Call To End 'Gang Warfare' In Obama's Chicago

By Gary Mitchell, in Chicago

Matt DeMateo clearly remembers the day he had to tell his five-year-old daughter that her schoolmate had been shot dead on a porch.

The girl, Aliyah Shell, aged six, was an innocent victim in one of the hundreds of shootings that have blighted some of Chicago's poorest communities this year.

Her death in March refocused attention on gun violence in America and led to the Windy City's mayor, Rahm Emanuel, publicly challenging the unknown killer, telling a news conference: "How dare you?"

In some of Chicago's most deprived areas, where Barack Obama prepared for his political career as a community activist, people such as Mr DeMateo are hoping whoever is elected president will act to end the bloodshed.

Guns are easily bought in his neighbourhood of Little Village, in the west of the city.

A youth in Matt DeMateo's mentoring scheme was shot dead earlier this year

The 30-year-old pointed to scenes of shootings on virtually every block as he gave Sky News a tour of the area.

They are easy to spot because they are often marked with shrines made of beer bottles left by fellow gang members. Gang graffiti tags are everywhere.

He told how Aliyah's murder just a short drive from the house he shares with his wife and three children left his daughter fearing that they too would be shot.

"When you see and hear those kind of things growing up in a neighbourhood, it has a deep effect on people," he said. "It's traumatic."

Mr DeMateo runs a mentoring scheme for teenagers who have been put on probation for firearms offences.

Gangs use graffiti to taunt rivals in Little Village

He said his employer, Christian organisation New Life Centres, has had huge success turning young people's lives around and he insisted the area is mostly a vibrant and friendly community, not the "Godforsaken place" he said it is often portrayed as.

Sporting events run by the centre along with the YMCA tend to coincide with a drop in violence reported to police, he said, because teenagers who would otherwise be causing trouble are off the streets.

But he said they face an uphill battle as rival gang factions, whose members include boys as young as 13, engage in a turf war in which innocent victims such as Aliyah Shell are caught in the crossfire. The shooting in which she died was a retaliation for the killing of a 19-year-old man who had been helped by New Life Centres.

"We try to show young people that there's more to life than violence, but it's hard," he said. "There's no magic bullet. It's not easy to keep hearing moms wailing at funerals. I don't want to hear that sound any more."

Mr DeMateo questions whether his organisation's funding could be hit if Mr Obama were to lose to Mitt Romney, although the president is currently predicted by polls to be in line for a second term in the White House.

Emmy Lozano's grandson, 16, is a member of a gang

"A lot of the things we've got in the neighbourhood could be cut back," he said. "It could be harmful."

Emmy Lozano, 56, has lived in Little Village for 30 years. Each night as she goes to bed, she wonders if she will see her 16-year-old grandson alive again.

The boy, Manuel, has been sucked into a gang and not long ago he needed surgery after rivals set upon him, smashing his elbow with a plank of wood. She found him bleeding in the street.

"The president needs to do more for us," said Ms Lozano. "We need more money here. We have so many empty plots of land that aren't being used - why can't they create green spaces where these kids have something to do?

"It's scary here. I want to leave. I hear gunshots every week. We've lost a lot of young kids and too many mothers have suffered."

Support for Mr Obama remains strong - these posters are in the South Side

One ex-gang member helped by Mr DeMateo's team, a 17-year-old who cannot be named, told Sky News how he was arrested when he was 14 for carrying a gun. "I was on my way to kill a guy from another gang. I don't know why, I just had it in my head to do it."

He had joined a gang a year earlier when he started using marijuana and cocaine. "It was dumb. Being in a gang seemed like a good life. It was all b*******."

Chicago's murder rates have fallen in the past 10 years, but so far this year more than 440 people have been killed - greater than the death toll for all of last year. The murder rate here is higher than in New York or Los Angeles.

The city has attempted to deploy extra police to the worst-hit areas, but Mr DeMateo shrugs when he is asked about the police. "Police alone aren't the answer," he said. "There are many parts to the puzzle. We need to get to the cause of the problem."

