Jacksonville
US Republican candidate John McCain yesterday outlined a litany of problems that the next president will inherit from President George W Bush and said Washington needs a new approach to solving them.

McCain made no mention of Bush but he did appear to raise some questions about how policy has been handled. "To keep our nation prosperous, strong and growing we have to rethink, reform and reinvent," McCain said.

In an apparent swipe at the handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina Arizona Senator McCain said at times of natural disiasters "government, should be organised and ready to deliver bottled drinking water to dehydrated babies and rescue the infirm trapped in a hospital with no electricity".

Meanwhile, Barack Obama received a boost in the Democrat race when Jimmy Carter, one of the superdelegates who will be key to choosing the nominee, left little doubt about who he would like to see in the White House.

The former Democratic president noted that Barack Obama had won Carter's home state of Georgia and his hometown of Plains in the state's Democratic primary.

"My children and their spouses are pro-Obama. My grandchildren are also pro-Obama," he said.

"As a superdelegate, I would not disclose who I am rooting for but I will leave you to make that guess."-AP