Jindal, son of Indian immigrants, wins Louisiana governorship; fraud alleged in Kyrgyz constitutional referendum; Obama camp closes money gap...

22 October :: 36-year-old Republican Bobby Jindal wins Louisiana governorship, becomes first Indian-American governor in US history, youngest currently serving; observers say Jindal, a "staunch conservative" who converted to Catholicism as a teenager, is a rising star in the party, to watch on the national stage; TIME reports "An Ivy League-educated Rhodes Scholar, he was appointed head of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, the state's largest agency, at the tender age of 24. At 28, he was tapped to head one of Louisiana's university systems"... Kyrgyzstan has voted in a constitutional referendum designed to strengthen Pres. Bakiyev's hold on power; observers say the officially reported 80% turnout is inflated and cite numerous reports of ballot-stuffing... Barack Obama's campaign for president tapped its grass-roots network last week and raised the $2.1 million needed to catch Hillary Clinton, just 5 days after her campaign pulled ahead in money raised for the first time; the drive will not alter 3rd quarter fundraising figures, but shows the race is far from over; the appeal to Obama supporters warned "Washington lobbyists have chosen their candidate" and urged giving money to help beat the Clinton "machine"... Benazir Bhutto has vowed to purge Pakistan's intelligence services of 'rogue agents' who allegedly support terrorist elements, if she is elected prime minister; Bhutto has said she blames rogue agents for assassination attempt, has long viewed crackdown on extremist groups as key to long-term stability... Observers worry bomb attack on Bhutto convoy in Karachi to be used as excuse to postpone upcoming elections; SMH reports "The Karachi bombing will also have the indirect result of preventing right-wing politicians from deserting the PML and joining her party, as some had planned to do"...