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Puerto Rico kicks off final week of primaries

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (CNN) — Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama face off in Puerto Rico on Sunday as the Democratic primary season enters its final week.

Puerto Rico has 55 delegates at stake, and polls show Clinton with a comfortable lead over Obama.

Polls opened at 8 a.m. ET and close at 3 p.m.

According to a survey conducted for the newspaper El Vocero and Univision, Clinton is leading Obama there 51 percent to 38 percent among all adults in the primary.

The poll also show 52 percent of Puerto Ricans view Clinton favorably, while 42 percent view Obama favorably.

The survey was conducted May 8-20 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

Given the length of the survey time, it is possible it may not reflect the current views of Puerto Ricans since both candidates have visited the island since the polling began, and other recent developments on the campaign trail may have swayed voters’ minds there.

While Puerto Rico gets to vote in the primaries, it is not allowed to vote in the general election. The Democratic and Republican parties run the primaries and caucuses, and they allow U.S. territories, such as the commonweath of Puerto Rico, to take part in the process. Watch how Puerto Rico could affect the race

But only the 50 states and the District of Columbia vote in the general election.

The primary season ends Tuesday when voters in Montana and South Dakota weigh in in the lengthy nomination battle. Those states have a combined 31 delegates up for grabs.

Obama campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs said he expects Obama to clinch the nomination in the coming days.

If not Tuesday, I think it will be fairly soon, he said Sunday on ABC’s This Week.

We hope this week, absolutely, he added.

Going into Sunday’s contests, Obama leads in the overall delegate count — 2,051 to Clinton’s 1,877.

Clinton gained some ground Saturday following the Democratic National Committee’s decision to seat the delegations from Florida and Michigan.

The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee reinstated all of Florida and Michigan’s delegates to the national convention, with each state getting a half-vote to penalize them for holding their primaries earlier than party rules allowed.

The DNC panel’s move gave Clinton 87 delegates and Obama 63.

Clinton has been campaigning hard in Puerto Rico, with both husband Bill and daughter Chelsea making the rounds.

Chelsea and I and Hillary have now been to 42 of Puerto Rico’s municipalities campaigning for the votes of the people of Puerto Rico, former President Clinton said Thursday.

She represents more Puerto Ricans than anyone in the world except someone who is elected here. Send the message back to the mainland on Sunday that Puerto Rico deserves to be considered and its potential is unlimited if only you had a genuine partner in the White House.

The senator’s popularity on the island caught the attention of one of the island’s most famous pop stars Thursday.

Ricky Martin endorsed Clinton for the Democratic nomination, saying, Whether fighting for better education, universal health care and social well-being, as first lady and senator from New York — representing millions of Latinos — she has always fought for what is most important for our families.

Obama briefly campaigned last weekend in Puerto Rico.

The senator from Illinois marched along a street in Bayamon on May 24, shaking hands with supporters in front of a banner that said, Puerto Rico Con Obama.

found here.

London revelers mark drink ban with subway chaos

LONDON, England (CNN) — London’s subway system was engulfed by thousands of revelers Saturday night, marking the introduction of an alcohol ban on the mass transit network.

Eyewitnesses have described how some drunken partygoers, often dressed in fancy dress, fought, damaged subway trains and vomited.

Authorities were forced to close six stations on the network, including major transportation hubs at Liverpool Street, Baker Street and Euston.

A spokesman for British Transport Police, which patrols the network, said that police had been told of a large large amount of disorder and multiple instances of trains being damaged, causing them to be pulled from service, the UK’s Press Association reported, adding: This was an unfortunate end to what should have been a fun event. There were reports of at least 17 arrests.

Much of the disorder concentrated on the Circle Line, which encircles the center of the city.

Many reports say that the night had begun good-naturedly.

Web programmer, David Mudkips, 25, from east London, told PA that the event was Like rush hour but fun. There were people’s sweaty armpits in my face but I didn’t care because I was drinking.

Student Frankie Abbott, 21, also from east London, said earlier in the evening: It might be fun to do the whole night but I think it’s going to get a bit messy. There are guys drinking from funnels already.

Sailor Peter Moore, 35, from Brighton on the southern English coast, told the agency his night was Drunken, I just downed a can of beer in 10 seconds. It’s sweaty on there but I’m going round and round until I vomit.

As the evening progressed the situation deteriorated.

found here.

