WHEN many islanders look at Barack Obama, they see not only the next president, but a skilled bodysurfer, a man who flashes the “shaka” or hang loose sign, and someone who wears the same rubber slippers they do.

A US search team on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima is zeroing in on a cave where a Marine combat photographer who filmed the famous flag-raising 62 years ago is believed to have been killed in battle nine days later.

US President George Bush sent his condolences to the family of a police officer who died less than a week after three police motorcycles crashed while escorting his motorcade in Honolulu.

Pieces of the disassembled US spy plane that collided earlier this year with a Chinese fighter jet have arrived in Hawaii.