Washington  - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama plans to spend some 20 million dollars on a nationwide campaign to gain the support of Hispanic voters, his campaign announced Tuesday.

The money will serve to register and "mobilize" eligible Latino voters through television advertisements, internet outreach and visits by members of Congress to key constituencies around the country, the Obama campaign said.

New Delhi, July 29: China’s Foreign Ministry has expressed its concern over a meeting between US Republican presidential candidate John McCain and the Dalai Lama, and warned that it could damage Sino-US relations.

“We oppose the Dalai Lama going to any country in any capacity to engage in separatist activities,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.

He was speaking following McCain’s meeting on Friday, with the Dalai Lama in Colorado in the United States, the China Daily reported.

Washington, July 29: Barely a few hours after US-led coalition forces’ air strike killed six persons in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas), US President George Bush last evening said that his country respected Pakistan’s sovereignty, and described its democracy as “vibrant”.

In a brief statement to the presspersons after holding talks with visiting Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in the Oval Office, Bush said that both admitted that terrorism and extremism were dangerous for everyone, including Pakistan.

Johannesburg  - Powersharing talks between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change broke down Monday, sources within and close to to the MDC reported.

An MDC official in Zimbabwe told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the talks had reached an impasse over the distribution of posts in the proposed new government.

A Western NGO source close to the MDC also confirmed the talks had hit a stalemate.

Washington  - Home from a week-long trip to Europe and the Middle East, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama turned his attention back to the struggling US economy and met Monday with a collection of top economic officials.

Republican rival John McCain spoke of his own plans to combat surging energy prices at a townhall meeting Monday, after a week of sharply criticizing Obama on the war in Iraq and other foreign policy issues.

Washington  - Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Monday said his dermatologist had removed skin from his cheek in a routine check for skin cancer.

Questions have been circulating about McCain's health, in particular his apparent risk for skin cancer, since he secured the Republican party nomination for president.