Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) greets workers at the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino on caucus day in Las Vegas Jan. 19, 2008. U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton won the Democratic Nevada caucuses Saturday, beating arch-rival Barack Obama in a hard-fought race, while former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney won a landslide victory on the Republican contest.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton won the Democratic Nevada caucuses Saturday, beating arch-rival Barack Obama in a hard-fought race, while former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney won a landslide victory on the Republican contest.
With 79 percent of precincts reporting, Hillary has 51 percent of the vote, compared to 45 percent for Barrack Obama, her arch-rival.
John Edwards came in with a remote third place, grabbing only 4 percent of the votes.
Clinton's victory continued a comeback she began in New Hampshire on Jan. 8 and gave her momentum going into the South Carolina primary a week away from now.
Obama's loss in Nevada was his second in a row and came despite support from the state's most powerful union.
The Nevada Democratic contest was intense, despite the absence of negative television commercials.
On the Republican side, with 38 percent of the precincts reporting, Romney won 53 percent of votes, followed by John McCainand Ron Paul, who tied in a second place with 13 percent of votes each.
Romney said party supporters had cast their votes for change --and he was the man to provide it.
"With a career spent turning around businesses, creating jobs and imposing fiscal discipline, I am ready to get my hands on Washington and turn it inside out," he said in a statement issued while he flew to Florida, site of the Jan. 29 primary.
Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (L) speaks at a campaign stop in Reno, Nevada, Jan. 18, 2008. U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton won the Democratic Nevada caucuses Saturday, beating arch-rival Barack Obama in a hard-fought race, while former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney won a landslide victory on the Republican contest.
In fact, the Republican caucuses drew relatively little candidate interest in Nevada.
Nevada Republicans said the economy and illegal immigration were their top concerns, according to preliminary results from surveys of voters entering their caucuses. Romney led among voters who cited both issues.
Mormons gave Romney about half his votes. He is hoping to become the first member of his faith to win the White House.
Alone among the Republican contenders, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas aired television ads in Nevada.
The Republicans are also casting votes in South Carolina primary Saturday, and the results will come out later.
Nevada offered more delegates -- 31 versus 24 -- but far less appeal to the Republican candidates than South Carolina, the primary that has gone to the party's eventual nominee every four years since 1980.
Nevertheless, a victory in Nevada is likely to add momentum to the campaign of the winners.
Hillary, Romney emerge as winners of Nevada caucuses
Stars pose at 2008 Sundance Film Fest in Park City, Utah
Hayek, beau: Hollywood's "Richest Couple"
Actor and award presenter Salma Hayek arrives at the 78th annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California in this March 5, 2006 file photo. Hayek and her boyfriend Francois-Henri Pinault have topped a new list to find Hollywood's Richest Couple.
BEIJING, Jan. 19 -- "Ugly Betty" producer Salma Hayek and her boyfriend Francois-Henri Pinault have topped a new list to find Hollywood's Richest Couple.
The actress and the businessman landed at number one on the In Touch Weekly poll thanks to their combined fortune; Pinault's luxury goods company PPR, which owns Gucci Yves Saint Laurent, is said to be worth over GBP7 billion.
The couple appears to be starting 2008 by spending a sizable part of their joint fortune - they have reportedly set up home at actor Kelsey Grammer's GBP10 million Bel Air, California, estate.
Also making the new power pair top 10 list are Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, music mogul Simon Cowell and Teri Seymour and new couple Jessica Simpson and American football star Tony Romo.
Actress Salma Hayek poses for photographers during a photocall to promote "Ask the Dust" in Rome April 26, 2006.
Actress Salma Hayek arrives with Henri Pinault (R), son of billionaire French art collector Francois Pinault, at a party to commemorate the re-opening of the Palazzo Grassi gallery at the Arsenale in Venice April 29, 2006.
Top Model of the World crowned
(L to R) Alesandra Alores of Germany, Lobna Amin of Egypt, and Alena Aladka of Belarus smile during the Top Model of the World contest in Hurgada Jan. 18, 2008.
( L to R) Juliia Andrusenko of Ukraine, Luciana Pinheiro of Brazil, Lobna Amin of Egypt and Alena Aladka of Belarus parade during the Top Model of the World contest in Hurgada Jan. 18, 2007.
(L to R) Alesandra Alores of Germany, Lobna Amin of Egypt, and Alena Aladka of Belarus smile during the Top Model of the World contest in Hurgada Jan. 18, 2008.
Amanda Thurlow (R) of England and Winfridah Mofu (L) of Zambia parade during the Top Model of the World contest in Hurgada Jan. 18, 2007.
People skate in Moscow's Red Square
People skate at an ice rink in front of GUM department store in Moscow's Red Square January 18, 2008
People skate at an ice rink in front of GUM department store in Moscow's Red Square January 18, 2008
Basil Cathedral is pictured in Moscow's Red Square January 18, 2008.
People skate at an ice rink in front of GUM department store in Moscow's Red Square January 18, 2008.
