Most of the school’s 714 pupils are Hindu, but 150 are Muslims.The school says the badge issue has been blown out of proportion, and started not as an attempt to divide the children on religious grounds, but because Muslim children objected to wearing a badge depicting a Hindu goddess.The children had been wearing the different badges for years. Anger has spread across India because children at a school in Gujarat were required to wear badges showing whether they were Hindu or Muslim. Indian commentators compared the badges to the armbands European Jews had to wear during the Nazi regime. A bomb exploded on a bus carrying airport employees in Baghdad today, reportedly killing nine people.
Dr Ayad Ali of Yarmouk Hospital said the explosion occurred on the main highway leading from the capital to the international airport.The stretch of road is considered one of the most dangerous highways in Iraq, with militants frequently targeting US and Iraqi military convoys. But some officials believe the drug barons will not put up a serious fight..

She is not saying for whom she voted today.South of here, reports of problems are few. A suburb of Miami saw frustration when one precinct opened 30 minutes late because of paperwork problems. In Fort Lauderdale, a local US Congressman, Clay Shaw, disclosed that he had been mistakenly sent an absentee ballot, but officials let him vote anyway “The lines are moving quickly,” he reported.. Her verdict on the new touch-screen machines? “They’re great, so simple to use.” She does not vote in most elections but this time she felt it was too important to stay away. The idea that we are getting such a large turnout makes me feel good”.That is the conclusion of Linda Hennessee, 60, who is way back in the queue but is prepared to wait for as long as it takes.

And she particularly likes the chatter going on in the line, because everyone there seems to be a Kerry supporter. “If this many people in this precinct are voting for John Kerry then he is going to win,” she declares with confidence. Sandra Richardson, 53, emerges from the polling station two hours after arriving. He has a list of people who are irregular voters in the precinct and he is waiting to see if they show up to vote. If they don’t soon, he will head out into the streets and try to find them Mr Bernstein, meanwhile, is encouraged. The queue here may be long, but that signals a high turnout ­ as it seems to be in precincts all across Florida and in many other swing states. “They tell me that four years ago, this place was completely empty Now look at it.