Denver, Colorado - Denver police arrested 13 anti-abortion protesters Tuesday during a sit-down protest near the Pepsi Centre where Democrats are meeting to nominate Senator Barack Obama as their presidential candidate, according to a report in the Denver Post.

"A vote for Obama and Biden is a vote to sustain legalized child killing," one of the protestors, Randall Terry, was quoted as shouting. "The police are enforcing the laws of obstructing traffic yet they won't enforce the laws against the killing of children."

Denver, Colorado - Demanding equal pay for equal work and affordable health care for all, Senate women took the podium Tuesday at the Democratic convention to offer their support for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

New York Senator Hillary Clinton, who narrowly lost the centre- left party's nomination to Obama, introduced the senators in a video appearance and is to make her own appeal for party unity later in the evening.

Denver, Colorado  - Senator Hillary Clinton, who brought her presidential bid within a hair's breadth of winning her party, was expected to appeal later Tuesday for her 18 million backers to get solidly behind rival Barack Obama in the general elections.

But ahead of the much-awaited speech before 4,400 Democratic Party delegates in Denver on Tuesday, many supporters continued to be unhappy about a prospect of forced unanimity and were trying to force a state-by-state roll-call vote the next evening.

Denver, Colorado  - A federal attorney will discuss later Tuesday details of the arrest of three men in connection with what authorities believe could have been a threat against presidential candidate Barack Obama, officials said.

In a statement earlier Tuesday, US Attorney Troy Eid said federal police were working "hand in glove" with local police in Aurora, a town on the outskirts of Denver where the initial arrest of a man with firearms and drugs took place.

But Eid sought to allay fears that there was a serious threat.

Denver, Colorado/Washington - The arrest of a man with firearms and drugs in Colorado led to two other suspects in a case that authorities believe could have been part of a threat against presidential candidate Barack Obama, according to media reports Tuesday.

Federal law enforcement officials were expected to release more details in the case later Tuesday, the Denver Post reported on its website.

Denver, Colorado - The scramble for the White House was dead even between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, according to two separate polls released late Sunday, the eve of the opening of the Democratic nominating convention.

The Gallup Poll showed each candidate with 45 per cent support from registered voters, while a CNN/Opinion Research Corp poll showed a 47-per-cent stalemate.