Victims of violence are remembered at Saint Sabina's church

A few miles away from Little Village, in Chicago's South Side, Father Michael Pfleger spent Sunday morning urging his congregation to vote and offering them free lifts to polling stations.

The unconventional Catholic priest at Saint Sabina's church is one of the city's most outspoken critics of guns and says he wants "whoever the next president may be" to ban assault weapons. Outside his church is a glass display containing pictures of local people who have been gunned down.

Fr Pfleger is quite a presence as he preaches in a style hard not to compare to an evangelist. On Sunday he danced to gospel music against the backdrop of a huge painting of a black Jesus and in front of a predominantly African-American audience before telling them: "You must vote. It is your obligation."

There is clear support for Mr Obama here - one parishioner was wearing a jacket bearing a large print of a smiling president, while others wore T-shirts branded with the Obama campaign logo.

Fr Pfleger hinted at his own liberal political leanings when he said things such as: "You can't be pro-life and not be against strong gun control in the community where these guns are killing our children."

Parts of the South Side show signs of neglect and lack green spaces

After the Mass he told Sky News the local neighbourhood of Auburn Gresham had recently seen a drop in shootings after several gangs agreed to stop fighting. He hopes gang members stick to the truce, but says that cannot happen unless jobs or education opportunities are found for them.

"Communities have post-traumatic stress from this violence that's rampaged... where teddy bears and police tape have become the new landmarks," he said.

"It's an undeclared war in urban America, but America has pretty much turned its back because the primary victim of this war is black and brown, and so they've ignored it.

"Whoever becomes the next president on Tuesday, we've got to put the pressure on them to deal with the guns, violence, education and poverty."

Asked if he felt it was Mr Obama's direct responsibility to tackle the issue, he said: "I don't think anybody in America or in the last generation of presidents has done enough to deal with violence. Part of that is our fault - we haven't forced them."

Koron Nash thinks the media exaggerates violence in his neighbourhood

Koron Nash, 32, who works for a scheme that finds jobs for young people in Auburn Gresham, said it was "unfair" to expect Mr Obama to do everything and said the media made too much of violence in the city.

"The majority of people here are good people," he said. "There is violence, there is anger, but I don't have a problem with that anger - it's just directed at the wrong people.

"We've got brothers shooting brothers, instead of directing that frustration at getting out of the mess that they're in."

His friend Tina Wallace, 35, a stay-at-home mother, said: "Things aren't as bad as they used to be."

Teacher Delores Wedgeworth, who lives near the church, said people were "realistic" that Mr Obama cannot tackle violence on his own.

"We know it's not going to happen overnight, that unemployment is just going to go away. But it's human nature to be impatient."

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Obama And Romney In Final White House Push

Who Will Win The Presidency?

Updated: 11:01am UK, Monday 05 November 2012

By Adam Boulton, Political Editor

In predicting who is going to be the next US president, all we have to go on are the opinion polls - the rest comes down to hunches and conscious or unconscious prejudice.

What's more, opinion polls in America are particularly unreliable. Polling just a few thousand people in a country where around 140 million are expected to vote is a risky business.

In many polls the margin of error, typically plus or minus 3%, is much bigger than the arithmetical 'lead' enjoyed by the top candidate.

There are also differences in the representative sample used by the pollsters. For example, that venerable organisation Gallup seems consistently to favour the Republicans by as much as 6% more than its rivals in national opinion polls.

As things stand, national opinion polls are mostly a dead heat, when a margin of error is allowed for.

Mr Obama's popularity declined after his poor performance in the debate on October 3 and he has not recovered his big lead since then. But Mr Romney had no "momentum" by the beginning of November.

At the weekend, the RealClearPolitics (RCP) National Poll Average stood at 47.5% for Mr Obama and 47.3% for Mr Romney.

Mr Obama is clearly not on course to do as well as he did in 2008 against John McCain when he polled 52.9% of votes cast, compared to 45.7% for the Republican.

Indeed conventional wisdom has now placed at least two of the states he won then - Indiana and North Carolina - firmly in the Republican column.