Florida, Michigan get all delegates, but each gets half vote

WASHINGTON (CNN) — After a day of wrangling in front of a sometimes unruly crowd, the Democratic National Committee’s rules and bylaws committee reinstated all of Florida and Michigan’s delegates to its party convention, with each getting a half-vote to penalize the states for moving their primaries earlier than the party had approved.

The move will leave front-runner Sen. Barack Obama’s lead over rival Sen. Hillary Clinton intact.

This results in Sen. Clinton obtaining a substantial number of additional pledged delegates, but I also understand that many members of the Florida and Michigan delegations feel satisfied that the decision was fair, Obama said after a campaign event in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Our main goal is to get this resolved so we can immediately turn the focus of the entire party on winning Florida and Michigan and delivering on the needs of the people in Florida and Michigan — states that are enormously important, states where a lot of people are struggling.

The Florida decision, which follows the pro-Clinton results of that state’s primary, was greeted by virtually all sides as an acceptable compromise on a thorny issue. But Clinton backers vowed to fight the Michigan decision, which gave the New York senator a 10-delegate edge over Obama in a state where his name didn’t appear on the primary ballot.

Today’s results are a victory for the people of Florida, who will have a voice in selecting our party’s nominee and will see its delegates seated at our party’s convention, said a joint-statement from Clinton advisers Harold Ickes and Tina Flournoy. [But] we strongly object to the committee’s decision to undercut its own rules in seating Michigan’s delegates without reflecting the votes of the people of Michigan.

With no Michigan or Florida delegates included, Obama led Clinton by 202 delegates.

The committee’s ruling gave Clinton 105 pledged delegates from Florida and 69 from Michigan, with a total of 87 votes.

Obama received 67 pledged delegates from Florida and 59 from Michigan, casting a total of 63 votes.

That tally leaves Obama ahead by the equivalent of 174 delegates.

If each delegate had been granted a full vote, Clinton still would have trailed Obama. CNN’s analysts weigh in on what the ruling means

During the daylong committee meeting, supporters of Clinton, who came out ahead in both votes despite the fact the states had been penalized for moving their primaries earlier in the season, pushed the committee to give each delegate a full vote and to count the election results as they were registered.

I feel like we should not penalize them for something they did not cause and couldn’t prevent, said Alice Huffman, a California superdelegate for Clinton, noting that it was a Republican legislature that changed the date.

Huffman sponsored an unsuccessful motion that would have counted Florida’s results and given delegates a full vote.

She later supported the compromise. While voicing her support, she was shouted down by the same crowed members who had cheered her effort moments earlier.

As the committee voted, people attending the open meeting applauded, cheered and booed as the vote came in.

Clinton supporters interrupted the proceedings, loudly chanting Denver! Denver! Denver is the site of the Democratic convention, where Clinton could appeal any decision made by the committee. Watch who will really decide the nomination

Mrs. Clinton has asked me to reserve her rights to take this to the credentials committee, Ickes said during a fiery speech after the vote.

Later, party leaders were celebrating the compromise as a way to reinstate delegates from two crucial swing states Democrats want to win in November.

The DNC had penalized both states for holding their primaries early by excluding them from representation when the party nominates a candidate at the August convention. Follow a timeline of the dispute

No candidates campaigned in Florida ahead of its vote, and Clinton’s was the only major candidate’s name that appeared on Michigan’s ballot.

She received 55 percent of the vote in that state, with 44 percent of voters voting uncommitted.

As the committee’s session began Saturday, DNC Chairman Howard Dean said that deciding how to handle Michigan and Florida will be a huge step in moving past the division of a sometimes-bitter primary campaign.

found here.

‘Quake lake’ canal completed

BEICHUAN COUNTY, China (CNN) — Chinese soldiers and engineers dug a spillway from an earthquake-created lake that was threatening to burst its banks in the central county of Beichuan, state-run news agency Xinhua reported Sunday.

Meanwhile, a military helicopter carrying 10 people injured in the disastrous earthquake and four crew members crashed Saturday afternoon in Wenchuan County, state media reported. The helicopter encountered turbulence and fog before the crash. There was no word on injuries or fatalities, and a search and rescue operation was underway, Xinhua reported.

Wenchuan County in Sichuan Province is considered the epicenter of the magnitude-7.9 earthquake that struck on May 12.

The diversion project, which included a 475-meter (517-yard) channel up to 10 meters (33 feet) wide, was completed at 10 p.m. (10 a.m. ET) Saturday, said Liu Ning, chief engineer of the Ministry of Water Resources and the project’s deputy director, Xinhua reported.

Tangjiashan Lake was created when a landslide caused by the earthquake dammed Jianjiang River.

