French Open - Ana Ivanovic won greate record

Ana Ivanovic confirmed her status as the new world number one with her first Grand Slam title at the French Open.
The 20-year-old second seed beat Russia's Dinara Safina 6-4 6-3 to become the first Serbian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title.
In a tense opening set, Ivanovic got the better of five breaks of serve.
And two breaks in the second were enough for Ivanovic to make up for her heavy defeat by the now retired Justine Henin in last year's final.
Henin was on hand to give Ivanovic the trophy after she sealed victory.
"I'm just so happy I kept my composure until the end," said Ivanovic. "Last year's final was a great learning experience."
The Serbian also had the experience of playing in the Australian Open final in January, losing to Maria Sharapova, while 13th seed Safina was playing her first Grand Slam singles final. With both players looking for a first major title it was understandable that they began in nervous fashion, but it was Ivanovic who looked the calmer as she soon moved a double-break clear.
The fear for Ivanovic supporters before the match had been whether her nerve would hold, and when she let a 40-0 lead slip in game eight to be pegged back to 4-4, it looked a reasonable question.
However, just when Safina needed to heap on the pressure she faltered and a series of errors handed the break straight back, and then helped Ivanovic come through an edgy service game to take the set.

The new world number one - who replaces Sharapova at the top of the rankings on Monday - needed no further encouragement and broke again in game three of the second set with a thumping forehand winner down the line.
And despite lengthy scraps in games six and seven, Safina could not get back on terms before, at 4-3 down, her resolve finally broke.
The Russian had saved match points on her way to beating Sharapova and Elena Dementieva in earlier rounds but there was to be no miracle comeback this time.
"I didn't have any more the fire that I had those matches," said Safina afterwards. "I was tired."
Three unforced errors put Ivanovic 5-3 ahead and Safina then failed to put the second seed under any pressure as she served for the title.
Victory was wrapped up in one hour 38 minutes and Ivanovic immediately headed into the stands to celebrate with her supporters.
"This was amazing," she said. "I still don't realise what happened. As a kid, when I used to go by bike to practice, I used to dream of this."

Switzerland 0-1 Czech Republic

Substitute Vaclav Sverkos gave the Czech Republic a winning start to Euro 2008 with a second-half strike that broke Switzerland's resistance.
Swiss skipper Alexander Frei was twice denied by Petr Cech before he was forced off injured and Hakan Yakin headed a chance wide after the break.
On 70 minutes Sverkos slotted in a low volley from 12 yards after latching on to a ball over the top of the defence.
The Swiss were denied an equaliser when Johan Vonlanthen's volley hit the bar. And it might prove that the width of the woodwork could be the end of the Swiss, with tough matches against Portugal and Turkey to come in Group A.
Realistically the tournament's co-hosts needed to get something out of their opening game, and they started as though they were absolutely determined to.
After three minutes, the Czechs gave the ball away cheaply in midfield but Frei dragged his shot wide and failed to capitalise.
That should have been a wake-up call to the Czechs, but they appeared in no rush to raise their tempo.
As a result, Switzerland - unfancied in the group - grew in confidence and stroked the ball around, but with little cutting edge.
A weak effort from Gokhan Inler was indicative of their toothless attacks up until that point.

Frei, though, looked the liveliest player on the pitch, and despite having no help from his struggling strike partner Marco Streller, he began to cause some problems.
It took a decent stop from Cech to deny him the opening goal of Euro 2008 after he had latched on to a long clearance from his own keeper.
Frei followed that up with a 30-yard shot that Cech opted to use his fists to clear, despite there being little sign of the any movement from ball.
Sadly for Frei it would prove to be virtually his last contribution to the match as he later hobbled off after a jarring challenge.
The Czech Republic had already started showing signs of waking from the slumber before then, and with crisp passing and better movement were dictating the play.
But their final ball was awful and up front, giant striker Jan Koller looked slow and cumbersome.
After the break the Swiss brought on Hakan Yakin for the injured Frei and they started the half positively.
As the Czechs found themselves pinned back, Yakin got himself into the action but was too high with an effort following a free-kick.
But it was clear Yakin was already having more of an impact than Koller and it was no surprise when the Czech's top scorer was replaced by Vaclav Sverkos.
And the Swiss substitute should have opened the scoring when he was presented with a free header, but he directed the ball wide the right-hand post.
It was to prove a costly miss when, on 70 minutes, Czech substitute Sverkos finished smartly into the bottom corner after latching on to a ball over the top of the Swiss defence.
Yet Switzerland almost snatched a draw when Tranquillo Barnetta's shot was superbly parried by Cech and Vonlanthen smashed the follow-up against the woodwork.

Turkish government attacks head scarf ruling

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Turkey's Islamic-oriented governing party on Friday accused the country's top court of overstepping its authority when it struck down a law that would have allowed Muslim head scarves to be worn at universities.Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party campaigned for re-election last year on a promise to lift a ban on head scarves, claiming the prohibition violated religious and personal freedoms. Upon victory, the government passed constitutional amendments to lift the ban.
But the court threw out the amendments Thursday, saying they violated Turkey's secular principles. The decision, which is final, threw up a heavy legal barrier to any further attempts to lift the ban and has deepened the divide between the Islamic-leaning government and secular institutions.
"The decision is a direct interference with parliament's authority," said Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat, the ruling party's deputy chairman. "It is a violation of the rule on the separation of powers."
Though most of Turkey's 70 million people are Muslim, many see the head scarf as an emblem of political Islam and consider any attempt to allow it in schools as an attack on modern Turkey's secular laws. Some also argue that lifting the ban would create pressure on all female students to cover themselves.
Turkey's fiercely secular military signaled satisfaction with the court's decision to uphold the ban, which has been vigorously enforced in public offices and universities since a 1980 military coup.The Constitutional Court's ruling does not bode well for Erdogan's party, which faces the threat of being dissolved under a separate case filed by a prosecutor on grounds it is "the focal point of anti-secular activities."
Erdogan has kept silent on the court decision. But Firat said the prime minister would discuss the ruling with his fellow lawmakers in parliament Tuesday.
Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan was expected to hold a news conference Saturday on the issue.
Another top party member, Bulent Arinc, described the decision as "grave."
"It gives me goose pimples," said Arinc, a former parliament speaker. "The Constitutional Court has indirectly seized the power of parliament."Dozens of people, including some women wearing black chadors, protested the ruling Friday in Ankara. A placard left outside the court building read: "No one can go against God's order to wear head scarves."
Hundreds of people also protested the court ruling in Istanbul and in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, following Friday prayers