National opinion polls reflect the popular vote across the country, and winning that is not how you get to be president. You win the election by winning the vote state by state, thus stacking up the majority of the 538 electoral college votes.

It's perfectly possible to win the popular vote and lose the electoral college. That's what Al Gore did against George W Bush in 2000. And it's what some Republicans fear Mr Romney may do this time.

So to work out who is going to sleep in the White House next January, you need to follow the state polls.

Working from this data, America's leading analysts have come up with different snapshots of the state of the electoral race.

With 270 college votes needed to win, RCP allocates 201 to Mr Obama, 191 to Mr Romney and 146 votes in 11 states to play for.

Calling states on a solid and leaning basis, the Washington Post gives Mr Obama 243 electoral votes, Mr Romney 181, with 89 up for grabs in the toss up states - Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Wisconsin, Colorado, Iowa and New Hampshire.

Nate Silver at the New York Times' controversial FiveThirtyEight blog makes a different probability-based analysis of the same polling data. 

He says there is now an 85.1% chance of Mr Obama being re-elected compared to just 14.9% that Mr Romney will become the 45th POTUS.  He calculates final electoral vote share at 306.9 for Mr Obama compared to 231.1 for Mr Romney.

You get a similar result if you apply the latest state polls to the toss-up states in the Washington Post and RCP models. With two days to go these state polls do not point to a dead heat - they suggest that Mr Obama is going to be re-elected.

In the latest polls from most of the swing states - Wisconsin, Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, Virginia and above all Ohio - the President is ahead, not by much but consistently. He has also edged ahead in Florida, where he held his biggest rally on Sunday.

The Romney campaign shifted its focus to Pennsylvania at the weekend, in an attempt to suggest that more states than the usual suspects may be in play. But here and in Minnesota and Michigan, which the Republicans are also citing, the latest polls are also against them.

David Axelrod, Mr Obama's campaign chief, has promised to shave off his moustache if the President loses any of these three.

So why is there such confidence among Republicans that their man will win? Basically they say the opinion polls are wrong - and they point to surveys of early voting which show that Mr Obama's support amongst key voters is well down on 2008.

This argument, best articulated by George W Bush's old aide Karl Rove in the Wall St Journal, says the pollsters are over-representing democrats in their samples. On the ground they say Democrats are de-motivated to vote, while Republicans are fired up, and independents are breaking their way.

No wonder so many pundits are sitting on the fence, pointing out that this is a very close race according to the polls - with Mr Obama's edge in most circumstances in the margins of error.

Those who are making a guess, have to fall back on hunches and rules of thumb.

There are plenty of personal bellwethers to choose from.

No president since Franklin D Roosevelt has ever been re-elected with unemployment this high (although at 7.9% it is only a tenth of a per cent above the level where they have been returned).

At the start of the campaign, 25% of the electorate said the would never vote for a Mormon.

"As goes Ohio, so goes the nation" is pretty good but not infallible, but it is the case that no Republican has ever won without carrying what pundits insist on calling the Buckeye [i.e. Conker] State.

Then there are the lessons from recent history.

Incumbent presidents generally have some squatter's advantage. In modern times the only two incumbent presidents denied re-election have been George Bush senior and Jimmy Carter. But both had stronger negatives against them than Mr Obama.

Mr Bush's 1988 election pledge "read my lips no new taxes" was a demonstrable lie by 1992, while in 1980 Mr Carter was humiliated by American hostages held in Iran and a disastrous military mission to rescue them.

In contrast, Mr Obama presided over the killing of Osama bin Laden, economic indicators are at last moving in the right direction, and he's enjoyed high approval and endorsement in the past week for his handling of Hurricane Sandy.

It's also the case that the more charismatic candidate tends to win the presidency. Mr Carter outshone Gerald Ford but was put in the shade by Ronald 'Morning in America' Reagan; the reserved George Walker Bush was no match for 'Slick Willy' Clinton.

This year, by common consent, Mr Obama has the star power although Mr Romney is making the best of his buttoned-up big businessman demeanour.

