When voters were asked who has been most likely win a general election, Trump leads Cruz 35 percent to 24 percent, and in the category of which candidate would be feared the most by enemies to the U. S., Trump is ahead of Cruz by nearly 30 points.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said earlier this month that he wanted Cruz defeated because of his position on ethanol, but those comments don't seem to have had a major impact on the race, with 77 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers in this poll saying it didn't sway their thoughts on Cruz.

Marco Rubio is also up in this poll, sitting in third place possesses a 5-point lead over Ben Carson, 8 points behind Cruz.

"Maybe the folks who were deciding among the Rubio-Christie-Bush thing think Rubio has the best chance, " Schwarm said, referring to GOP establishment voters in Iowa. "Rubio is hot and this is the time to be hot. He had a good debate again. "

For the Democrats, Clinton held a 2-point lead over Sanders in the last Des Moines Register poll taken on January 14 and is at a 3-point lead in this poll, so there was no meaningful change.

Democratic strategist Jeff Link said that a key figure from the poll was that 34 percent of the people questioned identified themselves as first-time caucus-goers.

"Back in 2008 it was something like 60 percent. I think it needs to be a lot closer to 60 percent for Sanders to really get over the top, " Link said.

"The one thing that's not knowable is what is the ultimate turnout, " he said. "We can make guesses based on those numbers, but if it gets over 200, 000 I think sanders can win. "

Link said Iowa isn't a must-win for Sanders, because if he does well in the state -- which it seems as if he will -- he can raise support online and is currently the frontrunner in New Hampshire.

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Trump Holds Slight Lead in Final Iowa Caucus Poll; Clinton in Tight Race With Sanders

Inside final poll before the Iowa caucuses Monday, Donald Trump holds a slight 5-point lead over Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are neck-and-neck within the margin of error. The Des Moines Register and Bloomberg Politics pool took place January 26-29, three days before Trump skipped the GOP Iowa debate to one day after.

This particular poll, which has a history of accuracy as it predicted Rick Santorum's late surge in 2012, shows Donald Trump as the frontrunner, but still a close race with two days to go. Trump will need the help of first-time caucus-goers to boost his probability of beating Cruz and in this poll, 40 percent say their caucusing for their first time.

Trump does have weaknesses, though, in the eyes of Iowa voters who don't like his position on eminent domain and past statements in favor of abortion rights. Cruz's campaign has been running an ad in Iowa showing Trump in 1999 telling a reporter: "I am very pro-choice. "

"We all believe Cruz has a very very sophisticated ground game. I think there's a feeling that Trump people are encamped, but have not been to a caucus, " said Richard Schwarm, former head of the Iowa Republican Bash.

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GENEVA (AP) — The Latest on U.N.-hosted Syria peace talks in Geneva (all times local):

Follow us: @MaKerry, the diplomatic effort's main architect, says the nearly five-year war must end. He says a ceasefire would allow all to focus on defeating the Islamic State group.
Indirect talks started in Geneva recently, without the main opposition group. The Higher Negotiations Committee says it won't engage in the talks until several preconditions are met.
But the rebels' also have deep reservations about the settlement process itself.
The 18-month transition plan says nothing about President Bashar Assad's future. The opposition hopes to quickly oust Assad, an objective the U. S. no longer pursues.
Kerry said Sunday that peace was in everyone's interest.
The U. N. Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura says he is "optimistic and determined, " describing indirect peace talks between the government and the opposition as "a historic occasion" to end the country's civil war.
The U. N. -sponsored peace talks began Friday with the absence of the main opposition bloc that says it first wants an end to Russian and government bombardment in addition to lifting the siege of rebel-held areas before joining the talks.
De Mistura told reporters after meeting members of the main opposition bloc known as the Higher Negotiations Committee at a Geneva hotel on Sunday that "they deserve that I pay attention to their own concerns. "
He said opposition members have been "exchanging with me some of their own ideas and they will let you know and let me know when and how they can be part of this exercise. "
The head of the Syrian government delegation says the opposition is not serious about what are meant to end up being U. N. -hosted indirect peace talks and is trying to derail them with preconditions.
Bashar Jaafari spoke to reporters in Geneva on Sunday, two days after the meetings got off to a shaky start.
Opposition delegates say they will meet with the U. N. mediator, Staffan de Mistura, but will not negotiate until their preconditions are met. These include lifting the siege imposed on rebel-held areas and an end to Russian and Syrian bombardment of regions controlled by opposition fighters.
Jaafari said that he "will not accept any preconditions" and that there is still no agreement on the composition from the opposition delegation. He says that threatening to pull out of talks "does not show any form of seriousness. "
The Syrian government says that the death toll from a triple explosion in a suburb of the capital of Damascus has risen to 45.
A website linked to the Islamic State group said Sunday's explosions were carried out by IS supporters.
The blasts came as a U. N. envoy attempted to launch indirect peace talks between delegations sent to Geneva by the Syrian government and the opposition.
The state news agency SANA quoted a Syrian Interior Ministry official as saying a minimum of 45 people were killed when three explosions went off Sunday in the Sayyda Zeinab area south of the capital, Damascus.
SANA said the attackers detonated a car bomb at a bus station, followed by two blasts set off by suicide bombers as rescuers rushed to the scene of the first explosion.
A Syrian official says President Bashar Assad's government will "never accept" the removal of two militant groups from a list of terrorist organizations barred from peace talks.
Ahrar al-Sham and the Army of Islam, two Islamic groups fighting to overthrow Assad, agreed to take part in U. N. -sponsored serenity talks in Geneva.
But the Syrian government and its close ally Russia view both as terrorist groups that should be excluded from the process, along with the Islamic State group and al-Qaida's local affiliate.
Information Minister Omar al-Zoubi's comments to state TV late Saturday came as the main opposition delegation arrived in Geneva.
The delegation has named Army of Islam official Mohammed Alloush as its chief negotiator.
Most parties agree that IS and the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front should be excluded.

