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Double-digit lead for Obama: Poll
Nawaz will back govt on anti-terror policy
UAE to set up foreign worker protection office
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LTTE suicide boats attack aid ships
Colombo, October 22 Two Tamil Tiger suicide boats exploded near a pair of freighters carrying relief aid off the northeastern coast of Sri Lanka today, the Sri Lankan Navy said. The Navy said it fired on a third Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) boat which capsized during the clash, and killed six insurgents. Two Indian
writers in Asian Booker shortlist
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Double-digit lead for Obama: Poll
New York, October 22 The Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll found that 52 per cent voters favour Obama against 42 per cent who support McCain, showing a four per cent increase since the poll two weeks ago. The poll has a margin of error plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. The poll says that a growing number of voters said that they were comfortable with the Democrat’s values, background and ability to serve as commander-in-chief. It’s the largest lead in the Journal/NBC poll so far, and represents a steady climb for Senator Obama since early September, when the political conventions concluded with the candidates in a statistical tie. “Voters have reached a comfort level with Barack Obama,” said Peter D Hart, a Democratic pollster who conducts the poll with Republican Neil Newhouse. Though most voters polled said that McCain is better prepared for the White House than the first-term Obama, there are increasing concerns about the readiness of McCain’s running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the poll showed. The race, the Journal said, has rested largely on the question of whether voters could get comfortable with Obama, the first African-American to run on a major party ticket, and one who has been on the national political scene for just a few years. McCain has worked to stoke concerns about Obama’s past and his qualifications, raising questions about his rival’s character and his association with 1960s-era radical William Ayers. The new poll suggests that these attacks haven’t worked. The poll found that Obama now holds a 12-percentage-point advantage with independents, a group both sides have fiercely sought. Obama leads suburban voters by 12 percentage points, up from two points two weeks ago. He leads among older voters, those over 65-years-old, by nine points, erasing a one-point McCain advantage from the last poll. And in the Midwest, home to a swath of battleground states, he is now favoured by 25 points, up from a one-point advantage. Some daily tracking polls, the journal said, have found a tighter race between McCain and Obama in recent days. Many polls also show McCain lagging in key battleground states, which hold the electoral votes that could decide the race. Obama, the paper said, has also eaten into traditional Republican advantages, notably on taxes, despite McCain’s attempts to make the issue a central economic theme of the campaign’s closing days. — PTI
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Nawaz will back govt on anti-terror policy
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif has extended his party's support to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in evolving and implementing a consensus policy based on dialogue to fight terrorism. In a letter written to Gilani, Nawaz presented his own six-point formula, portraying a grim picture of the state of affairs in the country. “I am writing this letter to you at a time when Pakistan is going through the worst crisis of its history, and our Parliament is debating this serious situation,” he wrote. Sharif said the national policy should be formulated while adopting a strategy based on comprehensive dialogue with all stakeholders and defending and safeguarding Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. He underpinned the need to restore governance in the tribal areas keeping in view local traditions, customs and social norms, besides focusing on employment generation and socio-economic uplift in FATA and areas of the NWFP and Balochistan. 16-member panel formed
The 16-member committee, whose formation was proposed by the Prime Minister during yesterday’s sitting of the joint session of the National Assembly and Senate, will draft a resolution on reshaping the policy for the war on terror. The panel met in Parliament and began work on the draft resolution yesterday. All parliamentary groups in the two Houses are represented in the panel.
— PTI
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UAE to set up foreign worker protection office
Abu Dhabi, October 22 Labour minister Saqr Ghubash was quoted yesterday by the official WAM news agency as saying the agency would monitor complaints from workers about unpaid wages and regulate labour conflicts that emerge over salaries. He added that consultations would take place with employers over the low-level of wages, which is particularly noticeable in the massive construction sector. The oil-rich and booming UAE had a population of some 5.6 million people at the end of 2006, of which some 84 per cent were foreigners and many of whom were low-paid workers from South Asia and Southeast Asia. Asian workers have demonstrated several times in the past year to demand higher wages and better living conditions despite a ban on public protests in the UAE.— AFP
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LTTE suicide boats attack aid ships
Colombo, October 22 “Two ships carrying humanitarian supplies to the north came under the LTTE attack off Mailadi. Due to the nearby explosions, one ship got minor damage, but both are floating without casualties,” Navy spokesman Commander D.K.P. Dassanayake said. Mailadi is in north of Mullaittivu, an LTTE stronghold on Sri Lanka’s northeastern coast. The majority of refugees from heavy fighting in the north are located a few kilometres inland from Mullaittivu. There was no independent confirmation of the incident, and the Tigers could not be reached for comment. The UN says there are at least 2,30,000 people in northern Sri Lanka who have fled their homes since the military intensified its offensive against the LTTE. India, home to most of the world’s Tamil population, last week ratcheted up pressure on Sri Lanka’s government to make sure it is caring for the people. Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa said his government was supplying aid even though it knows that some of the food was being taken by the LTTE. It had also allowed two UN-led food aid convoys in, since banning all aid agencies from the war zone in the past month.
— Reuters
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Two Indian writers in Asian Booker shortlist Hong Kong, October 22 The novel, which follows the affair of a married older woman and a young photographer, is “a sharp and ravis The other shortlisted books are ‘The Story That Must not Be Told’, by Indian author Kavery Nambisan, ‘Illustrado’ by Filipino author Miguel Syjuco and ‘The Music Child’ by Alfred A. Yuson, also from the Philippines. Chinese author Yu Hua’s Brothers, which follows two siblings over several decades of Chinese history, completes the list. The $10,000 prize will be announced at a ceremony in Hong Kong on November 13. — AFP
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MINGORA LONDON Narrow-gauge rail museum: The romance of steam engine and narrow-gauge railway lines is being captured in a new museum in the Welsh town of Porthmadog, from where the concept of narrow-gauge spread to India and elsewhere during the British rule. The museum will be part of the existing Welsh Highland Railway (Porthmadog) and will tell the story of the town and how its narrow-gauge railways were the model for similar networks worldwide. The new museum will enable the Welsh Highland Railway (Porthmadog) to move many of its existing displays into a dedicated building, to provide more interactive exhibits and improve access for people with disabilities. — PTI NRI landlady fined: An Indian-origin landlady Joginder Kaur Dhanjal in Oxford has been fined £2,500 because of the filthy and dangerous state of a house she was letting out to her tenants. Dhanjal at the Oxford Magistrates’ Court admitted to five charges levelled against her relating to safety and hygiene at the shared house she owns in the Donnington Bridge Road. The city council environmental health officers found several health and safety breaches in her house during a visit. Defending lawyer John Roach said Dhanjal was not aware of the responsibilities that came with being a landlord of a multi-storied house. She was ordered to pay £400 in costs and a victim’s surcharge of £15. — PTI Bangkok
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Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has established a double digit lead over his Republican rival John McCain just two weeks ahead of crucial elections, a just released poll says.
