But before getting carried away, remember that Mr Kerry now has 610 delegates to Mr Edwards's 192 a margin that will be hard to overcome unless the front-runner implodes because of a mistake or a scandal (he has already survived one false accusation of having had an affair).

ECONOMIST: Could John Edwards still win the Democratic nomination?

Kelly was the source of an accusation that Mr Campbell had had false claims inserted into a dossier that the government had published to help justify the war in Iraq, overriding the objections of intelligence chiefs.

ECONOMIST: Dr Spin quits | The

Mr Sarkozy, who suspected a plot at the time to destabilise him, has sued Mr Bertrand for false accusation, forgery and invasion of privacy.

ECONOMIST: Espionage