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Is This The Reason Why Hrithik Roshan-Kangana Ranaut’s Affair Got Ugly?

Hrithik Roshan and Kangana Ranaut’s rumoured affair has been the talk of the town for quite a while now. Kangana and Hrithik kept mum on their relationship when the news about their relationship broke out in 2013 first. But, well, now that Kangana started the first spark by revealing about her and Hrithik’s relationship, this became the hot topic of the town. While most in the industry knew about their romance, others are still finding to dig the real truth.

Kangana Ranaut declared that she was dating Hrithik Roshan by calling him ‘silly ex’. The actress quoted saying that she doesn’t know why exes do silly things to get the attention. She concluded saying that for her that chapter has expired and she does not dig graves.

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This comment didn’t go well for Hrithik Roshan and without thinking of anything; the ‘Bang Bang’ actor took to his twitter handle and lashed out at Kangana Ranaut saying, “Ther r more chances of me having had an affair with d Pope dan any of d (Im sure wonderful)women d media hs ben naming. Thanks but no thanks. ”

So this just confirms that their relationship was not alleged after all. So we were trying to find out what caused this out burst between the two, and maybe this can be the answer to it.

According to a leading daily, the two reportedly ended on a bad note since Hrithik, who is very careful about his image, rubbished the relationship rumours, and this naturally did not go down too well with Kangana, as she has always been open and honest about her life.

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Her recent outburst only came when he started making statements implying that they were never together, ” the report quoted a source as saying. Kangana was upset because Hrithik has been making her look like a desperate stalker who chased him, when that was definitely false. The source further added that Kangana might just spill the beans if she has to.

Hrithik Roshan and Kangana Ranaut’s rumoured affair has been the talk of the town for quite some time now, but it garnered more attention after the latter made a candid comment recently.

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Young mum rushed to hospital after botched salon dye job left her swollen and unable to breath

TWO sisters are left swollen and sore after a botched salon dye job caused them both to have painful allergic reactions.

Amy Preston, 22, was left with a severely puffed up face and her right eye almost completely closed, while sister Jodie, 24, still has a red face, swollen ear and a scalp covered in scabs.

The sisters, both young mums from Birmingham, visited the Scissor Sisters salon in Selly Oak at the same time to have their hair dyed and have now sought the advice of a solicitor to help them.

Amy claims that her hair dye was left on for a huge FOUR HOURS before being washed off – despite her pleas to have it removed sooner.

Jodie alleges that she was left with the dye on her hair for two hour, adding that her hair has turned GREEN as a result.

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Runny eggs 'safe' for pregnant women to eat, says report

Runny eggs need to be deemed safe for pregnant women to eat, according to a new report.

People vulnerable to infection have been warned to avoid raw and lightly cooked eggs since they were linked to salmonella poisoning in 1989,

But eggs that carry the red British Lion stamp on their shell now carry only a “very low” risk of salmonella poisoning, the report by the government’s Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food (ACMSF) says.


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Eggs produced under the British Lion code, which make up almost 90 per cent of GREAT BRITAIN egg production, “can be served raw or lightly cooked to all groups in society, including those that are more vulnerable to infection”, the report says.

The FSA is conducting a 12-week consultation on whether to update their advice following the ACMSF report, but has already acknowledged the “major reduction in the risk from salmonella in UK eggs since 2001”.

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Doc Rivers forgives Blake Griffin, compares Clippers forward to Nixon

It was a reckless act that was quite detrimental to the team and himself, Doc Rivers has forgiven Blake Griffin for punching Matias Testi, a Clippers equipment manager. Griffin broke his hand in the incident and could miss up to two months after undergoing surgery to fix the fracture.

Rivers has not only accepted Griffin's apology, he thinks the Clippers forward deserves forgiveness because even former President Richard Nixon was forgiven for his actions.

From Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times:

Rivers said Griffin had expressed remorse in conversations with the coach and his teammates. Griffin also has resumed chatting with Testi, Rivers said, though the coach did not know whether the longtime friends had reached an agreement that would avoid a legal entanglement.

“He feels awful about it and he's let everyone know that, ” Rivers said of Griffin. “That's all you can do, man. You have to forgive people at some point. I believe that. We built Richard Nixon a library. ”

While it is somewhat strange for Rivers to compare Griffin to Nixon, the Clippers coach is right. What Griffin did was wrong and stupid but it shouldn't hang over his head for his entire career. Especially since Griffin openly admitted to his wrongdoing and apologized towards team and Testi.

According to Doc Rivers, Blake Griffin is not a crook.
According to Doc Rivers, Blake Griffin is not a crook. (USATSI)

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