WRAPUP 1-Obama takes winning streak into U.S. contests

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) – Democrat Barack Obama hopes to extend his winning streak over rival Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, when voters in three battlegrounds make their choices in a close and bruising Democratic presidential race.

Republican front-runner John McCain and his last major challenger, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, also square off in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia as McCain tries to move closer to clinching the party’s nomination.

The serious side of Ryan Reynolds

These are the things the usually effusive Ryan Reynolds won’t talk about: his relationship with girlfriend Scarlett Johansson and his previous two-year engagement to singer Alanis Morissette.

These are the things he’s happy to discuss: His career and the blossoming thereof.

Reynolds is the lead in the romantic comedy Definitely, Maybe which opens on Valentine’s Day. He also stars opposite Julia Roberts in the mighty melodrama Fireflies in the Garden, which will be featured at the Berlin Film Festival, currently underway. And next month, the 31-year-old Vancouver native will begin shooting Sandra Bullock’s satire The Proposal.