NASA to text space station alerts

GALACTIC tourism may still be a daydream for most of us, but for anyone interested in a glimpse of the International Space Station sooner, NASA is ready to help.

The US space agency, celebrating the 12th anniversary of astronauts living and working on the orbiting lab, launched a new service Friday that alerts people when the space station is visible from their backyard.

Those who sign up will get an email or a text message with a few hours warning.

Then, when the moment is right, NASA said, you just go outside and look up - no fancy equipment required.

"It's really remarkable to see the space station fly overhead and to realize humans built an orbital complex that can be spotted from Earth by almost anyone looking up at just the right moment," William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations, said in a statement.

The space station is typically visible right at dawn or dusk, when the moon is the only brighter object visible in the night sky, NASA said.

It looks like a fast moving point of light, similar to Venus.

"Spot the Station" service is available worldwide, the agency said, adding the station's trajectory carries it over more than 90 per cent of the Earth's population.

To sign up, visit spotthestation.nasa.gov.

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Romney, Obama fight for an edge

REACHING for the finish line, Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama embarked on the final 72-hour haul of their long, grinding quest for victory, swatting at one another over what should motivate Americans to vote and making closing arguments that offer dueling pictures of what the next four years can and should bring.

The candidates began the day swatting at one another over what should motivate Americans to vote and making closing arguments that offer dueling pictures of what the next four years can and should bring.

Mr Romney opened a three-state campaign day in New Hampshire by faulting Mr Obama for telling supporters a day earlier that voting would be their "best revenge"

"Vote for revenge?" Mr Romney asked, oozing incredulity.

"I'd like to tell him what I'd tell you: Vote for love of country. It's time to lead America to a better place."

The Republican candidate released a TV ad carrying the same message

Mr Obama tended to presidential business before politics as he led a briefing at the government's disaster relief agency on the federal response to Superstorm Sandy.

The recovery effort still has a long way to go but pledging a "120 per cent effort" by all those involved, Mr Obama said. Then he began his own three-state campaign day in Ohio, the biggest battleground of Campaign 2012.

After holding mostly small and midsize rallies for much of the campaign, Mr Obama's team is planning a series of larger events this weekend aimed at drawing big crowds in battleground states.

Still, the campaign isn't expecting to draw the massive audiences Mr Obama had in the closing days of the 2008 race, when his rallies drew more than 50,000.

Mr Obama's closing weekend also includes two joint events with former President Bill Clinton: a rally at night in Virginia and an event Sunday in New Hampshire.

The two presidents had planned to campaign together across three states earlier this week, but that trip was called off because of Sandy. And, of course, there is always Ohio.

In a whiff of 2008 nostalgia, some of Mr Obama's traveling companions from his campaign four years ago were planning to join him on the road for the final days of his last campaign. Among them are Robert Gibbs, who served as Mr Obama's first White House press secretary, and Reggie Love, Mr Obama's former personal aide who left the White House earlier this year.

Likewise, virtually Mr Romney's entire senior team has left the campaign's Boston headquarters to travel with Mr Romney for the contest's final three days. Most will connect with Mr Romney at his morning New Hampshire event.

Their presence for the campaign's waning hours is an admission that the strategy and planning is largely complete. His schedule has been set, the ads have been placed, and Mr Romney's message has been decided.

The tight inner circle that has worked with him for several years in most cases plan to enjoy the final moments on the campaign trail as Mr Romney's side.

"It's been a long road," Ann Romney told reporters aboard the campaign plane, offering breakfast pastries to Secret Service agents and reporters alike. After campaigning on her own for the past month, she hooked up with her husband for the final swing.

Mr Romney hosted a massive rally Friday night in West Chester, Ohio, drawing more than 10,000 people to the Cincinnati area for an event that featured rock stars, sports celebrities and dozens of Republican officials. It was a high-energy event on a cold night designed to kick off his own sprint to the finish.

Mr Romney arrived in New Hampshire close to midnight after an 18-hour day on the campaign trail that took him from Virginia to Wisconsin to Ohio.

After his morning rally on the New Hampshire seacoast, he was making an afternoon appearance in Iowa, and two more in Colorado. He shifted an original plan to campaign in Nevada in favour of a schedule likely to bring him back to Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

On Saturday, Mr Obama's first stop was in Mentor, Ohio, then he was campaigning in Milwaukee and Dubuque, Iowa, and ending the day in Bristow, Va. On Sunday, he was taking his campaign to New Hampshire, Florida, Colorado and, yes, Ohio.

Polling shows the race remains a toss-up heading into the final days. But Mr Romney still has the tougher path; he must win more of the nine most-contested states to reach 270 electoral votes: Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada, Wisconsin, Iowa and New Hampshire.

Mr Romney has added Pennsylvania to the mix, hoping to end a streak of five presidential contests where the Democratic candidate prevailed in the state.

Mr Obama won Pennsylvania by more than 10 per centage points in 2008; the latest polls in the state give him a 4- to 5-point margin. Mr Romney will campaign in the Philadelphia suburbs on Sunday.

Mr Obama aides scoff at the Romney incursion, but they are carefully adding television spending in the state and are sending Clinton to campaign there Monday.

In crucial early voting, Mr Obama holds an apparent lead over Mr Romney in key states. But Mr Obama's advantage isn't as big as the one he had over John McCain four years ago, giving Mr Romney hope that he could make up that gap in Tuesday's election.

About 25 million people already have voted in 34 states and the District of Columbia.

No votes will be counted until Election Day, but several battleground states are releasing the party affiliation of people who have voted early. So far, Democratic voters outnumber Republicans in Florida, Iowa, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio. Republicans have the edge in Colorado.

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Three police shot dead in Egypt's Sinai

GUNMEN have killed three Egyptian policemen and seriously wounded a fourth in El-Arish, in the Sinai Peninsula, state television says.

"Armed men who might belong to a jihadist group attacked a police vehicle and fired on its passengers before fleeing," a security source said on Saturday.

The dead and wounded were taken to the general hospital in El-Arish, where one of the policemen died from serious wounds," a medic said.

A civilian was also wounded.

Security forces threw up a cordon around the city in an attempt to capture the gunmen.

Security in the desert and mountainous region collapsed after an uprising ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.

Since then, several militant attacks in the Sinai, which borders Israel and the Gaza Strip, have targeted police and soldiers, including a brazen August 5 ambush on an army outpost that killed 16 soldiers.

On Friday, Bedouin tribesmen attacked a police post in the central Sinai city of Nakhl, attempting to free one of their number who was in detention.

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Syrian tanks enter Golan, Israel says

ISRAEL'S military says three Syrian tanks have entered the demilitarised zone in the Golan Heights.

A military spokeswoman says Israel complained to the UN peacekeeping force in the area after the tanks entered the area on Saturday.

The spokeswoman, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military protocol, did not elaborate. The relatively low-key response suggested Israel did not see the armour as an immediate threat.

The Israeli news site Ynet said the tanks and two armoured personnel carriers drove a few kilometres away from Israeli military positions.

There are concerns in Israel that violence from Syria's civil war could spill over a long-quiet frontier. Misfired Syrian shells have exploded inside Israel on several occasions. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it.

