The Malaysian Insider

WASHINGTON, Nov 21 — President Barack Obama’s job approval rating has dropped below 50 per cent in a second major poll in an indication he is suffering from the long healthcare debate and weakness in the economy, Gallup said yesterday.

Gallup said 49 per cent of Americans approved of Obama’s job performance. A survey by Quinnipiac University on Wednesday had a similar finding, putting him at 48 per cent support.

It was the first time he had fallen below majority support in those two polls. He had been polling in the low 50s for months after taking office in January with an approval rating just under 70 per cent.

HAVANA, Nov 21 — There were hugs and handshakes all around yesterday as teams of older US and Cuban softball players ended a “friendship” tournament they hope will set an example for their respective governments.

They said who won or lost was less important than the fact that for five days in Havana, Americans and Cubans played a game they both loved and in the process found they were not enemies as they had long been led to believe.

“Now I know a lot of people in Cuba. They don’t have horns,” said catcher Alan Bresnick, a 71-year-old former corporate executive from Boston.

CHICAGO, Nov 21 — There are signs Asian carp may have breached barriers designed to keep the prolific fish out of the Great Lakes, which could spell ecological disaster for the vital source of fresh water, authorities said yesterday.

Concentrations of DNA discovered by Notre Dame University researchers may indicate the presence of bighead and silver carp upstream from two electrical barriers designed to bottle up the invasive fish.

Environmentalists say that if the fish reach the Great Lakes, about 32 km from the barriers, they would quickly destroy the lakes’ US$4.5 billion (RM15.2 billion) fishery by consuming other fish and their food sources. Only Lake Superior among the five lakes may be too cold for the carp, which can reproduce rapidly and reach 45 kg.

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov 20 — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said presidential and legislative elections scheduled for January will be postponed, confirming that he has accepted advice not to hold the vote.

Abbas, speaking to BBC Arabic, said the Palestinian leadership would take measures to avoid a constitutional vacuum - although he did not spell these out — when the term of the current legislature and his term as president expire on Jan 25.

Abbas also said he would not seek a second term as president. He had previously said he had no desire to run in the elections which had been scheduled for Jan 24.

UPDATED

COCKERMOUTH, England Nov 20 — Torrential rain of “biblical proportions” caused serious flooding across northern England and southern Scotland today as searches intensified for a police officer who went missing after a bridge collapsed.

Flood defences in Cumbrian towns were overwhelmed by unprecedented downpours that officials said could be expected only once in 1,000 years.

The Meteorological Office said the amount of rain expected during the entire month of November had fallen in 24 hours. The Environment Agency reported 314 mm had fallen in one area in 24 hours which it said was a record for England.