Turkish government attacks head scarf ruling

Story Highlights
1) Israeli, Palestinian officials are starting to draft elements for a proposed peace deal
2) Decision does not necessarily reflect agreement on major issues, official says
3) Announcement comes amid violence in Gaza

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have agreed to start drafting elements of a proposed peace accord, the chief Palestinian negotiator said Friday.Ahmed Qureia, the veteran negotiator heading the Palestinian team, made it clear the decision did not necessarily reflect agreement on major issues. But this would be the first time since negotiations resumed more than six months ago that anything would be committed to paper.
"We agreed with the Israelis to begin writing the positions," Qureia told reporters late Friday.
Israeli government officials would not comment and Qureia did not explain why the two sides had agreed at this point to begin drafting a text.
However, the timing coincides with a corruption scandal in Israel that threatens to unseat Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Should Israel find itself going to early elections, polls show Benjamin Netanyahu, who opposes major territorial concessions to the Palestinians, becoming Israel's next premier. However, drafting during previous rounds of peace talks has not always meant that those positions were then preserved for future negotiators.
Qureia did not say what issue the two sides would start with. If they reach agreement on any issue, then they will draft a single provision, he said. If not, they will lay out on paper their divergent views, he addedIsrael and the Palestinians resumed peace talks in late November under U.S. prodding. Continued Israeli settlement construction and Israeli security concerns have clouded negotiations, and both sides have expressed doubt about achieving the declared goal of clinching a final accord by the end of the year.
Qureia confirmed that Israeli peace negotiators have offered the Palestinians land in exchange for territory where major West Bank settlements lie, but he termed their offer "unacceptable."
Palestinians would like to incorporate all of the West Bank into a future state, but their moderate president, Mahmoud Abbas, has acknowledged that Israel, with U.S. backing, likely will hold on to blocs where tens of thousands of settlers live. In exchange, Abbas is prepared to relinquish some West Bank land for an equal amount of Israeli land.
Qureia would not say how much territory Israel offered, where it is located or how much West Bank land the Jewish state proposed to keep under a final peace accord with the Palestinians.
"The Israelis presented a land swap offer, but this offer is unacceptable to us," he said.
Other Palestinian officials have said Israel has presented maps giving it 10 percent of the West Bank in exchange for southern Israeli territory near the Gaza Strip.
Early Friday, one Palestinian militant was killed and two were injured in a gunbattle that erupted after Israeli tanks and bulldozers crossed into central Gaza. The military said its forces entered to prevent rocket launches.
Fifteen Palestinians -- some Hamas militants, others civilians -- were wounded in a second aerial attack on a Hamas base in northern Gaza later Friday, doctors said. The missiles destroyed a building, witnesses said.
Hamas also fired four rockets toward Israel, the group said. One landed in the rocket-scarred town of Sderot, damaging six cars, the military said.
The latest flare-up in violence began Thursday when a Hamas mortar killed an Israeli and injured four others in southern Israel. Israel then sent aircraft after a rocket squad, the military said, but apparently missed their target, killing a 6-year-old Palestinian girl.
Olmert warned that Israel was close to abandoning efforts to bring a truce to the volatile area and was seriously considering a large-scale incursion.
"According to the information we have now, the pendulum is much closer to a decision on a harsh operation," Olmert said soon after returning from a brief visit to the U.S.
Egypt has been trying for months to mediate a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza's Islamic militant Hamas rulers.
But both sides have set tough conditions for a truce and Israeli leaders are under pressure at home to respond militarily because the weapons in the hands of Gaza militants have become more deadly.

Zimbabwe aid ban 'puts millions at risk'

Millions of people in Zimbabwe already facing economic hardship and hunger are being put at risk by a government ban on relief organizations, the United Nations warned Friday, saying it would urge a lifting of restrictions.Agostinho Zacarias, the U.N.'s top humanitarian coodinator in Zimbabwe, met senior government figures Friday to try to get the ban overturned and allow aid agencies resume providing food, clean water, medical care and other services.
"The government said they didn't take this measure to starve the people. They have their reasons. The officials we discussed this with were not prepared to advance any reasons," he said.
Zacarias said the ban was likely to affect millions of people.
He also met with church leaders to explore aid alternatives as they don't fall under the category of aid groups hit by the ban.
Bright Matonga, deputy information minister for Zimbabwe, accused several non-governmental organizations of telling people they would not receive food unless they voted for an opposition presidential candidate.
The U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee, said Zimbabwean authorities were using food as a weapon to intimidate the population and hold on to power.

McGee said people seeking food from the government are forced to give up their identity cards if they are not registered as supporters of the government, meaning they will be unable to vote.
In another development Friday, Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested for the second time this week, his spokesman said.
Tsvangirai was stopped at a roadblock and taken to a police station as he was on his way to a regularly scheduled rally, his spokesman George Sibotshiwe said. He was released after 2½ hours.
"We've noticed that it's going to be a common trend in this campaign, and obviously the government and Robert Mugabe are trying to prevent [Tsvangirai] from going about his campaign freely and peacefully," Sibotshiwe said.
He said that unless the African Union deploys peacekeepers to the country, "campaigning in Zimbabwe is now virtually impossible."
"What I can convey is that since this morning we have had 10 or 11 central intelligence organization vehicles following us everywhere. There was heavy intimidation, with armed military people following us everywhere as well, and they basically pushed the president up to this roadblock before arresting him."
Sibotshiwe said there were no grounds for the arrest. "The way they work here is they don't give you any reason," he said. "Obviously, there is no charge."
The aid ban was made public Thursday, but CNN has obtained a memo dated Wednesday in which Zimbabwe's social welfare minister, Nicholas Goche, told non-governmental organizations "to suspend all field operation until further notice."
It said "a number of NGOs involved in humanitarian operations are breaching the terms and conditions of their registration."
Zimbabwe accuses international aid groups of political meddling ahead of a June 27 runoff that opposition groups say longtime President Robert Mugabe is trying to rig through intimidation.
Matonga said agencies must re-register with the government and state their purpose clearly to continue working in Zimbabwe and the government hopes that happens soon.
Kenneth Walker, a spokesman for the aid agency CARE, said Friday that the government's action has sowed confusion.
"All the NGOs are in the dark. They have no idea what this letter means. They have no idea how long it's going to last," he said.
"There's some serious concern about the impact on the millions of Zimbabweans who now won't be receiving food aid, clean water and sanitation facilities, help with agriculture Henrietta Fore, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, urged the government of Zimbabwe Thursday to "lift the suspension on all international aid agencies involved in humanitarian work in the country."
Fore said the "suspension is a direct threat to the lives and well-being of tens of thousands of innocent people in Zimbabwe."

