Taliban suicide bomber kills six

A TALIBAN suicide bomber blew himself up and five others near a vehicle carrying the head of a government-allied militia in northwest Pakistan.

Senior police officer Akhtar Hayyat said several people were also wounded in the blast near a gas station in the district of Buner in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He said Fateh Khan, the head of the local anti-Taliban militia, was killed along with three guards and two passers-by.

Mr Khan was also a prominent leader of the secular Awami National Party, which rules the coalition government in the province, and which has angered the Taliban by supporting several military offensives in tribal districts and in the towns.

Shortly after the attack, Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan claimed responsibility by telephone for the killing of Khan.

Buner is believed to be a hiding place for the Pakistani Taliban. It is located near the Swat Valley, where the insurgent group shot and wounded 15-year-old education activist Malala Yousufzai last month for criticizing its behavior when it seized the isolated region in 2008.

An offensive by the military broke the Taliban's control over the area in 2009, but attacks have continued.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Clinton is Obama's secret weapon

REPUBLICAN Mitt Romney has millionaire backers, a huge staff and years of campaign experience but President Barack Obama has Bill Clinton.

The former president is sprinting through battleground states, delivering more speeches than Mr Obama himself and, arguably, carrying much of the president's re-election hopes on his 66-year-old shoulders.

There's nothing secret about this campaign weapon. If it's a competitive state, Mr Clinton is there - and there and there - picking apart Romney's proposals in the folksy yet detailed style he unleashed at the Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Many party activists left there wondering why Mr Obama can't make his own case as compellingly.

Friday was typical for Mr Clinton. He made five stops in Florida, stretching from Palm Beach in the southeast to Fort Myers on the Gulf Coast to Tallahassee in the panhandle.

Mr Romney had hoped to lock down the mega-swing state long ago. But he will return Monday because of its uncertainty.

Mr Clinton, his raspy voice hoarser than usual, mixed nostalgia with lawyerly dissections when criticising Mr Romney's tax-cut plans in Palm Bay, the day's second stop, south of Cape Canaveral.

"I don't understand how people like me could sleep at night taking another tax cut, and taking it away from you," he said to cheers from several hundred people, who clearly did not resent his post-presidential wealth.

After shucking his suit jacket and loosening his orange tie under a brilliant midday sun, Clinton rattled off statistics about recent slowdowns in the growth of health care costs, and benefits of Obama's health law. "That is what Mr Romney wants to repeal," he said.

"Bring it home, Bill" a woman shouted.

At every stop, Mr Clinton praises Mr Obama effusively, but he also reminds voters of his own days in office.

"I am the only living former president that ever gave you a budget surplus," he said in Palm Bay. Obama's policies, he adds, are much more in line with his than are Mr Romney's.

Mr Obama amplifies Mr Clinton's boasts, knowing they give credence to the endorsements. In one Ohio stop Friday, Mr Obama named Mr Clinton four times.

"For eight years we had a president who shared our beliefs, and his name was Bill Clinton," Mr Obama said. "His economic plan asked the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more so we could reduce our deficit and invest in the skills and ideas of our people." Mr Romney opposed that plan, Mr Obama said, and his math "was just as bad back then as it was today."

The white-haired Mr Clinton looks drawn and tired at times, and he makes a few flubs. He apologised this week for saluting Pennsylvania when he happened to be in Ohio.

Mr Clinton still runs late, even at morning events. Former Vice President Walter Mondale had to spin political yarns to kill time this week as voters waited in Minneapolis.

But the man who once headlined nine events in one day for his wife in the 2008 North Carolina primary - when Hillary Rodham Clinton was battling Mr Obama - still feeds off crowds' energy and affection.

In Green Bay, Wisconsin, Mr Clinton gave a 57-minute dissertation on why the economy is better than many think. The only reason the Obama-Romney race is close, he said, "is because Americans are impatient on things not made before yesterday, and they don't understand why the economy is not totally hunky-dory again."

Mr Clinton campaigned for Mr Obama on Thursday in Wisconsin and Ohio. Earlier in the week he was in Iowa, Colorado, Minnesota and New Hampshire.

