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Islamic Jihad breaks Gaza cease-fire

GAZA, June 24 (UPI) -- The Islamic Jihad movement's military wing says it's responsible for firing two mortar rounds into Israel Tuesday, the first violation of the Gaza cease-fire.

A statement delivered to media outlets from the al-Quds Brigades of Islamic Jihad said the rocket attack came in response to the killing of one of its commanders by Israeli forces in the West Bank, Xinhua, the state-run Chinese news agency, reported Tuesday.

Israeli sources told the news agency the rockets landed on Sderot, hitting an abandoned house and an open space, and that no injuries were reported in the shelling.

Earlier Tuesday, a combined Israeli Defense Forces-Shin Bet operation in the West Bank city of Nablus killed a man identified as Tarek abu Ghally, 25, described as a senior Islamic Jihad operative, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Army sources told the Post that Ghally and another slain gunman were planning to carry out a terror attack in Israel "in the very near future."

Levees break up river from St. Louis

WINFIELD, Mo., June 24 (UPI) -- A flash-flood warning was issued early Tuesday when a levee broke in St. Charles County just up the Mississippi River from St. Louis.

Volunteers were evacuated from the area as water started coming through at about 2 a.m., the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. "It's a gradual inundation, no immediate threat to life, but if the levee were to open up wider, there would be problems," said Jon Carney, a National Weather Service meteorologist. "They have holes in the levee and water is gradually filling up that area."

The river continued to rise Tuesday in Missouri and Illinois after the expected crest.

Weather forecasts predicted the crest at places such as hard-hit Lincoln County, Mo., Wednesday. Meanwhile, emergency workers in Winfield, Mo., kept up desperate efforts to plug leaks in saturated levees, the Post-Dispatch said.

"We had to kick it back into gear and keep it going," Kelly Hardcastle, head of the county's emergency services, told the newspaper.

At Winfield, muskrats had burrowed into the levee, creating holes that let water through, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said.

The corps' commanding general toured flood-stricken areas Monday and heaped praise on the area's local governments and lauded the courage of volunteers.

Gallup poll finds Obama leads on economy

PRINCETON, N.J., June 24 (UPI) -- A Gallup poll released Tuesday indicates likely Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama leads his probable GOP opponent on key economic issues.

While Obama, D-Ill., also leads presumptive Republican nominee John McCain on another issue judged to be a key one, energy policy, McCain holds a single-issue advantage over Obama on dealing with terrorism, the poll found.

The Gallup organization, based in Princeton, N.J., conducted the survey of 1,625 U.S. adults between June 15-19. The poll had a margin of error of 3 percent. Respondents ranked eight national issues by importance and told pollsters which of the two major party candidates would best handle them.

McCain's only lead among the eight issues was in terrorism, where he won by a 19 point margin. But Obama was solidly ahead of McCain on the two issues ranked most important -- energy issues (a 19 point margin) and the economy (16 point margin).

"Regardless of the cause, the finding that Obama has significant strength on domestic issues is potentially quite meaningful in this year's election, given that gas prices and the economy are the two issues the public is most likely to see as important in choosing between presidential candidates," Gallup said in a release.

Poll: Obama has big Florida lead

MIAMI, June 24 (UPI) -- A voter preference poll indicates U.S. Sen. Barack Obama is far ahead of likely Republican presidential nominee John McCain in the key swing state of Florida.

Obama, D-Ill., was ahead of McCain, a U.S. senator from Arizona, 46 percent to 30 percent in three of Florida's biggest southern counties, The Miami Herald reported Tuesday. In the Zogby International poll, Obama was found to have sprinted 16 points ahead of McCain in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties and also had a slight lead among Hispanic voters.

"Obama's 16-point lead in South Florida could springboard him to make it a competitive race statewide," pollster John Zogby told the Herald. "I really think Florida is in play."

Most political observers were expecting Obama to have a tougher time in the state because he didn't campaign there during the primary elections due to Democratic Party disputes over the election date. But the results seemed to show Obama quickly making up for lost time, the newspaper said.

The poll was conducted June 18-20, just as Obama was unveiling his first Florida television ads and had an error margin of 3.5 percentage points. The Herald didn't report how many respondents participated.

Nader slams Dems for having 2000 grudge

WASHINGTON, June 24 (UPI) -- Democratic leaders are still so angry about the 2000 election that they are keeping him from congressional testimony on issues, Ralph Nader charges.

Nader, 74, suggested he has been scapegoated for his Green Party presidential candidacy in the 2000 race which some observers feel played a key role in George W. Bush's victory over Al Gore. Nader responds that Democrats should start facing their own failings, The Washington Times reported Tuesday.

"They are so small-minded that to keep the myth up that it wasn't them that got Bush in the White House, it was Nader/LaDuke -- to keep that myth and sustain it in the public's mind, they can't possibly associate with me or have me testify. Even though they knew they blew it in 1,000 ways in '00 and '04," Nader said.

Nader won 2.7 percent of the national vote in 2000 and only 0.3 percent as an independent in 2004 when he appeared on the ballot in only 34 states.

U.S. Capitol security called unprepared

WASHINGTON, June 24 (UPI) -- Members of an elite U.S. Capitol Police bomb squad say morale is low because of inadequate equipment and training to cope with future terrorist attacks.

With the likelihood that the U.S. Capitol could be a prime target for a future suicide or car bomb attack, documents show members of its specialized police force have been complaining for three years about a lack of proper vehicles and inadequate experience levels of its bomb technicians, The Hill reported Tuesday.

The Washington political newspaper said unclassified documents it had obtained, consisting of memos and letters sent among officers of the U.S. Capitol Police, reveal a belief the Capitol complex is unprepared for a major terrorist attack in part because officers must use their personal cars to respond to emergency situations, and are likely to get stuck in traffic.

Such unresolved issues are undermining morale, with nearly half of the elite bomb squad unit's 14 members seeking jobs elsewhere, Capitol Police sources told The Hill.

"Capitol Police is fully prepared to carry out our daily mission to protect the legislative process, in addition to responding to critical incidents on a daily basis," police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider told the newspaper.