News Buzz: Obama Has the Numbers, Israeli Leader on Iran, and More

Barack Obama has effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination. Last night, he split the final two primaries with Hillary Clinton, winning Montana but dropping South Dakota. But with help from superdelegates, many of whom pledged their support last night, he was able to surpass the 2,118-delegate count needed for the nomination. Obama, according to AP's official delegate tally, now has 2,154 delegates. Discussion has since turned to Clinton's status in the race, as well as the possibility that Obama might choose her as his running mate for November. The Obama campaign appears open to the idea of meeting with Clinton in the coming days. "When the dust settles and it makes sense for her, he'll meet whenever she wants to," an Obama spokesperson said. "She's accumulated a lot of votes throughout this country. We want to make sure that we're appealing to her voters."

Topic A: Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet today with President Bush in Washington. The two are expected to discuss Israel's concern about a nuclear-capable Iran, as well as the country's efforts to broker peace deals with Syrian and Palestinian leaders. Bush has made achieving an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement a priority of his final year in office, but such hopes have dimmed in recent months as Olmert has become embroiled in scandal at home over corruption charges. White House officials have said that Iran will receive top billing at today's meeting; Israel contends that Iran is still pursuing nuclear weapons and that U.S. intelligence reports to the contrary are wrong.

Zimbabwe Detains Opposition Leader

Zimbabwean opposition party leader Morgan Tsvangirai has been detained by police, according to news reports. Tsvangirai was reportedly campaigning with a group of party officials in western Zimbabwe when he was stopped at a police roadblock and taken, along with more than a dozen other officials, to a police station in Lupane. Tsvangirai, after leaving Zimbabwe following the disputed March presidential election, returned to the country about two weeks ago. A runoff contest with the country's current leader, Robert Mugabe, has been scheduled for June 27.