Dark day on Wall Street

The Dow's 395-point drubbing is its biggest one-day point loss in 15 months, after crude prices' largest one-day advance ever and a poor jobs report.
NEW YORK - Stocks tanked Friday, with the Dow industrials shedding 395 points, after oil prices spiked more than $11 a barrel and the May jobs report showed a big jump in the unemployment rate.
Bond prices surged, as investors sought safety in government debt, while the dollar tumbled versus the yen and euro.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 395 points, or 3.1%, its biggest one-day decline on both a point and percentage basis since February of 2007, at the start of the subprime mortgage crisis.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index lost 3.1%, while the Nasdaq composite (COMP) lost 3%. Both saw their biggest one-day declines on both a point and a percentage basis in more than four months.
The unemployment rate shot up to 5.5% in May from 5.0% in April, the government reported, marking the biggest one-month surge in over 20 years. The report was a clear indication that the economy could be in a recession after all, despite some recent bets that one could be narrowly avoided.
As rattling as the unemployment number was, the stock market was even more spooked by the spike in oil prices, said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management.
"I think more than anything, it's the shock of oil prices being up this substantially two days in a row," Stone said.
Crude jumped more than $16 in two sessions, with prices settling up $10.75 to $138.54 a barrel Friday on the weak dollar and in response to a Morgan Stanley note that said oil could hit $150 a barrel by July 4.
The spike exacerbated worries about consumer spending, already stretched as gas prices near a national average of $4 a gallon.
"You're definitely seeing the fear trade today, with the dollar down, commodity prices up and bonds rallying," Stone said.
Stocks could be vulnerable to further declines in the week ahead, after the S&P 500 closed below a key technical level that has previously given a floor to the selling. Traders said stocks could be in danger of moving back to the lows of March and January, which were seen as something of a bottom after months of stock declines.
Jobs market deteriorates: The unemployment rate surged to 5.5% from 5.0%, beating forecasts for a rise to 5.1% and showing the biggest one-month jump since 1986.
The spike really caught people by surprise, said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group. He said the report makes it clear that at least for so-called Main Street and the labor market, "we are in a recession, regardless of how we economists define it."
He was referring to the fact that GDP has been limping higher and the economy has not been officially declared to be in a recession by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
However, with non-farm payrolls dropping for a fifth consecutive month, it feels to many people like it's a recession, he said. Employers cut 49,000 from their payrolls, the report showed, versus forecasts for a decline of 60,000.
Dollar falls, oil spikes: The dollar continued its slide versus the euro on the weak jobs report and comments Thursday that the European Central Bank could potentially raise interest rates. The dollar also tanked versus the yen.
The dollar's decline contributed to a rally in dollar-traded commodity prices, with U.S. light crude oil for July delivery settling at $138.54 a barrel, a jump of $10.75. The increase was the biggest single-day price gain since record-keeping began in 1983 - taking out the previous session's record.
Oil prices spiked to a record trading high of $139.12 after the close, before pulling back a bit.
Gold and other commodities rallied too. COMEX gold for August delivery rose $23.50 to settle at $899 an ounce.
Gas backs off record: The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas fell to $3.986 from the previous day's record of $3.989, AAA reported. Gas prices had set new records for 28 of the previous 29 days.
Other markets: Treasury prices rallied, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 3.93% from 4.05% late Thursday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
On the move: Stock declines were broad based, with all 30 Dow issues falling.
The Dow's financial components were hit the hardest, with American Express (AXP, Fortune 500) and Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) both down 5%, and Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) down more than 4%.
AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) slumped more than 7% on reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into whether the insurer overstated the value of contracts connected to subprime markets, something AIG denies. Additionally, it was reported that federal prosecutors have asked the SEC for material related to the investigation.
Other big blue-chip losers included General Motors (GM, Fortune 500), down nearly 5%, and Boeing (BA, Fortune 500), down 5.4%.
Intel (INTC, Fortune 500), Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500), Cisco (CSCO, Fortune 500) and Qualcomm (QCOM, Fortune 500) were among the biggest technology decliners.
Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers beat winners by over 4 to 1 on 1.48 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers by nearly 4 to 1 on volume of 2.20 billion shares.
Stocks spiked Thursday on a surprise dip in weekly jobless claims, stronger-than-expected May retail sales and a merger in the telecom sector. But the advance was short-lived as Friday's barrage of discouraging economic news and spiking oil prices brought out the seller

Shania Twain Speaks Out to Thank Fans

HOLLYWOOD - Shania Twain has sent a message to her fans thanking them for their support as she attempts to get on with her life after splitting from her husband. Music mogul Robert Lange has filed for divorce after 14 years of marriage to the country queen, leaving Twain shattered. But, in her first reaction to the split, the Canadian star has posted a heartfelt message to her fans on her Web site. She writes, "I am going through a rough time personally in my life (and) I wanted you all to know that I could not be getting through this without you. "Your letters, emails and words of encouragement give me strength. Your overwhelming support reminds me to smile, no matter how deep the pain, and to always be grateful for all the beautiful blessings in my life. "I have so much to say but I know the best way for me to speak is through my music. This is my therapy, my passion, and my love. I look forward to sharing it with all of you as I begin this new journey. "I need some time to heal this broken heart but make no mistake; I will be back and hopefully stronger than ever. Thank you my friends, from the bottom of my heart."

