More Third World USA:

(How Small is Big?)

Peaceful end to Clinton standoff

The suspect is believed to have a history of mental illness

Police have arrested a man who took several hostages at Hillary Clinton's campaign office in Rochester, New Hampshire, ending a lengthy siege.
The man, who claimed he had a bomb strapped to his chest, had entered the building and demanded to speak to Mrs Clinton, who was not present.
Armed police rushed to the scene, persuading him to release his hostages and surrender without any conflict.
Mrs Clinton expressed relief that her staff and volunteers were safe.
"It's been a difficult, but eventually gratifying day the way it worked out," said Mrs Clinton, speaking after the suspect's arrest.
"We've had nothing on our minds except the safety of these young people who work for me."
Mrs Clinton was at a Virginia party event and had no part in the stand-off, but headed to New Hampshire to thank police and speak to her staff after it was resolved.
Speaking in Rochester, she said the incident would not deter her or affect her presidential campaign in any way.

Media reports said she cancelled a speech she was just about to make as news of the hostage crisis broke. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7122013.stm>

Supreme Court showdown on detainees

By Paul Reynolds World affairs correspondent, BBC News website

The ruling could decide the future of Guantanamo Bay

The US Supreme Court is holding a hearing on Wednesday in two cases that are being seen as a legal showdown over the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba.

The cases challenge the removal by an act of Congress of the prisoners' right of habeas corpus to take their cases to US civilian courts.

If the court rules in favour of the prisoners, indefinite detention under military control at Guantanamo Bay could be declared unlawful.

TEST-CASE DETAINEES FAWZI AL-ODAH Age: 30 Nationality: Kuwaiti Occupation: School teacher Arrested: Pakistan LAKHDAR BOUMEDIENE Age: 41 Nationality: Bosnian Occupation: Charity worker Arrested: Sarajevo Profiles: Al-Odah and Boumediene

The prisoners whose names have gone forward in these test cases are Lakhdar Boumediene and Fawzi al-Odah.

The first is an Algerian turned Bosnian who went to Bosnia during the civil war and stayed on. He was arrested on suspicion of planning an attack on the US embassy there but was released and then, according to his lawyers, grabbed by US agents and secretly flown to Guantanamo Bay.

The second is a teacher from Kuwait who was picked up in Afghanistan following the US-organised attack on the Taleban.

A 17th Century example

However another, more ghostly, figure will also feature in the case.

Clarendon sent prisoners out of England and held them without trial

This is Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, who was one of Charles II's henchmen after the restoration of the monarchy in England in the 17th Century. Briefs for both sides in the Supreme Court hearing mention his activities.

Clarendon set up his own Guantanamo Bay, believed to have been in Jersey, in the hope that his prisoners could be kept away from the courts and in particular from the right of habeas corpus.

This is an ancient procedure in which a court can order someone holding a prisoner to bring him or her to court to justify the detention.

In the end, he failed and was himself impeached before fleeing abroad.

The administration had hoped, too, that, by choosing a remote location in Cuba, it would avoid the scrutiny of American courts.

However, in an important case called Rasul v Bush in 2004, the Supreme Court held that prisoners, even though foreign and even though in a far away place, could petition US courts under habeas corpus.

So to try to get around this, in 2006 the administration proposed, and Congress passed, the Military Commissions Act (MCA).

This removed the habeas corpus right. And it is this Act which is being challenged in the Supreme Court. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7127194.stm>

Gun rampage US teen 'wanted fame'

The gunman used a balcony to aim at victims, reports say

Eyewitness account

A teenager who shot dead eight people in a US shopping centre before killing himself wrote in a suicide note that he wanted to be famous.

Robert Hawkins, 19, from Bellevue, Nebraska, opened fire at the Westroads Mall in Omaha on Wednesday.

A woman who took him in after he left home said he left a note saying he was sorry for everything and did not want to be a burden to anybody.

Police have confirmed the existence of the note, but not its contents.

Hawkins struck as the centre was crowded with Christmas shoppers, and witnesses spoke of people screaming and scrambling to find safe shelter.

Five people were wounded, two of them critically.

In a statement, President George W Bush - who visited Omaha earlier in the day for a fundraiser - said he was "deeply saddened" by the shootings. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7130504.stm>

The US Republicans and faith

The Republican hopeful for the American presidency, Mitt Romney, has called on American voters not to reject him because of his faith.

Mr Romney, who is a member of the Mormon Church, is the only Republican candidate who has had to address the issue of his religion in such a way.

While he is seen as one of the leading Republican candidates for president, surveys have suggested that between a quarter and a third of voters have qualms about electing someone who is a member of the Mormon Church

Below is a look a where the other leading Republican candidates stand in terms of faith.  <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7130401.stm>

Upbeat Huckabee faces rough ride

Mr Huckabee has support among Iowa's religious conservatives

By Jamie Coomarasamy
BBC News, Iowa

What a difference a few months make.

