Syria War: 11,000 Refugees Flee In 24 Hours

As many as 11,000 people have fled Syria in 24 hours - one of the biggest refugee exoduses the country has seen in its 20-month conflict.

The refugees were escaping fierce fighting between rebels and government forces for control of the northeastern Syrian town of Ras al Ain on the border with Turkey.

The exodus signals the escalating ferocity of the conflict, which has killed more than 36,000 people since March 2011.

The United Nations has warned that an estimated four million people inside Syria will need humanitarian assistance by early next year as winter sets in - up from 2.5 million now.

Of the 11,000 Syrians who fled in the 24-hour period that began on Thursday, 9,000 crossed into Turkey, while Jordan and Lebanon each absorbed another 1,000 refugees, according to UN officials.

Video from Turkey's news agency Anadolu showed Syrians jumping over and climbing through a razor-wire fence on the border to cross into the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar.

The influx has caused alarm in Turkey, which has long expressed worry over its ability to cope with such large numbers and has called for a buffer zone to be set up inside Syria where refugees could be housed.

Turkish soldiers guard the border with Syria near the town of Ceylanpinar

The flood of Syrians into Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon was "the highest that we have had in quite some time," said Panos Moumtzis, the UN refugee agency's coordinator for the region.

Despite the bloodshed, President Bashar al Assad said in a rare TV appearance that there was no civil war in Syria.

"It is about terrorism and the support coming from abroad to terrorists to destabilise Syria. This is our war," Mr Assad said in an interview by broadcaster Russia Today, which was aired on Friday.

Mr Assad has insisted he would not step down, saying he would "live and die in Syria".

But Syrians still in the country faced an increasingly desperate situation, senior UN official John Ging, in Geneva, said.

"Every day our humanitarian colleagues on the ground are engaging with people who are ever more desperate, ever more fearful for their lives and for the lives of their families because of this conflict," he said.

Also on Friday, Syria's main opposition bloc in exile, the Syrian National Council, elected veteran activist George Sabra, a Christian, as its new head.

The group has come under heavy criticism from international allies for being ineffective in the fight against Mr Assad and for being riven by personal disputes.

22.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

CIA Director Petraeus Quits Over Affair

CIA Director David Petraeus has resigned over an extramarital affair - which officials say was uncovered by an FBI investigation.

According to his letter of resignation, General Petraeus asked President Barack Obama on Thursday to allow him to resign, and on Friday the president accepted.

The general admitted he had shown "extremely poor judgement" in having an affair.

"Such behaviour is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organisation such as ours," he wrote.

He had only been sworn in as director of the Central Intelligence Agency on September 6, last year.

Prior to that, he was a four-star general with 37 years' service in the US Army.

His last assignments in the army were as commander of Isaf, the International Security Assistance Force, and commander of US forces in Afghanistan and in Iraq.

The resignation took Washington's intelligence and political communities by surprise, coming as a sudden end to the public career of the best-known general in recent years.

Neither Gen Petraeus nor the CIA explained why he felt he had to step down over the affair, and whether his liaison presented a purely personal problem or raised security issues in his sensitive work as spy chief.

The affair came to light as the FBI was investigating whether a computer used by the general had been compromised, the New York Times and other US media reported, citing government officials.

General Petraeus with his wife Holly

In a statement released after the resignation was announced, Mr Obama hailed the "extraordinary service" of Gen Petraeus.

"David Petraeus has provided extraordinary service to the United States for decades," Mr Obama said.

"By any measure, he was one of the outstanding general officers of his generation."

The president said the CIA's Deputy Director Michael Morell would serve as acting director.

"I am completely confident that the CIA will continue to thrive and carry out its essential mission," Mr Obama said.

Gen Petraeus has been married for 37 years to Holly, who he met when he was a cadet at the US Military Academy at West Point.

Although the president made no direct mention of Gen Petraeus' reason for resigning, he offered his thoughts and prayers to the general and his wife.

He said Mrs Petraeus has "done so much to help military families through her own work. I wish them the very best at this difficult time".

The CIA has come under fire in recent weeks in the wake of the September 11 attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Critics have questioned how much the intelligence agency knew about the likelihood and nature of the attack.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Spain: Suicide Death Jump As Bailiffs Move In

A mother in Spain jumped to her death as bailiffs approached to evict her from her fourth-floor flat, officials have said.

Amaia Egana's death was the country's second apparent suicide linked to evictions, with authorities under mounting pressure to ease tough mortgage laws.

Around 500 evictions are being carried out each day across Spain, which is beset by a sinking economy.

Mrs Egana reportedly jumped from the balcony of her home in Barakaldo, in the northern city of Bilbao, as bailiffs approached to evict her for failing to pay her mortgage.

She worked at a local bus depot, was married to a former town councillor and had a 21-year-old daughter.

While protests against Spain's mortgage rules took place in Madrid, neighbours of the 53-year-old held a vigil outside her building.

One of them, Francisco Algazira, said: "Shame on the government for these things.

A woman passes a Madrid bank painted with graffiti reading: 'Assassin'

"They are cutting and cutting and we can't live anymore. The same thing that happened to that woman could happen to me tomorrow."

Jose Luis, a 52-year-old former teacher, said: "They need to stop rescuing the banks and start rescuing people because we are heading nowhere and the loan sharks must have a limit."

Local judge Juan Carlos Mediavilla told reporters that it was "necessary to amend current mortgage legislation" to prevent a recurrence of such events.

And employment and social security minister Fatima Banez said the government deeply regretted Mrs Egana's death.

On Thursday the European Court of Justice's advocate general, Juliane Kokott, handed down a non-binding legal opinion that criticised Spanish legal rules regarding evictions.

The ruling came in response to a query from a Spanish court on a 2011 lawsuit over an eviction due to an unpaid mortgage.

Ms Kokott said the Spanish system did not sufficiently protect consumers against possible abusive clauses in mortgage contracts.

In October, Jose Miguel Domingo, 53, was found dead in the courtyard of his building in Granada moments after bailiffs appeared to evict him.

A day later, another 53-year-old man, who had been unemployed for four years, jumped out of his apartment window in the eastern town of Burjassot as eviction loomed. He survived but with injuries.

Spain's unemployment rate stands at 25% and the government predicts its economy - which is now in recession - will not grow until 2014.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Turkey Helicopter Crash: 17 Troops Killed

Seventeen Turkish soldiers have died after their helicopter crashed in southeastern Turkey in bad weather, an official has said.

The Sikorsky aircraft came down on Herekol mountain, in the Pervari district of Siirt province, according to Siirt governor Ahmet Aydin.

The victims were members of gendarmerie special forces and there were no survivors on board, he said.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash which reportedly happened in thick fog.

The helicopter was transporting troops to Pervari, where the Turkish army has been involved in operations against Kurdish rebels for three days, security sources told AFP.

