Rebels fight Syrian troops over airbase

SYRIAN rebels have launched a major assault on a strategic airbase in the north of the country, trying to disrupt strikes by warplanes and helicopters that pound rebel-held towns.

The assault, reported by activists, comes a day before the start of a key international conference in Qatar at which the United States and its allies aim to reorganise the opposition's political leadership and unite their ranks. The leadership-in-exile has been widely seen as ineffective and out of touch with rebel fighters on the ground.

Rebel forces attacked the Taftanaz airbase early on Saturday morning in fighting with government forces that continued into the afternoon, the anti-regime activist Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Joining Syrian rebels in the attack were fighters from Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic militant group made up of foreign jihadis, according to the Observatory. Al-Nusra fighters, who are considered among the most experienced and disciplined among the opposition forces, have led attacks on other airbases in the north in past months.

The Taftanaz base mainly houses military helicopters, near the main highway between the capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo, where rebels and the military have been battling for control for months.

Online activist videos claim to show the battle, with rebels firing rockets and mortars, and smoke rising over buildings and an airstrip area. An activist speaking in the video identifies it as an attack by rebels and Jabhat al-Nusra on the base.

The videos appear genuine and are consistent with other Associated Press reporting in the area.

The capturing of the base - and holding on to it - would be a major achievement for the rebels, who often complain they are outgunned by government forces.

Airstrikes have been one of the most effective and feared weapons of the regime in the civil war. Rebels managed to seize control of a pocket of territory around Aleppo, but government warplanes and helicopters continue to blast towns they hold from the air. In the fierce fighting over Aleppo itself, warplanes almost daily swoop in to strafe or bomb rebel-held neighbourhoods.

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Blindfolded boy to pick Copt pope

A BLINDFOLDED boy will select the new pope for millions of Coptic Christians in Egypt, becoming his mother's pride and joy in the process.

Nearly 2500 eligible voters made up of Coptic public officials, MPs, journalists and local councillors have already pre-selected three candidates to succeed pope Shenuda III, who died in March at the age of 88.

They are Bishop Rafael, 54, a medical doctor and current assistant bishop for central Cairo; Bishop Tawadros of the Nile Delta province of Beheira, 60; and Father Rafael Ava Mina, the oldest of the five original candidates at 70.

Their names will now be written on separate pieces of paper and placed in a box on the altar of St Mark's Cathedral, for God to guide the boy's hand towards the winner - in the beliefs of the Church and the faithful.

The final choice will be left to a boy, aged between five and eight, explained Bishop Pola from Tanta in the Nile Delta, in the first such contest since Shenuda was selected by the same method more than four decades ago, in 1971.

"A lot of families propose the names of children, that's why we lay down precise criteria and ensure the faithfulness of the family and the child to the Church," said the bishop.

Dozens of families have come forward.

"I pray my son George is selected to carry out the will of God," said one mother, Merihan Moros.

The interim head of the Church, Father Pachomius, will choose 12 boys to be invited to the ceremony. Then, he will instruct that one of them be blindfolded.

That boy will choose a piece of paper bearing the name of the 118th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa in the Holy See of St Mark the Apostle.

Bishop Pola told reporters that strict measures are taken to ensure there is no foul play: the three pieces of paper are all the same size, tied up the same way and placed in a transparent box.

The entire process is also televised before a large, live congregation.

Some Copts say the procedure should be updated.

"The faithful should vote after having prayed and fasted," according to Gamal Asaad, an intellectual in the community.

The Coptic pope serves as the spiritual leader of the country's Christians, who make up between six and 10 per cent of Egypt's 83-million-strong population.

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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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It's crunch time for Abbott, warns Wilkie

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott is facing crunch time and has to prove he could be prime minister, an independent MP has claimed.

If he fails to come up with detailed policies, Mr Abbott could be in trouble, according to Andrew Wilkie.

Speaking to ABC's Lateline on Thursday night, Mr Wilkie said the Liberal leader has experienced "a rough couple of months".

"It was always going to come to the point where people were expecting him to be the alternative prime minister, to be a statesman, a man who offered a range of well thought out and detailed and fully-costed policies," said Mr Wilkie, federal member for Denison.