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Euro debt crisis will take 5 years: Merkel

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel says Europe's sovereign debt crisis will last at least five more years.

Merkel says the continent is on the right path to overcome the crisis but "whoever thinks this can be fixed in one or two years is wrong".

Two years ago some heavily indebted European countries were dragged into the turmoil that first gripped global financial markets in 2007.

Greece in particular has been struggling with the austerity conditions imposed on it by countries such as Germany.

But Merkel told a regional meeting of her Christian Democratic Party on Saturday that the time had come for "a bit of strictness".

Otherwise, she says, Europe won't be able to attract international investment.

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Greens open conference to media, public

IT might be better described as a door-ajar than an open-door policy, but journalists and members of the public will be welcomed to select sessions of the Australian Greens national conference in Sydney this weekend.

Greens have previously voted to exclude media from conferences to enable frank debate.

This year's five-day conference began on Thursday and a series of open forums are slated for Saturday.

Greens leader Christine Milne will address the conference at the University of NSW in Sydney at noon (AEDT), where she is expected to outline the party's achievements and economic vision.

Senator Milne's address will be followed by public workshops chaired by prominent Greens MPs, in what the party's website describes as a first.

NSW Senator Lee Rhiannon, who will lead a forum on democracy, the Greens and social movements, said the sessions would promote transparency.

"It's about opening up how our conferences work and getting that conversation going with the broader public," she said.

"There is this tendency among some to go on about how the Greens are very secretive."

Opening up party processes further was "on the table".

"We're certainly having that discussion internally," Senator Rhiannon said.

Deputy leader Adam Bandt will lead a session on Greens and the union movement, while Peter Whish-Wilson will speak on international trade and Rachel Siewert will address constitutional recognition for Indigenous Australians.

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Kokoda veterans to mark 70th anniversary

WORLD War II veterans and dignitaries will be attending a ceremony in western Sydney on Saturday morning to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Kokoda.

More than 1800 lost their lives and over 4000 were wounded or struck down with illnesses in Papua New Guinea during the Kokoda and Beachheads campaign in 1942.

A flag raising ceremony will be held at Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway in Concord to commemorate those who died.

A plaque dedicated to the memory of all Aboriginal servicemen and women who fought will also be unveiled.

Six veterans of the Papuan campaign will attend the event, alongside NSW Veterans Affairs Minister Victor Dominello and various military officials.

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Final 16km trek for shuttle Atlantis

ACCOMPANIED by astronauts and shuttle workers, Atlantis made a slow, solemn journey to retirement, the last space shuttle to orbit the world and the last to leave NASA's nest.

Atlantis emerged just before dawn from the massive Vehicle Assembly Building and, riding atop a 76-wheeled platform, began the 16KM trek to the Kennedy Space Centre's main tourist stop.

About 200 workers gathered in the early morning chill to see the spaceship out in the open for the final time. They were joined by the four astronauts who closed out the shuttle program aboard Atlantis more than a year ago.

"My opinion is it looks better vertically," said Christopher Ferguson, the commander of Atlantis' final flight.

"It's a short trip. It's taking a day," he added. "It traveled a lot faster in its former life. But that's OK. ... it's got a new role."

Portions of Atlantis' final launch countdown boomed over loudspeakers before the shuttle hit the road. Employees gathered in front of a long white banner that read, "We Made History," and below that the single word "Atlantis."

They followed the spaceship for a block or two, then scattered as the shuttle transporter revved up to its maximum 3.2km/h. The convoy included a dozen trucks and vans, their lights blinking.

The fact that several hundred shuttle workers are about to lose their jobs, now that Atlantis is being turned over to the visitor complex, dampened the mood. Thousands already have been laid off.

"The untold story of the last couple years, the last missions that we flew, is the work force. I mean, the contractors knew that their numbers were going to go down ... and yet they kept doing their jobs," said NASA's Angie Brewer, who was once in charge of getting Atlantis ready for flight.

Some were too upset to even show up. The event marked the true end to the 30-year shuttle program.

Seeing so many members of the shuttle team "helps soften the hard edge of seeing Atlantis go off to a museum," said astronaut Rex Walheim, part of the ship's final crew.

Atlantis made its way down broad industrial avenues, most of them off-limits to the public. So the trek did not replicate the narrow, stop-and-go turns Endeavour encountered last month while navigating downtown Los Angeles.

The mastermind behind Atlantis' slow march through Kennedy was sweating bullets nonetheless.

"It's only a priceless artifact driving 9.8 mile [16km] and it weighs 164,000 pounds [74,000 kilos]," said Tim Macy, director of project development and construction for Kennedy's visitor complex operator, the company Delaware North.

"Other than that, no pressure at all," Mr Macy said, laughing. "Only the eyes of the country and the world and everybody at NASA is watching us."

The relocation of Atlantis was plotted out for months, he noted last week, and experienced shuttle workers took part.

The roundabout loop took Atlantis past Kennedy's headquarters building for a midmorning ceremony that drew several thousand past and present employees, and their guests, as well as a few dozen astronauts. A high school colour guard and band led the way.

The mood was more upbeat than when the one-way road trip began four hours earlier and resembled a funeral procession. NASA officials went out of their way to emphasize the space agency's future.

"It's an incredibly historic day," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden Jr., a former skipper of Atlantis.

"But I don't preside over an agency that's in the history business. ... We're in the business of creating the future."

Mr Bolden proudly cited NASA's new target destinations for astronauts - an asteroid and Mars - and he hailed the successful start to commercial supply missions to the International Space Station.

The next stop, meanwhile, on Atlantis' one-way road trip: a still-under-design industrial park for a few hours of public viewing in the afternoon. Tourist tickets ran as high as $US90 ($87) apiece for a chance to see the spaceship up close.

Crews removed 120 light poles, 23 traffic signals and 56 traffic signs in order for Atlantis to squeeze by. One high-voltage power line also had to come down. Staff trimmed back some scrub pines, but there was none of the widespread tree-axing that occurred in Los Angeles.

Atlantis had to traverse just one noticeable incline, a highway ramp. The rest of the course is sea-level flat.

The grand entrance into Atlantis' new home, in the early evening, also was expected to be smooth. One complete wall of the exhibit hall was kept off, carport-style, so the shuttle could roll right in. Construction will begin on the missing wall early next week.

Once safely inside, Atlantis will be plastic-wrapped for protection until the building is completed. The grand opening is set for July 2013.

Total exhibit cost: $US100 million, a price borne by Delaware North.

Discovery, the oldest and most traveled space shuttle, was the first to leave, zooming off to the Smithsonian in Virginia in April atop a modified jumbo jet. Endeavour, the baby of the fleet, headed west in September.

And now, Atlantis.

"Although it's the end of Atlantis flying in space, it's not the end. It's not the end for KSC," stressed Kennedy Space Centre director Robert Cabana, a former astronaut.

"And it's not the end for Atlantis because Atlantis now takes on a mission of inspiration to future generations."

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Irish tycoon jailed for contempt

BANKRUPT tycoon Sean Quinn, once Ireland's richest man and a celebrated self-made billionaire, was sent to jail for nine weeks after a judge found him guilty of stripping foreign assets from his crumbling business empire in violation of court orders.