The military has been on Herekol mountain in an attempt to flush out militants from outlawed separatist group the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who have hideouts there.

Since the summer, there has been an upsurge in PKK attacks in southeast Turkey, particularly in the Hakkari region.

Turkish jets and helicopters have pounded PKK positions along the border with Iraq and Iran for three days, killing 42 militants, Hakkari's governor said.

Last month, a Sikorsky crashed in southeastern Diyarbakir province after it hit power lines, killing one soldier and wounding seven.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Syria: 'Casualties After Two Large Blasts'

Two large explosions have struck the Syrian city of Deraa, causing multiple casualties, according to the state-run news agency.

The blasts were reportedly followed by clashes between regime forces and rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad.

Activists said dozens of members of the Syrian security forces were killed when two cars loaded with explosives drove into a military camp.

In what could have been a double suicide attack, the first car was driven into the camp and exploded, followed by the second vehicle, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Deraa was the birthplace of the Syrian uprising against Mr Assad

The blast from the second vehicle caused the casualties, it added.

Deraa, in the south of the country, was the birthplace of the Syrian uprising against Mr Assad, which erupted in March 2011.

The conflict began largely with peaceful protests against his rule but turned bloody after rebels took up arms in response to the regime's crackdown.

Activists say more than 36,000 people have died in Syria during the 19-month-long uprising.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Argentina: Protests Over Cristina Fernandez

Thousands of Argentines have been out in the streets of the capital, Buenos Aires, in the country's biggest anti-government protests for years.

The march against President Cristina Fernandez was in protest at rising inflation, crime and corruption and was organised on social media with people of all ages jamming the streets of the capital for nearly four hours.

Demonstrators filled the Plaza de Mayo in front of the pink presidential palace and also crowded into the square around the city's iconic obelisk chanting: "We're not afraid."

The protest was peaceful with generations of families gathering - from toddlers in pushchairs to grandparents in wheelchairs - as they marched through the centre of Buenos Aires until nearly midnight.

A pot-carrying boy holds up a poster that says Basta - enough!

People banged on pots, whistled and waved the Argentine flag. They held banners that read: "Stop the wave of Argentines killed by crime, enough with corruption and say no to the constitutional reform."

Ms Fernandez's critics are angry over the country's high inflation, violent crime and high-profile corruption, and many worry that the president will try to hold onto power by ending constitutional term limits.

"I came to protest everything that I don't like about this government and I don't like a single thing starting with (the president's) arrogance," said Marta Morosini, a 74-year-old retiree.

"They're killing policemen like dogs, and the president doesn't even open her mouth. This government is just a bunch of hooligans and corrupters."

Police officials said the crowd numbered at least 30,000, while some anti-Fernandez local media estimated hundreds of thousands turned out.

The protests hold deep symbolism for Argentines, who recall the country's economic debacle of a decade ago.

The "throw them all out" chants of that era's pot-banging marches forced presidents from office and left Argentina practically ungovernable until Ms Fernandez's late husband, Nestor Kirchner, assumed the presidency in 2003.

Argentines in Mexico City show their disapproval

Other demonstrations were held on plazas across Argentina, including in major cities like Cordoba, Mendoza and La Plata, while protesters massed outside Argentine embassies consulates, including Chile, Australia, Rome and Madrid.

"In Argentina, there's no separation of power and it cannot be considered a democracy," said Marcelo Gimenez, a 40-year-old from Buenos Aires who has been living in Spain for two years. 

"Cristina is not respecting the constitution. The presidency is not a blank check and she must govern for those who are for her and against her."

Crime is the biggest concern for many of her critics, with the media reporting increasingly bold robberies, in which armed bands tie up families until victims hand over the cash that many Argentines have kept at home since the government froze savings accounts and devalued the currency in 2002.

The vast majority of the crimes are never solved, while the death toll is rising.

Inflation also upsets many. The government's much-criticised index puts inflation at about 10% annually, but private economists say prices are rising about three times faster than that.

Property transactions have slowed to a standstill because of the difficulty in estimating future values, and unions that won 25% pay hikes only a few months ago are threatening to strike again unless the government comes up with more.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Syria: Assad 'Employing Cluster Bombs' In War

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent, in northern Syria

Sky News has found overwhelming evidence that the Syrian regime is using cluster bombs against its own people, in contravention of international laws.

It comes despite repeated denials by Bashar al Assad's government, which has insisted the regime does not even possess the weapons.

The claims had already been made by rebel activists who are denounced by the Assad regime as terrorists and were then backed up by Human Rights Watch.

But until now the accusations could not be independently verified and have been repeatedly written off as lies and propaganda by the Syrian government.

This week, the UN political affairs chief told the Security Council that there was "credible evidence" that the regime had used cluster bombs, which release many small bomblets over a wide area.

But Sky cameraman Garwen McLuckie, producer Nick Ludlam, cameraman Jim Foster and myself travelled to northern Syria and discovered scores of unexploded Russian-made cluster bombs ourselves, providing overwhelming evidence that the regime is indeed using weapons. They are considered some of the most lethal in the world.

Holes showing evidence of cluster bombs in a field

The eyewitnesses we spoke to described the bombs raining down on them. Many still had unexploded bombs in their homes.

Two people died in the town of Tal Rafaat, near the Turkish border when the Government dropped cluster bombs from jets.

The bombs scattered the bomblets over a wide area, landing in fields, on top of scores of homes and hitting cars driving down the road.

Shortly afterwards, according to residents, the jets also attacked Maarat Al Numan. Both towns have a strong rebel presence and many residents told us they believed they had been attacked because of their anti-government stand.

One resident of Tal Rafaat, who did not want to be named for fear of government reprisals, told us: "I am very scared. I have three children and they are all sick now and I believe it was because of the cluster bombs that they are sick.

"They have been terrified since we were attacked."

Damage from fighting in Aleppo

He showed us holes in his roof, in his garden wall and in his front room where the bombs had landed.

"Assad is a criminal," he said, "I am 42-years-old and I have never heard of this, in Chechnya or Palestine or anywhere in the world where a president attacks his own people like this. He wants to kill all of us."

Aamar Alommer, who also has three children, aged six, four and seven months, showed how the bombs had punctured his water tank and diesel storage before blowing a hole in his ceiling as his family were all at home having dinner.

"This is not just against international law," he said. "This is against humanity."

Foreign Secretary William Hague has condemned the discovery. He said: "This footage is further evidence of the brutality of the Assad regime.

"The apparent use of cluster munitions shows an appalling disregard for human life. It reinforces the urgent need for all members of the UN Security Council to unite and respond to the crisis, and for all countries to step up efforts to hold the regime to account."

Ongoing conflict in Syria

Many of the residents believe the attacks amount to a war crime and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) is hoarding the intact bombs in a secret location as evidence.

Two Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters accompanied us gathering up the unexploded cluster bombs which the residents repeatedly produced as we went from house to house.