"He's reached crunch time. If he hasn't started acting like that, if he doesn't roll out good policies, costed policies, he could well be in strife."

Either party could win an election at this stage, according to Mr Wilkie, but he described both Mr Abbott and Prime Minister Julia Gillard as "two deeply unpopular politicians".

He said that even with hindsight, he believes he made the right decision in backing Ms Gillard, however.

Discussing Ms Gillard's now infamous misogyny speech, he said he was surprised "at how effective it has been for her".

The prime minister would have had the "moral high ground" if she had taken the unprecedented step of supporting the opposition's motion to remove Peter Slipper as Speaker however, he added.

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US stocks gain in early trade

US stocks have registered solid gains as the markets rebounded from a two-day shutdown and a hesitant reopening a day earlier.

Earnings reports ahead of the opening were mixed: ExxonMobil (-0.68 per cent) reported a smaller-than-expected seven per cent dip in profit for the third quarter.

Pfizer (-1.37 per cent) disappointed with a 14 per cent fall in net income and lowered guidance for the rest of the year.

Ten minutes into trade on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 72.01 points, or 0.55 per cent, at 13,068.47.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 4.85 points, or 0.34 per cent, at 1,417.01.

The Nasdaq added 13.67 points, or 0.46 per cent, at 2,990.90.

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Court hands Iraq VP 2nd death sentence

AN Iraqi court has convicted the country's Sunni vice-president on charges of instigating bodyguards to assassinate a senior government official and sentenced him to death.

Thursday's verdict was the second death sentence for Tariq al-Hashemi in less than two months, both delivered in absentia since he is in exile in Turkey.

Hashemi fled Iraq in December 2011, when the Shi'ite led-government accused him of playing a role in numerous attacks

He has denied the charges.

The criminal court in Baghdad also sentenced Hashemi's son-in-law to death on the same charges.

Supreme Judicial Council spokesman Abdul-Sattar Bayrkdar said the two suspects instigated bodyguards to kill an official by sticking a bomb to his car.

Hashemi's lawyer Muayad Obeid al-Ezzi said he was not informed about the hearing or verdict.

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Israel fesses up: We killed Arafat deputy

LIFTING a nearly 25-year veil of secrecy, Israel is admitting that it killed the deputy of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in a 1988 raid in Tunis.

Israel has long been suspected of assassinating Khalil al-Wazir, who was better known by his nom de guerre Abu Jihad.

But only on Thursday did the country's military censor clear the Yediot Ahronot newspaper to publish the information, including an interview with the commando who killed him.

Dozens of brazen operations have been attributed to Israel over the decades. But Israel rarely takes responsibility.

The acknowledgement gives a rare glimpse into the country's covert operations.

Abu Jihad founded the Palestinian Liberation Organisation with Arafat and was blamed for a series of attacks against Israelis.

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Swiss central bank reports tripled profit

SWITZERLAND'S central bank, with a strategy of intervention to hold down the Swiss franc, says it has almost tripled profits for the first nine months of the year, boosted by a rise of gold and currency reserves.

The figures give an insight into the scale and effects of the bank's strategy to try to keep Swiss exporters and the Swiss tourist industry competitive in the face of an inflow of funds seeking safety from crises, and notably the eurozone debt crisis.

The bank's consolidated profit for the January-September period soared to 16.9 billion Swiss francs ($A17.66 billion), up from 5.9 billion a year earlier, The Swiss National Bank (SNB) said in a statement.

The bank's gold reserves had surged by 6.2 billion Swiss francs, or 24 per cent, year-on-year, while foreign currency reserves shot up to a value of 10.3 billion Swiss francs from just 322 million in the first nine months of 2011.

The bank's Swiss franc positions meanwhile added 94.1 million Swiss francs to its profit for the first three quarters of the year, compared to the 147.5-million loss they raked in during the same period last year.

The dramatic shift is connected with the significant strengthening of the Swiss franc last year, which forced SNB, in September 2011, to set an exchange rate floor of 1.20 francs for each euro.

With the deepening of the eurozone debt crisis, the bank had to purchase massive amounts of euros to enforce the minimum exchange rate, and as a consequence of this policy, its balance sheet has grown by 158 billion Swiss francs to 509 billion since the beginning of the year.

