W O R L D

US crawls back to business
New York, October 31
The US began crawling back to normal on Wednesday after monster storm Sandy crippled transportation, knocked out power for millions and killed at least 64 persons in nine states with a massive storm surge and rain that caused epic flooding.

A worker uses a backhoe to clear sand and debris that was carried onshore by a surge from superstorm Sandy in Atlantic City on Wednesday. — AP/PTI

Island row: China flexes muscles ahead of leadership change
Beijing, October 31
Flexing muscles ahead of next week's once in a decade leadership change, China today said it has "expelled" Japanese Coast Guard vessels from the waters of disputed islands and asserted that "situation has changed" and Japan can not retain control over the area any longer. Asked about reports of Chinese Maritime Surveillance Vessels, patrolling the waters of the uninhabited islands called Diaoyu by China and Senkakus by Japan, expelling Japanese vessels, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hong Lei said today Beijing's stand is well justified.

Afghan Prez poll on April 5, 2014
Kabul, October 31
Presidential elections considered crucial to Afghanistan's security and stability will be held on April 5, 2014, the country's election commission announced today. The decision eased concerns that President Hamid Karzai would seek to delay the election despite his repeated assurances that he would not. Karzai is not allowed to run for a third term and has said he will not stay on after his current five-year mandate ends.

Standing guard A pet dog gets a ride on a tricycle as its owner ferries passengers on Wednesday at Malabon, Philippines. Tricycles are one of the most popular means of transport in the country. — AP/PTI

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US crawls back to business
Financial markets reopen
JFK, Newark airports to offer limited flights
Toll 64

New York, October 31
The US began crawling back to normal on Wednesday after monster storm Sandy crippled transportation, knocked out power for millions and killed at least 64 persons in nine states with a massive storm surge and rain that caused epic flooding.

Financial markets reopened with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, and packed buses took residents back to work with the subway system halted after seawater flooded its tunnels.

John F. Kennedy and Newark airports reopened with limited service after thousands of flights were canceled, leaving travellers stuck for days. New York's LaGuardia Airport, the third of the airports that serve the nation's busiest airspace, was flooded and remained closed.

It will take days or weeks to recover from the massive power and mass transit outages. With six days to go before the November 6 elections, President Barack Obama will visit storm-ravaged areas of the New Jersey shore, where Sandy made landfall on Monday.

He will be accompanied by Republican Governor Chris Christie, a vocal backer of presidential challenger Mitt Romney. Nevertheless, Christie has praised Obama and the federal response to the storm.

The storm killed 27 persons in New York state, including 22 in New York City, and six in New Jersey. Seven other states reported fatalities. One disaster-modeling company said Sandy may have caused up to $15 billion in insured losses.

Sandy killed 69 persons in the Caribbean last week before it slammed into the US East Coast and pushed inland, dumping snow in the Appalachian Mountains and other inland areas.

Remnants of the storm churned slowly over Pennsylvania on Wednesday, the National Weather Service said. Winter storm warnings were in effect from southwestern Pennsylvania to eastern Tennessee.

Battered by a record storm surge of nearly 14-foot of water, large sections of New York City remained submerged under several feet of water. In the city's borough of Staten Island, police used helicopters to pluck stranded residents from rooftops.

Across the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey, members of the National Guard arrived to help residents pump floodwater from their homes, the city said on Twitter.

More than 8.2 million homes and businesses remained without electricity across several states after trees toppled by fierce winds tore down power lines. In New Jersey, Christie said it could take seven to 10 days before power was restored statewide.

Subway and commuter tunnels under New York City, which carry several million riders a day, were under several feet of water.

In the lower half of Manhattan, a quarter of a million residents remained without power after a transformer explosion at a Con Edison substation Monday night. — Reuters 

Sandy looks big from space: Williams

Superstorm Sandy, that has claimed many lives and wrecked havoc in the densely populated US east coast region, looks enormous even when seen from space, Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams has said as she prepared to add to her record-setting space walking sojourns. Williams said that she and her crew were able to make out the big swirl at the centre of Sandy as it neared land on Monday. The cloud cover stretched from the Atlantic almost all the way to Chicago. 

Obama back on campaign trail today

US President Barack Obama will return to active campaigning on Thursday with a trip to the battleground state of Nevada, the White House said in a statement. Obama has taken three days away from campaigning to oversee the response efforts to massive storm Sandy, which hit the east coast earlier this week.