Ahmed Ousow told us the aircraft turned up just after Friday prayers on October 12.

"There were lots of people around. The residents had all just attended prayers. there were no demonstrations at that time and then suddenly the jet started bombing," he said.

He spoke of finding two big bombs with multiple smaller bombs inside - and most inside did not detonate.

A few weeks earlier, in Bdama, also near the Turkish border, we discovered a landmine planted in the middle of a residential area and left behind by the retreating Syrian army.

The civil war in Syria is becoming more and more vicious - with video surfacing on the internet of the FSA fighters executing groups of captured Syrian soldiers. The United Nations said if it could be verified, the killings would also amount to a war crime.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

New York Storm: Mayor Orders Fuel Rationing

The mayor of New York has ordered fuel rationing based on vehicle registration plates after the city was hit by its second severe storm in just over a week.

Michael Bloomberg announced at a news conference that drivers will be allowed to buy petrol on alternating days based on whether their licence plate ends in odd or even numbers.

It comes as heavy snow fell across much of the northeastern US - bringing yet more misery for hundreds of thousands of people still without power since Sandy hit on October 29.

"This is not a step that we take lightly," Mr Bloomberg said.

"Only 25% of our gas stations we estimate are open. Frustrations are only growing and it now appears there will be shortages for possibly another couple weeks."

Long queues like this one on Staten Island have been common in New York

The rationing plan, similar to one implemented in New Jersey last week, began on Friday at 6am local time (11am GMT).

Long Island also imposed the rationing system one hour earlier.

Police are at petrol stations to enforce the system.

Mr Bloomberg did not say when the measure, which does not include emergency vehicles, buses, taxis and certain other vehicles, would end.

People with licence plates ending in a letter are eligible to buy fuel on odd-numbered days.

Officials hoped the move would cut queues of increasingly desperate drivers at city petrol stations.

More than 110 people died across the US northeast during Sandy

The shortage has created a black market where online sellers are offering fuel at more than twice the industry rate.

New York City has been hard hit by fuel shortages since Sandy struck due to power cuts and petrol being stranded at refineries.

A second coastal storm, known as a nor'easter, struck on Wednesday bringing snow, rain and high winds and further hampering efforts to get the city's infrastructure back online.

More than 110 people died across the US northeast during Sandy, which began as a deadly Caribbean hurricane before driving into New Jersey .

In New York City, authorities reported that the number of dead there reached 41 when an elderly man was found dead in his building.

NY Governor Andrew Cuomo estimated that Sandy and its aftermath had caused $50bn (£31bn) in damage, with New York state bearing $33bn (£21bn) of that.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has begun to move several hundred mobile homes into New York and New Jersey for the tens of thousands forced out of their homes.

More than half a million people, mostly in New York and New Jersey, were still waiting on Friday morning for their electricity to come back on.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Britain To End Financial Aid To India In 2015

Britain's controversial £280m-a-year aid programme for India will end in 2015, the Government has announced.

The UK will reduce its support to the fast-developing country over the next three years, saving around £200m ahead of the cut-off.

International Development Secretary Justine Greening said programmes already under way would go ahead but nothing new would be approved.

Future British support for India will be limited to skills-sharing in areas like trade, investment and health and will be worth around £30m-a-year.

The move follows criticism that the Government is imposing drastic austerity measures at home while handing out a fortune in aid to rich, developing nations.

Popular move: Justine Greening

India has become a focus of the anger because it has its own space programme and a booming economy that is growing at 8% a year.

Indian finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said last year that the country no longer wanted or needed the grant, describing it as "a peanut in our total development expenditure".

The decision will also delight Tory MPs who have attacked Prime Minister David Cameron's commitment to spend 0.7% of national income on overseas aid.

Ms Greening said: "After reviewing the programme and holding discussions with the government of India this week, we agreed that now is the time to move to a relationship focusing on skills-sharing rather than aid.

"India is successfully developing and our own bilateral relationship has to keep up with 21st century India. It's time to recognise India's changing place in the world.

"It is of course critical that we fulfil all the commitments we have already made and that we continue with those short-term projects already under way which are an important part of the UK and government of India's development programme."

British support beyond 2015 will involve a hub of British development experts working with the Delhi government, and a programme of private sector investment.

Charities cautioned that the move may be "too hasty" because of the immense poverty still seen in the country.

Oxfam's director of campaigns and policy, Phil Bloomer, said: "It's crucial that we don't cut off money which gives a lifeline to poor families, and a third of the world's poorest people live in India.

"Despite the fact India is a country of growing wealth, it is also a hugely divided country with extreme levels of poverty and inequality. The scale of the challenge remains huge."

Melanie Ward, head of advocacy at ActionAid, added: "India is an example of the changing face of global poverty and a fast-moving economic landscape, but the reality is that it is a country with more poor people than in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.

"Aid which is carefully targeted at the poorest and most vulnerable people in India still has the potential to make an enormous difference to millions of lives."

Labour MP Keith Vaz also claimed the move would affect "the most vulnerable" and stressed the importance of the link to Delhi.

"Although undoubtedly India has progressed in the past 20 years, there are still an estimated 360 million people surviving on less than 35p per day," he said.

"We need to reassure the Indian government and its people that this relationship is a priority."

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sweden Shooting: Man Dies At PM's Residence

A man has been shot dead at the Swedish prime minister's official residence.

Police said he was a security guard at the Sagerska Palace, the prime minister's waterfront home and office in Stockholm, and had security clearance to be there.

They said it was not suspected that any crime had been committed.

"We investigate this as a suicide or a work-related accident," said police spokeswoman Towe Hagg.

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt was not at the residence at the time of the shooting, and police said he and his family were safe and well.

Private security guards protect the Sagerska Palace

Markus Friberg, a spokesman for Mr Reinfeldt, said: "The prime minister is fine. He was at an external meeting. He wasn't there."

Earlier, the Aftonbladet newspaper reported that a bodyguard had been shot and injured at the residence, but police said the dead man was not part of the prime minister's personal security team.

The Sagerska Palace is protected by security guards working for a private company. The prime minister also has bodyguards from the Swedish Security Service.

"This doesn't involve an employee at the Swedish Security Service," said Sirpa Franzen, a spokeswoman for the agency.

"At present there is no indication that the incident has any link to the Parliament or government."

The protection of Sweden's senior politicians was stepped up after the 1986 murder of Prime Minister Olof Palme and the deadly stabbing of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh in 2003.

Both had been without bodyguards when they were killed.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Guatemala Earthquake: At Least 48 Dead

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake has struck off the Pacific coast of Guatemala, killing at least 48 people, injuring another 155 and destroying scores of homes.

The quake, which hit at 10.35am in the midst of the work day, caused terror over an unusually wide area, with damage reported in all but one of Guatemala's 22 states.