Quinn, who has already lost control of his Irish-based businesses in a titanic legal fight with the former Anglo Irish Bank, was ruled in contempt of court for shifting ownership of his properties throughout Europe to friends and business fronts.

As police were about to lead him off to jail, Quinn offered an angry and defiant apology, insisting the billions he owed was a minor matter compared to his family's loss of wealth, status and control of still-viable businesses.

"Did I make mistakes in the last two years? ... Yes, I did. Do I apologise here now in public for that? Yes, I do," he said.

"Is it small fry compared to the overall assault that has been launched on us, and taking over our companies and destroying them? It's an absolute disaster."

Irish courts in mid-2011 had ordered Quinn to stop such asset-stripping immediately because the state-owned Anglo bank was entitled to those assets to offset unpaid loans totaling 2.8 billion euros ($3.5 billion).

But Anglo investigators demonstrated that Quinn had continued those efforts and falsely dated documents to try to conceal court-defying subterfuge involving properties in Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, India and other countries worth an estimated $US430 million.

Quinn, 65, could have appealed High Court Justice Elizabeth Dunne's sentence to the Irish Supreme Court. But after a lunch break spent in discussion with lawyers and his eldest son, Quinn decided to go to jail immediately at Dublin's overcrowded Mountjoy Prison. He is scheduled for release Jan. 4.

Quinn's spectacular rise and fall provides the defining personal story of Ireland's 1990s rise as a property-obsessed Celtic Tiger - and its stunning collapse in 2008 when that Anglo-driven construction boom turned to bust.

Quinn, son of a Northern Ireland border farmer, started his first construction-materials business in 1973 with a 100-pound ($155) loan. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s canny acquisitions allowed his empire to grow from cement to hotels, insurance to bottlemaking, his name adorning trucks and office blocks across Ireland.

He built a fiercely loyal following in his native borderland, a traditionally jobs-poor region, where he based most of his enterprises. Forbes in 2008 listed him as the 164th richest man in the world.

But fatefully and inexplicably, he bet his family's riches on the continued runaway success of Anglo, the most daring of Ireland's property financiers, whose shares rose tenfold during the boom years.

Worse, as Anglo's share price reversed course in the run-up to the global credit crisis in 2008, he kept doubling down, borrowing billions from Anglo itself to become the bank's top owner with up to 28 per cent of its shares.

Ireland nationalised Anglo in early 2010, rendering Quinn's stock worthless and leaving taxpayers with a bill expected to exceed 25 billion euro ($33 billion), including Quinn's loan defaults.

Quinn and his family contend in a separate, continuing lawsuit that Anglo's loans to them were largely illegal because the bank didn't disclose the true scale of its troubles, so they shouldn't have to repay them.

Lawyers for the former Anglo, now reorganised as a toxic debt-management agency called the Irish Bank Resolution Corp., insisted all Quinn assets, whether at home or abroad, must be seized to repay a bill owed ultimately to Irish taxpayers. Irish courts agreed.

During court proceedings over the past year, Quinn and his children were caught concealing the last-minute shifting of ownership for properties to foreign-based fronts and allies, including by making a secret $US500,000 ($482,000) payment to a Ukrainian businesswoman to receive legal control of assets that included a shopping mall. Anglo had been due to take control of those properties the next day.

Judge Dunne, ruled earlier this year that Quinn's defense was incredible and evasive. She postponed his jailing to Friday in hopes his family would reverse the asset-stripping moves in compliance with more than 30 court orders. She ruled this had failed to happen and Quinn "has only himself to blame."

In June she ordered Quinn's son, Sean Jr., and his nephew Peter jailed for three months in punishment for their role in the Ukrainian and other asset-stripping.

The son served his sentence but the nephew fled to neighboring Northern Ireland, where border communities staged several public rallies in support of the Quinns.

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Titanic safety fears documents for sale

A BRITISH safety official who inspected Titanic before its maiden voyage thought it should have more lifeboats, according to his private notes, which are being offered for sale this month.

However, Capt. Maurice Clarke, a Board of Trade safety and emigration officer, didn't express that belief when he testified at the official British inquiry into the ship's sinking. He also was not asked then whether he thought Titanic carried an adequate number of lifeboats.

There is no record of Clarke ever expressing his view publicly, auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said Friday.

The U.S. Senate's inquiry concluded that 2223 people were aboard the Titanic but there was room for fewer than 1,200 in its lifeboats. The ship had plenty of lifebelts for everyone but it sank in frigid water on the night of April 14-15, 1912, and only 706 people aboard survived.

Henry Aldridge & Son auctioneers are offering 70 pages of Clarke's private papers at a sale on Nov. 24 in Devizes, England. It's the last of a series of sales marking the centennial of the ship's sinking.

Clarke's notes indicate he was rebuffed by the White Star Line and he believed he had no legal grounds to require more lifeboats.

In his notes, Clarke wrote "I suggest 50 per cent more."

"To deviate from regulations which had been drawn up by the Advisory Committee of Ships owners and approved of by my department would leave me without support," Clarke wrote.

Clarke did not testify at the U.S. Senate's inquiry, but its official report zeroed in on the lifeboat issue. It called for U.S. law to "require sufficient lifeboats to accommodate every passenger and every member of the crew."

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Mulally to stay on as Ford chief

FORD says Alan Mulally will remain as president and chief executive through at least 2014, as Americas chief Mark Fields was promoted to chief operating officer, putting him in line to succeed Mullaly.

Mulally, 67, will continue to lead the automaker's long-term development strategy while Fields, 51, will be responsible for all business operations at the number-two US automaker.

"I have a great opportunity to focus even more on the long-term development," Mulally said in a conference call on Thursday.

Fields has been with Ford since 1989 and will take his new position on December 1. He has been executive vice-president and president of Ford's Americas operation for the past seven years and will continue to report to Mulally.

Ford recruited Mulally from Boeing in 2006 as the company was struggling with bloated operations, unpopular vehicles and a steady loss of market share to Asian competitors.

Mulally led Ford through the 2008 financial crisis without seeking a government-backed bankruptcy and bailout, unlike General Motors and Chrysler, steering the company back to steady profits.

"There's been so much speculation on whether Alan is going to stay or leave," chairman Bill Ford said in the conference call.

"I'd like him to stay forever, but it's part of our job to develop a great team," he said, adding: "I'd be surprised if we don't have the next CEO coming from inside."

The announcement came two days after Ford posted a record third-quarter profit of $US1.6 billion ($A1.55 billion) as strong growth in North America offset major losses in Europe.

Ford has now posted pre-tax profits for 13 consecutive quarters as it reaps the rewards of major restructuring and product revamps in North America. But troubled Europe remains a dark cloud and the company's unit there is projected to post a $US1.5 billion loss this year.

Joe Hinrichs, 45, will replace Fields as president of the Americas after having led Ford's operations in Asia and Africa.

David Schoch, currently head of Ford China, will succeed Hinrichs in managing the Asia-Pacific region.

Responsibility for African operations will be transferred to Stephen Odell, who is currently in charge of Europe and the Middle East.

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Burma approves business-friendly laws

BURMA'S parliament has approved a revised, more business-friendly foreign investment bill aimed at boosting the struggling economy as it emerges from decades of junta rule, lawmakers say.