Investment of its foreign currencies meanwhile grew by 172 billion Swiss francs.

"SNB is now in the course to diversify and invest the additional volume of euros," Alexander Koch, an analyst with UniCredit Research, said, pointing out that the bank's euro reserves made up just 49 per cent of its total foreign currency reserves in the third quarter down from 60.1 per cent in the second quarter.

According to Koch, SNB had exchanged about 60 billion euros ($A75.67 billion) into other currencies, mainly dollars.

He stressed though that SNB needed to "remain active in terms of euro investments."

This was because most of the additional euros it had acquired remained "parked as deposits" mainly with Germany's Bundesbank, which would therefore likely "get further support from SNB FX reserves management in coming months," he said.

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Australia welcomed as resolution centre

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has welcomed the promotion of Australia as a destination for business dispute resolution.

His comments come after a forum was held at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) on Wednesday to persuade major firms in the Gulf region to use Australia as a neutral venue.

Professor Doug Jones, president of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA) said the country was becoming a popular choice.

"Australia is beginning to attract strong interest from corporations in the Asia Pacific region and beyond who are increasingly looking to avoid the uncertainty of litigation in foreign courts."

The forum came after a memorandum of understanding was signed between DIFC and NSW in May.

"I would like to congratulate ACICA for taking the lead in partnering with the DIFC to promote Sydney and Australia as a neutral venue for arbitration," said Mr O'Farrell.

"What ACICA offers complements our engagement with the DIFC to promote investment opportunities between NSW and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region among existing and potential investors."

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European austerity hits GlaxoSmithKline Q3

PHARMACEUTICAL company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) says net profit was 18 per cent lower in the third quarter as sales fell in Europe and the United States.

For the three months ending September 30, GSK said on Wednesday that net profit was STG1.12 billion ($A1.75 billion), down from STG1.38 billion last year.

Revenue fell eight per cent to STG6.5 billion.

Sales declined by nine per cent in Europe, where the company faced pricing pressure from government austerity drives. US sales fell six per cent following the end of a co-promotion agreement for incontinence drug Vesicare and declining sales of Avandia for diabetes.

Sales in emerging markets rose 11 per cent and overtook Europe as the company's biggest market in terms of revenue.

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Hollande wants 'concrete' action from Iran

FRENCH President Francois Hollande says he wants "concrete acts and gestures" from Iran to show it is not pursuing nuclear arms - and he backs "other sanctions" if Tehran fails to do so.

"This is a threat which cannot be accepted by France," he said, addressing a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"We have voted for many sanctions and are ready to vote others as long as necessary," the French leader said, underscoring that he wanted "proof that Iran has abandoned this drive."

Iran denies Israeli and Western suspicions that its nuclear program is a front for a drive for a weapons capability.

Hollande also urged Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace talks without any conditions.

"Only negotiations can lead to a definitive solution," he said.

Direct peace talks have been on hold for more than two years, with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas refusing to negotiate as long as Israel continues to build and approve new Jewish settlements.

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Casino tender process guidelines changed

GOVERNMENT guidelines on bypassing competitive tendering were changed just before billionaire businessman James Packer put forward his proposal for a $1 billion hotel and casino in Sydney, it has been claimed.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a clause specifying that independent evaluations were needed before a scheme could be allowed to avoid going to tender was removed on August 17.

That was exactly a week after NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell met Mr Packer to discuss the proposed "six-star" hotel and VIP gaming resort at Barangaroo, and two weeks after Mr Packer officially put forward his plan, the newspaper said.

It says guidelines in the Working with Government document requiring evaluation by the relevant government agency to confirm there would be better value for money in avoiding a tender process have now been replaced by the Public Private Partnership Guidelines, which do not include that requirement.

A spokesman for Mr O'Farrell told the Herald the changes were "minor administrative changes to keep the document up to date and relevant".

The plan has reached the second stage of the state government's "unsolicited proposals" process.

A more detailed proposal from Crown Ltd is to be considered by the government panel, and if that is approved and a binding offer made, all that stands between Mr Packer and his casino dream is a vote in NSW parliament.

