Sacramento - California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger urged opponents of California voters' ban last week on gay marriage to keep fighting and indicated his hope that state courts would step in to overturn it.

The statements to CNN marked the clearest comments by the Republican leader of the largest state in the US. The former movie star also predicted that the 18,000 gay and lesbian couples who have already wed would not see their marriages nullified by the initiative.

Sacramento - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday proposed several stringent measures to curb spending and increase taxes in order to deal with a budget shortfall, this office said.

The proposals include a steep increase in state sales tax, a five cent tax on every alcoholic drink sold and an estimated 4.5 billion dollars in welfare and other budget cuts.

The moves are meant to close a projected budget shortfall of 24 billion dollars by the middle of 2010.

While stumping for Republican presidential nominee John McCain in Ohio, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a former bodybuilder, also had some fun at the expense of McCain's rival, Barack Obama, and Obama's slight frame.

During his 2006 re-election campaign, Schwarzenegger had styled himself as a post-partisan centrist eager to shed party labels and rise above partisan differences. This time around, he tossed aside his rhetoric about bringing Democrats and Republicans together.

Columbus (Ohio), Nov 1 : California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger poked fun at Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s slight frame while praising John McCain at a campaign stop here.

Schwarzenegger had the crowd in the palm of his hand Friday at a John McCain rally with a speech that mixed a healthy helping of jokes with praise for the Republican presidential candidate.

The “Governator,” a former bodybuilder said: “He needs to do something about those skinny legs, make him do some squats and some bicep curls to build up those scrawny little arms. If only we could do something about putting some meat on his ideas,” adding that McCain was “built like a rock.”

Los Angeles - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency Tuesday as wind-whipped wildfires roared close to Los Angeles killing two people, destroying dozens of structures and forcing thousands to flee.

The Senson and Marek fires burnt some 5,000 hectares in the mountains that ring the San Fernando Valley just north of Los Angeles, sending up huge plumes of thick grey smoke that were visible from the city.

A third fire burnt a further 800 hectares at Camp Pendleton, a massive Marine base near San Diego.