W O R L D

US keeps its fingers crossed over ‘deadlocked’ White House race
Washington, November 6
Various US media organisations overseeing the 2012 election are in no hurry to make a final call on the winner of the White House race between President Barack Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney.

Obama, Romney tie in first result

Storm-hit states go out to vote

Obama or Romney? US citizens queue up to vote in the presidential election in Michigan on Tuesday. — AFP

China poised for new era of ‘princelings’
Beijing, November 6
As China's old guard walks towards the sunset, the country is poised for a new era of 'princelings' with a new pack of rulers, mainly offsprings of erstwhile Communist leaders, gearing up to take on the mantle.

Media keeps its fingers crossed over ‘deadlocked’ White House race

CLOSE CALL: (Top) Presidential candidates Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney; and (below) Joe Biden and Republican Paul Ryan vying for the Vice-President's berth. — AFP

Washington, November 6
Various US media organisations overseeing the 2012 election are in no hurry to make a final call on the winner of the White House race between President Barack Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney.

Four years ago, there was no mystery about who would become the 44th president when polls on the west coast closed at 11 pm, with all five TV networks and the AP calling the election for Barack Obama, who handily defeated Senator John McCain in the electoral college.

But executives and editors overseeing 2012 election calls expect a much closer outcome on Tuesday, resulting in a very long night.

"We might not be able to make a call on election night," David Pace, the AP's news editor for elections and special projects, said.

According to the Huffington Post, that's not for lack of preparation. The AP has counted votes and declared winners in every presidential contest since 1848 and boasts an election night operation of over 5,000 people, including analysts, researchers, race callers and thousands of stringers in counties and townships across the United States to provide a vote count that's also used by the networks.

On Saturday, the AP ran through a full rehearsal using simulated votes, with 40 staffers in the DC bureau and race callers around the country.

But as sophisticated as the AP's operation is, along with the broadcast and cable networks, executives and editors have not forgotten past election night debacles.

Most notably, the networks and the AP called Florida for Al Gore in 2000, only to either call the state for George W. Bush later in the night or hold off on a final decision until the Supreme Court rendered its verdict.

In 2004, networks were more cautious in not making definitive judgment on whether Bush or Senator John Kerry won until the morning following election day.

In addition to premature calls, another concern in 2012 is misinformation spreading on Twitter. As the AP performed its election night dry run on Saturday, editors warned staffers about the pitfalls of tweeting or retweeting other news organizations' Tuesday night calls.

However, the AP will be tweeting its own presidential election calls for the first time on Tuesday, just as the results are sent across the wire.

"We don't get any pressure from our bosses to be first here," Pace said, adding: "We get pressure to be right." CNN Washington bureau chief Sam Feist, who will oversee calls made Tuesday night, said, "It's of no interest to me who's first, second, third, fourth, fifth."

"There may be a rush on the part of others, but there's no rush on the part of CNN," Feist added. "We're in absolutely no rush to make a projection. We're happy to be last." CNN will not feature holograms on Tuesday, unlike on election night in 2008, but will show off some virtual bells and whistles from the network's new Washington, DC studio.

News executives expect the quarantine process to prevent exit poll leaks from appearing online before the voting is done in each state. "After poll closings, we will begin to report what we know and what we're seeing," said Anthony Salvanto, CBS News' director of elections.

"We try to prepare for all kinds of possibilities," Salvanto said, adding: "We do a lot of research on every state and that includes collecting as much information as we can about the size of precincts, the size of counties, how they have voted in the past-all the things that go into the model so when we get results, you're prepared to incorporate everything you know." — ANI

China poised for new era of ‘princelings’

The new President-to-be, Xi Jinping, currently the Vice-President, is officially projected as Hu Jintao's successor; and (right) Li Keqiang, currently the Vice Premier, is set to take over as the new Premier, succeeding Wen Jiabao.

Beijing, November 6
As China's old guard walks towards the sunset, the country is poised for a new era of 'princelings' with a new pack of rulers, mainly offsprings of erstwhile Communist leaders, gearing up to take on the mantle.

The new leaders hailing from influential families would be formally selected during the key Congress beginning on November 8. To be attended by 2270 delegates, the conference is expected to last for a week.