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Swiss customs seize tear gas in lipsticks

SWISS customs have seized nearly 500 canisters of illegal tear gas made in China and hidden inside innocent-looking lighters and lipsticks.

Michel Bachar, spokesman for the Swiss customs service, said officers at Geneva airport uncovered the canisters after they grew suspicious of a package from China supposedly containing electronics destined for a Swiss import-export company.

He said the tear gas was hidden inside pink and yellow-topped lighters and coloured metal-cased lipsticks.

"This is the first time in Switzerland that we find tear gas hidden in lighters," Bachar said, holding up one of the see-through plastic casings filled with an orange liquid.

"Behind each of these lighters, there is a potential victim," he said, demonstrating how someone could offer to light a cigarette and spray an unsuspecting victim straight in the face.

"It sends chills down my spine," he said.

He said the gas was being tested at a laboratory to determine the exact substance and how toxic it was.

He said the canisters were to be sold illegally on the Swiss market.

Pepperspray is legal in Switzerland, but other forms of tear gas are not, and people caught carrying just one small canister face a fine of at least 300 Swiss francs ($A313).

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Air force general assassinated in Damascus

A SYRIAN air force general has been assassinated in northern Damascus, state television says, blaming the killing on "terrorist groups."

"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," the broadcaster said.

"He was one of Syria's foremost experts in aviation," it said, adding that he was a father of four children.

The general was a member of the Syrian Air Force command, a security source in Damascus told AFP on condition of anonymity.

He was shot dead on Monday evening as he left a friend's home, the source added.

The regime of President Bashar al-Assad routinely refers to rebels fighting to overthrow it as terrorists.

Since late July, air force fighter jets and helicopters have played a key role in the war against rebels.

On Tuesday alone, fierce air strikes hit targets in Damascus province, the northwestern province of Idlib and the central province of Homs, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

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Bayer to acquire Schiff; reports Q3 rise

GERMAN drug and chemical maker Bayer AG says it is buying US vitamin and supplement maker Schiff Nutrition International Inc for $US1.2 billion euros ($A1.17 billion) in a cash deal it hopes will bolster the offerings of its consumer health division.

The announcement came as the Leverkusen-based company reported net income fell 17.8 per cent to 528 million euro in the third quarter due to one-off items - including 205 million euro related to costs associated with litigation over the birth control pills marketed as Yasmin or Yaz, which are claimed to cause blood clots. Bayer said it also took a special charge of 134 million euro in restructuring expenses.

Group sales were up 11.4 per cent to 9.665 billion euro, and board chairman Marijn Dekkers said the company had made good progress from a strategic perspective in the third quarter, strengthening its life sciences business through acquisitions and making progress on innovations.

"We remain on a successful path and we confirm our guidance for 2012," he said.

In acquiring Schiff, which is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has offices in Emeryville, California, Bayer said it would be paying 34 euro per share - well above the $23.2 Schiff closed at on Friday, it's most recent day of trading.

The sale is expected to close by the end of the year, Bayer said.

Bayer said Schiff's portfolio includes brands in three of the largest health supplement segments - joint care, cardiovascular health and immune support. Products include Tiger's Milk nutrition bars, Omega 3 supplement MegaRed, and the probiotic supplement Digestive Advantage.

"This transaction represents an excellent strategic fit for our HealthCare business," Dekkers said. "The Schiff business significantly enhances our presence and position in the United States, which accounts for more over-the-counter and nutritional product sales than any other country in the world."

Bayer shares were up 0.6 per cent in morning European trading to 66.88 euro.

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Pakistan militant chief offers help to US

THE founder of a Pakistan-based Islamist group blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, who is under a $US10 million ($A9.72 million) US bounty, has offered humanitarian aid to the United States as it battles superstorm Sandy.

Sandy hammered the eastern United States early on Tuesday, flooding much of New York City, hitting several states with heavy winds and torrential rain and leaving at least 14 people dead.

Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the founder of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant outfit and now head of the charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa, said his organisation was ready to offer every possible help to the storm-hit American people.

"Jamaat-ud-Dawa is ready to send its volunteers, doctors, food, medicines and other relief items on humanitarian grounds if the US government allows us," Saeed said in a statement.