He will join Mr Obama on Saturday for a rally in Virginia and on Sunday morning for an event in New Hampshire. Clinton also will campaign Sunday in North Carolina and Minnesota. And on Monday, the Obama camp hopes Mr Clinton will snuff out any possible Romney eruption in Pennsylvania, scheduling stops for him in Pittsburgh and Scranton, plus two in Philadelphia.

No state underscores Mr Clinton's value more than Florida, where the Republican Bush family looms large. While Mr Obama makes every possible use of his party's most recent president, Romney can hardly mention George W. Bush, who left office amid an economic collapse and an unpopular war in Iraq.

Mr Romney campaigned Thursday in Tampa, however, with Bush's brother Jeb, a former Florida governor who remains widely popular.

Much has been made of Mr Clinton's once-frosty relationship with Mr Obama. Mr Clinton, among other things, in 2008 called Mr Obama's history of opposing the Iraq war a "fairy tale."

The two men may never be chums. But Mr Clinton's endorsements now seem full-throated. It delights Democratic loyalists.

"The Republicans have nothing to match the personal appeal and persuasive power of President Clinton," said Doug Hattaway, a consultant with close ties to the Clintons. "He can energize Democrats and close the deal with moderate swing voters."

Bruce Marvin, who attended Clinton's event in Chillicothe, Ohio, said the ex-president explains Mr Obama's plans even more understandably than does the nominee.

"I think it's backing up what Obama may not have been able to get across," Mr Marvin said.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Power back to some NYC homes

MORE New Yorkers awoke overnight to power being restored for the first time since Superstorm Sandy pummeled the region

Those whose lights were back on celebrated it, but patience was wearing thin among those in the region who had been without power for most of the week.

From storm-scarred New Jersey to parts of Connecticut, a widespread lack of gasoline frustrated people who were just trying to get to work or pick up a load of groceries. Petrol was to be rationed starting at noon Saturday in northern New Jersey, where drivers will be allowed to buy it only every other day, the governor declared.

The ongoing recovery also forced the cancellation of Sunday's New York City Marathon. Mayor Michael Bloomberg reversed himself Friday and yielded to mounting criticism that this was no time to run the race, which starts on hard-hit Staten Island and wends through all five of the city's boroughs.

Mr Bloomberg, who as late as Friday afternoon insisted the world's largest marathon should go on as scheduled Sunday, changed course shortly afterward amid intensifying opposition from the city comptroller, the Manhattan borough president and sanitation workers unhappy they had volunteered to help storm victims but were assigned to the race instead. The mayor said he would not want "a cloud to hang over the race or its participants."

Many runners understood the rationale behind the decision. The death toll in the city stood at 41 and thousands of people were shivering without electricity, making many New Yorkers recoil at the idea of police officers protecting a foot race and evicting storm victims from hotels to make way for runners.

But the suddenness of it all forced runners to deal with an unexpected twist: what to do with no race.

Well over half of the 40,000 athletes were from out of town. Their entry fees were paid. Their airline tickets were purchased. Their friends and family had hotel rooms. And all week the race was a go, even after Sandy came ashore Monday.

"I understand why it cannot be held under the current circumstances," Meb Keflezighi, the 2009 men's champion and 2004 Olympic silver medalist, said in a statement. "Any inconveniences the cancellation causes me or the thousands of runners who trained and travelled for this race pales in comparison to the challenges faced by people in NYC and its vicinity."

ING, the financial company that is the title sponsor of the marathon, said it supported the decision to cancel. The firm's charitable giving arm has made a $500,000 contribution to help with relief and recovery efforts and is matching employee donations. Sponsor Poland Spring said it would donate the bottled water earmarked for the marathon to relief agencies, more than 200,000 bottles.

"When you have a significant amount of people voicing real pain and unhappiness over its running, you have to hear that. You have to take that into consideration," said Howard Wolfson, deputy mayor for government affairs and communications.