The bill is expected to be signed into law within days by reformist president Thein Sein, who sent an earlier draft back to parliament amid concerns that it was too protectionist.

"I think the law will be quite flexible and easier for foreign investors," Zaw Htay, an official at the presidential office, told AFP by telephone.

"The previous law had restrictions which could be barriers. Even some foreign experts described it as the 'No Investment Law'," he said.

An earlier limit of 50 per cent for a foreign investor's stake in a joint venture has been dropped at Thein Sein's request, and the new version allows the investment ratio to be decided by the foreign and local partners, MPs said.

More detailed rules for each sector will be drawn up by the Burma Investment Commission.

"The law became more flexible for foreign investors. The former version had many restrictions," said Myat Nyana Soe, a lawmaker with Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy opposition party.

The move comes as global corporate giants from Coca-Cola to General Electric line up to enter the impoverished but resource-rich nation, which is emerging from decades of military rule and international isolation.

One of the major complaints of businesses eager to enter the country has been the lack of a clear legal framework.

Burma is seen by many investors as the next regional frontier market as businesses eye its huge natural resources, large population and strategic location between China and India.

Thein Sein has vowed to put the economy at the centre of a new series of reforms, following dramatic political changes since almost half a century of outright military rule ended last year.

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India's carmakers post improved sales

AUTOMAKERS in India have reported better-than-expected sales in the month of October, with a slew of new vehicle models also set to be launched in the upcoming festive season.

India's largest passenger carmaker Maruti Suzuki, recovering from riots at one of its plants, posted a smart 85.5 per cent year-on-year rise in October sales.

Its rivals also showed improved sales, despite hefty taxes, elevated fuel prices and stubborn inflation that has kept interest rates high, pushing up the cost of auto loans.

Maruti Suzuki India, majority-owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, said car sales in October soared to 103,108 vehicles due to a low base effect from last year, when sales were down due to protracted labour troubles.

It was hit again by labour unrest in July - the worst ever in its three-decade history - that left a manager dead and nearly 100 other executives injured at its Manesar plant, which is responsible for 40 per cent of its output.

The local unit of Hyundai Motor showed a 21 per cent rise in total sales to 58,785 vehicles in October.

Ford India sales edged up 5.35 per cent to 10,948 vehicles in October, while Honda reported a 46 per cent rise in sales, led by Honda City and Brio models.

Tata Motors, which owns British luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover, said its October car sales rose six per cent to 71,771 vehicles, with growth seen across all segments.

India, which has been one of the world's fastest-growing car markets in recent years, has been suffering a slowdown in demand as some buyers defer purchases due to expensive loans and high fuel costs.

Many new models will be launched in the country in the coming weeks, with the Diwali festival on November 13 seen as an auspicious time for major purchases.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers had predicted sales growth of between one and three per cent in October, down from an earlier 10-to-12 per cent projection.

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US storm damage could hit $50bn

DAMAGE from the deadly mega-storm that blasted the US east coast could hit $US50 billion ($A48 billion), disaster estimator Eqecat says.

The company put total economic damage from Hurricane Sandy in the range of $US30-50 billion, and insured damages at $US10-20 billion, double its earlier estimate.

Eqecat said it had revised its estimates for the storm, which ploughed into the US Atlantic coastline at heavily populated New Jersey on Monday, because of the extensive losses from power and other utilities, which it said were much greater than those for most category one hurricanes.

It also cited the extended shutdowns of subways and road tunnels in the New York-New Jersey area due to flooding, and expectations there are many more losses yet unknown.

The storm devastated the New Jersey coastline and shut down New York City on Monday and Tuesday, leaving some 80 dead in the US; along the entire storm path from the Caribbean to Canada, at least 150 people were killed.

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Armed men protest Libya cabinet

ABOUT 200 mostly armed protesters have occupied an area near Libya's parliament building, blocking nearby roads and beating up journalists in protest of the country's new cabinet.

Thursday's action, in which an AP reporter was also beaten, is the third in a row staged by the group, which opposes the new government chosen Prime Minister Ali Zidan and endorsed by Congress.

They say the 30-member cabinet includes former members of Muammar Gaddafi's deposed regime, and should undergo screening by a state body tasked with barring such people from government jobs.

The armed protests highlight the mounting challenges Libya faces a year after the fall of Gaddafi's dictatorship. The country is awash with weapons and armed groups.

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Tens of thousands flee as storm hits India

MORE than 100,000 people were evacuated from their homes on Wednesday as a tropical storm slammed into southern India from the Bay of Bengal.

Rain lashed the region and strong winds uprooted trees in some places. Weather officials said the storm had maximum winds of 75 kilometres per hour after making landfall.

A storm surge of up to 1.5 metres was expected to flood low-lying areas of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh states, the India Meteorological Department said.

It said heavy to very heavy rain was expected over parts of the states during the next 24 hours. Fishermen were asked to stay at shore until Thursday.

An oil tanker with 37 crewmembers ran aground off Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Coast guard officers were evacuating the crew and searching for some whose lifeboat reportedly capsized in the choppy waters, it said. Officials were not immediately available for comment.

State authorities turned 282 schools into relief centres in Chennai. The city's port halted cargo operations, PTI said. Twenty-three ships were moved to safer areas.

About 150,000 people were moved to shelters in Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh state, district official B Sridhar said.

In Sri Lanka, authorities said two people were killed and thousands displaced due to heavy rain and strong winds from the storm.

Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Center said 4627 people across the island nation had been displaced by flooding, while 56 were evacuated in the central region because of threats of landslides. One woman died on Tuesday after a tree branch fell on her, while another person was killed in flooding, the agency said. Floods also damaged about 1000 houses, it said.

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JFK, Newark airports reopen but limited

TWO of the biggest airports serving New York - John F Kennedy and Newark Liberty International - have reopened.

The first passenger flight to JFK arrived from Long Beach, California, at 7.04am local time on Wednesday. The JetBlue flight carried 150 passengers.

The first flight into Newark, New Jersey, was a FedEx plane that landed at 7.12am.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokesman Ron Marsico says the two airports reopened "on a very limited operational schedule".

He urged passengers to call their carriers before heading to the airports.

Some terminals at Newark had lost power during the superstorm but electricity returned on Tuesday.

New York's LaGuardia Airport remains closed. Authorities are assessing the impact of the storm on the airport.

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Indonesia's Yudhoyono welcomed by British

INDONESIA'S President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been welcomed to London by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II at the start of a state visit aimed at impressing the emerging Asian power with pomp and pageantry.

The Queen received Yudhoyono and his wife Ani with a guard of honour on Horse Guards Parade, the large parade ground in central London, where the visiting leader inspected the troops in their scarlet uniforms and bearskin hats.

The 86-year-old British monarch and her husband Prince Philip then accompanied them in a horsedrawn state carriage procession along the Mall to Buckingham Palace, where the visiting couple are staying during their trip.

The Queen, who visited Indonesia 33 years ago with Philip, will host a lavish state banquet in Yudhoyono's honour on Wednesday evening.

Foreign Secretary William Hague and Home Secretary Theresa May also greeted Yudhoyono and his wife before the carriage procession.

