The dietary supplement ginkgo, long promoted as an aid to memory, didn't help prevent dementia and Alzheimer's disease in the longest and largest test of the extract in older Americans.

Left parties will support the Bahujan Samaj Party, Janata Dal-Secular and other regional secular parties in the upcoming states assembly elections, said A B Bardhan, general secretary of Communist Party of India.

Zimbabwe's opposition warned on Tuesday its leader might steer clear of another regional summit designed to savge a power-sharing accord, saying it had yet to decide whether to trust President Robert Mugabe.

Barack Obama headed onto Republican turf on Friday bidding to seal the deal with voters 18 days from election day while warning Democrats not to forget their ability to "snatch defeat from the jaws of victory."

People's regard for the Republican presidential nominee has deteriorated across-the-board since September, an Associated Press-Yahoo! News poll showed on Friday, with McCain losing ground in how favorably he's seen and in a long list of personal qualities voters seek in White House contenders.

Barack Obama warned supporters against "giddy" complacency on Thursday, before plunging into the 19-day home stretch of the White House race with snap polls awarding him yet another debate victory.

Canadians on Tuesday re-elected a minority Conservative government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in the first polls in a major economy since the eruption of the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden said on Tuesday that Republican John McCain is offering no new ideas for a financially distressed nation, only the same negativity toward rival Barack Obama.

Republican John McCain has a third and final chance to debate his way back into contention when he faces his hard-charging White House rival Barack Obama in New York on Wednesday.

Ex-Soviet Azerbaijan began voting in a presidential election on Wednesday with incumbent Ilham Aliyev all but certain to maintain his grip on power in the strategic oil-rich republic.

Barack Obama and John McCain will both pursue the image of a strong leader in troublesome economic times as they meet on Wednesday night for their third and final presidential debate.

Canadian voters go to the polls on Tuesday for a third election in four years, becoming the first G7 nation to cast ballots since the start of a global financial meltdown.

Negotiators gathered in Zimbabwe's capital Harare on Tuesday for talks to break the deadlock in a power-sharing agreement, as lawmakers prepare for the first business session of the new opposition-dominated parliament.

Republican John McCain confessed on Monday his White House odds looked daunting as rival Barack Obama built a commanding poll lead, but insisted he was the experienced hand that a nation in crisis requires.

The US presidential campaign settled into a straight fight on the economy on Monday as global financial turmoil focused both candidates on how to help Americans.

Lithuania's parties were on Monday facing gruelling coalition talks, after no clear winner emerged in a general election, although results showed the opposition Conservatives on top.

The race for the White House has tightened slightly, with Barack Obama's lead over John McCain narrowing to seven percentage points at the end of the past week, according to a Gallup tracking poll released on Sunday.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden on Sunday accused the McCain campaign of trying to distract Americans from their economic woes by launching "unbecoming personal attacks" at Barack Obama.

Republican John McCain vowed on Sunday to "whip" Democratic rival Barack Obama's "you-know-what" when the two presidential candidates meet on Wednesday in their final televised debate.

Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi's party Praja Rajyam on Saturday ruled out any truck with either the BJP or TDP in Andhra Pradesh and the actor himself said CPI-M is his natural ally but not if it ties up with TDP.

Stepping up pressure on the rival Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Islamic faction Hamas, has threatened to name an interim President if elections for the post are not held in January 2009, a media report said.

Former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has ruled out his party Nepali Congress joining the CPN-Maoist government in the Himalayan nation, saying the Prachanda-led coalition would not last long.

A Russian billionaire has said he is teaming up with former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to form a new political party that will challenge the country's recent steps away from democracy.