US Election: Romney Die-Hards Fund Own Campaigns

By Gary Mitchell, in Ohio

Some Republicans are so desperate to get their man in the White House they are spending thousands of dollars of their own money travelling around the country to aid the campaign, Sky News has learned.

With the race now in its final sprint, Mitt Romney's army of die-hard fans are understood to be driving and jetting to the key swing states, the places that will decide the result.

They are door-knocking, visiting businesses and meeting community groups in the likes of Ohio and Virginia - targeting undecided voters as well as shoring up support in strong conservative areas.

In a sign of just how much they want multimillionaire Mr Romney in the highest office in the land, some are making multiple trips to different states, paying their own way with flights, car journeys, hotels and meals.

Self-funding volunteers have been organised into groups and have been convening at hotels to form their campaigning plan. It is not clear how much direction they are given by Republican Party officials.

One such volunteer Sky News met in Ohio, where the two candidates arrived to campaign on Friday, said: "We're going to swing states, but we're not just doing the touch-and-go counties - we're going to places where we know Mitt has a lot of support, but we don't want to be complacent.

"This race is extremely tight, so it's about energising the base as well as the swing counties.

Volunteers are hoping to build on Mr Romney's strong base of support

"I've spent $2,000 (£1,250) on this trip alone and taken two weeks' vacation, travelling up from Texas. There are a few others here from Utah and Alabama.

"But I know of others who go it alone rather than doing this in groups."

The man, in his 50s, was speaking at a hotel where his group of fewer than 10 were staying and asked to remain anonymous, saying the Republican Party advises its volunteers not to speak to the media.

Matt Reger, the chairman of Wood County Republican Party in Ohio, said he had recently met two Republican supporters who are travelling to parts of the country to back Mr Romney and bearing all of the cost.

"Last Sunday, I had lunch with a couple from Alabama who came up here for the week to do door-to-door for Romney," he said.

"They had come up at the beginning of October and then had gone to North Carolina. They had then gone back to Alabama and then had once again come back to Ohio.

"They did all of this at their own expense."

Sky News made repeated attempts to reach the Republican Party for a comment, but no one was available.

A Democratic Party spokesman said they had many volunteers, but were not aware of any who spend their own money travelling around the country campaigning for Barack Obama.

He said: "If we have volunteers in California, they might put phone calls into people in Virginia. But to my knowledge, we don't have people flying around anywhere unless they really have something in particular to offer."

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New York City: Power Being Switched Back On

Energy companies have been working day and night to restore power to parts of New York devastated by the powerful Sandy storm.

In the last 24 hours, engineers in Manhattan have managed to repair 11 power grids damaged by the high winds and storm surge.

Around 5,800 homes were still without electricity in Manhattan as of Saturday morning.

The worst-hit area of New York remains Queens - with 81,000 people still without power. Brooklyn and Staten Island both have 31,000 and the Bronx has 25,000 without electricity.

Runners make their way through Queens during the 2011 race

A statement from energy firm Con Edison said it had now restored power to 70% of customers - around 645,000 homes.

It said: "The hurricane is the worst natural disaster to strike Con Edison's customers in the company's history.

"Crews are facing thousands of downed wires in New York City and Westchester County.

"Some cannot be re-energised since they are in flood zones with damage that bars the safe re-introduction of electricity."

A man shovels away sand swept in by the storm surge generated by Sandy

Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, has also said that 80% of the city's subway system has now been restored.

He also urged local people not to panic about a fuel shortage, and said petrol supplies were on the way.

"Do not panic. I know there is anxiety about fuel," he said. "The situation has been remedied. Gas stations will be getting fuel."

A lot of repair and clean-up work remains on the US East Coast, with parts of New Jersey also badly hit by the storm on Monday night and facing being cut off from electricity until the middle of November.

A woman looks through the wreckage of her home in Staten Island

Motorists in 12 New Jersey counties will only be allowed to buy petrol every other day under order of governor Chris Christie.

Petrol stations have seen long queues and angry scenes as people attempt to fill up after the storm.

President Barack Obama said: "We still have a long way to go to make sure the people of New Jersey, Connecticut, New York and some of the other surrounding areas get their basic needs taken care of and we start moving back to normalcy.

"It is critical for us to get power back on as quickly as possible. It is a painstaking process but we are making progress.

A fallen tree on top of a parked car in the borough of Queens in New York

"As we start seeing the weather get a little bit colder people can't be without power for long periods of time."

In his weekly radio address he added: "We're Americans, when times are tough, we're tougher. We put others first. We go that extra mile.

"We open our hearts and our homes to one another, as one American family. We recover, we rebuild, we come back stronger -- and together we will do that once more."

The official death toll for those in the US now stands at 109 people, on top of at least 69 people killed when Sandy tore through the Caribbean.

Estimates put the total damage up to $50bn (£30bn), according to forecasting firm Eqecat - making it the second costliest after Hurricane Katrina.

It comes after mayor Michael Bloomberg finally agreed to cancel the New York Marathon after outrage from residents left homeless or beset by power cuts.

The U-turn came just three hours after he defended the decision to hold it.

Concerns were raised that the city's already stretched police force would be redeployed to patrol the race from carrying out relief work and storm victims could be evicted from hotels to make room for people taking part.

There had been growing anger too at the thought of big generators being brought in to power equipment at the finish-line tents in Central Park, while vast swathes of the city's population were still struggling without electricity.

Mr Bloomberg said: "It is clear that it has become the source of controversy and division.

"The marathon has always brought our city together and inspired us with stories of courage and determination.

"We would not want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants, and so we have decided to cancel it.

"We cannot allow a controversy over an athletic event - even one as meaningful as this - to distract attention away from all the critically important work that is being done to recover from the storm and get our city back on track."

An estimated 40,000 runners from around the world had been expected to take part in the 26.2-mile event.

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Seven Panda Cubs Make Their Debut In China

Eyes tightly shut, these seven panda cubs are the main attraction of a competition in China to win the chance to look after the rare animals for a year.

The tiny cubs made their debut at the Chengdu Panda Base, in southwest Sichuan Province.

The animals are a major draw for the "panda ambassador" competition, which has 16 finalists competing for the top prize later this month.

Of the seven pandas, the biggest is Aoliao weighing 13lbs.

Twin brothers, Chengshuang and Chengdui - "pairs" in Mandarin - are the only twin pandas born this year.

The 16 competition finalists have joined up with the Chengdu Panda Base to train giant pandas for release into the wild.

Three winners of the "Pambassador" programme will be announced on November 16.

According to organisers, the contest aims to raise awareness of protecting an endangered species.

Only 1,600 pandas are estimated to remain in the wild.

During their one-year "ambassadorship", the selected winners will be given the opportunity to witness a panda delivering babies and spend time with the cubs.

They are also expected to visit pandas living in different countries and to promote conservation.

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Crackdown Sees 14 Nigerian Kidnappers Killed

Security forces in Nigeria have stormed the hideout where a Turkish national had been held for ransom.

Fourteen members of a gang thought to responsible for the kidnap died during the operation in the Niger Delta after opening fire on the security agents.

"The hoodlums were shot dead during a gun battle with the security agents in their camp in Kaani community in Ogoni land," said state police spokesman Ben Ugwuegbulam.

"The security operatives returned with a superior firepower and in the process shot dead six of the kidnappers instantly," he added.

Mr Ugwuegbulam said eight wounded gang members died on the way to hospital.

The gang was thought to be behind a wave of robberies and attacks on security agents in recent months.

Two other suspects had assisted the police with their investigations.

Six AK-47 rifles, 444 rounds of ammunition, 17 magazines and around $620 in Nigerian currency were found by police.

The Turkish construction worker the men had abducted last month was released unhurt by his captors after they collected the ransom money.

He was one of scores of people who have been kidnapped for ransom in the Niger Delta, which has in recent months seen increasing unrest.

Despite having large oil and gas reserves the region remains impoverished and badly polluted.

A report by the International Maritime Bureau recently warned that the area was emerging as a new hub for pirate activity.

In an unrelated development, five African aid workers kidnapped last month in central Niger have been released after being held captive in the deserts of Islamist-controlled northern Mali.

A sixth aid worker - who was also kidnapped - was shot during the abduction and later died of his wounds.

