More Americans favour Democrats over Republicans: Poll

NEW YORK, Oct. 8: More than half of Americans want the opposition Democrats to win control of the US Congress during mid-term polls, according to a new survey.

Fifty-three percent of those surveyed would like to see the Democrats win a majority in Congress in the November 7 polls, the latest Newsweek poll shows.

And while the race is closer among male voters (46 per cent for the Democrats vs. 42 per cent for Republicans), the Democrats lead among women voters 56 to 34 percent.

For the first time since 2001, more Americans also trust the Democratss than Republicans on moral values, a traditional Republican forte, the poll said.

"A plurality of Americans, 42 per cent, now say they trust Democrats to do a better job of handling moral values; 36 per cent say they trust Republicans more," the poll found.

President George W Bush’s approval rating has also fallen to a new all-time low for the Newsweek poll: 33 per cent, down from an already anemic 36 per cent in August.

Only 25 per cent of Americans are satisfied with the direction of the country, while 67 per cent say they are not. Foley’s scandal certainly plays a role in Republican unpopularity: 27 percent of registered voters say the scandal and how the Republican leadership n the House handled it makes them less likely to vote for a Republican Congressional candidate; but 65 percent say it won’t make much difference in determining how they vote.

Americans are equally divided over whether or not Speaker Hastert should resign over mishandling the situation (43 percent say he should, but 36 percent say he shouldn’t). or the first time in a newsweek poll, a majority of Americans said they believe the Bush administration knowingly misled the American people in building its case for war against Saddam Hussein: 58 percent vs. 36 percent who believe it didn’t.

And pessimism over Iraq is at record highs on every score: nearly two in three Americans, 64 per cent, believe the United States is losing ground there; 66 per cent say the war has not made America safer from terrorism (just 29 per cent believe it has); and 53 per cent believe it was a mistake to go to war, again the first time the poll has registered a majority in that camp. (PTI)

Labour peer to resign from committee over loan scandal

LONDON, Oct 8: In an action likely to embarrass British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a member of the government is set to resign from Labour's key fundraising committee because of the cash for honours scandal and the way loans were concealed, a report said today.

Lord Evans, who was given a peerage by Blair, is said to be "extremely unhappy" that the committee responsible for vetting donors was by-passed by Blair and Lord Levy, his chief fundraiser. Evans's resignation would be the first since the scandal was revealed by the Sunday Times earlier this year.

Lord Evans was quoted by the newspaper today saying the 1.4 million pounds loans from 12 businessmen were not disclosed to the committee, which was established by Blair as part of his pledge to be "whiter than white".

Evens, a government whip in the Lords, said "none of these loans were ever discussed in the committee. There was obviously a different route."

The report said he will ask to stand down from the committee before the next meeting because he feels it has been undermined. The disclosure comes as detectives consider whether to interview Blair under caution in the inquiry.

Labour's fundraising committee was created as the party's own ethical watchdog to stop allegations of "cash for favours".

Evans is said to be unhappy that the committee in effect became a "smokescreen" by creating an impression of openness when, in fact, loans were being secretly raised. (PTI)

Pepper prices to get hotter; chilli may cool down

MUMBAI, Oct 8: Pepper prices are likely to rise further in the domestic commodity market with supply failing to meet the consumption needs, while chilli prices may cool down after a sharp rally in the recent past, the analysts believe.

The upward price trend for various spices over the past two months has helped farmers in getting good rates for their products at the mandis, the traders said.

"The rapid rise in pepper prices in last two-three months is due to demand-supply mismatch as the global production this year is less," Anand Rathi Commodities analyst Santosh Jhanwar said.

Speculations in the futures market have also flared up the pepper prices, he added.

Pepper prices have jumped more than 20 per cent in the past two months. The January 2007 contract futures rate for the spice rose to Rs 140.20 per kg on October 6, from Rs 115.64 on July 31.

The global pepper production is projected to decline by 9 per cent to 285,000 tonnes this year, according to the Indonesia-based International Pepper Community.

However, the consumption is growing at a rate of 3.46 per cent per year, IPC said.

