2nd death anniversary of Ghulam Ishaq Khan being observed today



Four killed in Baldia town firing



Resolution of Kashmir stand-off not far off: Zardari



Zardari says India should respect Sindh Taas Treaty



Interviews of 8 officials completed for comissioners posts

2nd death anniversary of Ghulam Ishaq Khan being observed today



Four killed in Baldia town firing



Resolution of Kashmir stand-off not far off: Zardari



Zardari says India should respect Sindh Taas Treaty



Interviews of 8 officials completed for comissioners posts

2nd death anniversary of Ghulam Ishaq Khan being observed today



Four killed in Baldia town firing



Resolution of Kashmir stand-off not far off: Zardari



Zardari says India should respect Sindh Taas Treaty



Interviews of 8 officials completed for comissioners posts

news

NEW YORK: Recession fears sent world stock markets tumbling Monday, with Tokyo at a 26-year low, Europe badly under water and Wall Street struggling to hold the line despite a G7 pledge to stabilise the financial system.

Oil prices fell below 60 dollars as traders estimated that a global recession would dent future energy demand.

The European single currency sank under 1.24 dollars to a two-year trough after a downbeat survey on German busine ... Full Story

Federal bodies express reservations on KSE bailout fund

LAHORE: Four of the federal organizations have expressed their reservations on provision of a fund amounting to Rs20 billion to Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) for pulling the share market out of the prevailing crisis.

According to sources, the Federal Government directed the State Life, National Bank, National Investment Trust and Employees Old Age Benefit Institution to extend Rs20 billion to KSE.

The federal bodies are of the view that the fund created with the money of the poor, pensioners, insurance holders and others should not be provided to KSE.

These bodies have already extended Rs5 billion to KSE in a bid to

Top UN officials urge reform of world finance system

UNITED NATIONS: UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Friday joined chief executives of key UN institutions in calling for a meaningful and well-coordinated reform of the international financial system.

Participants at Friday's UN summit said that "the market and regulatory failures that have led to this (financial) crisis must be addressed as a matter of urgency" when leaders of 20 industrialized and emerging powers meet in Washington November 15.

"We reaffirm the need for meaningful, comprehensive and well-coordinated reform of the international financial system and pledge our support to this end," they said in a joint statement.

They also urged rich countries to strengthen their commitments on official development assistance to poor nations and called for a successful conclusion to the Doha Round of trade liberalization talks.

"A healthy, open and rule-based trading system is essential to maintaining long-term economic growth to the benefit of all," they added.

The Doha Round was launched in the Qatari capital in 2001 with the aim of liberalizing trade rules for the benefit of developing countries. But a summit in July collapsed over a disagreement on tariffs between the United States and India.

Indo-Pak consensus to continue talks

BEIJING: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh met here Friday in the Great Hall of the People on the sidelines of Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit and pledged to work together for combating the menace of terrorism.

The two leaders first had a five minutes meeting along with their aides and later had one-on-one meeting that lasted for about 20 minutes.

Later, while talking to newsmen they termed their interaction as useful and said there was willingness on both sides to address their common problems.

About terrorism, they said it is a common threat to the two countries.

Prime Minister Gilani said the two countries need to focus on fighting poverty, hunger and illiteracy to improve the socio-economic life of their people.

The terrorism, he said is our common enemy that is affecting their economic progress.

Pakistan, he reiterated, is against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

“We are in total agreement to fight this menace jointly,” he added.

About financial crisis at the regional and international levels, he said that both the countries are sailing in the same boat and prepared to cooperate to face it.

The matter was also discussed threadbare at the ASEM’s level during the on-going summit meeting, he said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the two countries are committed to move forward in a positive manner for resolving their pending disputes through the process of composite dialogue.

He said Prime Minister Gilani invited his attention towards Pakistan’s serious concerns over the issue of Baghliar Dam.

Prime Minister Singh said that he assured Prime Minister Gilani that Indian government will take all possible steps for implementing the relevant agreement to this effect in letter and spirit.

