Jakarta - Indonesian stock

The central government is thinking to raise import duty on edible oil. It was, earlier, cut significantly in the beginning of the year. The union agriculture ministry is of the view to bring it back to the original level. The union commerce department is also backing the proposal of increasing import duty. Oil prices are very unstable from last few weeks following world financial crisis. The Cabinet committee on pricing will discuss the matter in its proposed meeting on November 3.

The issue of the country’s financial turmoil appears to be benefiting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in a fairly steady manner, with November 4 election just round the corner.

Though Obama’s 11-point lead over his rival Republican John McCain, according to Sunday’s Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll, is his lowest of the month over the economy issue, it nevertheless is a gap that McCain has to think about.

Five days after the brouhaha over financial disclosure forms from the Republican National Committee revealing a spending of $150,000 on clothing of Sarah Palin and her family, the vice presidential candidate tossed the blame back to the RNC.

Opening her remarks in Tampa, Palin, who had offered no comments till now, revived the unpleasant topic for the McCain campaign, saying that the whole wardrobe talk was very “ridiculous.”

Paris - A high-speed TGV train en route to Paris was delayed for over two hours after a passenger got his arm stuck in the toilet, France Info radio reported on Monday.

The 26-year-old man found himself in this embarrassing - and painful - position after inadvertently dropping his cellphone into the commode.

When he tried to retrieve the device, he found himself trapped by the john's suction action.

Comedian Jerry Lewis, 82 currently in Australia for a stage show that takes a retrospective look at his career, has gone and done it again.  Mr. Lewis after a news conference last Friday, asked to comment on Australia’s most popular sport while miming swinging a cricket bat effeminately, responded: ‘Oh, cricket?  It’s a fag game.’  This comes hard on the heels of his last year’s anti-gay comments made during his annual telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

The comment and gesture broadcast on Australian channel Network Ten’s telecast last night has The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the Australian Coalition for Equality calling for an apology.