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Obama focuses on battle with McCain
Hillary Clinton is likely to win West Virginia in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. But Barack Obama is already behaving as though he were in a general election battle with John McCain
Contenders tread carefully through coal dispute
Local communities are bitterly divided between supporters of mountaintop mining, who view it as a crucial economic lifeline for a struggling region, and opponents who say the practice wrecks lives by polluting water and causing floods
US to send food to N Korea under new deal
The US has agreed to give North Korea 500,000 tonnes of food aid under a new deal that would allow monitors unprecedented access to oversee distribution in the Stalinist state
McCain makes climate change pledge
John McCain vowed to put the US at the heart of international efforts to tackle global warming, proposing aggressive targets to reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions and the creation of a cap-and-trade system to encourage investment in green technology
‘Election year politics’ stalls energy legislation
The rising cost of energy has led to a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill, with both Republicans and Democrats introducing competing legislation over the past 10 days to ease Americans’ pain at the petrol pump
Gideon Rachman: Oily truth about foreign policy
In 1973 the US imported 33% of its oil; today it imports about 60% and this figure could rise to 70 per cent by 2020. US politicians have, so far, responded to this problem with a mixture of wishful thinking and anger, writes Gideon Rachman
Indian Communists to block nuclear deal
The country’s main Communist party has vowed to continue to block a landmark civil nuclear deal with the US, saying it will not be ratified before George W. Bush leaves office
W Virginia keeps distance from Obama
Like most people in Mingo County, West Virginia, Leonard Simpson is a lifelong Democrat. But given a choice between Barack Obama and John McCain in November, the 67-year-old retired coalminer would vote Republican in the key swing state
Iran and Syria accused over Beirut chaos
A senior US official has claimed that both states have a hand in the disturbances in the Lebanese capital, the scenes of confusion worrying the Bush administration
Comment: Know, rather than imagine, your enemy
The Bush administration has appeared nonplussed as Iran emerged as the main beneficiary of the US’s regional policies, writes Lawrence Freedman
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