A government official said the five had arrived in the western Nigerian village of Yassan, near the Mali border, during Friday night.

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Vigilantes Seize Mexico Town After Murder

Authorities in Mexico have said they are close to striking a deal to provide more security for a town where angry residents seized control after the abduction and murder of a taxi driver.

The takeover of the southern town of Olinala took place after around 100 people stormed a house where four suspected kidnappers were hiding. They were killed after the building was set alight.

Town mayor Eusebio Gonzalez said nearly 700 residents had since been taking turns policing entry into the town by barricading streets and installing checkpoints.

Mr Gonzalez said the murder of the taxi driver was the latest in a series of violent attacks, and Olinala residents are demanding more protection from criminal gangs.

He said the Guerrero state governor has promised to increase help to fight drug crime.

"We're looking to establish order. The governor is aware of the situation and wants to improve the situation," Mr Gonzalez said.

"People feel like there isn't another way."

The town's vigilante unrest erupted at the taxi driver's funeral after rumours emerged that a second driver had been kidnapped.

"Things got really ugly," resident Paola Rosendo said.

Eduardo Gallo, a respected Mexican anti-crime activist, said Olinala is just the latest town where people have taken up arms to combat organised crime in frustration over the government's inability to control drug-related violence.

"People took over in order to prevent authorities' collusion with criminals," he said.

At least two towns in the western state of Michoacan have formed their own armed guard forces and thrown up roadblocks to keep out criminals. Towns in northern Mexico also have taken similar measures.

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U-Turn On Amsterdam Tourist Cannabis Ban

A new law that would have banned tourists from smoking cannabis in Amsterdam's notorious coffee shops has been scrapped.

The mayor of Amsterdam has rejected the legislation, which the incoming Dutch government has ruled will be up to local authorities to adopt it - or not.

Eberhard van der Laan said enforcing the law in the city would only force pot smokers onto the streets.

He told the De Volkskrant newspaper that the city's tourists will not accept restrictions on the availability of marijuana.

"They will swarm all over the city looking for drugs. This would lead to more robberies, quarrels about fake drugs and no control of the quality of drugs on the market," he said. "Everything we have worked toward would be lost to misery."

Under the new rules, due to be fully introduced by January, the government will issue "weed passes" to those who want to smoke marijuana and hash.

Amsterdam coffee shops are to remain open to tourists

This would mean only Netherlands residents could buy cannabis openly. Foreigners, who flood to Amsterdam each year to buy and smoke drugs, would be banned from such consumption.

Some 1.5 million visitors are estimated to go to the Dutch capital, which relies heavily on tourism, every year to take advantage of its libera approach to drugs.

The change in law has caused lengthy arguments between politicians, some of whom believe it will curb drug use in the country, and coffee shop owners, who fear it could seriously damage their business.

It was brought in by the previous conservative-led government but MPs in the new administration have decided to let individual cities make up their own minds.

There are currently around 750 coffee shops in the country, with around 220 of in Amsterdam, mostly in the city's famous red light district where prostitution is also legal.

While marijuana trafficking is illegal in the Netherlands, people cannot be prosecuted for possession of small amounts and the drug is sold openly in designated cafes.

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Sean Quinn Jailed For Contempt Of Court

Sean Quinn Senior has been jailed for failing to comply with a court order to overturn a multimillion-euro asset-stripping plot.

A judge at Dublin's High Court said she had no choice but to sentence the former-tycoon to nine weeks in prison.

This summer, Mr Quinn, his son Sean Junior and nephew Peter Darragh Quinn were ordered not to put the family's 500 million euro (£400m) fortune beyond the reach of the former Anglo Irish Bank.

But although the 66-year-old initially avoided prison, Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne said Mr Quinn had committed a serious contempt of court by not reversing the scheme. 

She described his attitude as evasive and unco-operative, adding that with regards to the jail sentence "he has only himself to blame". 

The founder of Quinn Insurance, who also owned an international property empire, declared himself bankrupt last year over debts of 2.8bn euro (£2.24bn) to the now-nationalised Anglo bank.

He racked up huge losses on secret stock investments in the bank as its share price collapsed.

The family admit they owe 455m euros (£364m) to the bank - rebranded the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation - but deny owing the rest and have launched a counter-case.

Mr Quinn Jr was freed from prison two weeks ago after serving a three-month sentence for contempt of court, while Darragh Quinn has avoided going to prison to date, despite a similar sentence imposed in July.

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Syrian Rebels 'Execute' Government Soldiers

By By Sam Kiley, Middle East Correspondent, in Jerusalem

Syrian rebels are suspected of murdering a group of captured government soldiers undermining a strategic victory which gave them control of the main highway between Aleppo and Damascus.

An unverified video of the killings, believed to have been in Saraqib, shows a group of about 20 armed men wearing rebel head bands standing over at least eight captured soldiers.

One of the soldiers pleads with the militia insisting that he did not shoot anyway.

A rebel can be overheard saying "gather them together for me".

Young men, many of them already wounded, are flung into a pile and then riddled with bullets.

Fighting in Aleppo

The executions are a reminder of a similar atrocity in Aleppo in August when a group of rebels murdered local people they accused of being members of Assad's Shabiha (ghosts) militia.

The capture of Saraqib is a significant strategic gain for the rebels. It controls the road to Damascus, and cuts the government forces main supply route to its Aleppo line.

It also severs the regime's links to Latakia, the main coastal city in the heartland of Assad's brethren in the Alawite community.

Rebel successes in the past have come from the valuable contribution of former regime soldiers who have changed sides, bringing their tactical skills with them.

Syrian refugees near the Turkish border

But recently deserters have been reluctant to contact revolutionary fighters for fear of summary execution. Last week a group of about 20 government soldiers gave themselves up in Turkey claiming asylum and saying they would not have surrendered to rebel forces for fear of retribution.

Amnesty International's Ann Harrison, the deputy Middle East and North Africa director, said that the footage appeared to show "a potential war crime in progress".

She said that the human rights group would continue to investigate the alleged atrocity.

The government is accused of widespread war crimes including the murder of civilians who have been found with their hands tied close to the government held air force headquarters in Aleppo.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

The rebel gains, which are reported to include a 25km radius around Saraqib, have come at a time when the exiled Syrian national Council and other groups are facing international criticism for their apparent failure to unite.

Two days ahead of key talks among the opposition in Qatar, the Syrian National Council lashed out at US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent statement that it was not fully representative of the country's diverse dissident forces.

"Any discussions aimed at passing over the Syrian National Council or at creating new bodies to replace it are an attempt to undermine the Syrian revolution by sowing the seeds of division," the SNC said in a statement.

Clinton said the SNC was not representative of on-the-ground opposition forces and that it "can no longer be viewed as the visible leader of the opposition".

It is likely that Washington will be pushing for an overhaul of the opposition at a meeting in Qatar this weekend. But US influence will depend on Qatari support.

Washington contributes a pittance, and only in the form of non-lethal aid, to rebels who receive hundreds of millions of pounds in support from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, much of it donated by individuals.

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Medvedev: Pussy Riot Should Be Freed

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said two members of punk band Pussy Riot serving two-year terms for hooliganism should be freed.

Nadya Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina  were found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred after performing a protest song against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow's main cathedral.

They arrived at corrective labour camps last month in the Urals and central Russia.

"I would not put them in jail if I was a judge. I simply don't consider it right that they serve prison sentences," Medvedev was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

"They have already been in jail long enough."

Medvedev has taken a softer stance in the case than Putin

A Russian appeals court has upheld the prison-camp sentences for Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina, but unexpectedly ordered the release of a third member of the band, Yekaterina Samutsevich, on a suspended sentence.

Many observers saw the move as an attempt to drive a wedge between the trio.

The case has turned Pussy Riot into a cause celebre across the world, with stars including Madonna expressing solidarity and thousands of people – often wearing balaclavas that have become the band's symbol - holding protests against their conviction.

Human rights groups have denounced the case as proof that freedom of expression is being eroded in Russia.

Balaclava-wearing supporters of Pussy Riot in Paris in October

However, critics of Pussy Riot say their provocative performance in a place of worship hurt the religious feelings of many Russians.

Medvedev said he personally found the women "very unpleasant".

He added: "I have some doubts that this group that is now famous not only in our country has anything to do with music."