Missile practice for Moon mission

Tests on a UK-led technology at the heart of a planned Moon mission have been a spectacular success according to the scientists involved in the project.
Three penetrator missiles were fired into a sand bunker in Wales, designed to mimic the lunar surface.
Professor Alan Smith, of Mullard Space Science Laboratory, told BBC News the results had exceeded expectations.
He is a leading figure in the Moonlite mission, which hopes to fire instruments into the Moon in 2013.
A BBC team witnessed the final day of the tests at the Ministry of Defence test site at Pendine, near Tenby.
The site has been open since 1940 but is now operated by Qinetiq, the privatised MoD spin-off company which developed the penetrator technology. Three projectiles were tested on three consecutive days at the end of May.
They look like missiles but rather than exploding on impact, they are designed to stay intact to protect the scientific instruments inside.
The Moonlite mission plans to fire four penetrators into the lunar surface from an orbiting spacecraft. They will come to rest three metres (10ft) underground.
The onboard instruments will send back a mass of information, everything from seismic activity and mineral composition to the underground temperature.
Sand blasted
Security at Pendine was tight - we had to show passports to gain entry. The high-speed test track is set in a large area of sand dunes paradoxically full of birds and flowers. It’s a hard hat site; during the firing itself, all staff must take cover. We were actually confined to the control centre.
Earlier, we saw scientists loading instruments into the third and final penetrator to be tested.
The purpose of the test firings was to check how well the penetrators would withstand being slammed into several tonnes of sand at 1,100km/h (700mph) and whether the instruments inside would survive.
The difference between the penetrators that had already been fired and the one that had yet to be tested was striking.
The blue paint on the fired ones was scraped off and the steel nose cones were distorted.
But despite their battered appearance, Peter Truss of Qinetiq confirmed that they had done their job and protected the instruments inside: "our confidence is growing with every test".
Qinetiq not only contributed to the missile derived design of the penetrators themselves, but to the batteries and communication systems they will carry.
Ultimately, the plan will be to apply this technology to other rocky planets and moons in the solar system, particularly to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, which may have oceans below its frozen surface.
Other candidates include Saturn’s moons Titan and Enceladus.
Deep space
Until now, previous missions have only been able to scrape the surface of other planets.
"We're developing the technologies now to enable a much more in depth analysis of these planetary bodies and with the increase in technology that we can apply to these problems, all sorts of possibilities open up," explained Peter Truss.

The other advantage of penetrators is that it’s easier to fire into a rocky planet than to land gently on the surface.
Loading and safety checks complete, the penetrator was driven out to the test track. This stretches 1,500m through the sand dunes but the penetrator and its rockets were strapped to a firing sled 300m from the target.
We retired to the control room and looked on as scientists waited anxiously for the final countdown. When it came, the firing shattered the quiet with a reverberating bang. There were cheers from the scientists at the completion of the last test.
Then it was time to break cover and head down to the sand bunker with a metal detector and some shovels to locate the penetrator and dig it out. Researchers measured how far it had pushed into the sand and collected samples.
In each test, the penetrators described a curved trajectory upwards through the sand, ending up only slightly below the surface.
Intruigingly, they also turned the sand they touched black, possibly as a result of its high coal content reacting to the heat.
Speaking later, back at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Professor Smith said Nasa and the European Space Agency were showing interest.
"The results have been spectacular and the space agencies are sitting up and taking notice," he said.
"Before now it had all been on paper. Now we have real hardware to show them."

US unemployment rate reaches 5.5%

The US unemployment rate rose at its fastest pace in more than two decades in May, stoking fears of recession in the world's biggest economy.
The surprise jump in May's jobless rate to 5.5% from 5% is the most recent signal yet that US growth is stalling.
It shows US companies are more reluctant to hire as profits are squeezed by a consumer slowdown and soaring oil and raw material costs.
The US Labor Department said the economy lost 49,000 non-farm jobs.

It follows a 28,000 decline in April, and will fuel fears the US economy is sliding towards recession, analysts said.
The worry is that a weak labour market will see consumers rein in their spending, hurting corporate profits.
The poor data rattled the stock market, with the blue-chip Dow Jones index sliding 1.79%, or 225.70 points, to 12378.75 in afternoon trade in New York.
Cost of living
In recent months, the US Federal Reserve has been slashing interest rates in an attempt to stoke growth.
But analysts believe the rising cost of living, rather than interest rates, should be the US central bank's chief concern now.
"If you want to avoid a protracted recession, you have to make sure inflation doesn't get out of control," said Gilles Moec, an analyst at Bank of America.
"Otherwise, you're going to have a loss of purchasing power meaning consumer spending is going to slow down even more."
Consumer spending is the engine of the US economy, and the latest jobless data is another set-back for Americans who are struggling with falling house prices, a credit squeeze and rising fuel bills.
Analysts said the figures came as a surprise:
"The unemployment rate is the shocker," said Bert Macintosh, chief economist at Eaton Vance Management.
"The unemployment rate gives you a much weaker economic outlook than the payrolls number," he added.
Analysts had expected between 30,000 and 58,000 jobs to go.
In April, 28,000 non-farm jobs were lost, fewer than than expected

Medvedev warns against Nato entry

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned Georgia and Ukraine of serious consequences if they press ahead with plans to join Nato.
Mr Medvedev and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Georgia's president that joining the alliance would lead to a "spiral of confrontation".
Mr Medvedev said Ukraine would be in breach of a friendship treaty if it joined Nato, Mr Lavrov said.
The leaders are at a summit of 12 ex-Soviet states in St Petersburg.
Conflicts
Georgia has been pushing for entry to Nato and the European Union, straining relations with Russia.
Tensions have also grown over Russia's support for separatists in Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Both Russia and Georgia have accused each other of preparing for war in Abkhazia.
"We reiterated our strong interest in seeing those conflicts resolved," Mr Lavrov said, following the meeting with Mr Saakashvili at the Commonwealth of Independent States informal summit.
"We stated this could not be achieved by moving Georgia artificially into Nato because this would lead to another spiral of confrontation in the area."
The Georgian president played down talk of confrontation, saying the problem could be resolved with "goodwill".
'Security risks'
Analysts had been waiting to see if Mr Medvedev's relations with Ukraine and Georgia would be warmer than those under his predecessor, Vladimir Putin. But the new president stuck to the same line as Mr Putin when he met President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine on Friday.
He pointed to a 1997 friendship treaty between Russia and Ukraine.
"The treaty... contains the obligation on the two parties not to do anything which would create threats or risks for the security of the other party," Mr Lavrov told reporters.
"This was reiterated by President Medvedev, that we do not believe Nato membership for Ukraine would serve... the interests of the two countries."
Mr Medvedev also warned Mr Yushchenko not to expel the Russian navy from the base it leases at Sevastopol on Ukraine's Black Sea coast, as it has threatened to do.
And he said Russia would almost double the price it charges neighbouring Ukraine for gas from 1 January, 2009.
Mr Lavrov denied the move was political, saying it was forced by increasing costs in Central Asia. The two countries have had several recent disputes over gas, with Russia cutting supplies and Ukraine alleging Moscow uses gas as a political weapon.

Zimbabwe halts opposition rallies

Zimbabwe's authorities have stopped opposition presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai from campaigning for the 27 June election.
The order banning "several future rallies" came after police briefly detained Mr Tsvangirai ahead of a rally in the second-largest city of Bulawayo.
The length or extent of the ban, which cites security fears, is not yet clear.
It comes soon after the government banned food aid distribution, saying agencies were helping the opposition.
Relief organisations reject the charges, warning that Zimbabwe's "desperate" situation could get even worse. They had been hoping to feed around 600,000 people this month, as the country has just had its harvest.
But when that food runs out early next year, they say between two and four million people - up to a third of the population - will need food aid.