"Something that is such a celebration of the best of New York can't become divisive," he said. "That is not good for the city now as we try to complete our recovery effort, and it is not good for the marathon in the long run."

Each day has brought signs of recovery in the region. Fewer than 1 million customers in New York were without power Saturday, the lowest the number has been since the storm hit.

Aida Padilla, 75, was thrilled that the power at her large housing authority complex in New York City's Chelsea section had returned late Friday.

"Thank God," said Ms Padilla, 75. "I screamed and I put the lights on. Everybody was screaming. It was better than New Year's."

Asked about whether she had heat, she replied, "hot and cold water and heat! Thank God, Jesus!"

NYU Langone Medical Centre, one of two New York hospitals that had to evacuate patients at the height of the storm, said it would reopen Monday, though some doctors would see patients at alternate sites.

Seven backup generators at the hospital failed during the storm surge on Monday night, forcing the evacuation of 300 patients.

At Bellevue Hospital Centre, some 700 patients had to be evacuated after the power failed. An official there said Thursday the hospital could be out of commission at least two more weeks.

In New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie announced that he would make public a list of when utility companies intend to restore power to each community. Even if they end up working faster or slower, he said, residents will have a sense of when they will have power restored so they can plan their lives a bit better.

Commuter rail operator NJ Transit said it would have more service restored in time for the workweek to start Monday, most of Atlantic City's casinos reopened, and many school districts decided to hold classes next Thursday and Friday, days previously reserved for the New Jersey Education Association's annual conference, which has been canceled because of the storm.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Militia attack' kills 13 in Darfur

MILITIA in Sudan's North Darfur state have attacked a village and killed 13 people, a local source says.

The attack on Friday targeted Sigili village, about 30 kilometres southeast of the state capital El Fasher, said the source, who cannot be further identified for security reasons.

"Basically it was a tribal clash between local militia and Zaghawa," the source said, adding that five people were also reported missing.

Since July, civilians have been increasingly at risk from inter-communal fighting, harassment by militia groups, and sporadic clashes between rebel and government troops, particularly in North Darfur, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said in a three-monthly report issued on October 16.

Disputes between farmers and pastoralists over land use triggered most of the inter-communal violence, he said.

Tensions escalated when tribal militia aligned to the government became involved, along with anti-regime rebels.

"At the same time, local sources have cited mounting frustration among communities from which the militias are drawn ... over unfulfilled commitments by the government that have led to the militia challenging authorities and engaging government security forces," Ban said.

In the Hashaba area northwest of El Fasher, more than 70 civilians died in September from rebel-government fighting and aerial bombardments, the United States said.

Ban did not provide a casualty figure from that incident.

But he said a dispute over land use triggered clashes between Arab nomads and Tunjur farmers in Hashaba before fighting reportedly escalated after government and rebel forces also became involved.

Peacekeepers from the African Union-UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) were prevented from reaching the area three times in late September, due to government restrictions blamed on insecurity, Ban said.

On October 17, a UNAMID convoy on its way to the Hashaba area for an assessment was ambushed by unidentified attackers, killing one South African UNAMID member and injuring three others.

Though down from its peak, violence persists in Darfur nine years after ethnic African rebels rose against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government. The United Nations estimates at least 300,000 people died but the government puts the toll at 10,000.

An estimated 1.7 million Darfur people are still living in camps for the displaced, the UN says.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Van attack kills at least 18 in Pakistan

AT LEAST 18 people were killed in a huge blaze that erupted after gunmen opened fire on a passenger van at a petrol stall in restive southwest Pakistan, officials said.

Senior local official Abdul Mansoor Kakar said that four gunmen opened fire on the van with automatic rifles, igniting petrol drums by the roadside and triggering a massive inferno.

The incident took place in the outskirts of Khuzdar, around 250 kilometres southwest of Quetta, the capital of insurgency-hit Baluchistan province.

Baluchistan is one of Pakistan's most impoverished and dangerous provinces, despite having large gas and oil reserves, and it is plagued by sectarian violence as well as attacks by Taliban militants and separatist insurgents.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

A number of stalls selling petrol smuggled from Iran were engulfed in the fire, Mr Kakar said, with stallholders among the dead.

