US Elections Update...and more

Egyptian kid beaten To Death!
An Egyptian teacher at a primary school in Alexandria is alleged to have beaten an 11-year-old pupil to death. The maths teacher, Haitham Nabeel Abdelhamid, who worked at Saad Othman school, was furious because Islam Amro had not finished his homework. After using a ruler to punish him, the teacher is alleged to have taken the young boy outside the classroom and hit him violently in his stomach.
The young pupil fainted and later died in hospital of heart failure. He was taken from the school to hospital but suffered a sharp drop in blood pressure and heart failure. The teacher is reported by Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Alyoum to have told the prosecutor that he was only trying to "discipline the boy, not to kill him". Mr Abdelhamid was remanded in custody on manslaughter charges.

US Election: One Week To D-Day
The rival candidates for the US presidential election are beginning the one-week poll countdown with rallies in the key state of Pennsylvania. Republican John McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin are both at a rally in the town of Hershey as they try to turn round an opinion poll deficit. Democrat Barack Obama is rallying in the town of Chester and has warned against any complacency. Latest polls suggest Mr Obama is still ahead but by a slightly smaller margin. Opinion polls show a healthy lead for Mr Obama in Pennsylvania but Mr McCain sees the industrial state with its disaffected white working-class voters as a key target on the road to the White House.

War Against Child Prostitution
More than 600 adults have been arrested in raids across the US targeting people who force children into prostitution. Operations took place in 29 cities in a co-ordinated action involving federal, state and local law officers, according to the FBI.
Officials said 12 large-scale prostitution rings were dismantled in the raids and 47 children rescued. Since 2003, 575 child prostitutes have been saved from exploitation by American criminal gangs, they added. Officials said many of the prostitution rings broken up were operated through call centres, truck stops, casinos and websites. The FBI generally gets involved in child prostitution cases that cross state lines. At a news conference announcing the results of Operation Cross Country II, FBI Deputy Director John Pistole said the arrests were made possible by intelligence gathered during similar raids in June. "Sex trafficking of children remains one of our most violent and unconscionable crimes in this country," he said. The 47 rescued children range in age from 13 to 17, and all but one are female.