"America may have any opinion about us, it may fix bounties on our heads but as followers of the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed, we feel it is our Islamic duty to help Americans trapped in a catastrophe."

Jamaat-ud-Dawa is seen as a front for LeT, which Washington and Delhi blame for the commando-style attacks on India's financial capital in 2008 that killed 166 people.

In April the United States offered $10 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Saeed, who lives openly in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore.

Saeed's charity has long denied terror accusations and is known around Pakistan for its relief work in the wake of the devastating Kashmir earthquake of 2005 and the floods of 2010, which were the worst in the country's history.

He was put under house arrest a month after the Mumbai attacks, but was released in 2009 and again in 2010 as Pakistan's highest court upheld his release on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence to detain him.

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Storm and fire devastates 50 homes in NY

FIREFIGHTERS in boats have rescued more than 25 people from 50 homes in a New York neighbourhood that were destroyed by a mass blaze after superstorm Sandy, officials say.

The Breezy Point district of Queens was left a smouldering tangle of wood and metal on Tuesday after the blaze. Firefighters said it was "a miracle" that only two minor injuries were reported.

Floodwaters were chest high on the street and firefighters used boats to make rescues, a fire department spokesman said.

About 25 people were trapped in an upstairs apartment in one home, and the apartment roof was ablaze when the people were rescued, according to New York media reports.

Smoke from the blaze covered a wide area.

Breezy Point is near Rockaway Beach, where firefighters rescued many people from flood-stricken homes during the mega-storm.

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US search continues for Bounty captain

THE US Coast Guard continues searching the Atlantic Ocean for the captain of the HMS Bounty, which sank on Monday during Hurricane Sandy.

Coast Guard Captain Joe Kelly said on Tuesday that 63-year-old Robin Walbridge could still be alive in the Gulf Stream waters more than a day after the replica 18th century sailing vessel sank in high winds and waves. The Coast Guard says the ocean temperature in the search area is nearly 26 degrees celsius.

Kelly says Wallbridge went overboard early on Monday when the ship rolled as the deck slid below 5.5-metre waves.

The Coast Guard rescued 14 crew members by helicopter. Hours later, they found 42-year-old Claudene Christian, who was later declared dead.

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London police to sell Scotland Yard HQ

LONDON police are looking to sell off their Scotland Yard headquarters as part of a series of budget cuts as Britain struggles to shrink its huge deficit, a senior officer has revealed.

Deputy Commissioner Craig Mackey said the Metropolitan Police was hoping to save around STG6.5 million ($A10.15 million) per year by moving to a smaller base.

The Met moved into its New Scotland Yard offices in 1967. It bought the central London building for STG124.5 million in 2008 but it costs STG11 million per year to run.

As the force faces staff cuts, there will be more empty space at the site.

"It's an expensive building to run and it's an expensive building to maintain and as we go through this change program it's going to have space in it that we don't need. In central London that's an expensive luxury."

Police budgets across the country are being cut and the Met has been asked by London Mayor Boris Johnson to make STG500 million of savings by 2015.

It is expected that the move would take around two years once approved.

The force wants to move to a smaller headquarters in central London, still around the Whitehall government district.

Around a third of the Met's 700 buildings will need to be sold off, Mackey said.

The British economy escaped from its longest double-dip recession since the 1950s, official data showed on Thursday, rebounding by 1.0 per cent in the third quarter with the help of the London Olympics.

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US, Canada launch joint cybersecurity plan

CANADA and the United States announced Friday they were launching a joint cyber-security plan to protect their digital infrastructure from online threats.

The action plan, under the auspices of the US Department of Homeland Security and Public Safety Canada, aims to better protect critical digital infrastructure and improve the response to cyber incidents.

"Canada and the US have a mutual interest in partnering to protect our shared infrastructure," said the Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.

"We are committed to working together to protect vital cyber systems, to respond to and recover from any cyber disruptions and to make cyberspace safer for all our citizens."

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the plan "reinforces the robust relationship" between their two agencies.

Through the plan, Washington and Ottawa hope to improve collaboration on managing cyber incidents between their respective cyber security operation centres, enhance information sharing and engagement with the private sector and pursue US-Canadian collaboration to promote cyber security awareness to the public.

