Nor'easter Storm Prompts More NYC Evacuations

New York City officials will try to evacuate residents from some low-lying waterfront neighbourhoods as a new storm system approaches just over a week after superstorm Sandy devastated the region.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the Wednesday voluntary evacuations ahead of the nor'easter's arrival would not be as widespread as the mandatory ones ordered before Sandy hit the city last week.

The mayor also said the city's parks and beaches would be closed at noon on Wednesday for at least 24 hours.

"We just don't need to send our first responders into the ocean to save someone who is being foolish," Mr Bloomberg said.

A nor'easter is expected to hit later on Wednesday, bringing the threat of more heavy rain, snow and flooding.

But some forecasts on Tuesday showed the storm to come in weaker and farther offshore than first expected.

Even so, strong winds could still gust to 55mph in New York and New Jersey on Wednesday afternoon and evening, and there was concern about the ocean barreling past beaches and dunes that were largely washed away.

Farther south, coastal Virginia could also get a storm surge of up to 3 feet, causing minor flooding on the east side of Chesapeake Bay during high tides on Wednesday morning and evening, said the Weather Underground's Jeff Masters.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In heavily-flooded Staten Island, Sara Zavala spent the night under two blankets and layers of clothing because the power was out.

She had a propane heater, but only turned it on for a couple of hours in the morning. She did not want to sleep with it running at night.

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

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

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Riot Police On Alert Ahead Of Austerity Vote

By Anthee Carassava in Athens

With the US presidential elections concluded, markets have shifted attention to Europe's deepening debt crisis, as Greece - the epicentre of the continent's financial woes - prepared to vote for another round of austerity measures.

Faced with the toughest batch of budget cuts yet, crisis-crippled Greeks walked off work for a second day, taking to the streets in a flood of protests as lawmakers prepared for the controversial vote.

From flights to and from the country that were halted for three hours, to schools, shops and government agencies that remained shut, the 48-hour nationwide strike affected both public and private sector, paralysing an already anaemic economy.

Riot police have also been placed on alert as demonstrations are expected to peak in central Athens ahead of the midnight vote. Most anti-austerity protests turn violent.

The 216-page proposed bill includes 11.5bn euros (£9.2bn) of fiscal and structural reforms - the fourth batch of spending cuts to hit Greece since the financial crisis erupted here in late 2009.

While pundits and politicians anticipate the measures to pass, disagreement within the ruling three-party coalition have cast doubts over the outcome of Wednesday's roll call vote.

Failure to rubber-stamp the unpopular slate of measures - including tax hikes, salary and pension cuts, increased retirement ages and contributions - could block international lenders from disbursing a slice of 31bn euros (£24.8bn) in bailout funds to Greece.

That could push the tiny Mediterranean nation of 11 million into bankruptcy, with unforeseen consequences for Europe's single currency and the global financial system.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has already warned that Greece only has enough money to pay pensions, salaried and state expenses through to November 16.

Wednesday's parliamentary vote is seen as the biggest test of strength yet for Mr Samaras, scrambling to shore up support and dampen dissent within his shaky coalition.

Mr Samaras needs a majority of 151 votes from the 300-member Greek parliament to pass the controversial bill.

It comes as the European Commission (EC) forecast a 6% decline in Greece's economic output in 2012.

The EC added that by 2014, total Greek debt will reach 188.9% of GDP – although the country should have exited its seven-year recession, recording 0.6% growth.

Earlier this week though, Democratic Left, Mr Samaras' junior coalition partner, said it would vote against radical labour reforms that slash wages further and wipe out severance fees.

The Socialist Pasok party, also part of the coalition, faced rising dissent in its ranks with at least four lawmakers saying they would vote down the punishing measures.

"Eventually Mr Samara will get his victory," George Kirtsos, a leading political commentator in Athens, said.

"But implementation (of the measures) will be a problem. The government will have been seriously impaired."

With unemployment hovering at 25%, incomes declining by 35% and the country heading into a sixth year of severe recession, the measures have been an impossible sell for the government.

"They can vote for all the austerity they want," Dimitris Iakovou, a state paid electrical engineer said as he marched before parliament on Tuesday.

"But when they turn to us to adopt the measures, we won't. We simply cannot."

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Americans Vote For Gay Marriage And Marijuana

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

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

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

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

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

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

Smokers in Colorado will be allowed to grow their own marijuana

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

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

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

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

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

Oregon voted against a similar marijuana legalisation measure.

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

Arkansas rejected a similar measure.

Campaigners protest against capital punishment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Grand Canyon will stay under federal control

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

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

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

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Trump In Twitter Tirade After Obama Victory

Donald Trump has vented his frustration at President Barack Obama's election victory, calling it a "travesty" and a "disgusting injustice" in a Twitter tirade.

The American real estate mogul grew increasingly disgruntled as it became apparent that Mr Obama had defeated Republican challenger Mitt Romney, at one point saying: "We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided."

Mr Trump, whose taste for showmanship has earned him a TV reality show, has long attacked Mr Obama, and had endorsed Mr Romney in the presidential race.

"Well, back to the drawing board," he said during election night.

Another tweet read: "Let's fight like hell and stop this great and disgusting injustice! The world is laughing at us."

However, a tweet saying that Mr Obama had lost the popular vote and calling for a "revolution" was later taken down. Mr Obama was ahead in the popular vote.

