Obama picks up more superdelegates
BEAVERTON, Ore., May 10 (UPI) -- More superdelegates say they are are backing Sen. Barack Obama in the wake of his strong showing in this week's U.S. Democratic presidential primaries.
As Obama campaigned in Oregon Friday, he picked up nine more superdelegate endorsements, including one former supporter of Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Clinton. By various counts, it either gave Obama his first lead in the crucial superdelegate count or enabled to pull even with her.
Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J.), an early supporter of Clinton, declared he had switched his preference to Obama.
"After careful consideration, I have reached the conclusion that Barack Obama can best bring about the change that our country so desperately wants and needs," Payne told the Newark Star-Ledger Friday. "I've really been mulling it over for quite a while."
Despite the move of superdelegates to his camp, Obama insisted his struggle with Clinton for the nomination isn't over and speculation over his potential vice presidential running mates was premature.
"We do not have this nomination locked up," he told reporters in Beaverton, Ore. "Until I am the nominee, I don't want to speculate on running mates."
Russia rolls military hardware in parade
MOSCOW, May 10 (UPI) -- For the first time since the demise of the Soviet Union, military hardware rumbled through Red Square in celebration of Russia's victory over Nazi Germany.
Friday's Victory Day celebration, marking the 63rd anniversary of Hitler's defeat, featured columns of tanks, sophisticated weaponry and goose-stepping soldiers, something not seen in Moscow since 1990 when the U.S.S.R. was in its last days, according to The New York Times.
The military parade was reviewed by Russia's new president, Dmitri Medvedev, who was joined by his mentor, former president and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Western observers debated the meaning of the Kremlin's decision to reinstate the military parade. Some believe it was meant as a message to the world that Russia, under the leadership of Putin and Medvedev, is intent on taking a stronger role in world affairs after its post-Soviet struggles of the 1990s, the newspaper said.
But Putin dismissed speculation the Victory Day parade had any ominous overtones.
"It is not a warlike gesture," he told reporters. "Russia is not threatening anyone."
Shiite cleric urges Lebanon balance
BEIRUT, Lebanon, May 10 (UPI) -- A senior Shiite cleric called for a peaceful resolution of Lebanon's political and sectarian disputes as gun battles rocked Beirut for a fourth day Saturday.
Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah urged Christian and Muslim leaders to avoid "falling into the trap of sectarian speeches that instigate strife" in his weekly sermon Friday, according to the Daily Star newspaper.
Fadlallah called for Lebanese sectarian and political leaders to seek to preserve the country's delicate balance of power, which has been threatened by the latest violence.
"We could have done without this difficult situation which was triggered by improvised governmental decisions that do not respond to the simplest bases of internal consensus and sectarian balance," Fadlallah said.
The civil unrest was sparked by the Western-backed government's decision on Monday to shut down a private telecommunications system operated by Hezbollah. Since then, running gun battles in Beirut's streets have claimed 24 lives, according to the BBC.
Rocket fire rattles Israeli city
SDEROT, Israel, May 10 (UPI) -- A barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip rattled residents of Israel's western Negev region Saturday, damaging buildings but causing no casualties.
Seven rockets fell onto Israeli territory, including one in the courtyard of a college in Sderot that damaged a building, according to the Jerusalem Post, which reported that two city residents were treated for shock in the wake of the barrage.
The newspaper said Hamas has claimed responsibility for the rocket barrage, maintaining it was in response to overnight bombing runs conducted in Gaza by the Israel Air Force.
The exchange of hostilities came after Friday's incident in which an Israeli man was killed by a mortar shell fired into a settlement at Kfar Aza.
BEAVERTON, Ore., May 10 (UPI) -- More superdelegates say they are are backing Sen. Barack Obama in the wake of his strong showing in this week's U.S. Democratic presidential primaries.
As Obama campaigned in Oregon Friday, he picked up nine more superdelegate endorsements, including one former supporter of Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Clinton. By various counts, it either gave Obama his first lead in the crucial superdelegate count or enabled to pull even with her.
Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J.), an early supporter of Clinton, declared he had switched his preference to Obama.
"After careful consideration, I have reached the conclusion that Barack Obama can best bring about the change that our country so desperately wants and needs," Payne told the Newark Star-Ledger Friday. "I've really been mulling it over for quite a while."
Despite the move of superdelegates to his camp, Obama insisted his struggle with Clinton for the nomination isn't over and speculation over his potential vice presidential running mates was premature.
"We do not have this nomination locked up," he told reporters in Beaverton, Ore. "Until I am the nominee, I don't want to speculate on running mates."
Russia rolls military hardware in parade
MOSCOW, May 10 (UPI) -- For the first time since the demise of the Soviet Union, military hardware rumbled through Red Square in celebration of Russia's victory over Nazi Germany.
Friday's Victory Day celebration, marking the 63rd anniversary of Hitler's defeat, featured columns of tanks, sophisticated weaponry and goose-stepping soldiers, something not seen in Moscow since 1990 when the U.S.S.R. was in its last days, according to The New York Times.
The military parade was reviewed by Russia's new president, Dmitri Medvedev, who was joined by his mentor, former president and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Western observers debated the meaning of the Kremlin's decision to reinstate the military parade. Some believe it was meant as a message to the world that Russia, under the leadership of Putin and Medvedev, is intent on taking a stronger role in world affairs after its post-Soviet struggles of the 1990s, the newspaper said.
But Putin dismissed speculation the Victory Day parade had any ominous overtones.
"It is not a warlike gesture," he told reporters. "Russia is not threatening anyone."
Shiite cleric urges Lebanon balance
BEIRUT, Lebanon, May 10 (UPI) -- A senior Shiite cleric called for a peaceful resolution of Lebanon's political and sectarian disputes as gun battles rocked Beirut for a fourth day Saturday.
Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah urged Christian and Muslim leaders to avoid "falling into the trap of sectarian speeches that instigate strife" in his weekly sermon Friday, according to the Daily Star newspaper.
Fadlallah called for Lebanese sectarian and political leaders to seek to preserve the country's delicate balance of power, which has been threatened by the latest violence.
"We could have done without this difficult situation which was triggered by improvised governmental decisions that do not respond to the simplest bases of internal consensus and sectarian balance," Fadlallah said.
The civil unrest was sparked by the Western-backed government's decision on Monday to shut down a private telecommunications system operated by Hezbollah. Since then, running gun battles in Beirut's streets have claimed 24 lives, according to the BBC.
Rocket fire rattles Israeli city
SDEROT, Israel, May 10 (UPI) -- A barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip rattled residents of Israel's western Negev region Saturday, damaging buildings but causing no casualties.
Seven rockets fell onto Israeli territory, including one in the courtyard of a college in Sderot that damaged a building, according to the Jerusalem Post, which reported that two city residents were treated for shock in the wake of the barrage.
The newspaper said Hamas has claimed responsibility for the rocket barrage, maintaining it was in response to overnight bombing runs conducted in Gaza by the Israel Air Force.
The exchange of hostilities came after Friday's incident in which an Israeli man was killed by a mortar shell fired into a settlement at Kfar Aza.
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This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
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