Presidential race...Deadly vodka...Gerald Ford's assailant freed

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) As the new year starts, candidates are in Iowa campaigning to become the new president. Caucuses happen Thursday. In a new poll, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mike Huckabee lead their parties.

PARIS (AP) Two Mediterranean islands are kicking off the new year as new members of the European Union. Cyprus and Malta started using the euro at the stroke of midnight. France rang in its first new year with an expanded ban on indoor smoking. A million people welcomed 2008 in New York's Times Square.

ULAN BATOR, Mongolia (AP) At least 11 people celebrating New Year's in a district in Mongolia's capital have died after drinking vodka tainted with methanol. More than 20 others have been hospitalized. Further celebrating there has been banned and shops have been closed.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) It's good news for ski resorts but not so much for drivers. A second winter storm could dump another nine inches of snow on parts of the Northeast today. Parts of upstate New York and northern New England are already under about a foot of snow from a previous storm.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The woman who tried to assassinate President Gerald Ford starts off the year as a free woman. Sara Jane Moore has been released from federal prison near San Francisco after serving 32 years of a life sentence. Her motive for the attempted assassination has never been explained.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 01-01-08 0558CST | save this article / add to your favorites list