General Politics

US Elections: Democrats out-register Republicans in swing states

US ElectionsNew York, Oct. 13: A boom in voter registration across America has raised the possibility of a landslide victory for Senator Barack Obama, with an overwhelming majority of the nine million new voters believed to favour the Democratic candidate.

According to the New York Times, with electoral rolls now closed in most states, Obama has a clear advantage among first-time registrants, many of whom are under 30 or African Americans. The big question mark over new voters is how many of them will show up on November 4.

Lithuania nuclear referendum falls short

Vilnius - A referendum held in Lithuania to decide the future of the Baltic nation's only nuclear power plant has failed to attract the necessary number of voters to be judged valid, official sources said on Monday.

Lithuania agreed to close its Ignalina nuclear power plant by 2009 as part of its deal to join the European Union in 2004. A planned replacement, to be built jointly with Estonia, Latvia and Poland, is unlikely to be ready before 2015.

Politicians fear that a six-year energy gap would increase Lithuania's energy dependency on Russia and could ruin the national economy. Ignalina currently supplies around 70 per cent of Lithuania's electricity.

Angela Merkel rushes approvals for G7 rescue plan Monday

Chancellor Angela MerkelBerlin - Berlin was preparing Monday to announce details of how Germany is to commit hundreds of billions of euros to a rescue plan for the world economic system, with Chancellor Angela Merkel expected to speak to the media in the afternoon.

Sources said she and the two leading Social Democrats in her coalition government had agreed in the night on the basics of the plan, with the next move being to discuss it in cabinet.

Iraqi PM asks Brit forces to leave as they are no more “needed” to maintain security there

Baghdad, Oct 13: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has asked the British forces to leave the country as they were no longer needed to maintain security there. He also criticised a “secret deal” made last year by Britain with the al-Mahdi Army, Iraq’s largest Shia militia, saying that Basra had been left at the mercy of militiamen who “cut the throats of women and children” after the British withdrawal from the city.

“We thank them for the role they have played, but I think that their stay is not necessary for maintaining security and control. There might be a need for their experience in training and some technological issues, but as a fighting force, I don’t think that is necessary,” timesonline. com quoted al-Maliki as saying in an interview.

Will Prez Poll 2008 be a matter of race?

New York, Oct. 13 : Even as the American economy seems to be in freefall, as Americans grapple with whether to vote for Obama, the first African American presidential nominee, or his Republican opponent, John McCain, it''s a decision unavoidably colored by race, whether we like it - whether we admit it - or not.

When asked if race will affect a voter''s decision, some say it is unavoidable, and that there are some voters who - issues aside - just aren’t ready to cross that racial divide at the polling booth.

Barack Obama, the son of a white American mother and a black father from Kenya, says his race is not an issue for him.

Most American votes in prez poll may not matter after all

John McCain and Barack ObamaWashington, Oct. 13: Americans enthralled with John McCain and Barack Obama’s struggle to win the presidency may end up being disappointed on November 4.

Why, because according to Fox News, this historic election will be decided by voters in only six or so closely divided “battleground states.”

The reason the vast majority of states don’t matter in presidential elections stems from a winner-take-all rule (Nebraska and Maine being the notable exceptions). This rule awards all of a state’s electoral votes to the candidate who receives the most popular votes.

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