The announcement came after the US House Intelligence Committee warned earlier this month that equipment supplied by Chinese telecoms groups Huawei and ZTE could be used for spying and called for their exclusion from government contracts and acquisitions.

Canada later invoked a "national security exception" that could exclude China's Huawei Technologies from a role in helping build its new super secure government network.

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14 rescued, two missing from HMS Bounty

US Coast Guard helicopters have rescued 14 members of the crew of HMS Bounty, a tall ship replica abandoned in the midst of Hurricane Sandy, but two people are still missing, the Coast Guard says.

A Coast Guard HC-130 aircraft remained on the scene off the coast of North Carolina searching for the two missing crew members, it said.

"The 14 people are being flown to Air Station Elizabeth City where they will be met by awaiting emergency medical services personnel," the Coast Guard said.

The Bounty's 16 crew members had abandoned ship, donning cold water survival suits and life jackets and launching two lifeboats as the tall ship foundered in heavy seas 250 kilometres from the eye of Hurricane Sandy.

The HC-130 aircraft was dispatched in response to a distress call and established communications with the Bounty's crew, the Coast Guard said.

Then two Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters reached the site from Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

The first "hoisted five people into the aircraft, and a second helicopter arrived and rescued nine people", the Coast Guard said.

"The C-130 Hercules aircraft remains on scene and is searching for the two missing crew members and a third Jayhawk crew is en route to assist search and rescue efforts," the Coast Guard said.

The owner of the vessel, which was built for the 1962 movie Mutiny on the Bounty with Marlon Brando and has also featured in Pirates of the Caribbean with Johnny Depp, said he lost contact with the crew late Sunday.

The current HMS Bounty is a replica of the eponymous British vessel known for the mutiny that took place in Tahiti in 1789.

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French judge frees implant firm founder

A FRENCH judge has ordered the release of the founder of breast implant company PIP, which sparked a global health scare over potentially faulty products, after eight months in preventive detention.

Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) boss Jean-Claude Mas, 73, was ordered released but will be "placed under judicial supervision", his lawyer Yves Haddad said, adding he would be freed later on Monday.

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

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

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

Mas, a former travelling salesman who got his start in the medical business by selling pharmaceuticals, founded PIP in 1991 to take advantage of the booming market for cosmetic implants.

He reportedly told investigators that he used fake business data to fool health inspectors.

Industrial-grade gel was used in 75 per cent of PIP breast implants, saving the company about one million euros ($A1.26 million) a year, according to a former company executive.

Mas and four other former PIP officials are due to go on trial from April 17 to May 14 next year in a keenly awaited trial that will involve about 180 lawyers and some 4600 complainants.

French officials have said that cancers, including cases of breast cancer, have been detected in 20 French women with the implants, but have insisted there is no proven link.

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Small explosion in Sydney front yard

SLEEPING residents have been woken by something that went bang in the night in Sydney's west.

Police are investigating a small explosion in the front yard of a home in Oak Street, Parramatta about 11.30pm (AEDT) on Monday.

Early investigations suggest an item may have been thrown into the home's carport area by someone walking past.

A crime scene has been established and investigations are continuing, police said.

Anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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German inflation steady at 2.0% in October

INFLATION in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, remained steady at 2.0 per cent in October, official data shows.

The German consumer price index (CPI) rose by 2.0 per cent on a 12-month basis this month, according to a flash estimate using cost-of-living data from six of Germany's 16 regional states.

In September, the 12-month inflation rate had also stood at 2.0 per cent.

On a monthly basis, the cost of living in Germany was unchanged, the national statistics office Destatis said in a statement.

Using the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), the ECB's inflation yardstick, the rate of inflation in Germany was also unchanged at 2.1 per cent in October.

The ECB defines price stability as increases in HICP of close to but just below 2.0 per cent.

Preliminary inflation data are calculated using consumer price data for six of Germany's 16 federal states.

Final data, based on statistics for all 16 states, are scheduled to be published on November 9.

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Politician joins magazine that exposed her

A FORMER Taiwanese politician has announced she is joining the tabloid magazine that exposed her affair and drove her into exile in a high-profile sex scandal 11 years ago.