President Putin has taken a harder stance, joking about the women's sentences in a television documentary last month and saying ahead of their appeal the court had been right to jail them.

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Sandy: Fuel Crisis Grows On US East Coast

A US motorist has reportedly threatened another with a gun as the fuel crisis escalated along the US East Coast in the wake of superstorm Sandy.

Huge queues have been developing outside petrol stations throughout the stretch of the country battered by a storm that has killed more than 90 people.

Amid increasing desperation over major fuel shortages in New York, state governor Andrew Cuomo wrote on his Twitter page: "Tankers are moving into New York Harbour and the fuel situation will be abated soon."

But it came after New York District Attorney Richard Brown revealed 35-year-old Sean Bailey, of Queens, had been arrested after he tried to jump the queue at a petrol station - and pointed a pistol at another driver who complained.

He was arrested on charges of menacing and criminal possession of a weapon.

Queues of cars stretching back more than a mile could be seen in areas including New Jersey and parts of neighbouring state Pennsylvania.

Drivers argue at a petrol station in New Jersey

New Jersey resident Stephanie Damiano spoke to Sky News while waiting in a queue to but petrol.

"This line is wrapping around the whole entire highway, there's miles backed up," she said.

"I've been here for two hours and 18 minutes exactly. We're just now reaching the front. There's about a hundred cars behind me now.

"I actually got assaulted last night waiting on the same exact line. I was walking in Walmart parking lot and a guy just got really agitated and assaulted me and tried to get into my car."

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg said he expected the shortages to ease over the coming days.

"Some of the gas stations aren't open because they don't have electricity," he said.

"That, over the next few days, should be accommodated. Once mass transit comes back you will have a lot fewer cars trying to buy gasoline."

Meanwhile, fears of lawlessness were rife, with more than 4.6 million homes and businesses across the country still without electricity because of the storm - which has caused up to $50bn worth of damage.

People wait in line to fill containers with fuel in Edison, New Jersey

The Guardian Angels, a group of anti-crime volunteers, have been carrying out patrols in Manhattan island.

Wolfgang Ban, a restaurant owner in Manhattan's Alphabet City neighbourhood, said: "People feel safe during the day but as soon as the sun sets, people are extremely scared.

"The fact that Guardian Angels are on the streets trying to restore law just shows how out of control the situation is in lower Manhattan."

There has also been anger in New York at Mr Bloomberg's decision to proceed with the city's marathon on Sunday - more than 40,000 runners are due in the city.

Frustration has been particularly acute in Staten Island, where rubbish has been piling up, a stench hangs in the air and mud-caked mattresses and furniture line the streets.

New York City councilman James Oddo said on his Twitter account: "If they take one first responder from Staten Island to cover this marathon, I will scream.

"We have people with no homes and no hope right now."

Elsewhere, the US Coast Guard said it had halted its search for the captain of tall ship HMS Bounty that sank off the North Carolina coast.

The search for 63-year-old Robin Walbridge - which employed ships, helicopters and planes - was suspended after more than three days of around-the-clock effort.

New Jersey officials say they will deploy military trucks to serve as polling places on Election Day in storm-battered communities, and are also extending the deadline for mail-in ballots.

The trucks will be parked at polling places that do not have power.

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Saudi Capital Rocked By Gas Tanker Explosion

A fuel tanker has exploded in the Saudi capital Riyadh killing at least 22 people and injuring 111 others.

Witnesses say the vehicle crashed into a flyover triggering an explosion that caused the collapse of a nearby building.

Adjacent buildings were also damaged as well as nearby vehicles.

Based on witness accounts officials say they do not believe there is a terrorist connection.

The civil defence department confirmed the accident occurred when a gas tanker hit a bridge causing a leak and an explosion in a heavy machinery warehouse.

"The truck driver was surprised by a road accident on its route, causing it to crash into one of the pillars of the bridge," said spokesman Captain Mohamed Hubail Hammadi.

The crash took place on a flyover in the city's industrial area.

Over a hundred emergency personnel responded to the blast.

There are fears the number of deaths will continue to rise.

"I was inside the building when the blast came. Then boom, the building collapsed," said  one survivor, Kushnoo Akhtara.

"Furniture, chairs and cabinets blasted into the room I was in."

The 55-year-old Pakistani said he was now helping to find other victims of the explosion.

"My brother is still inside under the rubble. There are lots of people in there," he said.

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Sandy: 'Mass Destruction' In Atlantic City

When the people of Atlantic City emerged from wherever they had been sheltering against Superstorm Sandy, there was only thing they wanted to see.

A stretch of the city's iconic boardwalk, ripped up and thrown inland, has become a nationwide symbol of the devastating impact of nature's assault on the New Jersey shore.

Ever since, locals have been stopping by: Simply to stare in wonder, or pick through what remains of the demolished boardwalk and abandoned buildings knocked over by Sandy.

The beach is littered with all kinds of debris: Massive chunks of timber, long buried maritime metal work, bits of brick wall, even local newspapers from as far back as 1974.

The site, at the end of Atlantic Avenue, has become something of a tourist attraction.

John Paxton outside his storm damaged home in Atlantic City

John Paxton, a lifelong resident of Atlantic City, said: "This is the first time I have been down to see it.  It is devastating, it looks like a bombed-out area.

"It is the first time I've seen mass destruction like this."

Like many, the 75-year-old ignored evacuation warnings. He saw out Sandy in a house which stands alone on a patch of waste ground four blocks from the beach.

He showed us how three feet of flood water had even left the food drawers in the bottom of his fridge filled with foul water. His home of 57 years is now caked in mud and sludge.

He said: "When I saw the road outside had become a river, there was nothing else to do. I went to bed."

Atlantic City has now begun a massive clean-up operation and almost every street is dotted with piles of damp or destroyed furniture and carpets.

A woman walks past storm damage in Atlantic City

Close to the bay, Kathleen Fitzgerald was dragging plastic rubbish bags full of soaking home goods out on to the pavement.

She says this is the first time that the city has been hit badly by a hurricane-like storm after several warnings came to nothing over the years.

"In a way we were lucky," she said. "As far as my family and all my neighbours, no loss of life, no injuries, so everyone did good."

Red Cross volunteers in the city say even those who prepared well for the storm are now running low on resources.

Catherine Barde said: "This has been incredibly difficult for the residents of this community. It is so completely devastating."

But she says that community spirit has helped: "Everyone comes together at a time like this."

It is perhaps a sign of the scale of Sandy that even Atlantic City's famed casinos were forced to close, at a cost of $5 million a day.

They will re-open and the city will re-build with the spirit demonstrated by residents like Shelley Grossman.

When the storm hit her apartment block, she said, residents retired to a safe room: "We were playing bingo during the height of the storm, it was like being on the Titanic, the music playing as the ship was going down.

"But it kept us all calm."

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Sandy: Face To Face With Storm's Devastation

The superstorm came ashore over a thousand miles of coastline to engulf 20 states - and counting.

In each state Sandy has had different consequences for different communities.

In Rockaway Park in the Queens borough of New York, the storm surge was overwhelming.

Like a tsunami, the sea rose by five or six feet, and swept through the town. It dumped much of the beach on the streets, flipped cars and ripped up the boardwalk.

For Frankie Burk, who was watching from a sixth-floor window, it felt like the end of days.

This was the work of God, he said, just as damaging as what terrorists wrought on 9/11 only more spread out.

The night it happened he ventured out in his waders, but was lifted up and pinned to a fence - but not before seeing electricity transformers above him explode down the street.

The fire they ignited was still burning in a block of properties almost completely destroyed.

Sky News found the Van Leirs, a couple who lived round the corner, hugging each other.

The historic Rockaway boardwalk was destroyed

Jan Van Leir was crying - it was too much to see their neighbourhood shops in smouldering ruins, she said. She wondered if the town would ever get its character back.

Rockaway Park is not affluent - it's a carefree seaside beach town say the people who live here. They are pulling together, helping neighbours remove sodden belongings. But the challenge is enormous.

Every building was flooded one way or another. Cars were carried down streets and flipped over. Basements and ground floors have been wrecked.

Further down this narrow peninsula in Breezy Point, people were killed and many homes went up in flames in a fire caused by a flooded electricity station.

On a dark, cold Halloween night for more than eight million Americans we drove back from Rockaway to Manhattan, the power was out for around two-thirds of the way, and it will be for days to come.

