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, Oct 14: The more you drink alcohol, the smaller your total brain volume gets, according to a new study by Wellesley College, Massachusetts.

The study found that even moderate alcohol consumption can lead to decline in brain volumes.

Lower brain volumes have been linked to progression of dementia and problems with thinking, learning and memory.

In the study involving 1,839 adults, the participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a health examination.

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.

Washington, October 12 : A student-teacher research team at Cornell University has developed a website that allows netizens to manipulate information about a fictional presidential candidate running in the 2008 election — Senator Julian Polonius Foley Marcos DeWiki III — by editing, adding, or subtracting text. 

Washington, Oct. 10 : A Fisher-Price manufactured "Little Mommy Real Loving Baby Cuddle and Coo" doll has raised the hackles of parents'' for delivering Islamic messages.

The web site www. kjrh. com quoted customers as saying that they have heard the doll mumble "Satan is King," and "Islam is the Light."

Washington, Oct 11 : In a bid to check the funding of the Taliban by heroin networks in Afghanistan, defence ministers of the 26 NATO countries have reportedly reached a compromise agreement to launch counter-narcotics operations on the Taliban network.

The deal, agreed upon on the call given by US Defence Secretary Robert M. Gates, has been described by the Pentagon as “critical to beating back a resurgent Taliban”, and allows some members of the military alliance to opt out of counter-narcotics operations.