■ UNITED STATES
Florida battles cat-sized rats
Deep in the heart of the Florida Keys, wildlife officials are laying bait laced with poison to try to wipe out a colony of enormous African rats that could threaten crops and other animals. US federal and state officials are beginning the final phase of a two-year project to eradicate the Gambian pouched rats, which can grow to the size of a cat and began reproducing in the remote area about eight years ago. "This is the only place in the United States where this is occurring," said Gary Witmer, a biologist with the US Department of Agriculture's National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins, Colorado. A former exotic pet breeder bred the species and allowed the critters to escape.
■ UNITED STATES
Poll gives Bush bad news
Americans now view the war in Iraq more negatively than at any time since the invasion more than four years ago, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. Sixty-one percent of Americans say the US should have stayed out of Iraq, and 76 percent say things are going badly there, including 47 percent who say things are going very badly, the poll found. US President George W. Bush's approval ratings remain near the lowest of his more than six years in office. Thirty percent approve of the job he is doing overall, while 63 percent disapprove. More Americans -- 72 percent -- now say that "generally things in the country are seriously off on the wrong track" than at any other time since the Times/CBS News poll began asking the question in 1983.
■ HONDURAS
President orders propaganda
President Manuel Zelaya has ordered radio and TV stations to broadcast government propaganda to counteract what he called unfair coverage of his administration. Zelaya said on Wednesday they would be required to simultaneously air conversations and interviews with government officials for two hours a day, for 10 days straight. Broadcasters said the transmissions would start on Monday. Under Honduran law, the government may order broadcasters to air messages that are deemed to be of national importance.
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