It also sparked a tsunami alert on the El Salvador coast and evacuations from offices, homes and schools as far north as Mexico City, 600 miles to the northwest.

President Otto Perez Molina, at a news conference, said 40 people died in the province of San Marcos and eight more were killed in the neighbouring province of Quetzaltenango.

He said: "One thing is to hear about what happened and another thing entirely is to see it. As a Guatemalan I feel sad ... to see mothers crying for their lost children."

San Marcos bore the brunt of the quake

The mountain town of San Marcos, where more than 30 homes collapsed, bore the brunt of the quake's fury.

It was some 80 miles from the epicentre.

More than 300 people, including firefighters and policemen, tried to dig through half a ton of sand at a quarry in the commercial centre of San Marcos in a desperate attempt to rescue seven people believed buried alive.

Among those under the sand was a six-year-old boy who had accompanied his grandfather to work.

Mr Perez flew to San Marcos to view the damage in the lush mountainous region of 50,000 indigenous farmers and ranchers, many belonging to the Mam ethnic group.

More than 30 homes collapsed in San Marcos

The president said the government would pay for the funerals of all victims in the poor region.

Hundreds of people crammed into the hallways of the small town hospital waiting for medical staff to help injured family members, some complaining they were not getting care quickly enough.

Mr Perez said more than 2,000 soldiers were deployed from a base in San Marcos to help with the disaster.

The quake, which was 20 miles deep, was centred 15 miles off the coastal town of Champerico and 100 miles southwest of Guatemala City.

It was the strongest earthquake to hit Guatemala since a 1976 trembler that killed 23,000.

22.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Assad Vows To 'Live And Die' In Syria

Syrian President Bashar al Assad has told Russian TV he will "live and die in Syria".

Earlier this week, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron suggested that Mr Assad could be allowed safe passage out of the country if it would guarantee an end to the nation's civil war.

But appearing on the Russian Arabic-language channel Rusiya al Yaum, Mr Assad said he was not a puppet of the West. "I am Syrian, made in Syria, and I will live and die in Syria," he said.

"I think that the cost of a foreign invasion of Syria - if it happens - would be bigger than the entire world can bear ... this will have a domino effect that will affect the world from the Atlantic to the Pacific," he said.

"I do not believe the West is heading in this direction, but if they do, nobody can tell what will happen afterwards," he said. 

Excerpts of the interview were posted on the TV station's website with an Arabic voiceover.

The Syrian president is seen casually talking and later walking with a reporter outside a house, wearing a grey suit and tie. It was not clear where the interview took place. The full interview will be broadcast on Friday, the TV station said.

Russia has remained one of Syria's most loyal and powerful allies, shielding Damascus from strong international action at the United Nations Security Council.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in remarks posted on his ministry's website on Thursday that Moscow would not support any resolution that would threaten the Syrian regime with sanctions.

He criticised the West for supporting the opposition, saying foreign powers should try to force both sides to stop fighting.

:: The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Thursday that humanitarian conditions in Syria have worsened to an extent that the agency is unable to cope with the growing needs of civilians.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hu Jintao's Legacy: Critics Lament Lost Years

As Hu Jintao steps onto the stage of the Great Hall of the People his party will seek to portray him as having presided over a "golden decade" for China.

When the Communist Party made him the leader 10 years ago, China's economy was only a little bit bigger than Italy's.

It is now the world's second largest economy and may take over as economic superpower of the world during the political life of China's next president.

China has a seat at the top table of decision-making - the power of veto on the UN Security Council. 

China is seen by America as the only power in the world which can threaten it militarily.

China has held its first manned space flight and its first Olympics and there are plans to try to put a man on the moon.

Mr Jintao (R) is applauded by Premier Wen Jiabao (L) in 2011

China boasts the largest number of internet and mobile phone users worldwide and is the strongest global magnet for foreign investment.

China is undoubtedly the rising power of the world. 

Yet as Hu Jintao takes a bow there are some critics who privately say even with such achievements his period in office was the "lost decade".

Perhaps because culturally, socially and politically China has not moved forward an inch.

Surely China can never become a true global superpower when its people have no say in who runs their lives.

Mr Jintao (L) hugs his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin

As one blogger told me: "In China you can get rich and get famous, you can do anything you want as long as you don't try to subvert the leaders."

Within 24 hours of Barack Obama being re-elected for another four years in office, China is changing its political guard.

Barack Obama still likes to paint America as the place where you can live the dream. If you want it you can get it in the US.

In Chinese Communism the ideology is lost and confused. But you CAN live the dream.

Just remember not to criticise the Communist Party or ask for political choice as you drive round in the Mercedes.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hu Jintao Hails China's 'Golden Decade'

Xi, China And The Communist Party

Updated: 4:19am UK, Thursday 08 November 2012

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent

It would not be an embarrassment to admit to not having ever heard of Xi Jinping.

Indeed, the vast majority of people in China know little about the man who is almost certain to be their leader for the next 10 years. Why?

China operates what can be called a black-box system of government. It is closed to its subjects. It is extremely hard to see how it operates and who is pulling the leavers. 

The Communist Party runs or contributes to almost every facet of life in China.

Its 80 million or so members make it the largest political party in the world.  But China is so large, they represent just 6% of the country's population.

It is that 6% who have some say over who in their village, town, city or province rises up each of the thousands of different party organisations.

With a pyramid effect fewer and fewer people endorse those who will sit above them.

Over the next week, just a handful of men will announce their endorsement of the new top man: Mr Xi.

And that is why very few people know who Mr Xi is, what he is like, what he stands for and in what direction he will take the world's most populous nation.

Despite that though, Xi Jinping, 59, has been touted as a possible heir-apparent for over a decade.

The Communist Party is almost unique in its desire and ability to control the ascent of its leaders.

Potential candidates are groomed for the top jobs for years.

This week's leadership transition is not a single event but the result of years of careful planning and power-jockeying.

Look at articles and books written more than 10 years ago and you will see Mr Xi's name mentioned as a possible contender for the 2012 top job.

China's New Rulers, for example, written before the last leadership change in 2002, has a whole chapter on Mr Xi and the man expected to be his deputy, Li Keqiang.

In the 10 years since that book was written, the Communist Party has been moulding those men and controlling everything they can to ensure that it is they who take over as leaders today. It has worked.

So who is Mr Xi?

With a bit of research it is relatively easy to find out quite a bit about the man, but together it all amounts to little more than a series of facts rather than any degree of substance about his views.

Mr Xi is a "princeling": the son of one of the founding members of the Communist Party, Xi Zhongxun.

He was a Communist guerrilla commander who went on to form the Communist Party alongside Chairman Mao.

Mr Xi's father and Mao fell out and he was tortured and placed in jail for several years. 

During the Cultural Revolution, when millions of Chinese died under Mao's leadership, the Xi family were sent to live in communes as peasants along with so many others.