See map of food shortages in Zimbabwe
The restrictions on aid agencies - making the government the sole provider of food aid - have drawn widespread condemnation.
The US ambassador to Zimbabwe said Mr Mugabe's government was using food as a weapon to get votes, distributing food only to its own supporters. Zimbabwe's authorities have stopped opposition presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai from campaigning for the 27 June election.
The order banning "several future rallies" came after police briefly detained Mr Tsvangirai ahead of a rally in the second-largest city of Bulawayo.
The length or extent of the ban, which cites security fears, is not yet clear.
It comes soon after the government banned food aid distribution, saying agencies were helping the opposition.
Relief organisations reject the charges, warning that Zimbabwe's "desperate" situation could get even worse. They had been hoping to feed around 600,000 people this month, as the country has just had its harvest.
But when that food runs out early next year, they say between two and four million people - up to a third of the population - will need food aid.
The restrictions on aid agencies - making the government the sole provider of food aid - have drawn widespread condemnation.
The US ambassador to Zimbabwe said Mr Mugabe's government was using food as a weapon to get votes, distributing food only to its own supporters.

He said the government was also confiscating the identification cards of opposition supporters which means they cannot get government food aid and will not be able to vote in the presidential run-off.
"We are dealing with a desperate regime here which will do anything to stay in power," said Ambassador James McGee.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, said the decision to prevent the agencies carrying out their work was "a true perversion of democracy".
Zimbabwe's National Organisation of Non-Governmental Organisations (Nango) said the ban on field operations was illegal and would have an "immediate, critical and negative impact especially on children, people living with HIV/Aids, the elderly, pregnant mothers and the disabled".
Safety fears
Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says gatherings planned for Harare's high density townships of Glen Norah, Kambuzuma and Mufakose and the city of Chitungwiza were also banned by police.
The party says the ban is "rank madness" as the meetings are its only way to communicate with supporters because it is denied access to public media.
In a statement, the party quoted a letter from the police saying that "because the MDC had complained that its leaders were targets for assassination the authorities could not guarantee their safety and were therefore banning several future public rallies".
The government has previously dismissed MDC concerns of a possible assassination threat as fantasy.
The MDC accuses President Mugabe's supporters of leading a campaign of intimidation which has forced thousands from their homes and left at least 65 dead.
Mr Tsvangirai was detained by police for several hours on Friday - the second such incident in three days. On Wednesday, he was stopped and held for eight hours before being released without charge.
Zimbabwe's information minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu declined to comment.

Plan for quake 'warning system'

Nasa scientists have said they could be on the verge of a breakthrough in their efforts to forecast earthquakes.

Researchers say they have found a close link between electrical disturbances on the edge of our atmosphere and impending quakes on the ground below.
Just such a signal was spotted in the days leading up to the recent devastating event in China.
They have teamed up with experts in the UK to investigate a possible space-based early warning system.
Many in the scientific community remain deeply sceptical about whether such signals are indeed indicators of an approaching earthquake.
But Minoru Freund, a physicist and director for advanced aerospace materials and devices at Nasa's Ames Research Center in California, told BBC News: "I do believe that we will be able to establish a clear correlation between certain earthquakes and certain pre-earthquake signals, in an unbiased way."

He added: "I am cautiously optimistic that we have good scientific data, and we are designing a series of experiments to verify our data."
Despite years of searching for earthquake precursors, there is currently no method to reliably predict the time of a future earthquake. Yet, most scientists agree that some form of early warning system could save tens of thousands of lives.

The ionosphere is distinguished from other layers of Earth's atmosphere because it is electrically charged through exposure to solar radiation.
On a significant number of occasions, satellites have picked up disturbances in this part of the atmosphere 100-600km above areas that have later been hit by earthquakes.
One of the most important of these is a fluctuation in the density of electrons and other electrically-charged particles in the ionosphere.

Early warning

One study looked at over 100 earthquakes with magnitudes of 5.0 or larger in Taiwan over several decades. The researchers found that almost all of the earthquakes down to a depth of about 35km were preceded by distinct electrical disturbances in the ionosphere.
The analysis was carried out by Jann-Yeng Liu, from the Center for Space and Remote Sensing Research in Chung-Li, Taiwan.

Though full details have yet to be released, the BBC understands that scientists also observed a "huge" signal in the ionosphere before the Magnitude 7.8 earthquake in China on 12 May.The team at Nasa has also been working with Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) in the UK, to investigate the feasibility of a satellite-based early warning system.

Stuart Eves, head of business development at the company, told BBC News: "The evidence suggests we're now crossing the boundary in terms of technology readiness."
He added: "What we don't know is how big the effect is and how long-lasting it is before the earthquake."
Minoru Freund believes other earthquake "precursors" could feed into this system. These include enhanced emission of infrared (IR) radiation from the earthquake epicentre, as well as anomalies in low-frequency electric and magnetic field data.

Rock 'batteries'

Minoru and his father Friedemann Freund, also from Nasa Ames Research Center, developed the scientific theory behind these earthquake precursors. It boils down to the idea that when rocks are compressed - as when tectonic plates shift - they act like batteries, producing electric currents.
"We now pretty much understand the solid-state physics of these rocks," Minoru added.
According to their theory, the charge carriers consist of a specific type of electron, called a phole, which can travel large distances in laboratory experiments.
When they travel to the surface of the Earth, the surface becomes positively charged. And this charge can be strong enough to affect the ionosphere, causing the disturbances documented by satellites.

When these pholes "recombine" at the surface of the Earth, they enter an excited state. They subsequently "de-excite" and emit mid-infrared light particles, or photons. This may explain the IR observations.
Dr Mike Blanpied, a geophysicist at the US Geological Survey (USGS), who is unconnected with the work told BBC News: "At this point, the connection between the laboratory phenomena and processes at work in the Earth has not been demonstrated and is the subject of research."
He has two principal criticisms of the work. Firstly, he said the experiments had been done on dry - or briefly soaked - rocks at room temperature and pressure. But deep in the crust, rocks have all their voids filled with mineral solutions and are subjected to high temperatures and pressures.
Secondly, he said, the researchers' hypothesis held that rapid changes in stress and strain in the crust began a few days before earthquakes.
Dr Blanpied, who is based in Reston, Virginia, said there had never been an observation of rapid strain changes before an earthquake, which meant precursor strains before earthquakes might be too small to have been detected.
Minoru Freund agrees that more work is needed to improve on the theory and some of the data. But he said he was planning to work up a proposal for a low-cost, space-borne early warning system based on at least three satellites.

