John McCain Takes a New Position on Immigration Reform

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

McCain's New Approach

John McCain has a new approach to the controversial immigration reform bill that cost him the support of many conservative Republicans.

The Arizona senator is now supporting a plan that cracks down on illegal immigration — but leaves out the guest worker program and path to citizenship that some critics called amnesty. McCain says the Senate "can still show the American people that we are serious about securing our nation's border."

But he's not abandoning the more controversial parts of the bill — saying the new plan would "provide an essential step towards achieving comprehensive reform in the future."

Critical Backlash?

A new stage comedy "Jihad: The Musical," premiered this week in Edinburgh, Scotland — but some critics aren't singing its praises.

The play is described as "a madcap gallop through the wacky world of international terrorism," and features songs such as "I Wanna Be Like Osama."

But protesters have launched a petition asking Prime Minister Gordon Brown to condemn what they're calling the "tasteless portrayal of terrorism and its victims."

The show launched just as one government adviser told Scotland Yard that as many as 1 in 11 British Muslims agree with and proactively support terrorism.

Handshake Blues

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami's future political career is in dire straits — over a handshake.

The Guardian reports that fundamentalists are outraged over video showing Khatami, an Islamic cleric, shaking hands with a group of women in Italy. Islam forbids handshakes between men and women who are not close relatives.

Khatami has dismissed the images as fakes, and even tried to deflect the attacks by promising not to run for president in 2009. But some radical clerics are now calling for Khatami to be defrocked.

Mad Men Make More $

A new study on women in the workplace finds that men who get angry at work are admired — but angry women are likely to be seen as "out of control" and incompetent.

Yale scholar Victoria Brescoll says a group of observers asked to watch a series of job interviews would offer angry men higher than average salaries, while angry women were penalized.

Brescoll says the study was inspired by Republican descriptions of Hillary Clinton as "too angry to be elected President," writing — "as Senator Clinton's experience suggests, for a professional woman anger expression may lead to a decrease rather than an increase in her status."

Bound for America

New French President Nicolas Sarkozy is planning for his first summer vacation in office. So where does the leader of a European power go to relax? How about Wolfeboro, New Hampshire?

The pro-American Sarkozy will get his R&R on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee, a popular vacation destination with Bostonians — including Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who owns a house there.

No word on why Sarkozy would spend August in a place with more French fries than French restaurants.

—FOX News Channel's Martin Hill contributed to this report.