Victorious GOP sets out to repair image

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans cast themselves as the anti-Obama and scored a blowout at the polls. Now their real work — repairing the party's still-tattered image and earning voters' trust — begins.

It's a mammoth job, made more difficult by the very things that propelled the GOP to the House majority and bolstered numbers in the Senate: tea party-fueled public anger about the economy, frustration at the slow pace of change and widespread distaste for government.

Republicans know their party's reputation, and that their chances of taking the White House and keeping their power in Congress in 2012 hinge on how well they improve it.

A large and potentially rebellious crop …

Analysis: Cancer wins may be bigger than they seem

Doctors reported gains against nearly every form of cancer at a conference that ended this week. Yet when Will Thomas heard about an advance against prostate cancer, he wanted to know just one thing: "Is it a cure?"

"I see billions and billions done on research, and it's all for treatment," said the Alabama man who has several friends with the disease. "When will they cure it?"

Many people share his frustration. The top achievements reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology added an average of just two to six months of life. One pricey drug made headlines merely for delaying the time until ovarian cancer got …

Realtors group predicts drop in existing home sales

WASHINGTON - A trade group for real estate agents lowered itsforecast of 2007 existing home sales for the seventh straight month,predicting a drop of 8.6 percent from last year.

The National Association of Realtors' revised monthly predictioncalls for U.S. existing home sales of 5.92 million in 2007, down from6.48 million last year.

The forecast was below last month's prediction of a 6.8 percentdrop.

This year's sales would be the lowest since 2002, when sales hit5.63 million. Home sale prices this year are forecast to drop 1.7percent to a median of $218,200.

Next year, the trade group expects existing home sales to climb to6.27 million. It forecasts …

Analysts say blockbuster drugs will take back seat to boutique products amid regulation

There is no quick remedy for what ails the pharmaceutical industry: a tougher environment for drug approvals and a dwindling pipeline of new medications.

But these twin challenges _ evidence that the heyday of blockbuster drug-development is over _ are forcing the industry to ponder big changes in the laboratory. The biggest, analysts say, is likely to be a shift toward finding treatments for patients with rare diseases, or unusual strains of common afflictions.

By focusing on boutique medications, analysts say, drug makers will arouse less scrutiny from regulators, who have become extra sensitive to the potentially fatal side effects of widely prescribed …

Northern Marianas brace for Typhoon Melor

Residents of the Northern Mariana Islands are bracing themselves as Typhoon Melor churned across the Western Pacific.

Three islands in the U.S. commonwealth _ Saipan, Tinian and Agrihan _ were under a typhoon warning, while a typhoon watch for Rota was downgraded Saturday to a tropical storm warning, the National Weather Service said. A tropical storm warning for the neighboring U.S. territory of Guam also was canceled Saturday.

Most businesses had shut down by Saturday morning, and Saipan residents who don't live in concrete homes have moved to typhoon shelters, said Charles Reyes, Northern Marianas Gov. Benigno Fitial's press secretary.

Foreign …

Perlman to make 12th appearance at Ravinia

Violinist Itzhak Perlman will be the stellar attraction thisweekend at the Ravinia Festival.

Making his 12th Ravinia appearance with the Chicago SymphonyOrchestra, Perlman will be soloist in the Brahms Violin Concerto at8:30 p.m. tomorrow. The program, conducted by Edo de Waart, alsowill include Brahms' "Academic Festival" Overture and Schumann'sSymphony No. 4 in D Minor.

At 7 p.m. tomorrow in Murray Theater, pianist Alan Chow willplay music of Ravel, Haydn and Liszt. Chow was chosen for this solorecital from among students attending Ravinia's master classes. Therecital is open to anyone with a ticket for the CSO-Perlman concertor who has paid Ravinia's $6 lawn …

La. Mayor: State May Take Over DA Office

NEW ORLEANS - Mayor Ray Nagin says the state could take over the New Orleans district attorney's office as early as Monday as the agency faces a multimillion-dollar civil judgment.

A federal judge ruled this past week that district attorney office assets could be seized to pay off a $3.65 million judgment pending from a 2005 case in which dozens of white office workers successfully sued District Attorney Eddie Jordan for replacing them with black workers.

Jordan is not personally responsible for the payment.

And in an opinion released Friday, City Attorney Penya Moses-Fields concluded after reviewing state and federal laws that "the city of New Orleans has never …