UK home prices 'fell 2.4% in May'

UK house prices dropped by 2.4% in May, according to a report by the Halifax, Britain's biggest mortgage lender.

That pushed prices 3.8% lower than a year ago and means that the price of the average home fell to £184,111.
The Bank of England said on Thursday it was leaving interest rates unchanged at 5%, despite calls from estate agents and construction firms for a cut.
Many mortgages have been withdrawn and available rates have risen in spite of three rate cuts since December.

Spending squeeze
The Halifax said the annual fall in prices was the biggest it had seen since 1993.
If prices continue falling at the rate seen since the start of the year then they will fall by 16% over the course of 2008.
The Halifax's survey echoed the results of the latest study from the Nationwide building society, which reported a 2.5% fall in house prices during May.
And earlier this week, figures from the Bank of England showed the number of new mortgages being approved for house purchases in April hit the lowest level since the Bank began reporting the figures in 1993.
"The decline in prices is caused by the difficulties created for potential house purchasers by the rapid rise in house prices in the last few years, a squeeze on spending power and the reduction in credit availability," said Halifax chief economist Martin Ellis.
He pointed out that average earnings rose by 4% in the year to March, much less than fuel prices, which rose 9%, and food prices, which rose 7%.

Tougher times?
The Halifax has already predicted that house prices will probably fall next year as well as in 2008.
Over past weeks there has been increasing evidence that the UK economy is heading for a longer and sharper economic slowdown than many people first thought.
On Wednesday, the international think tank the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said the UK faced a significant downturn.
The OECD forecast that UK growth would slow to 1.8% this year, and to 1.4% in 2009.
It added that three factors were hurting the UK and global economy; weakening property markets, a global credit crisis and high commodity costs.
"The latest data on the housing market are undeniably alarming," said Howard Archer, chief economist at Global Insight."Clearly, the downward pressure on house prices coming from stretched buyer affordability and tight lending conditions is now biting hard."

Guantanamo 9/11 suspects on trial

The alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the US and four other key suspects are appearing at a military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, appearing in public for the first time since his capture in Pakistan in 2003, refused the help of lawyers to defend him.
He told the court he wanted the death sentence sought by the prosecution as he wished to become a martyr.
Correspondents says the hearing raises questions about military commissions.
The five men, dressed in white tunics and turbans, did not have to be forced out of their cells, as some defendants in earlier hearings have been, Reuters news agency reports.
Marine Col Ralph Kohlmann, presiding over the hearing, told Khalid Sheikh Mohammed he faced the death sentence if convicted.
"That is what I want, I'm looking to be a martyr for long time," Khalid Sheikh Mohammed replied.
The US describes Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, believed to have been al-Qaeda's third in command, as "one of history's most infamous terrorists".
Waterboarding
Following his arrest he was held at a CIA secret prison, where he was subjected to harsh interrogation techniques and a practice known as waterboarding, that simulates drowning, until he was moved to Guantanamo Bay two years ago.
The US military says that as well as admitting involvement in the 11 September 2001 attacks on Washington and New York, he has confessed to being involved in more than 30 terrorist plots around the world, including plans to attack London's Big Ben and Canary Wharf.
He is one of five so called "high value detainees" appearing at hearing.
The other suspects are:
Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni man described by the US as the co-ordinator of the 9/11 attacks, who, according to intelligence officials, was supposed to be one of the hijackers, but was unable to get a US visa
Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi, a Saudi man said by US intelligence officials to be one of two key financial people used by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to arrange the funding for the 11 September hijackings
Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, also known as Amar al-Balochi, who is accused of serving as a key lieutenant to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - his uncle - during the 11 September plot
Walid Bin Attash, a Yemeni national who, according to the Pentagon, has admitted masterminding the bombing of the American destroyer, USS Cole, in Yemen in 2000, which killed 17 sailors, and is who is accused of involvement in the 11 September 2001 attacks
The charges against them list "169 overt acts allegedly committed by the defendants in furtherance of the September 11 events".
The charges, which include 2,973 individual counts of murder - one for each person killed in the 9/11 attacks - are the first directly related to the 9/11 attacks to be brought against any Guantanamo inmates.
The five are among 19 prisoners due to face the military tribunals, which were set up in the wake of 9/11 to try non-US prisoners who have been classed as "enemy combatants" by the White House and therefore deemed to not be entitled to the legal rights normally afforded to prisoners.
Justice in the dock
The trials have already raised questions about not just the treatment of detainees, but also the legitimacy of American military commissions.
The BBC's Jonathan Beale - one of 60 international journalists attending the trial - says these trials will be as much a test case as a showcase of military justice.
The US authorities say they have bent over backwards to make sure that the trials are fair but some of its own lawyers have already condemned the process as fundamentally flawed.
US air force Brigadier General Tom Hartmann told the Associated Press news agency that the tribunals would allow the detainees the chance of a proper hearing.

CZECH REPUBLIC - euro 2008

Group A
CZECH REPUBLIC
Tournament fixtures
07/06/2008 v Switzerland 18:00
11/06/2008 v Portugal 18:00
15/06/2008 v Turkey 20:45

Squad List
Goalkeepers1 Petr Čech
16 Jaromír Blažek
23 Daniel Zítka

Defenders2 Zdeněk Grygera
6 Marek Jankulovski
12 Zdeněk Pospěch
13 Michal Kadlec
21 Tomáš Ujfaluši
22 David Rozehnal


Midfielders3 Jan Polák
4 Tomáš Galásek
5 Radoslav Kováč
14 David Jarolím
17 Marek Matějovský
18 Tomáš Sivok
19 Rudolf Skácel
20 Jaroslav Plašil

Forwards7 Libor Sionko
8 Martin Fenin
9 Jan Koller
10 Václav Svěrkoš
11 Stanislav Vlček
15 Milan Baroš

Back

EURO - 2008

Teams EURO 2008:

Group A
Czech Republic
Portugal
Switzerland
Turkey

Group B
Austria

Croatia

Germany

Poland

Group C
France
Italy
Netherlands
Romania

Group D

Greece

Russia

Spain

Sweden

Six fixes for pricey gasoline

Ideas to help people ease the burden of high gas prices are swirling in Washington. Will any of them work?