Chu Mei-feng, formerly a Taipei city councillor and the chief of Hsinchu city government's cultural bureau, became notorious in December 2001 when she was filmed by an estranged friend having sex with a married man.

The 40-minute video compact disc of Chu's affair was given away free by tabloid magazine Scoop and spread throughout Asia via the internet and black markets.

Eleven years later, Chu has decided to serve as the magazine's honorary publisher.

"Eleven years ago, Scoop forced me into exile. Eleven years later, it (the new job) brought me back to my birthplace," the 46-year-old told reporters on Monday, presenting them with the latest edition that features her on its cover.

Chu cashed in on her notoriety by launching a singing career, performing to sell-out crowds in Singapore and Hong Kong. She was banned from performing in Malaysia on the grounds that she was a bad role model for young people.

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Mild tsunami disrupts life in Hawaii

A MILD tsunami has hit Hawaii after a powerful earthquake off the west coast of Canada, forcing a state-wide evacuation but apparently failing to cause major damage.

Television images from the island of Oahu showed relatively small waves peacefully rolling toward shore.

Shortly after, forecasters lifted a tsunami warning issued in the wake of the quake.

"Based on all available data the tsunami threat has decreased and is now at the advisory level and not expected to increase," the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center announced.

The centre warned, however, that sea level changes and strong currents could still occur and present a hazard for swimmers and boaters.

"The threat may continue for several hours," the centre cautioned.

Highways and roads in coastal areas were reopened, allowing thousands of residents and hundreds of tourists to return to their homes and hotel rooms.

But the tsunami, set off by a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck off the west coast of Canada, succeeded in disrupting the weekend activities of many tourists and residents.

Countless Halloween parties were interrupted, restaurants, bars and movie theatres emptied, and highways quickly filled with cars heading away from beach areas.

Tourists from Waikiki to Turtle Bay in Honolulu were evacuated to higher floors in their hotels, and major tourist centres looked abandoned for several hours.

Governor Neil Abercrombie declared a state of emergency when the first alert was sounded and kept it in force.

"We are taking a wait-and-see approach - we want everyone to be safe," said the governor's spokesperson, Donalyn Dela Cruz.

Initially, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no "destructive widespread tsunami threat" after the 7.7 magnitude quake shook the Queen Charlotte Islands off the west coast of Canada.

But later it issued a warning, saying a tsunami had been generated by the earthquake and that it was headed toward Hawaii.

The epicentre of the Canadian quake, which occurred at 8.04pm on Saturday (1404 AEDT on Sunday) was located 139 kilometres south of the town of Masset, the US Geological Survey said.

Numerous aftershocks, some as strong as magnitude 4.6, followed the initial quake.

Emergency officials in British Columbia urged residents in low-lying coastal areas to be alert to instructions from local officials and be prepared to move to higher ground.

"The tsunami alarm went off and everybody went to the evacuation site," Danny Escott, owner of the Escott Sportfishing lodge near Masset, said by telephone.

But officials in Canada sought to calm the population.

Natural Resources Canada said in a statement that the quake was felt across much of north-central British Columbia, including Haida Gwaii as the Queen Charlotte Islands are also called, Prince Rupert, Quesnel and Houston.

But the ministry also played down the effects on Canada, saying: "There have been no reports of damage at this time."

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Full Dragon exits space station

THE Dragon has left the space station and is headed back to Earth.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have released the commercial cargo ship. The California-based SpaceX company will steer its unmanned capsule to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean later today, a couple hundred kilometres off the Baja California coast.

The supply ship is bringing back about 900kg of science experiments and old station equipment. Perhaps the most precious cargo is nearly 500 frozen samples of blood and urine collected by station astronauts for the past year. The Dragon is the only delivery ship capable of returning items, now that NASA's shuttles are retired.

SpaceX launched the capsule three weeks ago from Cape Canaveral. It's the second Dragon to return from the space station.

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System down at Fairfax, impacts SMH, Age

A MAJOR technical malfunction has struck at Fairfax Media, impacting the production of the group's Monday newspapers.

A power outage at its Sydney office on Sunday afternoon is being blamed for the problem.

It is not immediately clear what impact will be felt on the production of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, with a Fairfax Media spokesperson saying work was continuing to lessen any disruption.

