Obama makes it 12 states in a row...but Clinton wins RI

Looks like Barack Obama is about to claim his 12th victory in a row by beating Hillary Clinton for the Democrat primary in tiny Vermont tonight...

But it's still too close to call in both the crucial big states of Ohio and Texas, where there are also primaries tonight.

Hillary was expected to do well in the rust-belt depressed areas of Ohio - like Youngstown where I worked briefly in Al Gore's campaign eight years ago!

(Remember Al: he used to be the man who was the next President...!)

Despite Barack's victory in Vermont, I suspect Hillary will do enough to hang on.

But if she loses both Ohio and Texas, I hope she listens to her husband Bill.

He's said if she loses both, it's all over for her.

We've seen enough of Democrats tearing lumps out of each other and if it's not settled soon, the only winner will be John McCain, who sealed the Republican nomination in Vermont tonight...

UPDATE: Hillary has won Rhode Island, the fourth state choosing it's favoured Democrat candidate tonight, ending Barack Obama's month long run of wins...still too close to call in the big states of Ohio and Texas.

More hot air from the US on climate change...

Sadly, but oh so predictably, as the world grapples to tackle climate change, George 'Dubya' Bush seems intent on derailing any positive plan for global action.

BBC Newsnight reported from the crucial climate change talks in Bali tonight (Friday) with news that the Americans have forced the European Union nations to give up on hard targets for nations to reduce CO2 emissions in coming decades.

As Environment Ministers - including our own very capable Hillary Benn - work through the night to try to prevent total collapse of the talks, the most optimistic outcome likely to emerge from the summit is a watered-down communique with nations agreeing to do 'not a lot' and certainly not enough.

Here's one view of what's going on (or not...)

It seems the Americans, who refused to sign Kyoto, are insistent that the porrer developing nations must cut emissions before the richest nation in the world takes action themselves.

As someone said on Newsnight, it's like Bush happily enjoying the comforts of the first class cabin on an airliner convinced that a catasrophe in tourist class won't affect him...

With the clock ticking, failure at Bali means another two years before there's another chance to replace the Kyoto Agreement.

And the longer the Americans refuse to show real leadership, the more urgent and more drastic the eventual action will have to be.

Let's hope that Al Gore is right and the next US President is more positive than the current one who's now entering his final year in office.

Al's truth will be more convenient under next US President...

The man who used to be the next President of the United States collected his Nobel Peace Prize today - and said humanity was now waging war on the earth itself...

And what a different place the world would be today if only the occupant of the White House had been decided at the ballot box rather than in the Florida courts.

Of course, the US would have signed up to Kyoto if the real winner became President rather than Dubya - and I've no doubt that Al Gore would have handled the war on terror rather differently.

Accepting his well deserved Nobel Peace Prize for work on climate change today, Al Gore predicted that whoever becomes next President, the US is likely to adopt a 'more constructive' approach to climate change...

Let's hope so.