Chicago - In Chicago's Hyde Park district, Barack Obama is more than a candidate for president: he's "just a nice guy" who stops to say hello at local sporting events or who gets his hair cut at the same neighbourhood barber.

It's a diverse, left-leaning enclave, home to both white and black affluent professionals, and surrounded by working class and poor minority neighbourhoods on Chicago's South Side, with overwhelming support for their favourite son, the Democratic presidential nominee.

Islamabad, Nov 4: The US has reportedly not guaranteed an end to the ongoing drone strikes in Pakistan aimed at Taliban and Al Qaeda militants, even as the leadership in Islamabad apprised US Central Command chief General David Petraeus that it could no longer tell its people to support the US-led war on terror in the wake of frequent violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty through air strikes.

General David Petraeus, who is on an official visit to Pakistan, met a host of Pakistani leaders on Monday. It is his first visit after taking over his new assignment last week.

Miranshah (Pakistan), Nov 4: Pakistani security forces claimed to have killed as many as 18 Taliban in an operation in the Bajaur Agency last evening.

While four Taliban died in artillery shelling in different areas of Mamond tehsil on Monday morning, 14 Taliban were killed in bombing by jet fighters in the afternoon, the Daily Times quoted Pakistan officials as saying.

The Samsung Delve phone has been launched in US by Samsung Delve Phone Alltel Wireless. Apart from being stylish and vibrant, the phone also supports an intuitive interface. A virtual QWERTY keyboard and TouchWiz interface that supports widgets, adds to its other exciting features.

The integrated drag-and-drop widgets on the screen provided by the Samsung Delve let the users to instantly access their favorite functions directly from the screen. Other than this, the users can also change the main display screen according to the icons of the application.

Sydney - The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on Tuesday cut interest rates by 0.75 per cent to 5.25 per cent in response to a raft of figures showing the economy slowing in the wake of the global financial crisis.

It was the RBA's third monthly cut in the rate it charges banks for borrowing, a reversal of a trend that had seen 12 consecutive rises in the cash rate since May 2002.

The further easing of monetary policy came despite inflation being above the RBA's 3-per-cent target. The central bank now sees a recession as more of a threat than inflation.

Kathmandu - The number of tourists visiting Nepal increased to their highest level in eight years in October, coinciding with the start of the trekking season, officials said Tuesday.

Figures released by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) said 50,567 tourists arrived in Nepal via air in October, an increase of 16.6 per cent from the same period last year.

The growth was the highest the country has seen in eight years for a single month and represented a healthy outlook for the winter and spring seasons that are considered the best time for trekking in the Himalayas.