To a question, he categorically stated that the water dispute would not be allowed to affect the peace process between the two countries.

“We want to seriously work on resolving this issue,” he added.

During the talks, the two leaders also discussed the possibility of further enhancing their trade and business contacts.

Prime Minister Singh appreciated his meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari in September during the 63rd UNGA session in New York and said that it carried ambitious agenda to develop their trade and business links.

The Indian Prime Minister particularly mentioned the opening of Line of Control (LoC) for bilateral trade, stating it was a good step forward to promote business activities.

Mr. Singh hoped that there will be positive outcome of their negotiations on various issues.

This was Prime Minister Gilani second meeting with Indian counterpart within three months.

Both the leaders also met on the sidelines of 15th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit held in Colombo in August.

Hijacked Russian flight under control

OSCOW: A drunk passenger on a Russian internal flight caused a hijack scare Friday, a local news agency quoted a law enforcement source as saying.

A Russian law enforcement source had at first told Interfax a man shouting "Allah Akbar" had demanded the plane from the Black Sea resort of Sochi to Moscow divert to Vienna.

Later, the news agency quoted a law enforcement source as saying the aircraft's crew had been in contact with air traffic controllers and that the incident may have been caused by a drunken passenger.

"The situation is under control," the news agency quoted the source as saying.

Adler is a town on Russia's Black Sea coast in the mainly Muslim north Caucasus. The nearby city of Sochi will host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

Oil falls below $64

SINGAPORE: Oil prices fell below $64 a barrel Friday in Asia as investors waited to see how much OPEC will cut output quotas amid plunging prices and weakening global crude demand.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell $4.21 to $63.63 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by late afternoon in Singapore. The contract overnight rose $1.09 to settle at $67.84.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which accounts for 40 percent of global oil supply, is poised to lower production quotas at an emergency meeting in Vienna later Friday. The question for investors is how much crude will the cartel take off an oil market reeling from a global economic slowdown.

"With so many economies in trouble, OPEC has to be careful not to kill off crude demand" said Peter McGuire, managing director at investment firm Commodity Warrants Australia in Sydney. He expects a cut between 1 million and 1.5 million barrels a day.

Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said Friday a cut of 2 million barrels a day would stabilize prices that have fallen more than 50 percent since peaking in mid-July. Libyan oil chief Shokri Ghanem told reporters that OPEC needed to make a "huge cut."

Ali Naimi, oil minister of OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia, declined to say how big a cut his country supported.

OPEC's need to boost prices may be tempered by a stronger dollar, which has surged in recent weeks and bolstered the group's income. The euro fell to $1.2519 on Friday from $1.2895 on Thursday.

"The saving grace for OPEC may be that the dollar has risen so much in the last month." McGuire said. "But if prices fall below $60, I would expect OPEC to make another cut in December."

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 4.3 cents to $1.9865 a gallon, while gasoline prices fell 6.5 cents to $1.5125 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery was down 4.1 cents at $6.378 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, December Brent crude was down $3.40 to $62.52 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Lawson, Naghmi sacked from PCB

Lahore: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sacked its coach Geoff Lawson, reported ARY OneWorld on Friday.

Also, Chief Operating Officier Shafqat Naghmi has been dismissed from his office. Salim Altaf has been appointed as Director General PCB. Altaf will, for the time being, function as the Chief Operating Officer as well.

Salim Altaf is currently having a meeting with former test cricketer Javed Miandad, who is expected to assume PCB responsibilities.

Earlier, the newly appointed PCB chief Ejaz Butt described national team coach Geoff Lawson as ''useless'' but allowed the Australian to complete his two-year contract.

''Lawson is a useless man. But there is no use removing him now and we will allow him to complete his contract which will not be renewed,'' Butt told mediapersons.

Since Butt took charge earlier this month he questioned the performance of the former Australian Test paceman.

