Hamburg - Workers in Germany's engineering sector were on a rolling strike for a fourth day Tuesday, underlining their union's calls for an 8-per-cent pay rise.

According to the IG Metall union, hundreds of workers participated in the strikes in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state. With the beginning of the morning shift at 5 am (0400 GMT) about 400 workers laid down work at Wadan Yards in Rostock-Warnemunde.

The union wants to expands its strikes to all of Germany, idling a number of plants for several hours, increasing pressure on employers to improve income offers.

New York - A record sale of a work by Russian abstract painter Kazimir Malevich soothed frayed nerves at New York's autumn art auctions this week, but the world financial crisis is spreading gloom in the art market.

The auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's are hoping for record prices for some exemplary art works, but all in all, the mood is getting darker.

Prices for all investments - shares, gold, oil, real estate - have been falling, Mark Porter, head of Christie's America told the New York Times. It would be "unrealistic" to think that art was immune against the pressures of the market, he said.

The art market has been dismal, as wealthy collectors have been hit by tumbling stock markets.

Washington - In a departure from 40 years of Republican loyalty, 21 voters in remote northern New Hampshire gave a resounding yes to Democrat Barack Obama early Tuesday.

With 15 votes for Obama and six for McCain reported by broadcasters, the opening of the Dixville Notch polling station Tuesday just after midnight marked the opening of US elections that could put produce the first-ever African-American president.

According to a new study, a person needs at least 8 hours sleep in a day to keep himself healthy & to avoid all health problems specially related to the heart.

The study led by researchers in Sweden found that the risk of a heart attack dropped during the first week after the clocks were set back and people have an extra hour of sleeping.
 
The research, based on heart attacks in Sweden, shows that sleep deprivation has adverse effects on one’s cardiovascular health.

Researchers have reported that countries that have a higher precipitation level also have higher autism rates. The reasons could be increased pollutants carried by precipitation, increased television viewing due to bad weather, or a lack of vitamin D due to staying indoors.

Sean Nicholson, a Cornell University policy analyst and an author of the study said, "If it rains a lot, children spend more times inside. It could be that there was something positive outside that they're getting less of, or there's something in the indoor environment that's harmful."

London, November 4 : US investigators have confirmed that the bone fragments found near a California plane crash site are that of US millionaire Steve Fossett.

Sheriff John Anderson said that the forensic investigators had found a DNA match between the two-and-a-half-inch long fragment with that of the missing adventurer.

The investigators had found the bones half a mile from the wreckage of Fossett’s single-engine plane after a hiker had spotted the pilot’s licence and ID cards.