Fifty-one-year-old Mr Obama is playing the man of the people: most often open-necked, shouting till he is hoarse and allowing himself the occasional blunt epithet such as "bull****er" about his opponent.

A well-preserved 65-year-old Mr Romney presents more formally as a president in waiting, he's even had his campaign plane painted to look like Air Force One. He's less inclined to dive into the crowd and typically delivers more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger pep talks about the state of Mr Obama's nation. A bit like the harangues most managers subject their employees to these days.

There is also a clear choice between the two men's visions of America - although both claim they are the man to unite the country across the political divide.

Arguing "we are all in this together" Mr Obama argues that government has a role in directing the country, the rich he says, need to contribute more.

Mr Romney champions the private sector, volunteers and individuals. He argues that lower taxes, even for the better off, will benefit all.

So who do I think will win?

I think it's unlikely that all the polls are as wrong as they would have to be for a Republican victory.

I note that the Republicans are under-performing in their ambitions for the US Congress - unlikely to take control of the Senate and set to lose a few seats in the House.

It also seems to me that the Republican Party is a house divided against itself. With powerful voices on the right such as the Tea Party pulling it a long way from the centrist ground which saw Mr Nixon, Mr Reagan and even the Bushes first elected. If Mr Romney is elected, I suspect that the internal rows are only just beginning. Swing voters don't like divided parties.

Shifts in the US population do not favour Republicans - if this was a 'whites only' election Mr Romney would be home and dry. But as the Republican Senator Linsey Graham quipped this summer: "We are not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term."

Disappointment yes, almost everywhere, but I don't detect widespread anger and contempt for Mr Obama. The mood seems more about pressing on in hard times. A mood which may well have been strengthened by the travails of Hurricane Sandy in this closing week.

So my guess is that the President will be re-elected taking Ohio and probably Florida. But it is only a guess, America has two credible leaders to take it forward.

But most of the real votes have not been cast yet in spite of early polling, and they won't be until Tuesday.

Paddy Power is already paying out on an Obama victory. If you've got a bet on, my advice is to get down to the bookies ASAP.

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Sandy: US East Coast Braced For New Storm

Struggling New Yorkers are being warned to stock up and stay indoors as a new storm threatens to batter the US east coast after Sandy.

A nor'easter with gusts of up to 55mph is expected by Wednesday, bringing the threat of more heavy rain, snow and flooding.

National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Pollina warned: "Prepare for more outages. Stay indoors. Stock up again."

Sky News weather producer Joanna Robinson said: "There's still some uncertainty about the exact path of the storm, but the nor'easter could produce heavy rain, heavy snow and strong winds.

"The new storm wouldn't be as severe as Sandy, but even so it could be an intense storm that will hamper recovery work in areas affected by Sandy - for example strong winds could bring down trees that are already unstable."

Some residents in northern New Jersey still dealing with the impact of Sandy were woken by a 2.0 magnitude earthquake, with some homes reporting shaking or a large boom - but there were no reports of damage.

Large swathes of New York City have been getting back to normal but now face the challenge of thousands of commuters, students and motorists - forced out of their cars by fuel shortages - descending on public transport systems not fully ready for them.

At the same time, government leaders are grappling with a daunting longer-term problem: where to find accommodation for the tens of thousands of people whose homes could be uninhabitable for weeks or months because of a combination of storm damage and cold weather.

New Yorkers like Kathy Lahey could face extended time in temporary housing

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said 30,000 to 40,000 New Yorkers may need to be relocated - a monumental task in a city where housing is scarce and expensive - though he said that number will probably drop to 20,000 within a couple of weeks as power is restored in more places.

George W Contreras, associate director of the emergency and disaster management programme at Metropolitan College of New York, speculated that large encampments of trailers might be set up at a stadium, in a park or in some other open space in the city - something he couldn't recall being done in New York ever before.

"The amount of actual units the city might have in buildings is probably very limited, so I think people will be in FEMA shelters for a while," he said.

With temperatures already sinking 1C to 4C overnight and hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses still without electricity, people have been sleeping in layers of clothes, and New York City officials handed out blankets and urged victims to go to overnight shelters or daytime warming centres.