''Although we don't think he has delivered as we expected but he will complete his contract,'' Butt said.

Lawson, who joined the Pakistan team in July 2007 after the untimely death of Bob Woolmer during the World Cup in Jamaica, has had a troubled relationship some board officials.

Pakistani stocks, rupee end flat

KARACHI: Pakistani rupee and stocks ended flat on Friday as the markets awaited clarity on foreign inflows or financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund , dealers said.

Pakistan is facing a balance-of-payments crisis and is expected to get IMF help although the prime minister's top adviser on economic affairs said on Thursday Pakistan had not yet formally asked for an IMF facility.

Total foreign reserves, including those held by commercial banks, have fallen sharply from a high of $16.5 billion in October last year, and stood at $7.32 billion on Oct. 18, of which the central bank accounted for $4.04 billion.

The central bank's reserves represented about one-and-a-half months of import cover.

The rupee was quoted closing at 81.40/50, unchanged from Thursday's close. Dealers said there were some import payments but some hidden inflow of dollars kept the rupee steady.

Currency dealers have suspected some central bank intervention to support the rupee over the past week and though the bank generally declines to comment, it said on Monday it had stepped in to help support the currency.

Despite the expected negotiations with the IMF, the rupee was likely to weaken in the short-term, a dealer said.

"The fundamentals have not changed and until we see foreign inflows the rupee will probably weaken," said a currency dealer.

The rupee has lost 24.3 percent against the dollar this year.

Like most emerging economies, Pakistan was badly hit by soaring global oil and food prices over the past year, but the new government's economic troubles were exacerbated by the failure of the previous administration to cut fuel subsidies.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Wednesday Pakistan had requested financial help and talks on a loan programme would begin soon.

But the prime minister's top economic adviser, Shaukat Tarin, later said no formal request had been made to the IMF to help fill a a financing gap of between $3.5 billion and $4.5 billion.

The country had 15 to 30 days to find cash and it was still hoping for help from other lenders, including friendly governments, he said, while adding the country had to be prepared for any possibility.

IMF and Pakistani officials have been holding talks in Dubai this week.

Tarin said on Tuesday Pakistan needed $10 billion to $15 billion of support from foreign lenders to cover its current account financing gap and undertake economic adjustments over the next two years.

The main index on the Karachi Stock Exchange ended flat at 9,182.88 points. The index has fallen almost 35 percent this year but has been propped up by a floor since late August.

The floor is due to be removed on Oct. 27.

The stock market regulator said on Wednesday it had approved a 20 billion rupee fund being set up by the government to support share prices when the floor is removed.

The fund will invest in seven state-owned entities.

Directors of Pakistan's three stock exchanges are due to meet officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Investment Trust , which will handle the fund, on Friday to discuss ways to ensure a smooth removal of the floor.

An exchange official said four government entities, the NIT, National Bank of Pakistan, Employees Old Age Benefit and State Life Insurance would contribute 5 billion rupees each to the 20 billion rupees fund.

Hu opens Asia-Europe summit

BEIJING: Chinese President Hu Jintao has said Chinese economy faces an uncertain situation due to the international economic meltdown.

He was addressing the inaugural session of the Asia-Europe summit at the Great Hall of the Peoples here.

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in his address said that the global economic crisis is rapidly spreading posing threats to the world economic output.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is representing Pakistan in the moot.

Twenty-seven European and 16 Asian leaders have reached Beijing to attend the Asia-Europe dialogue over the deepening global economic crisis.

Karachi: 57th city of the Globe

By Abu Afifa : The AT Kearney's Global Cities Index, which provides a ranking of the leading global cities around the world has ranked Karachi as the world's 57th most global city.

The Index rated Karachi 52nd for information exchange, 55th for political engagement and 56th in the doing business category.

But Pakistan's commercial hub was relatively low in the human capital and cultural experience lists, ranking 57th and 59th respectively.

Overall Karachi ranked ahead of Banglore (58) and Kolkata (60) .