Beyond Brooklyn Bridge, Lower Manhattan stood dark and ghostly.

We had seen military helicopters patrolling the skies over Queens, helmeted National Guardsmen touring in Humvees, and scenes of devastation you do not expect to see in America.

If the scientists are right, this is just the beginning. The weather is only going to become more extreme because of climate change.

Ironically that issue has received barely a mention in the election contest that culminates next week. 

The Breezy Point fire razed dozens of homes

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Smugglers' Jeep Gets Stuck On US Border Fence

Suspected Mexican smugglers had to abandon their attempt to get into the US after the 4x4 they were in got stuck on top of the 14ft border fence.

US Border Patrol spokesman Spencer Tippets said agents spotted the SUV perched on top of the fence on Tuesday at the border between Arizona and California.

Two people on the Mexican side were trying to free the Jeep when the agents approached. They ran further into Mexico.

The Jeep was empty, but agents say it was probably filled with contraband like marijuana before it got stuck.

The smugglers had built ramps that looked like long ladders to drive up and over the fence.

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Superstorm Sandy: Fuel Shortages Hit Recovery

Long queues have formed at some US petrol stations due to fuel shortages following superstorm Sandy as emergency teams struggle to reach the worst hit areas and restore power to millions.

Tens of thousands of people are stranded in their properties due to flooding three days after the storm battered the East Coast and killed at least 72 people.

In New York, a limited service returned on some train and subway lines, but more than half of the petrol stations in the city and neighbouring New Jersey remained shut due to power outages and depleted fuel supplies.

Even before dawn, long lines formed at petrol stations that were expected to open.

Nearly 20,000 people have been trapped at home in the New Jersey city of Hoboken, just across the Hudson River from New York City, amid accusations that officials were slow to deliver food and water.

Residents in the flooded city of Hoboken

One man blew up an air mattress and floated to City Hall, demanding to know why supplies had not reached residents - at least a quarter of homes there are flooded and 90% do not have power.

National Guard troops have arrived in Hoboken to help evacuate stranded people.

In total, about five million homes and businesses remain without power, mostly in New York and New Jersey - while miles of coastline, including Atlantic City, was ripped apart by the storm.

As the region struggles to recover, a clean-up operation in that state has begun while New York City has taken the first tentative steps to getting back to some form of normality as it re-opens some unaffected parts of the subway system - which suffered the worst damage in its 108-year history.

Parts of Manhattan remained without power after the superstorm

Three of the region's main airports, John F Kennedy, Newark Liberty and LaGuardia, have also opened and are running limited schedules.

Broadway shows have resumed and people packed on to buses that returned for the first time to city streets since the storm.

Electricity outages continue as far west as Wisconsin in the Midwest and as far south as the Carolinas.

The superstorm, which also hit parts of Canada, came ashore over a thousand miles of coastline to engulf 20 states. It is now winding down and its remnants have been felt in the Appalachian mountains.

Sandy brought up to 3ft (1m) of snow to parts of West Virginia and Maryland and several more inches are possible before it dies out for good later this week.

Restoring the usually vibrant New York City to its ordinarily frenetic pace could take days, while rebuilding the hardest-hit communities and the transportation networks could take considerably longer.

Flood-damaged food is removed from New York shops

Power company Consolidated Edison says it could be the weekend before power is restored to Manhattan and Brooklyn, perhaps longer for other New York boroughs and the New York suburbs.

There are still only hints of the economic impact of the storm.

Forecasting firm IHS Global Insight predicted it would cause $20bn (£12.4bn) in damage and $10bn (£6.2bn) to $30bn (£18.5bn) in lost business. Another firm, AIR Worldwide, estimated losses up to $15bn (£9.3bn).

Part of a home rests upside-down in Seaside Heights, New Jersey

Amtrak said the amount of water in train tunnels under the Hudson and East rivers was unprecedented, but it said it planned to restore some service on Friday to and from New York City.

Speaking at a shelter, US President Barack Obama told New Jersey residents that the government will support them "for the long haul".

The region took the brunt of its impact and is among the worst affected areas on the East Coast.

The bill for Sandy could top $20bn

Joined by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Mr Obama -  who described the disaster as "heartbreaking for the nation" - inspected the impact from Sandy, flying high over flooded neighbourhoods and sand-strewn streets.

He told those affected by the storm: "Our hearts go out to the families who have lost loved ones. Their world has been torn apart ... they are in our thoughts and prayers.

"For those like the people I have had a chance to meet on this block, throughout New Jersey and throughout the region whose lives have been upended, my second message is: We are here for you, and we will not forget, we will follow up to make sure that you get all the help that you need until you've rebuilt."

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Sandy Uncovers Bomb At Guantanamo Bay

The US military has had to close down a ferry landing at Guantanamo Bay after Hurricane Sandy uncovered an old bomb.

The 500lb (227kg) object was discovered several days after the hurricane – later downgraded to a superstorm – hit the Cuban island.

Officals at the US naval base evacuated the area around the bomb and flew in a disposal crew.

It was later discovered that the device was "inert" and not a threat.

The island was once used as the US Navy's Atlantic fleet training centre.

Sandy was classed as a hurricane when it hit the Cuban island

Workers are still cleaning up the damage from last week's hurricane, which blew the roof off the base.

It is unclear if the state-of-the-art courtroom that beams proceedings to special viewing sites on US soil was damaged.

The site holds 167 detainees who the US believes are linked to conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The death toll in the Caribbean stands at 69, with thousands of people left homeless.

Sandy took the lives of 52 people in Haiti, 11 in Cuba, two in the Bahamas, two in the Dominican Republic, one in Jamaica and one in Puerto Rico.

Haiti is still recovering from the 2010 earthquake that killed 316,000 people.

The UN said the latest disaster has pushed back the country's progress.

"Haiti is trying to get its house in order, but each time disaster strikes, the progress is interrupted," said Johan Peleman from the UN.

"This country is exposed to devastating consequences by each storm. With every burst of rain, entire mountains are washed away."

The regions most affected were the south and west, where many communities remain cut off due to the destruction of roads and bridges, authorities said.

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Teenager Lured Men To Deaths With Fake Jobs

A teenager has been found guilty of aggravated murder for his role in a plot to lure men to a non-existent farm with fake job offers and rob them.

Authorities said Brogan Rafferty, 17, lured four victims with bogus job vacancies on Craigslist - a classified advertisements website - to the non-existent cattle farm in southeast Ohio.

His alleged accomplice Richard Beasley, 53, allegedly shot and killed three of the men. The fourth victim was shot in the arm and survived.

During the trial, prosecutors painted Rafferty as a "student of violent crime" who was a willing participant in the three murders while the defence argued he was acting under the duress of Beasley, a self-styled chaplain depicted as a mentor.

The man who survived, 49-year-old Scott Davis of South Carolina, had testified as the prosecution's star witness, identifying Rafferty as Beasley's accomplice.

Mr Davis told the court he had responded to a Craigslist advertisement to work as a farmhand. He met a man calling himself "Jack" for breakfast before driving to an isolated Noble County farm.

Prosecutors say that "Jack" was actually Beasley, and that he urged Mr Davis into a wooded area to look for farm equipment.

Mr Davis said he heard a gun cock and turned around to find himself face to face with a handgun. He said he pushed the weapon aside, was shot in the arm and fled as "Jack" fired at him. Mr Davis said he eventually climbed to a hilltop, found a house and asked to call police.

Authorities said all the men were targeted because they were older, single and out of work with backgrounds that made it unlikely their disappearances would be noticed right away.

All the victims were robbed of items including personal possessions, a truck and a weapon, prosecutors said.

Rafferty stood with his hands clasped behind his back and showed no emotion as he was convicted of three counts of aggravated murder and one count of attempted murder.

He had testified that he did not want to be involved in violence and said he went along with the plan only because he feared for his life.

Rafferty was tried as an adult but faces a maximum potential sentence of life in prison because he is a juvenile. His sentencing is set for November 5.

Beasley has pleaded not guilty and could face the death penalty if convicted at his separate trial.

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Wall Street Opens Higher After Sandy Shutdown

New York's Dow Jones opened up 0.4% after Hurricane Sandy's arrival on the East Coast forced a two-day market closure.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, while the Nasdaq fell slightly in early trading.

