Wilmington (North Carolina, US), Oct. 14: Republican presidential candidate John McCain has pledged to fight for a new direction for the country in an energetic new campaign stump speech Monday that sought to distance him from the economic policies of President Bush.

"We cannot spend the next four years as we have spent much of the last eight: waiting for our luck to change," McCain said while campaigning with running mate Sarah Palin in this once reliably Republican state that has become a battleground this year.

Washington, Oct. 14: An expert forecaster on developments in Washington has claimed that the November 4, 2008 presidential poll is “almost unwinnable” for Republican candidate John McCain.

Though McCain is still championing the fact that he still fight back the advances being made by Democratic rival Barack Obama despite being six points down, Charles Cook, whose forecasts are among the most watched in Washington, has declared that McCain needs to forget any chances of winning and assess how wide a margin is his loss to Obama going to be.

Washington - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Monday called for new measures to spur job growth and help homeowners threatened by foreclosure stay in their homes, as national polls showed the candidate pulling strongly ahead of Republican John McCain as voters focus on the economy.

London - The British government was forced Monday to drop controversial plans to allow terrorism suspects to be detained for up to six weeks without charge after the measure was defeated in the upper house of parliament, the House of Lords.

Home Secretary Jacquie Smith said after the vote, which rejected the measure 309-118, that the proposal to extend detention from currently 28 days to 42 days would be taken out of a package of anti- terrorism legislation.

Vienna - A public memorial service is planned for Austrian far-right leader Joerg Haider on Saturday in the centre of Klagenfurt.

The politician died in a car accident Saturday.

From Thursday, his body will be laid out in the regional parliament in Klagenfurt, the capital of the Carinthia province where Haider was governor, the provincial authorities announced.

Washington, Oct. 13: Senator John McCain’s campaign said on Sunday that the Republican presidential nominee would not have any more proposals this week unless developments call for some.

McCain took a break Sunday from filming campaign advertisements and practicing for a final debate with Mr. Obama on Wednesday to cheer volunteers at a phone bank near his Northern Virginia headquarters.

On Saturday, his advisers were considering a range of economic ideas.