Afghan's Karzai extends poll lead

President Hamid Karzai has extended his lead over his main rival in the Afghan presidential election, according to partial official results.

The election commission announced he has just over 46% to Abdullah Abdullah's 31.4%.

The result is based on a third of the votes from the poll held nine days ago.

Mr Abdullah has again alleged "massive, state-crafted" fraud. He told the BBC ballot boxes had been stuffed with hundreds of thousands of votes.

"My conctes.

"My concern is about massive fraud, state-crafted, state-engineered fraud which has taken place throughout the country," he said.

"Today we were having meetings with representatives of five provinces. In eyewitness accounts of the elections, it's just dreadful. It's just alarming.

"My point is whether the outcome of the elections will be decided based on massive fraud or the vote of the people," said Mr Abdullah.

Run-off poll

The election commission has maintained that there were only a few complaints of voting irregularities.

A candidate needs 50% of votes cast to avoid a second round run-off. Election officials say final results will not be available until 3 September at the earliest.
The election commission said just over two million votes had now been counted.

Kabul lawmaker Ramazan Bashardost was placed in third position, ahead of former World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani.

In an unexpected move, UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, arrived in Afghanistan where he visited British troops fighting the Taliban in southern Helmand province.

He praised the soldiers' role in helping prevent the Taliban from disrupting the elections and promised to speed up the training of Afghan security forces.

Voters wooed on eve of Japan poll

Voters wooed on eve of Japan poll Candidates across Japan have made their last pitches to voters ahead of Sunday's election, which is expected to herald a rare change of power.

Most polls suggest the ruling LDP will lose to the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), amid disaffection about the recession and high unemployment.

The Liberal Democratic Party has ruled for more than 50 years, with just one single break of less than one year.

DPJ leader Yukio Hatoyama said that this election could change history. "At last, it is the election tomorrow, one that we will be able to tell the next generation changed Japanese history," Mr Hatoyama told crowds in Sakai in the west of Japan.

The DPJ wants to shift the focus of government from supporting corporations to helping consumers and workers - challenging the status quo that has existed since the end of World War II.

'Experienced'

But Taro Aso, the prime minister and leader of the LDP, questioned if the opposition, with little experience of power, could really run the country.

"I beg you to give power to the LDP so we can complete the recovery," he told a rally in Tokyo.
In Oyama, north of Tokyo, he added: "Can you trust these people? It's a problem if you feel uneasy whether they can really run this country."

Many voters are likely to use the election to voice their frustration with the government's handling of the economy during the global recession.

Figures released on Friday showed that the jobless rate was at a record high of 5.7% last month. In July, 3,590,000 Japanese were out of work, over a million more than a year ago.

While its economy grew by 0.9% between April and June, the latest unemployment figures cast doubt on the strength of the recovery.

Eager for change?

Turnout is expected to be high, with roughly 10% of the country's eligible voters expected to cast early ballots.

Some voters simply want to ring the changes after almost a half century of LDP rule.

"The government now is just not effective. I am not sure if the Democratic Party is good or bad, for now I just want change," Kotaro Kobayashi, a 75-year-old in Tokyo, told the Reuters news agency.

In fact, one analyst argued, few voters are paying close attention to the rival parties' policies.

"The election is more about emotions than policies," said Takashi Mikuriya, a professor of political science at Tokyo University.

"Most voters are making the decision not about policies but about whether they are fed up with the ruling party."

Reports: North Korea releases South Korean fishing boat

SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- A South Korean fishing boat and its four crew members were heading home Saturday after being held for a month in North Korea, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
The Yeonan-ho and its crew were handed over to a South Korean patrol boat waiting at the sea border Saturday evening, Yonhap reported, citing South Korean maritime police.

North Korean officials captured the vessel and its crew July 30 after the boat strayed deep into North Korean territorial waters, North's Korean Central News Agency reported at the time.

South Korea's Defense and Unification Ministry said the 29-ton vessel had been returning from its fishing operations and mistakenly crossed seven miles into North Korean waters in the process, according to Yonhap.

South and North Korea have remained in conflict since the conclusion of the Korean War in 1953. The war ended in a truce but no formal peace treaty was ever signed.

Rapprochement talks between the two sides hit a wall after conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in early 2008. He had a tougher stance toward the North than his liberal predecessor, Roh Moo-Hyun. Tensions between the two were heightened in July when North Korea launched seven short-range missiles toward the Sea of Japan. The launches came after North Korea conducted a nuclear test on May 25 and threatened the United States and South Korean ships near its territorial waters.

Several steps in the past week have hinted at a thaw in relations, however. Last week, the two sides had the first high-level, cross-border contact in nearly two years.

On Friday, the countries reached an agreement on future reunions for families separated for decades by the Korean War. The agreement on reunions came after three days of talks between the two sides, mediated by the Red Cross, in North Korea, Yonhap reported.