In May, I was the only reporter present, as Mike Huckabee campaigned at a Nascar event in South Carolina.

This week, in Newton, Iowa, I could barely squeeze into a room, heaving with camera crews, as an expectant group of local voters gathered for a "Meet Mike Huckabee Coffee Morning".

For the first time in this frequently baffling Republican contest, the former governor of Arkansas has attained the status of a leading candidate.

His brand of retail politics has suddenly become highly marketable.

Over the past few weeks, he has emerged as a serious contender for the nomination, with polls putting him first in Iowa and second across the nation.

Compassionate conservative

In this state, which will be home to the first presidential caucuses on 3 January, Mike Huckabee's rise has been steady, and, in retrospect, not too surprising.

My impression is that he relates to the people here - he doesn't talk through you or down to you, but to you Les Gillette

Republican caucus-goers in Iowa tend to come from the socially conservative wing of the party, which the ordained Baptist minister proudly represents.

His pro-life, pro-gun message, mixed with frequent references to the plight of the poor is perfectly pitched to these voters.

He comes across as authentic and funny. A comedic as well as a compassionate conservative.

Rudy Giuliani may be tougher, Mitt Romney may have been a more successful businessman, but Mike Huckabee seems, to them, to be the more authentic candidate - attaining, what is, in many ways, the holy grail of presidential politics. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7131412.stm>

Obama and the Oprah effect

By Rajesh Mirchandani BBC News, Columbia, South Carolina

Ms Winfrey (R) raised $3m for Mr Obama in September Oprah's endorsement

With less than a month until the first stage of voting for the US presidential candidates, some big name celebrities have been out on the campaign trail.

One of the biggest - Oprah Winfrey - spoke at a series of rallies this weekend for Democratic hopeful Barack Obama.
But can famous friends really make a difference?
The first people in line at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina, arrived before 0600.
By midday the queue was 100m long and several people wide. It looked to be at least 80% African-American, probably three-quarters female.
Many had dressed up in their church best, a little hot under their starched collars in temperatures of 70F plus (21C).
Inside, local bands were warming up the crowd and it felt more like a rock concert than a political rally.

'Oprah effect'

This may have been an event for Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, senator for Illinois, but the candidate was sharing the limelight.

Many people had been drawn by the presence of Oprah, not Obama

"I have to say, I'm here to see Oprah," a middle-aged African-American woman told me.
Further back in the queue, a younger black woman said: "For me it's 50-50. I like Oprah but I also like Obama."
The man she was with was less hesitant: "For me it's Oprah. I'm interested to hear Obama also. They might have dragged me out of bed for him, but Oprah got me here willingly."
Such is the pulling power of the Oprah Winfrey, queen of TV talk shows. Her weekly audience is estimated at some 50 million and she is reckoned to be the highest-paid entertainer in America.
About 29,000 people came to the Columbia rally - thought to be the largest event for any candidate in this election campaign. The organisers had to switch to a bigger venue.
That's the "Oprah Effect". <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7137683.stm>

CIA man defends 'water-boarding'

John Kiriakou said he felt water-boarding may be torture

A retired CIA agent has said a top al-Qaeda suspect was interrogated using a simulated drowning technique but that he believes it was justified.
John Kiriakou told US broadcaster ABC that "water-boarding" was used when his CIA team questioned suspected al-Qaeda chief recruiter Abu Zubaydah.
He said it might be torture but that it "broke" the detainee in seconds.
US authorities are investigating the CIA's destruction of tapes of al-Qaeda suspects being interrogated.

Mr Kiriakou told ABC the day after water-boarding was used on Abu Zubaydah, the detainee told his interrogator Allah had visited him in his cell during the night and told him to cooperate. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7137750.stm>

Washington diary: Water torture

By Matt Frei BBC News, Washington

The first time I came across the concept of water-boarding was in Cambodia in 1996.

Water-boarding was used by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia

I was on a visit to Tuol Sleng, the school that had been turned into a concentration and liquidation camp by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s.
It was situated, oddly, right in the heart of the capital, Phnom Phen.
I met one of the seven people - out of about 23,000 - known to have left the camp alive.
He was a sculptor and he was saved because he was particularly good at depicting the smile of Brother Number One, Pol Pot.
He took me on a tour of the camp, where most of his friends and seven members of his family were butchered.
In one room, there was a small painting, barely noticeable amongst all the skulls, bones, chains and hammers.
It was a naive drawing of a man strapped to a plank, a board, if you like, with another man pouring water over his face with a metal watering can. The kind you use for watering flowers.
The face of the man lying down was covered in a blue cloth. The painting looked fairly comical, as if someone was irrigating a human face.