In recent and rare interviews Xi Jingping talks about this difficult time in his life which he refers to as a "struggle" which helped develop him into a stronger man.

Mr Xi and those around him now represent the first generation of leaders to experience, first-hand, the difficulties of being a child through the Cultural Revolution.

Many speculate that his could mould his leadership especially in terms of how he deals with the widening gap between rich and poor in China.

After the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, Mr Xi moved back to Beijing to continue his education.

He was educated into Communist Party and quickly rose through the ranks, first in Hebei Province and then in Fujian Province.

In 2000 he was made governor of Fujian Province followed by acting governor of Zhejiang in 2002.

He built economies in those two provinces which have become larger than both Hong Kong and Taiwan.

He has a daughter who studies at Harvard and a wife who is more famous than he is.

Peng Liyuan is a famous folk singer, fluent in English and a major-general in the People's Liberation Army.

She is, by all accounts, a beautiful woman. Her name even means "beautius beauty".

Peng will be far more of an American-style first lady when compared with her elderly and recluse predecessor, Hu Jintao's wife.

"Reform" is the buzzword for China's next 10 years. Many had believed that following the country's economic reforms in the 1990s, political and social reform would come under Mr Hu and his deputy Wen Jiabao. It did not happen. 

China is now at a crossroads. Mr Hu and Mr Wen lifted the country economically beyond all expectations; it is now the world's second largest economy.

But its economic explosion coupled with a downturn in exports to the West has produced a long list of explosive problems.

The wealth gap is wider than ever. Corruption is rife. The cities are the most polluted in the world. Factory production is slowing.

Now mix all that in with an increasingly restive population which is more technologically connected and geographically mobile than ever: this is the China Mr Xi must lead.

He has never revealed whether he is a reformer or a hardliner. The direction he chooses will determine China's fate.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sandy Victims Suffer As New Storm Hits US Coast

By Nick Martin, Sky News Correspondent, in New York City

A second storm has battered the northeast coast of the United States, adding to the misery felt by many after superstorm Sandy.

Heavy snow and strong winds hit parts of New York and New Jersey, which brought down power lines and caused traffic delays.

In New Jersey, utility companies reported 400,000 power cuts early Thursday, with 20,000 of these being new.

In New York City and Westchester, more than 70,000 customers were without power, while on Long Island, more than 200,000 were affected.

However, roads in New Jersey were clear for the morning commute, and rail lines into Manhattan were running smoothly, despite snow still coming down heavily in some areas.

Police went to low-lying neighbourhoods with loudspeakers, urging residents to leave.

But New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg did not issue mandatory evacuations, and many people stayed.

"We haven't and won't order the kind of large-scale evacuation that we did in advance of Hurricane Sandy," he said.

Major airlines cancelled flights in and out of the New York City area

"But if you experienced significant flooding during Sandy, then you should consider taking shelter with friends and family at a safer spot or using one of the city's storm shelters."

However communities hit by superstorm Sandy are struggling amid the bad weather.

In Staten Island, one of the areas most affected, the task of clearing up debris was made more difficult and a government aid station was forced to close.

Hundreds of residents who were displaced last week had to spend Wednesday night in shelters run by state officials.

Lorraine Orobello left her home in the middle of the storm because she had run out of food.

The 54-year-old said she had been turned away from the federal food station and had turned to another aid centre for help.

She said: "It's hard. All I want is some soup or a peanut butter sandwich.

"I shouldn't be coming out in this weather, but I have nothing back home - just a few tins of tuna and a small heater to keep warm.

"But I'm an American, you know, we get on with things. We'll get through this."

Major airlines cancelled at least 1,300 flights in and out of the New York City area ahead of the storm, causing a new round of disruptions that rippled across the country. Sandy last week led to more than 20,000 flight cancellations.

New York City also closed all parks, playgrounds and beaches, and ordered all construction sites to be secured.

Sandy started as a hurricane and killed dozens of people in the Caribbean. At least 120 people died in the US and Canada.

Around $32m (£20m) has been raised so far to help victims after around 10,000 donations came in from across the US.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ghana: 'Dozens' Trapped After Mall Collapse

A shopping centre has collapsed in Ghana, leaving at least one person dead and dozens of victims feared trapped in the rubble.

It is thought the top three floors of the five-storey building housing the Melcom mall in Accra came down.

One employee at the scene who declined to be named told AFP around 40 workers were in the building when it collapsed, though he was not sure about the number of customers.

Family members could be seen at the site attempting to call relatives who may be trapped by mobile phone, while scores of rescue workers sought to clear debris and get oxygen masks to victims.

"My son, my son, my son! My son is going to die! Get him for me! He is my only son!" one woman screamed.

Witnesses saw at least six people being brought out of the rubble alive. The cause of the collapse of the Melcom shopping centre was not immediately clear.

Emergency officials at the scene said the collapse was most likely caused by structural failure. There was no evidence of an explosion.

"We are doing our best to get to those trapped. We hear there are about three dozen," Kwame Avevoi, a police officer co-ordinating the rescue, said.

Excavators attempted to lift the building's broken beams and concrete blocks.

Witness Ama Okyere: "I was very close to the mall because I was going to buy something only for me to see the building coming down.

"I had to run for my life. I was so terrified. I believe there are lots of people trapped under this because this is a heavily patronised shopping mall in the area."

Another witness, John Owusu said: "I was on my way to school and all of a sudden heard a big bang and people shouting, only for me to see that the shopping mall has collapsed."

Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama suspended his electoral campaign for next month's poll and arranged to visit the scene of the disaster.

Soon after the building collapsed, he tweeted: "My prayers are with the workers, shoppers and others who are trapped in the rubble of the Achimota Melcom building."

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Americans Vote For Gay Marriage And Marijuana

Voters in four American states made history on Tuesday by approving same-sex marriage and recreational marijuana use.

Maine and Maryland became the first to allow same-sex couples to marry by a popular vote rather than legislation or court order, as is the case in six other states and Washington DC.

"For the first time, voters in Maine and Maryland voted to allow loving couples to make lifelong commitments through marriage, forever taking away the right-wing talking point that marriage equality couldn't win on the ballot," said Chad Griffin of the Human Rights Campaign.

Washington is also awaiting the results of a vote on the issue. Minnesota voted against placing a ban in the state constitution, but same-sex marriage remains illegal there under statute.   

Brian Brown from the National Organisation for Marriage, insisted the results did not mark a watershed moment.

"Just because two extreme blue states vote for gay marriage doesn't mean the Supreme Court will create a constitutional right for it out of thin air," he said.

Smokers in Colorado will be allowed to grow their own marijuana

Colorado and Washington's votes to legalise recreational marijuana use have set up a showdown with the federal government, which outlaws the drug.

Smokers over 21 years old in Colorado will be allowed an ounce of the drug and six plants for private use.