Reunions will be held from September 26 to October 1 at Mt. Keumgang, Yonhap reported.

Pressure grows on Gordon Brown over Libya trade talks

The pressure on Gordon Brown over the UK's dealings with Libya has intensified after Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's son said there was an "obvious" link between their trade talks and efforts to release the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.

The Tory leader, David Cameron, led a chorus of opposition complaints after Saif Gaddafi said it was "not a secret" that Libya's oil and trade talks with the UK were linked to its efforts to get Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, jailed in 2001 for planting the bomb that killed 270 people, returned to Libya.

The Tories, Liberal Democrats and senior SNP MPs said Brown now had to disclose all the details about ministerial meetings and dealings with the Libyan regime before Megrahi was released last week by the Scottish government.

Saif Gaddafi attempted to dampen down the row by insisting that the prisoner transfer agreement signed by Tony Blair in 2007 ultimately had no bearing on the decision by Scottish ministers to free Megrahi, who is close to death with prostate cancer, on compassionate grounds.

The prisoner transfer agreement (PTA) "was one animal and the other was the compassionate release," he told the Herald newspaper. "They are two completely different animals. The Scottish authorities rejected the PTA. It did not work at all, therefore it was meaningless. He was released for completely different reasons."

Gaddafi added, however, that although Megrahi was never mentioned by name when the trade deals and prisoner transfer deal were being negotiated, "it was obvious we were talking about him. We all knew that was what we were talking about. People should not get angry because we were talking about commerce or oil. We signed an oil deal at the same time. The commerce and politics and deals were all with the PTA."

Even so, Gaddafi said there was "zero link" between Megrahi and his meeting with the business secretary, Lord Mandelson, in Corfu. But Cameron suggested the clear association between the prisoner transfer agreement and trade deals raised questions about the ethics of ministers.

The Tories would table parliamentary questions pressing for answers when Westminster returns from the recess, Cameron said. "The real questions remain unanswered. To begin with, what dealings has his government had with that of Libya on this issue?"

"And most importantly of all, what is Gordon Brown's opinion of the decision to return Mr al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds? I have made my view clear. I think it was wrong. I see no justice in affording mercy to someone who showed no mercy to his victims."

The BBC released a poll showing 60% of Scots opposed Megrahi's release on compassionate grounds and 74% believed it had damaged Scotland's reputation. The same BBC poll said 68% of Scots also thought it had harmed Brown's standing.

Scottish government officials in Edinburgh said neither the first minister, Alex Salmond, nor his industry ministers had had discussions about Libyan oil deals with any Scottish businesses, Libyan officials or ministers before Megrahi was freed.

The SNP sought to deflect criticism by supporting Cameron's demands for greater transparency by UK ministers. Angus Robertson, the SNP leader at Westminster, said Salmond had been furious the UK government had signed the PTA without his agreement, knowing it had no power to influence Scottish ministers or judges. "The SNP spoke out against Tony Blair's deal in the desert when it was first struck, but the UK denied that Megrahi was the target and refused to exclude him from the agreement," Robertson said.

"The UK government's negotiation of a prisoner transfer agreement and meetings between the UK government and Libya remain shrouded in secrecy. It is time for the UK to open up on Blair and Brown's dealings with Colonel Gaddafi."

Saif Gaddafi also tried to play down the controversy over last Thursday's celebrations at Tripoli airport, when Megrahi was greeted by him and a saltire-waving Libyan crowd. He insisted it was not an official celebration but a spontaneous display organised by Megrahi's large extended family and ordinary Libyans.

The Libyan government had planned to keep it low-key, but Megrahi's heavily televised release from Greenock prison and transfer to Glasgow airport had made his arrival home much more public.

"There was no official celebration, no guards of honour, no fireworks and no parade," he said. "We could have arranged a much better reception."

He denied speculation that Megrahi would be guest of honour at next week's 40th anniversary celebrations of his father's seizing power.

He added: "The decision by Scotland was not influenced by any of these things. I think the Scottish justice secretary is a great man. He made the right decision.

"So many of us think that, including so many of the relatives of the victims, because Mr Megrahi is innocent. One day, history will prove this."

Progress Report II

Sent "Long-A-Coming" poetry book off for typesetting.

Progress Report

Down But Never Out, received printed copies of four chapters of my Giardello book and shipped them to Philly Boxing History, group that is planning to erect statue to Joey in south Philly next year. They will sell it as premium item to raise funds. Also working on a final edit of my poetry chapbook, and reviewing final changes on The Hummingbird Review. Wife not worried about having to dust around me for a while.

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Joined Facebook yeatersay, have 12 friends already. Didn't need another social network but writer friends tell me it is a must for building a base. I'm on Twitter too, but don't tweet much.