"Water torture," my friend explained. "You think you die." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7139708.stm>

US House OKs bill vs abuse of Pinoys, other foreign workers in CNMI

JUDE O. MARFIL-SCHWALBACH, GMANews.TV

12/12/2007 | 11:12 AM

The US House of Representatives approved Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) the bill that seeks to end abuse of foreign workers – including Filipinos – in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

"With the enactment of this legislation, the dismal and degrading era of slave labor, forced prostitution and other horrific worker abuses by employers … will be put to rest," said Rep. Nick J. Rahall II, a Democrat from West Virginia and chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, in a statement.

H.R. 3079 or the NMI Immigration, Security and Labor Act (ISLA) calls for the US federal government's takeover of immigration control from the CNMI government.

Under the present setup, the rights of alien workers, who make up 71 percent of the territory's 79,000 population, are limited, thereby making them susceptible to abuse by their employers.

Instead of reporting to the CNMI Department of Labor their abusive employers, most foreign workers just suffered in silence for fear that their boss will retaliate and not renew their contract. Among the infractions employers commit are non-payment or delayed payment of wages and overtime, unauthorized deductions, barracks lockdown, and in some worse cases, forced prostitution. <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/72518/US-House-OKs-bill-vs-abuse-of-Pinoys-other-foreign-workers-in-CNMI>

British forger fools US museum

The ceramic sculpture was thought to date back to the 19th Century

A sculpture which has drawn crowds to a Chicago museum has been unmasked as a fake created by a British forger.
The Art Institute of Chicago reportedly paid $125,000 (£61,225) for the faun in 1997, believing it to be by the 19th Century artist French Paul Gauguin.
But it was created by Shaun Greenhalgh, from Bolton, Greater Manchester, who was jailed last month for fraud.
His mother, Olive, received a suspended sentence for fraud. His father, George, 84, will be sentenced later. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7141906.stm>

US baseball 'rife' with drug use

George Mitchell is a director of the Boston Red Sox baseball team

Dozens of players have been linked to taking performance-enhancing substances in a report on Major League Baseball that alleges a serious drug culture.
Former Senator George Mitchell, who led the investigation, said several All-Stars were suspected of using steroids and human growth hormones.
He also called for MLB to outsource drug-testing and form an investigative arm to pursue allegations of drug use.
In response, MLB head Bud Selig said he embraced all the recommendations made.
Speaking at a news conference, he said that baseball fans "deserve a game that is played on a level playing field, where all who compete do so fairly".
The players implicated in this scandal read like a who's who of the modern-day game, the BBC's Matthew Price reports from New York.
Baseball is one of America's most popular sports, and he says allegations of widespread drug-use will be deeply disappointing to fans. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7143219.stm>

IBM's employee base in India hits 73,000

12/15/2007 | 11:51 AM

BOSTON - IBM Corp.'s expansion in developing countries shows no sign of relenting. The technology company revealed Friday that it now has 73,000 employees in India, almost a 40 percent leap from last year.

IBM did not provide updated figures for its work force in the U.S., which has held steady around 125,000 people in recent years.

Nor did IBM project its total head count. It had 355,766 employees worldwide at the end of 2006.

If the total has risen by the same rate as in 2006, almost one in five IBM workers now is in India, its second-largest center.

Like many other technology providers, IBM has rushed to take advantage of the lower labor costs India offers even for highly skilled workers. IBM's base in India numbered only 9,000 people in 2003, but it was about 53,000 last year.

IBM has been stressing not only the lower expense of working in India but the potential of the Indian market. IBM executives told visiting Indian journalists last week that the company expected to see revenue from the Indian market jump to nearly $1 billion this year, from $700 million in 2006.

Armonk, New York-based IBM is also ramping up in other key developing markets. Its chairman and chief executive, Sam Palmisano, recently formed a new organization that will spur IBM's investment in emerging economies.

The plan is meant to capitalize on the higher growth rates in the so-called ''BRIC'' countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China. IBM's revenue from those countries rose 18 percent in the first three quarters of this year, even after discounting the benefit of currency fluctuations. IBM's total employee count in those countries now is nearly 100,000, up from 70,000 a year ago. <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/72990/IBMs-employee-base-in-India-hits-73000>

Reality bites as TV strike goes on

By Peter Bowes BBC News, Los Angeles

With no deal in sight between striking screenwriters and US TV producers, the television networks are planning a new year of shows - without scripted programmes.

The cast of Ugly Betty have come out in support of the striking writers

For the first six weeks of the stoppage, most prime-time dramas and comedies have continued to air in their usual slots.
The only immediate casualties were the late-night comedy shows, but favourites likes Desperate Housewives and CSI have dominated the ratings, as if it were business as usual.
But that is about to change. "Basically the cupboard is bare at this point," says Rob Salem, TV critic for the Toronto Star.
"As much as they have been stockpiling scripts, there weren't nearly enough."
New episodes of popular shows such as Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty will run out by the end of the year. But with the strike set to drag on into 2008, the TV networks have the thorny problem of how to fill the schedules.

