Washington, Oct 28 : Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is leading in virtually every national poll, but his margin fluctuates wildly -- suggesting that in some cases, the numbers do in fact lie.

Obama has been leading his rival John McCain in almost every national poll since late September, and it may seem like he’s got the election all sewn up.

London, Oct 28 : A British couple convicted of having sex on Dubai’s Jumeirah Beach may be jailed for a longer term, with prosecutors filing an appeal against their sentence.

The Court of First Instance had sentenced Michelle Palmer and Vince Acors to a three-month term in jail, fined 1,000 dirhams, and issued with deportation orders earlier this month.

However, according to their attorney Hassan Matter, the prosecutors have lodged an appeal against the sentence, saying it was “not enough”.

London, Oct 28 : John Lennon’s school pal Stan Williams has revealed the identity of the ‘Pretty Nurse’ featured in The Beatle’s hit Penny Lane as Beth Davidson.

Beth Davidson, who till date was identified as a woman wearing cadet nurse’s uniform and selling poppies, was actually Lennon’s chum when he was just 14.

Williams revealed Lennon chatted to Beth with him on the Liverpool Street in October 1954, reports British tabloid The Sun.

Later, he paid tribute to her in his 1967 hit, with the lyrics: “Behind the shelter in the middle of the roundabout, the pretty nurse is selling poppies from the tray.”

Washington, Oct 28 : As Election Day quickly approaches; recent polls find that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is maintaining his lead over his Republican rival John McCain in several key swing states.

FOX News/Rasmussen Reports polling in several key battleground states -- Colorado, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia -- shows modest movement in a few states, but the overall dynamic of the race still favours Barack Obama.

Sydney, Oct 28 : The cricketing law making body - the MCC has reportedly endorsed Aussie umpire Darrell Hair’s fateful decision to award the 2006 Oval cricket Test between England and Pakistan to the home side.

At its meeting that concluded in Delhi this week, the MCC said that the original result - a forfeit after Pakistan''s players refused to return to the field after being accused of ball tampering by Hair – “should stand”.

Washington, October 28 : A University College London research team has reported the first known case of someone born without the ability to recognise voices, a rare condition which is scientifically known as phonagnosia.

The researchers are urging other people to come forward if they think they have also grown up with the condition.

Reporting the case in the online edition of the journal Neuropsychologia, the researchers revealed that a woman could not recognise people by their voice, including her own daughter whom she has great difficulty identifying over the phone.