ACCRA, Ghana, Dec. 5  -- The upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana will feature a number of close electoral races, public opinion polls indicate.

Washington  - US president-elect Barack Obama raised 745 million dollars over the course of his successful White House run, shattering previous fundraising records and more than double that of his rival John McCain, according to final campaign filings released Friday.

The record intake included 104 million dollars raised between October 16 and November 24, giving Obama a massive fundraising advantage in the US election's waning weeks and helping propel him to victory on November 4.

Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has chosen the head of his ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party, Patrick Devedjian, to implement his ambitious economic stimulus plan, Sarkozy's office said on Friday.

The 64-year-old Devedjian will become part of the government and occupy a ministerial-level post in the office of Prime Minister Francois Fillon.

On Thursday, Sarkozy presented an economic stimulus plan that will cost some 26 billion euros (33 billion dollars) to implement.

It includes support for the ailing auto and housing sectors, accelerated state payments of tax credits and rebates to French industry and accelerated public infrastructure investments.

New Delhi - Cooperation in battling terrorism was expected to figure prominently in the talks between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi Friday.

Medvedev, who is here on a three-day state visit, is the first head of state to visit India after the Mumbai terrorist attacks of December 26-28 which left more than 170 dead, including 28 foreigners.

Tel Aviv - Israel's left-to-centre Labour Party announced the results Friday morning of internal primaries, three months ahead of the Israeli parliamentary elections in which polls predict it is to lose much of its support.

Labour Party lawmakers Yitzhak Herzog and Ophir Paz Pines were chosen as number two and three on the party's list, after Defence Minister Ehud Barak, whose place as number one had already been determined in a separate June 2007 contest for the party's chairman.

The party's previous leader, former defence minister Amir Peretz, came in relatively low as number 10, making his seat in Israel's next Knesset (parliament) uncertain.

A national conference of the Bharatiya J