"At least 18 people have been killed in the fire. The dead included seven women and four children sitting in the passenger van," Mr Kakar said.

Doctor Akbar Harifal, the top administrative official in Khuzdar confirmed the new death toll, which rose sharply from a previous tally of seven dead.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sony adds live broadcasting to games

SONY Online Entertainment (SOE) announced an alliance with Twitch to let gamers broadcast online play live for others to watch.

The feature will make its debut in massively multiplayer online first-person shooter computer game PlanetSide 2 which will launch in North America and Europe on November 20.

The free-to-play title lets thousands of online players simultaneously engage in virtual combat on an alien planet. Beta testing of the ability to live stream gameplay using Twitch was set to be expanded this weekend.

"We believe very strongly in providing deeper social and emergent gameplay experiences," said SOE president John Smedley.

"The ability for our players to broadcast their gameplay directly to Twitch will provide Twitch's huge user base a chance to see the massive scale battles in PlanetSide 2 for themselves," he continued.

"We've gone out of our way to make the interface extremely easy to use and allow players to cast with just one-click."

Twitch bills itself as the world's largest videogame broadcasting network.

Millions of people monthly watch videogame play streamed using TwitchTV, which boasts partners such as the Electronic Sports League, Major League Gaming and IGN Pro League.

San Francisco-based Twitch was created by the founders of live video streaming platform Justin.tv - Justin Kan and Emmett Shear.

TwitchTV launched last year and has since made a partnership with television titan CBS to get money-making video and display ads to weave in during breaks in live game play.

Twitch "broadcasters" range from professional gaming leagues to individual players.

"With the Twitch community now in excess of 20 million gamers, live broadcasting has evolved from a niche novelty to an integral part of the gaming experience," said Twitch marketing vice president Matthew DiPietro.

"We're in discussions with the industry's largest developers and publishers, so there's no question that integrating turn-key live broadcasting into games is the future of this industry."

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Solid jobs numbers send US stocks higher

A SOLID number on US job creation in October has given a spark to stocks, even as the unemployment rate ticked higher to 7.9 per cent.

The economy generated a net 171,000 jobs last month, and revisions put the three-month average at 170,000, better news than expected for the economy and President Barack Obama as he fights to keep his job in next Tuesday's vote.

Five minutes into Friday's trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 47.35 points (0.36 per cent) to 13,279.97.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 4.83 (0.34 per cent) to 1432.42, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 6.77 points (0.22 per cent) to 3026.83.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Teen takes break from school to launch app

A FORMER Australian schoolboy has launched an iPhone app after attracting $US1 million ($A966,000) from tech-savvy and celebrity investors.

London-born Nick D'Aloisio, 16, who spent some of his early years in Melbourne and Perth, is living back in his homeland and this week the whiz kid has made the most of his school's semester break, as his creation Summly goes live.

The app, designed for Apple's popular smartphone, condenses news articles into three key paragraphs that fit on an iPhone screen, reports British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

Users can customise news categories and select links to original articles.

"I designed Summly because I felt that my generation wasn't consuming traditional news anymore," said the teenager.

"I was using Google and Bing and there were so many results to scroll through it was really inefficient.

"So I built an algorithm that shared them and trimmed them. Then it just transformed into the idea of: why not just summarise news in general?"

After developing a prototype in 2011, Nick received some $US300,000 backing from Horizon Ventures, a private technology investment company owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing.

News of the support arrived on Nick's 16th birthday, making him one of the youngest people ever to attract venture capital funding.

Since the initial investment, the schoolboy has found additional support from Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher, British screen celebrity Stephen Fry and Yoko Ono.

Nick's lawyer mother is a director of the company behind the app and owns shares on his behalf.

"The reality hasn't sunk in yet; I've just been focused on building the product," Nick said of his excitement about Summly.

While dedicating a lot of his time to the app, Nick plans to continue his studies and hopes to branch into philosophy or history at university.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Oil spill off storm-battered NY

US oil company Shell has confirmed superstorm Sandy triggered an oil spill in the waters off New York City, without specifying an amount, saying clean up efforts were underway.