"As well having one of the world's most thriving economies, Indonesia is in the vanguard of the political change shaping Asia," Hague told parliament on Tuesday.

"This visit will be an opportunity for us to build on the strong partnership established over the last decade."

The president will hold talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday and attend a meeting of the high-level United Nations panel that is drawing up a strategy on how to build on the Millennium Development Goals.

Yudhoyono, who is the world's only head of state to have served as a UN peacekeeper, will also give a speech at the Royal College of Defence Studies.

The 15th-century Guildhall, in London's financial district, will host a second banquet on Thursday night.

Several trade announcements are expected during the three-day trip, with Britain keen to gain access to Indonesia's fast-growing economy and 240 million consumers.

The state visit is part of Britain's drive to boost its diplomatic presence in Southeast Asia, with Indonesia regarded by British officials as the most influential player in the region.

As the world's largest Muslim-majority country, it is also seen as a strategic ally in the Islamic world.

"Indonesia is far and away the most important country in ASEAN," said a Foreign Office source.

Officials also see Indonesia as a potential future host for foreign campuses of its universities, similar to Malaysia where several British universities including Nottingham, Southampton and Newcastle have outposts.

Britain usually hosts two state visits each year, but Yudhoyono is the only foreign head of state to receive the formal hospitality in 2012 following months of diamond jubilee celebrations marking the Queen's 60th year on the throne.

The last state visit was by Turkish President Abdullah Gul in November last year.

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Airports and NYSE reopen post-Sandy

TWO major airports have reopened and the floor of the New York Stock Exchange has come back to life, while across the river in New Jersey, National Guardsmen rush to rescue flood victims and fires still rage two days after superstorm Sandy. ?

For the first time since the storm battered the Northeast, killing at least 57 people and doing billions of dollars in damage, brilliant sunshine washed over the nation's largest city - a striking sight after days of grey skies, rain and wind.

At the stock exchange, running on generator power, Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave a thumbs-up and rang the opening bell to whoops from traders on the floor. Trading resumed after the first two-day weather shutdown since the blizzard of 1888.

Kennedy and Newark Liberty airports reopened with limited service just after 7.00am at New York's LaGuardia Airport, which suffered far worse damage and where water covered parts of runways, remained closed.

It was clear that restoring the region to its ordinarily frenetic pace could take days - and that rebuilding the hardest-hit communities and the transportation networks that link them together could take considerably longer.

About 6.5 million homes and businesses were still without power, including four million in New York and New Jersey. Electricity was out as far west as Wisconsin and as far south as the Carolinas.

The scale of the challenge could be seen across the Hudson River in New Jersey, where National Guard troops arrived in the heavily flooded city of Hoboken to help evacuate thousands still stuck in their homes.

Live wires dangled in floodwaters that Mayor Dawn Zimmer said were rapidly mixing with sewage.

And new problems arose when firefighters were unable to reach blazes rekindled by natural gas leaks in the heavily hit shore town of Mantoloking.

President Barack Obama planned to visit Atlantic City, NJ, which was directly in the storm's path on Monday night and where part of the historic boardwalk washed away.

Governor Chris Christie said he plans to ask the president to assign the Army Corps of Engineers to work on how to rebuild beaches and find "the best way to rebuild the beach to protect these towns."

Outages in the state's two largest cities, Newark and Jersey City, left traffic signals dark, resulting in fender-benders at intersections where police were not directing traffic. At one Jersey City supermarket, there were long lines to get bread and use an electrical outlet to charge mobilephones.

As New York began its second day after the megastorm, morning rush-hour traffic was heavy as people started returning to work. There was even a sign of normality: commuters waiting at bus stops. School was out for a third day.

The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, connecting Brooklyn to Manhattan, and the Holland Tunnel, between New York and New Jersey, remained closed. But bridges into the city were open, and city buses were running, free of charge.

On the Brooklyn Bridge, closed earlier because of high winds, joggers and bikers made their way across before sunrise. One cyclist carried a flashlight. Car traffic on the bridge was busy.

Bloomberg said it could be the weekend before the subway, which suffered the worst damage in its 108-year history, is running again. High water prevented inspectors from immediately assessing damage to key equipment.

Amtrak laid out plans to resume runs in the Northeast on Wednesday, with modified service between Newark, NJ, and points south. But flooding continued to prevent service to and from New York's Penn Station. Amtrak said the water in train tunnels under the Hudson and East rivers was unprecedented.

"The uncertainty is the worst," said Jessica Levitt, who was told it could be a week before she can enter her house. "Even if we had damage, you just want to be able to do something. We can't even get started."

And in New York, residents of the flooded beachfront neighbourhood of Breezy Point in returned home to find fire had taken everything the water had not. A huge blaze destroyed perhaps 100 homes in the close-knit community where many had stayed behind despite being told to evacuate.

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

Forecasting firm IHS Global Insight predicted it would cause $US20 billion ($A19.38 billion) in damage and $10 billion to $30 billion in lost business. Another firm, AIR Worldwide, estimated losses up to $15 billion.

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Greece's tough steps spark strike call

GREECE has unveiled a tough new austerity budget, sparking a call for a 48-hour strike as the EU said there was more work to be done before the recession-hit country can access loan funds needed to stave off bankruptcy.

Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras unveiled the 2013 budget to politicians, which also predicts that the economy would shrink by a worse than previously expected 4.5 per cent next year and the country's debt mountain will swell to 346 billion euros ($A436.35 billion) or 189 per cent of economic output.

Adding to the government's woes, the main Greek union called for a 48-hour general strike starting on November 6 - just 10 days before the country risks sliding into bankruptcy if it fails to secure 31.2 billion euro lifeline from the "troika" of international creditors.

Conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras had announced on Tuesday that his government had agreed with the mission of 'troika' auditors in Greece on the terms of a new 13.5 billion euro austerity package needed to unlock the next instalment of rescue loans.

Accordingly, the finance ministry on Wednesday introduced a budget and a three-year economic program pledging the required level of cuts in 2013-14.

But ahead of a conference call among eurozone finance ministers, who are due to make a final decision on the payout by November 12, the European Commission on Wednesday noted that a deal with Greece was technically still pending.

"We are continuously narrowing the number of open issues," Simon O'Connor, spokesman for the EU's euro commissioner Olli Rehn.

O'Connor said Brussels was "confident" of striking an accord "soon."

The Eurogroup of finance ministers also demanded on Wednesday that Greece "swiftly" solve outstanding issues to clear the way for the loan payment.

"We called on the Greek authorities to solve remaining issues so as to swiftly finalise the negotiations," said Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker in a statement after a two-hour conference call.

Juncker did not elaborate on the issues that remain, but the Greek government plans to introduce further reform bills in parliament next week.

The German government had earlier noted that work remains to be done on a Greek deal but acknowledged that the government seemed serious on reform.

"We acknowledge that the Greek government of Mr (Antonis) Samaras is going about, has gone about, this very difficult task of advancing the reforms in the country in a serious way," Steffen Seibert told a regular government news conference.

Samaras's announcement on the bailout talks angered his socialist and moderate leftist allies in the coalition, who insist the deal on a new round of painful spending cuts and other reforms is not done until it is approved by parliament.

The 2013 budget gives a grim picture of the outlook for the country.