It's going to mean a lot of reality shows - it's quite astounding the amount of stuff that's being produced

Rob Salem

Toronto Star TV critic

"They can't just show us the test pattern," Mr Salem says.
"It's going to mean a lot of reality shows. It's quite astounding the amount of stuff that's being produced."
On the picket lines, the striking writers are well aware that their carefully crafted dramatic dialogue will soon be replaced by the inane chatter of reality programmes.
"They're going to have to fill the airwaves with something," says Peter Bellwood, a British screenwriter and member of the Screen Actors Guild.
"I think the world is changing for writers in television." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7143879.stm>

Striking Hollywood writers want direct talks with firms

12/16/2007 | 02:33 PM

LOS ANGELES - Faced with the indefinite suspension of negotiations, the union representing striking Hollywood writers told its members Saturday it would try to deal directly with Hollywood studios and production companies, bypassing the umbrella organization that has been representing them.

The news was welcomed by the company that produces David Letterman's "Late Show," which said it hoped to broker a deal that would put the talk show host and his writers back to work.

Talks broke off Dec. 7 after the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, insisted it would not bargain further unless the Writers Guild of America dropped proposals that included the authority to unionize writers on reality shows and animation projects.

Both sides in the strike, which began Nov. 5, have said the central issue is compensation for programs, movies and other content streamed or downloaded over the Internet.

"As you know, the AMPTP is currently unwilling to bargain with us," the guild said in a letter delivered to its members Saturday. "The internal dynamics of the AMPTP make it difficult for the conglomerates to reach consensus and negotiate with us on a give-and-take basis. We believe this multi-employer structure inhibits individual companies from pursuing their self-interest in negotiations."

While saying the guild still hoped the producers would return to the bargaining table, the union added that it had decided to approach production companies individually and would begin doing so on Monday.

"We want to do everything in our power to move negotiations forward and end this devastating strike," the guild said in a letter signed by chief negotiator John Bowman and others. The union said it was delivered to members of both the Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East.

"This is merely the latest indication that the WGA organizers are grasping for straws and have never had a coherent strategy for engaging in serious negotiations," alliance spokesman Jesse Hiestand said in a statement. "The AMPTP may have different companies with different assets in different businesses, but they are all unified in one common goal — to reach an agreement with writers that positions everyone in our industry for success in a rapidly changing marketplace."

One independent company, Letterman's Worldwide Pants, indicated it was willing to negotiate individually. <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/73065/Striking-Hollywood-writers-want-direct-talks-with-firms>

US 'penis photo doctor' loses job

The picture was allegedly taken in an operating theatre

A surgeon who allegedly took a photo of a patient's penis during an operation at a US hospital is no longer working there, it has been announced.
Dr Adam Hansen, of Arizona's Mayo Clinic Hospital, is accused of taking the snap while conducting gallbladder surgery earlier in December.
The chief of general surgery allegedly showed the photo to fellow surgeons.
The patient is a strip club owner, Sean Dubowik, whose penis is tattooed with the words "Hot Rod".
A member of the surgical staff tipped off local newspaper The Arizona Republic about the incident in an anonymous call on Monday.

The announcement that he was "no longer practising" at the Mayo clinic was posted on the hospital's website. It is not clear whether he resigned or was dismissed. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7155170.stm>

Asian voters in US 'got raw deal'

By Brajesh Upadhyay BBC News, Washington

Asian Americans make up 3.6% of the US population

Many Asian American voters faced discrimination from voting officials during 2006 mid-term elections in the US, a civil rights group has alleged.
The report is based on a multilingual exit poll conducted among 4,700 Asian American voters in 25 US cities.
It documents alleged violations of the Voting Rights Act and Help America Vote Act and cases of "anti-Asian attitude".
According to a 2000 census, the US has more than 10 million Asian Americans, comprising 3.6% of its population. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7182758.stm>

Louis' lock-in

When Louis Theroux went to San Quentin prison he found a bizarre self-contained society where "straight" men fall in love, gangs are divided along strict racial lines and an inmate can be assaulted for the most minor mistake. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7181055.stm>

Hillary wins 'meaningless' Michigan primary

01/16/2008 | 10:32 AM

LAS VEGAS - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won a meaningless Michigan presidential primary Tuesday night, a contest held in violation of party rules as she and her Democratic rivals shared a debate stage 2,000 miles distant.

Neither Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama nor former Sen. John Edwards stumped in Michigan, where party officials defied the Democratic National Committee by holding the primary so early in the campaign season.

The result was an election in name only, where Clinton was the only major candidate entered. She faced competition principally from the "uncommitted" line on the ballot, an option that some supporters of Edwards and Obama advocated to embarrass the former first lady. <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/76712/Hillary-wins-meaningless-Michigan-primary>

Romney edges McCain to win Michigan primary

01/16/2008 | 10:08 AM

DETROIT - Mitt Romney scored his first major primary victory Tuesday in his native Michigan, a win he desperately needed to give his weakened candidacy new life and set the stage for a wide-open Republican showdown in South Carolina in just four days.

