Overseas briefing - United States - Hackers fail to rig Obama vote

Hackers broke into a university computer network in a bid to stop students voting for Barack Obama in last week's presidential elections. The failed attempt to influence the outcome of the vote, which Mr Obama won, occurred at George Mason University in Virginia, which was predicted to be a critically important state in the election. About 35,000 students, faculty and other staff received a fake memo telling them that election day had been moved to 5 November, the day after the poll took place, according to The Washington Post. The university sent out a second email to clarify the situation and inform the students of the hoax.