The Global Cities Index, highlights the fact that no city dominates in all areas, suggesting that there is no such thing as a perfect global city. However, a few came close.

For 2008, the index ranked 60 cities from 40 countries. New York emerged as the number one global city this year, followed by London, Paris, and Tokyo. The Big Apple beat other global powerhouses largely on the back of its financial markets, through the networks of its multinationals and by the strength of its diverse creative class, says the study, developed by AT Kearney, Foreign Policy magazine, and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Buoyed by their strong financial links, Hong Kong and Singapore finished fifth and seventh, respectively. Chicago's strong human capital performance sent it to eighth spot. What's more, several strong performers are emerging from some of the formerly closed societies: Beijing (12), Moscow (19) and Shanghai (20). Dubai (27) is fast catching up too.

Methodology

By measuring cities’ international presence, we can get an accurate picture of globalization — the workings of the interconnected world. The index ranks cities on 24 metrics across five dimensions:

Business activity – Fortune Global 500 headquarters and Top 40 business service firms, size of stock and commodities markets, flow of goods, industry conferences

Human capital – data on top universities, international students, inhabitants with university degrees, size of foreign-born population, primary and secondary international schools

Information exchange – bureaus of global publications, coverage of international news, broadband penetration

Cultural experience – international visitors, performing arts venues, international shows and sporting events, diversity and quality of culinary scene

Political engagement – embassies, consulates, international organizations, think tanks, international policy conferences, and sister-city arrangements, investment promotion agencies and NGOs.

ATC adjourns hearing of Marriott attack case

RAWALPINDI: An Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) adjourned the hearing of the “Marriott Hotel suicide attack case” till October 31st. The court extended the physical remand of the four accused in the Friday hearing.

The accused were presented before the court today under stringent security.

The Police arrested the four accused who were allegedly involved in the September 20 suicide attack on Marriott Hotel, Islamabad in which dozens were killed and wounded.

Senate session starts

ISLAMABAD: Senate session started here Friday at the Parliament House with recitation of verses from the Holy Quran. Chairman Senate Mohammadmian Soomro was in the chair.

In the very onset, Soomro announced the panel of chairmen including senators, Dr Babar Awan, Azam Swati and Prof. Ibrahim Khan. They would chair the session in the absence ofthe Chairman in the order of precedence.

Meanwhile, the Business Advisory Committee of the Upper House of the Parliament met here under the Chairmanship of Muhammedmian Soomro. Parliamentary leaders and representatives of all political parties having representation in the Senate attended the meeting.

Senator Ilyas Bilour of the Awami National Party (ANP), while talking to state news agency, said that the meeting decided that the House would conduct discussion on the President Asif Ali Zardari's address to the Joint Session of the Parliament. The House would also discuss the prevailing law and order situation across country, he added.

Minister for Law Farooq H. Naek, Senator Raza Rabbani of PPP, Nisar Memon of PML-Q, Haji Muhammad Adeel of ANP, Ilyas Bilour of ANP, Rehmatullah Kakar of
JUI-F, Prof. Khurshid Ahmed of MMA, Syed Akbar Shah and Israrullah Zehri of BNP, and Shahid Hassan Bugti of Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) also attended the meeting, said Ilyas Bilour

Gilani to meet Manmohan today

BEIJING: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh are scheduled to meet today (Friday) on the sideline of Asia-Europe Summit Meeting here.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani Friday laid foundation stone of the Pak-China Friendship Complex here. The prime minister also announced Rs. 100 million grant for the complex.

Prime Minister Gilani visited the Pakistan embassy building in Beijing.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani also met Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmed Badawi and exchanged views over bilateral trade and investment.

According to a senior official it would be an important informal meeting between the two Asian leaders in which they would review in detail the progress being made to promote bilateral affairs and cooperation to resolve the disputes including Kashmir.

The two leaders are likely to meet at the Great Hall of the People after the opening session of the summit.