In heavily-flooded Staten Island, Sara Zavala spent the night under two blankets and layers of clothing because the power was out. She had a propane heater but only turned it on for a couple of hours in the morning. She did not want to sleep with it running at night.

Early voting in New Jersey, where the election has been affected by Sandy

"When I woke up, I was like, 'It's freezing.' And I thought, 'This can't go on too much longer,'" said Zavala, a nursing home admissions coordinator.

A week after Sandy hit the New Jersey coastline in an assault that killed more than 113 people in the US and Canada, petrol shortages persist across the region and rationing by registration plate got under way in northern New Jersey in an echo of the fuel crisis of the 1970s.

Meanwhile there are concerns that last-minute changes to voting arrangements for the presidential election could provide ammunition to campaign lawyers looking to challenge the result.

In New York City, 143,000 voters have been assigned new polling stations. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Sunday called the city's elections board "dysfunctional" and warned that it needs to clearly communicate changes to poll workers.

In New Jersey, where 25% of homes and businesses have no power, officials are allowing displaced voters to cast their ballots by email.

In battered Monmouth County, officials are spreading the word about new polling locations in at least 29 towns and setting aside paper ballots to use if electronic voting machines fail.

"The devil is in the details and no doubt these news rules will be fertile ground for those who choose to challenge the results in the election," said Angelo Genova, a New Jersey election law expert who represents Democratic candidates in this election.

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Bomb Blasts In Bahrain's Capital Kill Two

Two men have been killed in Bahrain's capital, Manama, as a series of bombs exploded in the heart of the city.

The Gulf nation's Western-backed rulers have faced a nearly 21-month uprising.

But the seemingly coordinated string of explosions was a rare attack targeting civilians, and suggested that some radical elements in the opposition might be escalating violence.

The victims were street cleaners and one died after kicking a device which then blew up, the interior ministry said.

The other man died from injuries in a separate blast, and a third person was injured.

The interior ministry said the bombs were home-made and described the blasts, one outside a cinema, as "terrorist acts", its term for attacks by opposition activists.

The explosions took place days after the government said it had banned all rallies and opposition gatherings to ensure public safety.

Anti-government factions in Bahrain have used home-made bombs in the past, including a blast that killed a policeman last month.

But the latest attack suggests an expanding campaign of violence because the bombs were placed throughout the heart of the capital, including one area of restaurants and nightlife popular with Westerners.

One bomb went off outside a cinema

On Wednesday, foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council plan to meet in Bahrain to discuss regional issues, including Bahrain's tensions.

The kingdom, ruled by the Sunni Muslim Khalifa dynasty, hosts the US Fifth Fleet, which patrols oil shipping lanes in the Gulf region.

Shi'ites comprise about 70% of Bahrain's 525,000 citizens, but claim they face systematic discrimination such as being blocked from top political and security posts.

Bahrain's Western allies have called for renewed efforts at dialogue to ease the crisis.

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Car Bomb Attack In Syria Kills Over 50 Soldiers

A car bomb attack at a military post in Hama has killed at least 50 soldiers and pro-regime fighters, a rights watchdog has said.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the blast occurred near the checkpoint in the village of Ziyara, in central Syria.

It claimed the attack was carried out by Jabhat al Nusra, an al Qaeda-inspired Islamic militant group.

It said: "The post, located at the Centre for Rural Development, is the largest gathering place for troops and pro-regime militiamen in the region."

The death toll has not been independently verified.

State-run news agency SANA said the explosion occurred outside a development agency.

It comes after 20 rebel fighters were killed in the town of Harem, in Idlib province, by an air strike.

Rebels have made significant gains in recent weeks and hold territory in the country's north, but have come under intense air bombardment as President Bashar al Assad attempts to regain ground.

Fighting has also erupted in southern districts of the capital Damascus and Aleppo.

The Observatory said at least 105 people, including 55 soldiers, had been killed in the violence on Monday.