Washington's measure establishes a system of state-licenced suppliers, potentially bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue.

"Marijuana policy reform remains an issue where the people lead and the politicians follow," said Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, which opposes the so-called "war on drugs".

''But Washington state shows that many politicians are beginning to catch up."

Oregon voted against a similar marijuana legalisation measure.

In Massachusetts, voters approved a measure to allow marijuana use but only for medical reasons, joining 17 other states.

Arkansas rejected a similar measure.

Campaigners protest against capital punishment

In California, with 95% of the ballot counted, voters looked to have rejected a proposal to ban the death penalty.

Had the measure prevailed, over 720 inmates on death row would have had their sentences converted to life in prison without parole.

While 17 states have ended capital punishment, most did so through legislative action.

Only in Oregon, in 1964, did voters choose to repeal the death penalty, although they later chose to reinstate it.

In Massachusetts, where assisted suicide was on the ballot, supporters of a question legalising doctor-assisted suicide for the terminally ill conceded defeat Wednesday morning, even though the vote was too close to call.

Los Angeles County voters also chose to require porn actors to wear condoms on set.

Producers will be required to apply for a permit, which will pay for random inspections.

The Grand Canyon will stay under federal control

In Arizona, a side ballot to decide whether the Grand Canyon should be brought back under state control was defeated by two votes to one.

The proposal would have amended the Arizona Constitution to dodge federal environmental laws and open up 25 million acres to more agriculture and industry.

Opponents successfully argued that the state could not afford to maintain the land it already owns.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Syria Conflict: Cameron Vows More Help

By Sam Kiley, Middle East Correspondent, Zatari refugee camp

David Cameron is planning a wholesale re-evaluation of Britain's policy on Syria including whether to arms rebels or call for military intervention after being "deeply moved" by the plight of refugees in Jordan.

The Prime Minister was expecting to use his first conversation with Barack Obama to tell the newly re-elected US president that the international response to the civil war in Syria "simply isn't working".

He said: "Right here in Jordan I'm hearing appalling stories of what is happening inside Syria and one of the first things I want to talk to Barack about is how we must do more to try and solve this crisis."

The PM, who visited the Zatari refugee camp, said: "I wanted to hear for myself the stories of people who have been bombed and shot and blasted out of their homes in Syria by a deeply-illegitimate and unpleasant regime that is raining down death and destruction on its own people.

"It is truly horrendous to hear those stories and just redoubles my determination that now, with a newly-elected American president, we have got to do more to help this part of the world, to help Syria achieve transition."

Fighting is continuing in the 19-month long Syrian conflict

Mr Cameron has called a session of the National Security Council next week which will focus entirely on Syria.

The PM's officials travelling with the him to Zatari, which houses about 20,000 of the estimated 200,000 refugees who have fled Syria into Jordan, said he was convinced of the need to "totally re-examine" all of the assumptions behind existing policies.

These will include whether it continues to make sense to have a European Union arms embargo which prevents the supply of weapons to Syria's rebels.

It would also include re-considering whether the UK should call for air strikes against targets which maintain the military structures of President Bashar al Assad.

So far, tough action against Syria has been blocked at the United Nations Security Council by Russia and China - the former is a major arms supplier to Mr Assad's forces.

"We will be doing a full re-examination of the policy and thinking hard about what to do about Russia and China," a Number 10 official said.

The war has led to huge numbers of refugees fleeing Syria

Washington and London have so far ruled out military action in Syria and have supplied only non-lethal aid. The US contribution is around $27m (£17m). The UK less, £5m.

Mr Cameron announced an extra £14m in humanitarian aid for refugees while he was in Jordan.

But these figures are negligible in comparison to the hundreds of millions being spent on supporting the rebels with arms by Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

One way the West could re-gain influence over a civil war which has collapsed into sectarian conflict and is sucking in militia from neighbouring Lebanon and Iraq, may be to offer military aid - even without a UN resolution backing it.

"People have been blasted from their homes and fleeing for their lives - 30,000 have been killed. We have to do more to put an end to this," the PM said.

Britain would now begin direct talks with armed groups fighting the Syria government, officials said.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Fugitive Crocodile Caught By Gaza Police

A crocodile, which has been on the loose for two years, has been recaptured by police in the Gaza Strip.

It took an internet search, shark nets and two weeks of floating in a sewage pond before the reptile was rounded up, officers said, proudly revealing their part in the mission.

The 1.75-metre (5ft 9in) crocodile fled his zoo enclosure two years ago and crawled about a half-a-mile down the road to a large sewage pit near the northern Gaza Strip town of Umm al-Naser, said Lieutenant Colonel Samih al Sultan, who led the hunt.

"He had a lot of spirit in him. He wanted to be free," Colonel al Sultan said, as he watched the crocodile settling into its new home in a pond with four other crocodiles in a newly-built zoo in nearby Beit Lahiya.

"We hope he lives a good life here with his wives," he said.

Police take pictures of the recaptured crocodile

Police said they used Google to search for tips on how to hunt down the beast.

Relieved residents said they had not wanted to leave their houses in the evenings, fearing the crocodile which, they said, ate their ducks and goats.

"We were afraid he would eat us," said farmer Hassan Mohammed of Umm al-Nasser.

The then much smaller crocodile was initially brought into the blockaded Palestinian territory four years ago through a smuggling tunnel under the Egypt-Gaza border.

It is not clear how it managed to escape from the zoo.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Obama 'Wants To Work With Defeated Rival'

Re-elected US President Barack Obama has tried to unify the country by reaching out to his defeated Republican rival about moving the country forward.

Following a bitter and costly election campaign, the president easily overcame challenger Mitt Romney - taking seven of the nine key battleground states.

Mr Romney won in North Carolina but Democrat Mr Obama swept to victory in Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, Wisconsin, Virginia and Colorado.

With Florida still the last swing state left to call, he has 303 electoral college votes to Mr Romney's 206 and is well over the crucial threshold of 270.

Obama confirmed his win on Twitter - it's now the most-retweeted tweet ever

The president was also ahead in the national popular vote, with the country-wide exit poll putting him on 50% - two points ahead of his Republican challenger.

This is despite his popularity plunging since he was swept into the White House on a wave of hope in 2008 and unemployment currently standing at 7.9%.

:: READ MORE - Live Election Updates

Jubilation spread through the night in Chicago as it became clear Mr Obama was going to be re-elected. Once Mr Romney had conceded by phone, the president appeared on stage to rapturous cheers as Stevie Wonder's hit Signed, Sealed, Delivered played.

Mr Obama tried to unify the nation, saying: "In the weeks ahead I look forward to sitting down with governor Romney to talk about where we can work together to move this country forward."

He also said: "Despite all the hardship we've been through, despite all the frustrations of Washington, I've never been more hopeful about our future. I have never been more hopeful about America.

