Vatican City - In a new Vatican exhibition, Pope Pius XII's more mundane belongings - his heavily-worn shoes and portable typewriter - have gone on show, along with World War II-era radio transcripts in which he purportedly denounced totalitarian rule, including Nazism.

"The purpose is to allow the general public to get to know the full life of Pope Eugenio Pacelli (Pius XII)," Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences President Walter Brandmueller, told reporters, Monday.

"In part it serves to counter some of the malign interpretations that try to cast a shadow on the figure of Pope Pacelli," he added.

Chicago, Illinois - As Chicago braced for a throng of 1 million people at a public park in anticipation of Democrat Barack Obama's victory Tuesday, Republicans Monday were wishing them bad weather and a cliff-hanger election.

"I hope the million or so people who are planning to gather in Chicago have a long, cold night," quipped Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who lost his Republican bid for the presidential nomination to Senator John McCain.

New Delhi, Nov 3 : The Election Commission has appointed 530 officers as Observers to supervise the election process of Legislative assemblies of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Rajasthan.

The Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami and Election Commissioners Navin B Chawla and Dr. S. Y. Quarishi briefed these officers in New Delhi on Monday to ensure quick redressal of complaints that are received from political parties and candidates from these states.

Paris - If the informal straw poll at Harry's New York Bar in Paris is a reliable indicator, as it has been most of the time, Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States.

On Monday, one day before polling at Harry's Bar closes, the Democratic candidate had a lead of 248 to 154 votes, or 61.6 to 38.4 per cent, over his opponent, Republican John McCain.

Kabul - A group of unknown gunmen abducted a French aid worker Monday in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and shot dead an Afghan driver who tried to rescue him, police said.

The Frenchman was kidnapped as he was walking to his office with a colleague, said Zemarai Bashary, an interior ministry spokesman.

The two men, who were working with a nongovernmental organization in the country, were walking to their office in the Kart-e-Parwan neighbourhood when three gunmen snatched the Frenchman and took him to an unknown location by car, said a senior police official who requested anonymity.

"An Afghan driver for the intelligence service who tried to stop the abduction was killed by the kidnappers," the official said.

Islamabad - Islamabad on Monday asked the new head of US central command, General David Petraeus, to halt airstrikes inside Pakistan, saying these were harming its efforts to fight international terrorism.

"Continuing drone attacks on our territory, which result in loss of precious lives and property, are counterproductive and difficult to explain by a democratically elected government. It is creating a credibility gap", President Asif Ali Zardari told the commander of US forces in the Middle East and Central Asia.