New York, Sept. 29: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s campaign to wrest the White House from Republican rival John McCain has gathered steam.

Over the past fortnight, the Illinois Senator has managed to narrow McCain’s lead and is now up by as many as six or seven points.

Pollsters say that’s in part because the vital independent voters are now shifting his way.

“There are still a substantial number of independents that are undecided, principally independent women,” says pollster John Zogby.

Vienna - Austrians started casting their ballots for parliament on Sunday, with the social democratic SPOe and the conservative OeVP vying for the top spot to win the chancellorship.

As many Austrians are disappointed in these two parties that had formed a government coalition since early 2007, polls showed that the conservatives were set gain most in the early elections.

Washington - A presidential debate planned to address foreign policy started Friday with a discussion of the ongoing US financial crisis and attempts in Washington to hammer out a rescue plan.

Senator Barack Obama, 47, the nominee of the centre-left Democratic Party, called the current time "a defining moment in our history" with ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

"We have to move swiftly, but we have to move wisely," he said.

Seoul - North Korea has made a surprise proposal to South Korea for military talks, South Korean officials said Friday.

The North Korean side suggested Tuesday as the date for talks on the current working-level military agreements between the two countries, the Defence Ministry in Seoul said.

It was not clear what precisely North Korea wanted to put forward, the national Yonhap news agency reported, quoting an official from the ministry.

South Korea had not as yet responded to the proposal. The intra- Korean dialogue is currently on ice.

The BJP leader seems to be the target for the next terrorist attack. In an e-mail sent to Mr. Advani by Ali Hussain Badr, field Commander of the Indian Mujahideen in the north east has threatened to kill Advani with suicidal bombs if he steps into the state. 

The attacker has held Advani responsible for the Babri Masjid Demolition, the Gujarat Massacre and the recent attacks on Churches in Orissa, Karnataka and some parts of Madhya Pradesh. 

Kabul/Islamabad  - NATO forces in Afghanistan and Pakistani army said on Thursday that their military exchanged fire on the Afghan-Pakistan border, but both sources gave contradictory information about how the firefight was triggered.

The Pakistani army said that its soldiers opened fire on NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) helicopters after the aircraft violated the country's airspace along the border with Afghanistan.