Poonch (Jammu and Kashmir), Nov 8 : Security has been beefed up in the border district of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir, ahead of the seven-phase polls beginning from November 17.

Soon after the announcement of the election dates, the Election Commission had said that there would be a massive deployment of security forces across the region during the polls.

Around 70 companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been deployed in Poonch District alone.

London, Nov 8 : A film showing Turkey''s founding hero, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, as a frustrated loner and heavy drinker with a smoking habit, has caused an uproar in the country where he is worshipped.

Titled Mustafa, the film was released on the 85th anniversary of the Turkish Republic founded by Ataturk.

Seen by nearly half a million people in its first five days, Mustafa is playing to packed audiences that include busloads of schoolchildren.

But, an apparently human portrayal of the man has upset many in the secularist establishment.

Ataturk is the man who abolished the Islamic Caliphate and set Turkey on the road to modernisation.

London, November 7 : A New Age guru says that success was written in Barack Obama’s name, but he adds that the U. S. President-elect may face an assassination attempt next year.

Laurence Y. Payg says that he has used a 3,000-year-old Chinese technique to study Obama’s destiny, by linking the letters in his name with a numbers grid.

“This adds up to 18 and indicates people naturally go to him with problems and difficulties,” the Daily Star quoted him as saying of how he saw the new hero’s first name ‘Barack’.

Washington, Nov. 8 : An Austrian television commentator has claimed that Barack Obama is unfit to rule because he is black.

Klaus Emmerich declared: “I do not want the western world being directed by a black man. And, if you say this is a racist remark, I say you are damn right it is.”

Emmerich, 80, covered the American presidential campaign for Austria’s state broadcaster ORF – who are refusing to sack him.

Gerard Mortier, new general manager and artistic director of City Opera, who had joined two years ago with great fanfare, and had promised to revolutionize and revitalize opera in New York, has announced his resignation over deep financial problems at the company, saying it is not possible for him to run the company in the current economic climate.  Departing barely after two years, the French born impresario brought impressive credentials to the job, including a successful run at the Paris Opera.

London, Nov 8 : A Brit policeman has been jailed for having sex while on duty with a woman he first met after answering a 999 call.

Pc Gary Bayldon, 48, who was married at that time, regularly visited Donna Cacutt for sex at her home on the Isle of Wight when he was supposed to be on the beat.

It has also been reported that he kept his police radio on throughout so he could "perform his duties" at the same time.

"They started seeing each other on a regular basis but never when he was off duty, always when he was on duty on late shifts. She would make him dinner at her house and they would often have sex afterwards,” The Telegraph quoted prosecutor Barry Gregory, as saying.