One of San Francisco’s most important and beautiful features, Coit Tower was built atop Telegraph Hill in 1933 at the bequest of Lillie Hitchcock Coit, who gave a large part of her fortune so that the city she loved could be made more beautiful.

New York, Oct 27 : Democratic presidential nominee is said to be way ahead of his Republican rival John McCain, by 162-62, even in Alaska, the hometown of McCain’s running mate Sarah Palin.

According to a report in the New York Daily News, Obama’s surge as compared to McCain is far better than 48-28 which President George Bush had against his rival in 2004.

Frankfurt  - European shares opened sharply down Monday after a steep fall in stocks across Asia signalled another tumultuous week on global bourses.

After a wave of panic selling in Asia's stock markets, Europe's blue-chip Stoxx 50 slumped by 5.9 per cent in early trading to 1,994 points as recession fears deepen.

This came in the wake of big falls in opening trade across Europe's national bourses with London sliding more than 5 per cent, Paris' CAC 40 index cascading down by nearly 6 per cent and Frankfurt's key DAX dropping by 5 per cent.

Kabul - A suicide bomber in police uniform blew himself up inside police headquarters in northern Afghanistan, killing one US soldier and wounding seven other people including police officers, police said Monday.

"One American soldier was killed and two others were wounded in the blast this morning," Jaweed Basharat, spokesman for provincial police chief told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

He said four Afghan police officers and one child were also wounded in the Monday's blast.

The bomber, who was in police uniform, tried to enter the police chief's office in Puli Khumri, the capital of northern Baghlan province, and detonated himself when he was stopped by the guards.

Karachi, Oct 27: Despite fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar’s dismal performances in the ongoing domestic tournament Pentangular Cup and the Twenty20 event in Toronto earlier this month, the country’s chief selector Saleem Jaffer, himself a former pacer, has exuded confidence in the ‘Rawalpindi Express’ saying he was pushing hard to get back into the team, and that the selectors would give him enough time to regain the lost form.

Dhaka, Oct 27: A number of medieval structures, located in Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh, are in danger of decaying through relentless neglect by officials.

According to a report in The Daily Star, the Department of Archaeology does not have the funds or manpower necessary to conserve and carry out necessary restorations of the edifices that are gradually wearing away.

These structures, which were built between 1494 and 1519 AD, include Sona Masjid (mosque), Tahkhana, Kotwali Darwaza (main gate to the ancient capital) and many more.

There are a few others mosques in the area and some are decked with exquisite terracotta plaques, though most have lost their gleaming glory.