Bill Clinton conducted a whistle-stop tour of America in the run-up to election day

England have

Democrat Bill Clinton has won the presidential election to become the 42nd United States president and the first in US history born after World War II.

He beats 68-year-old Republican President George Bush.

Aged 46, the Governor of Arkansas will be the third youngest president in US history after John Kennedy and Theodore Roosevelt.

There was an unusually high turnout - always good news for Democrats - with an estimated 100 million Americans voting. The president-elect got 43% of the vote to Mr Bush's 38% with Independent Ross Perot trailing behind with 19%.

The Democrats conducted a highly effective campaign pushing aside allegations of Clinton's extra-marital affair with singer Gennifer Flowers and accusations of draft dodging during the Vietnam war.

Instead they promised to lift America out of an economic quagmire, a message that has obviously won favour.

Early results showed the Republicans were on their way out when their usual strongholds of Vermont and New Hampshire fell to their rivals. Democrats then began slicing into southern states like Georgia.

Mr Perot has not won a single state despite spending $60bn of his own money on his campaign.

Clinton and his running mate Al Gore spent the last few weeks of the campaign on a whistle-stop bus tour of America.

At dawn today they were at a rally in Denver, Mr Clinton's voice hoarse from speech-making. "I have just about lost my voice," he said. "If you will be my voice today, I will speak for you for four years."

He began the campaign more than a year ago with little hope of winning against President Bush whose popularity was high on the back of the Gulf War victory.

But since then the economy has taken a serious turn for the worse and with it President Bush's standing in the eyes of US citizens.

In his victory speech at Little Rock, Arkansas, Mr Clinton thanked his wife, Hillary, who stood by him during the Flowers sex scandal.

He said the American people had voted for a "new beginning" and promised to tackle issues such as Aids, the environment and "the conversion of our economy from a defence to a domestic economic giant".

He also paid tribute to President Bush for helping to bring an end to the Cold War and a victory in the Gulf War.

It was an historic day for Congress too - the first black woman, Democrat Carol Moseley Braun, was elected to the Senate.    

Hungarian 'freedom fighters' forced back Soviet tanks and troops last week

At least 1,000 Soviet tanks are reported to have entered Budapest and troops deployed throughout the country are battling with Hungarian forces for strategic positions.

The Soviet invasion is a response to the national uprising led by Prime Minister Imre Nagy, who has promised the Hungarian people independence and political freedom.

Mr Nagy's anti-Soviet policies, which include withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact, have been worrying Eastern Bloc countries and Moscow has demanded his government's capitulation.

News of the attack came at 0515 local time on Radio Budapest in an urgent appeal by Mr Nagy himself for help from the West.

Despite an apparent withdrawal only last week, Soviet troops deployed outside Budapest swept back into the capital with Russian and Romanian reinforcements between 0400 and 0800 local time.

Artillery units pounded Budapest from the surrounding hills as Soviet MIG fighters bombarded the capital from the air.

Sources say Soviet infantry units stormed the Parliament building, a key strategic and symbolic target, early this morning.

Reports that Mr Nagy and other members of his cabinet were captured in the attack have not been confirmed.

But in an unscheduled newscast on Moscow radio shortly after 1200GMT, Russia claimed to have "crushed the forces of reactionary conspiracy against the Hungarian people".

Despite Moscow's claims, heavy fighting is reported to be continuing throughout the country for key installations such as railway stations and major bridges across the River Danube.

Moscow is now backing a new breakaway Hungarian government led by Janos Kadar, whose stated purpose is to destroy Mr Nagy's "counter-revolution".

quagmire: a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot（沼澤；濕地）

capitulation: a summary that enumerates the main parts of a topic；the act of surrendering (under agreed conditions)（摘要；投降條約）