Pervez Ashraf chairs key meeting on power crisis

ISLAMABAD: A key meeting on the power crisis and new power tariffs was in progress in Islamabad on Friday with Federal Minister of Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf in chair.

The representatives of the ministries of finance, water and power, Nepra and other stake holders were attending the meeting.

The parliamentarians of various political parties are also attending the meeting.

The committee headed by the Minister of Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf will submit its recommendations to the prime minister within 10 days.

BHC adjourns case against Akhtar Mengal

QUETTA: The Balochistan High Court on Friday adjourned the last criminal quashment application filed by BNP-M leader Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal and the other party and BSO leaders challenging the FIR registered against them on the charge of treason.

The case was fixed before a single bench headed by Chief Justice Amanullah Khan Yasinzai who was out of station and did not hear the petitions, applications and appeals which were fixed for hearing before him.

Sardar Akhtar Mengal and other BNP-M and BSO leaders Abdul Rauf Mengal, Habib Jalib advocate, Muhiddin Baloch, Amanullah Baloch, Jahanzeb Jamaldini, Jahanzeb Baloch, Nazeer Ahmed Baloch and Shafi Muhammad Baloch filed a joint criminal quashment application challenging the FIR No 80/2004 Panjgur.

The applicants stated that the SHO police station Panjgur had registered the case with treason charges on mala fide grounds after their addressing the public gathering at FC ground in Panjgur on June 9, 2004.

They said that they had not delivered any speech against the government or state and pleaded to the court to quash the FIR No. 80/2004 registered with Panjgur police station.

Eight militants killed in Indian northeast

GUWAHATI: At least eight suspected separatists have been killed in shootouts with security forces in India's restive northeastern state of Manipur, police said Friday.

Five of the militants belonged to the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), a rebel group fighting for an independent homeland for the majority Metei community in Manipur, which borders Myanmar, a police spokesman said.

The KCP had claimed responsibility for a powerful explosion on Tuesday in the state capital Imphal in which 17 people were killed and more than 30 wounded.

Police did not reveal the identities of the other suspected militants killed on Thursday.

More than 19 militant groups are active in Manipur, a state of 2.4 million people in India's remote northeast region.

Nearly 10,000 people have died in insurgency-related violence in the state in the past two decades.

Bombs injure 16 in Bogota

BOGOTA: At least 16 people were injured when six home-made bombs went off inside trash cans in Bogota during a protest march by thousands of civil servants, police here said.

The nearly simultaneous explosions occurred in residential neighborhoods near the German and Peruvian embassies, a branch of US Citibank and outside a McDonalds, Bogota police chief Rodolfo Palomino told reporters.

He said a passenger bus had also been set on fire Thursday near the El Dorado airport, and that so far there were no clues as to the culprits of the crimes.

He said the bombs injured 16 people, but that "nobody was seriously hurt."

"They were low-powered, home-made bombs that make lots of noise but little damage," another police spokesman said.

United Workers Union leader Tarsicio Mora condemned the bombings, calling them "acts of terror that seek to undermine the social protest movement and peaceful demonstrations."

The bombs went off as thousands of civil servants on a 24-hour strike demonstrated in central Bogota in support a two-week-long protest by thousands of indigenous people in southern Colombia against President Alvaro Uribe's administration.

Their chief demand is that the government return ancestral land they deem was taken illegally from indigenous communities over the past 15 years.

Three Indians were killed by gunfire in clashes with police in southern Cauca department earlier this month, with the government disputing reports that riot police fired the fatal shots.

NY clears path for Bloomberg re-election

NEW YORK: New York's City Council voted in favor of extending term limits Thursday, opening the way for Mayor Michael Bloomberg to stay in office.

The council narrowly passed the bill by 29 votes to 22 after a heated debate. This means that Bloomberg, who ends his second term next year, will be able to seek re-election.

Bush not hurt by McCain attacks

ASHINGTON: US President George W. Bush does not take it personally when fellow Republican and White House hopeful John McCain levels increasingly fierce attacks on his policies, Bush's spokeswoman said Thursday.