Romney was the third Republican victor in the first four states to vote in the 2008 primary season, further roiling a volatile nomination fight that lacks a clear favorite.

The former Massachusetts governor defeated John McCain, the Arizona senator who was hoping that independents and Democrats would join Republicans to help him repeat his 2000 triumph here. Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, trailed in third, and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson was waiting for the top three candidates in South Carolina, already campaigning.

"It's a victory of optimism over Washington-style pessimism," Romney said in an Associated Press interview, echoing his campaign speeches. "Now on to South Carolina, Nevada, Florida. - AP <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/76705/Romney-edges-McCain-to-win-Michigan-primary>

Ex-lawmaker charged in terror conspiracy

01/17/2008 | 08:55 PM

WASHINGTON - A former congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted on charges of working for an alleged terrorist fundraising ring that sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaeda supporter who has threatened US and international troops in Afghanistan.

Mark Deli Siljander, a Michigan Republican when he was in the House, was charged Wednesday with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about being hired to lobby senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists.

The 42-count indictment, unsealed in US District Court in Kansas City, Montana, accuses the Islamic American Relief Agency of paying Siljander $50,000 for the lobbying — money that turned out to be stolen from the US Agency for International Development.

The charges paint "a troubling picture of an American charity organization that engaged in transactions for the benefit of terrorists and conspired with a former United States congressman to convert stolen federal funds into payments for his advocacy," Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein said.

Siljander, who served in the House from 1981-1987, was appointed by President Reagan to serve as a US delegate to the United Nations for one year in 1987.  <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/76928/Ex-lawmaker-charged-in-terror-conspiracy>

More clues coming in US election race

By Kevin Connolly BBC News, South Carolina

So far, no clear front-runner has emerged for either party

In the early stages of any race for the presidency, journalists and political scientists find themselves making predictions and extrapolating national trends from local results when very few of the American public have had a chance to vote.

It is crunching numbers, when there simply aren't enough numbers to crunch. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7195269.stm>

Clinton and Obama clash in debate

The two frontrunners spoke out strongly against each other

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, two of the Democratic Party candidates for the US presidency, have clashed in a debate before South Carolina's primary.
Mr Obama accused Mrs Clinton of saying anything to get elected. On Sunday he had accused her husband Bill Clinton of making false statements about him.
But Mrs Clinton said it was hard to debate with someone who never took responsibility for any vote he cast.
A third candidate, John Edwards, accused them of squabbling.
The three candidates also debated the economy and racial justice, with attacks on President George W Bush's plan to stave off recession.
Mr Obama needs to win Saturday's South Carolina primary to re-invigorate his campaign after successive defeats to the former first lady in New Hampshire, Michigan and Nevada.

The debate marked a significant gear-shift with just two weeks before "Super Tuesday", when 22 states vote in a potentially decisive day for the party's nomination contest. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7201709.stm>

The woes of 'America's mayor' Giuliani

By Elinor Shields New York

Rudy Giuliani's quest to win the Republican nomination appears to be struggling, as new polls put the former front-runner third in his key state of Florida and behind on his home turf of New York.

Rudy has devoted almost two months to delegate-rich Florida

The former mayor of New York has staked his presidential dream on skipping early contests to fight for delegate-rich Florida, in a push to win the Republican primary on 29 January.
If all goes to plan, this could launch him to the front of the field before "Super Tuesday" on 5 February, when more than 20 states decide.
Yet polls released this week show Mr Giuliani trailing early primary winners Mitt Romney and John McCain in the Sunshine State, as others suggest he has slipped behind Mr McCain in New York.
But, while the man dubbed "America's mayor" after 9/11 may be down, analysts refuse to call him out, in a race confounding predictions amid an unsettled Republican field.
The situation is "extraordinarily fluid", Doug Muzzio, professor of public affairs at Baruch College in New York City, told the BBC.
"In a sense, this is a 'nobody knows anything' election. It's glorious chaos." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7206298.stm>

Obama takes US poll clean sweep

Votes took place in four states and the US Virgin Islands

What is a primary?

Barack Obama has won three more states in the battle for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
The Illinois senator won by wide margins in the states of Washington, Louisiana and Nebraska.
Mr Obama is neck-and-neck with Hillary Clinton in the nationwide battle to be the party's nominee.
For the Republicans, Mike Huckabee has won the Kansas caucus, with results still to come in from the states of Louisiana and Washington.
Mr Obama also won caucuses in the US Virgin Islands.
"Today the voters from the west coast to the Gulf coast, to the heart of America, stood up to say 'yes we can'... we won north, we won south, we won in between," Mr Obama said in a speech to Democrats in Virginia. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7236230.stm>

US university gunman kills five

Police say there is no apparent motive for the attack

A gunman has opened fire on students at a university near Chicago in the United States, killing five people before turning the gun on himself, police say.
The shooting took place at Northern Illinois University, in De Kalb, 65 miles (100km) west of Chicago.
Students ran for cover as a white male armed with two handguns and a shotgun opened fire in a lecture theatre.
Police said he had shot himself before they arrived on the scene and that there was no apparent motive.
Two weapons have been recovered and police are searching for a third firearm in Cole Hall near the King Commons, a central gathering place for the 25,000 students on campus.
The victims, four women and a man, were killed in a "brief, rapid-fire assault", university president John Peters said.

