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* Irish Times poll shows 2-to-1 margin in favor

* Two other polls show support over 60 percent, third closer

* All main political parties support measure (Updates with Sunday newspaper polls)

By Conor Humphries

DUBLIN, May 16 (Reuters) – Irish voters are set to back the introduction of gay marriage by a margin of as much as two-to-one next week and become the first country to approve the policy in a national plebiscite, a series of polls indicated on Saturday.

Long considered one of the most socially conservative countries in Western Europe, support for gay rights has surged in Ireland in recent decades as the power of the Catholic Church collapsed in the wake of a series of child abuse scandals.

The Irish Times poll of 1,200 voters showed 58 percent planned to vote in favor of the measure compared to 25 percent against and 17 percent undecided.

Two more polls to be published in Sunday newspapers put support for the constitutional change above 60 percent, while a third saw the advantage of the Yes side slip to 53 percent with 24 percent opposed and almost as many undecided.

Analysts have said the fall in support in some of the polls is nowhere near as sharp as the decline in support for divorce in a 1995 referendum, when that Yes campaign’s 44 point lead disappeared as conservative campaigners spoke out in the last weeks of campaign. The measure was approved by 50.3 percent.

Long a taboo in a country that only decriminalized homosexuality in 1993, gay rights have been championed by all the main political parties.

Prime Minister Enda Kenny was widely praised for appearing at a prominent gay bar last year at an event for gay members of his Fine Gael party.

The campaign has led to a number of high profile figures announcing publicly that they are gay, including the country’s health minister and a prominent television journalist.

Campaigners against gay marriage have made some gains after warning that it might lead to an increase in adoptions and surrogacy births involving gay couples. Yes campaigners reject the claims.

In letters published on Saturday, a number of Catholic bishops, who have played a low key role in the campaign, warned their parishioners that the vote could profoundly change the understanding of marriage, family and parenthood.

Same-sex marriage was allowed for the first time in the United Kingdom last year, but it is still not permitted in Northern Ireland, where the Democratic Unionist Party of First Minister Peter Robinson has campaigned against it.

Irish voters go to the polls on Friday, with the results of the referendum expected the following day. (Additional reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by David Clarke and Alan Crosby)

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A person familiar with the situation tells The Associated Press the NFL plans to change guidelines regarding the way footballs are handled before games.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Friday night because details will be discussed at the owners’ meetings in San Francisco next week. The procedural changes result from the “Deflategate” saga. The league wants to avoid the possibility that teams could tamper with footballs, and any change wouldn’t require a vote from owners.

Tom Brady was suspended for four games and the New England Patriots were fined $1 million and docked a pair of draft picks after independent investigator Ted Wells, hired by the NFL, found that the Super Bowl champions used illegally under-inflated balls in the AFC title game. Brady has filed an appeal through the NFL Players Association.

Current rules state that footballs are sent directly to teams. Equipment managers can brush them and even use a damp towel to rub off the oil used to preserve the leather to the preferences of each quarterback. The quarterbacks can even practice with the footballs during a game week as long as the footballs remain in good enough condition to pass the referee’s pre-game inspection as a new ball. Each team brings at least 12 balls.

The footballs must be delivered to the officials’ dressing room 2 hours, 15 minutes before kickoff. The referee inspects each one, with a pump provided by the home team to adjust air pressure as needed. Footballs are required to have at least 12.5 psi and no more than 13.5 psi.

The referee is the sole judge of whether a ball is fit for play and marks each one approved for the game. The rule says the footballs “shall remain under the supervision of the referee until they are delivered to the ball attendant just prior to the start of the game.”

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AP Pro Football Writer Barry Wilner contributed to this report.

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Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_RobMaaddi

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Life can be pretty hectic at times, and there are moments when you might actually be so caught up in your work, so much so that you would have forgotten all about feeding your pet at home. That is just grossly irresponsible, so you might want to enlist the help of technology to get the job done on your behalf. Just in case you know that this will be a very busy week, perhaps you might want to invest in a pet feeder like the $29.99 Jumbl Filtered Pet Fountain Feeder. This is no ordinary pet fountain feeder, as it comes with its own removable food bowl as well as integrated night light for additional safety.

This 3-in-1 pet fountain from Jumbl can be said to be an innovative dispensary of both, and it is perfectly suitable for pet owners who need to leave for the day or a longer event. It is comprised of up to three pieces: a reservoir base that holds up to three liters of water, a fountain pump that’s attached to a water serving dish, and a removable food bowl that holds 3.4 cups of pet food. The pump will work non-stop to cycle the water from the reservoir up to the water servings dish, and let the remaining water run back into the reservoir. It works in a quiet and efficient manner, and will play nice with any standard wall outlet.
[ Jumbl Filtered Pet Fountain Feeder is definitely a luxury purchase for your pet copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq has sent reinforcements to help its battered forces in Ramadi, a city now largely held by the Islamic State group after militants seized the main government compound the day before, a military spokesman said Saturday.

The spokesman of the Joint Operations Command, Brig. Gen. Saad Maan, told Iraqi state television that the U.S.-led coalition was supporting Iraqi troops with “painful” airstrikes since late Friday. Ibrahim didn’t give details on the ongoing battles, but described the situation on the ground as “positive” and vowed that the Islamic State group would be pushed out of the city “in the coming hours.”

On Friday, the militants swept through Ramadi, capital of the western Anbar province, launching a coordinated offensive included three near-simultaneous suicide car bombings. The militants seized the main government headquarters and other key parts of the city.

Local officials said dozens of security forces and civilians were killed, mainly the families of the troops. Ten police officers and 30 pro-government tribal fighters were among those killed.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi on Friday, promising the delivery of heavy weapons, including AT-4 shoulder-held rockets to counter suicide car bombs, according to a U.S. Embassy statement.

The statement said both leaders agreed on the “importance and urgency of mobilizing tribal fighters working in coordination with Iraqi security forces to counter ISIL and to ensure unity of effort among all of Iraq’s communities.” It used an alternative acronym for the IS group.

Backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, Iraqi forces and Kurdish fighters have made gains against the IS group, including capturing the northern city of Tikrit. But progress has been slow in Anbar, a vast Sunni province where anger at the Shiite-led government runs deep and where U.S. forces struggled for years to beat back a potent insurgency. American soldiers fought some of their bloodiest battles since Vietnam on the streets of Fallujah and Ramadi.

Elsewhere in Iraq on Saturday, police said gunmen stormed an apartment in downtown Baghdad, killing three men and two women suspected of prostitution. Previous attacks on suspected prostitutes have been blamed on extremists from the Sunni and Shiite communities.

In Baghdad’s southern Dora district, a roadside bomb struck an army patrol, killing two soldiers and wounding three others. A sticky bomb attached to a minibus exploded and killed two passengers in eastern Baghdad.

Police said a bomb exploded on a commercial street in the town of Mahmoudiya, just south of Baghdad, killing two people and wounding nine others.

Medical officials confirmed the casualties from all attacks. All official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

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Associated Press writers Sameer N. Yacoub and Murtada Faraj contributed to this report.

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Sprint has expanded its free international roaming plan to six more countries: Colombia, Denmark, Honduras, Ireland, Italy, Paraguay and Sweden. That makes the new total 22, including the original 16 locations the company named when it launched the f…