Mr Trump endorsed Mitt Romney in the race

During the campaign, Mr Trump had challenged Mr Obama to release his college and passport records in return for a $5m donation to charity.

He has called Mr Obama "the least transparent president in the history of this country".

"This election is a total sham and a travesty. We are not a democracy," Mr Trump tweeted.

Mr Trump was one of the leading exponents of the so-called "birther conspiracy", which held that Mr Obama, like his father, had been born in Kenya, making him ineligible to hold the US presidency.

The theory was eventually laid to rest in 2011 after the White House released the long form of the president's birth certificate, showing his birthplace as Hawaii.

Mr Obama joked during the campaign that Mr Trump's animosity had started when they were growing up together in Kenya.

Mr Trump called on Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, to "stay strong and never give up", saying it was up to them to "hold our country together for four more years".

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Syria Conflict: Cameron Vows More Help

By Sam Kiley, Middle East Correspondent, Zatari refugee camp

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

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

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

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

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

Fighting is continuing in the 19-month long Syrian conflict

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

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

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

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

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

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

The war has led to huge numbers of refugees fleeing Syria

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Hitler's House: Russian Aims To Destroy Birthplace

A Russian MP wants to buy the house where Adolf Hitler was born - so he can knock it down.

Frantz Klintsevich, an MP from the ruling United Russia party, is aiming to collect £1.8m from supporters to buy the house in the Austrian town of Braunau-am-Inn, according to a report in the Russian newspaper, Izvestia.

"I would buy this property in the blink of an eye if I had that kind of money myself, but I do not. If I were to receive financial help, I would buy the house and destroy it demonstratively," he told the paper.

Austria's interior ministry has rented the house since 1972 from the owner - a woman in her 60s who refuses to be identified publicly - and has been careful to sublet only to tenants with no history of admiring Hitler.

The 500-year-old building, which has thick walls, a huge arched doorway and deep-set windows, was most recently used as a workshop for people with learning difficulties, before that tenant moved out for more modern quarters.

In September, the mayor of Braunau-am-Inn suggested that the building should be turned into apartments.

Mr Klintsevich has not had any response from the hugely rich oligarchs that the country has produced over the past two decades, but he says some members of the Communist Party have been positive about the appeal.

"Everything that is connected to fascism should be wiped off the face of the earth. No one should even know that place ever existed," Vadim Solovyov, a member of the Communist Party's State Duma fraction, told the newspaper.

Mr Klintsevich does have his detractors, however.

One, Yevgeny Proshechkin, head of the Moscow Anti-Fascism Centre, said the MP should first discover whether or not the Austrians were prepared to sell the house to foreigners and, if so, would they allow it to be knocked down.

If not, what would be the upkeep be, Mr Proshechkin asked.

Braunau's town council only withdrew honorary citizenship from Hitler last year, 78 years after he was given the accolade.

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Fugitive Crocodile Caught By Gaza Police

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

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

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

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

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

Police take pictures of the recaptured crocodile

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

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

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

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

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

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PlayStation Approval Raises China Console Hopes

There is speculation that China is set to lift its decade-long ban on games consoles with the news that Sony's PlayStation 3 has received a certification of quality from a safety standards body in the country.

Video game consoles have been outlawed in China since 2000, with the authorities citing the need to protect the well-being of its young people.

However, two models of the PlayStation 3 were shown on the China Quality Certification Centre website, labelled "computer entertainment system", as having received approval in July.

All products must pass the safety standard before they can be sold to Chinese consumers.

But analysts have warned against reading too much into the approval certificate, pointing out that the organisation that gave it has no regulatory authority.

"The Ministry of Culture has the regulatory authority over the console segment and is the sole organisation that can revoke the ban," said Lisa Cosmas Hanson, managing partner of US-based video games consultancy Niko Partners.

Sony confirmed that it had received certification, but would not comment further on whether this heralded an imminent entry for the PlayStation into the world's second-largest economy or whether the company needed further certificates.

"This does not mean that we have officially decided to enter the Chinese market," Sony spokeswoman Mai Hora said. "We recognise that China is a promising market so we will continuously study the possibility."

China's Ministry of Culture was unavailable for comment.

But despite the cautions, there are signs that the authorities in China are taking a less hardline attitude towards game consoles.

This year Lenovo Group launched Eedoo CT510, a motion sensing device that plays games similar in concept to Microsoft's Kinect extension for the Xbox game console, by touting it as an "exercise and entertainment machine".

While video game consoles are banned in China, online gaming and games on mobile devices are hugely popular, which means opportunities for game machine makers such as Sony - and rivals Microsoft and Nintendo - to exploit the potential of the economic explosion there are less than might appear.

"It obviously has a huge population, but gamers in China have different consumption habits," said Piers Harding-Rolls, senior games analyst at IHS Screen Digest in London.

"A lot of established gamers will use non-dedicated devices they have used over many years."

He added that the makers would also have to find ways to ensure that their income from games software and other content was not limited by piracy.

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Ghana: 'Dozens' Trapped After Mall Collapse

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Obama 'Wants To Work With Defeated Rival'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

:: READ MORE - Live Election Updates

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Obamas and Bidens after their victory was called

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Romney supporters absorbing the result

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

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

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

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

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

Mitt Romney spoke to supporters after conceding defeat

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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