HURRICANE ‘SANDY’ KILLS 21 IN CARIBBEAN
MIAMI: Hurricane Sandy pounded the Bahamas early on Friday as it careened toward the eastern United States after claiming 21 lives in the Caribbean, including 11 people killed in eastern Cuba. US forecasters downgraded the storm to a category one hurricane late on Thursday after it wreaked havoc in Jamaica, Cuba, the Bahamas and Haiti, downing power lines, damaging hundreds of homes and ruining crops. But the forecasters warned that the massive hurricane now could merge with North American weather systems and morph into a powerful hybrid that US media have dubbed a “Frankenstorm.”

OBAMA, ROMNEY WAGE BITTER OHIO DUEL
CLEVELAND: In a spectacular finale to a 40-hour campaign sprint, US President Barack Obama launched a searing attack on Mitt Romney in Ohio, the state that may decide their election duel. But Romney, rallying Republicans in the state’s aptly named town of Defiance, mocked Obama’s “incredibly shrinking” campaign and stole the president’s 2008 mantra, promising “big change” if he wins on November 6. The latest sharp exchanges came as polls showed the White House up for grabs, with Romney ahead by a nose nationally, but Obama standing firm in the key swing states that could hand him a second four-year term.