PRESS DIGEST - Washington Post - June 4

WASHINGTON,June 4 (Reuters) - Washington Post included the following items on its front page on June 4. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

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Sen. Barack Obama effectively secured the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday night after a flurry of endorsements from superdelegates and two final primaries in a history-shattering campaign against Sen. Hillary Clinton that put him on track to become the first African American to head a major party ticket.

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Almost from the beginning, Hillary Clinton's superior name recognition and her sway with state party organizations convinced Barack Obama's brain trust that a junior senator from Illinois was not going to be able to challenge the Clinton political machine head-on.

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NEW ORLEANS - Republican Sen. John McCain wasted no time Tuesday night in launching his first general-election broadside against Sen. Barack Obama, casting the Democrat as an out-of-touch liberal who offers a false promise of change.

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Prices have been soaring long enough and fast enough, economists say, that the U.S. is at risk of a self-reinforcing cycle of inflation like that experienced in the 1970s.

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