anthony Hopkins’ mad mathematician in “Proof” describes the sensation of lucid, analytical thought by saying the machinery is working. In a film, though — especially one with such pretensions of realistic heft and emotional resonance — you…

By CHRISTY LEMIRE / AP Movie Critic With ’80s bands from Duran Duran to Depeche Mode enjoying a revival, it was only a matter of time before a movie came along that was named after a song by The Cure. (“Boys Don’t Cry” doesn’t count — the song is too upbeat and the movie is…

By CHRISTY LEMIRE / AP Movie Critic Andrew Niccol does satire, from the brilliantly pointed (“The Truman Show,” which he wrote) to the oppressively heavy-handed (“Simone,” which he wrote and directed). “Lord of War” falls somewhere in between. His story of an unapologetic gun runner, played with great swagger and charisma by Nicolas Cage, is…

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Children everywhere recognize his voice. His face they never see. Rob Paulsen says there’s a good reason for that. “I’ve got a face for voice-over,” quips Paulsen, the sonic force behind numerous modern-day cartoon voices including Pinky the brilliant lab mouse in the quirky ’90s cartoon show “Pinky and the Brain.”…