Some girl got hit in the eye, a guy got hit in the leg

George Gaynor, Student

The gunman was believed to be a former graduate student in sociology, but he was not currently enrolled at the university, Mr Peters told a news conference.
Earlier reports said 17 victims had been transported to Kishwaukee Community Hospital, several with serious head wounds.
The shooting comes 10 months after 32 students and staff were shot by a student at Virginia Tech University in one of the worst shootings ever at a US school.
It is also the fourth shooting at a US education establishment within a week.
Last Friday, a woman shot dead two fellow students before killing herself at Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge. In Memphis, Tennessee, a 17-year-old is accused of shooting and critically wounding a student on Monday, and a 15-year-old was shot at a junior high school in California on Tuesday. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7246003.stm>

Clinton denounces Obama tactics

Mrs Clinton's outburst comes ahead of key primaries in Ohio and Texas

Clinton's attack

US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has made her fiercest denunciation so far of Barack Obama, her rival for the Democratic Party nomination.
Mrs Clinton accused the Illinois senator of producing a misleading leaflet on her health care policy.
"Shame on you, Barack Obama!" the New York senator said at a rally in Ohio, which holds its primary in 10 days.
But Mr Obama said he stood by the leaflet, saying he was puzzled by what he called his rival's change in tone.
"Enough with the speeches and the big rallies and then using tactics that are right out of Karl Rove's playbook," said the former first lady ahead of Ohio's crucial primary early next month.

Both the Ohio and the Texas primaries, both being held on 4 March, are being seen as must-wins for Mrs Clinton. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7261189.stm>

Ralph Nader to run for president

Ralph Nader attacked the two main parties

Nader BBC interview

Ralph Nader says he will run again as an independent for the US presidency.
The anti-establishment consumer advocate made the announcement in a televised interview on Sunday.
Mr Nader was accused by many Democrats of handing the presidency to George W Bush in the November 2000 elections. He ran again unsuccessfully in 2004.
Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are vying for the Democratic ticket. Senator John McCain is almost certain to run for the Republicans.
Nearly three million Americans - more than 2% of the vote - backed Mr Nader when he stood as the Green Party candidate in the 2000 presidential election.

That election was so close that a small proportion of those votes - particularly in the key state of Florida - would have put Al Gore in the White House. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7261670.stm>

US conventions: Lessons from history

By Steve Schifferes BBC News

Barack Obama made a mark with his 2004 convention speech

Political conventions have played a unique role in American political history.
In theory, the convention is a conference where party activists come together to choose a presidential nominee.

But in recent years, the parties have managed to narrow down their choice to just one candidate long before the convention begins.

Consequently, they have become stage-managed events, marking the official launch of the presidential campaign of a candidate already selected in the primary contests earlier in the year.

In the past, contested conventions have changed the course of American history - and with the two Democratic candidates running neck-to-neck, their party's convention in August may do so again. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7233365.stm>

Clinton comeback wins key votes Latest news Analysis In pictures Delegate Q&A Blog In video

Mrs Clinton insists she can go all the way to the White House Clinton's speech Hillary Clinton has revived her campaign for the US presidency with projected primary election wins in three states. US media say she has taken the Democratic primary polls in Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island. The results of caucus meetings in Texas are not yet known. Rival Democrat Barack Obama took the primary in the state of Vermont. Meanwhile, John McCain has won the Republican nomination with projected wins in all the four states. DEMOCRATIC DELEGATE RACE BARACK OBAMA: 1,477 Delegates won on 3 March: 92 States won: 24 HILLARY CLINTON: 1,391 Delegates won on 3 March: 115 States won: 16 Delegates needed to secure nomination: 2,025. Source: AP Delegates: Who's ahead His closest rival, Mike Huckabee, has dropped out of the race and pledged to support Mr McCain's candidacy. Mr McCain's victories take him to 1,224 delegates, well over the threshold of 1,191 needed to claim the nomination at the party's national convention in September. Both Democratic candidates called Mr McCain to congratulate him on clinching the Republican candidacy. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7276305.stm>

Bush endorsement may be risky for McCain

03/06/2008 | 06:09 PM

WASHINGTON - Beware, John McCain. The money comes with a price. Sure, President Bush will raise millions of dollars for your Republican presidential campaign and GOP candidates. But he'll also give you the aura of a presidency tarnished by painful gasoline prices, a sagging economy, the threat of recession, a blemished US reputation around the world, turbulence in the Middle East and many more problems.

