Washington, Oct. 13: Americans enthralled with John McCain and Barack Obama’s struggle to win the presidency may end up being disappointed on November 4.

Why, because according to Fox News, this historic election will be decided by voters in only six or so closely divided “battleground states.”

The reason the vast majority of states don’t matter in presidential elections stems from a winner-take-all rule (Nebraska and Maine being the notable exceptions). This rule awards all of a state’s electoral votes to the candidate who receives the most popular votes.

Washington, Oct. 13 : Senior members of the Republican party are reportedly in open mutiny against John McCain''s presidential campaign, after a disastrous period which has seen Barack Obama solidify his lead in the opinion polls.

McCain is being told to settle on a coherent economic message and to tone down attacks on Democratic rival Barack Obama.

The Independent quoted two former rivals for the party nomination, Mitt Romney and Tommy Thompson, as saying over the weekend that the Republican camp is in disarray because of McCain''s erratic performance risks.

Washington, Oct. 13 : About six in 10 voters see Republican John McCain as mainly on the attack, while nearly seven in 10 say Obama is primarily addressing the issues in the campaign.

According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.; 59 percent said McCain is focused on attacking Obama.

A report last week by the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project found that nearly all of McCain''s TV spots at the beginning of the month were negative ads, compared with about a third of Obama''s.

But both sides have been doing their share of negative ads: Overall, the university researchers show that 73 percent of McCain''s ads and 61 percent of Obama''s have been negative in tone over the course of the campaign.

Arlington (Virginia US), Oct. 13 : Republican presidential nominee John McCain vowed to ''whip'' Democratic nominee Barack Obama''s ''a..’ in the final televised presidential debate this Wednesday.

According to FOXNews. com, McCain''s pledge has sent shivers down the spines of some Republicans who find the racially charged verb may be used against the candidate.

New York, Oct. 13: Two top advisers to John McCain and Barack Obama got into a verbal sparring match Sunday over which campaign is using the harshest tactics and meanest accusations to scare voters.

Appearing simultaneously on "FOX News Sunday, Obama''s chief adviser David Axelrod and McCain campaign manager Rick Davis took their gloves off before accusing each other of landing the lowest blows this election season.

Axelrod hit the McCain team on the increasingly agitated rhetoric coming from voters attending McCain rallies.

Washington, Oct 13 : A German scientist has warned that cleaning air in large cities suffering from pollution problems by limiting car and power-plant emissions may raise global temperatures instead of lowering them.

According to a report in ENN (Environmental News Network), the scientist in question is Hans-Joachim Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research, in Germany.

“Aerosols, or particles suspended in air, have a cooling effect on the Earth, countering global warming linked to carbon dioxide,” said Schellnhuber.

“A drop in aerosols in the atmosphere could cause a “rapid” rise in temperatures,” he added.