"I'm not going to comment on the words that our candidate chooses to use. All I'll say is that the president stands by his policies. He also stands by John McCain," Dana
Perino told reporters.

Asked whether Bush, the target of tough criticisms from his chosen successor in a newly published interview, takes such broadsides personally, Perino replied: "No,
he doesn't."

McCain blasted the vastly unpopular president in an interview for piling up trillions of dollars in national debt, abusing executive powers, and the early conduct of the war in Iraq.

"We just let things get completely out of hand," McCain said of his own Republican party's rule in the past eight years.

"The president believes that Republican congresses got a lot more done than the current Democrat-led congress. He supports John McCain, and he still believes that he can and should win. And he'll continue to support him until election day," said Perino.

NKorea extracted 30.8 kg of plutonium: report

EOUL: North Korea has told China, chair of six-party disarmament talks, it had extracted a total of 30.8 kilograms (68 pounds) of plutonium from its Yongbyon nuclear complex, a report said Friday.

A newspaper quoted an unidentified diplomatic source as saying that the North made the disclosure when it submitted a report on its nuclear facilities and fissile materials to China in June.

Of the 30.8 kilos of plutonium, it used two kilos for its first nuclear test in October 2006 and the rest for "developing nuclear weapons," the daily said.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan told the National Assembly on Wednesday that the communist state might have produced between six and eight nuclear weapons, calling the number an "estimate."

North Korea this month broadly resumed disabling its weapons-grade nuclear programme following a deal that revived the troubled six-party negotiations, US officials said.

Three militants killed in Afghanistan

KABU0L: The U.S.-led coalition says its troops have killed three insurgents and detained four others during a raid in eastern Afghanistan.

The coalition says in a statement they killed the insurgents after a firefight in Paktika province on Thursday.

The statement says they were targeting an insurgent leader involved in facilitating the movement of foreign fighters and weapons throughout eastern Afghanistan.

There has been a spike in violence in Afghanistan this year, with the number of attacks 30 percent higher compared to 2007.

Oil prices higher in Asia

SINGAPORE: Oil rose in Asian trade Friday amid expectations OPEC will cut production at an emergency meeting in Vienna, but falling global demand should limit any price increase, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, climbed 50 cents to 68.34 dollars a barrel from its close in the United States on Thursday.

Brent North Sea crude for December delivery was 58 cents higher at 66.50 dollars. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), meeting in Vienna on Friday, is set to announce a cut to oil output in a bid to shore up prices, which have been plunging as fears of a global recession hit demand.

Shoaib Akhtar case: Hearing adjourned till Nov 17

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court here on Friday has adjourned the hearing of Shoaib Akhtar’s case up to Noveember 17.

The case of the 18-month ban and Rs7 million fine imposed on Shoaib Akhtar was heard in the courtroom of the chief justice Lahore High Court Syed Zahid Hussain.

Syed Tafazzul Rizvi from the Pakistan Cricket Board and on behalf of Shoaib Akhtar, his lawyer Abid Minto appeared in the court.

The court disposed off the PCB petition regarding the fine on Shoaib Akhtar in a brief hearing and it will hear the basic case of Shoaib’s ban and the fine on November 17.

Obama set to dash to sick grandmother

WASHINGTON: Front-runner Barack Obama was Thursday set to quit the White House trail for Hawaii and an emotional reunion with his gravely ill 85-year-old grandmother, just 12 days before the election.

Ailing Madelyn Dunham raised the 47-year-old Obama for much of his childhood, and is his sole remaining link with his tight-knit family after his mother died of cancer more than a decade ago.

The Democratic nominee's compassionate leave comes with Republican John McCain searching for a sudden lurch in momentum and new polls showing Obama well positioned in the vital battleground states set to decide the election.

Obama told CBS that he decided to make the exhausting journey across the Pacific to see Dunham -- nicknamed "Toot" -- despite the crush of campaign events as he "got there too late" when his mother, Ann Dunham died.