US stock markets were closed on Monday or Tuesday as Sandy tore through the city, flooding the financial district and subway system and causing widespread power cuts.

But New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Wednesday, signalling Wall Street was open for business again.

To ensure a smooth start, the NYSE invoked a condition to trading known as Rule 48 which helps stop extreme market volatility. 

But the exchange is currently without an internet connection or electricity, as are large parts of Manhattan, and is running on backup generators.

The majority of floor traders at the NYSE managed to get to work, despite the closure of the city's subways and train networks.

But trading was expected to be volatile following two days of inactivity and in low volumes, with the power outages preventing some traders from working from home.

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GM Slashes Jobs Amid Europe Car Downturn

General Motors has announced European job cuts amid the sales downturn in the foreign car market.

The US parent firm of Britain's Vauxhall said it would aim to make $500m (£310m) in fixed-cost savings between 2013 and 2015.

It added the company was planning further job cuts in Europe as it seeks to break-even on the continent by the middle of the decade.

GM said it will cut the shifts at its Opel plant in Eisenach, Germany, from three to two next year, according to a presentation made after the firm revealed its third quarter earnings.

The Detroit-based car maker, which needed a US bailout after the global financial crisis, posted a surprisingly strong Q3 profit.

However, it said the target to break even in Europe comes as it plans to lose as much as $1.8bn (£1.11bn) there this year.

The cuts come just days after a major competitor announced major job cuts as it sought to reduce vehicle production.

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Sandy: President Obama Visits Emergency HQ

President Barack Obama is visiting rescue workers ahead of his trip to New Jersey to see the damage done by superstorm Sandy.

At least 55 people have been killed across the US and Canada. The worst of the damage is focused on New York and New Jersey, where Mr Obama will head later.

He described the disaster as "heartbreaking for the nation".

It was Mr Obama's second visit to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) in four days. On Sunday, he met with officials and told reporters the government would "respond big and respond fast" after the massive storm made landfall.

The superstorm wreaked havoc across the east coast of America

The President is fighting a close race with Republican rival Mitt Romney and the White House has been keen to portray him as a strong leader ahead of election day on November 6.

Mr Romney is currently campaigning in Florida, where he said people had "come together" to help each other following the storm.

More than eight million homes have been left without electricity by the biggest storm to hit the country in generations, which swamped parts of New York's subways system and Lower Manhattan's financial district.

It is feared it could be days before electricity is restored to some of those cut off.

Floodwaters surround a car parked on a street in Hoboken, New Jersey

Forecasters predict the storm could end up causing around $20bn (£12bn) worth of damages in the US.

While the storm has now passed the worst-hit area, Sky News weather presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar said the bad weather will continue.

"The storm is still reacting with cold air from the west, so there will be further heavy snowfall as well as inland flooding," she said.

"Rainfall totals could reach around 6-8 inches, and winds will remain gale force in strength.

The Empire State Building seen through the flooded Erie-Lackawanna Park

"The forecast suggests that the centre of the low will move northwards from western Pennsylvania into the west of New York and then into Quebec by Thursday."

More than 80 homes in New York City's borough of Queens were destroyed in a fire caused by the storm.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who toured the area, said: "To describe it as looking like pictures we've seen of the end of World War Two is not overstating it. The area was completely levelled."

Neighbour John Frawley, 57, said: "I stayed up all night. The screams. The fire. It was horrifying."

Falling trees proved to be particularly deadly during the storms

Subways were flooded, public transport suspended, and flights disrupted.

However as the rain and wind eased, JFK and Newark airports were reopened. Laguardia airport remains closed.

In New Jersey, businesses and homes along the shore were wrecked and communities were submerged under floodwater.

But talk in the state quickly turned to rebuilding and recovery.

Areas along the shoreline were badly damaged

"It's heartbreaking after being here 37 years," Barry Prezioso of Point Pleasant, New Jersey, said as he returned to his house in the coastal community to survey the damage.

"You see your home demolished like this, it's tough. But nobody got hurt and the upstairs is still livable, so we can still live upstairs and clean this out. I'm sure there's people that had worse. I feel kind of lucky."

Some newspapers had suggested that Tuesday's election could be delayed, but Sky News' Political Editor Adam Boulton said that was unlikely.

"No-one is talking about that. In Manhattan they haven't even called off the marathon this weekend."

More follows...

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HMS Bounty Sinks: Rescued Crew Member Dies

A woman rescued from the Atlantic Ocean hours after the HMS Bounty was caught by Hurricane Sandy has died.

Claudene Christian, 42, was pulled from the water on Monday - hours after the historic ship went down in the storm off the coast of North Carolina - but was unresponsive.

Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class David Weydert said Ms Christian, who lived and sailed on the ship, was taken to hospital in a critical condition but was later pronounced dead.

The Coast Guard is still searching for the ship's captain, Robin Walbridge, 63.

The famous HMS Bounty was hit by 18ft waves

Ms Christian, a keen sailor, said on Twitter that she joined the ship's crew in May and a series of posts described how much she was enjoying her life on the sea.

On June 7, she wrote: "So I had a tough day, lost in the sails. But it was sunny warm and I am on a TALL SHIP AT SEA. It's a "Bountyful" life."

Fourteen other crew members were rescued from the stricken vessel, which was about 160 miles from the hurricane's centre.

The captain ordered his crew to abandon ship at about 5am on Monday after the vessel lost power and started to take on water.

Sixteen people were on board the ship when it sank

Coast guards said the crew had put on cold water survival suits and life-jackets before launching in two 25-man lifeboats with canopies.

The suits are designed to protect people from the cold waters for up to 15 hours.

Rescuers faced 40mph winds and 18ft waves at the scene, which is 90 miles southeast of Hatteras in North Carolina.

The rescued crew were flown to Air Station Elizabeth City for treatment.

Coast Guard Sector North Carolina received a call from the owner of the 180ft, three-mast ship, saying she had lost communication with the vessel's crew late on Sunday evening.

The rescued crew were flown to Air Station Elizabeth City for treatment

It regained contact with the ship after receiving a signal from the emergency position indicating beacon registered to the Bounty.

HMS Bounty was built for the 1962 movie Mutiny On The Bounty with Marlon Brando and also appeared in Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

The original Bounty was known for the mutiny that took place in Tahiti in 1789.

People could apply to work on the ship, which was built in 1960 and restored in 2001.

The HMS Bounty Organisation said on its website that it was "dedicated to keeping the ship sailing and using her as a vehicle for teaching the nearly lost arts of square rigged sailing and seamanship."

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Assassin's Creed And Movie Premiere Hit By Storm

Video gamers in the northeastern US have been denied the chance to be among the first to play Assassin's Creed III because of the fatal storm that has been striking the region.

GameStop stores cancelled their midnight launches of Ubisoft's historical action sequel as Superstorm Sandy continued to disrupt the New York entertainment scene.

Assassin's Creed III is an historical action-adventure open world stealth game which is appearing on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U and Microsoft Windows.

The game sees protagonist Connor Kenway take on the British during the American Revolution, and also features a present day setting with returning character Desmond Miles.

Broadway shows, talk shows and concerts were also hit by the storm, as was Tuesday night's premiere of Anna Karenina starring Keira Knightley and Jude Law.

Keira signed autographs in Toronto - but New York is on hold for now

New York City officials said all film permits for Monday and Tuesday had been revoked because of the storm and associated safety precautions. All 40 Broadway theatres will be closed until Wednesday at the earliest.

The storm halted production on a few films as well, including Akiva Goldsman's Winter's Tale and Darren Aronofsky's Noah, starring Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly.

"I take it that the irony of a massive storm holding up the production of Noah is not lost," tweeted Harry Potter actress Emma Watson, who plays Ila, Noah's adopted daughter.

Some television network schedules were shaken up by the widespread power outages cutting into the available TV audience in the East.

Several stations interrupted their network broadcasts with live news coverage of the storm.

Sandy took a huge toll on the North American box office even before it made landfall.

Ticket sales were down by 11% compared with the same weekend last year, said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst for Hollywood.com.

Last weekend's top film, Argo, took £7.5m ($12.1m), while the top film during the same weekend in 2011, Puss In Boots, earned £21m ($34m) - almost three times as much.