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Chicago: First US Gun Tax 'Will Stem Carnage'

By Gary Mitchell, in Chicago

A leading anti-gun campaigner has told Sky News a new tax on guns will help end "carnage" on the streets of Chicago - where firearms now change hands for as little as $20.

There have been more than 440 murders in Barack Obama's adopted home city so far this year, surpassing last year's total of 435.

Most involved gang shootings in the south and west of the city. It has been dubbed America's "murder capital" with a higher rate of killings than New York or Los Angeles.

Cook County, which takes in Chicago, is believed to be the first city in the US to introduce a firearms tax. It was approved by county officials on Friday.

Father Michael Pfleger, pastor of St Sabina Church in the city's South Side, said the $25 levy is a start.

"Guns are causing carnage on our streets," he said.

"Anything that makes them harder to get hold of, no matter how small, is to be welcomed.

Father Michael Pfleger has lobbied hard over gun laws

"We tax things like alcohol and cigarettes, but we haven't been taxing firearms.

"But I'd prefer if the tax was a lot higher, and if every single bullet was taxed."

A proposed tax of five cents per bullet was abandoned by Cook County because the tax would, in some cases, have exceeded the price of ammunition.

Officials said nearly a third of guns used in Chicago crimes were purchased legally in Cook County.

However, despite the surge in fatal shootings, gun control is not one of the big issues in the current presidential race - it was discussed only briefly in the second election debate.

Mr Obama, who has been attempting to win over conservative voters in battleground states, has refrained from stricter restrictions.

Father Pfleger, whose church is in the troubled Englewood area, has for years been lobbying for stronger gun laws, which are opposed by the National Rifle Association.

No fewer than 12 people have been shot dead in the three-square-mile Englewood district since the start of this year, according to RedEye, which tracks the latest figures from Chicago police and hospitals.

It lies a short drive away from the Kenwood family home of Mr Obama, who was a community activist in the South Side before entering politics. A man was shot a block away from his mansion in August.

Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel

In the summer, Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel was in Englewood to announce a move to secure or demolish vacant buildings to stop gangs using them as gathering places.

He has also attempted to increase policing in the worst-hit areas, but the death toll continues to rise and the police force has been hit with budget cuts.

Hermene Hartman, publisher of N'Digo, a Chicago magazine focused on African-Americans, said the South Side was like a "war zone". Whoever ends up in the White House for the next four years needs to do more to focus on urban crime, she said.

"Nobody is talking about urban America, the fear that people suffer," she told Sky News.

"Here in Chicago, people have been dying in greater numbers than in Afghanistan.

"People are afraid of letting their kids go to school, play outside. They fear doing everyday things because people are being killed.

"How do we figure out what's making these kids so violent? We've got to focus on these crime areas."

Cook County's gun tax is expected to raise $600,000 (£375,000) next year, which will be contributed to healthcare for survivors of shootings.

The tax has been criticised by the Illinois State Rifle Association, which said people will simply travel elsewhere to buy guns.

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Charles And Camilla Kick Off Overseas Tour

By Paul Harrison, Royal Correspondent

A traditional war dance will greet the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall when they travel to the coastal village of Boera in Papua New Guinea later.

The royal couple are beginning a two-week overseas tour to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, during which they will also take in Australia and New Zealand.

The couple will travel on rough roads, off the beaten track, an hour northwest of the capital Port Moresby to back efforts by the Motuan village to sustain the marine ecosystem.

Villagers have been working closely with the University of Papua New Guinea and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to begin a mangrove replenishing programme along the Motuan coastline.

A young Papua dancer looks on during the colourful greeting ceremony

Mangrove roots provide food and shelter for birds and marine animals and prevent coastal erosion. But historically, mangroves have been cut down and used to make wooden products, firewood and building material.

Beforehand, Charles and Camilla will attend a Sunday service of worship led by the Bishop of Port Moresby, before being treated to a cultural performance called "The PNG way".

Thirteen traditional dancing groups from provinces throughout Papua New Guinea will take part. The royal couple will then be driven around the stadium, decorated as a 'Pal na Pidik' (Secret Hut) by members of the Tolai tribe.

This is done to signify that Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall have embraced the island's cultural and social heritage.

