Washington

A Democratic takeover of the United States Senate rested on Wednesday on a few thousand votes as two races were too close to call and risked throwing an American election once again into extra time. Senate races in Montana and Virginia were agonisingly tight but appeared to be trending towards the Democrats.

Nancy Pelosi, a hate figure for the Republican right, is poised to become the first woman speaker in United States Congressional history after the Democrats election triumph. The pro-abortion, anti-war Pelosi’s elevation to the number three position in the US Constitution is all but certain after the Democrats seized control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 1994.

Illustrations in picture books go beyond entertaining children and teach them how to navigate the world, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association on Sunday. Scientists tested 132 children younger than 30 months old to see if they could mimic actions depicted in picture books.

The United States warned its citizens on Thursday that Kenya and Ethiopia could become targets of suicide attacks by ”extremist elements” from Somalia, where Islamists control the capital and other key areas. ”These threats specifically mention the execution of suicide explosions in prominent landmarks within Kenya and Ethiopia,” said a message issued to US citizens.

United States President George Bush on Wednesday renewed US economic sanctions on Sudan for one year and left open the door to imposing new ones linked to the violence in Darfur. Washington "is prepared to pursue the designation of additional individuals that continue to commit violence and impede the peace process in Darfur", he said.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan says persistent conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea represents a ”classic example of the tragedy” of Africa and warned that world attention is needed to keep another war from erupting between the Horn of Africa neighbours.

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz bumped and wriggled to an African beat on Thursday, showing a lighter public side as he danced with South African singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka in a campaign against malaria. Wolfowitz joined Chaka Chaka in the atrium of the bank as their audience of African ambassadors, private sector officials, and World Bank and congressional staff cheered and clapped.

A long-term moderate exercise programme can reduce the risk of colds among older women, United States researchers said on Thursday. Researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre found that post-menopausal women who worked out regularly had about half the risk of colds as those who did not exercise.

United States President George Bush on Wednesday for the first time acknowledged a possible parallel between the raging violence in Iraq and the Vietnam war. Bush was asked in an ABC News interview if he agreed with a New York Times columnist’s comparison of the strife in Iraq with the Tet offensive, which is considered a key turning point in the US war in Vietnam.

The United States now has a population of more than 300-million people, the United States Census Bureau said on Tuesday, although it will not designate the person who broke the historic barrier. The Census Bureau keeps count of the estimated number of Americans, based on the birth rate, death rate and immigration rate.

The last landmines and unexploded ordnance blocking Mozambique’s vital Sena railway line have been removed, thanks largely to about -million in United States aid, the US State Department said on Tuesday. The humanitarian mine action assistance launched in 2002 ”has saved lives, created jobs, encouraged more than -million in World Bank loans,” the department said.

The United States will accept 10 000 Burundian refugees from Tanzania from now until 2008. Tom Casey, a State Department spokesperson, said they were planning to offer resettlement to a group of Burundian refugees who have been in western camps in Tanzania, some of whom initially fled from Burundi in 1972.

African-Americans hoping to use DNA to find their roots may have to look harder than previously thought, researchers said on Thursday in a study they said shows Africans are too genetically mixed to make tracing easy. Several companies now offer to help Americans trace their African ancestry using mitochondrial DNA, which is passed from mother to daughter virtually unaltered.

A North Korean nuclear test would constitute a ”provocative act” and Washington expects the United Nations Security Council to take immediate actions, the White House said early on Monday. ”US and South Korean intelligence detected a seismic event [on] Sunday at a suspected nuclear test site in North Korea,” said White House spokesperson Tony Snow.