Morning Buzz: Dec. 21, 2007

A new USA Today/Gallup Poll out today shows Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in a statistical tie in New Hampshire. Both candidates were the picks of 32 percent of voters surveyed; John Edwards came in a distant third, at 18 percent. On the Republican side, John McCain is slowly chipping away at Mitt Romney's lead: Romney now leads McCain by only 7 points, 34 to 27 percent.

At least 50 people were killed in Sherpao, Pakistan, today when a suicide bomber attacked a throng of worshipers at the home of former Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao. With hotly contested parliamentary elections in less than three weeks, Pakistani officials worry that the attack will further destabilize the country's fragile political situation.

Demonstrators in New Orleans rallied outside City Hall yesterday to protest a vote by the City Council that will allow the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to tear down nearly 4,500 units of public housing. New Orleans police used stun guns and chemical spray to keep protesters from entering the building.