It predicted that gross domestic product in Greece - already in its fifth year of recession - would shrink by 4.5 per cent compared with a forecast of 3.8 per cent a month ago, although below the 6.6 per cent decline expected for this year.

The 2013 public deficit forecast was increased to 5.2 per cent the previous forecast of 4.2 per cent.

The government is planning 9.4 billion euros in cuts which will affect mainly stage wages, pensions and benefits that have already been drastically reduced over the past two years.

But it will still need to borrow over 68 billion euros next year, the draft budget said.

Greece desperately needs to reach a deal before November 16 as a three-month treasury bill worth five billion euros must be repaid that week.

The government hopes to secure the eurozone's approval of the cuts by November 12 to unlock a 31.2-billion-euro instalment of EU-IMF rescue loans.

"If the deal does not pass... the country will be led to chaos," Samaras warned on Tuesday.

But the unions threatened more social unrest, announcing a general strike for November 6 and 7 to coincide with debates next week on the budget and other reform measures.

"The central aim and demand of the unions is the rejection (by parliament) of unacceptable, destructive and coercive measures imposed by the troika," the GSEE union said in a statement.

The draft budget was submitted to parliament just before MPs passed a law that facilitates the sale of state companies, with the government planning to raise 2.5 billion euros in asset sales in 2013.

Under the law, the Greek state is no longer obliged to maintain a specific minimum stake in several public utilities that will be divested in coming months.

These include main electricity provider PPC, leading refiner HELPE, gaming monopoly OPAP, the water companies and port authorities of Athens and Thessaloniki, Hellenic Post and racetrack operator ODIE.

Greece was originally supposed to raise 50 billion euros from asset sales by 2015.

This was later scaled down to 19 billion, and on Wednesday the government said it planned to raise just 9.5 billion euros by 2016.

Wednesday's privatisation vote was seen as a curtain-raiser for a bigger showdown next week on the budget and remaining reforms.

Greek media meanwhile were on strike on Wednesday over social security measures affecting journalists.

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Syria warplanes hit inside Damascus

A SYRIAN fighter jet has hit targets inside Damascus for the first time on Tuesday, a watchdog says, as air strikes pounded rebel bastions around the country and an air force general was shot dead.

The warplane dropped four bombs on the eastern Damascus neighbourhood of Jobar, near the opposition-held suburb of Zamalka, where rebel fighters were in fierce clashes with regime troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Only helicopter gunships had previously been used to strafe areas inside the capital, said the Observatory's director, Rami Abdel Rahman.

An AFP journalist there said the bombing could be heard across the city.

The strike, and more raids around the country, came as state television reported that a Syrian air force general had been assassinated in Damascus.

"As part of their campaign to target national personalities and scientists, armed terrorist groups assassinated Air Force General Abdullah Mahmud al-Khalidi in the Damascus district of Rukn al-Din," state television said, using the regime term for armed rebels. It gave no further details.

The general was a member of the Syrian Air Force command and was shot dead on Monday evening as he left a friend's home, a security source in Damascus told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The regime has intensified air strikes against rebel-held areas in recent days, with more than 60 raids on Monday, the most in a single day so far, the Observatory said.

On Tuesday, air strikes hit rebel bastions around Damascus including the town of Douma, where the Observatory said large numbers of people were killed or wounded.

The northwestern town of Maaret al-Numan, seized by rebels earlier this month, was also hit, with seven civilians killed including four children, it said.

Regime forces have been battling with rebels for weeks for control of the town, which is on a key supply route between Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo.

Tuesday also saw clashes between rebels and troops backed by Palestinian fighters at the Yarmuk Palestinian camp, home to 148,500 people, near Damascus.

Anwar Raja, spokesman for the pro-regime Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, said its forces clashed for about an hour with rebels trying to infiltrate the camp but that there were no casualties.

There are more than 510,000 Palestinian refugees living in Syria, and their leadership is largely supportive of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

At least 36 people, including 22 civilians, were killed in fighting on Tuesday, the Observatory said.

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French official: Arafat to be exhumed

CRIMINAL investigators from France will exhume Yasser Arafat's remains next month to try to find out how the Palestinian leader died, a French official says.

The official said the team from France will arrive sometime between November 24 and November 26 in the West bank city of Ramallah.

Palestinian authorities confirmed the timetable and said a separate Swiss investigative team would also arrive in Ramallah at the same time. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The push to re-examine circumstances surrounding Arafat's November 2004 death came after a Swiss lab recently discovered traces of polonium-210, a deadly radioactive isotope, on clothes said to be his.

The discovery revived suspicions of poisoning.

The immediate cause of Arafat's death was a stroke, but the underlying source of an illness he suffered in his final weeks has never been clear.

Investigators from France and Switzerland will conduct parallel probes into Arafat's death, acting separately on behalf of Arafat's widow Suha Arafat and the Palestinian Authority, who each had misgivings about the other's investigation. Suha Arafat formally asked for a French investigation into his death this summer.

While their probes are separate, the French and the Swiss are to visit the grave together and will only be allowed one chance to draw samples, according to Palestinian officials.

Earlier in October, the Palestinians said the process of digging out Arafat's remains will be conducted privately.

But keeping the event a secret will likely be a challenge since Arafat lies in a giant mausoleum outside government headquarters in a central area of Ramallah.

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New York devasted by storm horror

NEW York has awoken in shock to a city devastated by deadly superstorm Sandy, which killed at least 10 people and threatened to leave days of chaos in its wake.

A record tidal surge thrown up by the hurricane set off an explosion at a power station, fire destroyed dozens of homes in the Queens district and a major hospital had to evacuate more than 200 patients at the height of the storm.

Subway trains and buses remained suspended for a third day and hundreds of thousands of homes face up to a week without electricity, the power company warned.

The stock exchange in what Americans call the city that never sleeps remained closed for a second day.

At least 10 people were killed but that toll might rise, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. The fatalities included a man crushed by a tree in Queens.

Smoke lingered over many streets after a huge fire tore through 50 homes in the Breezy Point district of Queens. Firemen in boats rescued about 25 people trapped by fire. The homes were left a tangled mess of wood and metal.

Breezy Point is near Rockaway Beach, where firemen rescued several people trapped in their homes by a 4.2 metre storm surge. Upturned cars were left strewn across streets near the Rockaway seafront.

A spectacular explosion at a Manhattan electricity sub-station at the peak of the storm cut power to 193,000 homes on the island.

About 300,000 other homes in New York lost electricity as Sandy tore down trees and flooded power transmission facilities.

"Don't be surprised if it takes a week" to get power back, warned Con Edison electricity company spokesman Alfonso Quiroz.

Many roads remained blocked by trees, and road tunnels were inundated by floodwaters that slowly receded after the city was battered. Bridges off Manhattan were only open to emergency services.

Some subway stations had water above platform level and it was expected to be several days before trains were fully operational again.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) president Joseph Lhota said the New York subway "has never faced a disaster as devastating as what we experienced last night."

Police and ambulance sirens dominated the diminished morning traffic. Pedestrians had to avoid trees torn up by the wind gusts of up to 150km/h that hit the city late on Monday.

The streets of Lower Manhattan were pitch black until the sun rose. But the power cuts left giant apartment blocks without elevator service.