There's also the unpopular war in Iraq — although you already are closely associated with that.

How often to rub shoulders with an incumbent president — or whether to appear with him at all — is a delicate matter for presidential wannabes.

Al Gore's decision during his 2000 campaign against Bush not to embrace President Clinton was probably a gift to the GOP. Many people think that despite Clinton's personal troubles, Gore should have been standing shoulder to shoulder with Clinton, who had high approval ratings as he left office.

"McCain's got to make it very clear that this is not a third Bush term, but a John McCain presidency," said Republican pollster David Winston.

"As long as he can make that clear separation, then having a president of the United States on the road, helping with fundraising, going around and talking to people is a very different thing," Winston said.

Bush and McCain exhibited solidarity in the Rose Garden on Wednesday when the president embraced the Arizona senator as the party's next standard-bearer. But neither offered anything definitive about what Bush's role would be in McCain's general election campaign. <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/83649/Bush-endorsement-may-be-risky-for-McCain>

Obama aide quits in 'monster' row

Samantha Power said she had tried to retract the comments

An adviser to Barack Obama has resigned after a Scottish newspaper quoted her calling rival US Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton "a monster".
Samantha Power has expressed "deep regret" over the comments and said she had tried to retract them.
The Scotsman newspaper quoted Ms Power as saying: "She is a monster, too - that is off the record - she is stooping to anything."
Ms Power is a Harvard professor who has advised Mr Obama on foreign policy.
Announcing her resignation as an adviser, she said: "Last Monday, I made inexcusable remarks that are at marked variance from my oft-stated admiration for Senator Clinton and from the spirit, tenor, and purpose of the Obama campaign."

Ms Power, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003, was speaking to the Scotsman about Mrs Clinton's campaign strategy in Ohio, a state the New York senator won in Tuesday's primary elections. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7283965.stm>

Obama spurns double ticket hints

Obama is the favourite to win the Mississippi primary

Barack Obama has dismissed the idea of becoming Hillary Clinton's running mate in the US presidential election.
In recent days the Clinton campaign has repeatedly suggested a "dream ticket" combining the two Democratic Party candidates might be a possibility.
But Mr Obama said the proposal made no sense because he was ahead in the race.
Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama are gearing up for Tuesday's primary in Mississippi, the latest in the battle for the Democratic party nomination.
Polls suggest Mr Obama is leading in the state. At stake are 33 delegates to the August convention where the party will choose its candidate for the White House. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7288038.stm>

Democrats head for Denver showdown

By Kevin Connolly BBC News, Mississippi

In a state where the mighty Mississippi slides slowly and uneventfully through the Deep South on its inexorable way to the ocean, the Democratic primary process did something a little similar this week.

Barack Obama's win in Mississippi gives him a boost but not a victory

The Obama and Clinton camps passed through Mississippi on their own inevitable journey to what now seems an unavoidable showdown at their party's convention in Denver in August.
Rallies were held, speeches were given and town hall style meetings were conducted but there was never a sense that proceedings here in the Magnolia State would be decisive.
That's a pity, in a way - nominations for the presidency are normally sorted out long before we reach this point in the electoral calendar, and Democratic political activists here threw themselves into the race with huge energy.
In part, of course, the lack of drama is simple enough to explain - Mississippi is very small - there were only 33 pledged delegates up for grabs here out of the 2,025 overall that the successful candidate will need to win the nomination.

You can draw your own conclusions from the fact that neither of the two candidates was in Mississippi when the results began to emerge soon after the polls closed. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7291158.stm>

Clinton aide quits over race row

Geraldine Ferraro said her remarks had been taken out of context

A Hillary Clinton adviser has resigned over her comment that Barack Obama would not be ahead in the race for the White House if he were not black.
Geraldine Ferraro, a vice-presidential candidate in 1984, announced she was stepping down from an honorary role on Mrs Clinton's finance committee.
Earlier, she had told US network ABC that her remarks had been "spun by the Obama campaign as racist" but were not.
Mr Obama in turn rejected the idea that being black was a big advantage.
Mrs Clinton has distanced herself from the comments, quoted in a US newspaper interview last week.
The row flared up on Tuesday, the day of the Mississippi primary election, which was convincingly won by Mr Obama.
The result is not decisive but boosts his lead in terms of delegates at the August convention where the party will choose its White House candidate.

With the Republicans' race settled, their presumptive nominee, John McCain, has been focusing on a nationwide fund-raising drive. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7292947.stm>

Bill Clinton likened to McCarthy for patriotism comment on Obama

03/22/2008 | 02:07 PM

SALEM, Oregon _ A retired Air Force general compared former President Bill Clinton to Joseph McCarthy, the 1950s communist-hunting senator, after Clinton seemed to question Democrat Barack Obama's patriotism.

