London, October 29: A British man’s doctors were puzzled to see that his skin turned orange after drinking too much of cider, and still he survived the condition.

Forty-seven-year-old Michael Stenning, who spent three weeks at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, began drinking more than four litres of cider a day after losing his job as a courier.

His friends convinced him to seek medical attention after his skin began to change colour.

Doctors at the hospital were “amazed” to see that he was still surviving.

"It was a miracle. I have never seen someone as sick as him leave the hospital alive," the Telegraph quoted Dr. Sumita Verma, who researches alcoholic hepatitis, as saying.

Gaza - A ship loaded with international pro-Palestinian activists intent on breaking Israel's blockade of the coastal salient docked in Gaza Wednesday morning, despite a vow by Israeli officials not to let the vessel enter the enclave's territorial waters.

"The Dignity", with 27 people on board, including Western human- rights activists, peace activists, journalists, and European and Palestinian lawmakers, moored at 8 am 
(0600 GMT), officials in naval police force of Hamas, who control the territory, said.

The boat left Cyprus on Tuesday and the activists plan to remain in the Strip for four days, Jamal al-Khodary, the head of Gaza-based Popular Committee Against the Siege, said.

Washington, Oct 29: With Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama expected to win the Nov 4 poll, his rival John McCain’s campaign managers are learnt to have now adopted a “damage limitation strategy” while privately conceding defeat.

The Republican National Committee has bought advertising in Montana and West Virginia, states won by George W Bush in 2000 and
2004, after their polling indicated John McCain could be heading for a defeat.

Record turnouts and hours-long waits at most of Florida’s 267 early voting sites, led the state’s Governor Charlie Crist to issue an executive order to extend early voting hours statewide to 12 hours a day, declaring that a “state of emergency” exists.

Crist invoked the state’s Elections Emergency Act during his announcement Tuesday afternoon, saying: “I have a responsibility to the voters of our state to ensure that the maximum number of citizens can participate in the electoral process, and that every person can exercise the right to vote.”

Almost immediately after beginning her evening speech at Shippensburg University in central Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Sarah Palin attacked Barrack Obama trying to peg him as a “socialist”, using an interview Obama did with Chicago Public Radio in 2001. Palin claimed that Obama - a former constitutional law professor - favors allowing the judiciary to seize property and personal income in order to “spread the wealth around.”

London, Oct 29: Veteran Argentine football great Diego Maradona has reportedly been offered to coach his national side, but he is expected to iron out a few minor issues before accepting the position.

He said the offer had attracted him a lot.

“The offer has attracted me a lot. As soon as it is confirmed, I will start working, but I can say I am very proud. We have to keep talking. There are some things to resolve. This is just beginning,” The Sun quoted him as saying.