US President Barack Obama is using political tactics and rhetorical devices honed in his White House campaign to regain the advantage in the health care debate over increasingly vocal and organised critics.

The US Senate opened its first Supreme Court confirmation hearing in 11 years yesterday with Republicans and Democrats jockeying for position as they told chief justice nominee John Roberts to expect tough questions on his legal record.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says he would be interested in running for president if the Constitution were amended to allow foreign-born citizens to seek the nation’s highest office.

President George Bush’s plan to grant legal status – at least temporarily – to millions of illegal immigrants working in the United States has provoked anger from all sides.

US ATTORNEY GENERAL John Ashcroft told Congress yesterdaty that a major arrest over the weekend “is a severe blow to al-Qaida that could destabilise their terrorist network worldwide.”

US officials investigating the series of attacks Tuesday in New York and Washington are setting their sights on Osama bin Laden, the millionaire Saudi fugitive who has been blamed for past terrorist attacks against American targets.