Barack Obama swept to victory in the North Carolina primary Tuesday night and declared he was closing in on the Democratic presidential nomination. Hillary Rodham Clinton clung to a narrow Indiana lead, struggling to halt her rival’s march into history.

Dueling over gas prices, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama strained for every last vote on Monday, the eve of the Indiana and North Carolina primaries that are the biggest prizes left in their epic Democratic nomination fight.

Smoke rose from burning heaps of wreckage Saturday as residents of rural Arkansas cleaned up what was left of their homes after deadly tornadoes scoured a state that has been plagued by severe weather this year.

President Bush hailed the resilience of this town and its tiny high school graduating class Sunday, one year after a tornado barreled through with astonishing fury.

Vice President Dick Cheney believes the United States will get through a current "rough patch" in the economy with the help of stimulus checks that are on their way to Americans.