BBC news 2008-06-04 加文本

BBC News with Nick Kelly

There're strong indications in the United States that Barack Obama is moving closer to winning the Democratic Party nomination for the presidential election. Preliminary exit poll suggests Senator Obama will pick enough votes in the last two Democratic primaries held in South Dakota and Montana to carry him over the threshold. His principal rival, Hillary Clinton, told conference call of legislators that she was willing to become Senator Obama's running mate. Jonathan Beale reports from Washington.

Even before the polls in South Dakota and Montana closed, Barack Obama was on course to clinch the Democratic Party nomination. Throughout the day, a steady stream of super-delegates, the party's officials, were declaring their support for the Illinois Senator. When he gets up to speak later this evening in St. Paul, Minnesota, he will cross the threshold to secure the nomination. Earlier exit poll data suggests that he would have done enough in both remaining states to comfortably cross the finishing line. Hillary Clinton has spent the day at her home in New York. Early indication suggests that she will not yet suspend her campaign while she takes time to consider her options.

The United States says it’s suspending talks to normalize relations with Sudan after an outbreak of fighting that has threatened the 2005 peace deal between the north and south. The American envoy to Sudan, Richard Williamson, said neither the government in Khartoum nor the former southern rebels appeared to be interested in a long-lasting peace. "At this point, the leadership on either side aren’t interested in a meaningful peace. And I won't be part of a sham or a paper peace that won’t really change the situation for the people of Sudan who suffered way too long and deserve leaders who believe in peace."

The United States car manufacturer General Motors says it will shut down four of its truck assembly plants in North America and is considering selling its trademark Hummer brand. GM's Chief Executive Richard Wagoner said the rapid rise in oil prices had forced the company to reduce the number of larger vehicles it made. "We'll net a reduction of 500,000 units, more than accounted for by the truck reduction, and so our shift in rated capacity will shift from today about 50% trucks to 60% cars going forward."(Www.hxen.net)

The American government is tightening travel restrictions for visitors from countries which don't require a visa to get to the US. Currently, short term travelers from the European Union will have to register online three days in advance. Pre-travel registration should help determine whether they present a threat to the US.

A senior World Bank official says he is worried about the way that billions of dollars of aid money is being used in Afghanistan. The bank's Director for Conflict-Affected Countries, Alastair McKechnie, told the BBC the Afghan government had made too little progress in tackling corruption. His comments came ahead of a key donor conference on Afghanistan in Paris next week.

World News from the BBC.(www.hxen.net)

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for bold steps to tackle a global food crisis. Speaking at a Food and Agricultural Organization summit in Rome, Mr. Ban urged the United States and Europe to reduce food tariffs and subsidies. The Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade said he was disappointed by the summit. "When I get home, I should say I was so disappointed, I was disillusioned and I do hope that we will be able to meet again in Africa with all of you here, so that we can say what we want and don't come and impose institutions and experts upon us."

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has defended his policy of seizing land from white farmers at the world food summit. He accused Britain and other western countries of trying to force him from power. Western countries have criticized Mr. Mugabe's presence at the summit.

The NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has called on Russia to withdraw 400 unarmed troops it sent to repair railway lines in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia. He said the deployment was a clear breach of the country's sovereignty. "I think the Russians will not even pretend to themselves that they are outside the peacekeeping mandate. I think they have no place in Abkhazia. The Georgians have not been asked, they have certainly not given their permission, they will not give their permission. So in other words, it is an escalating action by Russia." Meanwhile, the Kremlin reported that the Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili had telephoned President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia to discuss the row.

And the government of the Indian state of Maharashtra says it plans to build a statue of a Hindu warrior king to rival New York’s Statue of Liberty. Officials say the statue of the Maharashtra King Shivaji will be built on a man-made island off the Mumbai coast. It'll include a library, a museum and an amphitheater. King Shivaji, who fought against Mughal forces in the seventeenth century, is considered by many in India to be a hero.

BBC News.