"We knew that she wasn't doing well but, you know, the diagnosis was such where we thought we had a little more time and we didn't. And so I want to make sure that I don't -- I don't make the same mistake twice," Obama said.

"My grandmother's the last one left. She has really been the rock of the family, the foundation of the family. Whatever strength, discipline that I have, it comes from her," Obama said.

Dunham is reportedly suffering from a broken hip and generally failing health, though the campaign has not given details of her condition.

The Democratic nominee held a morning rally in midwestern Indiana, a key swing state before flying 11 hours through the night to his native state. He was due to return to the trail in Nevada on Saturday.

Obama's mercy mission comes as he leads his rival McCain in the latest surveys of the key battlegrounds.

The Democrat's absence, unprecedented this close to election day, may give McCain the chance to grab the limelight as he searches for a way to suddenly shift the momentum of a race that seems to be slipping away.

But Obama's place will be filled by wife Michelle and the campaign will use some of its mammoth multi-million dollar financial advantage over McCain to saturate the airwaves with Obama ads.

A new sheaf of polls in battleground states by Quinnipiac University cast sharp doubt on McCain's prospects.

Obama led the Republican in Florida by 49 to 44 percent, compared to a 51-43 percent lead in the last survey October 1, and in another key state Pennsylvania by 53-40 percent, compared to 54-39 percent last time.

McCain lost ground in Ohio, often the decisive state in presidential elections, where Obama leads 52-38 percent, expanding his lead of 50-42 percent at the beginning of this month.

No candidate has been elected president since 1960 without taking two of these three largest swing states in the US electoral college.

"To overcome Senator Obama's lead in Ohio, Senator McCain would have to get virtually every voter who remains undecided plus almost all of the Obama supporters who said they still might change their minds," said Quinnipiac assistant director of polling Peter Brown.

McCain set off on a bus tour through key parts of Florida Thursday dedicated to "Joe the Plumber," the Ohio tradesman who has become an emblem for his claims that Obama wants to hike taxes.

"Senator Obama is more interested in controlling who gets your piece of the pie than he is in growing the pie," McCain told supporters at a rally in Ormond.

"In this country we believe in spreading opportunity for those whose create jobs and those who need them."

But Obama charged here that McCain wanted to offer tax breaks to huge US corporations he blamed for shipping jobs overseas.

"My opponent may call that "fundamental economics" but we know that's just another name for the Wall Street first, Main Street last economic philosophy we've had for the past eight years -- and that's fundamentally wrong."

Some recent polls have suggested the race in Florida, ground zero for the 2000 election debacle, is very close, and could be narrowing in the Republican's favor.

Countrywide protests against load-shedding, inflated bills

LAHORE: The continuous power outages and inflated bills have triggered protests across the country on Thursday.

In Lahore, traders staged protest rally on Mall Road against prolonged load-shedding and power tariff hike. The protestors were carrying placards and banners printed with slogans against load-shedding and over-billing.

Enraged protestors chanted slogans against the Wapda and burnt electricity bills on Mall Road after staging a sit-in.

Meanwhile, people protested against the frequent power cuts in Kor Gothri area of Peshawar. Meanwhile, prolonged power outages prompted the residents of Kor Gothri to take to streets. They complained about the grave hardships faced by the local residents due to excessive load shedding. The protestors burnt the electricity bills as well.

Citizens, business community and lawyers took out a rally from Sadiqabad Chowk to DCO office in protest against the ongoing power crisis in Rahimyar Khan. They chanted anti-government slogans.

Speaking on this occasion, President of trade bodies, Mian Abdul Khaliq said that they would not pay the electricity bills and announce to get a stay order from the court in this regard. He further announced that a shutter down strike would be observed on Saturday.

The trade unions of twin cities have announced that traders will not pay inflated bills until unless government sends the revised bills by November 5 while restoring the old power tariff.