Tanks encircle shrine in US blitz on rebels UNITED States tanks today encircled the sacred Imam Ali shrine in the Iraqi city of Najaf, after an intense bombardment of rebel positions overnight. 
US Electoral College withstands critics ... so far (AFP) AFP - Lambasted as antiquated and anti-democratic, the Electoral College that decides the US presidency has survived for centuries as an unmovable albeit creaky pillar of the American political system.