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Sandy Could Mean Costly Delays For Travellers

Airline passengers delayed by Sandy may have to pay out thousands and wait days to reach their destinations, following the grounding of thousands of flights.

Flight-tracking service FlightAware posted details of 13,500 cancelled national and international flights for Monday and Tuesday, almost all related to the stormy conditions.

By early Tuesday, more than 500 flights scheduled for Wednesday were on hold, with more delays expected to be announced later.

More than a hundred UK departures and arrivals from New York and other East Coast cities were cancelled on Tuesday alone. The majority were due to operate via Heathrow. 

A British Airways spokesman said: "We are doing all we can to help customers whose flights have been cancelled and will look to use larger aircraft on some routes when the full flying schedule resumes to help get customers to their correct destination as quickly as we can."

BA's other US flights are operating normally and the company is also flying as usual to Toronto and Montreal in Canada.

Virgin Atlantic had to scrap most of its US East Coast services on Monday and Tuesday. 

"Our flights to America had been very busy at the beginning of this week due to the half-term school holiday. It's very unfortunate that this major storm has come when it has," a Virgin spokesperson said.

Some airports like this one in Washington DC virtually closed down

UK airports were advising passengers due to travel to the US to contact their airline before travelling.

All airlines flying out of the European Union are obliged under the EU Denied Boarding Regulations to provide or pay for later flights, accommodation and refreshments if travellers are delayed.

But there is no such obligation for US carriers. Passengers on these flights should contact their insurers for compensation. 

Under ABTA regulations anyone who booked their flight as part of a package deal can change or cancel their trip with a refund on the package price.

Businessman Alan Shrem was due to return home to Florida from Hong Kong via New York on Monday.

He is now on a waiting list with the next confirmed seat not until November 4.

"They just say: Yeah, it's a pretty big waiting list," said Mr Shrem, throwing up his hands.

In the meantime, he will have to fork out $400 a night to continue staying at a nearby hotel.

The impact on the airline's finances is less clear. Many of the customers on flights currently being cancelled will reschedule later on, so the airlines will still collect the fares.

But the cost of parking planes for days, along with potential damage, will undoubtedly cost airlines millions.

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New York Storm: Wall Street Looks To Reopen

New York stock markets look set to reopen on Wednesday, after Hurricane Sandy ripped through the East Coast.

Flooding in the financial district closed Wall Street for two days - the first time the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has been shut for two consecutive sessions since 1888.

But the capital's two major markets - the NYSE and Nasdaq - said they planned to open on Wednesday, although contingency plans were being tested as a back-up.

If implemented, these measures would see trades made via the electronic NYSE Arca system.

The storm also caused dozens of companies to postpone publishing financial results, and put back the release of some economic data.

The US futures markets have fallen overnight and HFS Research's Ralph Silva warned it is not just the US economy that will be affected.

The volume of trades in London has been very low, he said, adding: "if you want to sell shares in something, and there's no one to buy it, you shouldn't sell it."

"As a result we're seeing a slowdown in Britain as well," he said. "This could amount to hundreds of millions of pounds of economic value lost."

Joe Rundle, head of trading at ETX capital, agreed that volumes had been low.

"Everyone is sitting on the sidelines a little bit, and cautiously optimistic that Sandy hasn't caused too much damage in the US," he said.

"I expect volumes to back up tomorrow and back to business as usual."

It is too early to count the cost of the storm but there has been huge disruption across the US as Sandy battered homes and businesses.

More than 7.3 million buildings along the East Coast are without power, and a number of internet and mobile networks are down.

The storm has also grounded more than 15,000 flights globally, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware.

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US East Coast Devastated By Superstorm Sandy

Superstorm Sandy is heading inland after battering parts of the United States and Canada, killing at least 17.

The storm, which lashed the east coast overnight, led President Barack Obama to declare a "major disaster" in New York and Long Island.

Forecasters say the storm is set to move westwards towards the Great Lakes, and on to northeastern states and parts of Canada.

While it is gradually weakening, gusts of up 50mph are expected, and heavy rainfall will bring flooding to inland areas.

An explosion rocks a flooded New York power plant

The "post-tropical" storm made landfall at 8pm local time on Monday, bringing gusts of more than 85mph (135kph) and a record-breaking 13ft surge of seawater in Manhattan.

The water submerged subway tunnels and roads, while many bridges and tunnels were closed as a precaution.

At Breezy Point in the borough of Queens, 190 firefighters tackled a huge fire that destroyed more than 50 homes. They used a boat to navigate the flood water and rescue 25 people.

New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg said: "These storms brought something like 23 serious fires to parts of (New York City). The terrible fire on Breezy Point is now under control but we believe we lost more than 80 houses.

CCTV captures the PATH station in Hoboken, N.J., as it is flooded.

"The search and recovery operations there are ongoing. If any of you saw the pictures on television it looked like a forest out in the Midwest."

New York University hospital was forced to move patients to other hospitals after it lost power and its back-up generator broke down. Among them were 20 babies from neonatal intensive care - some on respirators operating on battery power.

Firefighters said one man had been killed by a falling tree, while two people were also killed when a tree fell onto a vehicle in New Jersey.

Elsewhere in New Jersey a levee broke, flooding the towns of Moonachie, Little Ferry and Carlstadt with up to five feet of water. Rescue workers are at the scene assisting those who are trapped.

Sea water floods the Ground Zero construction site.

New Jersey governor Chris Christie said the level of devastation on the Jersey Shore is "unthinkable".

"It's beyond anything I thought I'd ever see, terrible."

Juan Allen, who lives in a mobile home park in the state, said: "I saw trees not just knocked down but ripped right out of the ground. I watched a tree crush a guy's house like a wet sponge."

Some 670,000 New York homes have been left without power by the storm, with electricity knocked out to more than eight million people.

The collapsed front wall of an apartment building in New York

A total of 16 people have been reported dead by local officials in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, West Virginia and North Carolina, while in Toronto, Canadian police said a woman died after being hit by flying debris.

Some 84 flights have been cancelled between London Heathrow and the US east coast. Flights from Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham have also been cancelled.

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) was closed on Monday and the Nasdaq suspended. Both will reopen on Wednesday.

It had been feared the surge of seawater could damage the underground electrical and communications lines in lower Manhattan that are vital to the nation's financial centre.

Haiti was devastated by Hurricane Sandy as it swept across the Caribbean

Journalist Bucky Turco, who was out on his pedal bike during the height of the storm, criticised how city officials dealt with the crisis.

He said: "What I find absurd is that the city went through all these preparations and in the end it was rainwater that brought down one of the most important cities in the world. It's kind of shocking."

Sandy had already killed 69 people in the Caribbean, where many islands were left devastated by the extreme weather conditions.

Haiti was worst-hit, with 52 confirmed dead and many more still missing. Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe described the storm as a "disaster of major proportions".

Residents of Cuba's second-largest city of Santiago were left without power and running water for four days.

After battering the Caribbean, Sandy then made its way up the Atlantic. As it made its way toward land, it converged with a cold-weather system that turned into a hybrid consisting not only of rain, high wind and snow.

Earlier, a US sailor on board a replica of the HMS Bounty was recovered from the sea in an "unresponsive" condition and later died. The captain was missing, feared dead after the tall ship went down off the Carolinas.

President Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney have suspended their campaigning with just over a week to go before election day.

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Hurricane Sandy Churns Up US Election Campaign

President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney overhauled campaign plans again for Monday as Hurricane Sandy threatened tens of millions of Americans.

Both men dumped planned rallies in swing states in the path of the monster storm, upending strategies which have been months in the making.

"The storm will throw havoc into the race," Democratic Virginia Senator and Obama supporter Mark Warner told Fox News, as coastal evacuations were ordered and millions of people feared flooding and power cuts.

As the hurricane neared, Mr Romney on Sunday scrapped appearances in Virginia to join running-mate Paul Ryan in Ohio, the Midwestern epicentre of the unpredictable final week battle.

Mr Obama, who had already brought forward his arrival in Florida to Sunday evening to dodge the storm, cancelled an appearance on Monday in Orlando.

"Due to deteriorating weather conditions in the Washington area, the president will not attend today's campaign event in Orlando," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

Barack Obama meets campaign workers in Florida on Sunday

"The President will return to the White House to monitor the preparations for and early response to Hurricane Sandy."