"I have no water, no gas. I walked down 20 flights of stairs to get to street level and now I must try to get to the office," said accountant Joseph Warburton as he headed for Midtown along Third Avenue.

Tommy Flynn, a 57-year-old photographer, said he was preparing to spend several days at home without electricity. "My girlfriend and I have stocks of water, instant food, batteries, candy and chocolate. And we have nowhere to go," he said.

The roads were strewn with uprooted trees, telephone booths ripped off their foundations and traffic lights blown down with wires left exposed.

Some caretakers bravely started to sweep up the leaves and branches in front of their buildings.

New York University's Tisch hospital had to evacuate more than 200 patients, including about 20 babies, when it was caught in the power cuts and its backup generator failed. Long lines of ambulances were still taking patients away on Tuesday morning.

Safety experts also nervously watched a crane over a 90 story luxury apartment block that buckled in the gale force winds.

The boom of the crane swayed in the fierce gusts over streets near Central Park, which police and fire services evacuated because of the risk that it could fall.

In another spectacular demonstration of its power, the hurricane pulled off the facade of a three-story building in the Chelsea district. No injuries were reported.

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Vivienne Westwood to sell Assange T-shirts

BRITISH fashion designer Vivienne Westwood will from Saturday sell T-shirts in support of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been holed up in Ecuador's London embassy for four months.

The unisex T-shirt, featuring Westwood's face and the words I'm Julian Assange, will cost STG40 ($A62.47) with all profits going to Assange's whistle-blowing website, the veteran designer wrote on her blog.

"T-shirts for Julian: you can show your support of a real hero by going to www.viviennewestwood.com," wrote Westwood, 71, who appears on the shirt wearing a denim jacket and a necklace with a skull pendant, with her red hair swept back.

Australian-born Assange, 41, walked into the embassy on June 19 and claimed asylum in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces questioning over allegations of rape and sexual assault.

Ecuador granted him asylum on August 16 but Britain has refused him safe passage out of the country, leaving Assange in the embassy as the two countries struggle to resolve a diplomatic stalemate.

Assange denies the allegations of sex crimes and claims he could eventually be passed to the United States if he is extradited to Sweden. WikiLeaks enraged Washington in 2010 by publishing a flood of classified US documents.

Flamboyant Westwood, a long-standing supporter of Assange, was pictured wearing the new T-shirt as she paid the WikiLeaks founder a visit last Tuesday.

US pop star Lady Gaga also went to see him earlier this month.

AFP a

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New Dutch government ditches 'weed pass'

THE incoming Dutch government has ditched plans for a national "weed pass" that would have been available only to residents and that would have effectively banned tourists from Amsterdam's marijuana cafes.

However, under a provisional governing pact unveiled this week, cities can bar foreigners from weed shops if they choose.

The pact says that it wants only Dutch residents to have access to marijuana cafes, but leaves enforcement up to cities. Amsterdam opposes a ban, which would hurt tourism.

Some cafe owners said on Tuesday that they are satisfied Dutch weed policy will remain unchanged, while others criticised the lack of clarity.

Marijuana trafficking is technically illegal in the Netherlands, but people can't be prosecuted for possession of small amounts and the drug is sold openly in designated "coffee shops."

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Spanish leader says no need for bailout

SPAIN'S Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy says his debt-laden economy has no need of a European bailout, after holding a summit with Italy.

The leaders of Italy and Spain, the eurozone's third- and fourth-largest economies, met at time of uncertainty about if and when Madrid will be forced to reach out for a European Central Bank rescue line.

If Spain does so, some analysts fear that Italy could be next in line as financial markets seek out the next weak link, creating a domino-like ripple across the most fragile members of the 17-nation region.

In a joint news conference with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti on Monday, the Spanish leader was asked about the possibility of Madrid asking for eurozone aid including bond-buying support from the ECB.

"The government has not requested it because it understands that at the moment it is not essential to defend the interests of the Spanish people", Rajoy replied.

Instead, the Spanish leader agreed with Monti that the eurozone must be kept together, and its powers strengthened.

"Europe is not stopping, Europe is carrying on advancing and it is doing so with Spain and Italy more united than ever," the 57-year-old grey-bearded Spanish leader said.

"Our commitment to the euro is unbreakable and we will adopt all necessary measures to guarantee its stability and irreversibility," the prime minister added.

Rome and Madrid thus underlined their commitment for Greece to stay in the single currency region, he said.

Greece is far behind in a program to recapitalise its banks as it battles to meet conditions for new international debt funding to avert bankruptcy the country.

Athens hopes to help recapitalise its banks, hard hit by the national debt, deep recession and flight of capital, with money from the next instalment of rescue funds from the IMF and European Union.

Italy and Spain were going through a "fairly difficult time in this adolescence of the European Union towards something satisfactory ", Monti told the same news conference.

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Ukraine's Tymoshenko goes on hunger strike

UKRAINE'S jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko says she is launching a hunger strike to protest against violations in the weekend parliamentary election in which the ruling party has taken a decisive lead.

"I am announcing a hunger strike to protest election falsifications," Tymoshenko's lawyer, Sergiy Vlasenko, read from a statement written by the ex-prime minister and 2004 Orange Revolution leader.

President Viktor Yanukovych's ruling Regions Party had 34.2 per cent of the vote against 22.5 per cent for Tymoshenko's opposition party with 61 per cent of the precincts reporting.

The ruling party was also on course to win at least 114 seats out of the 225 that were determined on Sunday in first-past-the-post, single-mandate constituencies.

But the results for Tymoshenko's supporters in parliament showed the opposition alliance trailing the ruling party by just four or five percentage points.

Vlasenko was speaking outside the state hospital where Tymoshenko has been recovering from a bad back she developed shortly after being sentenced in October to a seven-year jail term for abuse of power while prime minister.

The lawyer said Tymoshenko has already informed the Ukrainian penitentiary systems about her action and had only been drinking water since Monday afternoon.

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Hulk Hogan settles sex tape lawsuit

FORMER pro wrestler Hulk Hogan has settled a lawsuit with a disc jockey over a sex tape involving Hogan and the DJ's wife.

A statement by Hogan's publicist says the terms of the settlement are confidential.

Hogan said in a lawsuit earlier this month that he had consensual sex with his best friend's wife, Heather Clem, six years ago in the Clems' home, but he didn't know he was being videotaped.

The disc jockey, Bubba the Love Sponge Clem, apologised to Hogan on Monday.

Clem also said he's convinced Hogan was unaware he was being filmed.

A lawsuit is pending against the gossip website Gawker, which put excerpts of the video on its site.

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Boy killed in India grenade blast

A 10-YEAR-OLD boy has been killed and five more people injured when suspected militants lobbed a grenade into a crowded market in India's tense northeast, police say.

"Militants riding a motorcycle threw a grenade as they drove through a busy market, killing one child and wounding five other people," senior police official Debajit Deuri said late Monday.

Two of the injured were in critical condition, he said.

The attack took place in the small town of Udalguri, 71 kilometres north of Assam state's capital Guwahati.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but in the past police have blamed similar attacks on groups fighting for independent homelands for their tribal followers in the tea and oil-rich region of Assam.

