Washington, Nov 4: Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, who is said to be comfortably leading against his Republican rival John McCain in today’s presidential poll, is the favourite among the British bookies too.

This assumes significance as past records show that gamblers had been “more accurate” than pollsters.

According to the Daily Times, placing bets on the outcome of US presidential elections is though barred under the US laws, but British bookmaker Betfair has made Barack Obama an overwhelming 1-7 favourite.

Washington, Nov 3: A new study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has suggested that for working parents, having grandparents as caregivers can cut the risk of childhood injury roughly in half.

In the study, the researchers found that having a grandmother watch a child was associated with a decreased risk of injury for the child, compared to organized daycare or care by the mother or other relatives.

This is the first study to examine the relationship between grandparents'' care and childhood injury rates.

Washington, Nov. 3: Barack Obama and the Democrats hold a commanding position ahead of Tuesday's election, with the Illinois senator leading in states whose electoral votes total nearly 300.

Obama’s Republican rival and Arizona senator John McCain has not been in front in any of the 159 national polls conducted over the past six weeks. His slender hopes for winning the White House now depend on picking up a major Democratic stronghold or fighting off Obama''s raids on most of the five states President Bush won four years ago that now lean toward the Democrat.

He also must hold onto six other states that Bush won in 2004 but are considered too close to call.

Washington, November 3: Ace golfer Greg Norman has revealed that his marriage to ex-tennis champion Chris Evert has been much “better than expected”.

The Aussie pro said, during his wife''s 19th annual Chris Evert/Raymond James Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic in Delray Beach, that it has been a little over four months since he tied the knot, and the marriage had given him much more than he hoped for.

“The marriage is better than I expected. We have a mutual respect for each other, and I love taking her a cup of coffee each morning,” People magazine quoted him as saying.

"We are compatible and like many of the same things,” says Norman, 53. "It is easy to be happy," he added.

Washington, Nov. 3: Congressional Republicans have spent this past weekend scrambling to save their seats in both the House of Representatives and the U. S. Senate ahead of the final vote on Tuesday, reports the New York Post.

With the election imminent, Senate Republicans threw their remaining resources into protecting endangered lawmakers in Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Oregon, while House Republicans were forced to put money into what should be secure Republican territory in Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia and Wyoming.