• Condoleezza Rice Wraps up Middle East Tour
• US Denies It Planned to Stage a Coup Against Hamas
• Armenia Under State of Emergency
• Telecom Immunity Ties Up FISA Legislation
• Obama and Clinton Continue Their Battles
• More Campaign News
• Commentary by Mumia Abu Jamal: Cash Culture

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Condoleezza Rice Wraps up Middle East Tour

Middle East Peace talks will resume, says US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, as she wraps up her visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspended talks Sunday in protest over an Israeli military operation that killed more than 100 Palestinians in the course of four days last week. Irris Makler reports from Jerusalem.

US Denies It Planned to Stage a Coup Against Hamas

While in Cairo, Condoleezza Rice denied an article in Vanity Fair that claims the United States planned to overthrow the democratically elected Hamas government by setting up an operation to fund Fatah fighters. Although Congress bars the US from supplying weapons to any Palestinian group, Rice said that the arming of Fatah is called for and justified. According to Rice, Hamas – which won elections more than one year ago – doesn't want to see the Palestinians get an independent state.

Armenia Under State of Emergency

Armenian president Robert Kochayan declared a state of emergency Saturday, after 8 people were killed and about 50 wounded during clashes between police and supporters of defeated presidential candidate Levon Ter-Petrosyan. And while Armenian authorities grappled with internal political unrest, the Azerbaijani army attacked two Armenian positions on the Karabakh border. Garegin Khumaryan reports from the Armenian capital of Yerevan, where soldiers are maintaining a state of emergency.

Telecom Immunity Ties Up FISA Legislation

Democratic leaders are trying to finalize what could be a compromise on updating FISA legislation. The major sticking point that remains however is the ongoing question of immunity for telecommunication companies. Karen Miller has more.

Obama and Clinton Continue Their Battles

While many thought the race for the Democratic nomination would be over after Tuesday's primaries, it seems to be just beginning. Hillary Clinton was able to halt Barack Obama's momentum after a huge showing in the month of February by picking up wins in three of the four states last night – Rhode Island and the crucial states of Texas and Ohio. So the campaigning continues, and all eyes are on the next big prize: Pennsylvania, where voters don't head to the polls until April. Meanwhile, Republican John McCain has secured his party's nomination, with President Bush standing behinds him. FSRN's Leigh Ann Caldwell reports from Ohio on the latest.

More Campaign News

In other campaign news, Representative Dennis Kucinich, former Presidential candidate secured his Congressional seat after facing tough, well funded primary opponents. And in Vermont, voters in two towns with a total population of 13,000 people voted to arrest President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

Commentary by Mumia Abu Jamal: Cash Culture