Huge crowds pictured ahead of the couple's arrival in the country

The Pacific realm is home to over seven million people speaking 800 languages. Traditional inter-tribal gatherings called 'Sing-sings' take place where many different distinct cultures are shown-off.

Prince Charles will also present Colours to the Royal Pacific Islands Regiment, of which he is Colonel-in-Chief.

Before heading out of the capital, the heir to the throne and his wife will attend a Diamond Jubilee Reception at the National Bird of Paradise and Orchid Garden.

Returning in the evening from the village of Boera, the royal couple will be the special guests at a State Dinner hosted by the Governor General.

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US Presidential Race Goes Down To The Wire

The US presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have entered the last two days before voting, with polls still indicating no clear winner.

After an intensive Saturday criss-crossing key battleground states, the American president is targeting Democrats in Colorado, Florida, Ohio and New Hampshire on Sunday, urging them to vote.

Meanwhile, Republican candidate Mitt Romney has decided to intensify efforts in Iowa, Ohio and then in Democrat-leaning Pennsylvania.

Both campaigns have predicted victory for Tuesday's election but the most recent poll by the Washington Post and ABC News puts the candidates even at 48% of the vote.

Mr Obama has an apparent edge in some key battleground states, including Ohio, while Mr Romney's campaign is projecting momentum, and banking on late-breaking voters to propel him to victory in the close race.

Pop singer Katy Perry was thanked by Mr Obama for her campaigning

The Republican hopeful plans to cut away briefly from the nine key battleground states that have dominated the candidates' travel itineraries.

Mr Romney, along with running mate Paul Ryan, plan an early evening rally in Morrisville, Pennsylvania in an attempt to woo disillusioned Democrats.

The key battlegrounds states in the election have been Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada, Wisconsin, Iowa and New Hampshire.

After rules regulating campaign funding were eased for this election, the two political parties ploughed huge amounts into primarily negative advertising against the opposition.

Americans in the key states have been hit by a blizzard of campaign ads.

The two political parties and their allied independent groups aired more than a million ads between June and the end of October, according to the Wesleyan University Media Project.

Mr Romney has continued to campaign in key areas

The advertising in 10 strategic states has cost more than $1bn (£620m).

Never before has so much money been spent on so many commercials aimed at so few voters.

Would-be voters have been bombarded with some 40% more television advertising than the number that ran in the same period in 2008 when Mr Obama defeated Republican John McCain.

But both candidates have appeared to become more fatigued in the frenzied final weekend of campaigning.

Mr Obama apologised to supporters for a hoarse voice at one speech on Saturday.

His apology came as former Democrat president Bill Clinton suffered from a similar problem and told supporters in Virginia he had "given my voice in the service of my president".

Ann Romney has been on the weekend trail with her husband

Mr Obama's strategy has included appeals to the industrial Midwest, where jobs have been saved after the federal government invested large amounts in the wake of the financial meltdown.

His Republican challenger trails the president in some polls in battleground states but retains a narrow and plausible path to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency

Mr Romney's camp also argues that the Republican may not even be behind the incumbent.

They argue state polls are based on unrealistic assumptions of the size of the Democratic slice of the electorate and underplay Republican enthusiasm.

Mr Romney told crowds in Colorado Springs that the vote is "a moment to look into the future, and imagine what we can do to put the past four years behind us".

Mr Obama has stirred up support from cheering fans

"The door to a brighter future is there."

But both sides realise with just two days to go the result may now be beyond their control.

"The power is not with us anymore, the planning, everything we do, it doesn't matter," Mr Obama told supporters in Virginia.

"It's all up to you, it's up to the volunteers - that's how democracy is supposed to be."

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British Soldier Stabbed To Death In Cyprus

A British soldier has been stabbed to death during a fight with UK tourists in a Cyprus nightclub, police have said.

Cypriot police said four off-duty soldiers stationed on the island got involved in an altercation with three tourists in the early hours of Sunday morning.

One of the tourists then allegedly drew a switch blade knife and stabbed the teenage soldier, according to police spokesman Georgios Economou.