The new President-to-be, Xi Jinping, currently the Vice-President and officially projected as Hu Jintao's successor is the son of Xi Zhongxun, a liberal Communist Party revolutionary and former Vice Premier who was persecuted by Party founder Mao Zedong during the dreaded Cultural Revolution (1966-76).

Though a privileged son Xi Jinping got the wrong end of the stick of Mao and worked for seven years in Liangjiahe, an obscure village in his native Shaanxi province under the party's grassroots programme before rising in the ranks after the death of the Party founder.

Journalists who recently visited the village found it to be the same as he left it in 1975 though people fondly recall his stay there.

The world opened for Xi after the death Mao and advent of liberal and reformist leader Deng Xiaoping. Born in Beijing in 1953, Xi studied chemical engineering at Tsinghua University before joining the in 1974.

He is married to China's most famous folk singer Peng Liyuan and their daughter is reportedly studying at Harvard.

Yet another princeling, Li Keqiang, 57, currently the Vice Premier is set to take over as the new Premier, succeeding suave, popular, Wen Jiabao.

With princelings at the helm, analysts say China formally join the ranks of several Asian countries including India and Pakistan where families of the ruling elite emerged as the frontrunners in power politics.

Born in 1955 into the family of a local official Dingyuan County, Li reportedly refused his father's proposition to be groomed to be the leader local county of the Communist Party.

During the Cultural Revolution he was sent to the rural labour camp in Fengyang County, Anhui, where he eventually joined the Communist Party. So far the party has projected Xi and Li as the new frontline leaders and the much about others is not yet known.

Another official, Wang Qishan, currently the second Vice Premier and tipped to get a top post in the new Standing Committee is also a son of a top official, and is married to Yao Minshan, daughter of former Vice-Premier Yao Yilin.

Also, Li Yuanchao who heads the communist party's organisation department and slated to get seat at the high table is also princeling as his father was mayor of Shanghai.

Yet another front runner Zhang Dejiang, who succeeded disgraced leader Bo Xilai in Chongqing city is son of PLA General.

The only woman in the Liu Yandong, who could be the first woman to make it to top if she was selected is also the daughter of a former vice-minister of agriculture. Her husband too is well connected. — PTI 

BRIEFLY

Upset with treatment, Pak patient kills Indian doctor
Dubai: The Indian doctor, fatally stabbed in an Abu Dhabi hospital last week, by his Pakistani patient was attacked as the assailant was upset over the treatment of his ailment, the police said. Urologist Rajan Daniel was attacked with a kitchen knife by a Pakistani national Mohamed Abdul Jamil at the Al Ahlia Hospital on Saturday, as the 58-year-old doctor could not bring immediate relief to the attacker's painful disease. According to Abu Dhabi Police, the 46-year-old attacker was under Daniel's observation for a urinary disease for several weeks and apparently visited the doctor for a follow-up. — PTI

Candidates for this year’s Miss Earth beauty pageant pose in Manila, on Tuesday. Close to a hundred beauties are vying for the Miss Earth title, which organisers claim as the only beauty pageant with an advocacy to save Mother Earth. — Reuters

Bangladesh detains 72 Indian fishermen
Dhaka: The Bangladesh navy has detained 72 Indian fishermen for allegedly fishing in its territorial waters near southwestern Sharankhola coastlines, officials said on Tuesday. Three boats were also seized, they said. "All the 72 (Indian) fishermen were immediately handed over to the police for subsequent legal actions for intruding Bangladesh waters," a top Bangladesh navy official said adding they all hailed from South 24 Parganas District of West Bengal and a process was underway to expose the detained fishermen to justice. — PTI

Russian Defence Minister sacked
Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday fired Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov over a corruption scandal. Putin replaced Serdyukov, who had been implementing an unpopular but Kremlin-backed military reform, with Moscow region governor and long-standing ally Sergei Shoigu, his spokesman said. Serdyukov was relieved of his duties so that a thorough investigation can proceed into a suspected $100 million property scam at a defence ministry holding company, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. — AFP

Blast near Iraq military base kills 32
Baghdad: Iraqi officials say a car bomb that exploded near a military base north of Baghdad has killed 32 persons and wounded more than 40. The police says the blast struck around midday on Tuesday as Iraqi troops were leaving the base in Taji, 20 km north of the capital. They say 19 soldiers are among the dead. Hospital officials confirmed the casualties. — AP