Landikotal (Pak), Oct 30 : The Pak-Afghan Highway has proved to be unsafe for local dwellers, passengers and transporters from Takhta Bag check-post to Torkham border, in the wake of bomb blasts, suicide attacks, firing and kidnappings.

Attacks have mainly taken place on trucks carrying supplies for the US and Afghan troops deployed in Afghanistan to combat Taliban and Al Qaeda.

Berlin - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier condemned Thursday's suicide bombing which killed five people at the Afghan information ministry in Kabul.

The attack showed that terrorists wanted to weaken the Afghan state and spread fear and distrust among the population, Steinmeier said.

"This cannot be allowed to happen," the minister said in a statement released during a visit to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

"together with the Afghan government and the international community we will continue to undertake intensive efforts to ensure that the necessary security is in place for the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan," he added.

Berlin  - Economic confidence in Europe plummeted in October to its lowest level since 1993, according to a key survey released Thursday, adding to signs of a looming recession for the region.

The European Commission's closely-watched economic sentiment indicator (ESI) for the 15-member eurozone dropped from 87.5 in September to 80.4 October in the wake of share market chaos that has helped to fuel the deepening sense of economic gloom facing the currency bloc.

The release of the commission's latest survey comes just one week before the European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates to help shore up investor and economic confidence.

New York, Oct 30 : American actor Leonardo DiCaprio along with other celebrities used reverse psychology in their ‘No Means Yes’ public service announcement show to get Americans to vote.

DiCaprio produced, directed, and starred in the ad that debuted on My Space Celebrity on October 29, the New York Daily News reported.

The video shows the stars struggling to grasp the concept of “No means Yes”, and using reverse psychology to get people to vote on November 4.

Tokyo - Mazda Motor Corp saw its net profit fall 45 per cent during the July-to-September quarter to 14.5 billion yen (147 million dollars) because of the yen's rise and the higher costs of raw materials, the company said Thursday.

The Japanese automaker reported operating profits of 32.4 billion yen during the second quarter, down 20 per cent from the same period a year ago, and sales of 803.7 billion yen, down 5 per cent year-on-year.

For the full year through March 31, Mazda revised its profit projections downward. It now expects net profit to drop 28.6 per cent from an earlier estimate to 50 billion yen, and operating profit to fall 21.7 per cent to 90 billion yen.

Washington, Oct 30 : A leading pollster in the US has said that Republican presidential nominee John McCain can’t bank upon the undecided voters, as in the past elections undecided voters had not swayed decisively for either candidate.

The pool of undecided voters on Election Day could be as large as one in 10, but John McCain can hardly rely on them to overtake Barack Obama, he said.

According to politico. com, in the past eight presidential elections, voters who made up their minds during the last week of the campaign never went for either ticket by large margins of 3-2 or 2-1, which potentially could tip the scales.