A news report said 300,00 gallons of diesel fuel spilled.

"At least two diesel storage tanks were damaged and an unknown quantity of product was released," the company said in a statement.

The storage tanks were at a Sewaren, New Jersey refinery part-owned by Shell and run by Motiva.

"No injuries have occurred and there has been no further product released since the initial event."

"Previously deployed booms are continuing to skim released product in the Woodbridge creek adjacent to the site. Motiva and public emergency responders are onsite assessing the situation."

CNN reported that some 300,000 gallons of diesel fuel had spilled, saying the US Coast Guard was overseeing the cleanup effort.

The Coast Guard was not immediately available for comment.

The massive storm carved a path of devastation across the US northeast on Monday and Tuesday, flooding lower Manhattan and much of the New Jersey coastline and leaving millions without electricity across several states.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Object thrown from stolen car strikes man

A MAN is in hospital with serious head injuries after being hit by an object thrown from a suspected stolen car in the Northern Tablelands of NSW.

Police had been trying to stop the suspect vehicle but called off their pursuit on the New England Highway near Glen Innes at about 4.20pm (AEDT) on Thursday.

Shortly afterwards, when the vehicle passed another car, a heavy object was thrown from it.

It hit the other driver on the head, leaving his passenger to take over as he was left incapacitated.

The car was eventually stopped by the passenger and the injured man was taken to Armidale Hospital with serious head injuries, after being treated at the scene.

Officers from New England Local Area Command arrested four men and one woman who are assisting them with inquiries.

A critical incident team from a neighbouring command will investigate circumstances surrounding the police operation, overseen by the Professional Standards Command.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

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.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

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.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Wall St reopens after Sandy

WALL Street is getting back to work.

Trading has resumed on the New York Stock Exchange after being closed for two days because of Hurricane Sandy. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg rang the opening bell.

The exchange is running on backup generators since power is out in large parts of downtown Manhattan.

The last time the exchange was closed for two days for weather was in 1888.

The market got off to a good start after the shutdown.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 70 points to 13,177 shortly after the opening bell.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose five points to 1,417. The Nasdaq composite slipped two points to 2985.

General Motors rose 4 per cent to $US24.10 ($23.27) after reporting earnings that beat Wall Street's forecasts.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

MasterCard income rises in third quarter

MASTERCARD says its net income rose strongly in the third quarter as its overseas business thrived.

The payments network, based in Purchase, New York, said on Wednesday that its net income rose to $US772 million ($A748.17 million), or $6.17 per share, from $717 million, or $5.63 per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Much of the gain came from growth overseas.

Excluding the US, the amount people spent on MasterCard-branded cards rose 15 per cent on a local-currency basis. That's more than twice the rate of growth in the US.

Revenue rose 5 per cent to $1.92 billion in the three months ending on September 30 from $1.82 billion a year ago.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Malaria program could be scrapped

THE future of a pricey malaria program meant to provide cheap drugs for poor patients may be in jeopardy after health officials clashed over its effectiveness in two new reports.

In 2010, the Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria was started by groups including United Nations agencies and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. It was a pilot project to subsidise artemesinin combination drugs, the most effective malaria treatment.

The initiative cost more than $460 million ($A445.80 million), mostly funded by the Global Fund, UNITAID, and the Canadian and British governments. It was tested in eight countries: Cambodia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. Most of the drugs bought were sold in the private sector, where there are few controls on who gets them.

Last week, a report by Oxfam, an international charity, labelled the program a failure and said there was no proof it had saved lives because officials didn't track who received the drugs.

"It's time for this to be scrapped," said Mohga Kamal-Yanni, the paper's author. "If you subsidise drugs and make them cheap, then clearly the supply will increase. But we have no idea whether the drugs are getting to the right people."

According to the World Health Organization, "improving the rational use of (malaria drugs) was not a specific strategic objective" of the program. In a statement, the agency said there was limited information about how many children under five - those most susceptible to malaria - received the subsidised drugs.