"The main data centre for Metro operations went down late this afternoon due to a major power outage in the Pyrmont suburb," the spokesperson said in a statement.

"This caused significant disruptions.

"The systems are back online and we are working to minimise the impact to our newspapers and websites."

The Victorian Association for Newsagents (VANA) said it had been advised that there would be no country edition of The Age printed for Monday issue.

"There is a strong possibility that there will be NO production of the Age at all for the Monday edition," VANA said on its website.

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Business, govt must protect infrastructure

AS a land of droughts and flooding rains, Australia should be well prepared for the extreme weather that climate change will bring - but it isn't.

The Climate Institute says government and business have much to do to protect Australia's infrastructure from damage in natural disasters.

Science shows that as sea levels and global temperature rise, the frequency of extreme floods, droughts and bushfires will rise exponentially.

"Australia, with its history of extreme weather events, should be better prepared, but our performance is patchy at best," The Climate Institute chief executive John Connor told AAP.

"It's a high-stakes gamble with predictions that we're going to see more and more extreme weather events in the future."

The institute's report, Coming ready or not: Can Australia's infrastructure handle climate change?, says the electricity, financial services and insurance, and road and rail sectors are underprepared.

It says early preparation has begun to protect property against the impacts of more frequent extreme weather events, while preparations are relatively advanced in the water industry.

"Government and business should urgently address the gaps in climate change adaptation in order to avoid unnecessary loss of life, incomes and damage to major infrastructure assets," says the report, released on Monday.

"Progress is being made, but it is piecemeal, locked in past paradigms and unco-ordinated."

The institute found that government policies and regulations were inconsistent and confusing.

As well, information is fragmented and often hard to access, and weak market signals hardly encourage businesses to manage risks in smarter ways.

Most of Australia's infrastructure is built and maintained to standards based on historic climate patterns, not future ones, the report says.

The interconnected nature of infrastructure means that when one element is damaged, it affects others. For example, if electricity systems are knocked out it can disrupt water supply and transport services like tunnels and rail systems.

Mr Connor said better preparation and risk management was vital because there would be at least some climate change.

"Even if we have radical and dramatic shifts in cutting global carbon pollution, we still have a significant amount of warming locked in," he told AAP.

"We need to recognise that we've got to deal with what's coming."

The report recommends businesses and infrastructure owners assess their likely exposure and vulnerability and establish three- to five-year plans to manage climate risk.

Mr Connor said these weren't "radical recommendations" but rather just good risk management.

It also makes four recommendations for government, including publishing a regular national report card on Australia's readiness and resilience in handling natural disasters.

As well, the federal government should refresh the national climate change adaptation framework to develop nationally consistent standards for including climate change risks in planning processes and co-ordination between levels of government.

Mr Connor said this framework, set up in 2007, had not provided adequate co-ordination.

"It's incumbent on both business and government to lift our readiness for those potential impacts and costs," he told AAP.

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NYC to close subway ahead of storm

NEW York authorities have ordered the subway, commuter trains and buses to close ahead of the arrival of a feared super-storm.

The New York subway and regional buses will stop from 7pm (11am AEST), state governor Mario Cuomo announced as he warned that the impending storm was "not something to be taken lightly".

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Profit falls at China energy giant Sinopec

CHINESE oil giant Sinopec, Asia's largest refiner by capacity, says third-quarter net profit fell 9.4 per cent from a year earlier due to a lower contribution from its chemicals business.

Sinopec reported a net profit of 18.33 billion yuan ($A2.82 billion) for the three months ended September 30, a 1.89 billion yuan drop from 20.22 billion yuan in the same period last year.

The decline was "mainly due to plummeting results of the chemicals segment which resulted from changes in the chemical market and demand", the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Sinopec reported a refinery throughput of 4.39 million barrels a day in the first nine months of the year, up from 4.37 million a year earlier.

"We have ... accelerated an upgrade in the quality of oil products, and adjusted the product mix to increase the output of gasoline and jet fuel," the company said.

The company reported 12.2 billion yuan in exploration expenses for the first nine months, a 31 per cent increase from the previous year.

It said it was focused on achieving growth in reserve and production volume, as well as enhancing exploration in key areas.

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