The murder of an Ecuadorean immigrant in New York has outraged Hispanic groups already alarmed by an apparent increase in racially-motivated hate crimes across the state. With the economy in decline and rising unemployment, some fear resentment towards immigrant communites will only get worse. Kristen Saloomey, Al Jazeera's correspondent in New York, reports.
If the last two US presidential races are anything to go by, this year's race could be just as controversial, with voter irregularities and the customary legal wrangling. Experts say that the huge voter turnout expected on election day could overwhelm the new electronic voting system prompting a repeat of the debacles seen in 2000 and 2004. So is history about to be repeated or will the US voting system hold up? And will the outcome of the election be what polls suggest? At the moment it seems as though Barack Obama will be the clear winner. But what if many voters hide their true preferences or change their minds at the very last minute?
Part 1 Part2 We take a look at the economic fears on Main Street. Riz Khan speaks with Robert Engle, the 2003 winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, and Avis Jones-DeWeever, the director of the Research, Public Policy, and Information Center for African-American Women.