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- With a nationwide average gas price of just about $4 a gallon, lots of people are thinking there must be something the government can do to help.
Some things which contribute to high gas prices are largely out of the government's control. OPEC will produce as little oil as it sees fit, largely independent of any U.S. intervention. Developing nations will continue to subsidize gas prices, helping their growing economies and keeping demand high.
Areas where the government can help, like a big push into alternative energy, more drilling in the United States, or a jump in fuel efficiency standards, will take years to materialize. Even then, any price decline is likely to be small.
As consumers scramble to adjust their lives to deal with high gas prices experts debate what the government can do to help in the short term.
It's unclear if any of the ideas being discussed will work. Some say Americans will just have to deal with $4 gas and learn to use less of it.

Short-term fixes
Tax oil companies more, give the money to motorists. This idea is a central part of Barack Obama's energy platform.
The candidate would impose a windfall profits tax on the big oil companies whenever oil crossed the $80 a barrel mark. The cash would be given to low income people to help them offset their energy costs.
Other proposals in the Senate include selling rights to emit greenhouse gasses - known as carbon credits - and giving the proceeds to all households making under $100,000 a year.
But opponents say raising taxes on oil companies will result in less oil production, and ultimately lead to higher prices. If the government didn't tax oil companies and simply borrowed the cash, that would only hurt the dollar, and send oil prices higher.
Limit oil speculation. Many people believe oil speculators are essential to a properly functioning market.
But some say they have too much free reign and should be subject to greater restriction.
"The amount of money going into oil speculation is driving the price," said Judy Dugan, research director at Consumer Watchdog.
Dugan is calling for increasing the amount of money oil investors need to put up to buy contracts. She also wants more disclosure of trading positions held in overseas or electronic markets.
Dugan may be on to something. The Commodities Futures Trading Commission recently said it is requiring greater disclosure, and oil prices backed off nearly $9 from recent highs.
But opponents urge caution. They say supply and demand are driving high oil prices. Fewer speculators in the market, they say, will just make it harder to secure contracts and make it easier for a single player to manipulate prices.
Ease refining restrictions. Refineries seem to be in a perpetual mess. They currently have to make over 40 types of gasoline blends to meet clean air requirements in different areas. They are also only running at about 85%capacity.
Easing clean air requirements or reducing the number of blends made might bring down prices.

"It's obviously a trade off with environmental concerns," said John Kilduff, an energy analyst at MF Global in New York. "But it might take some of the stress off refiners."
Dugan is also calling for more information about refiner's profit margins, and perhaps laws requiring them to make more gas.
But the industry says making all those different blends actually doesn't cost that much more money. And other analysts say refiners are barely turning a profit running at 85% capacity, as gasoline prices have not risen as much as the price of crude oil. more
Lift the ethanol tariff. Ethanol from places like Brazil, made with sugar cane that packs more energy than U.S. corn-based ethanol, is currently subject to a 54-cent a gallon tariff, designed to protect the domestic ethanol industry from foreign competition.
Since ethanol is a required component in gasoline, critics of the tariff say lifting it would mean cheaper gas for everyone.
But with ethanol making up less than 10% of the nation's gasoline supply, any drop in gas prices would likely be minimal.
Open the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Congress recently directed the Bush administration to stop filling the reserve to the tune of 70,000 barrels a day, or 0.3% of the nation's daily oil consumption.
Analysts said the amount of oil involved was too small to have any effect on prices. They were right: oil prices actually rose following the directive.
Some say releasing oil from the reserve, located in giant salt caverns along the Gulf of Mexico and holding over 700 million barrels of oil, would send a message to traders that the government is not willing to let oil prices go up forever.

But others say the reserve serves an important role as a buffer against supply disruptions from overseas, and traders would bid up prices if the reserve were smaller. More.

Suspend the gas tax. This idea was roundly criticized when proposed first by John McCain and later by Hillary Clinton.

Analysts said doing away with the 18.4 cent per gallon federal gas tax over the summer would leave road repair dangerously underfunded, and could even lead to higher gas prices as people drove more.

Still, the idea has it's backers.

"I thought it maybe wasn't a bad idea," said Kilduff, who noted that eliminating state taxes as well - which currently average an additional 21 cents a gallon - could translate into savings for motorists. More.

Tough love

The fact that these proposals have so many caveats, and would likely bring prices down only moderately or not at all, leaves some analysts saying there's not much the government can do to lower prices.

High gas prices are here to stay, and consumers are just going to have to bear the burden until they figure out how to use less fuel, they say.

"Like the president said, it's an addiction," said Lee Schipper, a visiting scholar at University of California Berkeley's Transportation Center. "There's going to be a time when going cold turkey hurts."

Moreover, even if the government could lower prices, it might not be in everyone's long-term interest.

"It's only when the price is high that people actually do things" to conserve, said Schipper. "Gas at $2 a gallon underprices the real cost to the environment and the nation."

Gas prices have climbed to record levels. Are you feeling the pinch? Tell us how gas prices are affecting you and what you're doing to cope.

Oil falls below $122 on growing demand concerns

edged down on Thursday, adding to the past two sessions' USD 5 losses, as India and Malaysia's decisions to raise fuel costs, together with weaker US consumption, heightened worries about falling oil demand.
US light crude for July delivery fell 38 cents to USD 121.92 a barrel, having settled down USD 2.01 on Wednesday at USD 122.30, its lowest settlement in almost a month.
London Brent crude fell 45 cents to USD 121.65.
"Weaker demand is the main concern now," said Tetsu Emori, fund manager at Astmax Co Ltd in Tokyo. "With domestic prices in these emerging countries now quite high, people will cut their consumption and that is a worry for the market."
India and Malaysia raised retail fuel prices on Wednesday, joining a growing number of Asian nations no longer able to afford big subsidies in the face of record-breaking oil prices.
India raised retail petrol and diesel fuel prices by about 10 percent and Malaysia hiked petrol prices by 41 percent.
Taiwan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia reviewed their subsidies last month.
US weekly data added to the bearish sentiment as larger-than-expected builds in products stocks, and falling gasoline demand, trumped a surprisingly big drawdown in crude oil stocks.
The US Energy Information Administration reported gasoline inventories rose 2.9 million barrels last week -- despite the start of the summer driving season -- while gasoline demand over the past four weeks slumped 1.4 percent versus last year.
Distillate stocks jumped by 2.3 million barrels, while crude stocks fell 4.8 million barrels.
"Gasoline demand is still a primary focus and the loss of 1.4 percent during the past four weeks on a year-over-year basis and the cumulative year-over-year decline of 1 percent since the beginning of this year attests to a major change in consumer driving habits," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Associates of Galena, Illinois, in a post-market commentary.
Adding to the downward pressures, the US dollar was steady near three-month highs on Thursday, holding gains made in the previous day after Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke emphasised inflation concerns.
A stronger dollar tends to make dollar-denominated commodities less attractive to investors.