By Saturday night, about 135,500 cubic meters of mud and rocks had been removed from the lake, and the plan to use explosives to blow away the blockage was abandoned because of the channel’s completion, Xinhua cited Liu as saying.

According to the plan, the lake — which has been rising about 1.6 meters daily and was seven meters from the top of its naturally-formed dam — would spill into its man-made canal between now and Thursday. Watch what engineers and soldiers faced

Workers hope the spillway will allow the water to bypass Beichuan town.

Farther downriver, in the town of Mianyang, Communist Party chief Tan Li — head of the city’s quake control and relief efforts — renewed an order that 1.3 million people living downstream from Tangjiashan Lake be evacuated to higher ground.

The lake in Beichuan County is the largest of several quake lakes created by the earthquake nearly three weeks ago.

Authorities were concerned that the lake could burst its banks or that another aftershock or earthquake could rupture the earthen dam and cause a sudden flood of water on the communities downstream.

The project to divert the water took nearly a week. It will be Wednesday or Thursday before authorities know whether their emergency operation is successful, a commander said.

Some of the mountains overlooking the region’s rivers are now bare and brown where landslides wiped them clean of their tree-covered sides. Rocks can still be heard falling from the mountains.

Because the region is so remote — most of the roads were cut off by landslides — the government has brought the equipment and personnel in with Russian military helicopters.

Another challenge is the weather. The commander said some members of the Chinese army have resorted to walking to the site, carrying fuel on their backs, because the helicopters were unable to fly in the fog and rain.

Many of those who have already left have been living in tents after losing their homes in the earthquake, forcing them to pick up and move again — some for the third time.

After clearing out of one area, people left their tents and tarps standing, saying they hope they will be able to return there.

found here.

‘Quake lake’ canal completed

BEICHUAN COUNTY, China (CNN) — Chinese soldiers and engineers dug a spillway from an earthquake-created lake that was threatening to burst its banks in the central county of Beichuan, state-run news agency Xinhua reported Sunday.

Meanwhile, a military helicopter carrying 10 people injured in the disastrous earthquake and four crew members crashed Saturday afternoon in Wenchuan County, state media reported. The helicopter encountered turbulence and fog before the crash. There was no word on injuries or fatalities, and a search and rescue operation was underway, Xinhua reported.

Wenchuan County in Sichuan Province is considered the epicenter of the magnitude-7.9 earthquake that struck on May 12.

The diversion project, which included a 475-meter (517-yard) channel up to 10 meters (33 feet) wide, was completed at 10 p.m. (10 a.m. ET) Saturday, said Liu Ning, chief engineer of the Ministry of Water Resources and the project’s deputy director, Xinhua reported.

Tangjiashan Lake was created when a landslide caused by the earthquake dammed Jianjiang River.

By Saturday night, about 135,500 cubic meters of mud and rocks had been removed from the lake, and the plan to use explosives to blow away the blockage was abandoned because of the channel’s completion, Xinhua cited Liu as saying.

According to the plan, the lake — which has been rising about 1.6 meters daily and was seven meters from the top of its naturally-formed dam — would spill into its man-made canal between now and Thursday. Watch what engineers and soldiers faced

Workers hope the spillway will allow the water to bypass Beichuan town.

Farther downriver, in the town of Mianyang, Communist Party chief Tan Li — head of the city’s quake control and relief efforts — renewed an order that 1.3 million people living downstream from Tangjiashan Lake be evacuated to higher ground.

The lake in Beichuan County is the largest of several quake lakes created by the earthquake nearly three weeks ago.

Authorities were concerned that the lake could burst its banks or that another aftershock or earthquake could rupture the earthen dam and cause a sudden flood of water on the communities downstream.

The project to divert the water took nearly a week. It will be Wednesday or Thursday before authorities know whether their emergency operation is successful, a commander said.

Some of the mountains overlooking the region’s rivers are now bare and brown where landslides wiped them clean of their tree-covered sides. Rocks can still be heard falling from the mountains.

Because the region is so remote — most of the roads were cut off by landslides — the government has brought the equipment and personnel in with Russian military helicopters.

Another challenge is the weather. The commander said some members of the Chinese army have resorted to walking to the site, carrying fuel on their backs, because the helicopters were unable to fly in the fog and rain.

Many of those who have already left have been living in tents after losing their homes in the earthquake, forcing them to pick up and move again — some for the third time.

After clearing out of one area, people left their tents and tarps standing, saying they hope they will be able to return there.

found here.