PRESIDENT Barack Obama yesterday offered help for people struggling to pay bills and care for their families, appealing to a middle-class he says has been “under assault for a long time”.

Torrents of water washed away homes, crops and cows, leaving hungry and frightened villagers perched in treetops or on roofs as the death toll rose today from monsoon rains across northern India and Bangladesh.

Hennessy Gold Cup winner State Of Play may head to the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup without another run.

THE American Presidential Election campaign was poised to be a cliffhanger late last night, as a record turnout of voters across American confirmed passions evoked by one of the most divisive elections in US election history.

A Shiite surgeon, who survived a Saddam Hussein ordered assassination attempt in London while in exile, tonight appears set to Iraq’s new prime minister.

The Bush administration today moved steadily toward a military showdown with Iraq and suggested a decision could come as early as next week after UN inspectors credited Iraq with only limited cooperation in the search for weapons.

George W Bush is to say that up to 100,000 terrorists around the globe now threaten America in his State of the Union address.