Katie Hlmes and Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise Moving to New York with Broadway-Bound Katie Holmes

HOLLYWOOD - Tom Cruise is moving to New York with his wife Katie Holmes while she stars in Broadway play All My Sons.
Last month, the actress confirmed she would be making her stage debut in the Arthur Miller play, following months of negotiations.
Producer Eric Falkenstein reveals the deal took so long to strike because Holmes wants to relocate her whole family, including Cruise and their 2-year-old daughter Suri, to the Big Apple when the show opens in October.
Falkenstein reveals, "It took time--about four months--to work out. There were family issues. She and Tom are committed to keeping the family together, so they have to get an apartment here."
He also insists Holmes wasn't hired because of her celebrity name: "Katie's not really a celebrity type. She's done brilliant work in films like Pieces of April and The Ice Storm and is perfect for the role.
"(Her character is) a natural sweetheart who can sniff out phonies; Katie basically has that exact moral fiber."
Cruise and Holmes recently purchased a $35 million mansion in Beverly Hills.

Mary-Kate Olsen Refuses to Discuss Heath Ledger

HOLLYWOOD - Actress Mry-KateOlsen is determined to stay out of the controversy surrounding Heath Ledger's death--by refusing to comment on her involvement in the incident.

The Weeds became linked to the actor's death after it was reported that the masseuse who discovered Ledger's dead body in his New York apartment in January had called Olsen in California a number of times before contacting emergency services.

The New York Police Department eventually decided not to question the 21-year-old, and as a result, Olsen has never explained the nature of her relationship with the Australian actor.

And in the July issue of Elle magazine, Olsen her reign of silence regarding the late star.

When asked about Ledger Olsen replied: "I'm not going to comment on that, I won't give you a word about that--in the nicest way possible. Let's move on."

Toxicology results released in February revealed Ledger 28, was killed by an accidental overdose of prescribed medications.

What happens next?

he race to be the Democratic Party's candidate for the White House is drawing to a close, with Barack Obama claiming victory on the night of the final two primaries.
John McCain effectively clinched the Republican nomination after primaries in four states, including Ohio and Texas, on 4 March.

What are the next steps?
Mr Obama's position as the presumptive Democratic nominee will not be confirmed until his rival, Hillary Clinton, concedes defeat.
"In the coming days, I'll be consulting with supporters and party leaders to determine how to move forward with the best interests of our party and our country guiding my way," she said after the final primaries on 3 June.
After this, Mr Obama called Mrs Clinton and suggested they "sit down when it makes sense to you". This meeting is not expected to happen immediately.

Does Mrs Clinton want something from Mr Obama?
She has indicated she would be open to the idea of being Mr Obama's running mate.
She could also be angling for another job in Mr Obama's administration, if he is elected.
It's also reported that she would like Mr Obama to help her pay back some of her campaign's debts - and that Bill Clinton could be keen on some kind of role in the Democratic general election campaign.
Mrs Clinton claims to have won a majority of the popular vote. The figures are are open to dispute, however.
According to the RealClearPolitics website, Mrs Clinton has narrowly won the popular vote if you (a) include the figures for Michigan (ascribing all votes for "uncommitted" to Barack Obama) and (b) ignore the votes cast in Iowa, Nevada, Washington and Maine, which have not released figures.
Including estimates for the votes cast in these states, RealClearPolitics' says Mr Obama has narrowly won the popular vote.

When will the remaining super-delegates make up their mind?
About 150 super-delegates have yet to decide which candidate to back.
They are not obliged to do so until the party's national convention in August, where the nominee will be chosen. (And they can change their mind as often as they like).

Did the ruling on Florida and Michigan delegates alter the situation?
Democratic Party officials decided on 31 May to allow previously barred delegates from Florida and Michigan to attend the convention, but with just half of their voting power.
This increased the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination from 2,026 to 2,118.
It gave Mrs Clinton 69 delegates in Michigan, compared to Mr Obama's 59. And in Florida, she gained 105 delegates to Mr Obama's 67.
This reduced Mr Obama's lead by 48, but the delegates from Michigan and Florida will only have half a vote each, so Mrs Clinton's real gain was just 24 delegate votes.
She has the right to appeal against the decision.

What happens now that the Democrats appear to have a presumptive nominee?
The focus will switch to the general election battle between John McCain and his Democratic rival.
Mr Obama and Mr McCain have already begun sparring over Iraq and national security issues.
They have also been focusing attention on the states that could vote either way in November. The list includes large states such as Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and smaller ones such as Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Oregon, Virginia and Wisconsin.
What is the advantage for Mr McCain of having secured the Republican nomination already?
It gives him a big head start. He has had two months to plan his general election campaign, and raise funds, while the Democrats continued fighting each other for the nomination.
On the other hand, the close Democratic nomination race has caused lots of people to register as Democratic voters, which could give the party a big advantage in November.

Obama Claims Democratic Nomination

Obama Savors His 'Moment
1)
Barack Obama claimed the Democratic presidential nomination in a long-time-coming victory speech Tuesday night, and reached out to heal Democratic wounds with lofty praise for his rival Hillary Rodham Clinton. For her part, Clinton did not concede defeat earlier in the night.
2.
"America, this is our moment," he told more than 17,000 supporters. "This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past."Obama chose to mark his historic milestone at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., the arena where the GOP convention will begin Sept. 1. The victory set up a five-month campaign with Republican John McCain.

3)
Obama kisses his wife Michelle following the speech. The Illinois senator also pulled out a win in the Democratic primary in Montana Tuesday, the last day of voting in the 2008 primaries.


4) Clinton took away one consolation prize Tuesday night: a South Dakota primary victory. But it came amid the electoral estimates that Obama had clinched the nomination. Still, Clinton neither acknowledged Obama's victory nor offered a concession of any sort.

5)
Clinton told supporters at her New York City event that she would take a few days to decide "how to move forward with the best interests of our country and our party guiding my way." She also urged her supporters to log on to her Web site and share their opinions on what she should do.

6)

Former President Bill Clinton, here Tuesday night with his daughter Chelsea, first raised speculation that his wife was preparing to drop out of the campaign for the Democratic nomination when he said Monday, "This may be the last day I'm ever involved in a campaign of this kind."

7)

McCain delivered his own speech Tuesday, intended to mark the start of the general election. Speaking in Kenner, La., the presumptive-Republican nominee welcomed Obama to the fall campaign with a blistering attack on his judgement. McCain also defended himself against Obama's frequent claim that he is "running for President Bush's third term."