Meanwhile, chilli prices are likely top further cool down as the analysts consider the recent surge primarily driven by the speculations in the commodity market.

Chilli futures rate for October contract is weak and the prices are likely to come down further, Jhanwar said. (PTI)

Second British minister plunges into Muslim veil row

LONDON, Oct 8: A second Government minister waded into Britain's simmering spat on Muslim women wearing a veil, warning that they risked provoking "fear and resentment".

Communities Minister Phil Woolas urged Muslims to show understanding for the views of non-Muslims who found the veil "frightening and intimidating", in an article for the 'Sunday Mirror' newspaper.

Woolas -- whose responsibilities include community cohesion, race and faith -- backed former foreign secretary Jack Straw's decision to trigger the debate, which has raged since Thursday.

"It can be hard to tell whether women wear the veil as an expression of their faith or because they are compelled to do so," Woolas said.

"Most British-born Muslims who wear it, do so as an assertion of their identity and religion. This can create fear and resentment among non-Muslims and lead to discrimination.

"Muslims then become even more determined to assert their identity, and so it becomes a vicious circle where the only beneficiaries are racists like the British National Party."

The issue of integrating Britain's 1.65 million Muslims has been high on the political agenda since the deadly July 2005 London bombings, perpetrated by British Islamic extremists.

Straw, now responsible for arranging government business, had said the veil made it harder for Muslims to integrate and that he preferred talking to constituents face to face, often asking Muslim women to remove their veils. (AFP)

Indian worker under chains rescued in Bahrain

DUBAI, Oct 8: An Indian worker, who was kept in chains and locked up by his sponsor in a room for nearly 24 hours in Bahrain, was rescued by Indian embassy officials, a media report said today.

Dharmarasan Sengottai, 24, hailing from Tamil Nadu came to Bahrain two years ago after paying BD1,250 for a tailor's visa.

According to his sponsor, the shop owner, Sengottai ran away few months after arriving in Bahrain and as his visa had expired on September 21 this year the sponsor wanted to send him back to India.

"I kept him chained because I feared he might escape through the air-conditioner hole in the room," Gulf Daily News quoted the shop owner as saying.

"I was also hoping that if I kept him for a while, another Indian man who had run away with him would try to contact him and I could catch both of them and send them back," he added. The sponsor was planning to deport him today.

Following an anonymous tip-off at around 6.30 pm yesterday, an embassy official along with Co-ordination Committee of Indian Associations general secretary John Iype rushed to the building in A'Ali where Sengottai was reportedly kept locked up.

"We called the Isa Town Police Station who arrived soon and made the sponsor open the door," said Ipe.

Meanwhile, a critically ill Indian man is stranded in Bahrain because his sponsor is demanding BD600 to withdraw an allegedly bogus runaway case against him.

Neroth Chathu, aged 51, is being treated at the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) for kidney failure.

He arrived in Bahrain in 2000 and in 2002 his sponsor agreed he could go home, provided he paid the sponsor BD70 and bought his own air ticket. (PTI)

Indonesian Muslims angered by Danish Muhammad broadcast

JAKARTA, Oct 8: A video lampooning the Prophet Muhammad broadcast in Denmark has angered groups in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation.

The video, filmed in August, was made by members of the far-right Danish People's Party.

"In Islam, death is the penalty for insulting the Prophet Muhammad, visually through a caricature or verbally, except if the doer regrets his deed and promises not to repeat it," said Fausan Al Ansori, a spokesman for the hardline Indonesian Muhajehdin Council.

He added: "Danish authorities should think seriously, are they going to defend, in the name of human rights, one or two of its citizens who clearly insulted the Prophet Muhammad, and sacrifice its relations with the Islamic world?"

The Danish embassy in Jakarta had to close down for weeks in February following angry protests over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published in the European nation and reprinted elsewhere.

Muslims consider all images of the Prophet to be blasphemous.

"I remind the Danish government, do not provoke (us). If the government of Denmark cannot maintain harmony, it will have to bear the risks," said Tifatul Sembiring, the head of the Prosperous Justice Party, in a Detikcom online report.

