Tokyo - Mazda Motor Corp saw its net profit fall 45 per cent during the July-to-September quarter to 14.5 billion yen (147 million dollars) because of the yen's rise and the higher costs of raw materials, the company said Thursday.

The Japanese automaker reported operating profits of 32.4 billion yen during the second quarter, down 20 per cent from the same period a year ago, and sales of 803.7 billion yen, down 5 per cent year-on-year.

For the full year through March 31, Mazda revised its profit projections downward. It now expects net profit to drop 28.6 per cent from an earlier estimate to 50 billion yen, and operating profit to fall 21.7 per cent to 90 billion yen.

Washington, Oct 30 : A leading pollster in the US has said that Republican presidential nominee John McCain can’t bank upon the undecided voters, as in the past elections undecided voters had not swayed decisively for either candidate.

The pool of undecided voters on Election Day could be as large as one in 10, but John McCain can hardly rely on them to overtake Barack Obama, he said.

According to politico. com, in the past eight presidential elections, voters who made up their minds during the last week of the campaign never went for either ticket by large margins of 3-2 or 2-1, which potentially could tip the scales.

Sao Paolo - The 2008 Formula One season reaches its thrilling conclusion with the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos this weekend when Lewis Hamilton of McLaren-Mercedes and Ferrari's Felipe Massa battle it out for the drivers' world championship crown.

Hamilton needs just a fifth place finish to ensure he goes into the record books as the youngest ever F1 champion while Massa requires a win or second spot, and must also rely on his rival finishing outside the top five, to become the first Brazilian since

Ayrton Senna in 1991 to take the title.

Meanwhile, in the constructors championship, Ferrari hold a healthy 11-point lead over McLaren with BMW-Sauber a further 10 pints adrift.

Dhaka - Bangladesh's Supreme Court on Thursday denied bail in a graft case to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, now paroled for medical treatment abroad.

A five-member Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice MM Ruhul Amin passed the order during a hearing into the case filed by a businessman last year.

Rome - Schools in Italy remained closed Thursday as teachers went on strike over controversial education reforms adopted by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government.

Thousands of students, parents and teachers joined protest marches organized by the country's major labour unions in several cities.

Leaders of the centre-left opposition which is supporting the strike also joined the protest marches.

Around mid-morning, a crowd began moving from Rome's Piazza Repubblica square towards the central Piazza del Popolo square where the protest was set to culminate with speeches by leaders of the main CGIL, CISL and UIl unions.

Milan - Napoli are set to show no respect for giants AC Milan when they visit them late Sunday looking to retain the top spot in a surprising Serie A season.

The leading duo of Napoli and Udinese, who boast a better goal difference, have 20 points from nine games after convincing wins against Reggina and Catania in a midweek round, with Milan trailing on 19.

Champions Inter Milan welcome bottom side Reggina Saturday, but have been the least convincing among the top teams as two consecutive scoreless draw saw them lose a top spot they grew accustomed to in the past two seasons.