21,000 Troops Bound for Iraq, War in Afghanistan Not Yet Won & Santorum Hits New Low in Polls in Today's Details

-The U.S. Senate on Wednesday defeated a proposal pushed by Democrats to raise the federal minimum wage in increments from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour by January 1, 2009. DETAILS

-Seven Marines and a sailor have been charged with murder in the April death of an Iraqi civilian, the Marine Corps said Wednesday. All eight also were charged with kidnapping, according to a Marine statement issued at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Other charges include conspiracy, larceny and providing false official statements. DETAILS

-The House Judiciary Committee unexpectedly passed a Democratic resolution Wednesday morning calling on the Justice Department to turn over all requests made by the National Security Agency and other federal agencies to telephone service providers to obtain information without a warrant. DETAILS

-Jailers at the US base in Guantánamo Bay have coerced confessions they knew to be false, beaten prisoners to the point of disability, and given detainees psychotropic drugs they believed were for common physical ailments, according to an account one former detainee gave RAW STORY. DETAILS

-The Pentagon announced Tuesday that it planned to send 21,000 troops to Iraq in the next rotation of forces. That would keep the American presence at current levels into next year, unless the security situation improved. DETAILS

-Gunmen abducted about 85 workers Wednesday as they left work at an industrial plant north of Baghdad, police and a witness said. The workers were thought to be mostly Shiite and the plant is located in a predominantly Sunni Arab area. DETAILS

-New Orleans is experiencing what appears to be a near epidemic of depression and post-traumatic stress disorders, one that mental health experts say is of an intensity rarely seen in this country. It is contributing to a suicide rate that state and local officials describe as close to triple what it was before Hurricane Katrina struck and the levees broke 10 months ago. DETAILS

-The United States military is quietly carrying out the largest military offensive in Afghanistan since U.S. troops invaded the country in 2001. DETAILS

-House Republican leaders on Wednesday postponed a vote on renewing the 1965 Voting Rights Act after GOP lawmakers complained it unfairly singles out nine Southern states for federal oversight, according to their joint statement. (UNFAIRLY? They have to be kidding. They have selective memory of American History in the south. Recent history also shows voting irregularities in the southern state of Florida. ) DETAILS

-Chicago street gangs are increasingly moving into the suburbs, driven by the demolition of housing projects that once hid their illegal activities and by the perception that police in smaller communities lack the experience to deal with them, a city crime commission found. DETAILS

-The U.S. Public Interest Research Group released an analysis of government data today showing that 28 states more than doubled their carbon dioxide emissions between 1960 and 2001. DETAILS

-Bob Casey's lead over U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum has stretched to 18 percentage points since early May, as Casey picked up new support and the Republican incumbent's approval rating skidded to a four-year low, according to a poll released Wednesday. DETAILS