Int'l Hot Air Balloon Week: Sky burns with colors
Balloons of all shapes and sizes take off at the start of the International Hot Air Balloon Week in Chateau-d'Oex Jan. 19, 2008. More than 80 balloons from 20 countries are participating in the ballooning event in the Swiss mountain resort famous for ideal flight conditions due to an exceptional microclimate.
A hot air balloon takes off at the start of the International Hot Air Balloon Week in Chateau-d'Oex Jan. 19, 2008.
Balloons of all shapes and sizes take off at the start of the International Hot Air Balloon Week in Chateau-d'Oex Jan. 19, 2008.
Balloons of all shapes and sizes are prepared for take off at the start of the International Hot Air Balloon Week in Chateau-d'Oex Jan. 19, 2008.
A balloonist check the system of ropes inside his hot air balloon at the start of the International Hot Air Balloon Week in Chateau-d'Oex Jan. 19, 2008.
Balloons of all shapes and sizes take off at the start of the International Hot Air Balloon Week in Chateau-d'Oex Jan. 19, 2008.
Hot air balloons fly over a chalet after the start of the International Hot Air Balloon Week in Chateau-d'Oex Jan. 19, 2008.
Scientists create blackest material ever
U.S. researchers saidthey have made the darkest material on Earth, a substance so black it absorbs more than 99.9 percent of light on Tuesday , Jan. 15, 2008.
The blackest material on earth (centre), compared to a reflective standard (left) and piece of glassy carbon taken under flash illumination.
MESSENGER unveils hidden side of Mercury
BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft sent back to Earth new images of Mercury, unveiling a side of the planet never seen before, media reported Thursday.
The car-sized spacecraft zipped past Mercury in a Monday flyby and is relaying more than 1,200 new images and other data back to eager scientists on Earth.
The pictures of the planet -- pockmarked by craters, baked by the sun -- have finally filled massive holes in the map of Mercury that persisted since the last space probe visited the sun-blasted planet in the early 1970s.
"We're looking at the last terra incognita in the inner solar system," said Ralph L. McNutt, Jr. of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, the project scientist for the mission. "And it is beautiful."
The first look, taken from a distance of 27,000 kilometers (17,000 miles) and released Tuesday, reveals one of the prime targets for the imaging team: the 1,300-kilometer-wide (800-mile-wide) Caloris impact basin that had been only partially visible in the past. It is one of the biggest and youngest craters in the solar system.
Wednesday's picture, the second in MESSENGER's series, shows the 200-kilometer-wide (125-mile-wide) Vivaldi crater, which boasts a double ring and was glimpsed by Mariner 10, which flied by the planet in 1974 and 1975.
More images and data followed throughout the night. Further images, as well as some analysis, may be available later Wednesday, McNutt said.
"Everybody is drooling over it," he said Wednesday morning.
MESSENGER is due to make a second rendezvous at Mercury in October, then swing by on third pass in September 2009. The probe launched in August 2004 flew by Earth once and Venus twice during its 7.9 billion-kilometer (4.9 billion-mile) trek toward Mercury orbit.
An image of Mercury is seen as taken by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft at a distance of approximately 17,000 miles (27,359 km) after the spacecraft's closest approach to the planet January 15, 2008.
A view of the planet Mercury rugged, cratered landscape is pictured in this Messenger Spacecraft image released by NASA on Jan. 16, 2008 and taken from a distance of about 18,000 kilometers (11,000 miles) on Jan. 14, 2008, about 56 minutes before the spacecraft's closest encounter with Mercury. It shows a region roughly 500 kilometers (300 miles) across, and craters as small as 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) can be seen in this image.
"Luminarias"-- annual religious celebration in Spain
A man rides his horse through flames during the "Luminarias" annual religious celebration on the night before Saint Anthony's, Patron of animals, in the village of San Bartolome de los Pinares, about 100 km (62 miles) northwest of Madrid, Jan. 16, 2008. According to tradition people from the area ride their horses through the fire to purify the animals
A man tries to control his horse during the "Luminarias" annual religious celebration on the night before Saint Anthony's, Patron of animals, in the village of San Bartolome de los Pinares, about 100 km (62 miles) northwest of Madrid, January 16, 2008. According to tradition people from the area ride their horses through the fire to purify the animals.
A man rides his horse through flames during the "Luminarias" annual religious celebration on the night before Saint Anthony's, Patron of animals, in the village of San Bartolome de los Pinares, about 100 km (62 miles) northwest of Madrid, January 16, 2008. According to tradition people from the area ride their horses through the fire to purify the animals.(
Animal rights Activist: Free hens from cage !
A nude animal rights activist holds a billboard on which is written "Free the hens. Get rid of all cages by 2010." The activists protested raising hens in the cage, in Berlin, Jan. 16, 2008.
A nude animal rights activist holds a billboard on which is written "Free the hens. Get rid of all cages by 2010." The activists protested raising hens in the cage, in Berlin, Jan. 16, 2008.
Twins shoot photo albums for Spring Festival