Sandy is forecast to begin hitting the Washington region on Monday with strong wind and drenching rain.

The Obama campaign said the president was being briefed regularly on the hurricane and preparations for the federal government "to bring all available resources to bear" to ease the effects of the monstrous, late-season storm.

"Obviously my first priority has to be to make sure that everything is in place for families," the president told campaign workers in Florida on Sunday.

"That's going to be putting a little bit more burden on folks in the field, because I'm not going to be able to campaign quite as much over the next couple of days."

Mr Obama has also cancelled a campaign event in Virginia on Monday and one in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Tuesday.

Virginia and Colorado - like Florida, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa and Nevada - are the critical battleground states where the outcome of the election will be determined.

Mitt Romney campaigning in Florida at the weekend

Democrats claim the president has the edge heading into the final full week of the campaign.

The storm could offer opportunity for Obama, allowing him to pose as a cool, effective leader, marshalling the resources of an engaged government at a moment when citizens most need it.

However Republicans insist Mr Romney has the momentum necessary for victory.

In an email to supporters, he said people in Hurricane Sandy's path were in his thoughts and prayers.

"I hope that if you can, you'll reach out to your neighbours who may need help getting ready for the storm - especially your elderly neighbours," Mr Romney said

"I'm never prouder of America than when I see how we pull together in a crisis. There's nothing that we can't handle when we stand together."

Voters in many states are already casting ballots early, and about one-third of the electorate will have voted before Election Day.

In addition to scrambling to tweak schedules over the weekend, the campaigns were pumping millions of more dollars into TV ads running in the decisive battleground states.

Well-funded outside groups and super PACs are paying for direct mail, automated phone calls and other get-out-the-vote efforts.

Total spending in this campaign has exceeded $2 billion, making it the most expensive presidential race in the history of electoral politics.

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China: Journalists Dragged Away From Protest

A Sky News team were among journalists who were "violently" stopped from reporting on an environmental pollution protest in China.

Sky News cameraman Andy Portch was attacked by plain-clothed men as they tried to prevent him filming a protest over expansion plans for a petro-chemical plant in Ningbo, Zhejiang province.

Police sought to disperse hundreds of people outside the Ningbo city government offices, including an AFP journalist who was briefly detained by police.

Sky's Foreign Affairs Correspondent Lisa Holland was among a crowd when an official tried to stop her reporting on the demonstration.

Thousands marched through the city over the weekend, clashing with police at times - eventually forcing the government to halt the expansion plan on Sunday. But people still gathered outside government offices on Monday to ensure the politicians kept their word.

Holland said: "We were pushed and dragged down a flight of steps and our cameraman Andy Portch was kicked in the back of his calves as plain-clothed thugs tried to wrestle the camera from him."

He is heard on camera saying: "What are you doing? You can't beat me up like this. Stop beating me up."

During the commotion, one protester shouted: "Don't hit them, don't beat them."

A man holding a baby told police not to threaten them, saying: "You are bullying the Chinese people. We have to rely on foreigners to come and help us."

An environmental protest takes place in Ningbo

The Sky team was then marched away by riot police to roars by the crowd and threatened with arrest before being bundled away in a taxi.

The crowd took pictures of the whole episode and uploaded them onto Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter.

People are using the powerful social media tool to highlight local disputes and controversial protests that never get reported by the state media.

Holland said: "As the authorities tried to prevent us filming the event - the crowds were taking pictures of the whole episode and busily uploading them onto Weibo - their version of Twitter.

"It's Twitter, but not as people know it outside China. That's because China's population of 1.3 billion play a clever game of cat and mouse posting about the issues that matter to them, but not using specific words which will get their messages blanked out by the censors.

"The messages speak in riddles -  a language of Weibo has developed as users read between the lines, but clearly understand each other.

"Through brute force the authorities tried to remove us from the story. But they just aren't quick enough to stop Weibo and its messages and images. It's a constant flow of information which is simply overloading the censors.

"China is moving into a power transition when it gets a new set of leaders in the next few weeks. Instability and unrest fills the ruling Communist Party with fear - and Weibo is fuelling that."

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Breast Implant Firm Founder Freed From Prison

The founder of breast implant firm Poly Implant Prothese has been freed from prison after serving eight months for unpaid bail.

Jean-Claude Mas, 73, was jailed in March after he was charged in January with causing grievous bodily harm following the implant scandal erupted, sparking a global health scare over potentially faulty products.

Mas' release was ordered by a French judge but he will still be "placed under judicial supervision," his lawyer Yves Haddad said.

Mas, who is due to go on trial in April 2013, will have his movements restricted and is barred from meeting Claude Couty, his former right-hand man at the company.

Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) shut down in 2010 after it was revealed to have been using substandard industrial-grade silicone gel.

PIP implants were made with non-authorised silicon gel

Between 400,000 and 500,000 women in 65 countries - including 30,000 in France alone - are believed to have implants from PIP, once the world's third-largest silicone implant producer.

German and French authorities advised that the implants should be taken out, while women given PIP breast implants on the NHS were told they could have them removed for free and private firms were expected to offer the same deal.

Mas was previously a travelling salesman who turned to selling pharmaceuticals. He reportedly founded PIP in 1991 to take advantage of the burgeoning market for cosmetic implants.

He previously confirmed the implants sold by PIP were made with a non-authorised silicon gel but he rejected any suggestion that they posed a health risk.

Mas and four other former PIP officials will go on trial next year in a keenly awaited trial that will involve about 180 lawyers and 4,600 complainants.

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Fourteen Crew Members Saved, Two Missing

Fourteen crew members of HMS Bounty have been rescued near the eye of Hurricane Sandy - but two are still missing.

The captain ordered his crew to abandon the ship, which is located 160 miles from the hurricane's centre, after it lost power and the pumps were unable to keep up with the dewatering.

The US Coast Guard said the Bounty's crew had donned cold water survival suits and lifejackets before launching in two 25-man lifeboats with canopies.

"The first Jayhawk crew hoisted five people into the aircraft and a second helicopter arrived and rescued nine people," the coast guard said.

They were flown to Air Station Elizabeth City for medical treatment while aircraft remained on the scene to search for the missing two.

Rescuers faced 40mph winds and 18ft waves at the scene, which is 90 miles southeast of Hatteras in North Carolina.

Coast Guard Sector North Carolina received a call from the owner of the 180ft, three mast ship, saying she had lost communication with the vessel's crew late on Sunday evening.

It regained contact with the ship after receiving a signal from the emergency position indicating beacon registered to the Bounty.

The current Bounty was built for the 1962 movie Mutiny on the Bounty with Marlon Brando and has since appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

The original Bounty is known for the mutiny that took place in Tahiti in 1789.

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Hurricane Sandy: 'Frankenstorm' Heads For New York

New York has called up 1,000 extra troops from the National Guard as "superstorm" Hurricane Sandy bears down on the city.

Heavy rain and strong winds have started lashing the northeast of the US, as forecasters warn New York could bear the brunt of the one-of-a-kind storm - dubbed a "Frankenstorm".

Sandy is on a collision course with two other weather systems leading to fears it could develop into one of the worst storms on record in the US.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave advice to citizens unable to leave New York

The storm is threatening up to 50 million people on the heavily populated East Coast, and forecasters say it could wreak havoc over 800 miles (1,280km) from the Atlantic coast to the Great Lakes.

Authorities are warning New York could get hit with an 11ft (3.3-metre) wall of water that could swamp parts of lower Manhattan, flood subway tunnels and cripple the network of electrical and communications lines that are vital to the nation's financial centre.

As the hurricane approaches the coast, rescuers have saved 14 crew members of HMS Bounty stranded on lifeboats near the eye of storm - but two remain missing.

Floodwater has inundated the Atlantic City boardwalk (Twitter.com/hoeboma)

:: Live Updates on Hurricane Sandy

Sandy, a Category 1 hurricane, is currently about 380 miles (615km) southeast of New York City, with winds of about 85mph (140kph).

The US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said it strengthened as it turned toward the coast on a predicted path toward New York, Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia. It is moving at 15 mph (24 kph).

The centre of the storm was positioned to come ashore Monday night in New Jersey, meaning the worst of the storm surge could be in the northern part of that state and in New York City and on Long Island.

