WASHINGTON, November 24, 2009 (AFP) - Three-quarters of US women disagree with a high-level panel's recommendations to raise the age of breast cancer screening and even more plan to ignore the guidelines, a poll showed Tuesday.

Of 1,136 women aged 35 and 75 interviewed over three days last week, 76 percent disagreed with the findings of the United States Preventive Services Task Force, which said most women should have their first screening mammogram at 50, not 40, and have follow-up checks every two years instead of annually.

Eighty-four percent of women in the 35 to 49 year age group, which is most affected by the decision, said they had no intention of heeding the panel's advice and would go ahead and have screening mammograms before they reached 50, the USA Today/Gallup poll showed.

WASHINGTON, October 14, 2009 (AFP) - Nearly two-thirds of Americans support the death penalty, showing little change over the past decade, and half say it should be used more often, Gallup's annual survey showed Tuesday.

Around 65 percent of the 1,013 adults surveyed said they were in favor of capital punishment, compared to 31 percent who opposed it, the poll found. Pro-death penalty numbers have remained relatively steady since Gallup began surveying US public opinion on this issue in 1936, when 59 percent supported capital punishment.

In 1994, when crime was a major concern, the number reached 80 percent. The Gallup poll found this year that 49 percent of Americans said the death penalty is not imposed often enough, even though 59 percent agreed that at least one innocent person was put to death in the past five years.