President Obama walks on stage with his family before his Chicago speech

"I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggest. We're not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of individual ambitions."

He added: "We know in our hearts that, for the United States of America, the best is yet to come."

The first US black president declared that he was returning to the White House "more determined and more inspired than ever ... about the future."

Before appearing in person, the Democrat had told his supporters via Twitter: "This happened because of you. Thank you," and: "We're all in this together. That's how we campaigned and that's who we are. Thank you".

The Obamas and Bidens after their victory was called

In a third post, he said simply: "Four more years," and posted a picture of himself hugging his wife Michelle. This was retweeted more than half a million times - a Twitter record.

In Washington, thousands of well-wishers danced and waved flags outside the White House after the result became clear - chanting "four more years" and "USA, USA".

Crowds whooped and cried out "Obama, Obama" and gave high-fives to strangers as election fever swept across the city.

The contest had been billed as one of the tightest races for the White House in decades but ultimately, Mr Obama won comfortably.

His victory appeared to be a vindication for a campaign team that had predicted a close but winnable election - despite the pain of the deepest economic crisis since the 1930s Great Depression.

Romney campaign staff in Boston were shocked as Democrat victories piled up and Republican supporters looked increasingly devastated as they realised their dream was over.

The candidate, who was watching the result in the city, rang Mr Obama to concede once he lost Ohio and then briefly addressed the crowds.

Romney supporters absorbing the result

"This is a time of great challenges for America and I pray that the president is successful in guiding our nation," he said.

The Republican thanked his running mate Paul Ryan and his family, calling wife Ann "the love of my life" and saying "she would have been a wonderful first lady".

He added: "Paul and I have left everything on the field. We have given everything to this campaign. I so wish that I had been able to fulfil your hopes to lead the country in a different direction, but the nation chose another leader."

Mr Romney had earlier revealed he had written a 1,118-word victory speech and claimed he had not prepared anything in case he lost.

Until last month, the Republican was considered to have little chance of ousting Mr Obama after his campaign was damaged by a string of gaffes.

Mitt Romney spoke to supporters after conceding defeat

However, a lacklustre performance by the president in the first television debate turned the race on its head and Mr Romney surged back in the polls.

The incumbent was much stronger in the second and third debates, but it was not enough to derail the Romney campaign.

Better than expected employment figures last week helped bolster the Democrat and then fate also played a hand when Hurricane Sandy roared in.

The superstorm forced Mr Romney into the shade as campaigning was suspended and Mr Obama returned to presidential duties, but the pair was still neck-and-neck going into the final day.

Once the euphoria of another victory fades, the president will face a tough task enacting his second-term agenda, after Republicans - who thwarted him repeatedly in his first term - retained control of the House of Representatives.

The Empire State Building turns blue after Barack Obama's victory

Democrats kept the Senate but fell short of the 60-vote super majority needed to pass major legislation over Republican blocking tactics.

Two Republican Senate candidates, Richard Mourdock in Indiana and Todd Akin in Missouri, both lost their seats after making controversial remarks about rape during the campaign.

Read live updates from Sky's Ian Woods, Amanda Walker and Andrew Wilson in the US.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Greece: General Strike Before Austerity Vote

Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Athens as a two-day general strike begins ahead of a tight Parliamentary vote on a new round of austerity measures.

The 13.5bn euro (£10.8bn) package of proposed cuts and tax increases includes a rise in the retirement age to 67 as well as pensions being slashed by up to 15% for workers whose pots are worth more than 1,000 euros (£800) per month.

The effects of the strike - the third general strike in six weeks organised by the country's two main unions - are being felt in both the public and private sectors with at hundreds of thousands failing to show for work.

Many schools, banks and local government offices have been closed while scores of flights have been cancelled.

Public bus workers in the capital and taxi drivers as well as metro, tram and train workers also walked out, paralysing traffic in the capital.

Ferry lines were also crippled, as ships linking to Greece's islands remained docked.

The General Strike has largely shut down the Greek public transport system

The government argues that the strikes only make the country's dire economic situation more perilous.

It needs the austerity bill to pass through parliament to secure crucial international aid totalling 31.5bn euros (£25bn) and prevent the debt-laden nation from potentially defaulting later this month.

According to EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn, the international lenders and Greece are on track to reach a deal to unfreeze the next tranche of loans at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on November 12.

The EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund demanded more savings in return for further financial support.

The austerity package, which was put to the Greek parliament late on Monday, would also include salary cuts for academics, hospital doctors, judges, diplomats and members of the armed forces.

There is a heavy police presence outside the Greek Parliament

Greek MPs are due to hold an emergency vote on Wednesday with opposition critics saying the measures will only deepen the country's five-year recession.

It is understood unions are lobbying sceptics of the plan in a bid to force a defeat on the government - a nightmare scenario for the pro-euro camp which could force the country back to the drachma.

But there is support among the public for the austerity plan as many admit there may not be a better solution.

Yannis Levas, who works in a recruitment company aimed at finding jobs for Greeks abroad, called the measures "a double-edged sword".

"On the one side they must not go through, on the other they must. There is always that dilemma if we will return or not to the drachma," he said.

22.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Skydiver Baumgartner Loses Assault Appeal

Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner has lost his appeal against an assault conviction dating from before his record-breaking freefall from the edge of space last month.

The 43-year-old daredevil was found guilty last April and fined €1,500 ($1,900 or £1,189) for hitting a Greek truck driver after an altercation near the Austrian city of Salzburg in September 2010.

His lawyer claimed it was self defence and launched an appeal, which was rejected by the Salzburg court.

The truck driver insisted Baumgartner had thrown the first punch.

"He apologised and was convicted in absentia with the consent of his attorney. The matter is now finished," a spokeswoman for the appellate court in Salzburg told reporters.

The skydiver became the first man to break the sound barrier unaided as he plummeted more than 24 miles towards the Earth in a freefall watched live by millions around the globe on October 14.

The jump above New Mexico was the highest and fastest freefall ever recorded.

22.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Iraq: Deadly Bomb Blast Hits New Recruits

At least 25 people have been killed in a car bombing in the front of an Iraqi army base as potential new recruits gathered, officials say.

The suspected suicide bombing in the town of Taji, 15 miles north of the capital Baghdad, was the deadliest single attack in the country since July.

More than 40 other people were hurt in the explosion that took place as the base was holding a recruitment day to welcome potential new troops.

It was not immediately known how many of them were among the victims.

Such events have previously been targets of militants trying to carry out mass-casualty attacks.

It was the second bombing in Taji in less than 24 hours. On Monday, police said a car bomb struck an army patrol not far from the site of Tuesday's blast, wounding eight people.

The latest bombing is likely to raise fresh concerns over the capabilities of Iraq's security forces 11 months after American troops left.

The Iraqis are seen as capable of largely maintaining internal stability, despite regular deadly attacks nationwide, but are widely acknowledged as being unable to protect their borders, airspace or maritime territory.