Flooding in Norfolk, Virginia

The massive storm, which is hundreds of miles across, is set to stay until at least mid-week, bringing hurricane winds, flooding rains and snow in the Appalachian mountains.

Hundreds of thousands of people have already evacuated coastal areas, but much focus remains on New York.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo urged residents to use common sense and stay indoors.

"The worst is still coming," he said.

New York and other cities shut down schools and suspended all train, bus and subway services on Sunday night because of the risk of flooding.

Nearly the entire coastline of Staten Island has been evacuated. Parts of lower Manhattan, like Battery Park and Ground Zero, have also been evacuated amid the threat of flooding.

People have been ordered to leave low-lying coastal areas

All US stock markets will be closed on Monday and possibly Tuesday, the operator of the New York Stock Exchange said, reversing an earlier plan that would have kept electronic trading going on Monday.

A state of emergency has already been declared in nine states - including New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

US President Barack Obama has cancelled a planned campaign appearance in Florida and returned to Washington to oversee the federal government's response to the ever-threatening hurricane.

Mr Obama promised the government would "respond big and respond fast" after the storm hits.

The Belle Harbor section of the Queens borough of New York

"My message to the governors as well as to the mayors is anything they need, we will be there, and we will cut through red tape. We are not going to get bogged down with a lot of rules," he said.

Federal Emergency management administrator Craig Fugate warned the "time for preparing and talking is about over".

"People need to be acting now," he said.

Airlines have cancelled more than 7,600 flights, with British Airways, Virgin and American Airlines have halted some departures to the eastern coat of the US.

At Heathrow, 47 departures and 12 arrivals have been cancelled.

Sandy was blamed for 66 deaths in the Caribbean before it began travelling northward parallel to the eastern seaboard.

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Nanny 'Was Losing Her Mind' Before Child Murders

The New York nanny accused of murdering two children in her care told relatives she was "losing her mind", according to reports.

Yoselyn Ortega, who remains in a critical condition in hospital after apparently stabbing herself, was struggling emotionally and financially, friends said.

Celia Ortega told the New York Post that her sister "had snapped", adding: "We don't understand what happened to her mind."

Neighbour Ruben Rivas told reporters she seemed to have suddenly aged in recent weeks and had lost weight.

Other friends said that Ortega had suffered a financial setback and was forced to move out of her rented apartment in the Bronx and into her sister's home.

Juan Pozo, who had rented a room from the Ortega family, told The New York Times that the nanny's sister told him that she had "felt like she was losing her mind" lately.

She had recently been taken by relatives to visit a psychologist, Mr Pozo said.

"Apparently over the last month she was not herself," said police department spokesman Paul Browne.

Police said they were unaware of any significant history of psychological problems for Ortega, but were investigating whether she had recently sought treatment.

Leo Krim, two, and Lucia, six, were found dying of stab wounds in the bath when their mother Marina returned to the family's Upper West Side apartment.

Mrs Krim had been with her other daughter Nessie while her husband Kevin was away on business.

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Peru: Deadly Riots At 'Criminal' Market

At least four people have been killed and over 20 hurt as police trying to shut down Peru's biggest wholesale market clashed with protesters.

The mayor of the capital Lima, Susana Villaran, want to move the market - reportedly an easy place to buy illegal goods and stolen merchandise - to a modern, cleaner facility nearby.

She has accused traders opposed to the move of paying criminals to attack officers.

The outbreak of violence in connection with the La Parada market has stunned residents and could hurt Ms Villaran's chances of re-election.

The skirmishes have also prompted criticism of President Ollanta Humala's interior minister, who is in charge of the police force that was caught off guard when protests broke out on Thursday.

Two civilians died during the initial violence while two others were killed on Saturday. One was shot and the other stabbed.

Riot police have been out in force firing tear gas at the demonstrators who threw rocks at police. More than 100 people have been arrested.

In a television interview, Ms Villaran called La Parada "a world where a lot of people earn a lot of money through criminal acts, control of territory, protection rackets. And they don't want to leave."

She called the violence "pre-meditated reaction by hired bands or troublemakers who want to continue ruling their territory outside the law. We are not going to permit that in Lima".

Ms Villaran had set a deadline of mid-September for traders to move to a new market in the Santa Anita district but they refused.

One unnamed shop owner said: "Why is Susana taking our bread away?"

The capital Lima has been hit by a series of strikes over the past month as unions demand better pay and complain of being left behind by a decade of growth that has seen the economy surge more than 6% a year.

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Earthquake Off Canada Sparks Tsunami Alert

Thousands of people in Hawaii have been ordered to leave their homes after a tsunami was triggered by an earthquake off the coast of Canada.

Initial warnings have now been downgraded but residents and tourists are still being advised to stay on higher ground until an all-clear is given.

The 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit off the west coast of Canada, around 96 miles (155km) south of Masset in the Haida Gwaii region, at just after 8pm local time.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was followed by a 5.8 magnitude aftershock several minutes later.

An estimated 100,000 to 150,000 people who live in Hawaii's coastal zones were urged to move to higher ground after a tsunami warning was issued.

The earthquake hit around 96 miles off the coast of Canada

This was later downgraded to an advisory and video footage of the island of Oahu showed relatively small waves rolling towards the shore.

Lenore Lawrence, a resident of Queen Charlotte City on the Haida Gwaii, said the quake was "definitely scary".

She said the shaking lasted more than a minute and that several things had fallen off her mantlepiece. 

Residents in parts of British Columbia were also evacuated but the province seemed to escape the biggest quake in Canada since 1949 largely unscathed.

Lucy Jones, a USGS seismologist, said: "This isn't that big of an earthquake on tsunami scales. The really big tsunamis are usually up in the high 8s and 9s."

Tremors were felt across a wide area in British Columbia, both on its Pacific islands and on the mainland.

"It looks like the damage and the risk are at a very low level. We're certainly grateful," said Shirley Bond, British Columbia's minister responsible for emergency management.

Officials downgraded a tsunami warning to an advisory for southern Alaska and British Columbia. They also issued an advisory for areas of northern California and southern Oregon.

The first wave of the small tsunami, about four inches, hit the southeast Alaska coastal community of Craig.

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Syria: Rebel Fighters Are Becoming Radicalised

By Alex Crawford, Sky News Special Correspondent

Sky has seen new evidence that the Syrian uprising is becoming more and more radicalised and being fought by Islamic fundamentalists and extremists.

The Syrian rebels have all but given up on military intervention by the West but after 18 months of grinding battle and a feeling they have been abandoned by the international community, they are making their own bombs and weapons and becoming much more self-sufficient.

There are some weapons and arms being smuggled across the borders from sympathetic Muslim neighbours.

We saw brand new rocket propelled grenade launchers with their rockets still in their plastic wrappers which had been smuggled across the Turkish border and an anti-aircraft gun which the rebels told us had come from Iraq.

But although that means that the rebels have many more weapons than they have had before, it is still small fry in comparison to the heavy weaponry, tanks and artillery employed by the regime.

What is increasingly obvious is the number of Jihad (holy war) flags and Jihad paraphernalia worn and used by the rebel fighters. The black headbands worn by many of the fighters are a symbol of Islamic fundamentalism - used by extremist groups and usually anti-Western.

The common refrain from many of the rebel fighters is that they have been forgotten by the outside world.

A cache of weapons seized by rebel fighters

A number of commanders told us they were disappointed, angry and frustrated by the lack of help from the international community.

One said: "All we get is words, not actions."

I asked him how many fighters were from outside Syria. He replied: "Most of the fighters are Syrians. I would say 90% of the fighters are Syrian. Only a few hundred in the whole of Syria are from outside the country and most of them are from sympathetic countries."

We met a Libyan medic and former rebel in his own country who said he had come to help the rebels in Syria as a fellow Muslim.

He said: "We know what it is like to suffer. I have come to help in the hospital but if I had to pick up a gun and shoot Assad soldiers, of course I would.

"The real problem here is not foreign fighters, not Al Qaeda or any other group but the regime which has done far more damage than any other group."

The rebels have been making significant gains in the north, crushing regime bases and the Assad army has been losing men as well as arms.

But the frustration by the rebels and the inaction by the international community is driving the rebels towards religious extremism.

If Assad falls, the West's lack of help may have lost them a potential ally in the Middle East and even worse, may have created an angry and resentful new enemy.

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