"No information has been made available on the use of these medicines by the poorest communities," WHO said.

But in another paper published Wednesday in the journal Lancet, experts insisted the program was "an effective mechanism" to lower the price of preferred malaria drugs and make them widely available.

That study didn't include Cambodia and found that everywhere except for Niger and Madagascar, there was a bigger supply of the medicines. Researchers didn't measure whether that lowered the number of malaria cases. The study was paid for by the Global Fund and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Global Fund called the program "a practical approach to fighting disease" and said the malaria drugs were not previously available in many African communities. "The reality of this program is that it is getting life-saving medicine to people who need it most from the private sector outlets where they already seek treatment," the fund said in a statement.

Others suggested the initiative be overhauled.

"We have had caveats about this program since the beginning," said Manica Balasegaram, an executive director at Medecins Sans Frontieres, which is not linked to either report.

He said it was important to use diagnostic tests before giving out malaria medicines, to ensure that people who took them actually had malaria. Giving the drugs to people without the disease could worsen drug resistance and wouldn't cure whatever ailment they did have. "If this program continues, we would like to see serious changes made," Balasegaram said.

Next month, Global Fund officials and others will discuss the program's fate at a previously scheduled meeting.

Since the program's inception, the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative, the world's second-biggest donor to malaria control after the Global Fund, has requested compelling evidence the subsidy program works. Without that, the U.S. group said it is not allowed by law to finance the malaria project. WHO has described the program's future as uncertain.

David Schellenberg, a public health expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said it was too early to judge if the program had succeeded. "More people might be inadequately treated if this program is closed," he said. "But this approach will not work everywhere."

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

US debt limit to be reached late 2012

US Treasury officials say they still expect the government will hit the current debt borrowing limit at the end of this year.

But they say they can employ "extraordinary" measures they have used in the past to keep the government functioning until sometime early next year.

In a statement, Treasury Assistant Secretary Matthew Rutherford said Treasury would employ the same types of procedures it had used in the past to keep borrowing under the current debt limit of $US16.39 trillion ($A15.88 trillion). The nation's debt currently stands at $16.16 trillion.

The United States has never failed to meet its debt obligations although the last battle over raising the debt limit in August 2011 went right to the last minute before a compromise was reached between the Obama administration and Congress.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Road accident in Pakistan kills 26 people

A PAKISTANI police official says 26 people have been killed when a passenger van and a truck collided near the central city of Bahawalpur.

The police chief of Bahawalpur, Suhail Tajik, says Tuesday's accident took place on a section of the highway outside the city.

He says the passenger van was overtaking another vehicle when it slammed into an oncoming truck. The van was completely destroyed.

Rescuers moved 10 injured passengers to the city hospital.

All were in serious condition.

Pakistan has a well-developed highway system but drivers often ignore basic safety rules.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

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.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

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.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

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.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cruise prowler turns out to be neighbour

AUTHORITIES say a security guard at Tom Cruise's Beverly Hills, California mansion used a stun gun on a trespasser who turned out to be an intoxicated neighbour who may have mistakenly entered the property.

Police say 41-year-old Jason Sullivan was shot with a Taser about 9.30pm on Sunday at the home on Calle Vista Drive. He was then treated at a hospital and arrested on suspicion of trespassing.

Police say neither Cruise nor his family were at the home when a guard saw a man climbing a fence to get onto the grounds. A guard shocked the man and held him for police.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

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.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

Microsoft-Apple redux: empire strikes back

IT used to be that Microsoft was the evil empire, and Apple the scrappy underdog.

Now the roles are reversed, and Microsoft is challenging a dominant Apple, which has staked its claim as the leader of the sizzling mobile sector for tablets and smartphones, as well as the biggest seller of digital music.

Microsoft, still the biggest force in the PC market with its Windows operating system, is making a new, belated effort on Apple's turf.

The Redmond, Washington-based giant has launched its own branded Surface tablet with prices and specifications similar to those of the iPad, and a new Windows 8 operating system designed for tablets.