"A state system should be able to control its citizens. It is very regretful that provocation is repeating itself without the (Danish) government doing anything," Sembiring said.

Amidhan, the chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulema, the country's highest authority on Islam, criticised the caricature of the Prophet. (AFP)

Lepers survive on handouts in Pakistani quake town

BALAKOT, PAKISTAN, Oct 8: Life in the ruined town is bad enough for people who lost their homes in a devastating earthquake a year ago, but for the patients of Balakot's Leprosy Centre it's worse.

The 122-year old centre had served both as sanctuary and a place to get treatment for lepers who came from every corner of northern Pakistan. Now, like the rest of the town, it is a mess of broken walls and concrete rubble.

''For us and many others like us this is home. We have no other place to go,'' rants a frail old man nicknamed ''Chirya'' (Sparrow), waving his bent hands and stubby fingers.

''Even today, in these conservative areas we are looked upon as untouchables,'' says Chirya, who first came with his wife to the centre 50 years ago for treatment and has since made it his home.

About a dozen lepers died in the quake on October 8, 2005, and more than 20 others were injured.

Two dozen patients who have stayed are surviving on handouts from relief agencies. They say the health authorities cut funding after the government declared Balakot a red-zone, barring new construction because it sits on top of a fault line.

The quake destroyed the main hospital building and residential quarters for patients and staff.

The patients now live in donated tents and corrugated sheet shelters while a temporary hall made of wood serves as the main hospital.

''Since this is a red zone, we are in limbo. The centre is not functioning normally and we don't know what is going to happen to this hospital,'' said supervisor Khalid Mahmood.

A German doctor ran the 70-bed hospital until the quake, but she has moved to a leprosy centre in Rawalpindi, the city neighbouring the capital Islamabad.

Some of the patients have gone there too.

The ones who stayed put are pleading for help.

His eyes bloodshot, and his fingers covered in boils, Gul Mohammed insisted on handing a reporter a letter asking President Pervez Musharraf to ease the patients' plight.

Another patient, Ishaq Ali, said: ''I was admitted to the hospital seven years ago after my family neglected me. The German doctor took very good care, but now we are totally homeless.'' (AGENCIES)

China in secret bid for super-fast gun: company official

SYDNEY, Oct 8: An Australian company developing a revolutionary super-fast weapons system has been approached secretly by China in an attempt to secure the technology, the company said today.

The weapon, with an electronic firing mechanism which enables it to fire at a rate of up to a million rounds a minute, is partly funded by the United States and Australian Governments, a Metal Storm Ltd executive said.

"The company confirms that it has received phone calls from a particular individual who it turns out was acting on behalf of the Chinese," chief operating officer Ian Gillespie told AFP.

Confirmation of the approach comes after inventor Mike O'Dwyer told Australia's Nine Network television last week that the Chinese military had offered him more than 100 million US dollars to move to Beijing.

O'Dwyer, who left the publicly-listed company some two years ago, said China had been pursuing the technology for several years.

He said a Chinese official told him in a telephone call in which the 100 million dollars were offered: "We don't need any Metal Storm weapons, we don't need any of the paperwork, none of that.

"What we want is you. We want you and your family in Beijing."

O'Dwyer said he refused the offer and informed the Australian Government, which has invested some 10 million US dollars in the project. (AFP)

Indian beaten up in UAE

DUBAI, Oct 8: An Indian man was badly beaten and assaulted by unidentified group of people here.

Kummath Keshvan Biju, a 33-year-old computer operator, said he was chased and beaten by a gang of unruly youth in the Satwa area here while he was on his way to office on October 1.

"I have no idea why I was roughed up. I was walking across the road when these youth attacked me with sticks and stones," he was quoted as saying today in Gulf Today.

Biju, who took refuge with some Indians living nearby, said, "It was only after the intervention of a few women living in the villa that those youth ran away. They hit me on my face, shoulder and other parts before vanishing."

He had to undergo two operations on his jaw and nose before he was discharged from hospital on Friday. (PTI)

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