JUDY WOODRUFF: The U.S. Supreme Court today upheld state mandates that voters show a photo I.D. By 6-3, the justices ruled an Indiana law does not violate a person's constitutional rights. More than 20 states require some form of voter identification to prevent fraud.
Democrats and civil rights groups argued such laws discourage elderly, poor, and minority voters from turning out. We'll have much more on this story right after the news summary.
In the presidential race today, the long-time minister to Democrat Barack Obama fired back at his critics. The Rev. Jeremiah Wright went before Washington reporters. He defended his controversial remarks on U.S. policies, and he said the resulting backlash was, quote, "an attack on the black church." We'll have more on this story later in the program tonight.
Barack Obama campaigned in North Carolina today. He said he is certain that Democrats will come together in the fall. His rival, Hillary Clinton, also stumped in North Carolina. She appealed for suspending the federal gas tax during the summer. The two face off in the North Carolina and Indiana primaries a week from tomorrow.
United Nations leaders met in Switzerland today to address a global food crisis. The head of the U.N. Environment Programme insisted there is no shortage. He said, "We have enough food on this planet today to feed everyone." Instead, he charged speculation has sent prices so high many people can no longer afford to feed themselves.
We have a report on the situation in Haiti from James Mates of Independent Television News.
JAMES MATES, ITV News correspondent: The people who inhabit the seemingly endless slums of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, were already the poorest of the poor.
In the markets, they argue, even fight over prices, but traders have no choice but to pass on rises set thousands of miles away. We walked past stall after stall where rice costs almost doubled that of six months ago. Corn and beans were up just as much, and very few people were buying.
What makes the hunger in Haiti so unforgivable is that, as you can see, there is plenty of food; it's just beyond the means of most people. This, for example, is corn meal, one of the staples here.
Madame, ça coute combien?
Cinquante, that's 50 gourde, which is more than one U.S. dollar. Now, bear in mind that more than half of the population of Haiti live on less than a dollar a day. They couldn't afford this.
The reaction was perhaps predictable, Haiti's poor taking their desperation out on their own government, with food riots earlier this month that cost four lives and the country's prime minister his job.
The World Food Programme was quick to step in and is still distributing emergency food to those most in need. But these emergency supplies, too, must be bought on world markets and aid budgets are buying less and less.
We were told that if we headed deep into one of the worst slums here, we could see just how bad it was for them. We found women making food, though nothing we would think of as edible.
This is the most extraordinary example of what very, very poor people will do to get anything to eat, because this is the raw material they're using. This isn't a grain of any sort. This is fine earth or sand, for all intents and purposes.
What they're doing is mixing it with water, some butter, a little bit of salt to make this, effectively mud pie mix. Made dry by the sun, they have almost no nutritional value, but the children who hadn't eaten all day fill their stomach and fended off hunger.
JUDY WOODRUFF: In Washington, top Senate Democrats called today for another $200 million in emergency food aid. It would be added to the Iraq war funding bill now under consideration.
Three American soldiers were killed in a rocket attack in Baghdad today. That followed a weekend of fierce fighting in Baghdad that left nearly 40 Shiite gunmen dead. The militants repeatedly shelled the heavily protected Green Zone, and mortar and rocket fire continued today. We'll have more on Iraq later in the program tonight.
Pentagon officials today suspended a program of supplying military analysts with information. It gave retired officers access to classified documents and special briefings. They then used the information as analysts on TV news programs. Democrats charged the program was improperly used to generate positive press for the Iraq war.
Opposition leaders in Zimbabwe declared today that they are now united in a standoff with the government. After a meeting in South Africa, Morgan Tsvangirai said he and a former rival have enough seats to control Zimbabwe's parliament. He urged President Robert Mugabe to admit defeat.
MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, leader, Movement for Democratic Change: The majority of Zimbabweans have said Mugabe must find a way to retire. And I hope those who are friendly to Mugabe will communicate this message that, old man, go and have an honorable exit.
Allow Zimbabweans to define an agenda that is going to reconstruct the country; that is the challenge we are facing. We want a peaceful transfer of power.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The release of results from the presidential election has now been delayed by more than a month.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration was blamed today for allowing risky human tests of blood substitutes. The findings, from the National Institutes of Health, were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Sixteen studies were checked, involving five experimental blood substitutes. They found patients who had transfusions of the substitutes had a 30 percent higher risk of death. The studies also found the risk of heart attack nearly tripled.
The government today sent out the first batch of tax rebates under a new economic stimulus plan. Some 800,000 taxpayers were due to receive direct deposits by day's end. Paper checks will start going out on May 9.
The Mars Candy Company announced today that it is buying gum-maker Wrigley for $23 billion. The deal would create the world's largest confectionery company. Mars would acquire the Juicy Fruit and Doublemint gum brands, among others. Its lineup already includes the popular M&Ms and Snickers candies.
Also today, U.S. Airways and United were reported to be in very advanced merger talks.
The price of gasoline hit another record today. The Energy Department reported that the national average hit $3.60 a gallon last week. That was up another 10 cents.
On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 20 points to close at 12,871. The Nasdaq rose 1 point to close at 2,424.