Merrill "Tony" McPeak, a former chief of staff of the Air Force under Clinton and President George H.W. Bush and currently a co-chair of Obama's presidential campaign, said he was disappointed by comments Clinton made while campaigning for his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, in a speech Friday in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"I think it would be a great thing if we had an election year where you had two people who loved this country and were devoted to the interest of this country," Clinton said. "And people could actually ask themselves who is right on these issues, instead of all this other stuff that always seems to intrude itself on our politics."

McPeak learned of the remarks while at an Obama rally in Salem, Oregon. Afterward, he called Clinton's statement horrible and compared it to McCarthy, the Republican senator from Wisconsin who held hearings on suspected Communist sympathizers in the 1950s.

"It sounds more like McCarthy," McPeak said. "I grew up, I was going to college when Joe McCarthy was accusing good Americans of being traitors, so I've had enough of it."

Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer rejected the comparison.

"To liken these comments to McCarthyism is absurd," Singer said. He said McPeak was "clearly misinterpreting" the remarks and suggested that might be an intentional effort to divert attention from a recent controversy involving controversial statements by Obama's former pastor.

In a post on Hillary Clinton's Web site Friday, the campaign said the former president was simply talking about the need to keep the race focused on issues, "rather than falsely questioning any candidate's patriotism."

McPeak was skeptical.

"It's a use of language as a disguised insult. We've seen this before, this little clever spin that's put on stuff," McPeak said. "I have no idea what his intentions are, but I'm disappointed in the statement. I think Bill Clinton is, or ought to be, better than that."

The former president has attracted criticism over earlier comments during the heated Democratic primary race. Following South Carolina's primary in January, he was accused of fanning racial tensions for appearing to cast Obama as little more than a black candidate popular in state with a heavily black electorate.

He also criticized the news media for making a race story out of his comments. - AP <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/85741/Bill-Clinton-likened-to-McCarthy-for-patriotism-comment-on-Obama>

Clinton's thrilling tale falls flat

By Kevin Connolly BBC News

Hillary Clinton's original description of her arrival at Tuzla airport in Bosnia was vivid and thrilling and entirely at variance with what really happened.

Hillary Clinton's arrival in Tuzla was caught on camera

She spoke, for example, of how a welcoming ceremony had to be abandoned as sniper fire forced members of her official party to run for their lives.
"I remember landing under sniper fire," she said.
"There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.
"But it was a moment of great pride for me."
Unfortunately for Senator Clinton plenty of television footage has survived, showing the actual circumstances of her arrival, which were very different.

I did mis-speak the other day Hillary Clinton

She smiled and waved as she left her aircraft and then strolled across the airport tarmac to greet a little girl who read her a poem.
The embarrassing gulf between her recollection and the truth prompted this curiously worded climbdown:
"I did mis-speak the other day. You know this has been a very long campaign [laughs] so occasionally I am a human being like everybody else."
The word 'mis-spoke' is a a useful one in this context implying, as it does, that something which feels like a lie is really little more than a slip of the tongue.
Still the Tuzla affair is politically damaging for Senator Clinton.
It helps her rival Barack Obama re-enforce his point that she is prone to exaggerate the value of her service as First Lady in her quest for the presidency. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7313885.stm>

Killer's history of social disorders

Cho lived in the US with his family from the age of eight

By Emma Ketteley
BBC This World

What drove a shy, reserved Korean-American student to commit the worst mass shooting in US history?
On the morning of 16 April 2007, Cho Seung Hui shot dead 32 people on the campus of Virginia Tech university before turning his gun on himself.
Cho was born in South Korea and lived in Seoul until he was eight years old.
Kim Yang-Soon, the boy's great-aunt, remembers him as quiet and withdrawn.
"We didn't know that he was abnormal, we just thought he was docile."
Cho's grandfather, King Hyang-Sik, also saw nothing wrong. He describes the boy as "very quiet, but very smart".

I recall the pain of his shyness. He would break out in a sweat and freeze with palpable pain at having to respond Dr James Griffith Psychiatrist

But when his family migrated to Centerville in Washington, Cho's teachers at Westfield High were so concerned about his shyness that they sent him to counselling.

"My memories are of him being alone, being isolated and being pretty miserable," says Theresa Fayne, who was in the same class as Cho. "He would communicate with a head nod." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/7336m053.st>

US police seen in kicking video

TV helicopter films police kicking suspects

US police are investigating a video showing a group of officers in Philadelphia apparently pulling three suspects out of a car and beating them.

The incident was filmed by a TV helicopter overhead. The officers were responding to reports of a shooting nearby, police said.
Members of the force are said to have been put on edge by the killing of an officer on Saturday during a robbery.
The officer was the third killed on duty in the city in the last two years.
"On the surface it certainly does not look good in terms of the amount of force that was used," Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey admitted, after seeing the video.

"But we don't want to rush to judgement."

It was not clear what preceded the confrontation.
Attorney D Scott Perrine, who represents the three men seen in the video, called the police actions unjustified.
He said police told him all three men would be charged with aggravated assault. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7387755.stm>