No group immediately admitted responsibility for the attack although al Qaeda's front group in Iraq has claimed previous attacks on recruitment centres.

The Sunni extremist group sees security forces and civil servants as supporters of Baghdad's Shia-led government.

It was the worst single attack since July 23, when a series of co-ordinated blasts also in Taji killed 42 people on what was Iraq's deadliest day in two-and-a-half years.

The latest fatalities came after figures released last week showed a sharp decline in attacks in October, with the number of people killed the lowest since June.

Violence is sharply down nationwide since its peak during Iraq's brutal sectarian war in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common, especially in and around Baghdad.

22.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Americans Vote In Tightest Election For Years

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

Barack Obama looks on course to secure a second term in the White House as Americans cast their votes following the most expensive election campaign in history.

The president appears to have the narrowest of leads over rival Mitt Romney in a number of critical swing states.

The Republican candidate and his wife Ann voted in Belmont, Massachusetts, before he headed to Cleveland in Ohio and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania for some last-minute campaigning.

Asked who he voted for, Mr Romney said: "I think you know," adding he felt "very, very good" about his election prospects.

If elected, he would be the first Mormon to become US president.

Mitt and Ann Romney cast their votes in Belmont, Massachusetts

Mr Obama, who voted earlier in the campaign, is spending the day in his home town of Chicago. He has recorded a number of television and radio interviews to be broadcast today.

His vice-president Joe Biden cast his ballot in Greenville, Delaware, saying: "It's always a kick."

When asked if he thought it was the last time he would vote for himself, he told reporters: "No, I don't think so."

US vice-president Joe Biden votes in Delaware

Mr Biden shook hands with and hugged other voters as he waited. He urged Americans to vote "even if you have to stand in line".

In a possible sign of the tightness of the race, the first ballots on election day saw both candidates receive five votes each in the tiny town of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire.

The president wrapped up his campaign with a rally in Iowa, the state where his 2008 campaign sparked into life, calling on Americans to give him a second chance.

"I came back to ask you to help us finish what we started because this is where our movement for change began, right here," he said.

"After all we've fought through together, we cannot give up on change now. We know what real change looks like."

:: Watch full coverage on Sky News as the results come in from 2230

The two candidates have criss-crossed a handful of swing states in recent days as they try to energise supporters and secure every last vote. Both have sounded weary and hoarse at times.

The latest 'poll of polls' by RealClearPolitics puts Mr Obama on 48.8% and Mr Romney on 48.1%.

In swing states, Mr Obama had a 2.9% lead in Ohio and was ahead by slimmer margins in Virginia and Colorado. Mr Romney led in Florida.

Voting at the Boston Public Library

Other states to watch include Iowa, Wisconsin, Nevada and Pennsylvania, where Mr Romney has poured money into a late run.

The electoral college system and the state polls suggest Mr Obama could be headed toward re-election partly due to his lead in Ohio, according to Ipsos pollster Julia Clark.

A victory in US presidential elections relies not on a popular vote count but reaching 270 electoral college votes. They are allocated to each state based on the size of its population.

Ms Clark said: "Obama only needs a couple of these swing states and the data suggests that he'll win one or two of them."

Mr Obama and Mr Romney picked up five votes each in Dixville Notch

But Mr Romney's advisers have dismissed those polls and believe they have the momentum.

At a rally in New Hampshire on Monday night, Mr Romney said: "Tomorrow is a moment to look into the future and imagine what we can do, to put that past four years behind us and build a new future.

"Walk with me. Tomorrow, we begin a new tomorrow."

The economy has been the key issue in the campaign and both candidates have been driving grassroots efforts to mobilise support.

Barack Obama's final rally in Iowa

Mr Romney told them: "We have one job left, and that's to make sure that on election day, we make certain that everybody that's qualified to vote gets out to vote."

In the last few days, Mr Obama has been accompanied by stars including Bruce Springsteen and Jay-Z and with appearances from former president Bill Clinton.

Both campaigns have victory rallies lined up, in Chicago and at Mr Romney's HQ in Boston. The candidates will address the nation once the results are known.

There have already been some allegations of irregularities at polling stations and if the numbers are close, recounts and absentee ballots could mean it is days before the result is known.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Syria: Assad Could Leave, Says David Cameron

David Cameron has suggested that Syria's president Bashar al Assad could be allowed safe passage out of the country if it would guarantee an end to the nation's civil war.

In an interview with Sky News Arabia, the Prime Minister said the international community is not doing enough to stop the fighting and a "political road map" was needed to see Mr Assad leave.

Speaking in Abu Dhabi on the second day of a three-day tour of the Gulf and Middle East, he added that he was committed to work with the opposition both within and outside the country to help bring about a transition.

"I am certainly not offering (Assad) an exit plan to Britain, but if he wants to leave, he could leave, that could be arranged," Mr Cameron said.

Activists say that since Syria's unrest began in March 2011, more than 36,000 people have been killed.

Mr Cameron is on a tour of the Middle East

The conflict is now stuck in a military stalemate, which rebel fighters blame on a lack of strategic weapons, such as anti-aircraft missiles.

Appearing on Al Arabiya television about Mr Assad, Mr Cameron continued: "Of course, I would favour him facing the full force of international law and justice for what he's done."

The Prime Minister has previously called the failure of world powers to halt the Assad regime's assault on its opponents a "terrible stain" on the reputation of the deadlocked United Nations.

Syria's allies Russia and China have repeatedly blocked attempts to approve harsher sanctions in the Security Council.

Meanwhile, fighting continues a day after nearly 250 people died in the country's worst violence in weeks and rebels launched one of their deadliest attacks yet.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 247 people were killed on Monday, including 93 soldiers and pro-regime fighters, in the deadliest day in Syria since an attempt to impose a ceasefire for the October Eid al Adha Muslim holiday collapsed.

Another car bomb struck early on Tuesday, causing injuries and significant damage in the city of Mudamiya near the capital, the Observatory said.

The regime also renewed a campaign of air strikes pounding rebel positions, with fighter jets dropping at least two bombs in the heart of the town of Douma, eight miles northeast of the capital.

Syrian state television has also reported that Mohammad al Laham, brother of parliament speaker Jihad al Laham, was "assassinated by terrorists" in Damascus.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

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

By Gary Mitchell, in Chicago

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gangs use graffiti to taunt rivals in Little Village

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Victims of violence are remembered at Saint Sabina's church

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Koron Nash thinks the media exaggerates violence in his neighbourhood

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

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

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

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

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

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

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Obama And Romney In Final White House Push

Who Will Win The Presidency?

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

By Adam Boulton, Political Editor

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There are plenty of personal bellwethers to choose from.

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

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

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

Then there are the lessons from recent history.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So who do I think will win?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sandy: US East Coast Braced For New Storm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More