United States:A new poll puts Barack Obama ahead of Hillary Clinton in Iowa, which holds the first presidential caucus on January 3rd, with former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee leaping ahead of his Republican rivals in the state.
The Des Moines Register poll, generally regarded as the most authoritative in the state, says Mr Obama has the support of 28 per cent of likely caucus-goers, up from 22 per cent in October.
Mrs Clinton, who leads in national polls, is three points behind in Iowa at 25 per cent, down four points from the previous poll, with former North Carolina senator John Edwards holding steady at 23 per cent.
On the Republican side, Mr Huckabee has overtaken former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in Iowa, up 17 points in a month to win the support of 29 per cent of likely caucus-goers.
Mr Romney has fallen back five points to 24 per cent and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who leads in national polls, is in third place with 13 per cent.
The poll was conducted before last Friday's hostage drama at Mrs Clinton's campaign office in Rochester, New Hampshire, which some of the former First Lady's aides believe could "reset" her campaign after a difficult three weeks. Nobody was hurt during the incident, in which a man held campaign workers hostage for five hours before giving himself up to police.
Mrs Clinton flew to New Hampshire on Friday evening and met the freed hostages before giving a press conference in front of a column of uniformed police officers.
Political commentators have described Mrs Clinton's handling of the crisis as giving the impression of "a woman in charge" and suggested that it could boost her image as a candidate ready to be president.
Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said: "It looked and sounded presidential. This was an instance of the White House experience of this campaign. They knew how to handle this."
Mrs Clinton has seen her lead in Iowa evaporate as she faced criticism for below-par performances in debates, with rivals accusing her of offering shifty, disingenuous answers to questions on politically-delicate issues.
Former president Bill Clinton also attracted negative commentary after he claimed that he had always opposed the war in Iraq, despite having made numerous supportive statements in the early weeks of the war.
The latest poll shows Mrs Clinton falling into second place even among Iowa women, 31 per cent of whom now support Mr Obama, compared to 26 per cent for the New York senator.
Women represent roughly 60 per cent of Democratic caucus-goers, according to the poll. Mr Obama is also ahead among younger caucus-goers, with support from 48 per cent from those under 35. Mrs Clinton was the choice of 19 per cent in that group and Mr Edwards of 17 per cent.
Iowa polls are notoriously unreliable, not least because most caucus-goers make up their minds in the final days of the campaign. Between now and January 3rd, all the major candidates will spend most of their time in the state, hoping that victory in Iowa will create enough momentum to secure victory in New Hampshire's primary five days later.
Mr Huckabee's rise in the polls, which follows a number of stellar debate performances, is a serious threat to Mr Romney, who has been banking on a string of early victories to make him competitive with Mr Giuliani on February 5th, when more than 20 states vote.
Mr Giuliani has all but ignored Iowa, focusing on February 5th in the hope that victory in big delegate-rich states like New York and California will help him to secure the nomination.
