A man took several Hillary Clinton campaign workers hostage on Friday, claiming to have a bomb strapped to his chest. Police took the man into custody, and Clinton met with the hostages and their families: “It appears he is someone who was in need of help and sought attention in absolutely the wrong way. … It was for me and my campaign an especially tense and difficult day.”

Rudy Giuliani is also having a tense time explaining his mayoral spending practices. Instead of billing the police department for mayoral security expenses, the city spread the bill among obscure city offices. Much of the interest centers on Giuliani’s visits to Southampton, New York, when he was having an affair with Judith Nathan, who owned a condominium there. Giuliani dismissed the allegations as an old story and a political hit job.

A new HIV testing method yields a higher government estimate for annual HIV infections. For a decade, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has calculated 40,000 new HIV infections each year, but this year the count is 50% higher — between 55,000 and 60,000. The new method enables epidemiologists to distinguish between new infections and long-standing ones. President Bush called for an additional $30 billion to fight AIDS worldwide.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has threatened to cut off oil exports to the U.S. if it questions the results of next Sunday’s vote. The referendum would do away with term limits and cede Chavez control of the country’s Central Bank, giving him control of Venezuela’s economic policy and, he says, enabling him to move towards socialism.

Another Sunday vote may tighten Vladimir Putin’s grip on power. Putin’s United Russia party should win by a landslide, despite the fact that Russian liberals are decrying Putin’s televised pre-poll speech urging Russians to vote for the United Russia party. One leader called for equal television time and called Putin’s speech “a flagrant violation of the legislation, an abuse of office in the interests of one party.”

Hollywood writers are still stewing and striking. Producers attempted a compromise but writers rejected the new proposals, saying that they were a public relations ploy that failed to meet the guild’s core demands.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin drew an historical parallel today, comparing the U.S. missile shield of today with the Cuban missile crisis of the 1960s, when the world came its closest to nuclear war: “For us, technologically, the situation is very similar. On our borders such threats to our country are being created.”

Did Syria raze a bombed building to conceal a nuclear reactor site? David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, analyzed new commercial satellite images of the Israeli-bombed building. He said Syria “took down this facility so quickly it looks like they are trying to hide something.”

President Bush visited a fire-ravaged California on Thursday, promising to do everything in his power to help. Some 30,000 people have been evacuated from the South Bernardino Mountain area.

CNN says Iran is becoming a hot campaign issue. The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman dismisses U.S. sanctions of Iran are “worthless and ineffective” and “doomed to fail.” Condoleeza Rice defends the sanctions: “The international community cannot just sit idly by until we face unpalatable choices.” Experts say they may upset the oil market.

Barack Obama is running as a uniter, but an analyst said he might need to change his tone: “Democrats are tired of being bullied. They want a candidate who will punch bullies in the nose.”

GOP candidates aren’t pulling punches. In the last GOP presidential debate, Rudy Giuliani quoted Hillary Clinton: “’I have a million ideas. America can’t afford them all.’ No kidding, Hillary — America can’t afford you.” Mitt Romney had his say, too: “She hasn’t run a corner store. She hasn’t run a state. She hasn’t run a city. She has never run anything.” (Listen to WoW’s audio pick for Townhall commentary.)

Congress decides to keep the Internet tax-free for another seven years. Bush says it’s time for Congress to “stop wasting time” on some other issues: appropriations bills and emergency war funding.