He said: "Today at around 3.30am while a group of British soldiers from Dhekelia garrison were enjoying themselves at a club in Ayia Napa they had a confrontation with three of their compatriots.

"During the confrontation one of the three drew what is believed to be a knife injuring the soldier in the chest."

He was pronounced dead on arrival at Famagusta General Hospital in nearby Paralimni.

The three tourists, all British citizens, have been detained for questioning, police said.

Connie Pierce, a British military spokeswoman, said the incident took place in a part of Ayia Napa that is off limits to British soldiers because of past trouble there.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "It is with great sadness that the MoD must confirm that a soldier from 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers has died in an incident in Cyprus.

"An investigation is being conducted by Cyprus police and it would be inappropriate to comment any further. The family has been informed and our thoughts are with them."

Around 3,000 British military personnel are stationed in Cyprus at bases retained after the former British colony gained independence in 1960.

In 2008 nine British soldiers went on trial accused of trashing a pub and beating up its owner during a mass bar brawl on the island.

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Syria: Bomb Explosion Near Damascus Hotel

An explosion caused by "terrorists" has hit an area near a hotel used by foreigners in the Syrian capital, state media has reported.

"An explosion caused by terrorists went off near to the Dama Rose hotel and the union federation, which left a number of people wounded and causing damage to the area," Syrian TV said.

The governing Assad regime regularly uses the term "terrorists" for armed rebels in the spiralling civil war.

State news agency Sana said the blast wounded 11 people, adding that the explosive "planted by terrorists" weighed an estimated 50lbs.

Damage to a building near the Dama Rose hotel

The Dama Rose hotel hosted UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi during his visits to Damascus.

The office of the ombudsman, headed by diplomat Mokhtar Lamani, is also located at the hotel.

The Local Coordination Committees, a network of activists on the ground, also reported plumes of smoke rising near Ommayad Square after a "powerful explosion" rocked the area close to the hotel.

The district also houses several security centres and military headquarters.

On September 26, twin blasts blamed on suicide bombers targeted the same military headquarters, killing four guards.

Meanwhile rebels fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades and captured an oilfield in the country's east on Sunday after three days of fierce fighting, according to activists.

Hillary Clinton has led calls for western help for rebels

Further afield, a leading Syrian dissident has denied he planned to head a government-in-exile as the main opposition group began a meeting aimed at broadening its membership.

Riad Seif rejected claims he was jockeying for control of the opposition at the start of a four-day meeting in Doha, the capital of the Gulf state of Qatar.

The less-than-inclusive nature of the Syrian opposition has been criticised by its key western supporter, the United States.

Details have emerged of plans to reshape the Syrian National Council (SNC) after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it was not representative.

Washington is pressing for an opposition makeover during the Doha meeting, with long-time dissident Mr Seif reportedly touted as the potential head of a proxy government dubbed the Syrian National Initiative.

But the prominent opponent to President Bashar Assad's regime was adamant that he does not want to lead such a government.

"I shall not be a candidate to lead a government in exile ... I am 66 and have health problems," he told reporters before the Doha gathering.

Rebels launched a rocket attack against a Syrian air base on the weekend

Some 286 members of the SNC are taking part in the meeting that was scheduled some time ago.

But both host Qatar and the Arab League have extended invitations for another "consultative" meeting on Thursday, believed to be aimed at promoting a body with a broader opposition representation than the SNC.

A Western diplomat said the initiative is "supported by the United States, Britain, France, and possibly by some Arab countries, Qatar and also Turkey".

"It is a balanced plan, which will bring together the components of the Syrian community: the Alawites, Christians and Syrians inside and outside the country," the unnamed diplomat said.

Mr Seif and some two dozen Syrian opposition figures gathered in Amman, Jordan, last Thursday and came up with proposals for a new body to represent the disparate groups opposing President Bashar al Assad.

Among those in attendance were some SNC members, former premier Riad Hijab who defected in August, Ali Sadreddin Bayanuni of the Muslim Brotherhood and Kurdish and tribal representatives.

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