Island row: China flexes muscles ahead of leadership change

Beijing, October 31
Flexing muscles ahead of next week's once in a decade leadership change, China today said it has "expelled" Japanese Coast Guard vessels from the waters of disputed islands and asserted that "situation has changed" and Japan can not retain control over the area any longer.

Asked about reports of Chinese Maritime Surveillance Vessels, patrolling the waters of the uninhabited islands called Diaoyu by China and Senkakus by Japan, expelling Japanese vessels, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hong Lei said today Beijing's stand is well justified.

"China's maritime surveillance ships conducted patrol and law enforcement operations in the territorial waters of the Diaoyu Islands. This is a normal act of duty and is completely justified", Hong said.

Earlier state-run Xinhua news agency reported that the China's marine surveillance fleet has "expelled a number of Japanese vessels illegally sailing in waters around the Diaoyu Islands on Tuesday morning".

Quoting a State Oceanic Administration, the report said: "A fleet comprising of four China Marine Surveillance ships encountered the Japanese vessels at around 10 am while on a routine patrol.

"They conducted surveillance over the Japanese vessels and took photos as evidence", it said adding that the fleet also radioed the Japanese vessels reiterating China's sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands and the waters around them.

Reports from Tokyo said ships from both sides flashed sings suggesting that they were in their own territorial waters, demanding the other side to leave.

The Chinese action marks a new posture after the conflict escalated during that past two months, which analysts here say is hardening of the stand by China as it poised for a once in a generation change leadership expected to take place during the November 8 congress of Communist Party. — PTI

Afghan Prez poll on April 5, 2014

Kabul, October 31
Presidential elections considered crucial to Afghanistan's security and stability will be held on April 5, 2014, the country's election commission announced today. The decision eased concerns that President Hamid Karzai would seek to delay the election despite his repeated assurances that he would not. Karzai is not allowed to run for a third term and has said he will not stay on after his current five-year mandate ends.

The previous presidential elections, held in late 2009, were marred by allegations of widespread fraud.

"I think it is significant that they announced the 5th of April, 2014 as the date for the presidential elections in accordance with the constitution," European Union ambassador Vygaudas Usackas said.

"It is a demonstration that the Afghan authorities are taking seriously their commitment with regard to their own people and the international community."

The presidential vote also coincides with the withdrawal of tens of thousands of foreign combat troops, most of whom will be gone by the end of 2014. — AP

BRIEFLY

Bill Clinton’s laptop with first presidential e-mail up for sale
Washington: A laptop used by the former US president Bill Clinton to send his first presidential e-mail and the historic message to astronaut John Glenn in space is up for sale for a whopping $125,000. This is the first e-mail of a President and the first email of a President to the outer space. The computer also contains outstanding documentation, including a signed photo of the former President and a signed print-out of the historic email also with Glenn's signature. — PTI

Members of the animals defence group ‘Animalisti Italiani Onlus’ stage a protest showing the hunting of wild animals in front of a zoo in Rome on Wednesday. — AFP

14 killed in Indonesian ethnic clashes
Jakarta: Hundreds of police and soldiers have been dispatched to restore security in western Indonesia after 14 persons were killed and dozens wounded in ethnic clashes, police said on Wednesday. Four persons died during a clash Sunday in Balinuraga village of Lampung province, and the death toll climbed to 14 with more people killed when the clashes continued Monday and Tuesday, National Police spokesman Brig General Boy Rafli Amar said. — AP

Fire at Saudi wedding kills 25
Riyadh: A fire sparked by celebratory gunfire has killed at least 25 persons at a wedding in Saudi Arabia, media reported today. The bullets struck electric decorations that triggered a short-circuit, igniting a women-only marquee at the wedding last night in Eastern Province, said Al-Yaoum newspaper. Al-Yaoum said at least 28 persons died in the fire, although various other reports put the death toll at 25, all of them women and children. — AFP

Snakes in parcel shut SA post office
JOHANNESBURG: Clerks at a South African post office fled for safety when they emptied a mail bag and a white python came slithering out. The one-metre-long non-venomous snake was one of four sent this week in an express parcel that arrived at the Sabie Post Office, about 300 km from Johannesburg, postal officials said on Wednesday. Once the python hit the floor, sorting room employees were out the door, Sabie Branch Manager Mthobisi Duba said. — Reuters