Nine people were killed when violent thunderstorms ripped through three states overnight, US officials said today.

A boy allegedly abducted in a custody dispute two years ago has been found alive, hidden behind a wall at his grandmother’s home.

LONG lines and malfunctioning machines greeted voters across America yesterday as polls were deluged by people wanting to cast ballots in this historic race between Barack Obama and John McCain.

Voting problems surfaced in several areas today as electors turned out in droves to be confronted with long queues and malfunctioning machines.

JAMES FORD SEALE, a reputed Ku Klux Klansman, was sentenced yesterday to three life terms in prison for his role in the 1964 abduction and murder of two black teenagers in southwest Mississippi.

A REPUTED member of white supremacist group, the Ku Klux Klan, has been found guilty in the US of kidnapping and conspiracy in the 1964 deaths of two black teenagers.

Two boys kidnapped four years apart and found in the same US flat smiled shyly but said nothing to media at two packed news conferences today, a day after they were rescued.

A 41-year old man has been charged with kidnap after shocked police discovered a 13-year-old boy who vanished five days ago – along with a 15-year-old boy who had missing since 2002.

I READ Harry McGee’s article, “Security issues fly under the radar” (Irish Examiner, June 17) with interest.

About 2,000 outraged members of the Somali community in Columbus, Ohio, were expected to protest outside City Hall today to demand justice for the death of a mentally ill immigrant shot by a sheriff’s deputy.

Fears that another sniper was on the loose in America were fuelled today after police said 10 motorists had reported being fired at on a stretch of road where a woman was shot dead.

The search is on for police uniform jackets accidentally given to a charity for the homeless in Ohio.

Tropical Storm Barry raked parts of the US coast early today, bringing drenching rainfall and the possibility of flooding to northwestern Florida and parts of Alabama and Georgia.