Last year, one of the strongest militant groups, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), announced it would join peace talks with the Indian government in a move to end a 33-year-old rebellion.

A faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militant group also recently agreed to a ceasefire with New Delhi.

Since then, factions of both groups, which oppose the peace overtures, have carried out bomb and grenade attacks in the state, according to police officials.

More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have lost their lives to insurgency in Assam during the past two decades.

India has been wracked by separatist conflicts since its independence in 1947, with deadly insurgencies in its northwestern Kashmir region and the northeast.

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Greek bank shares down on recapitalisation

SHARES in Greek banks have plunged, dragging down the entire Greek stock market on new tensions over recapitalisation of Greek banks and delays to quarterly results.

The Greek banking sub index plummeted 15.97 per cent on Monday over unresolved recapitalisation, tied to last-minute efforts to complete conditions for new debt funding to avert bankruptcy for Greece.

And the main market index closed with a fall of 6.28 per cent after the finance ministry said Greek banks would not be able to swap their holdings of national debt.

The ministry also said results for the banks for the second quarter of this year would be delayed by a month until November 30 because of delays in recapitalisation.

The ministry made its announcement shortly after a meeting between Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras and the Greek banking federation to discuss the plight of the banks.

The ministry said that at the meeting, the possibility Greek banks could swap their greatly devalued Greek bonds for bonds issued by the new European Stability Mechanism "was ruled out".

Stock market dealers said this caused bank share to plunge, dragging down the entire Athens stock index.

Greece hopes to help recapitalise its banks, hard hit by the national debt, deep recession and flight of capital, with money from the next instalment of rescue funds from the IMF and EU, which still hangs on completion of new reforms.

The critical matter of recapitalising the Greek banks, being kept going with various forms of funding on especially easy terms from the European Central Bank, is far behind schedule.

Recapitalisation hangs on completion of the latest audit and agreement on extra budget action and reforms between Greece and the International Monetary Fund, European Union and European Central Bank.

Without payment of the next instalment, Greece faces bankruptcy next month.

The banks took a body blow when Greek debt was restructured under the latest rescue arrangements, which forced private holders of Greek debt to take a big loss on the money owed.

Greece, which has been in recession for five years, must set its financial sector back on its feet to underpin economic growth as the government enacts austerity measures worth 13.5 billion euros ($A17 billion) demanded by creditors in exchange for their aid.

The German magazine Spiegel reported on Sunday international auditors would demand Greece carry out another 150 reforms to its economy, and suggest that holders of Greek debt, often the banks, accept further losses.

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Lottery hacker blasts 'devil's work'

THE French site for the EuroMillions lottery has been hacked with warnings denouncing gambling as impure and the work of the devil.

The messages appeared in Arabic and French and blocked the homepage of the lottery in France on Sunday. The hackers identified themselves as "Moroccanghosts".

The French version of the message said: "Oh you believers. Wine, games of chance, statues all augur impurity and are the work of the devil."

It exhorted people to quit gambling, saying it was used by the devil along with alcohol to "sow hatred between yourselves and turn you away from God and prayer".

Gambling and alcohol are forbidden in Islam.

France has a population of 65 million, including an estimated four million Muslims, the largest Islamic population in western Europe.

The EuroMillions lottery, launched in 2004, is now played by nine countries across western Europe: Austria, Belgium, Britain, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.

More than 100 million euros ($A126 million) are up for grabs in a EuroMillions jackpot to be played on Tuesday.

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NYC orders 375,000 evacuated

NEW York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has ordered the evacuation of 375,000 people in low-lying areas threatened by Hurricane Sandy.

"This is a serious and dangerous storm," Mr Bloomberg told a news conference as he ordered the mandatory evacuation ahead of the storm which is expected to start hitting on Monday.

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New York orders 375,000 storm evacuations

NEW York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has ordered the evacuation of 375,000 people in low-lying areas threatened by Hurricane Sandy.

"This is a serious and dangerous storm," Bloomberg told a news conference on Sunday as he ordered the mandatory evacuation ahead of the storm, which is expected to start hitting on Monday.

He ordered the evacuation of part of lower Manhattan and the Rockaways, a low-lying area of Queens.

Bloomberg also said the 1.1 million-student New York City school system would be closed on Monday.

That follows the suspension of the city's public transport system.

The New York subway and trains will be suspended from 7pm on Sunday (1000 AEDT on Monday) while buses will stop running two hours later.

New York's public transport system is America's largest. The subway alone has more than five million passengers a day.

Meanwhile Air France has cancelled all flights into New York and Washington on Monday while US airlines have called off hundreds of domestic flights.

New York airports were still open on Sunday but the airport authority warned passengers to expect disruption.

Rainfall is expected to start in New York on Monday (AEDT).

Hurricane Sandy is headed north from the Caribbean to meet a winter storm and a cold front.

Experts say the rare hybrid storm that results will cause havoc over 1200 kilometres from the East Coast to the Great Lakes.

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Storm has Obama campaign worried

HURRICANE Sandy has raised concerns in President Barack Obama's campaign that it could impact his re-election to the extent that voters are kept from going to the polls, a top strategist says.

"Obviously we want unfettered access to the polls because we believe that the more people come out, the better we're going to do," David Axelrod told CNN on Sunday.

"And so to the extent that it makes it harder, you know, that's a source of concern," he said.

With the storm due to hit late Monday, both Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney have scrambled to revamp their schedules in the final stretch of a campaign that is already very close.

Obama cancelled two campaign events and moved up a visit to Florida on Sunday so he could be back in Washington before the so-called "Frankenstorm" makes landfall on the US East Coast.

"I don't know how all the politics will sort out. It depends on how scenarios are impacted," Axelrod said.

"And so the best thing we can do is focus on how we can help people during this storm and hope that it all clears out and that by the next weekend we'll be free of it and people can focus on the election."

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Hurricane Sandy death toll rises to 65

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Oct 28 AP - As Americans braced for Hurricane Sandy, Haiti was still suffering.

Officials raised the storm-related death toll across the Caribbean to 65, with 51 of those coming in Haiti, which was pelted by three days of constant rain that ended only on Friday.

As the rain stopped and rivers began to recede, authorities were getting a fuller idea of how much damage Sandy brought on Haiti.

Bridges collapsed. Banana crops were ruined. Homes were underwater. Officials said the death toll might still rise.

"This is a disaster of major proportions," Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe told The Associated Press. "The whole south is under water."

The country's ramshackle housing and denuded hillsides are especially vulnerable to flooding. The bulk of the deaths were in the southern part of the country and the area around Port-au-Prince, the capital, which holds most of the 370,000 Haitians who are still living in flimsy shelters as a result of the devastating 2010 earthquake.

Santos Alexis, mayor of the southern city of Leogane, said on Sunday the rivers were receding and people were beginning to dry their belongings in the sun.

"Things are back to being a little quiet," Alexis said by telephone. "We have seen the end."

Sandy also killed 11 in Cuba, where officials said it destroyed or damaged tens of thousands of houses.

Deaths were also reported in Jamaica, the Bahamas and Puerto Rico.

Authorities in the Dominican Republic said the storm destroyed several bridges and isolated at least 130 communities while damaging an estimated 3500 homes.

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