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Wednesday, November 18, 2009 BAGHDAD: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visited troops Monday in Iraq at a military camp outside Baghdad for the first time as California governor, signing autographs and recounting his own experience as an Austrian tank driver.The governor gave a short speech designed to motivate the troops. He delivered cigars, signed autographs and told them he'd return today to work out with them before breakfast.Schwarzenegger last visited Iraq in 2003, just before he announced his run for governor. His communications director said last week the governor had been looking for the right time to visit the troops and felt it was appropriate to do so after striking a water infrastructure deal with lawmakers and before the next round of budget negotiations. "I just wanted to let you know how much we in the United States appreciate the work you are doing," Schwarzenegger said Monday, according to video provided by the Multi-National Corps public affairs office in I...

Tuesday, October 13, 2009 CALIFORNIA: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill recognising gay marriages sanctioned in other states during the nearly five months such unions were legal in California. Schwarzenegger said the action is consistent with a state Supreme Court ruling upholding the marriages of same-sex couples who tied the knot in California before voters approved Proposition 8. Proposition 8 is a state constitutional amendment passed in November that limits marriage to a man and a woman. The bill signed by the governor late on Sunday also said gay and lesbian couples who were married in other states after Proposition 8's passage have the same rights and benefits that California grants domestic partners.

Thursday, July 16, 2009, CALIFORNIA: A poll released today shows Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suffered the biggest popularity drop of his short political career in key sectors. The governor's job approval rating fell 10 percentage points, from 57 percent to 47 percent, among Democrats, and 3 points, from 66 percent to 63 percent, among independents. But Schwarzenegger administration officials cited his self- proclaimed bipartisan approach to state woes and overall high level of popularity since ousting former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis in the recall election. Schwarzenegger took only a 5-point hit among likely voters in the latest PPIC survey due to a slight increase in support from GOP voters. Some 64 percent of voters statewide still say they approve of the way he's handling his job.