Microsoft also is making an aggressive push in mobile phones with its Windows Phone 8 platform being used by Nokia, Samsung, HTC and others.

And it has created its own music service as an alternative to Apple's iTunes, with 30 million songs and additional features offered by Internet radio operators.

"Microsoft is the challenger now, and it is taking a lot of pages from Apple's playbook," said Roger Kay, an analyst and consultant with Endpoint Technologies Associates.

Kay said Microsoft is learning from Apple about the advantages of "having control of the integrated stack," meaning software and hardware, along with other services to keep users within the company's ecosystem.

But he said Microsoft has "constraints" because its updates must remain compatible with older devices, making the task more complex.

"Microsoft can write software which is as good as Apple's but it has to be free of the constraints," Kay said.

"Apple can and has said to customers, 'Throw out all your old devices, because we have new ones.' Microsoft has been at a disadvantage."

He said Microsoft has the potential for a fresh start with the new tablet, which integrates hardware and software called Windows RT in a new product.

But the tech landscape is far different than in previous Microsoft-Apple clashes. Amazon claims some 22 percent of the tablet market, and Google and its partners using the Android system are a major force in mobile.

But Microsoft appears to be digging in for the long-haul by getting into tablets, the mobile market and music.

Kash Rangan, analyst at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, said Microsoft appropriately priced the new tablet starting at $499, the same as the entry-level iPad. This will avoid "cannibalisation" of products which impact the Windows franchise.

And because Microsoft will include its Office software in the tablets, they "appear less pricey to users relative to iPads," said the analyst, who expects about 5.2 million of the Microsoft devices to be sold over the coming year.

In music, Microsoft is making a new offensive with its Xbox music service more than a year after it pulled the plug on its Zune digital media player, a would-be rival to Apple's iPod.

However some analysts said the new service might fare better.

"The service takes aim at a fractured digital music landscape (where) consumers have to use multiple services such as iTunes, Pandora and Spotify today and do not have one simple destination that allows them to do everything," said Richard Greenfield at BTIG Research.

With the various initiatives, Microsoft is seeking to build an "ecosystem" like Apple, which can deliver the devices and services to remain connected to consumers.

"People are looking to buy a complete package, that's what they buy when they go to Apple," said Jack Gold, analyst with J. Gold Associates.

Frank Gillett at Forrester Research said that while Microsoft is used on some 95 percent of PCs, its share of all "personal devices" - which include PCs, smartphones, and tablets - is only around 30 percent.

The new initiatives "will simply stop the shrinking, maintaining Microsoft's share at about 30 percent," he said.

"By 2016, we believe that Microsoft will have about 27 percent of tablet unit sales, but only about 14 percent of smartphone sales - and some of us are very skeptical they'll even get to 14 percent."

Gold said while Microsoft may not be able to dominate in tablets or phones, its strategy appears to "kickstart" the market to keep the Windows platform relevant.

"You never want to sell Microsoft short," Gold said.

"They have a lot of resources and they're not a company that gives up. They are applying significant amounts of resources to transition the company to address the new market realities. And they've reinvented themselves several times already."

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

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.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

SMS texts remind women of check-up

AUSTRALIAN women are being encouraged to sign up for regular text message reminders to screen for warning signs of cervical cancer.

The Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation is launching an SMS messaging service to remind women to have a pap smear test every two years.

Ninety per cent of women who die from cervical cancer have not had regular pap tests, the foundation's chief executive Joe Tooma said.

He said about 43 per cent of women do not have the recommended two-yearly pap test.

GPs send regular postal reminders to women but Mr Tooma said a text messaging service could be more reliable for women who move house or change doctors.

"Anecdotally, we know people tend to keep their mobile phone number for a long time, so we believe sending them an SMS reminder will be a powerful tool in the fight against cervical cancer," he said.

The foundation will also encourage women to wear orange and get together with their sisters and female friends for the inaugural Sister's Day on November 8, which will be held every year on the same day as the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival's Oaks Day.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

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.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

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.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More

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.

21.29 | 0 komentar | Read More